It's my party...
...and I'll bloody well post if I want to.
Once again I hang my head in shame as I note how much time's gone by since my last post---but there's just been too much going on!
We just got back from an incredibly wonderful hiatus from the show where we started our adventures off in Asheville with Lesley, Alex & the whole gang. We spent the 4th of July seeing some really amazing fireworks, played all kinds of Uno Mattack, saw a smattering of fantastic thunderstorms, almost got tatooed by Duke (OP's chompin' at the bit for a return trip to get his...), had a ton of laughs & managed to get by on precious little sleep for the four days we were there. We had a blast all around before heading off to London to collect Sybil & Matthew.
We hit the ground running as we tore up the town before catching a flight the next day for Scotland. It was both OP's & my first trek to the land of the Scots---what an outstandingly beautiful country. We landed in Inverness & winded our way around Loch Ness (I had no idea how big it was...) until we reached Inverlochy Castle ( www.inverlochycastlehotel.co.uk ) where we spent the next couple of days. We actually went to Scotland to attend the "T in the Park" (www.tinthepark.com ) music festival but Syb & Matthew decided we should do some "hiking" first.
We traveled about ten or so minutes away from Inverlochy to the base of a mountain called Ben Nevis which is the highest point of the United Kingdom. Syb had arranged for a guide to bring us up. I fully expected we were going to take a nice civilized hike & meander our way up Ben Nevis. Sherpa Girl had other ideas. The four of us dutifully followed her for a good couple of hours until I realized that we were no longer on a nice trail---but we were scaling these rather large...and somewhat loose...boulders. I'd been concentrating on my footing so much so that I didn't realize we were now in full scale rock climbing mode. I looked down & began to get vertigo. I looked up and thought, "Sherpa Girl, what in the bloody name of Christ have you gotten us into?!" It was too late to turn back because you couldn't make it back down without ropes. Then the clouds rolled in & it began to rain, the rocks became slick & I thought I was going to lose anything I had left in me. Sherpa Girl regaled us with stories of a number of people she'd hiked Ben Nevis with who fell to their deaths. I started to wonder if we'd possibly said something on the way to the mountain that may've pissed her off. If I had ANY idea what she had planned...I never would've gone in the first place and I certainly wouldn't have stayed up til 4:30a (just three hours before the "hike"...) playing snooker whilst sampling all kinds of exotic whiskies. Six hours later we made it to the summit. Now at THIS point we all became very full of ourselves---an exhilirating state of mind that we all seem to be maintaining to this day. I no longer find the need to remind myself that, had I known what was in store for us, I would've run screaming like a little bitch into the forests of Inverness.
The next day it was finally time for "T in the Park." We were going to see my friend Joe who's currently enjoying a highly successful reunion tour with his band the Pixies. It's been an awfully long time since I'd been to an event of this size. Sooooooooo many people...toooooooo many people! We started off by seeing Groove Armada & the Chemical Brothers before hunting down Joe. We got to him about an hour before his band went on so we had plenty of time for refreshments! The Pixies were amazing---but I have to say that, for me, the highlight of the festival was the Massive Attack set. Once they performed "Safe From Harm"---I could leave the grounds fully sated.
Damn...I've gotta wrap this up because it's way past lunch & I'm beginning to digest myself. The next day we took off for Edinborough Castle (a truly awe inspiring fortress...) where we did a quickie whirlwind tour enroute to the airport. We got back into London where we met up with scads of old friends @ clubs & restaurants too numerous to mention---always led by the inexhaustible Sybil & Matthew. After everyone had gone to sleep on our last night there, I stood outside on the balcony high above the London skyline and watched the sun come up while having a nice hour & a half conversation over the phone with Michael.
Life is good---and I sincerely hope it is for all of you as well.
Once again I hang my head in shame as I note how much time's gone by since my last post---but there's just been too much going on!
We just got back from an incredibly wonderful hiatus from the show where we started our adventures off in Asheville with Lesley, Alex & the whole gang. We spent the 4th of July seeing some really amazing fireworks, played all kinds of Uno Mattack, saw a smattering of fantastic thunderstorms, almost got tatooed by Duke (OP's chompin' at the bit for a return trip to get his...), had a ton of laughs & managed to get by on precious little sleep for the four days we were there. We had a blast all around before heading off to London to collect Sybil & Matthew.
We hit the ground running as we tore up the town before catching a flight the next day for Scotland. It was both OP's & my first trek to the land of the Scots---what an outstandingly beautiful country. We landed in Inverness & winded our way around Loch Ness (I had no idea how big it was...) until we reached Inverlochy Castle ( www.inverlochycastlehotel.co.uk ) where we spent the next couple of days. We actually went to Scotland to attend the "T in the Park" (www.tinthepark.com ) music festival but Syb & Matthew decided we should do some "hiking" first.
We traveled about ten or so minutes away from Inverlochy to the base of a mountain called Ben Nevis which is the highest point of the United Kingdom. Syb had arranged for a guide to bring us up. I fully expected we were going to take a nice civilized hike & meander our way up Ben Nevis. Sherpa Girl had other ideas. The four of us dutifully followed her for a good couple of hours until I realized that we were no longer on a nice trail---but we were scaling these rather large...and somewhat loose...boulders. I'd been concentrating on my footing so much so that I didn't realize we were now in full scale rock climbing mode. I looked down & began to get vertigo. I looked up and thought, "Sherpa Girl, what in the bloody name of Christ have you gotten us into?!" It was too late to turn back because you couldn't make it back down without ropes. Then the clouds rolled in & it began to rain, the rocks became slick & I thought I was going to lose anything I had left in me. Sherpa Girl regaled us with stories of a number of people she'd hiked Ben Nevis with who fell to their deaths. I started to wonder if we'd possibly said something on the way to the mountain that may've pissed her off. If I had ANY idea what she had planned...I never would've gone in the first place and I certainly wouldn't have stayed up til 4:30a (just three hours before the "hike"...) playing snooker whilst sampling all kinds of exotic whiskies. Six hours later we made it to the summit. Now at THIS point we all became very full of ourselves---an exhilirating state of mind that we all seem to be maintaining to this day. I no longer find the need to remind myself that, had I known what was in store for us, I would've run screaming like a little bitch into the forests of Inverness.
The next day it was finally time for "T in the Park." We were going to see my friend Joe who's currently enjoying a highly successful reunion tour with his band the Pixies. It's been an awfully long time since I'd been to an event of this size. Sooooooooo many people...toooooooo many people! We started off by seeing Groove Armada & the Chemical Brothers before hunting down Joe. We got to him about an hour before his band went on so we had plenty of time for refreshments! The Pixies were amazing---but I have to say that, for me, the highlight of the festival was the Massive Attack set. Once they performed "Safe From Harm"---I could leave the grounds fully sated.
Damn...I've gotta wrap this up because it's way past lunch & I'm beginning to digest myself. The next day we took off for Edinborough Castle (a truly awe inspiring fortress...) where we did a quickie whirlwind tour enroute to the airport. We got back into London where we met up with scads of old friends @ clubs & restaurants too numerous to mention---always led by the inexhaustible Sybil & Matthew. After everyone had gone to sleep on our last night there, I stood outside on the balcony high above the London skyline and watched the sun come up while having a nice hour & a half conversation over the phone with Michael.
Life is good---and I sincerely hope it is for all of you as well.