A lot of Good, A little Bad

[unforth]

So, I'm back in Bloomington. I've had a busy week and a half, so here's a full update!

Chicago
I set out last Thursday evening for Chicago, and arrived there safe and sound. On Friday, buzzermccain, her boy J, and I went to Six Flags Great America. The incredible short version is that it was a lot of fun and totally rocked.

Six Flags
I hadn't been to a real amusement park in a long time. Before, when I went, I was always a huge coward, and if I saw something that scared me I stayed far, far away. This time, however, now that I'm older I tend to think "mind over matter." In practice, this meant that whenever I saw something that scared me, it meant that no matter what I had to make myself ride on it. This worked out remarkably well. By the end of the day I had gone on all but two of their coasters (the two I skipped were not due to a lack of interest, but rather to the fact that after a day on spinny things I was starting to feel rather ill and decided to spare myself further abuse), including at least three with loops (I was always afraid of loops). I also went on the one ride that had scared me the most - not really a roller coaster, but set up like one with that style of seating, it was a giant U shaped thing, and all that the rider did was go back and forth on the U incredibly quickly. It looked utterly terrifying from a distance, and had me cowed even as I stood in line (you watch the people currently on it going ZOOM as fast as the eye can see while waiting in line for it...) but it turned out to not actually be that scary once I was on it, nor was it, as it turns out, all that fun. Lesson learned! All in all, though, I had a great day. One ride, the Iron Wolf, REALLY sucked - we all agreed, as we left it with our heads pounding from the abuse the coaster had put us through, that we would never ride it again. The two best rides were the Viper, a giant wooden coaster which was full of fun happy ups and downs, and the winner by far, despite it's retarded name, the Raging Bull. The Bull was a non-looping coaster in the new style (rather than a wooden ride) which was the longest ride in the park, and had a 200 ft. almost-sheer drop. It totally rocked, and was the only ride that I went on more than once - a total of three times. I was happy, too, because buzzermccain and J both liked it a lot too.

We all spent various parts of the day feeling unwell due to being spun about, but none of us actually got sick, which was good. The culmination of the day was at 9:30, when the fire works were supposed to start. We managed, with a little luck, to get it such that we were on the Raging Bull when they were supposed to start. What we didn't know was that they were timed with some stupid stage show. Even so, though, one set of Fireworks went off just as we crested one of the (albeit smaller) hills of the coaster, and that was really neat to see, put a nice cap on the whole day.

Meanwhile, not having to drive back to Bloomington for the Buffy game had me jumping for joy, literally. I actually called drydem to tell him that I wasn't going to come, having decided that it was ridiculous that I was going to get to spend less time at the park than it had taken me to get there, only to have him tell me that no matter what I mustn't start driving. Win! :)

Navy Pier
On Saturday, buzzermccain had to work from 9 to 5, so I wandered off on my own. Realizing I didn't have a key and would be locked out, I got dressed and went for a 20 minute jog - I couldn't seem to do more. I had decided that I would head to the Museum Campus and would figure out where to go from there - the map I had looked at made it look like this was about three miles, a very reasonable walk. Anyway, after an hour - with the campus still not in sight - it became clear that it was in fact more than 3 miles away. Undeterred, I kept walking, and it turned out to be about 6 miles. By the time I got there, I had decided that I would go to Navy Pier, which was about another 3 miles, so I arrived at the Pier having walked 9+ miles...before lunch. I ate promptly, and damn did it taste good after all that exercise, including a delightful piece of Cheesecake, and then I wandered off to figure out what to do. I was considering walking even further to the Lincoln Park Conservatory, but finally decided instead to see the Cirque Shanghai and take a ride on the Lake in a Tall Ship. I changed into the clothes I had brought with me, watched a group of four dancers dressed as pirates doing the YMCA song, and then went to buy tickets. With those in hand, I headed over to the Smith Museum of Stained Glass, which is quite nice and is free. I had seen a few Tiffany's before without really being impressed, but now I have a much higher opinion - the colors are just so beautiful! In particular, his angel wings (there were a few different angel-type things) were stunning enough to bring tears to my eyes. I went to a lot of trouble to get some shiny photographs, including one memorable bit where one of the windows had the reflection of a different window on it, so I positioned myself with one arm straight out holding my bag in front of the offending window, and the other arm stretched to get the photo at the angle I wanted. :) I then hurried over to the huge ferris wheel. I rode it once before, but last time I didn't get any pictures, so I went up again and snapped lots of very fogging images of the Chicago sky line.

The Cirque was a bit short, at less than 90 minutes, but was still pretty neat. I really like contortionists and strongmen, which were in ample supply, and there was a lady who rode a unicycle who did some neat tricks. And people in panda suits on unicycles, they were pretty awesome. The "flying" acts were less interesting, at least to me. The tight rope walker was also pretty neat. OH! And there was this dude who - I swear! - looked like the Asian Prince of Persia. He had the vest and everything. It was kind of funny.

The tall ship, mean while, was awesome though not as awesome as it could of been, because due to the weather we did not go out beyond the breakers. However, the fog cleared out, and the sun was shining, and I got to hoist a sail! It was really nice, and the wind felt great. This was another step in the "over come things I'm afraid of" plan that I had instituted fully the day before by riding on terrifying things. I have only been on a big boat once before, and I was very afraid, though I didn't get sick. This time, I made myself get over it, and by the end I was one of the only people who was standing and looking out from the edge and stuff. The wind felt great - I definitely want to do that 3 weeks on a tall ship thing now, it'll be awesome!!

The Field
On Sunday, all three of us went to the Field Museum, and I got to spend more time there like I had hoped when I last visited Chicago. Their timeline of the history was really neat - it was one big exhibit that laid out everything from the origin of world, to the first life, down through the ages all the way to the present. I particularly (unsurprisingly) liked the dinosaurs. :) But there was a giant moose that was also pretty neat.

Dad's
After one frantic day back in Bloomington during which I finished moving, I headed out to my brother's and my dad's on Tuesday. Me and Ben started to get all serious, and then both realized that, really, it's not as if we would have seen each other before Christmas ANYWAY, and so him, I and Kirsten relaxed, got lunch, and generally gave me a couple of hours off from driving. Then I headed to Sussex, NJ, and spent the night with my dad. The next morning, we went out to a town I can't recall the name of...er...Sugarloaf, maybe?...which is kind of like Nashville, though a little more run down. Since it was a Wednesday, most of the businesses were closed, though. After that, we went to a nearby stretch of the Appalachian Trail, which had it's own suspension bridge because it goes through a bog and over a stream, and is apparently is the longest stretch of raised trailway on the entire 2200 miles of the Trail. While we were on it, I got to thinking about what it would be like to do, and in general it's gotten me much more interested in hiking again, and a small but vocal voice in the back of my mind is raising a fuss about maybe walking the trail someday. Dad suggested I try some shorter hikes first - a three day or week long one - and at least for now it's something I definitely intend to pursue when I get back in the states. He suggested some nice ones.

Unfortunately, I couldn't stay longer because it was imperative that I get to NYC on the 1st, because Thursday was my mom's 63rd birthday, and since that was why I timed the trip when I did, it was pretty important. I got down to NYC that night, and on the big day we headed to one of my mom's favorite places, the Bronx Botanical Gardens. It was a lovely, though swelteringly hot, day, and it was with pleasure that after hours of wandering - including spending time in the surprisingly bloom-filled rose garden, which lacked any kind of shade to speak of - that we headed to the cafe to eat our picnic lunch. We finished up at the conservatory, where - for the first time in ages - I hit the water lilies at the right time of year. They are one of my favorite types of flowers, and almost all of them were in bloom, from the little dainty blossoms all the way up to the lotuses. It was absolutely lovely. After that, we went for a long walk down to a doctor's appointment mom had, and then out to dinner, and all in all it was a very nice day. It was important to me that it be so, because I remembered that mom was way upset on her birthday last year and I wanted it to be nice for her.

Mom mentioned that she'd not been to the zoo on ages, and when I pointed out that nothing was stopping us, we decided to go to the Bronx Zoo on Friday. It was VERY nice. The animals were, by and large, very cooperative, with the prize definitely going to the Gorillas. In an absolutely ADORABLE tableau, right by the glass there was a mother lying with her toddler in her arms, with another, juvenile gorilla wrapped around her back. They looked so human it was a little scary. The lions, on the other hand, were not at all cooperative, preferring to avoid the sun on yet another incredibly hot day. Still, we say lots of monkeys, panthers, giraffes, various antelope and deer type things, elephants...lots and lots of animals. It was REALLY nice. I spent almost an hour chasing after butterflies and taking their pictures, too, which was awesome. It's so hard to get good pictures of them!! :) A few turned out, though. There was one bird that was all brightly colored and moved as if he was an animation, which was very strange to watch. Oh, and a gorilla that was depressed because one of her children had died a few years ago, which was very sad to watch, poor thing! Again, very human.

On Saturday, we had thought to the go the Museum of Natural History, but instead we were lazy and hung out at home. I made plans to meet up with ultimabaka at 4, and we did so and headed out after about an hour to go get pizza. Utterly randomly and completely coincidentally, we met up with my only other friend from HS who still lives in NYC, claireon, on the way, and she joined up with us and the three of us went to the pizza place we used to frequent when we were at Stuy. It was a real blast from the past, the place hadn't changed at all. It was really nice to get to see them, it's so strange that we're all growing up, and it was utterly surreal to meet on the street like that, even though we were passing by the block were she lived. Life is so odd sometimes!! Unfortunately, we couldn't spend all that much time together because I had to leave - I had told xaniquen that I would be at his place at 8, and as it was that ended up impossible because I didn't leave the city until 7:30.

I arrived in Plainsboro at about 9 on Saturday, but xaniquen and his fiancee didn't seem to mind. They were very happy to have their very first house guest, and we talked until pretty late until we all got tired and went to bed. The next day, we chatted a bit more, and then headed to the nearby downtown of Princeton, where we wandered around aimlessly. It's a VERY nice, but VERY pricey downtown. Mostly, we were just finding excuses to keep talking without being totally lazy anyway, and it worked out. I spend less time in contact with him than any of my other close friends, and I hardly knew his fiancee at all, having met her only twice, so now I know them both a lot better. It was also suggested that I come back to the states before the last weekend of July, with a hint-hint nudge-nudge tossed in, so I'll have to get dates from them to figure out when, precisely, to time my return. :)

It couldn't last, though, and on Sunday afternoon I hopped back in the car and drove down to sapphohestia's place in D.C. Once again and pleasant evening was spent talking, and then we awoke VERY early the next morning, got breakfast, and went to the National Library of Medicine. She showed me around her office, introduced me to a lot of people, and then we went and looked at their current exhibit, about Forensic science, which was really neat, it told all about the history. Then she took me over to the History of Medicine division, and I got to talk to the incredibly knowledgeable Steve (or, rather, listen in awe) tell me all about their incunables (books printed before 1500). It was very nice and interesting. Once again all too soon, though, I had to head out. I thanked her profusely for having me to stay and arranging the tour, and then headed out to drive to Indianapolis.

The drive kind of sucked, actually, with an unusually high percentage of utter lunatics on the road with me, but I made it in one piece, thankfully. It did include one of the scariest things I've ever driven through, though, a flash thunderstorm which struck when I was driving through one of the stretches on 70 in Ohio where the road is under construction, so the lanes are narrow and there are concrete barricades on both sides. It was, in truth, fucking scary, and I was very glad to get through in one piece. The rain was so hard I couldn't see the car in front of me, but there was no safe place to stop, and there are a lot of trucks there, and all in all it sucked.

Warped Tour
I arrived in Indy, found a promising hotel, only to be reminded that rooms were ludicrously expensive because of the state fair being in town. Blast. I paid anyway, and awoke bright and early the next morning feeling excessively cheerful. This was undampened despite being warned by the friendly lady at CVS that it was supposed to be a record breaking hot day. I got the Music Center at 9:30, the show was starting at 11.

I had an awesome time over all. I got to see All Time Low - who sang the only song of theirs I actually knew, which is a song I LOVE, called Coffee Shop Soundtrack, and played a good set over all. Really, everything I saw was good. I kept a list so I wouldn't forget them - I saw "Deals Gone Bad," "No Call to Arms," "Go Crash Audio," "Natives of the New Dawn," "Monty Are I," and "Hot Rod Circuit." Those were my "fill ins" for times when no one I actually cared about was playing. Thank GOD, none of the bands I actually wanted to see overlapped, except for All Time Low and Hawthorne Heights - I went with All Time Low, obviously. Of the bands I actually wanded to see, Big D and the Kids Table utterly rocked, Amber Pacific and The Matches a little less so.

Of course, there were three bands that were my REAL reason for going, groups I actually knew a bunch of songs from - Bad Religion, Flogging Molly, and Alkaline Trio. In brief, they all KICKED ASS. Like, holy shit, awesome!! Flogging Molly was first of those three, at 4:15, and they played Devil's Dance Floor, 7 Deadly Sins, Selfish Man, Left of the Flag (damned if I know what that song is actually called! ;) ) and a couple songs I didn't know. The crowd was way into it, and it was really fun.

Half an hour later, it was time for Alkaline Trio. This was what I had really been looking forward to, and I was almost entirely undisappointed - the only sadness was that they didn't actually play for a their full half hour, damn them, and also that I missed their signing at 2:30 because I didn't notice it was happening until almost 3 - I got on line, but I was too far back to actually get to see them before they chased us away. Sigh. However, despite my worry that they would pick songs that weren't my favorites, they did in fact play a set entirely composed of songs I knew - many of which I loved - except for the one new song. They played Private Eye, one of the first songs that made me like them, "Burn," "I Was a Prayer," "Cringe," "Blue Carolina" (another favorite of mine), "Old Schools Reasons," and "Sadie" which was on my Changeling Soundtrack. In short it was AWESOME, and they rocked, and it was loads of fun.

After that it was 5:45, and Bad Religion wasn't going on until 8:15. I'd been outside without sitting down once since I got there, and though I'd drank well over a gallon of water (having emptied the gallon I'd brought with me) I was still feeling rather blah in part because of the little bad, which I'll get to soon. However, after an internal battle, I decided to stay, got myself some ice cream, sat down and listened to something I didn't care about for 20 minutes, and then got back on my feet to listen to more music - the bands listed above.

It was totally worth it. I didn't know all the songs that Bad Religion played - I'm not a true connoisseur, in truth - but they played "I want to Conquer the World," "Infection" - which I love, I'll admit, thanks to Guitar Hero, and I wasn't alone, the crowd went CRAZY, and the guitarist joked afterwards that it was "as done by Bad Religion," which at least made me laugh. I got to be the vanguard of the Mosh Pit (which is to say that I stood at the edge and elbowed anyone who came near me) and they finished with Sorrow.

The day was almost ruined, over all, about half way through when I left my camera in the bathroom. I realized it about 10 minutes later, and did a frantic search of the stalls, the vicinity, and asked every staff member I could find. However, it was all for naught. I checked back with guest services at least once every hour for the entire rest of the day, but it's just gone. I was VERY upset at first, but I hadn't seen any of the three that were my actual reasons for going, and I refused to have the day ruined after looking forward to it so long. With almost a day to reflect, I'm really not upset about the camera - I mean, it was a nice camera and I liked it, but it was entirely replaceable. However, I lost ALL the photos I had taken, almost a full memory cards worth, since I left for Chicago. I had pictures of almost everything I talked about above - the Cirque, the Tall ships, the Field, the trail with my dad, the garden and mom on her birthday, the zoo, my friends, Princeton, and a few from the beginning of the concert - and now they are all gone. I just keep reminding myself that, aside from the concert, they are all replicable, I can do all those things again and take the pictures again, but it's still upsetting. I researched new cameras before writing this, though, and I've decided to get the new model of the camera I had, the Canon Elph SD 1000, which is pretty much the same only nicer, and it's not that expensive as cameras go. I'll be getting it today, probably. But I loved my camera, and I lost over 400 pictures too. I'm just glad it didn't totally ruin my day.

So yeah. If this post seems weirdly detailed in places, it's because I had some camera shots that I LOVED that are now gone forever, and I wanted to make notes of the experiences so that I wouldn't forget them. ;)

And that's that! :) Wow, it's been busy! And it's not done - tomorrow I'm going to the State Fair, and after that, I've got a lot of other stuff to do before I leave in TWELVE DAYS! OMG! :)

In other news, I don't know what yet, but I want to have some kind of get together on the evening of the 19th. Anyone have any good ideas? It's a Sunday, and the last night before I leave.

Comments

[mistress-sin.livejournal.com]

anywhere that is good since you know the place. also, you are required by 'pang of death' to wake my sorry ass up on monday to say goodbye to you. you know, all the teary eye crap is got to come sometime. =-)

the boy and i are getting anxious. we still need directions on where to meet you. . . i say a resturant as we will be hungry from the loooonnnnngggg drive. see you next wednesday.

*HUGGLES*

[unforth.livejournal.com]

Well, I sent you the directions to get most of the way - I never got an answer from you on there "where" more specifically - what type of food would you like? What time do you think it will be?

And you think you are going to get to sleep on Sunday night? Foolish girl! :)

[sapphohestia.livejournal.com]

Sorry you didn't have a smooth trip out of DC but it sounds like you had a really wonderful trip overall (camera sadness aside).

[unforth.livejournal.com]

Thanks! The trip out of DC was mixed - on the plus side, I made it to Indy in less than 9 hours, which is damned awesome, but the other drivers just seemed to suck more than usual, and that storm was one of the scarest fricken things I've ever driven in - I've been in the drivers seat during a worse storm once, but that time I was able to stop! :)