I’m about 3/4 through a major software release. Let’s just say it’s quite an experience indeed!
Not much happening otherwise. I made an ultra-groovy social distortion tank top from Oak’s old t-shirt. It’s very punk, and possibly even office punk with a button down shirt over it, but a tad small and tight. Whoops. I haven’t exactly mastered the art of sewing OR my sewing machine quite yet, but I am impressed that I had a wearable result. so, ding! I will have to post pictures soon – I still have to hem the bottom, but I had to get some black thread first!
Possible upcoming projects: curtains, simple hand bag, and doggy shirt for Lucy. We shall see!
Tomatoes are in season here in North Carolina. In season tomatoes are the perfect opportunity to harbor one of my obsessions, the tomato sandwich.
Preferably on heated bread with butter, the tomato sandwich is a nice alternative to meat or peanut-butter filled sandwiches. And I’m sure, much healthier as well (depending on how much butter you use, I suppose..).
I have made Oak stop twice on our way home from weekend adventures at the state Farmers Market, which has a variety of straight-from-the farm vegetables. I even got a “Carolina gold” tomato. I haven’t tried it yet, but it sure is pretty. I bet it could be attractive in a tomato salad or salsa of some sort.
The obession shall continue until Pepper season, in which I will eat way too many red and orange peppers. Ding!
Oak and I went to Myrtle beach over the weekend. Word to the wise: Do drive to Myrtle Beach on a Saturday in the middle of the summer. Can we say insane? I think we can. Other than that, though, we had great big hunks ‘o’ meat at Liberty Steakhouse. Yummers.
Can you tell I am writing this during my lunch break? I have food on the brain, yo.
Last week Oak, Matt and I drove to DC to see Eve 6 one last time! The Capitol building in the background was extremely punk rock. If only I had realized they wouldn’t really CHECK for cameras, so much. Darn. We did get partially trampled by crazy moshing people (yikes!). Oak and the hippy dude standing next to us were good body guards though, by pushing them away periodically. Ding. Why you would mosh to Eve 6 music, I am not sure. Those people obviously had some pent up negative energy or something!
Alex met up with us in DC, and we got some beers and din-din before the show. I was impressed with the metro, it is so much cleaner and easier to understand than the one in New York. Plus you can actually usually understand the person on the train that announces the stations – haha. I look forward to returning to DC for some shopping and visiting more of the Smithsonian sometime soon.
Tomorrow is 23. Only 7 years until I forever remain 29 years old!
I think they should automatically give you your birthday off of work, don’t you?
Who from LeRoy recalls Mr. MacKenzie, the beloved Geometry and Calculus teacher? (leave a comment! I know someone must be reading this!) He is most famed for his panic button sticker that hung on the side board (”Don’t push it!”) and the phrase “plug and chug” for variable substitution. He also had this sign, “Think” that sat on the file cabinet. Sometimes he would dramatically point at is head and say, “Just think!” and then point at the sign.
It turns out this “Think” thing originated at IBM, which I randomly found today on our intranet. Who knew? 
I believe I still have my “panic button” necklace pendant that Jules got for me to celebrate the end of Course II.
Did you also know that IBM is a proponent of talking sushi? Now you do.
Enough of the geekiness!
This weekend was coastal Georgia. We wondered, nobody ever says, “I’m going to Georgia for a vacation.” We hear Outer Banks, Myrtle Beach, and Florida, but somehow poor Georgia gets the shaft. So we had to investigate.
Our first of the islands, Jekyll Island, we thought answered this question. Sure it was lush green and had a nice beach, but there wasn’t much to do. What-ever! So we ventured on to St. Simons. More of the hip, happening environment we were used to encountering at the beach. There were even Carnies (unfortunately, I did not get any pictures. Darn!).
Sunday we headed to Cumberland Island, which is a national park. To get there you have to go on a 45-minute ferry ride. You have a bunch of strict preservation rules to follow; there are no garbage cans so you have to carry all your trash around, no food for sale or vending machines – you need to bring a picnic, and you’re not allowed to walk on certain parts of the sand dunes because sea turtles are making nests at this time of year! There’s also about 200 wild horses living on the island.
We took a guided tour of the island, and I’m very glad we did so instead of taking the tour ourselves. Our guide was full of information and she actually made it interesting – more than I can say for most of the social studies teachers I’ve had in my lifetime. I thought the most interesting part of the island was the ruins of Dungeness. Cumberland Island was THE hip hangout for the Carnegie family in the early 1900s. They made this huge pimped out “cottage” with 9 bathrooms (back when having plumbing alone was quite a feat). There was even a “sports complex” with an indoor pool. When you were a guest at Dungess, they had you for months at a time. Can you imagine?
I was very disappointed to hear, though, that women had none of the outdoor fun that the men did. They all sat under this big flower canopy and did embroidery or other such handiwork and had “witty conversations” – aye yi yi. Because back then, having a tan was like the bane of all existence for women. Now in the middle of winter when we’re all pasty, we wish for a caribbean vacation to get some color.
Speaking of color, we both got a bit of pink! After our tour we spent some time at the beach, where Oak enjoyed laying in the warm tide pools. We ate the lunch we brought and hiked our way back to the dock for the ferry. Oh, and yes, the comic relief on our tour was provided by a little boy that kept getting into everything, including trying to eat some horse poo.
The weekend was lots of fun, but exhausting. I need some extra sleep tonight!
Stay tuned for the next adventure.
