If I never ride in a car again, I'll die happy....
Just got back from the good ol' family vacation about 4 hours ago....longest road trip EVER. Even when we were little and drove everywhere, I don't remember driving as much as we just did this last week. Ricockulous!
So we left pretty much right after the Iowa/Montana game last Saturday afternoon...drove almost all the way through Michigan and made it to Niagara Falls Sunday afternoon. Let me tell you, for those of you who've never been....I feel sorry for anyone who honeymoons there. Not only was it not what I'd pictured from all the hype, but I'm pretty sure we were the only English-speaking people there. I've never seen so many hideously Euro-dressed people in my life! Goo! Luckily, from there we headed to Boston...got to see some historical stuff, then we made a last-minute decision to get tickets for the 2nd Bo Sox/White Sox game Tuesday night. It f-ing rocked. I hadn't been to a MLB game in at least 15 years. We did the obligatrory drink at Cheers and the walk around Boston Common....the 17th century cemeteries were pretty sweet. I'm not normally a huge history buff, but I have to admit that being in a city like Boston that's so rich in American history sparks a least a little interest.
From Boston we drove to Cape Cod in search of the Kennedy compound...we looked not all that hard for about 20 minutes, then gave up and drove back through Boston on our way to NYC. Got into the city around 5:30 and somehow managed to sit in traffic under the George Washington for less than 15 minutes! We spent the rest of the evening with some old family friends. My dad used to work with Frank, this short little Cuban Chinese man who bought my mom "earmugs" to keep her ears warm when they visited one Christmas. His wife, Maria, is Cuban and her father used to drive an ice cream truck around the city. Their daughter, Tiffany, has always been this little girl in my mind....we first visited when she was a baby and I haven't seen her since we all met up in Chicago about 10 years ago. She's now a senior in high school and it was so weird to see her all grown up. In traditional Latino style, we ate a huge Cuban meal and then sat around for hours just talking and talking with them and another family we knew from back in the day. We attended their son's 3-yr-old Ninja Turtle birthday party the first time we went out there and now Danny's 19 and in college. Again, weird!
Anywho, we spent the entire next day walking around Times Square, 5th Ave., Central Park, etc. We ran into Rupert G. at the Hello Deli, but Letterman wasn't taping until this week. Took the train down to Ground Zero. While I'd been told upfront there wasn't much to see and that construction was supposed to start soon, I felt like it was just something I needed to do for myself. I didn't know anyone directly involved in the tragedy but my heart goes out to the victims and their families. Even to this day I feel so weighed down just thinking about it all. And even then, seeing people taking pictures of the site....I know it sounds ridiculous but I felt outrage...like, "how dare they!" I dunno, it felt so wrong to me. To me, the site isn't a tourist spectacle...something you document and show in your vacation slideshow at the annual holiday party. For me, going there was a necessary part of coming to terms with what happened and feeling not only more connected with an American tragedy, but more at peace with those who died. Staring into that huge concrete was symbolic for the gaping hole that was ripped through our hearts and our innocence. No matter how many more skyscrapers and status symbols we build on top of that hole, that emptiness will always exist. Okayyyy, enough of that....I get really pensive when I'm super ass tired. So from there we walked all the way back up to Times Square, through Greenwich Village and Soho..quite the trek, I don't recommend it!
This is getting long, I'll wrap it up...we drove out to Syracuse Friday, stayed in a really nice hotel in the middle of the ghetto...front desk people didn't recommend walking the 6-8 blocks to the Hawkeye Huddle that night, even in groups. Uhh, point taken. Tailgating in Syracuse sucks major monkey balls, as does watching college football in a giant, inflated balloon. I nearly had a heart attack a dozen times. Our starting QB was out with a strained oblique, whatever the hell that means, and we only got word of this an hour before kickoff. Our backup QB is worthless, so thank God our defensive line could miraculously hold off Syracuse in double OT....they had 8 opportunities in a row to score from the 1-yd. line and our defense held 'em every time. A W is a W in the record books, but that's not the way I like to win. Sure as hell doesn't bode well for the rest of the season, especially if Tate doesn't come back soon or has a recurring injury.
Aaand, we drove 13 hours straight today to get home....also don't recommend that. As I already told Heather, it's funny how easily one forgets the frustrations and annoyances that come with living out of a suitcase for a week and being with your family 24/7. I love my guys, but sometimes they get on my nerves! My dad has a GPS and it works great....but does he listen to it half the time? NO. So we get lost, he gets confused, frustrated, pissed off, which in turn frustrates and pisses off my brother, who's frantically looking on the map while my dad continues to disregard the route recalculations by the nice British lady on the GPS. And then there's me...I knew we were going to Boston and NYC all along....I have friends in both cities...Keith and Erin in Boston and my high school friend, Ross, in Manhattan, but did I remember to get their contact info and warn them of my visits? Of course not *headdesk* Grrrrr, maybe next time?
So, how about an update? The recruiter for the job I interviewed for in Chicago a couple weeks ago called and, according to him, it looks like I'm the one they want to hire, so he wanted to confirm my references so he could check them out. I also came home to find an e-mail from a theatre I'd applied at a couple months ago. They finally got around to sorting through piles of resumes and asked if I was still interested in the position. Hopefully I can set up an interview soon, seeing how I'm doing next to nothing for 3 weeks until I move! Guh, I would be so elated if I had a job lined up in the next month or so. I can't tell you how much of a relief it would be. Then I could really sit back and say, "I finally made it on my own."
Longest post, EVER, but hey...I figure, (1) I haven't posted much recently and (2) I've been away from computers for a whole week! Deal with it!
P.S. Walking past all the fancy stores in NYC does NOT, I repeat, does NOT help my shopping addiction. Shit! G'night!
So we left pretty much right after the Iowa/Montana game last Saturday afternoon...drove almost all the way through Michigan and made it to Niagara Falls Sunday afternoon. Let me tell you, for those of you who've never been....I feel sorry for anyone who honeymoons there. Not only was it not what I'd pictured from all the hype, but I'm pretty sure we were the only English-speaking people there. I've never seen so many hideously Euro-dressed people in my life! Goo! Luckily, from there we headed to Boston...got to see some historical stuff, then we made a last-minute decision to get tickets for the 2nd Bo Sox/White Sox game Tuesday night. It f-ing rocked. I hadn't been to a MLB game in at least 15 years. We did the obligatrory drink at Cheers and the walk around Boston Common....the 17th century cemeteries were pretty sweet. I'm not normally a huge history buff, but I have to admit that being in a city like Boston that's so rich in American history sparks a least a little interest.
From Boston we drove to Cape Cod in search of the Kennedy compound...we looked not all that hard for about 20 minutes, then gave up and drove back through Boston on our way to NYC. Got into the city around 5:30 and somehow managed to sit in traffic under the George Washington for less than 15 minutes! We spent the rest of the evening with some old family friends. My dad used to work with Frank, this short little Cuban Chinese man who bought my mom "earmugs" to keep her ears warm when they visited one Christmas. His wife, Maria, is Cuban and her father used to drive an ice cream truck around the city. Their daughter, Tiffany, has always been this little girl in my mind....we first visited when she was a baby and I haven't seen her since we all met up in Chicago about 10 years ago. She's now a senior in high school and it was so weird to see her all grown up. In traditional Latino style, we ate a huge Cuban meal and then sat around for hours just talking and talking with them and another family we knew from back in the day. We attended their son's 3-yr-old Ninja Turtle birthday party the first time we went out there and now Danny's 19 and in college. Again, weird!
Anywho, we spent the entire next day walking around Times Square, 5th Ave., Central Park, etc. We ran into Rupert G. at the Hello Deli, but Letterman wasn't taping until this week. Took the train down to Ground Zero. While I'd been told upfront there wasn't much to see and that construction was supposed to start soon, I felt like it was just something I needed to do for myself. I didn't know anyone directly involved in the tragedy but my heart goes out to the victims and their families. Even to this day I feel so weighed down just thinking about it all. And even then, seeing people taking pictures of the site....I know it sounds ridiculous but I felt outrage...like, "how dare they!" I dunno, it felt so wrong to me. To me, the site isn't a tourist spectacle...something you document and show in your vacation slideshow at the annual holiday party. For me, going there was a necessary part of coming to terms with what happened and feeling not only more connected with an American tragedy, but more at peace with those who died. Staring into that huge concrete was symbolic for the gaping hole that was ripped through our hearts and our innocence. No matter how many more skyscrapers and status symbols we build on top of that hole, that emptiness will always exist. Okayyyy, enough of that....I get really pensive when I'm super ass tired. So from there we walked all the way back up to Times Square, through Greenwich Village and Soho..quite the trek, I don't recommend it!
This is getting long, I'll wrap it up...we drove out to Syracuse Friday, stayed in a really nice hotel in the middle of the ghetto...front desk people didn't recommend walking the 6-8 blocks to the Hawkeye Huddle that night, even in groups. Uhh, point taken. Tailgating in Syracuse sucks major monkey balls, as does watching college football in a giant, inflated balloon. I nearly had a heart attack a dozen times. Our starting QB was out with a strained oblique, whatever the hell that means, and we only got word of this an hour before kickoff. Our backup QB is worthless, so thank God our defensive line could miraculously hold off Syracuse in double OT....they had 8 opportunities in a row to score from the 1-yd. line and our defense held 'em every time. A W is a W in the record books, but that's not the way I like to win. Sure as hell doesn't bode well for the rest of the season, especially if Tate doesn't come back soon or has a recurring injury.
Aaand, we drove 13 hours straight today to get home....also don't recommend that. As I already told Heather, it's funny how easily one forgets the frustrations and annoyances that come with living out of a suitcase for a week and being with your family 24/7. I love my guys, but sometimes they get on my nerves! My dad has a GPS and it works great....but does he listen to it half the time? NO. So we get lost, he gets confused, frustrated, pissed off, which in turn frustrates and pisses off my brother, who's frantically looking on the map while my dad continues to disregard the route recalculations by the nice British lady on the GPS. And then there's me...I knew we were going to Boston and NYC all along....I have friends in both cities...Keith and Erin in Boston and my high school friend, Ross, in Manhattan, but did I remember to get their contact info and warn them of my visits? Of course not *headdesk* Grrrrr, maybe next time?
So, how about an update? The recruiter for the job I interviewed for in Chicago a couple weeks ago called and, according to him, it looks like I'm the one they want to hire, so he wanted to confirm my references so he could check them out. I also came home to find an e-mail from a theatre I'd applied at a couple months ago. They finally got around to sorting through piles of resumes and asked if I was still interested in the position. Hopefully I can set up an interview soon, seeing how I'm doing next to nothing for 3 weeks until I move! Guh, I would be so elated if I had a job lined up in the next month or so. I can't tell you how much of a relief it would be. Then I could really sit back and say, "I finally made it on my own."
Longest post, EVER, but hey...I figure, (1) I haven't posted much recently and (2) I've been away from computers for a whole week! Deal with it!
P.S. Walking past all the fancy stores in NYC does NOT, I repeat, does NOT help my shopping addiction. Shit! G'night!