hermionesviolin | Entries tagged with travel: summer 2007: planning

What happened to me that I became so procrastinatory? -- with full knowledge that this was self-sabotaging, to boot. This last-minute planning has been full of reminders as to why that's such a bad idea.

Kaite has been terribly patient as I've used her Internet again and again during my stay here. (Said stay has been fine, btw -- it's just the planning for the rest of the two weeks that has been troublesome.)

It looks like I'm going to be extending my stay in various places and cutting out Barcelona.

Send prayers that: my hostels are okay, I make all my connections, and my luggage never gets lost. (Feel free to pray for anything else re: me, as well, those are just my big concerns.)

I have Cate's UK mobile (0845 6000 789) though I've lost the charger. Am leaving for Edinburgh tomorrow, and I did some preliminary GoogleMapping as to stores where I can get a replacement, so that's good. I don't anticipate much Internet access this week, so Gillian, call me if you can (and e-mail, as a backup) re: meeting on Friday?

So, I'm gonna be in Europe for 16 days, and having an actual mobile phone would probably be a good idea (I'm going to 6 countries, staying with friends in 3 of them). I'm currently looking at the options I have with my current US cell phone -- renting an international phone from Verizon (complete with call-forwarding, whee!). I'm leaving the day after tomorrow, so I need to figure this out, stat. (I know, what happened to obsessively detail-oriented planner me?) Anyone have any wisdom?

( one of his disciples said to him, 'Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples. )

***

Tallessyn told us a story from Trelawney.
She's in Northern Ireland, and there's a town called "Derry" which got renamed "Londonderry" by the Protestants. So there's this enclave of Irish Republican Catholics which has this big gable mural of black letters on white background saying: "You Are Now Entering Free Derry."
For Pride, the white was painted pink :)

*

Will asked me what I was gonna do with my Mondays and Wednesdays now that ASL class is over. Without hesitation I said, "Now can I go to the gym after work again," and he shuddered. I was amused, 'cause I've gotten used to a very different culture.

We were talking about Convo, and I mentioned how I'd been looking at the schedule and it's 10pm Vespers and 7am "greet the morning," and said that the last time I went to a convention, we didn't sleep, but that's 'cause we were getting drunk and making out with people, which I didn't expect would happen at Convo. He said: You never know; I'm hoping.

I talked about what Eric had said about how Convo would ask me to change the world and how I would respond: Yeah, no. I said that I was going to hear brilliant academics speak and that I'd forgotten that there was an additional purpose to Convo. He said there'd be plenty of that (the brilliant academic stuff) at Convo and that I should always feel free to take time for myself when I needed it (he had been saying that Marla was gonna be doing like everything during Convo, and I'd commented that in looking at the schedule I felt I could skip a bunch because I wasn't gonna do the world-changing).

[above two paragraphs edited for comprehensibility]

He said and I'm more okay with evangelical style worship, right?, and I was like yeah I guess. He said there was a lot of that at Convo. I didn't mention that I tend to approach worship services as academic exercises, so....

He got asked to preach by MOSAIC, so I'm sad that I'll be getting in too late to see that.

Marla's gonna be blogging Convo. Yes, I asked for the URL. She said if I had any "experiences" (good or bad) at Convo that I wanted to tell the world about, to let her know, because she didn't think the blog should be all her, that there should be other voices (guest-bloggers).

*

Tiffany's going to a Methodist Conference at Oxford (Christ Church -- yes, having studied at Oxford I always ask "which college?" now when people mention Oxford) around the time I'm in England. I told her I was tempted to crash her Methodist conference, and she said actually she'll have a lot of blocks of free time and it would be great to see me and she'd send me the schedule. (Not that I'm trying to avoid you, of course.)

It's looking like I'll just do Saturday in Northampton this weekend (arrival 10:35am, departure 8:40pm). Thoughts? Edit: Looks like I might get to stay into Sunday after all. Would this be worth it to people? /edit

I have really got to solidify my Europe trip, as I leave in less than a month (!). ::fails:: I have booked my flight to Nashville, though, and I booked my hotel for there a while ago (though I still need to select workshops). So I don't totally fail. Part of the problem is that my trip basically ends on a Wednesday and I can't decide between coming home (and either having a long weekend or going into work just for a day) and going to like Barcelona for a few days. I think I'm gonna go with Barcelona.

For no reason other than that I wanted distraction, I read

musesfool's

spn_summergen fic. I have basically not interest in Supernatural, but I'm glad I read the fic 'cause Sam and Dean go to Sedona, and after the trip to the Southwest I took with my family I get all happy around that topic. This made me think about going again, and whereas I'm usually inclined to go places on my own, I think I'd actually wanna go with a friend/s for this (I think because I've already been there once, so I would wanna show it off to people, as opposed to how with new stuff I wanna experience it on my own -- though we would definitely hit some stuff that we didn't hit in... whatever year that was). It occurred to me that you really can't get around the Southwest without a car, and would that actually prompt me to finally learn to drive? Though if I were going with other people, they could probably drive.

***

I ordered gym shorts from Target, 'cause long pants and working out are not such a good combination, and the first time I wore them I felt really conscious of the fact that my legs are unshaven, but today I didn't really think about it, which made me feel happy and self-confident.

I did the elliptical as per usual and purposely tried to push myself. I felt like I did a good job of steadily pushing myself throughout the half hour. I still don't get that endorphin rush, but whatever.

Time:
1mi @ 11:22min
2mi @ 23:02min
2.58mi @ 30min
2.93mi post- 5minute-cooldown

I had enough time after to do some weights and still get to CAUMC on time, but I wasn't feeling up for it. However, I picked up Smart Girls Do Dumbbells from the library and started reading it, and I haven't even gotten to the part where she actually outlines exercises to do, but I am already in love with the idea of doing this. (Must add "purchasing light weights" to my To Do List.)

Edit: Oh, and Laura got one of those clip-on pedometers from Target, and I am kind of tempted to get one myself 'cause I would be really interested to see how much walking I do (though it's kind of a silly idea, since I've already plugged my commute in to Gmaps Pedometer, and I don't do a whole lot of walking besides that -- but that's part of the point, isn't it? to see how much walking you actually do, as opposed to how much you feel like you do). /edit

*

I watched a fair amount of the NBC news at the gym.

The top story at 5:30 was: body found outside building in Somerville. They said off Broadway, but Broadway runs a long way, so that wasn't helpful. The Globe article says Winter Hill, which is way at the other end of town from me.

Other news:

Tori Spelling became an ordained reverend (they didn't say through which organization, though GoogleNews results tell me it was an online course), and married a a same-sex couple at her chateau.

Lance Bass joins "Hairspray" (Broadway version). I mention this because I expect

neverneverfic will care :)

Meh, the past couple nights do not bode well for me and summer. The warm weather makes it harder for me to fall asleep, and all the water I'm drinking means I have to pee all the time.

We were coming back from getting lunch, and MaryAlice was saying she suspected she was dehydrated -- "You know that taste you get when you're dehydrated?" she said. I said no actually I didn't and proceeded to tell the story of how on our first cross-country trip my mom, having learned from experience her previous cross-country trip, made sure we were never dehydrated. Plus I'd spent the morning drinking my 27oz bottle (from CVS) of water. She said all she'd had this morning was coffee.

The weather's been fairly mild, though, so I still have an actual appetite for food, which is good -- though I think the pseudo-fullness one gets from all that water has been messing with my ability to discern what I actually want to eat (or maybe that was just tonight).

***

Tee hee from today's Metro (Transit Transcript):

South Station, June 15, 6:31 p.m. --- Officers were alerted by a station cleaner and security guard to a male and female engaged in sexual relations in the men's bathroom. Officers identified the parties and escorted them from the area.

***

I booked my hotel for Convo and found plane fare, but travelocity won't give me my password.

I also got information about the workshops, though I'm a bit confused 'cause it says "Please select EITHER a single track OR your top three workshop choices (you will be scheduled for two of the three)." but the schedule reads as follows (excerpted, of course):

Friday
3:00 PM Workshops 1
4:30 PM Workshops 2

Saturday
3:00 PM Workshops 3
4:30 PM Workshops 4

(I'm also trying to figure out why the name Amy-Jill Levine -- one of the speakers -- sounds familiar.) Edit: Got it, thanks in part to Rhi. /edit

I think I'm gonna go for the transgender workshops, 'cause I'm fairly well-grounded in queer Christian stuff (and there's always a wealth of information on that out there). And yeah, I am totally flashing to HomoCon (tm Hedy) in this whole workshop selection process.

***

I have little of interest to say about work stuff.

Full marks to Cambridge University Press website for ease of ordering.

"The Children Who Saved an Island" in Yankee which is full-size now; what up? (July 2007), the island in question -- Frenchboro, Maine -- is the island FUH has a house on, and where he'll be for his on-leave year. (There are no street names, and you just pick up your mail at the post office, but if something requires a street address -- like FedEx or UPS or whatever -- I am to make something up 'cause it'll just go to this lobsterman on the mainland anyway who'll bring it over; apparently their preferred made-up street is "Sunset Boulevard," but I can make up whatever I want.)

***

Katie and I went to the gym after work.

Since I'm only going 2-3 times/week I'm doing half-hour elliptical (interval program) and some weight room.
1mi @ 11:22min
2mi @ 22:53min
2.60mi @ 30min

I saw Prof.D. briefly and then in the locker room this woman asked me if we'd been an Extension School class a few years ago -- apparently I look v. much like someone from her "Archaeology of the Southwest" class.

Peter and I were leaving campus at the same time, so we were chatting on the walk to the Square. (He seemed surprised that I've only worked here a couple of years.)
He asked about my dogtag, so I explained, and then he was asking me about Pride, saying he didn't think of Boston as a particularly gay-friendly city.
"Okay, it's not Provincetown, or San Francisco -- Castro District," I said.
He said, "Yeah, it's not San Francisco, but it's not even New York." Checking his bio after I got home, he got his A.B. from Princeton and his PhD from Stanford. He said you think of Boston as being largely "blue collar conservative." I talked some about the size of Pride before we parted ways, but the whole conversation I was thinking about how, while admittedly in part through self-selection, I've found Boston+environs to be a fairly solidly gay-friendly place.

***

Remember that ice cream etc. place between PJ Ryans and House of Tibet Kitchen, with the Italian name I could never pronounce or remember? It's now Holland Street Cafe. I suspect I only noticed that because there's a big Brigham's Ice Cream poster in the window. I grew up with that, yo. Like Ari, I think in hyperlinks; as I was composing the entry about this on my way home, my instinct was to hyperlink in a photo of the Brigham's from my Norwood youth, and then it registered that that image exists in my brain but probably not on the internets.

***

"This woman is supposed to disgust you." (from

viggorlijah off friendsfriends; also on BFB). Not only is it an offensive sentiment, but the supposedly unattractive women look very happy (which is attractive in itself) and are really not that inherently unattractive.

Edit: It occurs to me that I now have a terrific image source for a "real women have curves" icon. (And voila. Okay, the upper text needs work, and really it should be in a curvy font, but my computer's being tetchy.)

On Thursday at the gym Rita (who works downstairs in Finance) and I were walking from the check-in counter to the locker room and she casually asked me, "What are you doing here?"
me: [very confused as to what the question was] "Uh, going to the gym?"
Rita: "You're not taking a class?"
me: "Oh, no, I'm just working out."

( Thursday gym stats )

***

Friday at lunch I forget how it came up, but MaryAlice was complaining about Ebonics. She mentioned a Wesley Snipes movie in which Wesley Snipes is cheating on his black wife with a white woman and the wife gets together with her friends, all black women who are like Yale grads, and they lapse into Ebonics to bitch about this white woman.

*

( Friday gym )

***

( Game Night at Sue's -- music, tv, Apples to Apples )

***

I left Saturday open in hopes of showing the apartment. We ended up just having one taker (though there are a couple other people OriginalRoomie still needs to get back to). Fastest showing of the apartment ever. Tufts student looking on behalf of his girlfriend who's moving up here from Miami. He was very positive about the apartment and will be in touch. I'm not getting my hopes up, of course. OriginalRoomie says there are a couple people she needs to get back to. We need someone to move in ~2months from now, so obviously we've got time, but it would be nice to get this settled soon.

I was thinking later that one of the benefits of living with your friends is that you're less likely to have such turnover. (At least OriginalRoomie's staying for next year.)

***

My mom e-mailed me: Mr. Jacobs (my 5th grade teacher, and one of my very favorites) died last week.
"Instead of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Caritas Good Samaritan Hospice [...] or the ALS Society of Dedham."
Lou Gehrig's disease? I had thought he had Parkinson's.

***

Friday morning at work I noticed someone was standing in front of my desk, so I said hi as I looked up and then realized it was John P. He's been working at the b-school, so every Singspiration he says he's gonna come see me, but he never has 'cause he's always so busy.
During our conversation he asked me: "Will we see you on Sunday?" / "Why would -- oh, Father's Day." (I'd seen plenty of ads, but it didn't really stick 'cause we never do Father's Day -- my dad being the one who's not into obligatory celebration dates and really doesn't want much in the way of gifts.)

I was telling CAUMC!Meredith how it's not like my dad would be going to church anyway (though possibly he assumed I would be coming home for Father's Day celebrations of some sort and would thus go to church) and later it was occurring to me that I should say "the church my family goes to" rather than "my parents' church" or "the church my parents go to" 'cause while I say "my parents' house" or "where my parents live," my dad never went to UCN except to see me and my brother performing; the current UCN contingent is my mom because of my my grandmother, and sometimes my brother when he's home.

Both of my churches today only mentioned Father's Day in the Prayers of the People (though CWM did a special blessing for anyone who self-identified as a father in some way, as they had for Mother's Day). I am very okay with that.

Everyone's clear on the concept that my father is awesome, right? The concept "daddy's girl" is really not how my family functions, but my father was the primary caregiver and I am so my father's daughter -- prizing honesty, intentionality, and logic; libertarian leanings, etc., though obviously I'm not a clone (of him or my mother~~, appearances to the contrary~~).

***

I checked out the new exhibit at the Nave Gallery: displacement.

It's . . . interesting.

So much modern art the accompanying explanatory text is really interesting concepts but the actual visual is kind of meh. I was thinking about how I appreciate the artwork a lot more knowing what the artist is trying to do with it, and how this is true to some degree of so much visual art (I'm thinking of looking at paintings in art museums and checking the labels to see who the portrait is of), and then of course I think of all the pomo stuff about not privileging authorial intent.

***

[Reconciling Convo] The Marla-Sean-Will room is filled up (they invited a guy from Conference) so Jeremy is starting Room 2 with Mark and Kirk. Sharon's fairly certain that Michele has a wedding to go to and so can't go to Convo. Trevanna really wants to go but hasn't (yet) been offered a permanent positiuon at her job, so she really doesn't wanna ask for days off. So do I book my own room at the Holiday Inn (hello, WriterCon), or do I crash in their room (sleeping on carpeted floors is no problem for me, btw)?

Also: Trevanna's looking for a place to move into by September, so of course I suggested my house, but sher upper limit is $475/mo (with $350/mo being preferred -- she currently makes $9/hr). Yeah, I wish her the best of luck (she's, obviously, looking at big multi-room apartments). She said if she can't find anything and has to move her price range up she'll totally be in touch.

***

Bunker Hill Day is tomorrow.

***

Edit: Is that rain I hear outside? Whee! *loves on the cool breeze*

Current Music: Catie Curtis: "Red Light" (Dreaming in Romance Languages)

As some of you may know, my birthday falls on a Monday this year. Which means

antheia's birthday falls on a Saturday. And indeed a la 2 years ago when the Saturday actually was my birthday, she is planning a big bash at some NYC bar.

This however does beg the question of when I'm gonna do a Boston celebration of my birthday.

The Saturday following my birthday is already claimed for Northampton birthday etc. celebration.

And my brother is definitely in town for the summer, which means the possibility of a joint family celebration -- complicated by the fact that I leave for the long weekend of Reconciling Convo the day after his mid-week birthday.

***

Schedule:

Saturday June 9 - Boston Pride (queer church in the morning, then somehow meeting up with people at Festival)
also: Wednesday June 13 - ~~"a regional training for the new Called to Witness initiative" (which I have until June 11th -- Monday -- to RSVP for)~~ [edit: This has been trumped by dinner at "Firefly" with an aunt&uncle I haven't seen in years. /edit]
Saturday June 16 - open
Saturday June 23 - open -- edit:
     I was looking through some old entries, and dude, Mermaid Parade!
     Alternatively, Amy picked up a flyer at Pride for gay day at Franklin Park Zoo.
     And Sue's hosting a women's potluck at 5pm that day. /edit
Saturday June 30 - great-aunt Grace's funeral in Falmouth (which I haven't yet decided if I'm going to, so I guess could do a non-family birthday celebration that day)
Saturday July 7 - NYC for

antheia et al (need to solidify crash space -- would be a convenient way to see Beth or Alexis, though it would make the most sense to crash with someone who'll actually be going out with us, and I'm not sure either of their schedules would allow that)
Monday July 9 [my actual birthday] - get taken out to lunch at work, go to Norwood for the evening and have Terry take me out for a drink
Saturday July 14 - Northampton for Emma et al (specific dates TBD)
Saturday July 21 - open
Saturday July 28 - open [edit: CWM benefit concert /edit]
Details: "CWM Benefit Concert at the Cantab Lounge in Central Square // Invite your friends for a benefit concert with the Milling Gowns headlining a diverse array of local bands." [9pm-1am]
Saturday August 4 - Reconciling Convo (Thurs. 2nd - Sun. 5th ~~-- need to talk with Marla or someone about housing~~)
Saturday August 11 and 18 - in Europe (need to solidify dates/plans) [Edit: Europe = Thursday, August 9 - Saturday, August 25 /edit ]

I totally had time to go to church (10am) with my family and even hang out at coffee hour a bit before feeling like we should head back for real brunch. I'm thinking 1pm the exercises started? The official literature (the schedule in the brochure as well as the official website) has Commencement ceremony/exercises at 10am (with "Residence houses close" at 1pm, to boot). Anyone with a better memory than I wanna chime in to assist with my making Sunday brunch date plans?

Edit: They really changed Commencement from 1pm to 10am? Why?! ::smites:: /edit

Speaking of... who's gonna be around that weekend and wanna see me? I'm getting in some time Thursday night and my only solid plans are the Read With Us sessions Friday morning (9am-1pm, including lunch) and the class dinner ('cause it looks like a lot of food for a decent price), plus of course Graduation itself. I could possibly be persuaded to do Ivy Day.

[Edit: Note to self: Remember to go to the art museum (open 10-4). /edit]

I'm also taking suggestions for things to do in Europe (London/Edinburgh/Belfast/Wales, and Prague) this summer.

While I'm abusing the information pool, also taking suggestions for a new blender, can opener, dish set, and thoughts on a new computer (I was gonna cave and get a laptop, but Eric recommends a desktop).

I misquoted that as "Life is hard, and it's fighting, and it's every day." at church book study tonight. BtVS reference ftw.

My cold has remained at low-grade status. I am behind on writeups (though currently caught up on tv watching) and feel like I haven't been very good at engaging with the flist. I'm tired and feel like I'm not accomplishing much. I have so much joy in my life, though.

I withdrew from my Medieval Church class and registered for Convo.

I have been reminded on two separate occasions this weekend how amazing my mother is. (My father is also awesome, in case that sentence seemed to imply otherwise.) And many thanks to my dearly beloved (in a gen way, of course) for continuing to put up with my crazy.

I'm also going to College Reunion (as I have mentioned before). Arriving some time Thursday night, leaving some time after Graduation ceremonies on Sunday. I am very much looking forward to seeing so many people. My only specific plans are:
* "Read With Us" sessions on Friday from 9am-1pm
* and the Saturday class dinner ("Class dinners include social hour with appetizers, salad, entrée, dessert with coffee or tea, and wine during dinner." For only $28) social hour at 5:30, class dinner at 6:30.
I suppose I should do Ivy Day.

I'm trying to start getting more specific about dates for Europe, so I started looking at festivals in Scotland, and I think I need to be in Scotland somewhere in August 11-18 to see a new version of Euripides' The Bacchae with Alan Cumming as Dionysus.
I think London-Wales-Belfast-Scotland-Prague makes the most sense, so the next step is to figure out if there's any specific time I should visit Prague. I hope to get to pick Mr. Mac's brain about this as well.
[Edit: Actually, given Trelawney's stated preference for my visiting after August 18, London-Scotland-Belfast-Wales-Prague might make more sense.]

(Sidenote: Gillian, I was at a party Saturday night and chatted with a guy who's doing a Ph.D. in Celtic at Harvard and is from Cardiff -- and apparently one of his colleagues at Harvard is a Smith grad who's doing a Wales program this summer to boot.)

Current Mood: "And we can do it together."

( Read more... )

Tiffany, Marla, etc. are pushing Convo.
It's the first weekend in August, so it wouldn't interfere with any of my other plans (birthday celebrations throughout July, the UK & Prague in mid-late August). Cheap registration is until April 30, so I have a little time to make up my mind.

I would like to get back in the habit of posting amusing professor anecdotes, even when I don't have the time/substance to post real entries.

I do look forward to eventually making posts of real substance again.

The tri-department flyout seems to have gone okay. The department-specific second-flyout is going well; Aleta's done most of the legwork on that one, which I am totally okay with. The candidate gave us each a box of See's Famous Old Time Candies. I do now endorse his candidacy for professor here :)

I'm unsure as to whether we're losing one or two faculty, so we may only be hiring one new FA (to replace Alyssa).

You would really think sites like eurail.com would be more user-friendly. Like making schedules and prices (complete with currency denotation) easily and obviously accessible.

from CAUMC tonight:
Anthony: Plato was wrong about almost everything; Plato proved that.
Trelawney: I consider Aristotle a footnote to Plato.
Anthony: They were both footnotes to Socrates.
[Emma, I thought of, but did not mention, your suggestion about Socrates being a fictitious creation.]

Current Music: Jewel - "Jupiter"

Alyssa's mad distracted with plans of her 5-week Europe trip (this summer after she leaves here and before she starts law school). I am definitely taking time off this summer but still haven't figured out what the heck I'm gonna do since everyone's working not to mention scattered geographically. So with her Europe talk I was thinking, "Well, I could visit

ladyvivien...." And I actually have money this time [as opposed to when I did the Oxford Summer Seminar], so I could actually visit the continent, maybe Spain/Portugal. Alyssa is very pro-Prague, and I remembered Mr. MacDonough (whom I'm sure would be thrilled to hear from me). So I'm now thinking two weeks: Boston-London, visit

ladyvivien, fly to Prague, fly to Barcelona, train to Lisbon?

P.S. Scheduling across three departments for a flyout next Wednesday I'm annoyed that I have to not be here tomorrow (root canal) especially since Monday's a holiday. [Why yes I am a control freak, why do you ask?]

Okay, gotta run. (I'm doing dinner for CAUMC small group tonight, plus I need to remember to pick up Dramamine.)

Current Music: Tom McRae, "Streetlight" (in my head)

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burning like matchsticks in the face of the darkness

when faced with my demons I clothe them and feed them

Entries tagged with travel: summer 2007: planning

(I kind of wanna go home already.)

cheap mobile phone for Europe?

[CWM] Ninth Sunday After Pentecost [2007-07-29]

"In Arizona at the turn of the century..."

"Come on, come on, think about all those offers..."

"Red light across a grey ocean"

summer planning

So what time does Commencement actually begin?

"Strong is fighting. It's hard, and it's painful, and it's every day. It's what we have to do."

[CWM] "Rise Up" [2007-04-22]

"swallow the moon"

"I am envious and obvious and desperate for your love"

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June 2025

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