Heeeeeeeeere's Jamie!

I had a great trip. I'm both ecstatic and sad to be home.

I got up rather early Wednesday morning to pick up the rental car. I parked the van behind the laundry (hoping it wouldn't get vandalized while we're away) and biked the five miles to the rental place. It was wonderful to drive a car that was in great condition and rides so nice. I rented a Dodge Neon and we went all the way from Plymouth, NH to Falmouth, MA (on the Cape) with just a half tank. And to fill it up before we left was only $16.

I have really got to get myself a newer vehicle. At least the Suzuki Sidekick we're going to be buying is a 1995. That'll make it the newest vehicle I've ever owned. Currently my record is 1986.

We got to Falmouth around 3:00 in the afternoon, checked in and settled into our room at the SeaCrest Resort on Old Silver Beach. We had plenty of time to walk around the beach and take in some ocean air and sounds. I took a brief nap and then we went for the Open House at Falmouth Community Television (FCTV). The food was great, but even better was the studio. I would love to have what they have! And they started up around the same time as my center, which only made it somewhat depressing considering I still have a closet in the basement of the public library. They even had a door in their operations room to access the rear of their racks for easy access to the wiring! We later went back to the hotel, played some games in the game room and sat by the ocean just taking it in more.

And plenty of sleep. Yay!

Thursday was a good day. I started the day volunteering at the registration booth in return for the scholarship to attend. The first workshop was a bit of a bore, but other than that the rest of the day was excellent. I have lots of good information to bring back with me. Lunch was included with the keynote speech. It was a very delicious stuffed cornish hen, mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli and peppers and cranberry sauce. It started with rolls and clam chowder.

Kathy and I spent some more time walking the beach after we had dinne. Then we went to join the others for the party. The party was slated to go until midnight. First up was jul3ia. She was incredible! I found a new indie musician to enjoy. She called her brand of music "neo-classical 3ist tabernacle folk rock." It was some great stuff. I can't wait to get the CDs! She even made a reference to Arlo Guthrie's "Alice's Restaurant Massacre." While that was all going on we got to have some ice cream from the "Make Your Own Sundae" bar. Sweet!

Next up was a top 40 cover band from Falmouth called Lost Boys. They were good musicians but it was somewhat disappointing to hear them playing a bunch of Matchbox 20, 3 Doors Down and other such pop rock stuff after something so refreshingly original and pleasing. Plus the lead singer was flat, his guitar was out of tune ever so slightly and his voice was flat. Kathy and I left way early and went to the beach to hang out with the ocean. Apparently just after we left, Nick and Amber showed up and got the New Hampshire folks up on the dance floor and really got the place hopping and having a great time. Oh well. Next time. Kathy and I had a great time just sitting by ourselves and taking in the beauty of nature.

Today was an even better day workshop-wise. I got some great insight on copyright issues and even better and more important information on fund development to help me increase and augment my funding for public access in Plymouth. Plus everyone in that workshop will be keeping in touch afterward via email to keep brainstorming and sharing ideas. That was by far the best workshop I attended all weekend!

I feel oddly confused being excited about budget planning and fundraising. If the me from 10 or even 5 years ago could see me now, I'd either be laughing my ass off or scared of my future. Weird.

Kathy and I had a lovely picnic lunch by the sea on the boardwalk. I helped out with the breakdown of the conference because I felt awkward having only been scheduled for two hours volunteer work. Once that was done Kathy and I spent some time on the beach before leaving. It was quite windy at that point and the waters were very choppy. There was a windsurfer out and we got to watch him wipe-out. Then we left.

The drive home was nice. We had only a minor incident with the car. The driver side front tire lost a bunch of air. I think it was from a rather abrupt bump on I-495 where a long stretch of grooved pavement ended. We were informed of the low tire on I-93 and got off at the next exit. We filled the tire and everything was fine. The traffic in Boston was pretty bad. Not as bad as I've seen it other times, but it was definitely Friday night rush hour traffic. No biggie. We weren't in any rush. We ended up stopping for dinner at Burger King of all places because we were just absolutely starving (at this point it was almost 8:00 pm and we hadn't eaten since lunch at just before noon) and only had $20 left.

So now I'm listening to tunes and, of course, Audioscrobbler is acting screwy again. I'm going to have to actually contribute to this site as soon as I have the spare cash because I like the site concept and it's found me some good music. It just seems to have lots of troubles. This time a hard drive crashed taking out half the databases.

I've ot the weekend off, too, except stopping in to swap tapes tomorrow morning before dropping off the car and biking back to the van.

Read The Serious Stuff Below

This one's for fun and swiped from vireo_blues.

These are all song quotes from songs on my playlist. One point for artist and one point for song title. The person with the most points wins... nothing. And you shall receive it, in abundance!

Number 3 is a cover so I'll give extra points both for the original artist and his relation to the artist who covered it.

1. "Have you ever had a ride in a light blue car? Have you ever stopped to think who's the slave and who's the master?"
2. "They’re bluing flesh for me to hold. Cadaver eyes upon me see nothing."
3. "A lady she hollered, 'there's no such a thing. Keep on with your party, there's no such thing.'"
4. "The love of my life, she left me one day. I cried when she said I don’t feel the same way."
5. "Shoot straight, shoot to kill. Blame each other, blame yourselves."
6. "Your selfishness, your hatefulness cannot take away my innocence from me."
7. "Ten guys jump one, what a man. You fight each other, the police state wins. Stab your backs when you trash our halls. Trash a bank if you've got real balls"
8. "I've been trying to justify you. In the end I will just defy you."
9. "The land is full of chemical tears. Communication has broken down. Exterminated body parts on the ground."
10. "And so with gods and men, the sheep remain inside their pen though many times they’ve seen the way to leave."
11. "Oh no, this can't be! Demonic infection, a doomed changeling!"
12. "If you're gonna try, well, stick around. Gonna cry? Just move along. If you're gonna die, you're gonna die."
13. "Truth is like freedom, it doesn't fool me. Be true to yourself, never think that you're free."
14. "Red means stop. Yellow means go. Orange means oh my god I don't fucking know."
15. "Mesmerizing festering. Intended for the faint of heart. Cultish and anthemic until death do us part."
16. "No. Nobody is heard. Compass wilting in the wind. Nobody is heard. Rowing sheep smile for the dead. Transoceanic depth in this earth in this cenotaph."
17. "You can’t be something you’re not. Be yourself, by yourself. Stay away from me. A lesson learned in life known from the dawn of time..."
18. "And if you see, don't make a sound. Pick your feet up off the ground. And if you hear as the warm night folds the silver sound from a tongue so strange, sing to me. Sing to me."
19. "All your letters in the sand cannot heal me like your hand. For my life still ahead pity me."
20. "Sing, child, of right and wrong. Gimme things that don’t last long. Gimme siren, child, and do you hear me call?"

I guess I'll post answers in a few days or as soon as I remember or am reminded.