Big big big update
Jun. 26th, 2004 11:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
miss_ytWhy haven't I been updating, you may wonder? Well, it was because of that trip to New York I've been talking about. It was more trouble than it was worth to bother my dad for use of his laptop and to get online with it (especially since the only connection we could get was very slow), so I'm updating now. I'll cover most of the interesting points on my vacation.
My family - which includes myself, my parents, my 12-year-old brother Benjamin and my 17-year-old brother Daniel - spent a few days in upstate New York before dropping Daniel off at Camp Scatico, the sleepaway camp where he used to be a camper and is now a counselor. In previous years we just put him on the bus from New York City, so this is the first time we've dropped him off ourselves.
For our trip in the car, Mom and Dad got a book-on-CD version of Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens. I remember reading David Copperfield once and hating it, but for some reason I really got into Great Expectations. Either I've matured enough to enjoy Dickens or this is simply a better book. It's long, though, so we didn't finish it even with all our hours of driving. That means I'll have to read the rest of it some time.
Most of our trip was spent in Lake George, where we got two rooms with two double beds each. Benjamin stayed in Mom and Dad's room, while Daniel and I shared the other. Benjamin spent a lot of time in our room, though, to watch TV or play Texas Hold 'em with Daniel and myself. We didn't have any poker chips, but Daniel had this pouch of spare change which he had planned to put in a Coinstar machine, so we used that. I find I enjoy the Texas Hold 'em version of poker, even though it's complicated and I lost most of the time because I don't have any strategy to speak of and Daniel says I can't bluff. During these games I learned that Benjamin can do at least one cool thing: he would fan the cards out on the bed in a straight line, then flip over the card at one end (the one that was on the bottom of the unfanned deck) so that all the other cards would flip over, sort of like a row of falling dominoes going in reverse. He can only do this on soft surfaces, the ideal one being, of course, a felt-covered card table (although I have yet to see him do it there). I kept telling Benjamin to "do the cool thing" with the cards. It's amazing that he can do that trick, since he can't shuffle. To be fair, I can't really shuffle either. I didn't learn it early enough.
On our first day at Lake George, we checked out some of the tourist shops near the lake shore. Then we went on a steamer boat ride. I brought my Ruse comic books along and let Benji read them. Although Daniel looked at them and didn't like them much, Benji seems to enjoy them. He doesn't really get most of the humor, though. The boat ride itself wasn't much to talk about. We went past some nice scenery and mansions along one shore, but that was about it. Later that night, we went to play at one of the many local miniature golf courses (without Mom, who went to bed early). This particular course had big, gaudy fairy-tale statues made of plaster over wire frames. It wasn't exactly a high-quality course, but it was fun. I was second to last, with Benjamin being dead last. I really suck at miniature golf, though I like it. I think dad jinxes me when he compliments my good plays, because afterward I always do badly. After the second time we played miniature golf as a complete family a couple of nights later (this time on a classier pirate-themed course, which had little historical fact plaques here and there), I came in dead last and told dad to never compliment me on my mini-golf playing again.
For the second day of our vacation Dad and the boys went to the local amusement park (I forget what it was called, but it's one of the oldest parks in the country) while Mom went shopping. I left early on a bus to Albany to visit Rachel. It was worth the trip, since we had a lot of fun together. I met her cats - Maijah, Chutzpah and Erskine - who took a liking to me. We watched some Inuyasha on her computer before going to the mall to see the third Harry Potter movie. This one had a different director than the first two and was the best of the lot so far. After we got back we took a swim in Rachel's pool. Well, actually, we didn't swim, we floated in the water and gossiped. But it's easier to say "swim."
There was some confusion about which bus I should take back to Lake George, but we cleared that up. Rachel made some tortelini pasta for dinner, which was tasty even though it was "half-assed cuisine," as Rachel so eloquently put it. I didn't get back to Lake George until about ten. The little town is very different by night - everything is lit up and all the bars are packed. Seems the place is a biker haven, which explains the obscene jokes printed on some of the t-shirts in the nearby stores.
Next day we rented some canoes and went out on the lake. At first I went with Dad and Benji, while Mom and Daniel went in another canoe together. We paddled out to a nearby island (not that near, but my arms held out), spent a little time there, and went back, this time in a different arrangement. I went with Daniel while Mom, Dad and Benjamin went in the other boat. I was disgusted by Benjamin's inability to paddle more than a few strokes at a time, so I made fun of him mercilessly.
Our next outing took us to Saratoga, town of mineral springs and horse racing tracks. It was a big tourist destination in the Victorian era, and people still go there for the horse races (we didn't see one, though we did look at the track) and the mineral springs. We walked around the town, looking at an art gallery and a small museum, before checking out some of the springs in different parks. All the springs are piped through fountains and have little pavillions or structures built around them. After tasting water from one spring that had lots of iron in it (yuck!) I decided to just look at them instead of sampling them. One of the springs we came across had both iron and salt in it. Daniel filled an empty soda can, took a taste and spat it out. He passed the can to dad. Dad smelled the contents of the can, made a face and dumped it out. The only really good spring was the State Spring, where lots of people were filling empty jugs and bottles (and, in one case, a plastic gas can). The water that comes out of the fountain there has the quality of bottled water.
In the main part of Saratoga we visited some of the shops. We also looked at the lobby of The Adelphi, which had been one of Saratoga's grand hotels in the Victorian era and was one of the only ones still around and in business. The lobby was decorated in posh Victorian style. Dad took a picture of me sitting on one of the couches reading Ruse. Having the comic book in the picture was my idea. It remains to be seen how the picture will come out, but if it does, it's going to be funny.
Now for the best part of the trip. Mom noticed a place called Professor Moriarty's on one of the tourist maps. I would have wanted to see it even if I hadn't been reading the Sherlock Holmes stories (which I have by now finished), and since I was, I insisted that we go to Professor Moriarty's for dinner. It is, of course, a Holmes-themed restaurant and bar, decorated in a sort of Victorian revival style. There are various little books, objects and pictures associated with the great fictional detective, as well as Holmes's description of Moriarty in the front of the menu ("He is the organizer of half that is evil and of nearly all that is undetected in this great city."). The menu is divided into three sections: The Plot Thickens (Appetizers), The Crime (Entrees), and The Verdict (Desserts). Not only is the food good - they also serve a microbrew called Moriarty Ale. I ordered some, partly because I can (yay for being 21!) and also because I don't think I'd get another chance to try a drink named after a Sherlock Holmes character. I'm not really a good judge of such things, since my experience with beer is quite limited, but I thought it was good. Contrary to my mother's expectations, I did not behave badly after having a drink. In fact, I behaved better than usual. Even she had to admit it. So there.
Sadly, the restaurant was out of "wearables" (t-shirts or hats or whatever they sell), otherwise I would have gotten one myself. I might be able to order one, though.
Next day we drove to Elizaville, where Daniel's camp is located. We had lunch at the local pizza restaurant and ice cream at Holy Cow. Both establishments are frequented by Scatico counselors and campers on outings. We then drove to the camp, spent a while checking out Daniel's bunk and meeting some of his camp friends (who are fellow counselors), took some pictures, and dropped him off. I must admit that Daniel was very happy to see his family go away and leave him alone for the next two months. I plan to write him. I hope he doesn't do what he did a few summers ago and send me back only one reply of three words: "I hate you."
We proceeded to grandma and grandpa's in Larchmont. Grandpa gave me a book called The Snow Queen, which he says he enjoyed. I haven't read it yet - at the time I was finishing up Sherlock Holmes and I am now working on The Da Vinci Code. But I plan to get around to that book some time. I showed grandpa my Ruse books. He told me that the period style of the books is Edwardian, not Victorian. People often mix them up.
I always enjoy visits to my paternal grandparents' house. They don't spoil me, but they tend to treat me more like an adult than my parents do. Also, Grandma can usually be convinced to side with me against Mom, although on this trip Mom got her to agree that I need to go on a diet. Mom's been bothering me about that a lot lately. But I'm getting off the subject.
We didn't stay long at my grandparents'. The next day we set off for home - or Mom and Dad and Benji did. They dropped me off at![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
scifantasy's house. He wasn't home yet, but his dad Jim was. Since my parents and his are old friends (that's how we know each other), Mom and Dad stayed for about an hour to talk to Jim. Rebecca, scifantasy's sister, was also there. I found out that she uses the same Ouidad stuff I'm using now. Kind of nice to know I'm not alone in that.
My family left beforescifantasy got home. Last summer I didn't see him for more than two months because I was in Alaska, but that didn't make a one-month separation any easier this summer. Since I finished all of Babylon 5, we watched the tape of B5 blooper reels and the prequel movie In the Beginning. I stayed in Rebecca's room for the night. The next morning scifantasy took me to the train station on the way to work (he's doing a data-entry temp job, as our mutual friends are aware). I'll get to see him when he comes to visit D.C. on Fourth of July weekend. Yay!
I didn't go directly home. Since I knew I would be in New Jersey, I had earlier planned to go to the Firestone Library at Princeton to check out Edward Livingston's papers for Decatur House. I got there more or less without incident (okay, I missed the junction where I was supposed to change trains on the way there and had to go back). Then I walked to the library from the train station. The collegiate Gothic architecture made me pine for Bryn Mawr (boo hoo!). It also frustrated me after a while, because the library turned out to be on the other side of the campus from the train station and I had to go there carrying the heavy overnight bag I'd packed my stuff in. I'm all sore today because of that stupid bag. I think my spine has been compressed.
The trip to the library was worth it. I checked out some of Livingston's papers and found two written drafts of President Jackson's Proclamation against Nullification, as well as a version of the Proclamation printed on silk. I found some other things that might be useful too. I filled out a form to order copies, but decided not to hand it in. Instead I took it, along with a list of potentially interesting items, back to Decatur House today, so that Sarah can decide whether or not to get photo-reproductions of any of the stuff. It's expensive, which is why I didn't take the liberty of ordering it myself. I was really enthusiastic about finding those papers. I'm such a nerd.
I made a mistake travelling home, because I went to Newark instead of Trenton or 30th Street (both on the NJ transit line) to catch an Amtrak train home. I doubled back north instead of going south. My parents thought it was kind of funny, but they probably won't think it's funny if I do it again. Oops.
At home I unpacked, did some DDR exercise and had an argument with mom because she wants me to consult with a dietician, because I'm not staying on the South Beach diet and mom thinks I need a "different strategy." I'll go, but that probably won't help either, because I won't seriously diet until I decide to, and all her bothering won't change that. On a good note, I got Dad to send an e-mail to someone at Dell in order to figure out how we can get the best discount on a laptop. We should hear from him by the end of the day, and then we can finally order the computer.
When I ordered the Babylon 5 DVDs, I charged them to dad's credit card, intending to pay him with some of my birthday money. We settled on something else instead: since the DVDs cost around 400 dollars altogether, which is the amount of money I spend on buying textbooks for a given semester of college, I could just buy my textbooks out of my own money instead of getting it from my parents. That balances out nicely.
Sarah was very happy about what I found at Princeton. We may not actually use any of the papers from there, but it gave her the idea of ordering a silk-printed copy of the Nullification Proclamation from another museum that has lent to us before. That'll be great for display. Now I have to work on getting stuff for Judah P. Benjamin and researching Edward Beale. I need to work on my fic too...
My family - which includes myself, my parents, my 12-year-old brother Benjamin and my 17-year-old brother Daniel - spent a few days in upstate New York before dropping Daniel off at Camp Scatico, the sleepaway camp where he used to be a camper and is now a counselor. In previous years we just put him on the bus from New York City, so this is the first time we've dropped him off ourselves.
For our trip in the car, Mom and Dad got a book-on-CD version of Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens. I remember reading David Copperfield once and hating it, but for some reason I really got into Great Expectations. Either I've matured enough to enjoy Dickens or this is simply a better book. It's long, though, so we didn't finish it even with all our hours of driving. That means I'll have to read the rest of it some time.
Most of our trip was spent in Lake George, where we got two rooms with two double beds each. Benjamin stayed in Mom and Dad's room, while Daniel and I shared the other. Benjamin spent a lot of time in our room, though, to watch TV or play Texas Hold 'em with Daniel and myself. We didn't have any poker chips, but Daniel had this pouch of spare change which he had planned to put in a Coinstar machine, so we used that. I find I enjoy the Texas Hold 'em version of poker, even though it's complicated and I lost most of the time because I don't have any strategy to speak of and Daniel says I can't bluff. During these games I learned that Benjamin can do at least one cool thing: he would fan the cards out on the bed in a straight line, then flip over the card at one end (the one that was on the bottom of the unfanned deck) so that all the other cards would flip over, sort of like a row of falling dominoes going in reverse. He can only do this on soft surfaces, the ideal one being, of course, a felt-covered card table (although I have yet to see him do it there). I kept telling Benjamin to "do the cool thing" with the cards. It's amazing that he can do that trick, since he can't shuffle. To be fair, I can't really shuffle either. I didn't learn it early enough.
On our first day at Lake George, we checked out some of the tourist shops near the lake shore. Then we went on a steamer boat ride. I brought my Ruse comic books along and let Benji read them. Although Daniel looked at them and didn't like them much, Benji seems to enjoy them. He doesn't really get most of the humor, though. The boat ride itself wasn't much to talk about. We went past some nice scenery and mansions along one shore, but that was about it. Later that night, we went to play at one of the many local miniature golf courses (without Mom, who went to bed early). This particular course had big, gaudy fairy-tale statues made of plaster over wire frames. It wasn't exactly a high-quality course, but it was fun. I was second to last, with Benjamin being dead last. I really suck at miniature golf, though I like it. I think dad jinxes me when he compliments my good plays, because afterward I always do badly. After the second time we played miniature golf as a complete family a couple of nights later (this time on a classier pirate-themed course, which had little historical fact plaques here and there), I came in dead last and told dad to never compliment me on my mini-golf playing again.
For the second day of our vacation Dad and the boys went to the local amusement park (I forget what it was called, but it's one of the oldest parks in the country) while Mom went shopping. I left early on a bus to Albany to visit Rachel. It was worth the trip, since we had a lot of fun together. I met her cats - Maijah, Chutzpah and Erskine - who took a liking to me. We watched some Inuyasha on her computer before going to the mall to see the third Harry Potter movie. This one had a different director than the first two and was the best of the lot so far. After we got back we took a swim in Rachel's pool. Well, actually, we didn't swim, we floated in the water and gossiped. But it's easier to say "swim."
There was some confusion about which bus I should take back to Lake George, but we cleared that up. Rachel made some tortelini pasta for dinner, which was tasty even though it was "half-assed cuisine," as Rachel so eloquently put it. I didn't get back to Lake George until about ten. The little town is very different by night - everything is lit up and all the bars are packed. Seems the place is a biker haven, which explains the obscene jokes printed on some of the t-shirts in the nearby stores.
Next day we rented some canoes and went out on the lake. At first I went with Dad and Benji, while Mom and Daniel went in another canoe together. We paddled out to a nearby island (not that near, but my arms held out), spent a little time there, and went back, this time in a different arrangement. I went with Daniel while Mom, Dad and Benjamin went in the other boat. I was disgusted by Benjamin's inability to paddle more than a few strokes at a time, so I made fun of him mercilessly.
Our next outing took us to Saratoga, town of mineral springs and horse racing tracks. It was a big tourist destination in the Victorian era, and people still go there for the horse races (we didn't see one, though we did look at the track) and the mineral springs. We walked around the town, looking at an art gallery and a small museum, before checking out some of the springs in different parks. All the springs are piped through fountains and have little pavillions or structures built around them. After tasting water from one spring that had lots of iron in it (yuck!) I decided to just look at them instead of sampling them. One of the springs we came across had both iron and salt in it. Daniel filled an empty soda can, took a taste and spat it out. He passed the can to dad. Dad smelled the contents of the can, made a face and dumped it out. The only really good spring was the State Spring, where lots of people were filling empty jugs and bottles (and, in one case, a plastic gas can). The water that comes out of the fountain there has the quality of bottled water.
In the main part of Saratoga we visited some of the shops. We also looked at the lobby of The Adelphi, which had been one of Saratoga's grand hotels in the Victorian era and was one of the only ones still around and in business. The lobby was decorated in posh Victorian style. Dad took a picture of me sitting on one of the couches reading Ruse. Having the comic book in the picture was my idea. It remains to be seen how the picture will come out, but if it does, it's going to be funny.
Now for the best part of the trip. Mom noticed a place called Professor Moriarty's on one of the tourist maps. I would have wanted to see it even if I hadn't been reading the Sherlock Holmes stories (which I have by now finished), and since I was, I insisted that we go to Professor Moriarty's for dinner. It is, of course, a Holmes-themed restaurant and bar, decorated in a sort of Victorian revival style. There are various little books, objects and pictures associated with the great fictional detective, as well as Holmes's description of Moriarty in the front of the menu ("He is the organizer of half that is evil and of nearly all that is undetected in this great city."). The menu is divided into three sections: The Plot Thickens (Appetizers), The Crime (Entrees), and The Verdict (Desserts). Not only is the food good - they also serve a microbrew called Moriarty Ale. I ordered some, partly because I can (yay for being 21!) and also because I don't think I'd get another chance to try a drink named after a Sherlock Holmes character. I'm not really a good judge of such things, since my experience with beer is quite limited, but I thought it was good. Contrary to my mother's expectations, I did not behave badly after having a drink. In fact, I behaved better than usual. Even she had to admit it. So there.
Sadly, the restaurant was out of "wearables" (t-shirts or hats or whatever they sell), otherwise I would have gotten one myself. I might be able to order one, though.
Next day we drove to Elizaville, where Daniel's camp is located. We had lunch at the local pizza restaurant and ice cream at Holy Cow. Both establishments are frequented by Scatico counselors and campers on outings. We then drove to the camp, spent a while checking out Daniel's bunk and meeting some of his camp friends (who are fellow counselors), took some pictures, and dropped him off. I must admit that Daniel was very happy to see his family go away and leave him alone for the next two months. I plan to write him. I hope he doesn't do what he did a few summers ago and send me back only one reply of three words: "I hate you."
We proceeded to grandma and grandpa's in Larchmont. Grandpa gave me a book called The Snow Queen, which he says he enjoyed. I haven't read it yet - at the time I was finishing up Sherlock Holmes and I am now working on The Da Vinci Code. But I plan to get around to that book some time. I showed grandpa my Ruse books. He told me that the period style of the books is Edwardian, not Victorian. People often mix them up.
I always enjoy visits to my paternal grandparents' house. They don't spoil me, but they tend to treat me more like an adult than my parents do. Also, Grandma can usually be convinced to side with me against Mom, although on this trip Mom got her to agree that I need to go on a diet. Mom's been bothering me about that a lot lately. But I'm getting off the subject.
We didn't stay long at my grandparents'. The next day we set off for home - or Mom and Dad and Benji did. They dropped me off at
scifantasy's house. He wasn't home yet, but his dad Jim was. Since my parents and his are old friends (that's how we know each other), Mom and Dad stayed for about an hour to talk to Jim. Rebecca, scifantasy's sister, was also there. I found out that she uses the same Ouidad stuff I'm using now. Kind of nice to know I'm not alone in that.My family left before
scifantasy got home. Last summer I didn't see him for more than two months because I was in Alaska, but that didn't make a one-month separation any easier this summer. Since I finished all of Babylon 5, we watched the tape of B5 blooper reels and the prequel movie In the Beginning. I stayed in Rebecca's room for the night. The next morning scifantasy took me to the train station on the way to work (he's doing a data-entry temp job, as our mutual friends are aware). I'll get to see him when he comes to visit D.C. on Fourth of July weekend. Yay!I didn't go directly home. Since I knew I would be in New Jersey, I had earlier planned to go to the Firestone Library at Princeton to check out Edward Livingston's papers for Decatur House. I got there more or less without incident (okay, I missed the junction where I was supposed to change trains on the way there and had to go back). Then I walked to the library from the train station. The collegiate Gothic architecture made me pine for Bryn Mawr (boo hoo!). It also frustrated me after a while, because the library turned out to be on the other side of the campus from the train station and I had to go there carrying the heavy overnight bag I'd packed my stuff in. I'm all sore today because of that stupid bag. I think my spine has been compressed.
The trip to the library was worth it. I checked out some of Livingston's papers and found two written drafts of President Jackson's Proclamation against Nullification, as well as a version of the Proclamation printed on silk. I found some other things that might be useful too. I filled out a form to order copies, but decided not to hand it in. Instead I took it, along with a list of potentially interesting items, back to Decatur House today, so that Sarah can decide whether or not to get photo-reproductions of any of the stuff. It's expensive, which is why I didn't take the liberty of ordering it myself. I was really enthusiastic about finding those papers. I'm such a nerd.
I made a mistake travelling home, because I went to Newark instead of Trenton or 30th Street (both on the NJ transit line) to catch an Amtrak train home. I doubled back north instead of going south. My parents thought it was kind of funny, but they probably won't think it's funny if I do it again. Oops.
At home I unpacked, did some DDR exercise and had an argument with mom because she wants me to consult with a dietician, because I'm not staying on the South Beach diet and mom thinks I need a "different strategy." I'll go, but that probably won't help either, because I won't seriously diet until I decide to, and all her bothering won't change that. On a good note, I got Dad to send an e-mail to someone at Dell in order to figure out how we can get the best discount on a laptop. We should hear from him by the end of the day, and then we can finally order the computer.
When I ordered the Babylon 5 DVDs, I charged them to dad's credit card, intending to pay him with some of my birthday money. We settled on something else instead: since the DVDs cost around 400 dollars altogether, which is the amount of money I spend on buying textbooks for a given semester of college, I could just buy my textbooks out of my own money instead of getting it from my parents. That balances out nicely.
Sarah was very happy about what I found at Princeton. We may not actually use any of the papers from there, but it gave her the idea of ordering a silk-printed copy of the Nullification Proclamation from another museum that has lent to us before. That'll be great for display. Now I have to work on getting stuff for Judah P. Benjamin and researching Edward Beale. I need to work on my fic too...
