Or something like that.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the annual PA Renaissance Faire. It was like nothing I've ever seen before in my life. Quite overwhelming and, well, bizarre.

I went with my parents, and at one point during the car ride to the fairgrounds, I mentioned that I'd heard that the people who participate in and attend these types of affairs are a subculture unto themselves. I can tell you with absolute certainty now that it is 100% true. These people take this shit REALLY seriously, speaking Elizabethan English in faux British accents while garbed in apparently authentic apparel. Kind of like this guy:



When I feel inclined to download the pictures I took from it, I'll be sure to post a few here. The highlight of the afternoon was bonding with my dad while throwing knives at a target as my mother stood far, far out of harm's way.

Good tymes.

Labels: family, funny stuff, opinions, sheer insanity

Just got back from the penultimate show of this Foo tour.

Unfortunately, I got COLD BUSTED at the door with my Nikon (man, is ANYTHING going my way lately???). So I had to turn around and take it back to the car. Damn.

The show was okay but I think they're just tired! Their last show is tomorrow night at the Meadowlands. Dave's voice is sounding worn down.

I do have a teensy bit of good news, though: in true stalker form, I sat outside the stage door of the venue this afternoon for almost three hours, waiting for the guys to come to soundcheck. The Huz was with me almost the entire time (thanks honey! You're the BEST!).

At around 3:30 p.m., two tricked-out tour buses pull up right next to us. Dave and Chris pop out of the first one and go straight into the arena. Didn't even look in our direction--and there were only about seven fans standing around outside.

Nate, Pat Smear, Rami Jaffee, and Taylor hopped out of the second bus. I yelled hello to each of them, and they posed for a picture for me! Taylor was especially nice.

I also got a picture of me and Sean Cox, their guitar tech. Very cool guy!

Here's the sucky part: later in the afternoon, I accidentally deleted the GREAT picture of Pat and Rami. I am so pissed at myself!

I still have a nice shot of Taylor smiling for the camera, and two shots of Mr. Grumpy--er, Grohl--making a beeline for the stage door.

I'll post the shots in the next day or two when I get home. My inlaws claim to have high-speed internet here, but I suspect otherwise. Plus, their mouse is pretty much shot and that is seriously aggravating me now. I can't work under these conditions! /diva rant

Labels: bad news, concerts, family, Foo Fighters, good news, marriage, music, pictures, sheer idiocy, sheer insanity, travel

On Sunday afternoon, we drove about 100 miles north from Savannah to Charleston. Our first stop was the Magnolia Plantation on the Ashley River. We took a house tour and a tram tour of the grounds. It was amazing. There is an array of wildlife on the plantation grounds, and the tour guide told us that a local ornithologist had identified over two hundred species of birds on the property last year.

If you're spending any time in the Charleston vicinity and have a few hours, I highly recommend checking it out. There's also a self-guided walking tour through swamplands, a petting zoo, and extensive gardens.

Here are some pictures.




The live oak-lined driveway to the plantation house.




Slave cabins on the plantation grounds.


Many peacocks wandered around the petting zoo area. This one in particular seemed to enjoy posing for me.




Here's a shot of Bubba, the resident male gator of the plantation.


Fred, a great blue heron.

Labels: animals, family, history, pictures, travel

I'm in Charleston tonight, but wanted to post a couple pics I took in Savannah yesterday.

This place was fantastic. The gardens, town squares, fountains, architecture...everything is so charming, unlike any other place I've ever visited. The sweet aroma of wild honeysuckle perfumes the air. Spanish moss drips from the limbs of the enormous live oaks that line the avenues of this small city. I'm only sorry that we weren't able to stay longer. There are tons of great photo opportunities here that I didn't have the chance to explore, due to our tight schedule.

Labels: family, pictures, travel

I really haven't had a hell of a lot to say lately.

The trapezius spasms have returned with a vengeance, so I'm trying to spend as much time away from the computer as possible. For the better part of the past two weeks, my right shoulder blade has been burning. It feels like it's going to explode. I had a fabulous massage on Friday after work that did help. In fact, it helped so much that I bought a massage package, so I have three more hour-long sessions to look forward to.

The annual Mother/Daughter Trip is coming up soon. We're flying into Jacksonville, renting a car and driving up to Savannah, spending the night there, and then driving the next afternoon to Charleston, SC. I can't wait! I'm really excited to take pictures all over these sister cities. I'm planning on picking up a copy of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and quickly reading it, so that I'm well-prepared for the Savannah leg of our trip. I did read it once, back in the mid-90s, but I'll be damned if I can remember much about it.

Work has been hectic, per usual. Nothing even worth writing about there. But I have kept my promise to myself about leaving promptly at 5 p.m., and I'm amazed by how much stuff I get done at home in the evenings as a result of that!

In two weeks, I'll be heading downtown to try and get some shots of the Dad Vail Regatta, Philly's annual collegiate boat race on the Schuylkill River. I usually go down there and hang out for a few hours most years; I love the energy of the college kids who are competing in it. Not to mention checking out all those young, muscular rowers. I don't recall the guys looking like that when I was in college!

I'll leave you with a picture that I took about ten days ago in my backyard. It's hard to believe that these bare-branched trees are now bursting with bright-green foliage. Spring has sprung and I am so happy!

Labels: books, family, hobbies, Philadelphia, pictures, sports, travel

Edited to add: My legal consultant has advised me to remove the name of the firm that is being discussed in the below post. Thanks. -Lori

The one topic of conversation that didn't get much play at our party last night was the large, locally-based financial services company where several of my family members and many of my friends work. Most of them were in attendance at our party last night, and this company usually winds up being a major discussion piece at our get-togethers.

I'm especially surprised no one was talking about the big issue--that is, the fact that this company is allegedly discontinuing their annual bonus. That's been a huge conversation-starter around here for the past six months or so.

I can't imagine what the fallout will be if this really does happen. This is most definitely a big deal; the company's bonus every June is the sole reason so many disgruntled employees work there. And EVERYONE I know who works there (and I know a lot of them!) is disgruntled, especially since their CEO came into power in the late 90s.

For some of the more tenured employees, the bonus equates to 30% of their salaries! It has always been touted by this company's PR machine as one of the primary benefits of working there. Sure, the company's base salaries are quite low compared to other firms in the industry, but the employees benefit from the "total compensation package" that includes the annual bonus, blahblahblah fishcakes.

Many people assume that there will be a mass exodus of employees from the company after the (alleged!!) announcement is made about the discontinuance of the bonus. But my question is this: where exactly will all of these people find other jobs if this does happen? This company is the largest employer in Chester County. I can't imagine what will happen if there is a huge glut of ex-employees from this company floating around the Philadelphia job market looking for new positions.

Based on the stat counters I use to track my visitors to this blog, I know that I have a bunch of readers from this company. What do you guys think? Remember, this blog does give you the option of posting anonymously if you don't want to leave your name!

Ideas? Thoughts?

Labels: family, friends, gossip, local news, money, opinions, work

Whew! It's all over.

The party was definitely a success!

My family got here around 4 p.m., hung out, ate, and did the whole gift-exchange thing. Children ran amok, the grown-ups circulated, chatting and laughing, and everyone was forced to watch the slideshow DVD I made of our Vegas and dude ranch photos. Hee.

The next wave of guests started streaming in the door at about 7 p.m. as planned. Did I mention that I sent two sets of invites, staggering the start times of the party? This worked well, I think. It may have created a little more work for me, making sure that the food supplies were refilled and hot or cold as necessary, but it also ensured that I got to actually spend time with everyone, and not be stuck behind the buffet line or at the oven. I actually had fun at my own party! What a rarity.

The majority of my family left around 8 p.m., just as all of our friends and neighbors arrived, so for about an hour things were absolute CHAOS...just the way I like it! Kids screeching, random spurts of uproarious laughter emanating from various groups of guests around the house, ambient holiday music playing from two different stereos, and the general hum of conversation. People mingling everywhere, in the family room, the living room, the basement, the kitchen...the smokers out on the deck (we also had great weather...on the warm side for late December and no rain!).

We got so many nice gifts from people, all kinds of wines and champagnes, flavored coffee, gift cards, candles, books...such generosity. Of course, as trite as it sounds, we really just enjoyed everyone's company. We are soooo lucky to have such great family and friends.

The last of our guests left around midnight. The Huz and I cleaned up for about an hour, and then spent some quiet time snuggling on the couch, rehashing some of the evening's events. We finally headed to bed at 1:30, but I was still so keyed up that I didn't fall asleep until almost 3 a.m.

Some pics:

Yes, I had to take a picture of our powder room with all the candles going. Atmosphere, people!

The second tree that we put up in the living room.

Dave and Steph.
Another quiet moment...most of the fam was opening gifts then.
Uncle, aunt, paternal unit, cousin...
The Huz and our neighbors
Cousin, dad, uncle, aunt
Christina, Colleen, PJ, Steph, Andrea
Shawn, The Huz, Joe
PJ holding up the tree, Colleen looking on...

Steph doing her Rihanna imitation!

Cousins

Dad, uncle, cousin
Cousin, aunts and uncle
Cousins!
More cousins, uncle, Mom
Jan and Mark
Deb and Chuck, our next-door neighbors

Labels: family, food, friends, holidays, pictures, sheer insanity

Our party is tomorrow.

We invited sixty one people; fifty five are coming. This is the biggest group I've ever entertained in one shot. I'm a little nervous, but I figure people will eat and drink whatever I've provided, so I can't get too worried about it. However, that didn't prevent me from having an awful nightmare last night that the party was about to start and I'd somehow forgotten about it, and all these people were coming into my house and I had no food for them! Ugh. I woke up this morning in a total panic.

I took the day off from work and cooked and baked basically all day. I roasted twelve pounds of red bliss potatoes and made four pounds of baked ziti. I baked four dozen snickerdoodles, five dozen chocolate chip cookies, a large pan of brownies, and four dozen cupcakes.

The Huz really pitched in and helped today, thankfully. He cleaned almost the entire house, even down to the baseboards.

Other stuff on the menu:

Chips, pretzels and dip
Vegetable crudite
Bocconcini, black olives, mini sweet gherkins
Hummus and pita chips
Pigs in a blanket
Shrimp cocktail
Deviled eggs
Hot roast beef
Green beans amandine
And the ever-popular Chick-Fil-A nuggets
Coffee, beer, wine, soda, and several different kinds of liquor
Pumpkin roll

I am exhausted and going to bed now. I'll be taking plenty of pics tomorrow with the new Nikon.

Labels: family, food, friends, holidays

So we're going up to New York for Christmas, as we do every other year, to visit The Huz's family. His aunt usually hosts a party on Christmas Eve.

The Huz has just informed me that this year, she requested that everyone bring a useless gag gift for some kind of silly Pollyanna. Something that's laying around the house, something that we don't want.

Am I alone in thinking that these types of things are a complete waste?

Or do you believe that one person's trash is truly another person's treasure?

In previous years, she did a real Pollyanna in which each person brought a brand-new gift under $20. I don't know why we're not doing that again this year.

I'm a little irritated now. As a rule, gag gifts annoy me. I think they're tacky.

Labels: bitching, family, holidays, opinions, sheer idiocy

Let me preface this by saying that I'm hesitant to write about this, but in the spirit of blogging naked (or at least...errr...semi-nude), I will forge ahead.

A couple months ago, a guy joined our firm. A very nice guy, married, in his mid-forties, four kids, and probably a white picket fence too.

He and I share an office for the present time. I lucked out because he's into music as much as I am, and so we happily rock out all day long to my Sirius internet radio.

The problem? He talks to himself. A lot. And not just about anything. No, he murmurs the artist name and song title to every. song. that. comes. on.

All day long.

Remember, Sirius is totally commercial-free. Do you know how many songs per day they play?

I've taken to calling him Milton when describing him to my family and friends, naming him after the unforgettable and perpetually murmuring character in the film Office Space who is obsessed with his stapler.

My mom never saw the movie, of course. So then I began a YouTube quest to find a clip of Milton to illustrate my point in a way that mere words could not. And I came across this hilarious recut of the movie that recreates it as a suspense/thriller.

Enjoy.

Labels: family, funny stuff, movies, work

After five years of marriage, I've found that most people are desperate for us to start having children.

My parents are very low-key about that, fortunately. Even though I'm an only child, and thus the only shot at making them grandparents, they never bug me about it. So we jokingly refer to Bailey and Sebastian as their "grandcats."

Labels: family, marriage, pets