NOTE: If this is your first visit to one of my pages, you might want to check out my home page first, so you have an idea where I'm coming from. The entries within each month are in reverse chronological order -- the newest is first. Enjoy! -- Mary Anne
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Heya. As you may have noticed, the diary is more erratic than usual these days -- it should settle down once school starts (August 21st). In the meantime, be patient with me.
So I'm on vacation right now in Chicago, visiting wonderful friends (in case any of them ever read this, hello Jordan and Roshani, Alex and Julia, Elissa and Bryan, Eugenie and Ben (who I haven't met yet, but hello anyway), Michael and James (well, James isn't here, but Michael's visiting, so :-), not to mention all of you I haven't seen yet at this point but who'll be at Lori and Steve's going away party tomorrow night....(okay, those last lines will be totally meaningless to the vast majority of you, but that's okay, right? :-)
Had fabulous Thai food Tuesday night (Thai Twin has changed its name to Thai Twee, goddess knows why, but I'm not going to complain 'cause the food has, if anything, gotten better). For some bizarre reason, Hyde Park currently has something like six Thai restaurants (one Chinese place, one half-Indian place (the other half is cajun, go figure). I don't understand it. But the Thai food is really good nonetheless. Wednesday night was Chicago-style pizza at Florian, also pretty good (they've gotten rid of that nasty sewage smell that was plaguing them for a while) and last night we met Lisette (remember her? I've mentioned her before) at Tucci Benucci downtown for Italian. Eating out more than is good for my wallet, but it's such fun. The Shells with Chicken, Mushroom, Sun-dried Tomatoes and a Mushroom Porcini Sauce with fabulous, as was the Portobello Mushroom and Roasted Walnuts appetizer Lisette and Roshani shared (and I sneaked tastes of). Good wine, too -- a red Classico Chianti, I think? Maybe? I know nothing about wines -- Lisette and Roshani picked it.
I really ought to start a separate food section on this page -- I talk about it so much. :-)
We had an oddly intense conversation about Sri Lanka and the war there -- Roshani knows much more than I do (and was there during the riots in '83) -- if we have time, I'll try to pump her for information to add here. Very disturbing, unsurprisingly.
Talked to Kevin last night and he says matters at home are well in hand, good. Kitten is getting much better (did I mention she had an infection and wasn't eating for days? :( ), so that's good. Hopefully she'll be all well by the time I get back (so I can pack the poor thing into a tiny box 11"x16"x17" and stuff on the plane for 8 hours with me).
Rest of the plans for the trip include a bachelorette party tomorrow night (Bryan and Elissa are getting married August 11th in Philly (her family's there) which is great, though a little weird, since Kevin and I got them together). We're actually going to a strip show, in the traditional fashion. I've never been to one before -- should be interesting, from an sociological perspective if nothing else. Maybe I'll get material for a story out of it. :-) After that it's the aforementioned going-away party, more hanging out with friends, packing up of some stuff I left in Roshani's dad's basement and shipping it to California, visiting Lisette again (she has the misfortune to live way up on the North Side rather than in Hyde Park (where all the cool people are :-)), etc. and so on. I'll be back in Philly the 6th, though I'll try to do another diary entry before then and tell you what the strip show was like.
> Hope y'all are doing well -- I'm pretty happy these days, though more than a little stressed and frantic. My ride to Pennisc just backed out on me, so now I have to figure out how John and I get to Cooper's Lake Campground on August 12th without a car (neither of us drives). Hope there's a train running the right way...
Hi, everyone. Oof -- I'm going to have to get back to doing these more often -- there's so much to tell you from the last week. I'll try to go day by day and sum it up.
Friday night -- Elissa's bachelorette party. Several of us females (I won't name names :-) headed out to the Sugar Shack (the only strip club we could find in Chicago that featured male dancers for women). (NOTE: If you're doing a small group, it's much more cost effective to go out than to hire a stripper -- prices for hiring in were about $100 for 15 minutes, whereas we got a 3 hour show for $25 each, which included two free drinks and featured 5 different dancers, plus the waiters.) There were lots of gay clubs, but since one of the people coming was very nervous about the whole procedure, we thought it would be best to go someplace where we'd be surrounded by women. Turned out to be a good choice.
When you come in, you're met by a cute man in a tux, who asks for your ID, takes your money, and tags your wrist so they know you can drink. Then they lead you to a table (if you want one on the main floor, make reservations first!) and offer you a blowjob. *grin* Well, not really. A blowjob is a long tube filled with whipped cream and some sweet drink -- Kahlua, we think. One of the waiters sits you down, straddles your lap, firmly puts your hands on his butt and then gyrates a bit. The waiters were a lot cuter than the dancers, in our opinion, less bulky, and dressed in white t-shirts and black jeans, rather than silly little g-strings. Then he pours the blowjob down your throat and kisses you. The kisses started out brief, but by the end of the evening, they were getting hotter. If you paid them more, you could take off their shirt and rub your hands all over their nicely muscled chests.
I don't want to give away the whole show -- it was pretty silly, but kind of amusing nonetheless, especially watching the women on the main floor hooting and hollering. They were also groping the dancers pretty freely -- I know it's their job to put up with it, but I still found that kind of disturbing. I guess it's just that I wouldn't want to do anything sexual with anyone who didn't really want to be there...just personal squick, I guess. Still, it was a fun show -- the cowboy and the space man (complete with Star Wars music) were a bit much, but one of them was a really good dancer -- good enough that I'd have paid to see him in a regular dance performance. He made up for the others that just gyrated their way across the stage. If you go, be prepared to tip heavily. I think we spent about $10-15 each on tips, and we weren't asking for much. The most fun was watching our friend who'd started out really reluctant turn into a raving sex maniac. She was drooling, I swear. :-) After the show we grabbed some food and went home to sleep.
Saturday -- Do I remember Saturday? Mostly hung out at Roshani's, I think? Maybe? Moved my stuff over to Elissa's, since I was planning to crash there and give R&J their place back for a bit. Oh right, we went toy shopping, and then went back to E&B's to play games. Nuclear War, I think the game was called. Everyone died the first time. :-) I think Adam won the second round, but his population as decimated. Bryan and I made Ethiopian food for dinner, then I went to Steve and Lori's going-away party (silly, since they're going away to San Francisco, but I got to see people, especially Curtis, an old friend who just moved back to Chicago, and Katherine, who cut off all her gorgeous red hair!!!) Party went so late that I crashed there, stumbling back to Bryan's in the morning after 4 hrs sleep.
Sunday -- I definitely don't remember Sunday. Tried not to fall asleep, I think. Sunday night I went downtown to meet Lisette, my bestest friend, and we went back to her place to watch Star Trek. She handed me a slab of sausage and asked what I could doith it. Dinnerwise, that is. :-) No pasta, no bread, no tomatoes, no onions...just some rice and spices. We managed. Ended up staying up late talking, unsurprisingly. It seems like we never get enough time to just talk together...five hours sleep.
Monday -- Monday was hell. I had 9 boxes to haul around town, pack and unpack, no one available to help but Roshani, who wasn't feeling well and could only drive (Adam helped a bit, for which I'm eternally grateful), and the weather was painfully hot -- the worst it had been since I'd arrived. We eventually managed to get it all done, but ick. What a pain. Monday night we picked up Jordan and went to have dinner with my aunt and her family. It was great seeing the kids again! They've gotten so big, and the two oldest have e-mail now...
You'd think that was the end of the night, but no. Came back to Roshani's, and logged in briefly to check mail before sleeping (I admit, I'm an addict). Paul decides to 'talk' me (Paul is a sweet ex of mine). We end up talking on-line for five hours -- then the connection gets flaky and we switch to the phone for 2 more hours. Well worth it -- it was a messy breakup (my fault) and there were several things that hadn't really gotten dealt with. A very satisfying and ultimately pleasant call. But god, I was tired Tuesday.
Tuesday -- Basically travelling. Elissa drove me to the airport; quiet flight home; David met me at the airport. He took me home and fed me, and then I fell asleep at 7:30. Slept 13 hours.
Wednesday -- Tried to catch up on mail (snail and otherwise) and did a bit more packing. Basically a quiet day, though had to borrow some cash and rush to the bank to cover a check 'cause of some silliness financially. All's well now, though. Spent the evening reading a children's book from the library, The Far Side of Evil, sadly out of print, and talking to Kevin and watching tv. Reheated frozen pierogi with onions sauteed in butter and served with sour cream. Jalapeno cheddar pierogi -- surprisingly good. Fell asleep early.
Today -- Finally! Not much exciting to say. Catching up on backlog of mail (seems like I'm always doing that). Got very behind in some writing assignments -- did one today, and must do another tomorrow. Packed a box -- my closet is almost empty. Pretty much just my dresser left. Reading the first book of Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser -- Swords and Deviltry by Fritz Leiber. A fantasy classic -- I don't know why I haven't read these before. Have to find some time today to run Kevin's suit to the cleaners -- the wedding is Sunday. Roshani will be here Saturday morning -- she's staying with us for the weekend and attending the wedding. Oh, forgot to mention -- the bridesmaid dresses are lovely. Dark green, with white lace at the sleeves. Probably the best color for me Elissa could have picked. :-) Dinner with David tonight -- he promised me some of his yummy pasta sauce.
Sorry, everyone. Been away at Pennsic for the last week. No time for an entry today -- finishing packing -- I fly out early tomorrow. I have to pack up the computer in a few minutes -- will be back in a few days. Life is going well, if more than a little frantically. Hope the rest of you are doing well too. Much affection -- talk to you later!
Sorry again. Not entirely my fault, as I've been without computer access for quite a while (and my computer still hasn't arrived -- I just happen to be at my friend Thida's office right now), but I'm still sorry you haven't heard from me in so long.
The move went fine, but I find I have no desire to do a post mortem on it. Pennsic was also a blast (much storytelling, dancing, flirting, etc (well, not really any etc. for me, but there was plenty going on in camp, let me tell ya)), but it's a little hard to describe. Picture going camping in the woods for a week, but the campground is filled with pavilions, you get to dress like Queen Guinevere (or Arthur, or anyone from 600 to 1600 A.D., from any country that had contact with Europe (just about anywhere but Australia (and there was a big Australian contingent attending!)), and meet quite a few kindred spirits and eat cornish pasties (and lots of more modern food if you wanted (they really really could use a curry stand) and dance and sing and make really huge campfires (oh, and there was a war going on, which lots of people paid attention to, but I must admit, I didn't go to a single battle). If you want to know more about it, you should really hunt up the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) web pages -- they're called the Rhialto, I think.
Not much else to report -- Mills is lovely, but a bit dull since classes haven't started yet. In fact, I've been bored out of my skull (read five books yesterday, which is why I'm not giving you a rundown on the books I've read recently, though I must note that _Resurrection Man_ is much much better than I expected, though it gave me nightmares). Made banana muffins and lemon tea bread (would you believe there's a lemon tree in my backyard? And many many plum tomato vines?) and took the muffins to a birthday party that Thida and Cliff took me too today, so am feeling quite a bit better. Still a little lonely when I stop and think about it, but I suppose that's to be expected. Bonk me if I whine about it too much.
Can't wait for classes to start. Glad to be back. No access tomorrow, but if I can persuade the computers at school to work properly (they were having trouble Friday), I'll be back then. Goddess bless.
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