Pen-tastic!
What's this, a weekend update? I don't think I ever did one last week (to sum up: last weekend, I didn't do much), and that obviously has to change. I mean, really.
Weather icon: because it is snowing intermittently, and may snow more. Time to watch the skies!
So here's what I did!
Friday night: Mainly sleeping, really. There were day-trip plans for Saturday that meant I had to get up around 8:30, and I wanted to give myself plenty of sleep. I caught up a little bit on the DVR, but not much, and I went to bed around 10 p.m.
In the morning, I actually woke up on my own maybe 10 minutes before the alarm went off. Ahh. That's ideal. Even the radio alarm, which I use on weekends, is more jarring than just drifting up out of sleep. So I got up, made and ate breakfast, and boiled a lot of water. I've been using my little humidifier like crazy, but I didn't want to leave it running while I was gone because you aren't supposed to run it when the reservoir is empty, and it was highly likely that I'd be gone long enough for the thing to run out of water. So I wanted to pump up the humidity before I left. I got it up to about 40%, which in my apartment in the dead of winter is awesome.
Using the miracle of modern technology, I saw snidegrrl on Twitter noting that she was on her way, which meant she was on her way to pick me up for our trip to Philadelphia for lunch, the pen show, and a chili cook-off. Busy day! I turned around and used Twitter to alert those In The Know that we were on our way. We got on the road by about 10:30 a.m. and made excellent time despite the presence of many, many of Maryland's Finest by the sides of the road. By the time we were almost out of Maryland, John called with restaurant suggestions for lunch. One was a pub that Kim had already flagged as a possibility, so that was an easy decision! When we were about a half-hour out of the city I called Joann and Mary, who were also meeting us for lunch, and let them know our ETA. Sure enough, by 12:30 we were parked and ensconced in the lobby of the Sheraton, and once the whole group was together we walked to the pub for lunch. I had fish and chips, which I just now remembered were supposed to come with mushy peas but did not, but were otherwise delicious. Others seemed similarly pleased with their meals. We chatted and were there until a bit after 2, at which point Mary and Joann made their way back to do their own thing, and John and Kim and I pressed on to the pen show.
Now, pens are Kim's thing and not mine. When she mentioned it, though, I was interested - what on earth was at a pen show? What kind of people went? The price was inexpensive, plus it meant a day trip and hanging out with Kim, in a city I like, where I could also meet up with other friends. So I was sold! John and Kim and I went to the ballroom where the pen show was set up, eventually was admitted after the older gentleman wearing the silly hat at the front door managed to get us change. You could tell who the pen fan was and who the tag-alongs were as soon as we walked in the door - Kim's eyes lit up and she got out her shopping list and immediately spotted someone from a pen blog. John and I looked at each other with a look full of meaning, and that meaning was, "Sure are a heckuva lot of pens in here." Kim insisted that we go on ahead, because she was going to be taking her sweet time, so we forged on. The room was full of people selling pens, buying pens, repairing and refurbishing pens - mostly of the fountain-pen variety but some snazzy ballpoints too. At one particular table, a pen on display in a snazzy wooden case caught my eye - because in the box, next to the pen itself, was some sort of metal...thing. It looked like a kind of Klingon weapon, or something. I couldn't figure out what the hell it was, and was peering intently at it, with John egging me on to ask someone about it, when I noticed the price tag. Ladies and gentlemen, that pen was $1495. I quickly backed away before I could be told that breathing on the pen causes moisture-related damage and, due to a you-break-it-you-bought-it policy, I'd be out more than a month's rent for a pen. Admittedly a pen with a Klingon death blade in the package, but a pen nonetheless. Later Kim investigated, and it was some sort of arcane instrument for measuring the Golden Ratio, which, hunh. Clearly a pen to appeal to snobby architects, or fabulously wealthy chambered nautiluses.
As we were talking with a guy who made custom designed pens, Kim caught up with us. She said she would be a while and, since there were over two hours left in the pen show and we'd already seen anything, and she didn't mind if we waited elsewhere, we left the pen show and repaired to the hotel bar. John and I chatted for a few hours while Kim shopped, and then we all reconvened. A plan was hatched to try out Chickie & Pete's, for I have heard of the famous crab fries, but unfortunately a 'Sixers game that night meant it was WHOA crowded. So John navigated us on a scenic route up to the bar where he was meeting friends to watch a World Cup qualifying match, and then Kim and I headed on to Angela's for the chili cook-off.
Woo! Five kinds of chili! Plus local beer! All told between the hotel bar and the chili cook-off I consumed four beers on Saturday, which for the new utter-drinking-lightweight me was a lot. It was lots of fun, though. Angela and her friends were warm and welcoming, the chilis were all delicious, we discovered the joys of Double Stuff Peanut Butter Oreos, and generally had a lovely time. By 10 p.m., though, knowing we had two hours to drive, we headed home. And there was lots of excellent conversation on the car ride home, as there had been on the ride up, and I arrived home around midnightish fully satisfied with my day. And very very sleepy.
I let myself sleep in and wound up taking a pass on church yesterday morning. I got groceries and a coffee and a muffin, and generally bummed around while still vaguely accomplishing things. I got home, put stuff away, and headed to the folks' for laundry/dinner/conversation. Dad had a fire in the fireplace, it was quite lovely. Was there for a few hours then came home, put away laundry, went to bed, and there you have it.
Now begins another exciting week. It's been about two hours since I started writing this so I think it's time to call it good and get some lunch!
Weather icon: because it is snowing intermittently, and may snow more. Time to watch the skies!
So here's what I did!
Friday night: Mainly sleeping, really. There were day-trip plans for Saturday that meant I had to get up around 8:30, and I wanted to give myself plenty of sleep. I caught up a little bit on the DVR, but not much, and I went to bed around 10 p.m.
In the morning, I actually woke up on my own maybe 10 minutes before the alarm went off. Ahh. That's ideal. Even the radio alarm, which I use on weekends, is more jarring than just drifting up out of sleep. So I got up, made and ate breakfast, and boiled a lot of water. I've been using my little humidifier like crazy, but I didn't want to leave it running while I was gone because you aren't supposed to run it when the reservoir is empty, and it was highly likely that I'd be gone long enough for the thing to run out of water. So I wanted to pump up the humidity before I left. I got it up to about 40%, which in my apartment in the dead of winter is awesome.
Using the miracle of modern technology, I saw snidegrrl on Twitter noting that she was on her way, which meant she was on her way to pick me up for our trip to Philadelphia for lunch, the pen show, and a chili cook-off. Busy day! I turned around and used Twitter to alert those In The Know that we were on our way. We got on the road by about 10:30 a.m. and made excellent time despite the presence of many, many of Maryland's Finest by the sides of the road. By the time we were almost out of Maryland, John called with restaurant suggestions for lunch. One was a pub that Kim had already flagged as a possibility, so that was an easy decision! When we were about a half-hour out of the city I called Joann and Mary, who were also meeting us for lunch, and let them know our ETA. Sure enough, by 12:30 we were parked and ensconced in the lobby of the Sheraton, and once the whole group was together we walked to the pub for lunch. I had fish and chips, which I just now remembered were supposed to come with mushy peas but did not, but were otherwise delicious. Others seemed similarly pleased with their meals. We chatted and were there until a bit after 2, at which point Mary and Joann made their way back to do their own thing, and John and Kim and I pressed on to the pen show.
Now, pens are Kim's thing and not mine. When she mentioned it, though, I was interested - what on earth was at a pen show? What kind of people went? The price was inexpensive, plus it meant a day trip and hanging out with Kim, in a city I like, where I could also meet up with other friends. So I was sold! John and Kim and I went to the ballroom where the pen show was set up, eventually was admitted after the older gentleman wearing the silly hat at the front door managed to get us change. You could tell who the pen fan was and who the tag-alongs were as soon as we walked in the door - Kim's eyes lit up and she got out her shopping list and immediately spotted someone from a pen blog. John and I looked at each other with a look full of meaning, and that meaning was, "Sure are a heckuva lot of pens in here." Kim insisted that we go on ahead, because she was going to be taking her sweet time, so we forged on. The room was full of people selling pens, buying pens, repairing and refurbishing pens - mostly of the fountain-pen variety but some snazzy ballpoints too. At one particular table, a pen on display in a snazzy wooden case caught my eye - because in the box, next to the pen itself, was some sort of metal...thing. It looked like a kind of Klingon weapon, or something. I couldn't figure out what the hell it was, and was peering intently at it, with John egging me on to ask someone about it, when I noticed the price tag. Ladies and gentlemen, that pen was $1495. I quickly backed away before I could be told that breathing on the pen causes moisture-related damage and, due to a you-break-it-you-bought-it policy, I'd be out more than a month's rent for a pen. Admittedly a pen with a Klingon death blade in the package, but a pen nonetheless. Later Kim investigated, and it was some sort of arcane instrument for measuring the Golden Ratio, which, hunh. Clearly a pen to appeal to snobby architects, or fabulously wealthy chambered nautiluses.
As we were talking with a guy who made custom designed pens, Kim caught up with us. She said she would be a while and, since there were over two hours left in the pen show and we'd already seen anything, and she didn't mind if we waited elsewhere, we left the pen show and repaired to the hotel bar. John and I chatted for a few hours while Kim shopped, and then we all reconvened. A plan was hatched to try out Chickie & Pete's, for I have heard of the famous crab fries, but unfortunately a 'Sixers game that night meant it was WHOA crowded. So John navigated us on a scenic route up to the bar where he was meeting friends to watch a World Cup qualifying match, and then Kim and I headed on to Angela's for the chili cook-off.
Woo! Five kinds of chili! Plus local beer! All told between the hotel bar and the chili cook-off I consumed four beers on Saturday, which for the new utter-drinking-lightweight me was a lot. It was lots of fun, though. Angela and her friends were warm and welcoming, the chilis were all delicious, we discovered the joys of Double Stuff Peanut Butter Oreos, and generally had a lovely time. By 10 p.m., though, knowing we had two hours to drive, we headed home. And there was lots of excellent conversation on the car ride home, as there had been on the ride up, and I arrived home around midnightish fully satisfied with my day. And very very sleepy.
I let myself sleep in and wound up taking a pass on church yesterday morning. I got groceries and a coffee and a muffin, and generally bummed around while still vaguely accomplishing things. I got home, put stuff away, and headed to the folks' for laundry/dinner/conversation. Dad had a fire in the fireplace, it was quite lovely. Was there for a few hours then came home, put away laundry, went to bed, and there you have it.
Now begins another exciting week. It's been about two hours since I started writing this so I think it's time to call it good and get some lunch!