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So now that you've all seen my battered face, I'm going to return to pictures a bit nicer to look at with the continuation of our vacation recap.

From Vermont, we scooted on into New Hampshire, which I expected to be quite similar to Vermont. After all, they're both tiny little states located in the same area. I was, however, disappointed in New Hampshire. It simply wasn't as scenic as Vermont and also had a kitschy air to it. What's up with the mini golf courses and strip malls that looked like they belong at the beach? And how in the heck does New Hampshire get away with charging $10 to take a hike (which is what was being charged to walk along the boardwalk to some water feature in the park where the Old Man in the Mountain resided before his face crumbled right off the cliff)? Isn't that such a Republican thing to do? (In case you didn't know, NH is pretty much the only red state in New England.)

But not to be completely unfair, New Hampshire did have a few cool things. For one, it's the only state where we saw a moose.

Unfortunately, it wasn't real.

Also cool were the many waterfalls along the side of the Kancamagus Highway. We stopped at three locations to enjoy them. Our first stop was Sabbaday Falls, which has two large waterfalls and one small one all in a series.




Our next stop was at Rocky Gorge, where a copy of a very, very old Reader's Digest article about a girl trapped under the falls was posted as a warning to take the "No Swimming" signs seriously. However, as you can see in the photo, the tale didn't hold much sway with the minions. It probably didn't help that the girl survived and ended up just fine. I mean, if you're trying to scare people, telling them that in the end everything turns out okay isn't really the way to do it.


Our final water feature stop was at Lower Falls, where there's not really much of a falls, but there is a cool natural waterslide similar to one we visited in Arizona last year with our friends Megan and Bryan. I was all game to try it until I stuck my toe in and it promptly fell off from frost bite. So okay, I didn't lose a toe, but I might have had I kept it in any longer. This was glacial water, and I'm pretty sure there were chunks of ice floating in it. Jeff has thicker skin than I do, so he braved it and had a good time chuting the slide.


And the final thing that was noteworthy about New Hampshire was this covered bridge. We obviously didn't seek them out, but it's the only one we saw in all of New England. I thought they'd be more prominently featured.

Before crossing into Maine, we made one last stop at Mount Washington, which is the tallest mountain in the eastern United States. I'm not, however, going to post a picture, as it's really not much more than a glorified hill...at least that's how it appears in pictures. None of the purple mountains majesty you've got going on out west. Although I would be remiss not to note that Mount Washington's summit has some of the craziest weather in the world. I can't report on that first hand, however, as we didn't want to pay simply to drive to the summit (like you could just drive up a real mountain anyhow...think I'll go drive McKinley...see you in an hour) and we didn't have the time to make the hike. Maybe another time? Or maybe not...NH isn't really on my must-return-to list.

An Interesting Day at the Lake

Over the weekend, we were in Louisville for my friend Joyce's wedding, so we decided to hang around and celebrate Jeff's 26th birthday by going to the lake on Tuesday. Going to the lake has always been one of my favorite family activities, and Jeff has come to enjoy it just as much. So we headed up to Patoka with my mom and dad for a day of fishing, swimming, and tubing.

We started out fishing and though the fish weren't flying into the boat as they often do, we still caught a fair number and had fun. (Although it wasn't so cool when one fish pooped on me. Eww. Gross.).

It was a really hot day--high 90s despite an original forecast that had it in the low 80s--so we had to go for a swim to cool off. I don't know if it's accurate to describe what we did as swimming, however, since it mainly consisted of jumping from the boat into the water over and over.



As we were swimming, a weird thing happened in that a flock of eight ducks flew down and landed right near us. They weren't at all intimidated for us and were clearly looking for a handout of food. We didn't oblige but that didn't keep them from hanging around for quite some time.



To end the day, we pulled out the tube for a spin around the lake. Jeff was up first and had a good time flying around the lake before getting thrown off and skimming right across the surface. We picked him up (none the worse for the wear) and I hopped onto the tube.




The ride was fun. I was coasting along, for the most part just flying over the water, nothing too rough.



Then, I'm not quite sure what happened but I hit a rough patch and flew off in the most awkward way possible, somehow ending up on the rope as it ripped across the water (and my face). My face was stinging but I didn't think it was much. I did reach up and notice my lip was bleeding, but I thought I'd just bit it as I flew off. As I got to the boat, however, everyone in it gasped and got very concerned about my eye. The rope had really done a number on my face. Luckily my eye itself was okay, but half my face was good and torn up and bruised. This is what I looked like when we got back to the dock...awesome boat hair included.
Looks a bit like I'm wearing war paint doesn't it?

I'm pretty sure this a birthday shot we'll always treasure.

Over the course of the evening and night it swelled more and bruised more and this is what my face looks like now, a day later. Isn't it pretty?
Luckily, it's more uncomfortable than painful. And luckily the swelling has gone done a bit since this morning, when I couldn't really open my left eye at all. And luckily, we're all done with weddings for another month. Hopefully by then you won't even be able to tell it ever happened.

Vermont (Part 2)

First stop on our second day in Vermont: The Ben & Jerry's Factory. Who doesn't like ice cream in the morning? We opted to take the tour, which didn't last very long, but which was pretty comical, even the "corporate video." It was probably the least corporate thing I've seen and quite amusing. The factory part itself is quite small, but it was cool to peek down on the pints of ice cream speeding down the belt. The best part of the tour was, of course, the tasting at the end. Our group had Half Baked. This is one of my favorites, so I was happy, but it might have been nice to taste a flavor I'd never had before. One of the highlights for us was a stop at the Flavor Graveyard, where tombstones with stirring elegies, paid tribute to flavors that have passed away.

A pint of Americone Dream later we were on our way to the Northeast Kingdom. How awesome is that name? I want to live in a Kingdom! The Northeast Kingdowm, for those of you not in the know, is a collection of towns in the (surprise, surprise) northeast section of Vermont. All of the towns are small and idyllic. We enjoyed a picnic lunch in Craftsbury Common (see pictures from the first trip entry) before heading over to Lake Willoughby.

Lake Willoughby is a glacial lake wedged between Mt. Pisgah and Mt. Hor. It's stunning, especially when viewed from above, so we made the hour's ascent to the top of Mt. Pisgah. As we neared the top, we began to encounter pine trees and the air smelled crisp and sweet like Christmas. It was a great hike.

Back down the mountain, we proceeded just a few miles further to our night's accommodations: the Village Inn of East Burke. What a great find! A small bed and breakfast, the rooms are large and nicely decorated and out back there's a jacuzzi, a burbling brook with a fire pit beside it, and a large garden from which you're welcome to help yourself. The breakfast was something else too...homemade toast and jam, produce straight from the garden, fresh eggs. Mmm. We're already making plans to go back to this place...maybe to take advantage of their winter time ski packages.

We ended our time in Vermont with a dinner at Juniper's at the Wildflower Inn. The food wasn't anything to write home about, but the view was spectacular. We sat on an enclosed back patio and watched the sun set into the valley as butterflies and hummingbirds fluttered nearby. If it didn't get so darn cold in winter, I'd seriously consider moving to Vermont. If you haven't been, go. It's a great place.

Vermont (Part 1)

Of all the states we visited on our trip, Vermont just might have been our favorite. It was simply beautiful. The drives were never boring; there was always something scenic to look at. And the towns were friendly, walkable, and very homey.

We started out in the Lake Champlain Islands, which lie between Burlington, VT and Plattsburgh, NY, and which are just a bit south of Canada. We drove from South Hero to North Hero and over to Alburg. All are tiny little places and the entire set of islands is very popular with bikers. We hopped from place to place, with our first stop Allenholm Orchard. It wasn't quite apple season yet, but we enjoyed browsing the other goods--maple syrup, maple candy, farm fresh produce--and checking out the small petting zoo area.

From the orchard, we headed to the local winery, Snow Farm Vineyards, where we did a tasting and then picked up a bottle of red along with some cheddar, a tomato, and a cucumber. The tomato and cucumber were "pay what you want," which was cool.

Right by the vineyard is the field I mentioned below, where hundreds of bird houses adorned a field. As I was snapping pictures of the tree art, Jeff ran into the owner of the land out on a walk. Apparently, the houses are home to tree swallows, which eat mosquitoes, thus allowing the man and his wife to sit outside without getting eaten up. He put up his first houses fifteen years ago, starting with just 20. His wife is the one who convinced him to paint them in all the different bold colors. After the first year, he checked out the houses and realized that almost every one was occupied. He's continued to add new houses each year and now has over 400 houses with at least a 70% occupancy rate. Pretty cool. And pretty to look at too.

Moving on from South Hero to North Hero, our next stop was North Hero's Welcome, a general store that sells just about everything you can imagine, including the loaf of bread we purchased. Then it was on to Lakes End Cheeses to pick up some goat cheese. Jeff rang the bell as directed and was served by the goat below while I was admiring the geraniums growing in an old pair of boots. (Okay, not really, the goat was just looking for food, and we had to go inside to purchase the cheese from a human.)

With a full picnic now in hand, we enjoyed a picnic lunch at Alburg Dunes State Park, where Jeff also braved the cold water for a swim. I, unable to handle the cold, read in the sunshine instead.

Touring the islands took most of our day, but we rolled into Burlington in the evening and had a very delicious dinner at a place called Daily Planet. (I highly recommend the shrimp tempura appetizer.) Burlington has a very nice pedestrian downtown area that we enjoyed wandering as it got dark. We also tried the brew at the Vermont Pub & Brewery. I can't say I was all that impressed, but then again, beer doesn't really ever do much for me.

Two Articles

My first ever feature article appeared in this past Sunday's Frederick News Post. I have to add a new category to the Clips page of my Web site, and I haven't figured out how to do that yet, so if you want to read it, you have to go the FNP site. Hopefully I'll add it to my Web site this weekend, and you can then check it out on www.theresablackinton.com. Mr. Lew Wade was an interesting subject, and I enjoyed interviewing him.

I also made my debut in a major national publication this month. A tiny little blurb (and I do mean tiny) appears in the September edition of National Geographic Traveler. You can find my blurb on page 55 in the Under $150 section of Hotel Central. I wrote the section on the Juniper Lane Guesthouse on San Juan Island. Unfortunately in giving me credit, Traveler misspelled my last name. Oh well, what can you do? I'm hoping to follow-up sometime soon with a piece that's a bit longer. And who knows, maybe one day, my name (correctly spelled) will be attached to one of their feature articles. Now wouldn't that be cool?

Cape Cod: Days 1 & 2

The first stop on our New England road trip was Cape Cod. Nearly the entire way up to the Cape, it rained. And not just a sprinkle. It rained sheets, buckets, cats & dogs. Not a fortuitous start to to our trip...especially since we were going to be camping the first two nights. Luckily, the rain disappeared, leaving behind beautiful skies, such as those seen in the picture below taken on Nauset Light beach on the Cape Cod National Seashore.

It was a little too chilly for swimming, but it was nice to walk around. The expanse of the ocean is something I never get tired of. And we spotted a seal off shore. It was a beautiful scene of blues and white, with the brown sand serving as the perfect contrast. And up the dunes were a couple of houses perfectly reminiscent of those that appear in paintings by Edward Hopper.

The lighthouse below lends its name to the beach above. After visiting the beach, Jeff and I headed down to the tip of the Cape, to Provincetown, for the evening. In a word, P-town (as the locals call it), is flamboyant. Rainbow flags arch across the street (is it ironic that we saw a real rainbow right out over the harbor?), galleries show off bold artwork, and transvestites strut down the streets just begging for you to stare. We had an entertaining time people watching. Dinner wasn't particularly memorable, but the malasadas we had after dinner were perfectly sweet and hot out of the grease.

With the rain completely gone, we had a good night's sleep in our tent...the tent that looked so terribly tiny compared to nearly everyone else's set up. We have a backpacking tent. A small structure that weights just a couple of pounds, which can be put up in a mere minute, which you cannot even begin to think about standing up in, and which has just the right amount of room for Jeff and I and nothing else. Everyone else at this campground had tents as our big as our living room, tents that had rooms, tents that connected to other tents through tunnels. Tents for eating in and tents for sleeping in and tents for just hanging out in. And that's not even to start in on the RVs...oh dear lord. This was our first experience car camping (versus backwoods camping), and it was an education.

Anyhow, we spent our second day on the Cape in the saddle, bike saddle that is. The Cape Cod Rail Trail runs 22 miles and takes you past freshwater ponds, beaches, farmer's markets and through some of the Cape's towns. It was a good way to get a look at the Cape while enjoying the beautiful weather.

The entire trail was very idyllic. I mean, how rough can life be while sitting in an Adirondack chair next to your sailboat on the edge of a lovely pond, perhaps enjoying a view of lovely waterlilies?

After our bike ride (which included a really delicious lunch of a crabcake sandwich and a curry chicken wrap from a place called Blue Willow), we grabbed ice cream at JT's. I was struck by the sheer number of ice cream joints on the Cape. It was wild. I don't think there's that many ice cream shops in Florida, or somewhere with a much longer ice cream season. (I do think there might, however, be more Cape Cod style houses in Florida (or anywhere else) than there are on Cape Cod. That was another thing that struck me. How did that style of house come to be called a Cape Cod when there aren't even that many on the Cape? Hmmm?).

Ok...back to the topic at hand. We spent the afternoon at the Cape Cod League baseball game, and then grabbed dinner at a place in Chatham called Kreme & Kone. The name isn't very revealing, as it's actually a place to get heaping plates of fried seafood. Jeff had a clam strip platter and I had a fish sandwich. Thank God I passed on the platter, because Jeff's came with a mountain of onion rings and fries that was more than enough for the two of us. Mmm, mmm fried goodness. And yes, it was good, but I'm pretty sure I could feel my arteries clogging with each bite.

How I went to sleep with all that in my stomach is a mystery I can't explain, but we again slept well (I've yet to have a bad night in the tent...it's kind of surprising but I sleep like a baby whenever we camp), and then headed out the next day, destination Vermont.

What's a Vacation Without Baseball

One major theme to our trip was baseball. I know...shocking. We ended up going to three games during our trip (we also went to an Orioles game the day before our trip). We pretty much picked our vacation days based on when we could fit all these games in, and despite one of the games being delayed a day by rain, we managed to make it to all three: a Cape Cod Baseball League playoff game, a Red Sox game at Fenway, and a Yankees game at Yankee Stadium.

The Cape Cod League is the premier summer baseball league for college players. We caught one of the very last games of the season. It's a very cool atmosphere. Admission is free, the games are played at high school fields, pitchers who aren't in the days rotation walk around selling raffle tickets and giving out high fives, and boy do the fans come out in support. The hardcore fans come out in advance of the game and leave their lawn chairs to mark their spots. Later fans crowd in so much that I counted people ten deep around the first and third base lines. And kids are everywhere...watching, playing, hoping for foul balls, collecting player's autographs. Two Rice players were on the team we watched play. I think this picture shows one of them at bat.

Fenway--hallowed ground in the world of baseball and Jeff had never been. It's a small, intimate stadium that's home to a popular team so tickets are hard to come by. It's not uncommon to have to pay an arm and a leg for tickets. Fortunately, we were able to get two tickets down the right field line for only an arm. It was worth it. Here's Jeff outside the gates.

And here's a view of the stadium from center field. We got there quite early so that Jeff could check out the place.

I think Fenway has to be one of the best places to watch a game. All of the seats are close to the field...none of the nosebleed sections so popular in today's gigantic stadiums. And the atmosphere is fantastic. Everyone is at the game to watch the game and cheer for their team. The lead was traded back and forth in the last few innings of the game, and the Red Sox fans were on their feet the whole time. In the end, the Red Sox couldn't pull it off, but the game was great fun anyways.

Completing Jeff's visit to the three classic baseball stadiums (we visited Wrigley a few summers ago) was a trip to Yankee Stadium. It couldn't compare to Fenway, but I'm glad we got a chance to see a game there before it becomes history.

Jeff had fun playing sports photographer during the game. He caught some good action shots. Here's two of them.

More vacation posts to come, but probably not until next week. We leave for Asheville tomorrow.

We're Back

Unfortunately, vacation is over. But we had a great time and saw a ton. It might take me a while to get around to posting a fully illustrated summary. We have a reception to attend in Asheville this weekend and a wedding to attend in Louisville next weekend. So free time is a little hard to come by. But to tide you over, I'll try to post a few fun pictures each day to give you a taste of the trip. Hope you enjoy.

An afternoon on the Cape Cod beaches.

Five of over four hundred bird feeders in a small field on South Hero, Vermont.

A picnic lunch in Craftsbury Commons in Northeast Kingdom, Vermont.

Leaves floating in a pond under a wooden bridge in Acadia National Park.

On the Road Again

Jeff and I leave for vacation tomorrow. This year we've decided to take advantage of our location and explore the Northeast, an area neither of us are too familiar with. As usual, we've packed a ton of stuff into our days. We're thinking of this trip as a sampler, a highlights tour. Try a little bit of a lot of places, and if we find something we really like, then we can always go back. Here's the general itinerary.

Friday, August 10: Cape Cod, Massachusetts
We hope to arrive in the early afternoon and will spend the day exploring a few towns and maybe checking out the beach (although it looks like it might be a bit cool). In the evening, we plan to catch a Cape Cod League baseball game. We'll be camping that night at Sweetwater Forest.

Saturday, August 11: Cape Cod, Massachusetts
We're planning to spend the day biking the Cape Cod Rail Trail, which will take us to quite a few towns and by the National Seashore. We will also visit Provincetown.

Sunday, August 12: Burlington, Vermont and Lake Champlain Islands
We'll leave the Cape early and head for the Burlington area of Vermont, where we plan to check out the islands in Lake Champlain and do a bit of wandering around the "big" town of Burlington.

Monday, August 13: Northeast Kingdom, Vermont
Our first stop on our way out of Burlington will be at the Ben & Jerry's factory for a tour. Then we'll head up into the Northeast Kingdom to check out some cute towns and do a bit of hiking. We hope to go up Mt. Pisgah for the stunning view of Lake Willoughby. We'll spend the night in the town of East Burke

Tuesday, August 14: New Hampshire
We'll spend the day making our way across New Hampshire, spending most of our time in the White and Presidential mountains doing some hiking. We'll then cross into Maine and stop for the night somewhere along the path to Acadia.

Wednesday, August 15: Acadia National Park
We'll spend the day exploring Acadia...hiking, checking out the rocky beaches, pounding lobster, biking. We'll then camp at Blackwoods Campground.

Thursday, August 16: Maine Coast to Portland, Maine
We'll make our way down the Maine coast to Portland (with a stop in Freeport for the L.L. Bean store).

Friday, August 17: Maine Coast to Boston
We'll spend the day making our way down the coast of Maine, stopping at any towns that catch our fancy before ending up in Boston, where we'll catch a Redsox game at Fenway.

Saturday, August 18: Boston to Connecticut
We'll spend most of the day seeing the sights of Boston before heading down to the area of Connecticut not far outside of New York City for the night.

Sunday, August 19: New York City
We'll head into the city for the 1:05 Yankees game, then visit a few sites and spend the night in the city at the hotel we booked for a whopping $19.31. (Don't worry, it's not sketchy, we just got one hell of a deal. It's the Tudor Hotel at the United Nations.)

Monday, August 20: New York City to Home
We'll see a bit more of the city that never sleeps before heading home, exhausted I'm sure and in need of another week off work just to recuperate.

It should be a lot of fun though. We'll get to see a lot, do a lot of outdoors stuff, and visit a few cool cities. Here's hoping for good weather and safe roads.

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Alexandria, VA

I know you've all been curious forever. So check out my most recent article on my website or on the Frederick News-Post site.

Today I did an interview with a 92 year old former DJ and country musician for an assignment with the Frederick News-Post. I can't scoop myself, so you'll have to read the article when I get it written and it's published. Pretty interesting guy though, and all I can hope is that I am as sharp-witted, funny, and able-bodied as he is when I reach that age.

Happy Anniversary to Us

On Monday, Jeff and I celebrated our anniversary in style...presidential-candidate style. Just like John and Elizabeth Edwards, who happen to also have been married on July 30, we had our anniversary dinner at Wendy's. Ahhh. Romantic, isn't it?

Don't fret. The romance isn't already that dead. I was just out of town all weekend and didn't get in until late on Monday, so Wendy's was one of the few available options. And knowing that would be the case, we went ahead and celebrated on Friday with a big dinner out. Two years already. It's flown by.

Food is Good

This past weekend, Jeff and I went to Seattle for the wedding of Alison and Chris. I'm working on getting up some photos from that, but in the mean time, I thought I'd post some other pictures from the weekend.

One of my favorite things about Bainbridge Island is the food. Many yummy things can be found on the island, and I like to indulge in my favorites while I am there. So this is a post dedicated to pictures of food.

On Saturday mornings, there's a great farmer's market. There are all kinds of vegetables.

There's also really delicious bread. I like to buy chocolate croissants from this vendor.

And Jeff got a chocolate peanut butter cookie from this stand, which also sells some good looking berry pies.

Here's a close-up on some berries. Mmmm.


And here are some lovely flowers you can purchase.

If you watch the Food Network, you may recognize this place. Cafe Nola was featured on the very first episode of Giada's Weekend Getaways. We'd been going there long before it ever showed up on TV...I think I went on my very first trip to Bainbridge five years ago. She went for brunch...I've only been for lunch and dinner. It's been delicious every time. I had porcini risotto cakes this past weekend, and they didn't disappoint.


And what's a day without dessert? Jeff and I shared this three-scoop ice cream cone from Mora Ice Creamery. They really know how to do ice cream there. We taste tested just about every flavor before deciding on cinnamon, chocolate mousse, and mango. As much as I love chocolate, I think cinnamon was my favorite. Really, really good.

Remember When Summer Meant Doing Nothing?

Sorry for the lack of posts, but July is a crazy month for me. Last weekend I was in Atlantic City for Joyce's bachelorette party, I leave today for Seattle for Alison's wedding, and next weekend I'll be in Louisville for Joyce's shower. I've hardly had time to catch my breath, more of less do or read anything worth posting about.

I'm not convinced August will be any better, although at least some of the travel we'll be doing then is for ourselves. Jeff and I are taking vacation from August 10-19. We're doing a roadtrip from here to Maine and back. This is pretty much our last summer in the area (we hope), so we figured we needed to see it all while we are close. We're going to a Yankees game and a Red Sox game. We're hitting Cape Cod to catch the end of the Cape Cod League. We're camping in Acadia National Park. We hope to go to the mountains in New Hampshire, tour the Ben & Jerry's factory in Vermont, and see some cute little towns. Problem is, we haven't really had much time to plan. We have one hotel booked, one night of camping, and one set of baseball tickets. Eek! We don't want to overplan...it's a roadtrip afterall...but if you know me, you know I don't like not to have things figured out.

So help us out. What are your favorite places in Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Maine? Any and all recommendations would be most welcome!

Down with the Pope

CNN Article -- Vatican: Non-Catholics Not True Christians

I find this to be so infuriating. Why is this what the church is concerned about? In a world that is so full of trouble, I find it disgusting that the church uses its energy and influence to dwell on such petty issues. It is simply another example of the church's intolerance and strutting I'm-better-than-you behavior.

And why is religion more important than faith? It seems to me that Jesus seemed to put more stock on faith. After all, he certainly didn't follow his own religion, Judaism, all that closely. It seems that the church is acting very much like the scribes and the pharisees that Jesus himself condemned, saying they were more concerned with appearances and the letter of the law than the spirit of the law.

I'm so down on organized religion. It certainly seems to cause more division than unity, to preach intolerance instead of tolerance, to offer much criticism but few solutions.

It's Live!

Thanks to my brother Gregory's assistance with design and HTML, I have a Web site for my freelance writing. Check it out at www.theresablackinton.com. Please let me know if you find any errors. There were some difficulties with embedded fonts (thanks, Word), and while I tried to catch them all, I was pretty tired towards the end of my work. I'll be going over it with a fine-tooth comb this week, but extra sets of eyes would be most helpful. I don't want to send it out to any editors until I feel pretty confident that there aren't any glaring errors!

Also, I have a new article out today in the Frederick-News Post. You can read it here on my Web site or here on the Frederick News-Post Web site.

Front to Back, Back to Front

If you're reading a magazine, do you read every article in it or just specific ones that seem interesting to you? I'm definitely a read-it-all kind of gal, which can make magazine reading a time-consuming process. We get a lot of magazines: The New Yorker, Smithsonian, National Geographic Traveler, National Geographic Adventure, Outside, and Budget Travel. None of which are particularly "light" reading, although only the New Yorker and Smithsonian are particularly heavy. Anyhow, I just can't retire a magazine until I know I've read every bit of it. I might not be especially interested in particle accelerators (the topic of a recent article in the New Yorker), but I read it anyway. I mean, if I only read articles about things that interest me, how would I ever learn anything new. Not to say I'm now an expert on particle accelerators or hedge funds or Richard Branson or glaciology or Alexandria, Egypt, but I do have a little tiny germ of knowledge and could say something semi-intelligent if any of the above ever came up in conversation. Or maybe by reading an article, I'll find out that I really am interested in the subject and seek out more information on it. Who knows?

Jeff, on the other hand, only reads select articles from each of the magazines. As I read (I almost always readthe magazines first), I turn down the corners to indicate articles that I think he might be interested in. Then he just peruses the contents page and my marked pages and picks out what he wants to read and reads only that. I think he's missing out, but considering he doesn't read as much as I do, he'd have huge piles of to-be-read magazines if he didn't. So I guess it works out, but now who am I going to discuss glacioloy with?

Name Our Child (Um, I Mean Web site)

Jeff and I are looking to start up a Web site for our upcoming around the world trip. It's still about a year away but we want to begin documenting the process and getting the site up to speed. But we have one big problem...we can't come up with a name. Seriously, I do not look forward to the day we decide to have a child. I can't imagine what trying to name one of those will be like!

So we're soliciting help. Please place your suggestions in the comment section (yes, lurkers too.) We need all the ideas we get. To see if your idea is a possibility, you can visit http://www.pcnames.com/, which lets you know if the domain name is available.

Some of the ideas we have come up with so far include:
laptheglobe
blowingtheinheritance
noplacetoofar

The name should be easy to remember, not look too odd when all the words are mashed together, and be descriptive of our trip (which will be backpacker style through Southeast Asia, Africa, and South America).

Go!

Thoughts of the Day

1. Happy 19th Birthday, Mark! Enjoy your last year of being a teenager. It won't be long before it will seem that the "teen" years were so long ago.

2. If I worked from home, I think I'd be fat. Whenever I get stuck with my writing or bored or whatever, I find myself munching. Two strawberries here. A marshmallow there. A handful of nuts. An olive. A piece of cheese. Anything small and bite-size is a prime candidate for a snack.

3. After this weekend, I only have one more weekend at home before my life gets insane. From July 14 to Labor Day, we're out of town practically every weekend...most of it for weddings or wedding-related events. I'm very happy for everyone whose wedding we're attending, but Lord, I'm a little overwhelmed. Remember when summer meant doing nothing?

4. Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad. 32 years (yesterday)!

Happy First Day of Summer!

I'm going to head to a farmer's market to get out of the office and enjoy a little summer sunshine.

I also have plans for tonight but they're not particularly summery, although fun. My friend Lisa got free tickets to a performance at the music center right next to my home and invited me to go along with her. So we're going to go to a performance in which the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra plays the soundtrack of the Wizard of Oz as it is shown on a big screen. Doesn't that sound like fun? I know Gregory, he of a million viewings of the Wizard of Oz, is jealous.

To Rice Be True

Yesterday, Rice played Louisville in the opening game of the College World Series. I clearly have ties to both, as Rice is my alma mater and Louisville is my hometown team (and the alma mater of my father and the place where my brother is getting his graduate degrees). And while I knew I was for Rice, I thought that I'd approach the game fairly even-keeled. I would be happy in some way regardless of who won, right?

Um, apparently, wrong. As soon as the game started, my true feelings burst out. I was for Rice, and I was for Rice totally and completely. When Louisville put that first run on the board, I was not happy. When Louisville looked like they were going to trounce Rice, I was pissed. And when Rice ended up pulling it out, I was completely relieved.

I guess alma mater does count for something. (Although I think what mattered most wasn't that it was Rice, but that it was Rice baseball, and that's probably the most intimate tie I have to my alma mater. I'm not sure I'd care so much if it were anything else.)

Anyhow, now that that game's over, Go Cards.

But most of all, Go Owls!

A True Classic

Isn't it nice to know that in a world where it's practically impossible to find something as simple as blades for your razor because after just a year it's considered an "outdated" model, there are some things that stand the test of time? Like Nancy Drew. Apparently a movie version of Nancy Drew comes out this weekend. I'm not a movie person, so I won't be going to see it, but I like to know that it's there, and that it's still considered relevant.

And what's most impressive about it is that Nancy Drew isn't just a relic of my childhood, but of my mother's too. I used to get new Nancy Drew books for my birthday or other occasions (I loved the ones that had two stories in one book, each starting from a different end of the book and oriented in the opposite direction. I keenly remembering having "The Secret of the Old Clock" and "The Hidden Staircase" in a version like that.), but I also remember reading my mom's copies of the books, the ones she'd had since she was a child. In fact, Nancy Drew's been around since my grandma was a child, debuting in 1930! And while she's evolved, and while a number of authors, all under the pen name Carolyn Keene, have penned Nancy's stories, I think it's pretty cool that she's managed to survive all these years. I hope if I ever have a daughter, Nancy Drew's still around for her to enjoy.

What Summer Tastes Like

If you have an icecream maker, then you need to make this. If you don't have one, you need to go buy one, and then make this.


It was so easy and so delicious. Light, sweet...just like summer.


Simply Strawberry Sorbet

Ingredients

3/4 cup sugar
6 tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 pints (about 1 1/2 pounds or 6 cups) fresh-picked strawberries, rinsed, patted dry, and hulled
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

preparation

Make the simple syrup: In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar, water, and salt. Cook, stirring, until the sugar and salt have dissolved, about 3 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes.

In a blender, purée the strawberries with the syrup and lemon juice until very smooth (you may need to divide this into several batches if your blender is not extra-large). If desired, strain through a fine-mesh sieve for a smoother texture. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, at least 4 hours or overnight.

Churn in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions. Store, tightly covered, in the freezer...if you don't eat it all right away.

The Best Popsicles Ever

This afternoon Jeff and I went to the Asian supermarket in search of dumpling wrappers so we could try our hand at making homemade potstickers. (I'll let you know how that goes.) We found the wrappers and all kinds of other goodies, many of which were quite unusual. The find of the day, however, was these.




I've been looking for these forever...probably even longer than I've been looking for the previously mentioned and miraculously found Pudding Pops. And although most of you just won't get it, I'm sure my family remembers these most awesome popsicles as might anyone who played t-ball, softball, or baseball in the Louisville CSAA during the 80s and early 90s.




Who would have thought that they'd sell them at the Asian market? And who would have thought the image on the package would be so, um, odd?