Updating ... finally!
OK, I haven't totally fallen off the face of the earth, but I've been trying. Too busy enjoying life to write about it, but I'll give it a shot now.
Got back from the latest Philadelphia trip the other day, and had a great time! Saturday I drove down after work, and things went fine even though it was awful cold out and I got a citation from the Jersey state troopers.
I picked Rosemary up at angela_la_la's place for the chili cookoff. After a four-hour drive after a nine-hour shift at work, it was nice to go into a room full of nice people, eat some chili and drink a beer. I was subjected to the cute/horrible/frightening cartoon "Wonder Pets."
Sunday was a pretty quiet day for the most part, hanging out around Rosemary's place and then seeing her mom for a bit. Later we went to my parents house to watch the Super Bowl through halftime. My brother and his fiancee were around too, and I was happy as a clam to watch the Super Bowl with my father and brother, as the Lord intended!
I was rooting for the Colts, and was glad they took over the game. Despite a first half with five turnovers, it was pretty action-packed and had some good plays. And everything peaked with Prince, covering "Best of You," playing guitar like a motherfucker and singing "Purple Rain" in a real purple rain.
We caught the rest of the game in South Philly at Elizabeth and Allen Fiend's house, and it was cool to see some peeps I hadn't seen in a while. I kept thinking about how I was last there two years ago, and how different everything was then: I was still in Philly, still living with my parents, still couldn't drive, knew some people and had yet to know some others, who was important to my life then and who is now.
Monday Rosemary and I went to the King Tut exhibit at the Franklin Institute. If you're thinking about going to this, just do it. Go. It's great. It was amazing to look at 150 things that are 3,500 years old, still intact and looking like you could use them today. Beautiful artwork, craftsmanship, the gold and woodwork and sculpture.
I found it amusing that Tutankhamun was buried with everything -- including care products (oils and unguents), jewelry (from his pectoral plates to bracelets and amulets) and his Xbox (a few game boards).
It was also a bit disconcerting to see some of the slave imagery in the artwork, such as a cane whose handle depicted a bound and conquered Nubian. I could see some Southern slave master owning the same thing.
We also went through the Giant Heart -- my first time in years and years. It's not so giant when you're grown, and some of the spaces were only about as big as Rosemary and me!
And then Tuesday was the big night -- Dancing with the Stars Tour! I put on my rhinestones and heeled shoes and had a good time down at the Wachovia Center. The irony of the fact that I make my living in the sports teams that play there, yet the one and only time I'm been in the place was to watch Lisa Rinna do the quickstep. We sat in the upper level pretty high up, but we could see everything well enough, and the cameras gave good closeups.
Despite the pat banter between dances and the cruise ship-y feel to the show overall, it was a really good show with great dancing, fun routines and an excellent live band with great singers (though they could have used a live horn section instead of synths). But Joey McIntyre can keep his new CD, which he sang from during the show. Cheryl Burke and Drew Lachey ruled the show, of course, and it was great to see their freestyle and the paso doble set to "Thriller" again. Good times. Harry Hamlin was good to see, because he was voted off the show just as he was getting better, and he can do a good tango and waltz.
But the coolest thing of all was that my mom came with us. Rosemary's mom was going to come, but she decided to stay home with Rosemary's dad, so my mom went instead. We met up for dinner at Jones after my mom got off work, and then I got to drive my mom around, and drive her home. My dad later told me she was impressed with my driving, which felt good.
Wednesday Rosemary took a half-day, and we did a little shopping and hung around the apartment until we went to Scott and Kelly's in West Chester. Scott used to be my boss at the Tribune before he left and I took his job. I hadn't seen him in a few years, but we kept in touch after he left. We got to see their new house, and we finally got to meet their son, Andrew.
Last time we all met, Kelly was still pregnant with Andrew, and he turned 3 today! So it was nice to meet the kid after all this time. He's easily the most together 3-year-old I've ever met. Very curious about the world (he kept asking questions about what you've done and seen in life, from "Have you ever been in a dark forest?" to "Have you seen butterflies?" to "Have you had Coca-Cola?" And he had the knack of moving from toy power tools and dump trucks to wanting to watch "Mary Poppins" while Daddy talked adult stuff with his friends.
We had a delicious dinner of chicken cordon bleu, asparagus and potatoes, and Kelly joined us later. Driving home, we remarked that we just had a good evening out visiting friends at their suburban home for dinner and drinks after the child went to bed. Oh my God, I'm an adult!
Thursday I dropped Rosemary off at the El terminal at Bridge and Pratt, and then headed off to Connecticut. Back to the salt mines, not much to talk about there right now except that it hurt to take the rental car back because after a week I had bonded with it, and also because of the bill I had to pay! Oy!
Got back from the latest Philadelphia trip the other day, and had a great time! Saturday I drove down after work, and things went fine even though it was awful cold out and I got a citation from the Jersey state troopers.
I picked Rosemary up at angela_la_la's place for the chili cookoff. After a four-hour drive after a nine-hour shift at work, it was nice to go into a room full of nice people, eat some chili and drink a beer. I was subjected to the cute/horrible/frightening cartoon "Wonder Pets."
Sunday was a pretty quiet day for the most part, hanging out around Rosemary's place and then seeing her mom for a bit. Later we went to my parents house to watch the Super Bowl through halftime. My brother and his fiancee were around too, and I was happy as a clam to watch the Super Bowl with my father and brother, as the Lord intended!
I was rooting for the Colts, and was glad they took over the game. Despite a first half with five turnovers, it was pretty action-packed and had some good plays. And everything peaked with Prince, covering "Best of You," playing guitar like a motherfucker and singing "Purple Rain" in a real purple rain.
We caught the rest of the game in South Philly at Elizabeth and Allen Fiend's house, and it was cool to see some peeps I hadn't seen in a while. I kept thinking about how I was last there two years ago, and how different everything was then: I was still in Philly, still living with my parents, still couldn't drive, knew some people and had yet to know some others, who was important to my life then and who is now.
Monday Rosemary and I went to the King Tut exhibit at the Franklin Institute. If you're thinking about going to this, just do it. Go. It's great. It was amazing to look at 150 things that are 3,500 years old, still intact and looking like you could use them today. Beautiful artwork, craftsmanship, the gold and woodwork and sculpture.
I found it amusing that Tutankhamun was buried with everything -- including care products (oils and unguents), jewelry (from his pectoral plates to bracelets and amulets) and his Xbox (a few game boards).
It was also a bit disconcerting to see some of the slave imagery in the artwork, such as a cane whose handle depicted a bound and conquered Nubian. I could see some Southern slave master owning the same thing.
We also went through the Giant Heart -- my first time in years and years. It's not so giant when you're grown, and some of the spaces were only about as big as Rosemary and me!
And then Tuesday was the big night -- Dancing with the Stars Tour! I put on my rhinestones and heeled shoes and had a good time down at the Wachovia Center. The irony of the fact that I make my living in the sports teams that play there, yet the one and only time I'm been in the place was to watch Lisa Rinna do the quickstep. We sat in the upper level pretty high up, but we could see everything well enough, and the cameras gave good closeups.
Despite the pat banter between dances and the cruise ship-y feel to the show overall, it was a really good show with great dancing, fun routines and an excellent live band with great singers (though they could have used a live horn section instead of synths). But Joey McIntyre can keep his new CD, which he sang from during the show. Cheryl Burke and Drew Lachey ruled the show, of course, and it was great to see their freestyle and the paso doble set to "Thriller" again. Good times. Harry Hamlin was good to see, because he was voted off the show just as he was getting better, and he can do a good tango and waltz.
But the coolest thing of all was that my mom came with us. Rosemary's mom was going to come, but she decided to stay home with Rosemary's dad, so my mom went instead. We met up for dinner at Jones after my mom got off work, and then I got to drive my mom around, and drive her home. My dad later told me she was impressed with my driving, which felt good.
Wednesday Rosemary took a half-day, and we did a little shopping and hung around the apartment until we went to Scott and Kelly's in West Chester. Scott used to be my boss at the Tribune before he left and I took his job. I hadn't seen him in a few years, but we kept in touch after he left. We got to see their new house, and we finally got to meet their son, Andrew.
Last time we all met, Kelly was still pregnant with Andrew, and he turned 3 today! So it was nice to meet the kid after all this time. He's easily the most together 3-year-old I've ever met. Very curious about the world (he kept asking questions about what you've done and seen in life, from "Have you ever been in a dark forest?" to "Have you seen butterflies?" to "Have you had Coca-Cola?" And he had the knack of moving from toy power tools and dump trucks to wanting to watch "Mary Poppins" while Daddy talked adult stuff with his friends.
We had a delicious dinner of chicken cordon bleu, asparagus and potatoes, and Kelly joined us later. Driving home, we remarked that we just had a good evening out visiting friends at their suburban home for dinner and drinks after the child went to bed. Oh my God, I'm an adult!
Thursday I dropped Rosemary off at the El terminal at Bridge and Pratt, and then headed off to Connecticut. Back to the salt mines, not much to talk about there right now except that it hurt to take the rental car back because after a week I had bonded with it, and also because of the bill I had to pay! Oy!