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.