Yesterday, I braved the hot sun, sleepy hamlets of coastal Rhode Island, a bus, and nonthreatening crowds for the Newport Folk Festival. The real impetus was that I had routinely missed seeing The Decemberists, and felt I ought to just do it, but there were other compelling reasons. These include ( Read more... )

So yesterday was the funeral, which was OK. It was a little too churchy and formula, not enough personality, except for a couple stories the pastor sprinkled in. Also, they didn't provide any music or references for the hymns, so I couldn't really join in, and I don't feel comfortable reciting prayers. Actually, it's only partly true; things ( Read more... )

My grandma was in nurse's training, my grandpa was going into the service. My grandma was taking care of a guy who was in for a hernia operation, who asked her if he would do her a favor. He wanted her to write a letter to a friend of his, who didn't get much in the way of correspondence, and gave her my grandpa's name and address. She put the ( Read more... )

I got up at 5:something, somehow before the alarm but not too much before, and headed out to catch the 115 bus (it was really humid out too) which takes far too long to get to the airport, but is the cheapest and easiest route. Once there, I had no difficulty, sat in the very front of the plane with just my book (The Jane Austen Book Club, ( Read more... )

I'm getting up at an early hour to fly home and spend a few days with my grandpa, who is conscious and lucid, but probably only has a few more weeks to live. I thought about what I wanted, and I think getting a few more days to talk with him is what's more important than any services ( Read more... )

The North Carolina food experience ( Read more... )

SEPTA: Like you have a choice ( Read more... )

A few observations of late ( Read more... )

So many chain restaurants are three syllables: Baja Fresh, Chipotle, McDonalds, Applebee's, Chick-Fil-A, Burger King, Panera, Dominos, Papa John's, Pizza Hut, (KFC), Taco Bell, Fuddrucker's.

A few are two, a few are more, and I can't come up with any monosyllabic chain restaurant names.

Last night, nullsurface and I stayed up far too late, talking about almost everyone we knew. It was actually really nice, since it gave me a chance to comment and find that I'm not the only person with some opinions, I could vent and praise as necessary.

Earlier, flammifera had joined us in a swanky center city bar to do something similar ( Read more... )