AliBlog

Cities I've Known

• Cleveland, Ohio is your sports-nut uncle.
• Columbus, Ohio is the next-door neighbor who shares your taste in music, clothes and movies - but has a much bigger house and a much later bedtime.
• Athens, Ohio is the old friend you can count on to never change and never forget who you really are.
• New Orleans, Louisiana is the secret lover who brings out your sensual side.
• Raleigh, North Carolina is the hip friend who gracefully juggles faith, motherhood, work and play. 
• Traverse City, Michigan is the happy Deadhead who never got off the bus.
• Arcadia, Michigan is your baby, your heart, your one true love.
• Savannah, Georgia is your youthful great aunt who still gets it.
• Tucson, Arizona is your teenaged niece who can't decide if she wants to be an outdoor adventurer, a peace-loving hippy or a carefree drunk - and doesn't see the contradictions in being all three.
• Phoenix, Arizona is your over-conferenced, golf-bag toting, millionaire uncle.
• St. Louis, Missouri is the family friend who's just as comfortable with the kids as she is with the grown-ups.
• Las Vegas, Nevada is your high school chum who still thinks it's cool to stay out all night and pass out in strangers' hotel rooms.

What cities do you know?

Stones Photos from CR

I mean. Can you even begin to imagine what it takes to set up that beast of a stage? Chad can:

Questions for Travelers

Have you ever had an airport security person direct you to a specific parking spot in the long-term parking garage? And then get hostile when you ignored him?

Do you ever give tips for food delivery to your hotel room when an 18 percent gratuity has already been added to the bill?

Ever scratched or otherwise damaged a rental car in any way?

Ever found loose change & a few dollar bills in your rental car?

Finally, is it just me, or are the guys who check boarding passes when you first enter the airport's secure area (but before you send everything through X-ray) the most flirtatious bunch of fellas in the airport?

What Breaks My Heart

The bittersweet sound of a two-year-old on the phone saying, "I love you, Mommy. I miss you, Mommy. I go Nanny's house. Ma-Ma Dee's house too."

The weather was windy, the sunsets phenomenal

Another Trip to Arcadia

We're heading here again. This time with Mich, Stan, Jen and Jilly the dog. Do you think it's possible for the leaves to be that perfect again this year? I'm hoping so.

Since my appendage post has been such a whopping success, I'm pre-scheduleding a discussion prompter to appear once a day until we return. I'm hoping to find an inbox full of comments when I come home. Maybe I'll even convince one or two of you to delurk in my absence. Heck, some of you long-time readers have gone so long without commenting that you're in danger of becoming lurkers yourselves. Beau? Kelly? Erika? Anyone? Hurry - comment now, before it's too late!

So, here's the next prompt: when you go on vacation, do you typically overpack or underpack?  What items have you been known to forget?

Ode to New Orleans

We first met
On a cross-country journey
Traveling from nowhere
To Death Valley and back
She seduced us with
Rhythm and spices
Late hours and open containers
And who can resist
The sensual temptations
Of Miss New Orleans?

We stopped for a night
To sing from her rooftops
Eat oysters on half shells
Lap rum from her belly
And bounce with brass players
Until it was light
And we lay our heads down
On her sidewalks to rest
Wrapped up in the arms
Of sweet New Orleans.

A one-night stand
We'd never forget
A night of pure romance
We'd never relive -
Until by chance
A few years later
We packed up our books
And moved in next door
To our nearly forgotten
Miss New Orleans.

Now it was easy
To go for a day
Anytime we desired
And so we returned
To visit her often
Whenever she called
To explore every side street
And introduce friends
To all of the pleasures
Of Miss New Orleans.

But friends were forgotten
And lost in her shadows
And we had a brief fallout
At three in the morning
When she rose from her bed
And refused
To let us
Turn in for the night -
She does have a temper
That Miss New Orleans.

We moved away
And tried to forget her
Took many new lovers
Who cared more
For our pleasures
Than their own pure desires -
Savannah, Sedona and
Sweet San Francisco
Were not nearly as selfish
As Miss New Orleans.

The last time
We saw her
We should have
Known better
Than to spend time
In theaters
And shopping malls
Instead of carousing
The streets and back alleys
Of Miss New Orleans.

Oh, the memories we have
Of loud, bluesy concerts
And gypsies with fortunes
Performers and statues
Parks and rare friendships
On any street corner
Just waiting to turn
Days into nights
Of romance and passion
With Miss New Orleans.

Now she's in trouble
And we mourn
For her brothers
And cry
For her sisters
And open our books
And lay down our heads
And pray they can mend
Our sweetheart, beloved
Miss New Orleans.

The Ten-Year Honeymoon

When Jeromy and I were married TEN YEARS AGO TODAY, we never went on a honeymoon. We spent one night at a Bed & Breakfast soaking in the hot tub and hiking through the woods, then returned to work on Monday - Jeromy selling used cars and me serving draft beers to Athens locals. Then I finished off my senior year at Ohio University, Jeromy entered the military and we've spent nearly every hour of vacation we've earned since then visiting friends and family back home.

Now that we've moved back home and have some vacation time built up, we've decided to give ourselves the romantic getaway we never experienced the first time around. We're spending a long weekend in the honeymoon capital of the United States, the Poconos Mountains.

I mean - if heart-shaped hot tubs, champagne breakfasts, good lighting and round beds don't spell L-O-V-E for you, what does? (Don't give me any psychobabble about commitment, family, respect and communication - we're CELEBRATING here, all right - chintz and all.)

So, when we come back feeling pampered, tanned and more in love than ever before, please excuse any mushy-gushy, lovey-dovey blog posts that might ensue. After ten years, we deserve 'em!

Overheard at the Airport

One man waiting to board a flight from Cleveland to Cincinnati is worried about paint. It has already been mixed but still needs to be delivered. The customer is painting a church, and he is a good customer who does not make demands often, so the man on the phone is disappointed that he has been unable to meet this request. He has someone attending to another urgent request at the moment, and someone else who is stuck home with a stick child. He, of course, is at the airport. But the paint will be delivered later today, after the first urgency is handled.

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Another man is waiting to board a flight from Cincinnati. He is discussing menu options for a restaurant. He has an idea for a low-cost beef option. A prepared roast whose individual portions with sauce will require a 9-minute cook time. He is discussing a potato recipe that requires soaking overnight, maybe for 12 hours or maybe only 8. There is some disagreement, but overnight should suffice. More importantly, it has to be two quarts of potatoes to four quarts of water, and the soaking is required to lower the starch levels. Another idea that someone sprung on him that morning involves the purchase of a new appliance. He likes the idea. He likes ideas. And food. And talking about food. He really likes talking about food.

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Another man is introducing himself to the lady in the seat beside him. She lives in North Carolina but it's clear from her accent that she is not a native North Carolinian. He calls her an interloper of some sort. He is from Georgia and just puts up with all the Yankees on the road in the Triangle. She is from New York state originally. Half of Cary is from New York originally. She is a professional musician. She plays cello in the orchestra. He is reading a book about a Stradivarius that she might like. The Stradivarius is central to the theme, he says, but you don't know that until you're 500 pages into the novel. It's a long novel. If you understand literature, he says, you'll know that there are only three or four major conflicts that are used and re-used by writers century after century. Only a few great authors have mastered those conflicts as an art, he says. He reads a lot on planes. He also talks about the blues in Memphis and country music in Nashville and the claim that Memphis might also be the home of Rock n Roll. But that is debatable. Then he talks about Bach and Mozart and the differences between them. The details of Bach, the genius of Mozart. She agrees they are both geniuses. It's indisputable. He says Bach's music was the culmination of enlightenment in the Baroque period. You don't hear that everyday, he says with pride. The cellist laughs somewhat uncomfortably at this man who is so eager to display his intellect to a stranger. He offers to give her the book if he can finish it during the flight. He checks, though, and has 80 pages left to read, which he won't be able to finish in a 50 minute flight, especially since he has more important things to do.

We're Home

Commuting, Writing, Music

When we lived in North Carolina I drove 50 miles to work -- and back -- every weekday. It was a grueling commute that I've been lucky to avoid now for more than three years as a telecommuter.

Yesterday, however, I drove to Akron for a half-day writing seminar from Ann Wylie, and I was reminded of what I miss about that Raleigh commute: an hour to myself in the morning and an hour to myself in the afternoon. Two hours to organize my thoughts about the day, two hours to listen to books on tape, NPR, a favorite CD or whatever fits my mood. Yesterday the sun was shining and I listened to Over the Rhine the whole way there and back. I will never grow tired of Karen Bergquist's voice or Linford Detweiler's lyrics.

And what about the seminar? I'd recommend Wylie's training, tools and tips to anyone in PR, advertising or corporate communications. Within the first hour, she had everyone in the room rewriting the lead paragraphs of their varied work assignments, and we all made drastic improvements. There were more than 100 attendees.

I also sat at a table with some PR professionals who filled me in on a few upcoming events that we'll be sure to attend. The first is the annual people parade in Cleveland's University Circle, taking place this year on June 11. (Hey you Cleveland friends - wanna go?) The second is the Kent State Folk Festival in November. Plus, there's this great Folk Alley Web site -- supported by Kent's WKSU radio station -- where you can listen to folk music all day long.

This is an awesome find for someone who's been missing the folk-saturated community radio stations in Tucson and St. Louis. And while I'm grumbling about crappy radio, I'll admit to being dismayed with the local NPR station here as well. There's way too much music and not enough talk. Classical music starts at 8am and lasts until 4pm. No Morning Addition, no Fresh Air, no BBC news. Sorry -- but in my book Mozart doesn't trump Terry Gross. Not every day.

Vacation Summation

The thing about vacationing with a toddler is that everything has to be scheduled around nap time. And then, if you're visiting friends who also have young children - or say, for instance, twin babies - you have three nap times to consider. So, as soon as one kid wakes up from a nap, another one's going down, and so on ... until two whole days have gone by and despite your best intentions to go to the zoo or to go swimming, you've never even left the house.

If you're lucky, they will be good friends whose company you enjoy at least as much as you would have enjoyed the zoo anyway. Or the sun for that matter. And if you're really lucky they'll have tivo'd Head Banger's Ball, because that way "we don't have to watch it." Instead, what you do is fast forward through most of the videos, making snide remarks about the melodramatic existentialism of today's heavy metal scene and reminiscing about the days when The Ball was the best show on TV. Ahhh, yes, those were the days.

Today, some of us still pop in an Iron Maiden CD on occasion and feel no shame about it. Others brag about a cameo appearance in a GWAR video. Or catching a drum stick at a Cinderella concert. Or breaking through to the pavilion while Nine Inch Nails performed at the first ever Lollapalooza festival. Yes, these are things to be proud of.

But, in case you need reminding, these are not things you can do while vacationing with a toddler. Concerts in general are pretty much out of the question, as are Broadway plays, off-shore fishing, hang gliding, bar hopping and long days at the beach.

Luckily, you can still spend a few hours at the park, take lots of short bike rides, meander the Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk, catch up on your reading, take a boat tour of Everglades National Park (with Grandpa as your guide), play poker with old friends (after the toddler has gone to bed, of course), and most importantly - spend time with people you love.

Home from Vacation

More Florida pics are here. Notes on the trip will follow shortly. Right now we're busy unpacking and doing laundry ...

Needle, Needle, Prod, Prod

Sunny Florida beckons. If you get bored while we're gone, read the archives or sign our guest map (click on "Hide Welcome Message" when pop up screen appears). Ciao.

Home from Carolina

What, you didn't know I was gone? Actually, I've been home for three days, but somehow, it always takes me that long to get back into a routine - even after a brief trip away. Anyway, I was in NC for work, where I learned a lot about the latest release of our products. But the best part about taking business trips to NC is that I get to spend the evenings visiting friends.

Thursday I went out with Rachel Kafsky (OU friends will remember her as Rachel Haynes) who stays home with her two boys during the day, so she was very happy to have a night out. We talked about family dynamics and bodily fluids and many other fun topics that you never imagine discussing over beer until you become a mom. Of course, we also shared pics of our boys and reminisced about the infamous canoe/lawn mower trade - one of life's great barters.

Friday I stayed with Greg and Diana Walker (Billies friends will remember her as Diana Shaneyfelt) and got to see Scott Galvin there too. With Greg and Diana, we laughed about which one of them would be the biggest basket case if they ever end up having kids. Right now they have three babies, all cats, and it's such fun to guess what someone's parenting style will be like based on their animal rearing experiences.

Our dogs were always hyper but pretty much followed the rules and adjusted well to change. They stayed off the furniture and abstained from chewing our possessions into slobbery, unrecognizable forms, but they were never very good on a leash. I guess you could say the same about Robey. (Not that I've ever put the kid on a leash. But if I did, I'm sure he'd find it quite disagreeable.)

If Greg and Diana ever do have kids, they will surely enjoy snuggling with their parents under the covers and chasing wads of paper around the house, and I bet they'll have the best nicknames on the block. Two of the cats are called Lexy Lou and Alex Poo (I forget the other,s nickname). Plus, Greg refers to Robey as Robey Dobey, and he calls his wife Danana (rhymes with Banana). It's fun to say. Try it.

Did I Mention the Leaves?

The fall leaves this year were unbeatable. And they were at their peak when we were in Michigan. I've updated the Michigan Fall 04 photo album with some great fall pictures taken by Beau. A few of the new beach shots are his too.

Ahhh Michigan

Growing up, we spent two weeks every summer on Lake Michigan. Up north, where the beaches are undeveloped, the people are friendly and the water is cool. We fished, we played cards, we swam for hours and ran through the woods. We picked raspberrys, climbed sand dunes, roasted marshmallows, made friends and heard all the stories about summers past.

Many of my most cherished childhood memories take place in this cottage, on this lake, in this small, quiet town. And now, it's my first trip back in nearly 10 years, and I'm so glad to be able to share it with my family and my closest friends, to relive those memories and retell the stories of four generations in this place. And most of all, I'm pleased to continue the tradition by introducing Robey to his first of many summer vacations on Lake Michigan.

To view our vacation in pictures visit the Michigan Fall 2004 photo album (Thanks to Michelle for contributing the majority of these pics).

Off to Michigan

We're heading to Arcadia. For ten whole days. I can't remember the last time we had a long vacation of complete relaxation. No running around, catching planes or checking e-mail. Just sitting in front of the fireplace, playing cards or walking down the beach. That's where you'll find us ... just below this lookout and a bit to the left, playing in the sand. Photo courtesy of MDOT.

Strangers on Airplanes

On my flight home from St. Louis yesterday, I sat by a very nice Texan who informed me that Kerry is a homo-loving, baby killer whose only agenda for ending terrorism is to relabel all terrorists as freedom fighters. He also said that the sole reason democrats are fighting for stem cell research is to keep abortions legal. And he said that the media has spent years covering up the real cause for alzheimer's disease: aluminum cans. Honestly, how can someone so nice and seemingly intelligent be so self-righteous and single-minded? When I cast my vote in November, I hope it will be for the person who sees domestic and international issues as complex, multifaceted problems -- not as simple, black and white concerns with absolute answers.