A few pics from hang gliding this summer. We were towed by an ultralite up one mile and then released. It took about half an hour to glide down. I have to admit, once the tow rope was released I began to internally freak out but managed to talk myself down. I couldn't exactly get off that ride now could I so I might as well enjoy it. And I did after that. Sonny (the instructor) showed me how to manipulate my body weight in order to turn the glider.
Tim striding across the airstrip. We wasted a ton of time trying to figure out where we needed to go--there were a bunch of college-age kids hanging around and we heard them say that they'd been there since 11 (our reservation was for 2) so we got a bit worried. We finally figured out they were there to skydive not hang glide. And we eventually figured out that we needed to cross the airstrip and go out to the middle of a field where a couple of hang gliders were along with a guy sitting behind a table. Lo and behold it was Sonny, our instructor. He had us sign and initial several forms, none of which we really read. Sonny just pointed out where we needed to initial and would say "scary stuff, sign here," "scary stuff, sign here," "more scary stuff, sign here."
Yay! The hang glider.
Sonny and I all hooked up. It took maybe 10 minutes since we arrived before I was in this thing. I figured it would be best if I didn't think too hard about what was going to happen.
And I really wish I had taken my camera up with me. But Tim said the battery died soon after he took this photo so I guess it doesn't really matter.
Would I do it again? Absofuckinglutely. In fact Tim and I have discussed going in the spring and this time being towed up to 10,000 feet. Yikes.
Had a lot of fun yesterday with my brother and his two kids at the aquarium. They were super excited about it (Gavin's been asking me forever when we could go). I got four free tickets for my volunteer service and originally Gloria was supposed to come with us but their two-year-old got sick and they didn't want to subject my parents to more illness.
So cute!
So for the first time, I've bought myself some pepper spray, largely because of this. I take the bus, the light rail, the subway around town and, to be honest, I mostly see people being really sweet with one another (for instance, I was waiting for the light rail a few weeks ago when a guy said something to me. I popped my ear buds out fully expecting to be asked for money when he said "Sorry...I didn't mean to interrupt you jamming but I wanted to tell you that your hair looks lovely in the sunlight. [!!!!}).
Of course, these are adults. The two times I've felt threatened were by kids--one, a large white kid who was wearing a wool skull cap in the middle of July and who reminded me a bit of my old housemate who played free jazz guitar. He was going from seat to seat, leaning in really close (only to women) and growling "you got a dollar? You don't have a dollar? A dollar?" Asshole junkie. No, I don't have a dollar. For you.
Generally I feel pretty safe walking around downtown though I have had a few scary run-ins. Oh. And of course there was my stalker who I still see occasionally but who has left me alone since I freaked out and yelled at him. Thank fucking god. Still, every time I do see him, I fill with murderous rage that I allowed him to scare me for so long. God, there are such assholes in the world. I'm not putting up with that shit any more. Anyone who approaches me with ill intent is getting a full blast in the face. You've been put on notice, Baltimore (and D.C.).
To be honest though, I really, really want one of these.
Goddamn author in Australia.
Why would you return a manuscript by snail mail to your publisher in the United States? Just because you send me an email telling me you’ve put it in the mail three days before the deadline does not mean you’ve made the deadline. In fact, you’ve just royally fucked my schedule because I will have to wait for this thing to arrive at least two more weeks. Goddamn it!
I was out again yesterday with the bug. Yeah, yeah, I know I should go to the doctor but I'm beginning to feel better. Swear! Also I've been bad about taking my cholesterol medicine so I don't want my doctor yelling at me (I know...stupid). This whole illness thing has really screwed up my diet...I tend to go for comfort foods when I'm sick (even though I can't really taste them) so I need to get back on track with that. And I need to get back to running (but it's cooooold, I whine in my head). I'm definitely joining the gym here at the university--it's only $50 per semester. And then I will have no more excuses for not running.
What is your daily commute like? What is the weirdest thing you've seen on that commute?
Submitted by E.
My daily commute is usually around 2 hours each way on the train. It's not too bad as long as things are going well but things often don't and the commute stretches to ridiculous lengths. I'm probably going to move closer to D.C. (sob--I'll miss you Baltimore!) as soon as my lease is up at the end of May.
Weird things I've seen on my commute:
A guy flashing the train from the woods outside Greenbelt
An upsidedown SUV that had obviously fallen from the overpass with two stunned looking police officers standing next to it.
The SWAT team running with guns drawn through Union Station (i've seen that a couple of times actually).
Naked protestors at the Columbus statue outside the train station (protesting Columbus Day naturally)
Five Buddhist monks in saffron robes carrying shopping bags
A motorboat beached underneath an underpass in Baltimore City that someone was obviously using as a place to live (and I have no idea how they got it there--the creek is too shallow to have come by water and there's no road there either).
Though I'm still sick. Sucks. But at least I'm not as worse off as my mom who also started getting sick the same time I did. She's been having coughing spasms where she can't breathe or talk and then throws up at the end of them. Her doctor thinks she might have whooping cough! Yikes. I just have the occasional coughing fit, a sore throat, and a headache from coughing so much. And everything tastes gross.
And I missed MJ's big birthday bash on Saturday, which bums me out. I'd been looking forward to meeting the boyfriend but alas, I didn't think MJ and/or her guests would appreciate having Typhoid Mary in the house. And what further sucks about that is I didn't cancel the room reservation at the Marriott in Alexandria in time to not be charged. Luckily, it wasn't that expensive--it was less expensive than that crappy room in an Econolodge I stayed in a few weeks ago!
Enough whining. In other news, I got new glasses! And I got the cool Transitions lenses...which are actually a bit dorky, I know. The only thing I don't like about them is they don't go back to clear immediately after walking inside. So you look like a tool for wearing your sunglasses inside. Oh well.
And now some random photos from my hard drive:
My brother Colin took this photo around 5 in the morning as they motored past Manhattan. My other brother Dan (who is a boat captain) were bringing the boat back to Baltimore from Maine when they encountered some heavy weather off the coast of New York. So they decided to go in through Hell Gate and went up the East River for some protection.
Hemingway's bathroom:
My grandmother on some random street in downtown Baltimore.
Ugh. I was out for the past two days with a bad head cold, which I'm sure I got from the nephew and nieces. They're adorable little kids but they are also very germy. Gross. And I'm supposed to see them again on Sunday when we go to the aquarium (fun!). I wonder if they'd think I was rude if I wore a mask around them?
Also, the commute in today SUCKED. It took me 3.5 hours to get to the office. I showed up at Camden Yards at 6:50 and was promptly told that the 7:20 train was cancelled but I could take the light rail up to Penn Station and catch the 7:40. Which I did. Except when I got there, I discovered that the train was delayed for 20 minutes due to the weather. Seriously? That's lame. So fucking lame. We got like 2 inches of snow! Don't they have trains in Siberia? What the hell?
Bitch, bitch, bitch. I'm off to a great start!
Saturday I went down to the rents' house a bit early so I could hang out with my nephew who had stayed overnight at Nana and Pop-pop's house. Because I am mentally about eight years old, I had a lot of fun having balloon fights with him and getting into endless "I know you are but what am I?" arguments with him.
The rest of the family arrived a few hours later so I had more children to torment. Both Gavin (who will be six in January) and Genevieve (who turned four on Saturday) loved the digital cameras I gave them. I'm very glad that my mom convinced me to get one for each of them--i think if I had only given Genevieve one there would have been a lot of fighting. I was surprised that Maggie (who is two) was very put out that she didn't get a camera and kept stealing her sister's. Guess I know what to get her for her birthday!
I'm doing holidailies again this year--I'm always so optimistic that I'll post every day but then I stop after a few. It's going to be even harder since I have a spotty connection at home but I'm going to try! There's always Peace and a Cup of Joe around the corner.
Ugh. One of my coworkers tried to kill herself last week. Or that's what we think--her husband called to let us know she was in the hospital but didn't say why. My boss talked to her the next day--she was still in the hospital and would be for several days. Then she's going to a day outpatient program. But again she didn't say why or what for and my boss wasn't going to push it. I know she suffers from depression but I had no idea it was this bad. Again, I don't know this for sure but it seems like the most likely explanation.
It's really rattled me--I've been having trouble concetrating on work. I think I'm going to go over to the bookstore and get her a card (my office is assholish about sending stuff to people when they're ill--I had to send a box of chocolate to our production assistant after he was HIT BY A CAR walking to work and shattered his elbow).
