Autumn has arrived.

Too soon does autumn arrive after summer. Getting
colder outside at night first, then during the day.
Blustery winds whip around buildings and through the
trees. Leaves on trees turn from green, to bright
yellow, then vibrant oranges, and reds, and finally
brown. The rustle of leaves on the canopy of trees.
The shaking of branches as they lose their leaves.
The rattling tree once the leaves are gone. Enormous
piles of leaves for raking, only to be demolished
by children jumping in them.

It's hard to believe it's already August. The scary
thing is that next month is September and the weather
only gets colder from there. I'm not looking forward
to fall coming, because that means summer will be over, and I'm certainly not looking forward to winter at all. About the only place I've gone this summer besides the Bangor State Fair on August 2, is to my aunt and uncle's house on the Fourth of July for a family cookout. I haven't even gotten to go to the beach yet because of working a lot and lack of finances to drive there. Oh well, maybe next year.

On the other hand, I can't complain about not going anywhere or doing much of anything last summer. Last summer I went to the beach once, for the Fourth of July, in Castine. That was quite fun, though I got sunburned. I also attended New England Yearly Meeting sessions (Quaker) for five days and then jumped a plane to England for thirteen days, spending most of one day just getting to Heathrow Airport in London and then a three hour train ride to Bradford-on-Avon after getting on the wrong trains four times on advice of Londoners. I then spent eight days in Lancaster at the World Gathering of Young Friends, a gathering for Quakers from around the world, from all branches of Quakerism and all walks of life. That was the first time I have ever been off the continent of North America.

The only other times that I have been out of the country is to go to Canada six times, and to the Bahamas for a two night one day cruise in February 2005.

I got married!

The wedding was on May 5, 2006!
I wore all white: a frilly dress
shirt, billowy skirt, and white
sandals. I even remembered
something blue: a cute blue garter
with white lace. Unlike most wedding,
the most expensive part wasn't the
clothing, but the food and flowers.
I had my bouquet specially made,
along wih the maid of honor's,
with white roses, mini white
carnations, and baby's breath.

Lucky me, it was sunny outside so
that we could do photos in the yard
and down by the waterfront in downtown
Bangor. It was really warm too, which
made it even better. A girl from
Burger King did my hair and makeup.
Oh, I looked beautiful that day.
I got to pick out the rings too.
They are white gold with three crosses
inside small circles, and leaf patterns
between the crosses. Very pretty, but
simple!

Another expense

On the way to my internship on Tuesday,
I had car troubles. I knew after a few
minutes that I wouldn't make it all the
way to the agency in downtown Bangor.
I decided to stop at Burger King, one
of my two jobs. My left front wheel
barring was rubbing on the inside of the
wheel.

I found out today when I picked up
my car that I was very luck. The only
thing holding my wheel onto the car was
a small nut. This means that my wheel could
have fallen off on my way to Bangor and
I would have ended up in the ditch on the
side of the road, while my wheel would
have been flying in the opposite direction.
I got to BK and thought how wonderful it
was that I was having such great luck,
especially since I didn't have nearly
enough money to get my car fixed.

I called my brother, asking if I could
borrow some money from him. He decided
not to let me borrow any, even though
he has plenty, and just recently made
a ridiculous purchase: a leather coat.
So he can afford the expensive clothing,
but he can't bother to help out his
poor sister when her car has problems.
What an ass he is! A miser of a brother!

Now my precious '87 Dodge Omni is
fixed and is so quiet that it almost
sounds like it's new.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Went to England on a plane: American Airlines flight 155 9am
departure from Logan International Airport in Boston. Drove
myself to airport. Standing in line: remembered forgetting
purse in backseat of car- bad because that's where travelers
checks were, along with cash, driver's licence, cell phone,
etc. Feeling frantic and not even on airplane yet. Called
Colin: had cell phone number written on arm before he left.
Used payphone and calling card. Stood in Logan barefooted
to get through security.
Destination: Heathrow International in London - arrival time 8:25.
Took about an hour to get through the immigrations gate at Heathrow.
Almost 10pm by then. Had to go downstairs to retrieve luggage: two
suitcases, only one with wheels-what a pain in the ass. In addition,
toting a backpack and a purse. very heavy luggage: toting WGYF shirts,
along with personal belongings. Approximately 25 t-shirts. Got onto
Heathrow Express to Paddington Station (like the bear). Asked for
directions on what train to take. Was told to get onto the train
for Oxford: bad idea. Received two more sets of wrong directions
before a ticket collector told me not to ask questions about
trains of people working in the stations, unless it was some one
working on a train. Best advice received while in London. Note to
self: remember this for next time when going to England, or anywhere
else in Europe for that matter. Got off at Ealing Station, on
recommendation of ticket collector. Rode another train back to
Paddington Station. Walked through area where ticket agents for
trains were and bought a single ticket to Bath, county Wiltshire -
opposite side of country from London, a two and a half to three
hour train ride. Was the last one to leave the station besides
the man working on the platform, who helped me get a taxi to
Bradford-on-Avon (BOA).

Luckily, Jenny, the warden of the BOA
Quaker Meeting House emailed me the taxi company's phone
number, so that I could "ring" them if I did happen to need a taxi
after getting in from London. So I rang them, and by the time I
got down to the street from the platform, there was a man already
there waiting for me. I told him where I was going to, and he put
the address into his electronic navigation system. By the time I
got to BOA it was almost 2am and I had pasta for supper. Luckily I had
taken some snacks with me on the plane before leaving Boston
(some fruit, pudding cups, etc.), so I didn't go totally hungry
after getting off the plane. Woke up the next morning in the BOA
Quaker Meeting house and met the other folks that I would be spending
the weekend with (minus Meredith, who was staying with a family in
Bristol before WGYF and spent part of Saturday with us).

Blustery winds

Last Thursday, as well as today
has recently gotten, was very
windy. Sort of like people say
Chicago is, hence the name
"The Windy City". Thursday it
was so windy that the house
(yes, it's technically a house
according to the deed) I live
in was actually moving slightly
from the force of the wind
outside (a forecast of up to
60 mph). I went down in the
basement that night to do my
laundry and saw some pieces of
dry wall had fallen on the stairs.
Those winds were almost hurricane
force, which is really scary,
especially since the craziest
weather that I have seen in Maine
recently consisted of temperatures
of 20 below zero, and the ice
storm in 1998 which crippled the
whole eastern coast.

new job

I just started my new job this weekend.
My clients enjoyed me being there with them,
but not without giving me a little of a
hard time. My next shift isn't until the
end of the month. I work every other weekend
with these two individuals. Only one seizure
with one of them over the course of the
whole weekend. Hooray! I even got to go
swimming (and got paid for it too!),
which I haven't done since summertime.

Danu and Bob Dylan

Here is a song by a band from Ireland that
I discovered at the American Folk Festival
this past August in Bangor, Maine. The folk
festival coincidentally started the same day
that I got home after three weeks of
travelling (New England Yearly Meeting for
six days, and thirteen days in various parts
of England.
The song is called "Farewell Angelina" and
is from the mid-1960's. This is one of the
songs on the Danu cd that I got at the folk
festival that I love to sing at the top of
my lungs, along with "Hallalujah" by
Rufus Wainwright.


Farewell Angelina
The bells of the crown
Are being stolen by bandits
I must follow the sound
The triangle tingles
And the trumpet play slow
Farewell Angelina
The sky is on fire
And I must go.

There's no need for anger
There's no need for blame
There's nothing to prove
Ev'rything's still the same
Just a table standing empty
By the edge of the sea
Farewell Angelina
The sky is trembling
And I must leave.

The jacks and queens
Have forsaked the courtyard
Fifty-two gypsies
Now file past the guards
In the space where the deuce
And the ace once ran wild
Farewell Angelina
The sky is folding
I'll see you in a while.

See the cross-eyed pirates sitting
Perched in the sun
Shooting tin cans
With a sawed-off shotgun
And the neighbors they clap
And they cheer with each blast
Farewell Angelina
The sky's changing color
And I must leave fast.

King Kong, little elves
On the rooftoops they dance
Valentino-type tangos
While the make-up man's hands
Shut the eyes of the dead
Not to embarrass anyone
Farewell Angelina
The sky is embarrassed
And I must be gone.

The machine guns are roaring
The puppets heave rocks
The fiends nail time bombs
To the hands of the clocks
Call me any name you like
I will never deny it
Farewell Angelina
The sky is erupting
I must go where it's quiet.


Learn more about Danu at: http://www.danu.net/modules/djmusic/index.php?cd=rlt

Almost 21 years old

I still remember the first time I had my first
pina colada. It was my second semester in college
and went with my grandmother and brothers on a
ski trip to Quebec City. That was also when I had my
first tequila sunrise. It was in a sports bar
on the same street as the Hilton hotel, but further
down towards the old city. Before going to the bar,
we went once on the famous tobaggan ride, which is
just like the luge in the Olympics, with sheer ice
all the way down the track.

My first semester in college was the first time
I had a margarita
(also my name from Spanish class in high school).
I went on a school sponsored trip to Nova Scotia
We took the Cat from Bar Harbor in Maine to
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.

Unlike others I know, especially those who I went
to high school with, I didn't go to any parties or
drink while in high school (except a tiny bit of
spiced wine one year for Thanksgiving and a half
shot of Grand Marnier when I was living with my
father and some of my grandmother's Puerto Rican
rum and vodka.
The first time I was drunk was last March, and I
had to work the next morning and felt like shit
all that day. That's when I decided it was a bad
idea to get drunk the night before having to work.

Darth Vader v.s. G.W. Bush

Here are some similarities between Darth Vader and G.W. Bush.

I don't think that this is a coincidence
that they both have these characteristics.