oh a campin' we will go...

a campin' we will go,
hi-ho the derry-o
a campin' we will go.

tomorrow we leave. at approximately 5:00am. i say approximately, because i know that something will go haywire at the last minute and we will likely leave about 45 minutes past due... but that's life! and i am down with life.

scott found these great external frame backpacks on craigslist yesterday - $75 for the pair! that's darn cheap. they are hardly used - especially the green one - and he threw in all sorts of random stuff like emergency heat blankets (which we will hardly need at the beach), straps to tie our junk to the outside of the bags, first aid kit, and a random baggie containing 2 rolls of Tums, a pack of shoelaces and some odds and some blister pads for hiking. god love craigslist.



[blurry picture, taken from craigslist ad]

i went to REI last night after work and picked up a boatload of platypus water bottles, since there is no fresh water (potable or otherwise) at the campsite. i also got a bunch of fancy-pants dehydrated meals and some little tiny bottles to decant stuff into. it was a painful amount of money, but it's stuff we'll use again and again. and still cheaper than one night in a hotel room at the beach.



a second trip was to Target, to get a few essentials - a new t-shirt, and a cheapie inflatable raft to use in lieu of the big-ass heavy air mattress that we normally camp with. i have a bad back and i can't sleep directly on the ground without suffering major consequences the next day. scott mocked me for being a giant wuss, but now he has requested that he get one too. ha! i figure, why not have a little comfort? the stupid thing can't weigh more that half a pound, and it squishes down as flat as a thick piece of paper.

so now i just need to run BACK to REI because i forgot to get fuel for the stove... and back to target for scott's raft, and to the grocery for a few crackers and stuff like that. geez. it's never simple, is it? :) i figure, once we've been camping a few years we'll finally have accumulated most of the gear we'll ever need. i hope? please tell me that is the case.

in other news, my car started making a disturbingly loud G-R-O-N-K sound if i make sharp turns. or sometimes for no reason. we should probably take scott's car down to the beach, just in case.

75 things about me? that's a lot.

in honor of my 75th post on here, i've decided to share 75 things you may or may not know about me. some you might find disturbing (mom, dad, i'm talking to you) and most you probably already know. but this seemed hard, and i like a challenge. therefore, you have to suffer through it.

- i am good at finding lost things.
- i read a lot, and i don't mind re-reading books - sometimes many, many times.
- i like the color green (wow, this is boring already).
- i didn't have a first "real" kiss until i was probably... 16 or maybe 17? i'm a late bloomer, i suppose.
- i chewed my toenails when i was a little kid. ew.
- now i just bite my fingernails.
- i enjoy going to the dentist.
- i gave myself haircuts all through grad school, to save money. when i screwed up, i'd lie and tell people i went to the haircuttery.
- when i was in college, i could do ice skating tricks. now i'm too chicken.
- i fantasize about living in the country.

- i still look for signs of smurfs (or any kind of elf-y creatures) when i see big mushrooms, or little woodsy places. i can't help it.
- i also thought my cabbage patch preemie had feelings. in fact, i still get a guilty twist in my heart when i see her in the basement at my parents' house.
- i haven't balanced a checkbook since 1995. i'm not even sure what that even means anymore.
- the first alcoholic beverage i recall sampling was old, congealed dandelion wine that we found under leslie's kitchen sink then mixed with orange juice.
- i savor the smell of skunks, especially in autumn.
- however, the smell of gasoline (and some black markers) makes me want to gag.
- my family nickname is bucky.
- i can cook/bake just about anything, but i fail regularly at pie crust and rice.
- i misspell these words all the time: gray, weird, deposit.
- however, i was in the spelling bee in middle school and did pretty well at it.

- i am a good driver.
- i have really, really crooked fingers.
- i have artistic talent, but am shamefully lazy about doing anything.
- i love to clean house - and yet my half of the bedroom consistently looks like the nest of a wild animal, instead of a grown woman. (sound familiar, bessie?)
- i am a pretty good cook and confident in the kitchen. (thanks, mom!)
- if i had my way, i'd go to bed at 9:30 every night.
- i prefer to drink pop from tiny glasses, and eat pudding with tiny spoons. ?
- i was a full-time nanny when i first moved to washington, DC.
- i've not been to mexico or canada.
- i cry when i get really mad. or if i am sick and people are nice to me.

- i wish that i could poop on command. that would make my worklife a bit less complicated.
- i hate touching my own belly button. it gives me the heebie-jeebies.
- i was crowned the chopstick champion of my civics class in high school - 2 years running!
- i was voted "most musical" in my senior class of high school.
- i love to eat banana baby food. it's like pudding!
- and peanut butter and pickle sandwiches.
- i like to hide, then jump out and scare people. a lot.
- i often have to fight a very strong urge to trip people as they walk by me.
- i have toes like a monkey.
- i can write backwards almost as well as i write forwards. but only in cursive.

- i once worked in a bakery for one day. then i quit.
- i hold running conversations with myself (silently) almost all day long.
- when i was a kid, i wanted to live in australia.
- i am not very good at most sports - especially those involving sticks and small objects whizzing through the air.
- i am no longer ashamed that i love to watch America's Funniest Home Videos.
- it bugs me when people say "on line" instead of "in line."
- i don't understand how car engines work. at all.
- nor do i understand electricity. it's like voodoo magic to me, and i fear it.
- as a kid, sometimes i'd sit at the end of the driveway and rub dirt all over my face, in hopes that the neighbors would feel sorry for me. instead, i'm sure they just thought i was a wierd little kid.
- i've dated people from teh internets.

- i will eat most things - but i draw the line at internal organs. and eyeballs. and other balls.
- i am scared of spiders. and those freakish camel crickets.
- i've lived in DC for 6 years, which is the longest i've lived in one place since 1994.
- i once gave my phone number to a guy at a bar who must have been at least 70 years old. his name was ben. and i didn't pick up when he called me. and i hid from him in a grocery store once. :( i still feel bad about it.
- my first real boyfriend used to play songs from Cats for me over the phone - on his trombone. he's gay now.
- sometimes i grind my teeth to the beat/tune of song. especially while on a long, stressful car ride.
- i would choose pie over cake any damn day of the week. especially sour cherry.
- sometimes i fantasize about being a figure skater in the olympics.
- i will clean just about anything with bleach. i love the smell of bleachy pillowcases just out of the dryer.
- colgate toothpaste gives me little white sores on the end of my tongue. as do raw almonds and walnuts.

- i worked at a TJ maxx in high school and college. one summer i worked full time there and i would sometimes take a nap behind a huge pile of luggage in the back room.
- i once shared a joint with the TJ maxx security guard during a lunchbreak.
- i was often tempted to shoplift smelly lotions when i worked there, but i was too chicken and paranoid to do it.
- i took ballet lessons as a kid. it's much harder than it looks.
- the thought of having lasik surgery makes me want to throw up.
- i enjoy picking at scabs and popping other people's back zits.
- if left to their own devices, my eyebrows would take over the top half of my face.
- i once wore a pair of cut off jeans for 2 weeks straight without washing them. then my roommate wore them for a while. then i wore them again for an indeterminate period of time. *barf*
- my calves are smaller in circumference than my upper arms. that can't be right.
- i look like an overweight grandma or a chubby lesbian in shorts. therefore, i usually wear skirts instead.

- i have a very good sense of direction, and i don't easily get lost.
- i hate it when people say, "i know, right??!" all the goddamn time. as in statement: "hey, i really like those shoes!" reply: "i know, right??! i got them at target." grrr. i just hate it. especially when paired with "it's like" - "it's like, i know, right??!" double grrr.
- i sold my plasma twice a week for a whole summer in college. i still have the holey scar in my arm.
- i don't like goat cheese. i get mad about that, and try to force myself to like it, but i haven't succeeded yet.
- i used to cry in church when i was a kid. a really embarrassing involuntary response of some kind.

and that's seventy five! which is, coincidentally, the year that i was born. ta da! after reading through these, i realize that i am kind of gross. oh well. too late to change now!

my newest obsession

this lovely place, in the mountains of west virginia:



i want one just like it. a comfy little shack for weekend getaways. it doesn't even need to be this fancy! not at all! i mean, heck, i am willing to sleep in a tent for days on end. this would be a major upgrade. now, who wants to build it for me?

read more about the project here, and about the designer and architect here.

in which i stalk the weather channel

i always do this right before a vacation. ESPECIALLY a camping trip. jeezums, pretty much nothing is worse than a miserable camping trip. and while a rainy weekend doesn't necessarily ruin a camping trip, and while a f-ing hot weekend doesn't necessarily ruin a camping trip... both of these are factors of misery at assateague.

hot-hot weekend:

cons = no shade, therefore blazing hot no matter what. even at 6:30am. imagine yourself slightly nauseous from drinking too much coffee all morning while sitting in the blazing sun... then crawling into a sweat-den of a tent to change into your one-piece bathing suit. crouching on a wobbly air-mattress, sweat pouring from every pore, falling over onto the clingy sheets, sand sticking everywhere, shoving your sweaty gross body into a suddenly uncooperative bathing suit. you unzip the door and come tumbling out, gasping the (comparatively) cool air, bathing suit indecently crooked and sand all over your face.

pros = the dribbly cold water showers never felt so damn good.

OR

rainy weekend:

cons: the drizzle woke you up at 6:00, so you decide the go make a fire and have coffee. the wood is kind of wet and the ocean wind keeps blowing the goddamn flame around so the water won't boil. after fudging around with it, cursing the day you decided not to bring the propane stove and getting sticky black soot and sand all over your hands, the best you've got is hot-ish water. you dump the grounds into the water and stir, declaring it cowboy coffee and scurry back to the tent. you pass the day crouched in the tent playing scrabble and cards on the air-mattress, hot and sticky, listening to the dribbling rain and getting sand all over the bed and loosing half the good scrabble letters.

pros: at least our nice tent doesn't leak! yet.

scott and i have been pretty lucky in camping. we've had some hot weather, but not for the whole weekend. and now we have a sun shelter to put up at the camp site. and we've had rain, but not for the whole weekend. once the sun comes out, it's pretty easy to forget the misery of just moments before. that's why it's pretty key to go for more than one night. that way, if the first night is horrifying then you have another day to have fun and redeem yourself. or if the first day/night is just perfect, then who cares if the second day was rot. at least you had one good day.

the worst trip we've had was also the very first time we went camping together. (pictures here) it was a last minute trip for scott's birthday in late july, and we couldn't get reservations for assateague. i saw good reviews online for first landing state park in virginia, so we gave it a whirl. we couldn't leave until friday afternoon, so we didn't get there until early evening. i picked a site from the map at the check-in station, and we drove off to get settled in before hitting the beach. the "site" turned out to be about 10' square, no shade, with an electrical pole and transformer of some kind taking up about half of it. it was located right along the sandy access road on a hair-pin curve, and had suspiciously recent tire tracks running through the middle of the only area big enough for a tent. we dashed back to the check-in station because we had been told the park was sold out for the night. luckily the ranger saw that i was on the verge of a blow-out and gave us a different site. the site was actually very beautiful and covered in scrubby beach trees, but seemed awfully close to the neighboring sites. we set up the tent, dumped our junk and headed for the beach.

the park is at the mouth of the chesapeake bay, almost where it dumps into the ocean. which means that it is a pretty busy shipping area. which also means that all the junk from upstream has drifted many miles to jam up and linger there at the mouth of the bay. we were both wearing our glasses, and had to remove them to get in the water, so we had a pleasant evening bobbing in the lake-like bay. we watched the sunset over the dunes and relaxed after the stressful 4 hour drive. we had fun cooking over the fire that night and prepared for bed.

it quickly became apparent just how close to the highway the park is located. just through the nice scrubby trees we could see the headlights and cars and trucks flashing by on the side of our tent. we could HEAR the rumbling traffic all night long. then our obnoxious neighbors started drinking heavily while playing some kind of cranium game - you know, the kind with the really loud buzzer/timer that gets louder and LOUDER and more frantic? each time you take a turn? yeah, it was pretty terrible and hot and neither of us got much sleep. breakfast was fast and we ran back to the beach in the morning. this time i had my contacts in, and we saw tons of dolphins! yay! leaping along the shoreline - and i truly mean hundreds. however, shortly after taking a stroll along the waters edge i also noticed some stuff floating in the water. TONS and HUNDREDS of jellyfish. as far as the eye could see, there were huge-ass jellyfish. which, apparently, dolphins love to eat. then i looked closer and saw all sorts of dirty garbage floating in the bay - dirty underwear, tampon applicators, rubber gloves, diapers, plastic bags. then i noticed the rainbow sheen of boat fuel skimming on the surface. blearg. then we left. i'll never swim in the bay again.

BUT! we've had many lovely trips to assateague! which is why i am excited for this weekend. weather permitting, we are going to try the backcountry camping at assateague - which involves walking a few miles along the beach to a large campsite. no potable water, but they do have outhouses. and it's miles from the next campsite. my concern: there are only TWO oceanside backcountry sites. two. and they are first come, first served. the website says that each can hold up to 25 people, so even if someone is already there i am hoping we can share a spot and still have some privacy. here's hoping! so far, the weather channel says sun and mid-80s for the weekend. i'm off to check it again...

SAA, 2008 - coming soon!

so i am heading to San Francisco in august, for "ARCHIVES 2008: Archival R/Evolution & Identities" - the 72nd annual meeting of the society of american archivists. san francisco! yahoo!

this is my 3rd time going to SAA - my first was shortly after graduating from library school. it was held here in DC which, as i am starting to learn, really sucked. the weather is always terribly hot and humid, as the meeting is held the last week of august. since the meeting was held locally, i didn't get the luxury of a hotel room. doesn't sound so bad, huh? until you've been schlepping around dupont circle all day in the blazing sun and need a nap between sessions... and you have no place to crash except the couches in the lobby. or the floor, behind a potted plant. it's no way to live. plus, since i was near home, i felt the need to run some quick errands here and htere - just to crowd my day a bit more. it was my first meeting, and no one told me that the session abstracts in the programs were ALL LIES so i attended some real dudders.

last year was in chicago - oh, how i love chicago. i think it is the most beautiful city. and in late august, the weather there is just starting to get that crispy edge of fall - cool evenings, clear blue skies. i had a grand time. i was slightly more clever at picking sessions to attend, and i learned some new things and met some interesting folks. i attended my first roundtable and section meetings. i felt good about it all, but mostly i was just happy to be in chicago for a few days.

this year, i am excited almost equally about both the meeting events AND the great host city. i am going for the entire week - 3 days of a workshop on archivists' toolkit (a free all-in-one tool that is the work of the devil, as far as i am concerned. i hope to be enlightened.), followed be 3 days of information sessions and talks. i am not presenting this year (thank god) but i might try and edge my way into some minimal involvement. to test the waters a bit. plus it's always fun to see some of my old grad school mates. AND. i get to stay in a fancy-pants hotel - the Mark Hopkins Intercontinental.


(photo from flickr)

i love staying in hotels. i also love traveling alone. i especially love having my whole trip dictated by some kind of omnipotent schedule - airline departures and arrivals, meeting times, happy hours and mixers. i enjoy surrendering to routine sometimes, mostly because my real life flows along without much routine our schedule. i like that moment of arriving at the airport, knowing that it's too late for me to change anything - too late to stress about what clothes to bring; too late to throw one more book into my carry-on; too late to worry. i like just showing up at the airport early, drifting around in a haze of buying coffee, buying overpriced books at the shop, waiting like a patient lamb in lines and on planes. taking silent cab rides along unfamiliar freeways to anonymous hotels, where i have white sheets, white towels, miniature soaps and snacks, where the phone never rings and the TV is silent. i can wander around in the evenings if i want to, but if i want to stay in the hotel and read - there is no one there to make me feel guilty about wasting a precious moment as a tourist. it is so relaxing.

now comes the hard part - waiting another 2 months before i can go!

in the meantime, i've got lots to look forward to:

- 4th of july barbeque at the house on friday! i love summer parties - great food, we can hang out outside on the deck and in the yard, the smell of charcoal and bug spray and burning fireworks. yay!

- camping trip next weekend! oh, i can't wait. we've had to bump back this trip countless times because of scheduling problems at scott's work - but we are ON for next weekend. either beach or mountains - we'll decide next week, based on weather forecasts. options are assateague national seashore (backcountry) or george washington and jefferson national forest (backcountry). stay tuned for updates.

- swimming at the university of maryland pool! we rediscovered the outdoor pool at the UMd rec center last weekend, in a fit of inspiration following the hot and humid caribbean parade. man, that water was so cool and chlorine-y, and the deep end is huge and not crowded. plus we are "old," and thus rendered invisible to all the svelte and obnoxious college kids. we have made a solemn vow to go every saturday afternoon.

- i can't think of anything else at the moment, but i'm sure there's more.

dinner last night

summer version of grilled cheese and tomato soup:

BLETs

that's turkey bacon, lettuce, hard fried EGG, and tomato. on toasted bread. with mayo, of course. duh.

gazpacho

perfect for summer, and abundances of tomatoes and other fresh veggies

chard salad

super-thinly sliced fresh swiss chard and red onions, tossed with some homemade vinaigrette (olive oil, cider vinegar, splurt of spicy mustard, sprinkle of salt and sugar)

disturbing gym-bag revelations

i rode my bike to work today. that means i took a shower here at work, in the locker room downstairs. i didn't have time to dry my hair, but i saw my brush in the bottom of my bag so i decided to do a little hair brushin' at the very least.

i have only ONE hair brush. one. no combs, picks, nothing else in the house. people, this lonely ole brush has been in the bottom of my gym bag since FRIDAY MORNING. as in, LAST WEEK. since then, i have had people over to the house, i've gone swimming, ran countless errands, seen a movie, and gone to work.

so i haven't brushed my hair since last friday. what exactly does that say about me? i'm not sure if i want to know.