Many of you probably know that I am a big ska fan.   But not many people have seen me at ska shows.  I love love love it.  Most of the time, I go to these concerts with my little sister, Bonnie.  I’ve been taking her to ska shows since she was about 13.  We go nuts, moshing and shoving and skanking and dancing away.  In the past couple years, I’ve done less skanking and  dancing and more shoving and moshing.   This is mostly because of my bum knees, and has resulted in some pretty nasty bruises. That’s not to say that I don’t skank it up.  In case you are not familiar, here’s a Youtube video of someone skanking who is not me.

This is, in fact, a video of “the old guy,” who we see at lots of ska shows around here, including the one last night.  This video is from a Big D and the Kids Table show in Harvard Square.

After the show yesterday, I was musing to Bonnie that I’m not sure why we have so much fun at these shows.  They’re hot and sweaty and smelly and I get exhausted and sore and bruised.  But it’s still SO MUCH FUN!

So, the show last night.  It was Reel Big Fish and Streetlight Manifesto co-headlining, with New Riot and some other band that we missed, opening for them.   We drove up to Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom for the show because it’s better than the House of Blues.  Some of Bonnie’s friends were also going to the show, we met up with them and said hi, but once Streetlight started playing, we ended up skanking away.

New Riot was actually pretty good- they’re from the UK, and they were pretty standard ska-punk with a lot of energy.  I liked them, but not enough to pay for a CD.

Then came Streetlight Manifesto.  Ah, Streetlight.  One of the whiniest non-emo bands ever.  I bought their latest (cover) album, and the liner read like a Livejournal post, seriously.  And they’re not even that good!  But the kids love em.  We danced, but tried to save our energy for one of Bonnie’s favorites, Reel Big Fish!

Reel Big Fish are probably one of the most “commercial” ska bands- they were featured in the movie Baseketball, and their song Sell Out was even on MTV in the 90′s.  I was totally surprised, though, when they told people to raise their hands if they had never seen Reel Big Fish live before and at least half of the audience did!  I guess there are new ska fans everyday. Wow.

We skanked like crazy, but this was probably the hottest show I’ve ever been to.  Therefore, it was one of the smelliest, too.  Way too many guys took their shirts off and it was a sweaty, slimy mess in there.  My clothes were so gross after, that I had to bury them in the very bottom of my hamper.  I cringe just thinking about it.

One funny thing that happened is that I wore my NASA meatball logo shirt, and there was a guy there wearing the same exact shirt, just in gray!  There we were, two space fans among the throng of pre-teens wearing Streetlight Manifesto t-shirts.  What are the odds, right??

It was a good night, and I limped to the car and drove home.  Of course, now the bruises are appearing up and down my arms and my calf muscles are killlllling me.  It’s all worth it, I suppose, because I love it so much.  I wonder if I’ll ever get too old for this??

7/7/2011

My first road trip (without my parents,) was during Spring Break, my freshman year of college.  I was at the library at school writing a paper, and I noticed that there was a couple at the computer next to me, planning a trip for spring break.  I was super jealous, so my boyfriend at the time and I decided to spend our life savings and whatever financial ai

d refunds we had to drive to Florida.  It was one of the best times of my life, and we ended up doing that every year (until we broke up a few years later.)

One of my favorite parts of the road trip experience is going to fast food chains that we don’t have up here.  Namely, Hardee’s.  A Hardee’s Thickburger is thick and meaty and smothered in so much ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise that they wrap it in paper and your hands are still covered at the end.  They weigh in at 860 calories and 58 grams of fat.  That’s not including the natural-cut fries.  So, it’s probably a good thing that I only eat those monsters once a year.

When Joe and I decided to trek to Florida to attempt to catch the last shuttle launch, we originally talked about driving.  I had no problem with that, but he can’t handle long car rides too well, and truth be told, he’s a terrible passenger. When we drove home from DC, he read about Magic cards on his iPhone the whole way.

So, we opted to fly into Jacksonville, FL and then drive the rental car the three hours to Titusville, stopping at Hardee’s along the way, so that we would get some of that “road trip” experience.

I enjoyed the drive; we got to drive through the infamous Florida downpours, eat at Hardee’s, and see some of the Floridian landscape. While it may not have been an entire road trip, the Thickburger was what counts, and I’m crossing it off my list.

While I didn’t actually do anything on the Fourth of July (besides work at the MoS,) Joe, Becki, Paul and a couple of Becki’s friends went to see fireworks in Acton, which was very cool.  I dressed up in my patriotic gear (those flag shoes have gotten a lot more use than I predicted,) and we walked to Nagog Park, where we set up blankets and lawn chairs.

Apparently, there was live music earlier, but we didn’t hear anything during the fireworks, so I hastily downloaded the 1812 Overture on my iPhone.  Turns out, I only got the last 2 minutes of what is an approximately 15 minute overture.  I was pleased, however, because we got to hear the famous finale. Over and over and over.

After the fireworks, we played Bull in the park to wait for the crowd to die down, until the cops kicked us out.  Such troublemakers.

But ANYWAYS, fried dough.  Before the fireworks started, we ventured over to the food trucks that were congregated at the top of a hill.  Not only was there a fried dough stand, there were also FREE HOT DOGS from Kayem.  A little too crunchy for my taste (I am SUPER picky about meat,) but you can’t beat free.

And then I ate fried dough.  It was messy and delicious.

Ok, so I did NOT actually go to play Pirate’s Cove Mini Golf.  Apparently, these are super cool mini golf courses that Joe is a big fan of.  The closest ones are in Laconia and on the Cape, though, so I am questioning whether we will make it this summer, with all the other stuff going on. (Especially since Joe went already with his friends.)

HOWEVER, after we went to the beach, Joe and I stopped in Salisbury to play Jurassic Cove mini golf!  It was dinosaur themed.  The plaster figures were terrible, and we got stuck behind a group of about 12 small children.  But we still had a good time, and it was the closest I have ever come to winning a game of mini golf!

Then the NEXT day, I went mini golfing with Becki and Paul!  (I may be getting my timeline confused, I waited a long time to write these up.) We had Groupons for Kimball’s, so we played mini golf, rode bumper boats, ate ice cream and played arcade games. They have one of those “shoot stuff” games, where you hit targets and things happen in the room.  I love those, and I’m a really good shot! (I didn’t miss a single target in the three games I played.) Moral of the story: don’t mess with Debi.

Wow, I didn’t realize I looked so dumb.  Check out that face.

I’ve been a fan of boogie boarding (or body boarding, whatever you want to call it,) for awhile, and when I returned my ex’s stuff to him, he said that I could keep his old one, which was in my shed.  His aunt had given it to him for Christmas one year, and it was actually really nice, aside from the fact that the cat used it as a scratching post one time.

One Friday, Joe took the day off, and we set off for Salisbury Beach.  He was using one of those styrofoam boogie boards you buy in the shops at Hampton, and I used the good one.  (Hey, I offered to switch.)  We spent the day at the beach catching waves, and it was great!  I love the feeling of catching that wave and just shooting off towards the beach.  Of course, since I’m writing this post way after the fact, this is all overshadowed by the fact that I learned to surf, which was a million times cooler.  Not that I won’t go boogie boarding, but it’s a different feeling. (But that’s a different story, to be written along with wishlist #1- learn to surf!)

We didn’t even get too sunburnt!

My family shares a love of visiting historically significant sites in the area, and when I was younger, my Dad and I rode our bikes on the Battle Road in Lexington a few times.  Battle Road is the route that the British soldiers took on their famous retreat during the Battle of Lexington and Concord.  While they remained in formation, marching stoically along (at least that’s how I picture them, they likely wore terrified looks on their faces,) colonists shot at them from behind trees, walls and brush.  It was also along this route that Paul Revere was captured, although luckily, Samuel Prescott continued on.

I remembered this trail being really fun to ride on, through fields and forest, over a boardwalk through a swamp, past historical houses and a tavern.   My sister Bonnie and I decided to try riding it.  The trail is about 5 miles long, so it would be a 10 mile ride both ways.  ”No problem!” I thought, I had just walked three miles a couple of days before, and riding a bike is soooo much easier, right?!

Here’s a little more info about the Battle Road, if you’re interested.

So, I dug our cheap old mountain bikes out of the shed, and realized that we had four very flat tires on our hands.  I called my dad and he told me that there was a tire pump in my trunk! My goodness, dads are good to have around.  I set up in the driveway, pumping air into the tires for what seemed like hours, until Bonnie, wondering what was taking so long, came out and told me I was doing it wrong.

…Ten minutes later, I wrestled the bike rack onto my car and the bikes onto the bike rack, and eventually we were on our way.  We made it to Lexington without the bikes falling off, and headed off down the trail.  I quickly realized that I have no idea how to ride a bike (as in, changing gears,) and that I am incredibly out of shape.  I huffed and puffed my way down the trail for a couple of miles, until we realized that part of the trail was closed for some kind of construction.  SMALL MIRACLE!  We turned around and headed back.  Once I got off the bike, I realized that my knees were KILLING me.  You may not know this, but I have terrible knees (arthritis and missing cartilage, etc.) I try not to do anything to hurt them too bad, so I don’t know how often I will be biking!  It was a good time, I got to spend time with my sister and be outdoors on a beautiful day.  I just have to remember how old I am next time.

We had also decided to try for beating a video game.  Sooo, Becki suggested Super Mario Brothers 3, and she pulled it up on the Wii and handed me the controller.  Joe was playing with me, as Luigi.  I proceeded to kill poor Mario with relative ease. Joe beat the level.  I went on to the next one, dying just as quick.  Joe beat the level.  This went on for quite awhile until Joe offered to let me take his turn.  I ended up with both controllers on my lap, switching back and forth as Mario and Luigi plummeted to their death time after time.  Once I ended up back at the first level, I thought I’d have it.  Twenty minutes later, I had made no progress.  Joe said I was “impressively bad,” and Becki consolingly offered that maybe this “just wasn’t my game.”  It’s not looking good for #35, but I still have games started in Hotel Dusk, Bioshock, and Super Mario 64.  We’ll see…

Anyways, there was plenty of time during my humiliating display of gaming skills (or lack thereof) for Becki to draw both Joe and I, and they came out super awesome!  She signed and dated them, and I’ll have them to forever remember that night and this summer.

So, my best friend Becki is always one to encourage me.  And when we made plans to hang out, she insisted we knock a few things off the list.  And we did! Because she is the best.

We played glow frisbee, which I started last year when we went camping.  Here’s how you play:

Step 1: buy glow sticks at the dollar store

Step 2: Tape them to a frisbee

Step 3: Throw frisbee.

There is also a variation in which you wear only one color of glow paraphernalia and when you throw the frisbee to somebody, you yell out their color.  Anyways, frisbee was great, if a little buggy.

One good reason why I haven’t written about crossing anything off my list is because I really haven’t in the past two weeks!  I have been busy doing awesome things that weren’t on a list at all, like starting Improv Classes and getting a job at the Museum of Science teaching kids about fossils.

I remember at one point in the summer last year, Joe calculated that I would have to do 2.5 things off the list every day for the rest of the summer in order to make it on time. (I didn’t.)  However, I am making progress towards some of the longer-term goals, so I thought I’d comment on them, just to write something in here.

#6- Watch anime

I have done this!  But I am in the middle of watching two different anime series (serieses?), Love Hina and Fruits Basket.  I decided that once I completely finish one, I’ll somehow take a picture of it and throw it up here.  So far, Fruits Basket is rather sad and retrospective, but I like it.  I’ve seen a bunch of Love Hina years ago and I really love it; it’s super silly and fun.  I also remember playing the Love Hina Dating Sim back then, but that’s another story.  This is also probably progress towards one thing on my wishlist- Go To Otakon.  I need to reach a whole new level of geekdom for that, so I’m working my way up.

#21- Finish the Hunger Games trilogy

On it! I borrowed the first one from Joe, who borrowed it from his roommate, who may have borrowed it from somebody else.  I claim that I don’t like science fiction, but these books are pretty soft science fiction.  I enjoyed the first one, and I didn’t even realize it was a trilogy until the very last page of the book.  Uuuugh.  So, I bought Catching Fire on Amazon and I’m almost done with that, too.  This was a better goal for this year than last when I tried to force myself to read 1984.  They may be both dystopian science fiction novels, but for some reason I just didn’t like 1984 at all, and was willing to forgo crossing it off in order to abandon it.  I’ll be able to finish the Hunger Games books I’m sure, because they’re enjoyable, easy to read and relatively cheap.

#22- Get a darn passport

The main thing holding me back from this was that I lost my birth certificate.  So, I sent away for that, and I should be working on that passport soon!

#35- Beat a video game

This is probably the most ambitious list item I have, INCLUDING making a movie.  I’ve made movies, albeit stupid short ones.  But to the best of my knowledge, I have NEVER in my life completely beat a video game.  I have a few going- I started playing Bioshock and I bought a couple of music games.  It has been suggested that I try Portal since it is pretty short.  Several people have told me I’d like it.

I’ve worked on a few others, too, but that’s enough non-accomplishment for now.  Hopefully I will have some good pictures to post up here soon!  Check back, and consider subscribing!

Anyways, he’s naturally interested in castles and medieval warfare, that sort of thing, so I included exploring a castle as something fun we could do together.  Of course, there are no medieval castles in the United States (Ugh, I should really fulfill #22: Getting a Darn Passport  next,) but there are some replicas and such around here.  In fact, my family and I had visited one last fall, so when Joe and I were looking for something to do on a beautiful Memorial Day Monday, we decided to drive on over to Gloucester and check out Hammond Castle. 

John Hayes Hammond (as in Hammond organs,) was an accomplished inventor, and also a little crazy, as most inventors are.   He had tons of money and a love of old, European stuff.  So, naturally, he decided to build a medieval castle on a hillside in Gloucester, and fill it with the medieval and Renaissance artifacts he picked up in Europe.  The castle is really pretty neat, but Joe and I agreed that it could have been better, because it was really a museum of John Hayes Hammond and the stuff he collected, and not, “this is what a medieval castle is like.”

Here I am outside Hammond Castle. Look closely!

We decided that whatever "crafts" they were selling in this Portapotty in Wakefield, we weren't interested in buying.

We learned a bunch of stuff too, such as what the tower in a castle was like, and that when you make rude noises in the Great Hall of a castle, it echoes REALLY LOUDLY.  I also decided that I would like a (round) library in my house someday, please.

After exploring the castle, we drove around Gloucester and Rockport and eventually ended up in Wakefield at a neat old-fashioned ice cream parlor, where they mixed up our soft-serve by hand.

While eating, we learned that Joe’s apartment had experienced a gas leak at the hands of his landlady and had to be evacuated, but luckily the fire department cleared it for human inhabitance, and we went back and watched Lord of The Rings, thus ending a fun and nerdy day.  (I should point out that I have never watched Lord of the Rings, and the only reason I agreed to is because I gave Joe a ‘pass’ as a gift for me to watch three movies of his choosing and I wouldn’t complain.  It really wasn’t so bad after all.)