Friends are what will matter in the end.

Give me one friend, just one, who meets the needs of all my varying moods.

xoxo

Oh Peephone,You So Crazy! I Think I Wanna Have Your baby!

I had a great time in Europe, but I truly did miss the PeePhone! Sometimes, I would lie awake wondering just what could be happening at the PeePhone at that very moment..Were there people making babies in it? Little crack babies? Was someone peeing in it right then? Oh, the sleep I lost that I shall never get back..
So I visited the PeePhone for several hours last night..and it did NOT disappoint ladies and gentlemen! In the phone itself I saw a cup of urine, coffee cups, rolling tobacco, leftover fries from Ray's..and someone had tagged in it! I don't know what the tag says exactly, but someone suggested to me that it really looked like it was written with feces, as in SHIT. I would NOT be surprised by this..I only felt elation! When all else lets you down in this world, you know you can count on PeePhone to be exactly the same.

There was even a small table set up next to the phone last night..On top of it were cigs, an energy drink, and oddly enough, saltine crackers! Inside the table I found a King Cobra(barf!), and some cut up lemons..Fucking CLASS. Now I feel like i'm truly home again. But what I find most offensive about all this..not the shit tag, cheap beer, cup o' pee, no..not these. It's the SALTINES. Do you know how much sodium is in those things? Your blood pressure is going to go through the roof! WAKE UP PEOPLE!!!!!!

Real 300. Oops, sorry.

Apparently, I made a mistake.

THIS is the 300th post. Okay, now I've totally spoiled the moment so I'm not even gonna mention this subject again. Ever. Well, yeah. I'll try my best.

Anyway, just a quick post today. The first day of August, as we speak! It's 1:28 am here and I just finished seeing The Knowing on DVD. Have you seen the film? It's the one with Nicolas Cage about the number and prediction thing? Okay, let me just say that it's a really ambitious movie. Not necessarily in a bad way. I actually thoroughly enjoyed it; by the middle of it I was so eager to find out how the story would end. So I gave it a cookie point for being gripping and engaging enough! My sister, cousin and I don't make an easy audience. We had hopes, and expectations. HOPE!

I've seen many movies with similar ideas: catastrophic events, natural disasters, alien invasion, that may very well lead to the end of the world . Look at The Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow, War of The Worlds, The Happening, just to mention a few. But I can safely say that I don't think I've seen one with this kind of ending. Where everything sorts of just...end. And although Nicolas Cage is still the heroic character (sometimes, a little too cheesily so), not even he could make it in the end.

And I don't know. Does that make the movie more beliveable, or not? Yes, and no. Well, I take it most of you have seen the flick so you'd know what I mean. The alien thing is so out of this world, but at the same time it's a change to see that not everything ends happily for the main character.

I'll try to write more tomorrow, but it's late and I wanna get some reading done before bed. I've started reading John Irving again, and the font is so small you have to practically use a magnifying glass. Okay, maybe not, but it's still a lot smaller than average. Have you ever seen 'The Fountainhead'? Probably that small. Yes. It took me months to finish 'The Prayer of Owen Meany' (although it was a highly rewarding experience, the ending blew me away), still I'd like to not drag it and be lazy. So far, I only got to page...47.

Okay, a loooooong way to go. So, good night for the time being.

I'm crampy as hell so everyone must suffer!

Welps, I am on the rag as in MENSTRUATING so everyone sucks. No, not really but I feel like shit the past few days..I need some serious painkillers..like a mallet to the head! Anyway..I posted a wonderful cartoon of a tampon. Yeah, cause that's the kinda gal I am. Gross and offensive..The baby Jesus made me this way! My period makes me do weird stuff like right now i'm singing along to Tiny Dancer by Elton John and I feel all emotional.."Hold me closer, Tony Danza.." ...sniff...I want sheets of linen! And a pony still.

I haven't been hanging out too much but I did run into my friend Dave who has the best T-shirts on always..Then I saw the Starfucks on 2nd Avenue and 9th street has changed its name to STARBOFFEE. Good marketing campaign..it has a nice ring to it! Anyway, it's pouring out again tonite so i'll stay in and watch girly movies. I made John watch From Beyond last night after trying to watch a documentary about Alan Moore. I couldn't make it through all Moore's ramblings about magic..I agree with most of what he says and stuff..but he seems a bit of a megalomaniac..and completely insane. I guess i'm not in love with him anymore. Maybe he needs more STARBOFFEE or something..

300, cravings

This is officially my 300th post.

Wow. 300. 300 times I've been littering rants all over this site. It took exactly 2 years 1 month and 5 days for me to get here. So it's pretty impressive, considering that I've never kept anything alive for this long. Even my cute penguin doll which I bought in San Diego looked almost dead to me, and I only got it last December.

Although this blog is over 2 years old, the one I kept before this in Windows Live dated back since October 2005, so technically I've been loitering a lot more than just 300 posts. I'm a word-whore.

(I don't think I've ever used the word whore in here before. This is a good sign. I'm off to a good start for the next 300.)

I don't really know what I'm supposed to say in my 300th post, because I feel like I ought to write something meaningful for a change. But as of now I have none (when have I?), so...yeah, 300. No big deal. Moving on.

Anyway, I've been having weird cravings these past few weeks. Last week it was those japanese mixed nuts, and this week, well, it's lettuce.

Because of this, for the very first time I bought one of those instant caesar salad thingy at 7/11, and a few nights ago I bought KFC's oriental salad (!!!!) while my friends all had burgers, subways and fries.

One of them looked at me as if to say, "Gosh, don't tell me you're one of those girls who don't eat."

I said, "No! I'm not normally like this!" but very unconvincingly. It's hard to believe someone would ever prefer salad over McBurgers. I don't sound too believable even to myself.

No, I don't have a fetus inside me. Having strange cravings is totally normal, isn't it?

The BIG Lakes Tour

We had a really nice (if damp) ride on Sunday, thanks to Joe Renda and the six or so club members who came out and braved the elements for a very pleasant backroads tour around Gardiner and Litchfield - somewhat abbreviated from the planned ride to Bowdoinham, due to the changing weather. This week we will launch the KVBC breakfast ride series on Friday morning in Fayette. Saturday will see our first ride in August (it's August already?) in Manchester - an entirely new route through the heart of the lakes district. Hope to see you all this weekend!


(Winthrop 1892 USGS Quadrangle; University of New Hampshire Digital Collections Initiative)

Saturday, August 1st - MANCHESTER

"The BIG Lakes Tour" - a ride along the shorelines of Lakes Maranacook, Annabessacook, and Cobbosseecontee.

START: 8:30 AM at the parking lot of O&P Glass, across from Rite-Aid on Rt.202 in Manchester, just west of the junction of Rt.202 and Rt.17N.

DISTANCE: 25-30 miles.

TERRAIN: moderate with some hills.

HIGHLIGHTS: Some nice lakeside runs along backroads in Winthrop, Monmouth, and Manchester, with a post-ride gathering.

LEADER: Denise Crowell.

Two Wheels Over Easy

Que fait-il savoir? Rapprocher les patisseries! (Possible translation: "What does he know? Bring on the pastries!")

If you are free on Fridays, please join us for the KVBC morning breakfast ride series: Two Wheels Over Easy. We will meet in various locations (probably), ride to a local breakfast haunt (definitely), check out the menu (likely), eat a semi-balanced meal (maybe), then ride some more (guiltlessly). Sounds like fun - even if you're a British velodrome star with a taste for bran flakes. Ah, dedication... (and British humor).

Friday, July 31st - FAYETTE

"Two Wheels Over Easy" - the KVBC morning breakfast ride series.

START: 8:00 AM at the Fayette Community School on Rt.17, about two miles west of the junction of Rt.17 and Rt.41N in Kents Hill.

DISTANCE: about 10 miles to breakfast in Livermore, full distance TBD.

TERRAIN: mostly moderate.

HIGHLIGHTS: Breakfast! And some great riding, too!

LEADER: Frank Rosen.

the boybands' lovin'

I was reading an entertainment blog (the perfect way to reduce stress, cynicism, and a post-Monday's blues. Highly recommended) and there was this news about Backstreet Boys's newly released album.

Okay, so I'm going to make a confession; one you might laugh at, and most probably, mock. But what the hell. I love the Backstreet Boys. In fact, I'll go even further. My name is Tina and I'm a boyband lover.

Hi Tina.

Yeah, there. Now before you cast a harsh judgment on my taste of music, let me just say first, that my adoration for these boybands aren't all me. Shall I entertain you with a little theory I have?

Well, according to my, ehem, intellectual opinion, one's music preference is highly influenced by the kind of music one listened to while growing up. Not necessarily that one wouldn't like the other types of music, but teenagers are more prone and acceptable to the things that were exposed to them during this time.

I grew up in the 90s, the time when our tv screen was filled with pretty boys with no chest hair. I used to think the whole synchronization of wardrobe was quite endearing, and the more people in the band, the better, even though at least 60% of them provided zero function except to just stand there and look pretty.

I listened to Boyzone, Backstreet Boys, NSync, Human Nature, Savage Garden, Take That, and later to the kinds of Blue, BBMak, Trademark, Westlife, OTT, Hanson. Every imaginable combination of alphabets and numbers, we got 'em: 3T, 911, A1. These boys were so cute you wouldn't really care much about whether or not they could sing.

It was the era of cheesy pop songs, and it was awesome. I bought VCD concert of Boyzone in Wembley, which details I can still remember vividly: the order of the songs, the dance routine (if you can call it that), the dialogue they had, the exact moment Ronan smiled and Stephen looking cute. And I cried once because my sister mocked Brian from the Backstreet Boys (who was my favorite. His best-looking appearance? Easy. As Long As You Love Me) for having sunken cheeks and I cried in his defense.

My sister still uses that piece of information against me until now. "Remember when you cried because I made fun of the boyband guy?!! That's so hilariously funny, HA HA HA, I can't believe how lame you were!" I wanted to say "his name is Brian", but I think it's best to shut up. It's a lose-lose situation.

I'm sure I've grown out of that and I will never once again cry over a member of boyband (no matter how cute or hot or gorgeous or dreamy or sexy he is), but to say that I no longer love pop music or boybands isn't right either. In fact, I still do. And I don't think anyone can really grow out of that; out of that music they listened to when they had pimples outbreaks and bad skin problems.

My older sister and I share the same taste of music because we're just 2 years apart, and we grew up technically together. My younger sister is 5 years younger than me, and it was past the 90s by the time she got to secondary school. By then, it was all hiphop and RnB and 50 Cents and Missy Elliott and she made me listen repeatedly to Ludacris until I wanted to smack my head off. She grew up in a (already) totally different era.

I have no scientific explanation, really, except that music is proven to be an important influence on our memories. We associate songs with emotions, people, places, and experience we've had in the past. Maybe the memories we had during our adolescence are the most powerful.

Tell me if this sounds like bollocks. To me though, even though I love different types of music, (and these days Ludacris doesn't sound too ludicrous anymore) I think I will always have that knack for boybands and pop music. And precisely that makes me very excited about the prospect of Backstreet Boys' new album.

Friends are what will matter in the end

True friends are people who think that you are a good egg even though they know that you are slightly cracked ♥

I really miss these girls.

A Wet Sunday

The KVBC ride on Sunday was warm and wet. The group of six started at the Laura E. Richards school on Rt. 201 in Gardiner and followed a shorter route than was originally planned. The pre-ride doppler radar showed a good sized storm bearing down on us and there was no reason to punish ourselves.

The rain started as soon as we began our tour through the back roads of Gardiner, Richmond and Litchfield.
Noteable roads being the New Road in Richmond which gives you a nice long (1 mile-ish) 3% decent; a Tour de France-like uphill switchback onto GrindStone Crank Road; a grape vinyard and views of Pleasant Pond.
We did get some dry weather towards the end and everyone had a great time.
Hopefully next year the loop to Bowdoinham won't get rained out.

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-geologyjoe

I think. . .

I think I miss you; your memory, the things you say and do, your voice. I wonder if there's someone out there with your laugh.

I don't think about you that much, but every so often you pop into my mind and I allow myself to remember that good part of my life; not just because of you, but what your entire presence symbolized. A much more carefree, less stressful time when I still had a handfull of hope and optimism about everything.

I think most of all, I just miss the way you made me feel.

what the heck..more France pics!

Here's some more pics of France..The view of Sauve, Sophie and I at her cute house, Me with Aline's awesome barbie collage art, the door of the apartment we stayed at with a flyer Robert did for a festival there, the castles of Sauve, the figs from the tree in the garden..

Hmm..let's see..The town bridge..the cute window of our apartment, John and Robert C. jamming, and Aline and her friend Dominique looking adorable at garden party! Alright, that's enough pics..this week it's back to life as usual in the LES..though I am going to San Francisco in two weeks..Pictures of hippies on Haight Street! Yay! I hope they sell me bunk acid.

Some pics from France..

Here are some neat pics from France..where I kinda wish I was right now instead of back in the city with this shitty rainy weather once again..There's John and I playing in the Crumbs cute little garden at a small party..Me on uke and singing, john on guitar, and Robert on mandolin and here-on tenor guitar..We took a two hour hike through the Sea of Rocks too in Sauve..which was nice..You can get lost in there for days..all those rocks and stuff! We visited Sophie in a little town called Sommieres which was south of Sauve and had vineyards and stuff..bee-yoo-tiful!

Everything in Sauve is old and so cool looking..I took a freaking LOT of photos! Stone archways everywhere, cool looking houses(castles, really)..and there's a pic of Sauve from way up high on our hike..Can't wait to go back there next summer!
I'll post more photos tomorrow..

Show at Tompkins..and a tree fell so everyone got happy.

Wow, as I type this the weather outside is fucking frightful! I got soaked earlier today walking around and after that I just came home and have been catching up on all the intellectual programming I missed while I was away...Basically episodes of The New Degrassi and True Blood. I know it's a corny show-but I am so addicted to True Blood! The acting is so damn good and after tonite's episode ended John and I actually felt pissed off that we have to wait until next week to see what happens! We felt like punching each other or throwing Delgado out the window or something..

Instead I decided to put up pics from the show at Tompkins Square Park saturday and of a tree that fell over today on 6th st. and 1st. avenue during the storm. First, John Penley is back in NYC..He was in the park with someone named Ratbones whom i've never met but I took pics of anyway..They were having fun selling tshirts and stuff..Then I have one of my friend Hilda, Al from the band Hammerbrain who played that day, with David Peel there too. David never remembers me though I met him when I was 15 years old in Central Park. He gives me his card every time I see him..I should make a big collage from them and mail it to Yoko Ono. I kinda forgot to take pics of the bands playing..Hee! I just spent the day catching up with people I haven't seen for weeks..

Then today, this big tree fell on top of a parked car on 6th street by 1st avenue..No one was hurt and everyone there was taking photos from their cameras and cell phones. People were kind of shocked and quiet at first and then it began to have this kind of party atmosphere for some reason. I feel like everyone in NYC just wants any excuse to party in the streets..The girl whose car it was just kinda stood there upset and when I suggested to her it may not be as bad as it looked-she just said she didn't want to talk about it..Heheheh. Her back windshield was cracked and there was a huge dent on the hood-it was all caved in. That shit was fucked up!!! People started posing in front of the fallen tree and asking people to snap their photo for them while they pretended to lift the tree off the car and stuff. I felt like if someone dragged out a boombox and began blasting some music there may have been a street party with everyone limbo-ing under the tree. Anyway-I waited around for this to happen but it didn't so I finally gave up. TREE PARTY! UP IN DA HOUSE BITCH!!!!

I'll post some fun France pics tomorrow..too tired right now. I hope tonite I sleep like a LOG..Get it? A LOG!!!
Oh god, I crack myself up sometimes! Alright, I'll shut up now.

more Italy pics..

So I put up some more pics from Italy. I may be putting up doubles, i'm still tired and jet-lagged..I have put over 200 pics in my photobucket account..along with all the other crap that's in there..some nasty myspace comments stuff and maybe pics from another France trip two years ago..
ANyway, I'll post pics from France tonite or tomorrow..and they really are all in photobucket account edenbee..
Tiiiired....need more coffee!