Sunday, 05 July 2009

  • Paige-riotic

    When I was in third grade, one of my nicknames was Paige-riotic (pronounced like patriotic, only with a g sound.)  Considering the holiday, I felt this was an appropriate time to share this little nugget.  That, and I couldn't really think of anything else to title this particular entry.

    My weekend has been a mixture of good and not so good.  It started off very promising, took an abrupt and unexpected nosedive into absolute shit, and has slowly risen from the fecal matter to this point, where I'm once again feeling positive about everything.

    Last night, after a cookout with my family, Jay and I drove up to Arvest Stadium to watch the fireworks.  We left my parents' place in Elkins well before dark, and even as we were driving into Springdale, it was still a good 15 minutes before the sun was completely set.  So we were a bit dismayed to find that the fireworks had already started, and worse, only lasted another five minutes once we got parked and settled.  Seriously, who starts a huge fireworks display before it's even dark?  It was over before it could even be considered completely dark.  Sorry Springdale, I'm going to have to give your fireworks display a big fat F, on account of timing.  (By the way, this has nothing to do with the shitty part of my weekend.  Just FYI, in case you thought I place that much stock in fireworks display.  I do love them, but not enough to let one completely ruin my weekend.)

    From there we drove around Springdale a bit, watching the various neighborhood fireworks displays.  We stopped at a tent and bought some of our own, then headed to Dickson Street to have a few drinks and some cheesecake at our favorite patio.  That particular place turned out to be closed, so after a stroll around the area, where we soon discovered pretty much every place was dead, with only a handful of patrons, we opted to head back home and enjoy beer from the fridge while shooting the fireworks we had purchased.  It was a very pleasant and low key evening.

    Today we don't have much planned...some errands and general goofing off.  Feels like it's gonna be a good day.

Sunday, 28 June 2009

  • Weekendries

    I'm currently working on a super long post about my sister's bachelorette party, my quick trip to Georgia for my mammaw's funeral, and my birthday celebration on the lake.  Keep cool, my pretties.

    This weekend has been the first weekend in June that I haven't either gone out of town, participated in activities that involved massive amounts of planning, or both.  It has been a nice leisurely weekend of just hanging out and chilling.  Friday night was my belated birthday dinner with my family.  It had originally been planned for last Friday, my actual birthday, but my parents were still in Georgia that weekend for the funeral, so we rescheduled.  Typically for birthdays we always choose somewhere fancy-schmancy, i.e. Red Lobster or Shogun.  I decided this year I wanted something more low key, so we went to La Huerta out on Crossover.  I have decided if I ever have the misfortune of finding myself on death row, white queso and margaritas will be my last meal.  Afterwards Jay and I headed home and caught up on the new season of Weeds.  I'm so thankful this season is starting out strong...last season it seemed things didn't really get going until about 5 or 6 episodes in.  This season is looking really exciting though.

    Saturday Jay and I hit up the farmer's market on the Fayetteville square.  We didn't buy any produce, on account that we had just been to the grocery store a few days prior and stocked up on everything we needed.  While I'm sure the bounty the farmer's market had to offer is 100% better quality than what we bought at Wal-Mart, I still couldn't justify spending the money when I had the exact same stuff sitting at home in my crisper drawer and vegetable bowl.  So we just meandered around and looked.  Next time we'll try to plan our grocery buying a little better so we can enjoy some of farmer's market produce.  Jay did buy a "berry toffee bar" from a local bakery that had a tent set up, and I attempted to get an iced coffee drink from the local coffee place, alas, they had run out of ice.  I can certainly understand why...it was blazing hot yesterday.  Love.

    After the market we ran out to the recycling center to rid the back of my car of the boxes and boxes of hotel related literature I had accumulated.  One of my projects at work this week was to clean out a large closet/small room that was stuffed to the gills with everything imaginable.  I came across several boxes of outdated local magazines and restaurant guides and "Welcome to NWA" pamphlets.  As a hotel, this kind of stuff just seems to magically manifest in our lobby, with no knowledge of where or whom it came from.  Kind of annoying, as it usually falls to me to get rid of this stuff.  So I decided to be a responsible citizen and haul it all out to the recycling center (15 miles from my hotel) versus taking it to the dumpster (500 feet from the hotel).  Clearly, I deserve a cookie.

    On our way to the center, we passed a church that was holding a car show, so we stopped by on our way back into town.  They had a large sound system set up to play music, but when we got out of our vehicle and approached the cars on display, an ad about the gentle soothing powers of Ex-Lax was booming through the parking lot, followed by what sounded like a very old sermon warning of the fires of hell and and the danger of eternal damnation.  I felt like I had stepped into the twilight zone, standing in the blazing hot sun in the middle of a parking lot in an area of town I'm unfamiliar with, surrounded by old souped-up classic cars, with an Ex-Lax ad being played at volume eleven.  A little unsettling, if you can imagine.  Thankfully the sermon on fire and brimstone and constipation came to an end, and they started playing Beach Boys and Buddy Holly.  I felt a little more at ease.

    The rest of yesterday was spent napping, four and a half glorious hours of glorious uninterrupted glorious sleep.  It was glorious.

    Last night we had a charity function to attend at George's for Circle of Friends, the organization that raises awareness about the AR Children's Hospital.  We had a nice time, especially since it was catered by Mellow Mushroom, one of our fave pizza places (and considering how much Jay and I love pizza, that's saying a lot to declare it one of our favorites.)  A friend's band was also playing in the front room of George's, so we bounced back and forth between the two events for most of the night, then settled onto the back patio with Geri and Shawn once everything had died down.

    There are no big plans for today, as evidenced by the fact that I am still sipping on my cup of English Breakfast Tea.  I do have to run some errands for the hotel and make a trip up there, but I'm not too bummed about this since it will mean getting to leave early on Friday.  I also think Jay is contemplating making a roast for dinner, but considering he went back to bed about an hour ago, I'm not sure of the likelihood of these plans coming to fruition.  Oh, he's also going to fix my car, something I am SO excited about.  The RAV has developed a rather loud and embarrassing rattle from underneath.  This rattle literally makes my car sound like a piece of shit.  I'm really hoping come spring I can trade it in for something a little newer.  It's been in the shop twice in the last two weeks, and while it's never left me stranded (other than that time I let it run out of gas...oops) I'm beginning to wonder how much longer it will be a reliable mode of transportation.  Which I probably shouldn't be, considering in the last six months I've gotten three speeding tickets.  Clearly whatever ails my car isn't effecting me putting the pedal to the metal.  Maybe when I put it up for sale I should mention how many tickets I have procured during its tenure, as proof that this little car has a lot more zip that you would probably give it credit for.  Hmm.  

Saturday, 27 June 2009

  • ROFL

    I'm just now finding out about literal videos, which I'm sure means they're old news to everyone else.  Regardless, I have watched this video countless times and cannot quit laughing.  Each viewing I find something new that I missed before.  Enjoy.


    There's also this one that my sister sent me that is equally amusing. A quick search on youtube reveals that there are tons of these types of videos. I know what I'll be watching all weekend.

Tuesday, 16 June 2009

  • Spent

    My sister's bachelorette party was awesome.  Everyone had a great time, and I got in some really good quality time with my sister, which as we get older is getting harder and harder to come by.  Stories and pictures from the weekend to come at a later date.

    The Monday immediately following (yesterday) was not so great.  I always feel down when having to return to work after a particularly awesome weekend.  But lately it's seemed to be something more.  I was telling my sister about it this past weekend.  Everyone else had already gone to bed, but she and I stayed up super late on Saturday night talking, until we noticed the sun was rising and sent us scampering off to bed.  I was telling her how I just feel stuck.  I have no idea what I'm doing with my life.  I have no long term goals I'm trying to achieve, nothing to really look forward.  And I think that's why I've been so down lately.  Actually I know it's why.  I just feel like I am literally just taking up space on earth, and that's about it.  And I don't mean that in a "cry for help" kind of way, nothing like that.  I just feel lost, with no purpose, no direction, nothing.

    I had sent an email to a friend yesterday, telling them that I could tell I was on the brink of becoming really depressed, that I have been depressed enough in my life to know the warning signs, but that I was worried because I have never been in a funk during the summer.  Typically anything wrong in my life always takes a backseat to the fact that it's my favorite season, filled with celebrating my birthday, my dad's birthday, usually a music festival or two (or five), fourth of July, etc.  But this time around, nothing seems to pull me from my funk.  And I can tell the difference between being out of sorts for a few days, versus being legitimately depressed.  And I'm pretty sure I'm hurtling towards the latter.

    Yesterday after lunch I looked up at the security TV above my desk, and was surprised to see my mom standing in the lobby.  I bounded out to see her because it had been awhile.  She looked scared and worried.  And then she told me that mammaw had passed away that morning.

    Mammaw is my great grandmother on my mom's side.  Since she raised my mom, she has always been more like a grandmother to me and my siblings (I say this because I'm not sure what the dynamic is in other families of grandmother versus great grandmother.  I never really knew my great grandmother on my father's side, as she died when I was very young.)  Mammaw was very old and very senile, and honestly had her death come at any other time, it would've been a lot easier to swallow.  But currently the family is still reeling from the fact that three weeks ago, my uncle took his own life.  So in a three week time period, my grandma has to bury her only son and her mother, while my mom is saying goodbye to her brother and the woman who raised her.  And it sucks.  And it makes me wonder what kind of god would let something like this happen.

    So....that's where I'm at right now.  After a lot of mental pacing back and forth, I decided this morning that I really needed and wanted to go to the funeral.  I fly out tomorrow morning around 7, and will be back in Arkansas by 7pm Thursday evening.  Then Friday I celebrate my birthday, with a visit to my salon, a pedicure, and dinner and drinks with friends and my sister, followed by a day on the lake Saturday with my friends.  And hopefully after ringing in 29 good and proper like (read: lots of tequila) I can figure out what the hell I'm doing with my life.

Thursday, 11 June 2009

  • Waka Waka Waka

    Wakarusa was SO much fun.  Even though I didn't really have any expectations, it totally wasn't anything like what I was expecting (even though I just said I had no expectations...clear as mud, right?)  After making three trips back to the house that morning to gather items we forgot, we were finally on the road around five that morning.  The traffic out there wasn't bad at all, and we only waited in line for about 5 minutes to get in (I was convinced it would be hours.)  We got camp set up pretty quickly, at which point I crashed in the tent for a few hours.  When I was woke up it was still only about 10am...I guess that's what happens when your day starts at four in the morning.  The rest of the weekend was a blur of good shows, hanging out with cool people, cutting up with Jay and Remington, indulging in tasty food and drink, etc.  I can't possibly even begin to recap every single thing that happened, so here's the high points:

    GOOD:
    • Our camping neighbors, a couple named Mary and Forrest, who were from Mississippi.  They were super cool and quite gracious with sharing any goodies they had brought for the weekend.
    • The fact that we got our act together beforehand and planned out meals in advance.  There was one night we ate festival food because we forgot to eat dinner earlier (sounds crazy, but it happens), but every other meal was lovingly prepared by our own hands, saving us mucho dinero.
    • Remington brought along a bottle of Patron tequila.  I haven't been able to properly down a tequila shot without a lot of wretching and gagging since an unfortunate incident that took place on my 21st birthday, but Patron is so very tasty.  And apparently you can buy a bottle greatly discounted at Sam's Club.  I think I'm going to pick one up as a birthday treat for myself next weekend.
    • The band Railroad Earth, whom I had never seen.  They put on two great shows, both which we caught.  They are definitely one of my new favorite bands.
    • The hula-hoopers.  So apparently there's this whole sub culture of people (mostly girls) who hula-hoop at festivals.  Sounds pretty standard, but I can assure you it's anything but.  At night they would all bring out special hoops with LED lights in them.  To say it was amazing to watch would be a huge understatement...I can't even begin to describe how graceful and beautiful these girls could make hula-hooping look.  And with all the festivals I've been to, I can't believe I've never seen them before.  Of course since I love dancing and all things glow-y, I googled their special lighted hula-hoops when we got back home...$250.  Yowzers.  Maybe for now I'll just practice with a $2 Wal-Mart special. 
    • Les Claypool's show - I was never a huge Primus fan back in the day, but the show Les Claypool put on was incredible.  Even more so that it took place the night of the costume contest.  Seeing Rainbow Brite hula hoop to his crazy bass playing was a sight I surely never envisioned seeing.
    • The costume contest - I already mentioned Rainbow Brite, but at one point, after the sun went down and it was dark, we saw someone walking through the crowd outlined in glowing green.  As they got closer to us, we were all speculating what on earth they were supposed to be dressed as.  When they got close enough that we could get a better look, we finally realized it was Luigi from Super Mario Brothers, complete with green overalls, green cap, and little mustache.  It cracked me up so much..."What tha....what is that?  I don't get it...it's just someone covered in glow stiHEY IT'S LUIGI!!!"
    • Sleeping amidst all the fun chaos.  The music went until sunrise every morning (although we crashed several hours earlier) so every night I fell asleep to the sound of live music, people cheering, and other shenanigans taking place in the campsite.  It sounds very unrestful, and it somewhat was...I woke up several times each night.  But I was also so tired that I quickly passed right back out.  It was just cool being all snug and sleepy in the tent while the world kept on spinning with activity right outside.
    • The people selling bloody marys every morning.  I never did take advantage of it, but how cool would it be to walk out your front door every morning, and have someone hand you a freshly made bloody mary for a mere $5?  I think next year I might try my hand as a bloody mary vendor.  Or maybe I'll just be an active consumer.
    BAD:
    • Despite being diligent with the sunscreen the previous days, I managed to totally fry myself the last day we were there.  Overcast cloudy days always trick me into being lax with the sunscreen.  It happened on our last float trip, and it happened again at Waka.  When will I learn my lesson?!  My scalp got burned too, right down the center part I had for my pigtails.  Can't wait for it to start peeling so it looks like I have mega bad dandruff.
    • The girls camping on the other side of us.  They were from Lawrence, which is where Waka used to be held before law enforcement chased it off.  From what I gather, they left Kansas around 1am and arrived around the same time as us Thursday morning.  Except instead of taking a nap at that point like a sensible sane person, they started shooting whiskey and popping adderall.  There was one girl in particular whose ass I was ready to kick, lucky for her I was in peace lovin' hippy mode.  She was super loud, super negative and mean to her friends, and just generally unpleasant to be around.  At one point, around midnight I think, she broke down crying for some reason, then flung herself on the ground all dramatic like next to their tent.  Her friends wisely ignored her.  The rest of the festival they were all pretty low key and quiet, I think because they blew all their money and energy that first day.  Thank god.
    UGLY
    • The port-o-potties.  Wow.  I've definitely seen some bad ones in my day, but these take the cake.  Each morning upon waking I made a beeline for the bathrooms, because if you waited, within an hour every single one would be completely full to the seat (yes, you read that correctly).  Then you'd have to wait for the truck to come empty them all before being able to do your morning business.  Awesome.
    And since I know you're waiting with bated breath, here's some pics from the weekend:


    Wakarusa 003

    Heading out that morning.  If you look close you can see Big Dog in the back of the Rover.  We dropped him off with his doggy friends at Remington's on our way out of town.  You'll also notice two balloons, one that says Get Well Soon and a happy birthday one.  We bought these thinking we could tie them onto our tent for a visual reference.  It was so windy though they never really accomplished their purpose.

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    View from the pig trail heading into the festival.  It's about 6am here I think, and camp had only been open since midnight, but you can still see all the people that had already arrived.  Also, it was COLD that first morning.

    Wakarusa 007

    Our humble little camp.  I took a nap after we arrived (our tent is on the right) and when I emerged, Remington and Jay had rigged the little tarp canopy you see.  We were mighty grateful for this little square of shade in the afternoons...it got HOT.

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    More campers.  We actually ended up with a really good site pretty close to the festival grounds.

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    I would like to state that the red Jeep Cherokee on the right is EVIL and bucktoothed and will STEAL YOUR SOUL IF YOU LET IT.  I would elaborate, but I don't wish to incriminate myself.

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    A beautiful, majestic shot of...the port-o-potties.

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    Some of the yummy goodness we whipped up...grilled chicken, peas, and cucumber dill salad.  YUM.

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    Hula-hoopers hoopin it up in the dark.

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    Our little crew, from left to right...Jay, Mary (sitting on the ground), Forrest, their friend Adam (on the ground), and Rem.  Not pictured: approximately eleventy bajillion empty beer cans.

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    Damn, we are good lookin'.

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    Remington, nursing his Jeger shot.

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    Sun setting over the festival.  As soon as the sun disappeared it got COLD every night.

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    Main stage.  I think this is Railroad Earth, but I honestly have no clue.



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    The Revival Tent, aka the most awesome tent ever.  This is where most of the electronic acts played.

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    More Revival Tent.  When we stepped in here it was like walking into a different world.


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    Playing disc golf with the boys.  They had a really nice course set up on the back of the festival grounds.  We got to see a few people dive into the pond in the background to retrieve their disc.  I think I would've just left it.

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    I decided to dress like candy corn for the costume contest, har har.  I got some pretty effed up tan lines over the weekend, as you can imagine.


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    Chillin' at our camp.  Remington got a lot of comments on his shirt, including one girl who ran up to him and exclaimed "I LOVE OREGANO TOO!"  Stay in school, kids.

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    After catching Big Smith at the backwoods tent.  I'm lookin a little pink in this photo.  USE YOUR DAMN SUNSCREEN PAIGE.


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    Last night of the festival.


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    Adios, Wakarusa.  You'll definitely see me next year!
    Read more...

Wednesday, 03 June 2009

  • Hello and Goodbye

    The murder mystery party was soooo much fun, and even better, I correctly guessed the killer and won $50 (which is going directly into my beer fund for Wakarusa.)  Everyone really got into their character, and there's talk of doing another one in the fall.  I'm totally down.  Here's some pics I ripped from my friend's facebook (thanks Amy!)

    Gathered around daddy

    Gathered around daddy's photo in the living room.  Candace and Jason on the left are "Bob and Barbara Bucks", Daddy Rochester's accountant and wife.  Next is Jay, who played his nephew.  Then there's me, the black sheep of the family, standing next to Geri, the grieving widow.  The photo of "daddy" is a picture of some random dude swiped off the internet.  If that guy had any idea that miles and miles away in Arkansas, we were all pretend crying around his portrait...

    grieving widow

    The grieving widow, who come to find out, had her tubes tied without telling her husband. *gasp*

    black sheep

    Black sheep of the family, aka Elizabeth Rochester, aka rampaige.  My sister and I were fighting over the chauffeur, who it turns out, is our half brother.  Ewwwww....

    reading the will

    Brian played "Geoffrey" the butler (center).  To the right of him is Mr. Rochester's lawyer, "Reilly Ravish".  I felt kinda bad for Brian and Tara (who played the maid)...they did nothing but run around all evening and serve the rest of us.  Actually nevermind, it was fucking awesome.

    mugging for the camera

    I'm guessing Elizabeth has had quite a bit to drink at this point.

    paige and jay

    Check out my fake tatt.  I had three of them...a goldfish on my left arm (shown), a strip of flowers running down my other arm, and some chinese lettering on the inside of my wrist.  I think I'm going to start wearing fake tatts on a regular basis.

    Wakarusa officially starts tomorrow.  We are packed and loaded and ready to go.  The plan is to get up around 3am (in like 4 hours...yikes) and head out there, hopefully arriving right around daylight.  The earliest you can check in is 12:01am tonight, and the music starts at noon tomorrow, so we're thinking by arriving at 4am we can sandwich in between the peak rush hours of checkin.  I'm pretty excited about this little trip.  They're going to have hot air balloon rides, and they're running a shuttle down to a swimming hotel at the Mulberry River.  We've got a cooler stocked full of PBR, lots of dried fruit and granola bars and dill pickle potato chips to snack on, and several yummy meals planned out.  I've also got my requisite bottle of vodka and pack of sour gummy worms.  I think we're all set.

    I anticipate not being able to update for awhile after this.  We get back from Waka sometime on Sunday, bootcamp starts back for me on Monday (if I make it) and work is going to be hellaciously busy all week long.  Then Friday evening I'm headed out of town for my sister's bachelorette party.  So hopefully next time you see me, I'll have lots of photos and stories to share.

    Time to get some shut eye!
    Read more...

Saturday, 30 May 2009

  • Review

    The Ben Folds concert last night was fantastic.  I had myself a great time, as you may already know from the numerous Twitters gushing about how good it was.  He played a pretty well-rounded set that hit almost every album.  He also did his cover of Dr. Dre's "Bitches Ain't Shit", at which point I noticed several parents with small children scurrying out of the place.  He didn't play Tiny Dancer, but it was a pretty upbeat set list so I think it would've been a little out of place anyway.  It was my first time to actually watch a show at the AMP (I'd been there previously as a merch girl for my ex's band), and I really liked the venue.  It's small enough that you can buy the inexpensive lawn tickets and just snag a table, which are conveniently located right by the food and drink concessions, yet still have a great view of the stage.  My sister and her fiance were there as well, so we sat with them and our friends that had come along.  It was a nice evening, albeit a tad chilly for the tank top and flip-flops I was sporting.  Nothing some beer couldn't take care of though.

    Yesterday morning was the last day of my fitness bootcamp.  We did our final fitness assessment for the session.  Here's how I fared compared to where I started three weeks ago:
    • Push-ups: 10 at the start, 18 yesterday
    • Squats: 45 at the start, 58 yesterday
    • Crunches: 30 at the start, 38 yesterday
    • Plank: 1 minute, 45 seconds at the start, 3 minutes yesterday (I am seriously impressed with this, btw.)
    • 12 minute run: 5.75 laps at the start, 6 complete laps yesterday.
    What I don't understand is at our first assessment, the exercises were all timed to 45 seconds, where as yesterday we did them for a full minute.  It makes it difficult to see exactly how much improvement there was.  Also with squats, it seems like it gets to the point where you can only do so many in a minute with good form and posture. 

    My goal was to be able to do five real push-ups, alas that did not happen.  But I was satisfied with the 18 girl style push-ups that I did.  I also wanted to increase my running time, which I did.  Although it looks like I only increased it slightly, the first go around I practically sprinted the last minute of the run to get that three quarters of a lap in.  This time I ran the same speed the entire 12 minutes and finished six laps without any sprinting needed.   I'm pretty happy with my results.  I'm anxious to see what June's bootcamp will be like.  I won't have the time or money to do another camp for awhile after this one, so I gotta make it count.  Ie no overindulging on margaritas at happy hour the night before.  Single tear.

    Tonight is the murder mystery party Jay and I are attending.  I came up with a great little goth/party girl outfit to play the spoiled brat with no ambition in life other than having fun with daddy's money.  I think it's going to be a fun little party.  Hopefully I can get some pics of everyone in their finery (or not so finery, in my case.)

    It is a gorgeous day today, and I'm off to enjoy it.  Toodaloo.

Thursday, 28 May 2009

  • Kibbles & Bits (& Bits & Bits)

    • I know now without a doubt that my shoes were to blame for my hurty arches while training for the half marathon.  I've been wearing them the past few days for bootcamp because my other shoes had to be washed after camping, and have been taking their dear sweet time drying out.  Since switching back to my crappy worn out New Balances (Old Balances?), my feet have been killing me.  I could barely hobble around during this morning's session.  I want to start running in the evenings again soon, so I see a pair of new shoes in my immediate future.
    • Jay and I are attending a murder mystery party this Saturday.  The official title is "Murder of a Millionaire".  Basically this wealthy dude has died, and at the reading of his will someone is murdered and we all have to figure out who the killer is.  I play the youngest daughter of the dead millionaire.  Apparently I'm wealthy (off daddy's money) and a brat.   I'm excited about my costume...I'm supposed to dress wealthy, obviously, but seeing as how I'm the youngest and a brat, I'm thinking I'm a party girl just living off daddy's money.  Time to break out the fake tattoos.
    • We do an exercise in bootcamp called the Richard Simmons.  Sadly it does not involve wearing brightly colored short shorts and a low cut leotard that shows off a luxurious pelt of chest hair.  It does involve a lot of useless arm waving that I think would only help the extremely obese lose weight, much like Richard Simmons exercise programs.
    • Speaking of bootcamp, which I have been now for three of my four bullets so far, I signed up for June's session.  When I woke up at 4:45 this morning (had to get up extra early cause I stayed at Jay's place but didn't bring any of my stuff, necessitating a visit to my place on the way) I wondered if I had lost my mind, signing up for another session.  But by 6:30 when bootcamp was over, I was glad I did.  I think for June I'm going to try to eat more sensibly in an effort to rid myself of this flubber laying on top of my newly developed muscle.  I have a feeling a sensible diet does not include queso and margaritas, so perhaps I should call my diet A Sensible Diet with a Generous Side of Mexican Cuisine.
    • Wakarusa is in a week, and I'm actually getting pretty stoked about it.  I still have my reservations about camping for that long however.  And I haven't decided about the shower situation.  There will be showers available at the festival, but the thought of public bathing kinda skeeves me out.  And dealing with the hassle of bringing along shower amenities and towels doesn't sound very appealing.  I'm tempted to just be a dirty hippy for the length of the festival, but going from Thursday to Sunday, drinking beer, dancing, standing in a grassy field under the hot sun...I am going to be one ripe mofo come Sunday.  A friend who has been to a similar festival recommended baby wipes, so I'm definitely giving that a try, along with copious amounts of deodorant.
    • Ben Folds is playing at The AMP tomorrow night.  Jay and I have tickets with our friend Rem and Lauren (our camping buddies with the camera-hog of a dog.)  I've seen Ben Folds twice before but I'm still excited about the show.  I'm really hoping he does his cover of Tiny Dancer, complete with the crazy eyeglasses and Elton-esque moves.
    • I know as soon as I post this I'll think of a million things I forgot to mention.  Another post for another day, perhaps.

Tuesday, 26 May 2009

  • Blue

    I started writing an entry about my recent bout with the blues.  I've just been feeling very out of sorts lately, very sad and with a constant rain cloud following me around.  I think a lot of this has to do with actual rain clouds.  Save for last week, it has rained in some form or fashion every single day in May.  I always thought winter made me sad because of the cold.  I realize now it's the lack of sunshine that does me in.

    So, like I said, I started writing an entry about my recent bout with the blues.  But other than what I wrote about the rain, I don't really know what to say.  Something doesn't feel....right.  I can't put my finger on what it is.  I feel like my life is rather boring right now, despite the fact that  I have events planned I look forward to...this past weekend's float trip, this coming weekend's murder mystery party with friends, Wakarusa the following weekend, etc.  But I still have this nagging feeling of discontentment.  Like I should be experiencing more out of life.  I'm trying to figure out what has changed in the past few weeks that would suddenly make me so dissatisfied with life in general.  And I keep coming up with nothing.  I ran a half marathon, something I've been wanting to do for several years.  I'm working out on a daily basis, thanks to the fitness bootcamp (well, save for last week when happy hour got the best of me.)  So...what gives?  I don't know, but I wish I could figure it out.  There was a time in my life, when I was a melodramatic juvenile, that being depressed actually gave me this weird energy.  There's a Garbage song I used to love when I was 16, titled "I'm Only Happy When It Rains".  It had the line, "I'm riding high upon a deep depression", and as strange as it sounds, I totally identified with that line.  But now...no way.  I hate being in the dumps, and I hate feeling so despondant all the time. 

    I gotta find a way to shake this perpetual rain cloud hovering over me.   

Monday, 25 May 2009

  • Buffaloin' It

    I hope everyone's Memorial Day Weekend has been a relaxing one.  Mine has been pretty good.

    The camping and float trip was loads of fun.  Jay and I left town around 6pm on Friday evening headed towards Newton County.  Our friends we were camping with, Remington and Lauren, had left town earlier that day in hopes of finding us a campsite for the weekend.  With it being a major holiday, we knew campsites were going to be near capacity, if not completely full. 

    Floating the usual route from Ponca to Kyle's Landing wasn't an option...the river was just too low that far upstream.  I had been checking the river levels online all week, and from Monday to Friday it dropped from 18 inches of air space at the Ponca Low Water Bridge, to 24 inches.  I couldn't believe the difference in just five days, especially considering how much rain we've had lately.  I was disappointed we couldn't put in at Ponca...it's by the far the most scenic stretch of the Buffalo, and hiking out to Hemmed Inn Hollow is something I haven't done in several years.  But, it was what it was, and I certainly didn't want to be carrying our canoe down the empty riverbed.

    We decided to float from Erbie to Ozark instead, and hopefully camp at Ozark both nights.  Right before we left town we got word from Rem that Ozark was already full, which wasn't a huge surprise.  With it being a major take-out from the river, it was destined to fill up fast.  There were a few other spots Rem was going to check out, and from that point we didn't hear from him until we arrived at the campsite, due to no cell phone reception.  Luckily Jay and Rem both know the Buffalo fairly well, having grown up nearby, so even though we didn't know exactly which campsite Rem and Lauren had ended up at, Jay knew all the possible places they could be.

    We took a back road in to the camp grounds, and I am not exaggerating in the slightest when I say it was without a doubt the WORST dirt road I have ever been on.  All the recent heavy rainfall we've been having had washed all the top dirt away, leaving huge jutting rocks all over the place.  At one point we stopped to take some pictures off the side of the mountain, and I noticed the road we were about to drive down...very very steep, and so rocky it looked more like a horse trail than a road meant for vehicle traffic.  I had to close my eyes when we drove down that part, and in retrospect, I have no idea why.  We were in the Rover, which is equipped for that exact kind of terrain.  I know I was worried about getting a flat tire, but even then, did I really need to close my eyes?  I can't explain it...it was just really steep and super rocky.  I was worried we were going to tumble off the side of the mountain.  The next 20 minutes were spent bouncing down the dirt road, and had I not been buckled in, there is no way I would've been able to stay in my seat.

    We finally arrived at the Erbie campsite and found our friends.  Unfortunately the site we had was reserved the next day, which meant we had to pack up before hitting the river and find another place to camp for Saturday night.  I wasn't that worried, just relieved to finally be off the dirt road from hell.

    Friday night was great weather for camping...not too hot, not too chilly.  Jay and I soon discovered that we had forgot to pack, of all things, HOT DOGS.  This could have singlehandedly ruined the trip, luckily our friends were more than willing to share what they had brought.  Phew.  Another crisis averted.  We all sat around the campfire and talked until late in the night, until I could barely keep my eyes open. 

    The next day started off a little overcast, but by the time we got up and around, it was hot and humid.  After spending several hours futzing around with packing, getting our river gear dropped off, and running shuttle to our take-out, we finally hit the river around noon.  I was really surprised how empty the river seemed, in terms of other floaters.  With it being Memorial Day weekend, I was totally expecting bumper to bumper canoe traffic, but for the most part it didn't seem any more crowded than any other random weekend.  It sprinkled off and on throughout the day, but the rain never lasted more than 5 minutes at a time, and as soon as it stopped the sun would come back out. 

    Unfortunately my camera died about an hour into the float, but here's some random shots I got before then:

    Memorial Day Weekend 2009 002

    Elk are pretty common around the Buffalo.  You can always find them standing around in the exact same field in Ponca.

    Memorial Day Weekend 2009 004

    Despite what you may assume, we actually weren't the most redneck people on the river that day.  And yes, that is a beer coozie hanging from Jay's neck.  Remington is in the background.  I think his beer coozie is in his canoe.

    Memorial Day Weekend 2009 013

    Did you know they make life jackets for dogs?  I had no idea, until the first time Jay and I went floating together.  Here's Big Dog sporting his.  He spent the majority of his time in the water, paddling from canoe to canoe.  Jay and I thought it was because he couldn't tell which canoe was ours, until we realized we were the only blue canoe out of dozens of green ones.

    Memorial Day Weekend 2009 008

    This is Lauren's dog, Oliver.

    Memorial Day Weekend 2009 010

    He LOVES to have his picture taken.

    Memorial Day Weekend 2009 011

    Seriously, as soon as I took my camera out, he was right there in front of me.  I've never seen anything so crazy or hilarious.

    Memorial Day Weekend 2009 014

    Taken from the gravel bar where we stopped and ate lunch.  We watched about 6 canoes tip here...the current would grab them and swing them directly into the right side of the embankment, where everyone would instinctively duck to the left to avoid the bushes and low limbs hanging out over the water, thus causing their canoe to tip.  I totally psyched myself out watching everyone tip, and when it came time for us to attempt it, Lauren and I opted to walk across to that other gravel bar you see while letting our men handle the scary task of negotiating the turn.  While trudging our way across the water (the current was a lot stronger than I thought it was), Jay and Remington both sailed by in the canoes like it was the easiest thing in the world.  I felt a tad ridiculous. 

    We were about a third of a mile from the take-out when suddenly big huge storm clouds appeared on all sides.  There had been random dark clouds floating about all day that were the reason behind the occasional shower we would have, but these particular clouds looked like trouble.  Within minutes it went from being sunny, to lightly sprinkling, to a full on downpour.  I'm talking the kind of downpour that if you were trying to dash from your car to a building, you would be completed soaked within seconds of exiting your vehicle.  It caught a lot of people, including us, completely off guard.  Since we were so close to where we had planned on pulling out, we decided just to power through and try to get the hell off the river.  The next ten minutes were spent paddling as hard as we could while it poured down rain.  It sounds miserable, but it was actually pretty fun, I think because I knew that our stopping point was just right around the bend.  When we arrived at our destination, Lauren and I grabbed the dogs and headed to the truck while the guys took care of the canoes.  Big Dog was so worn out he couldn't jump up into the back of the truck, so I had to help him.  Have you ever picked up a sopping wet 60 pound dog, after spending an entire day on the river?  I have, and let me tell you it ROCKS.  I was totally covered in dog hair at that point, and it was made so much worse by the fact that it was wet dog hair.  It would've taken a power washer to get all that stuff off me.

    After loading up the canoes, dogs, coolers, etc, we drove around for a bit looking for a campsite.  It was still drizzling rain, and there wasn't an empty site to be found.  We decided just to call it a day and head home.  Our friends actually drove a little down the road to Rem's parents place and stayed there.  Jay and I drove back to Fayetteville, or rather Jay did.  I opted to pass out and drool on myself in the front seat instead.  We got back to town around 9pm, took a hot bath, ate some dinner (tomato soup and grilled cheese) and were both fast asleep by 10:30.  I was a tiny bit disappointed we had to cut the trip short, but the thought of spending all night huddled in the rain did not sound appealing at all.  If the weather had been more cooperative we probably would've spent a little more time trying to find a place to camp.  I told myself the good part about coming home early was it meant we had all Sunday to do whatever we wanted, instead of spending it breaking down camp and driving home, but ironically we spent the entire day vegging on the couch.

    The best part of the trip? I somehow managed to make it home with only two lone mosquito bites.  Oh, and a slight sunburn, where I failed to put on sunscreen until several hours into the float.  But seriously, two bites and a little redness?  Compared to needing a steroid shot last year and not being able to wear a skirt for the last months of summer?  I'll freaking take it.

    The rest of our weekend has been pretty low key.  Yesterday was spent lounging around the house, slowly unpacking from the camping excursion, and grilling up the steak and veggies we had intended to have for dinner Saturday night whilst camping.  This morning I had to work, but I was off by noon, so Jay and I had lunch then headed to the movies.  We saw "Sunshine Cleaning", a movie about two sisters who start a biohazard cleaning service.  Essentially, they clean up after accidents and murders.  The movie wasn't as gory or grim as it sounds, and even though it made me cry a few times, I highly recommend it. 

    Tomorrow it's back to the grindstone, including my last week of fitness bootcamp.  I was a bad bootcamper last week and missed two mornings, the first due to oversleeping, the second due to too many margaritas the previous evening at happy hour.  So I'm going to really push myself this week.  I can tell a difference in my body shape...I definitely look more toned.  Unfortunately I don't think it's noticeable to anyone but me, due to the layer of flub still hanging out on top of the toned muscle.  I'm hoping to do bootcamp again in June, and maybe this time include some cardio on my own in the evenings to help lose some of this flubber hanging around my midsection and upper legs.

    Enough yammering.  It has taken the better part of several hours to write up this little ditty.  I'm off to eat some chicken and wild rice soup that Jay and I whipped up, and watch some boob tube. 

    Every time I run spell check on my entries, it tries to change "Fayetteville" to "Vaudeville".  I think I'm going to start using that instead.

Pulse

rampaige

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    • Name: paige
    • Metro: Fayetteville
    • Birthday: 6/19/1980
    • Member Since: 1/16/2005

Musician I Am Currently In Love With:

  • My iPod. Tonight whilst on shuffle, it played solely The Smiths, Muse, Camera Obscura, Smashing Pumpkins, and Frank Black. Bless your little heart, iPod. You know me better than I know myself.