there she goes

It's time for Aunt Kelly to mist again. Tomorrow, Caitlin heads to college. I've just started my round of the correspondence book we've been circulating since February 24, 2003. She writes a letter, I write a letter, she writes a letter, etc.

We usually make a CD for each other. Her most recent contained Ben Lee, Cross Canadian Ragweed, Justin Timberlake, AFI, Switchfoot, Dashboard Confessional, Fort Minor, DecembeRadio, The New Amsterdams, simple plan, Dierks Bentley, Something Corporate, and the ultra-catchy "Getcha Head in the Game" from High School Musical. Very eclectic. I'm so proud.

I've been collecting songs for a while to create the CDs (yes, plural) to go with my turn of the book. There's one song in particular that is just the most amazingly catchy pop song I've heard in a long time. I won't mention it here (don't want to ruin the surprise in case Ms. Cait wanders over to the blog while unpacking her dorm room), but I'll post again once the package is sent. This song is too good not to share with the world..

I don't have any good insight to share here. Just the continued disbelief that the young ones in my life are reaching, approaching, and eyeing adulthood rapidfire.

By the way, in the photo above, notice Caitlin's early adoption of the "hook 'em horns" hand gesture, best used for rock concerts and sporting events. Also, the little arm flung over Caitlin's shoulder is that of Andrew, who starts his sophomore year of college next week, too.

::sniff, sniff::

unearthed

A few weekends ago, I drove to my parents' house and spent two days clearing out the large closet of the very small bedroom I last occupied around 1984. Three siblings, two nephews, and a niece also pitched in. I'd stored my record collection and some other memorabilia in there when I moved to Seattle in 1991. It's been there ever since, despite the fact that I moved back to New England nearly seven years ago. So, my brother has been helping our folks get organized this summer, and when he happened across said closet, I was called into action.

Somehow, a great of deal additional stuff managed to accumulate on top of my stash. To top it all off, because the closet had been so full when the professional animal control company came to block off all possible mouse, squirrel, skunk, and raccoon entrances into the old farmhouse, it was the one place they couldn't access. Therefore, about a million happy little mice have made quite a comfortable home in there over the years. There was plenty of chewed cardboard and fabric to show for it, though the more dire consequence of all that eating (ahem) was quite distressing. We did lots of cleaning -- ourselves and the house.

The little buggers nibbled through the spines of about 100 albums that were stored in crates. Argh! Thankfully, the remaining records (approximately 1200 albums and 12" singles, and 1000 45s) were all safely secured in boxes that the mice apparently found too daunting to chew. Everything is now safely in brand new, climate controlled, and pest-protected storage. Moving all that vinyl caused me to contemplate a couple things.

First, records are really heavy! I moved those things twice a year, every year, for all four years of college. Each trip, the number accumulating. I moved them three more times to each place I lived in Maine before their final move into Mom and Dad's house when I headed West. I'd nearly forgotten how much they weigh in large groups.

Second, I'm really looking forward to listening to this stuff again. Although I have replaced some of it on CD or MP3, I own a treasure trove of music that has never been released digitally. I'm going to have to set my computer up to capture the stuff and make my iTunes library more representative of my whole collection. That sounds interesting, but I still haven't even come close to getting my CD collection (which numbers approximately 1500) into iTunes yet.

That weekend was the start of a trend for me. I'm cleaning out. Decluttering our space. Lightening the load. Taking inspiration from Mom & Dad's house, and one of my favorite home shows. Upon opening a mysterious file box, I discovered a notebook I'd written when I was first living in Seattle. It includes the last of a series of lists that I created annually highlighting my favorite music released during the year.

Here is my 1992 Best of Albums list:

1. Alice in Chains "Dirt"
2. k.d. lang "Ingenue"
3. Pearl Jam "Ten"
4. Thomas Dolby "Astronauts & Heretics"
5. Enya "Shepherd Moons"
6. Matthew Sweet "Girlfriend"
7. Arrested Development "3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life Of..."
8. Annie Lennox "Diva"
9. "The Commitments" soundtrack
10. Bobby McFerrin & Chick Corea "Play"
11. Bobby McFerrin & Yo Yo Ma "Hush"
12. Madonna "Erotica"
13. Alison Moyet "Hoodoo"
14. Ephraim Lewis "Skin"
15. CeCe Peniston "Finally"
16. Michael Penn "Free-For-All"
17. Prince & New Power Generation "[the symbol that later became his name]"
18. Queen Latifah "The Nature of a Sista"
19. Shakespeare's Sister "Hormonally Yours"
20. Go West "Indian Summer"

I have a couple observations about this grouping. First, it was my requirement the list could only be comprised of records I actually owned. It being my first year after arriving in Seattle, I had precious little money to spend on music (as mentioned in a recent post), and so my choices were limited. Second, I'm fascinated to see how I have become more appreciative of some of the "lower" ranked records since 1992. Ephraim Lewis is a great example. At a modest #14 here, I might well place it at the same rank or even higher of my all-time favorites (a list I've threatened to create but have never actually done). It comes close to being a perfect album.

But wait, there's more! My 1992 Best of Songs list (alphabetical, not enumerated):

• Beastie Boys "So What Cha Want"
• Mary J. Blige "Real Love"
• Brand New Heavies "Never Stop"
• Chesney Hawkes "The One and Only"
• Cowboy Junkies "Murder Tonight in the Trailer Park"
• En Vogue "My Lovin' (Never Gonna' Get It)"
• Extreme "Rest in Peace"
• Live "Operation Spirit"
• The KLF with Tammy Wynette "Justified and Ancient"
• King Missile "Detachable Penis"
• L7 "Pretend That We're Dead"
• The La's "There She Goes"
• L.A. Style "James Brown is Dead"
• Lush "For Love"
• Madonna "Deeper and Deeper"
• George Michael "Too Funky"
• Public Enemy "Can't Truss It"
• Screaming Trees "Nearly Lost You"
• John Secada "Just Another Day"
• Sting with Eric Clapton "It's Probably Me"
• Sugarcubes "Hit"
• Sundays "Love"
• Tears For Fears "Laid So Low (Tears Roll Down)"
• They Might Be Giants "Hey Mr. DJ, I Thought You Said We Had a Deal"

Even though there is definitely some diversity in the group, it feels so narrow now. I suppose that makes sense given the volume of new (and old) music I've enjoyed and/or procured since 1992.

Here's an example. I just bought a new album (the entire thing digitally... I've evolved to the point where I no longer need physical evidence) that is rapidly growing on me. It is "Dreaming Through the Noise" by Vienna Teng. This is not her first album, but I am just now learning about her. Wonderful music.

art imitating real life

To make an incredibly long story as short as possible, my family drove some 13,000 miles on a 'cross country vacation in 1973. Our Volkswagen bus was filled above the brim. Mom and Dad alternated driver's seat and shotgun. Eldest brother, Gerry, had the most space in the 2/3 middle seat. Brothers, Chris and Sean, shared the back seat. And my sister, Cathy, and I made a little fortress out of the "wayfarback." All of our clothes, food, and sleeping bags were packed in two massive, silver fiberglass cubes secured to the full-size roof rack. We must have been a sight to behold.

Despite the fact that I was only seven years old at the time, I remember a good deal of this trip. Some things stand out -- riding a cable car in San Francisco and better still driving the bus down Lombard Street, fog and chipmunks (but no giant stone presidents) at Mt. Rushmore, red mud flooding into our tent at the Badlands, the "four knuckle knocker" scaring the pants off Sean who was sleeping in the bus, waking up with the bus parked inches from a cliff at the Pacific Ocean in California, eating a very late dinner at a place I'd never seen before called "Taco Bell" and not understanding why I couldn't get a hot dog. I remember a lot of games played in the car. I remember every minute of a whole day at Disneyland.

One memory is partial but permanent. It goes like this. We were in the desert Southwest somewhere (give me a break, I was 7). We'd stopped at a gas station for refueling and a bathroom break, and then headed back out on the road.

This is the part I don't remember, so I have to retell it as my Mom tells it. We were about half an hour past the gas station when a little voice in the back (that would be me) said, "Where's Cathy?"

Oops. We'd left one behind.

This is the part I do remember. My father drove faster than I'd ever seen him drive to get back to the gas station. And when we arrived, Cathy was standing in front of the huge plate glass window -- her long, brown hair braided, her arms folded tightly across her chest, her face twisted in anger, and her foot tapping impatiently. She scolded us, hopped back on the bus, and off we went. Again. With all present and accounted for.

Now, I can't speak for Cathy. I can't imagine how she must have felt. We had a plan in case anyone got lost on the trip (everyone was to call my father's secretary, and she would coordinate a location to reunite). My sister had followed the rules and called Diane. But there hadn't been any phones in the half hour trip past the gas station for us to use, as well. Remember, 1973. So, my poor sister had to wait almost an hour for us to come back.

In hindsight and for me (the one who didn't have to go through this), it's kinda' humorous. You know, one of those stories she can tell her grandchildren. She doesn't need to tell her children, because our mother's been doing that for years.

So when I saw the trailer for the new movie, Little Miss Sunshine, I laughed more loudly than I have in a long time, and with such force that I cried. I immediately called Cathy. I hope the past 33 years have created enough of a buffer for her that she might be able to laugh at it, too.

I think Fox Searchlight should pay my sister a royalty.



Cool to catch a Sufjan Stevens song in there, too.

untitled

Last night, I watched the director's cut of Almost Famous after attempting to view a horribly hacked version on network television last weekend. Amazing, the stuff they edited. Like William's mother telling the man painting a store window that "Xmas" is not a word in the English language.

"It's either 'Merry Christmas' or 'Happy Holidays.'"

Although the removal of some R-rated segments was appropriate, given the medium, I suspect they edited so many non-offensive bits simply to reduce overall playing time. Obviously, these editors were not emotionally invested in this movie, and therefore didn't understand that each component is critical to the story.

It is a love letter to rock 'n roll. It speaks to me in a way few others have done. Cameron Crowe is a genius. I recognize myself all over this movie. Not so much in the sequence of events (obviously -- although I did write record reviews and articles for an indie magazine called FACE), but in the overwhelming love of music.

I've only met one semi-famous rock band, and it was an unfortunate encounter with Slaughter during a record signing when I managed a record store in 1990. And I never hung out by the back door a la Penny Lane and her Band-Aids, hoping to meet (and perhaps do unsavory things with) the any of the bands I saw in concert.

Crowe perfectly captures the essence of teenage absorption, not just into music, into everything. The melodrama that is being 15 years old. The big difference is that our protagonist gets the joy ride of a lifetime while waging the battle between teen innocence and angst.

Though it may be obvious to say, the soundtrack is stunning. Crowe uses a brilliant combination of easily recognizable hits and deep tracks from seminal if not popular albums. And there are dozens of songs. Some are featured like Tiny Dancer, and some mere snippets. My favorite is My Cherie Amour playing while William is watching Penny Lane get her stomach pumped.

I would recommend this movie for everyone. I realize that art is made meaningful only by the context in which the audience views it. Not everyone will like this movie, and fewer still will feel as connected to it as I do. That said, give it a try. You might be surprised what you get out of it.

"So Russell, what do you love about music?"

"To begin with... everything."

A note. Elaine (William's mother) encourages Russell to do his job well by saying, "Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid." She attributes the quote to Goethe, although by all accounts, it was Basil King who uttered the words.

woeful

I just read an article on MSNBC that indicates WIC (Women, Infants, and Children program that provides a small stipend for food) will expand the list of foods it covers to include... fruits and vegetables.

Are you kidding me? This program -- which has existed since the 70s and now serves more than 8 million people -- has never allowed the recipients to purchase fruits and vegetables? Does it strike anyone else as INSANE that a program geared to improving the health of poor women and children doesn't provide for some of the most critical foods that would help to that end?

Since 1980, foods that were allowed included milk, eggs, and cheese. OK, I get the protein angle. It also allowed for juice, a natural for many kids. And carrots (hey, one vegetable!) and canned tuna for women (but not for kids?!?).

But heck, even I as a young lass in the 70s knew that vegetables and fruits are the most healthy foods to eat. I knew this because every year, my mother planted, tended, and harvested a vegetable garden nearly half the size of our considerable side yard. We lived on fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, radishes, corn, lettuce, zucchini, cauliflower, bok choi, chives, pumpkins, etc., etc., etc. We didn't grow fruit, but we were regular customers at the local farms and farm stands, where we could pick our own strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries, and buy other fruit like melons and peaches and such.

OK, that was fun remembering all that fresh produce. I remember Dad renting the Roto-tiller to plow the garden in preparation for planting. I remember helping Mom weeding and picking (although she did the vast majority of the work). I remember picking tomatoes and eating them fresh off the vine like apples. Mmmmm. Thanks, Mom.

I'm just agape that WIC is just now getting around to adding these necessary ingredients to their program. At least they're doing it now. Wow.

a timeless topic

It was only a couple months ago that the NY Times ran a piece about a son and his father. Today, there is a new one by Kevin Brockmeier that is very compelling. I find this dynamic intriguing to read, even though my involvement can only ever be peripheral. I don't have a son to closely witness any such relationship, and my connection to my own father is more of the Daddy's Little Girl sort ("little" being a reminiscent term of endearment). I do get to see my brothers with their sons, and it is a fascinating thing to behold. Sometimes, they seem torn between the oversized love they have for their baby boys and the overwhelming sense of duty to raise them to become responsible men. I think mothers have a similar conundrum, although it seems to tip in the direction of spoiling children (of both genders).

Of course, all of this is theoretical: I have no children. And perhaps it is a tribute to Mr. Brockmeier and Mr. Hendrickson that they wrote their stories well enough to provoke such thoughts in someone who has so little to do with the concept.

Note: This picture is of a mural created completely of corn, and can be found on this year's Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota. I visited the Corn Palace in 1991 on my drive 'cross country. Excepting a 3-day visit at my brother's place in Long Beach, South Dakota was the only state where I stayed more than a day (or even a few hours). If I hadn't been on a planned trek to Seattle, I might well have stayed in the least populated state in the nation. It is beautiful. Beautiful. Beautiful.

radio musicola

I'm on the brink of getting my "new" computer, I can just feel it. OK, so I had to ship it back for a fourth time (this time, it appears to be a bad video card), but I just know that when I get it back next week, it's going to be perfect. In anticipation of that momentous occasion, I've been prepping my music and other files for the transfer. This required the acquisition of a 600GB Maxtor external hard drive (naturally).

An aside. I paid way less than this link suggests because I bought it through my favorite retail outlet in the whole world.

With the decent size hard drive on the new computer, I'll clock in just below a terabyte of storage space. I love being an amateur geek. So, I've been futzing around with my music, reorganizing, adding, etc. In the process, I ended up at the Lollapalooza website (ok, so maybe that step was a tangent). I discovered that Ween is playing this year. This made me think of the first Lollapalooza I attended in 1993. It was also the last Lollapalooza I'll ever attend. What a nightmare. But that's a story for a different day.

So, it wasn't that Ween played the 1993 Lollapalooza show. I don't think they did. There were only about 30 acts on a mere two stages all in one day then (there are about 150 acts on nine stages over three days now). I was only able to spy parts of Fishbone, Alice in Chains, Arrested Development, Primus, and Rage Against the Machine. Anyway, it was that the radio station I listened to had started playing a Ween song around that time, and I connected the two. I never did buy the album (I was young and broke and bought music sparingly for a few years there), but I did record it from the radio station onto a cassette. Ah, technology.

Having made this connection today, I promptly bought the song on iTunes and by happenstance found the video on YouTube. And so it is with much fanfare and extraneous story-telling that I present to you, Push Th' Little Daisies by Ween.



Here's an interesting thing I discovered today. One of the things that I always liked about this song is the seemingly random insertion of a James Brown-style "aaaooowww!" as voiced by Prince. In fact, I'm fairly certain that this "aaaooowww!" is from the song Alphabet Street, but that's just a guess. Anyway, when I listened to the version I bought, it was missing. In its place a straightforward curse of the sh*t variety sung in the same tone as the rest of the song. But when I watched the video, Prince emerged howling. I presume this was their way of making the song censor-friendly. Learn something new every day.

And so to end this random, music-themed entry, here is a sample of my iTunes playlist that I listened to today. The appearance of Ween so soon after its addition to my library is due to the fact that I refreshed my party shuffle afterwards.

This grouping started out as The World Women's Music Playlist. Sometimes I think Apple made this technology smart.

Babooshka
Kate Bush

Aganjú
Bebel Gilberto

Save Me
k.d. lang

Galbi
Ofra Haza

Beat Surrender
The Jam

The Nightfly
Donald Fagen

The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)
Missy Elliott

Sometimes It Snows in April
Prince & the Revolution

This Love
Maroon 5

Some Other Time
Ross Traut / Steve Rodby

Let's Hear That String Part Again, Because I Don’t Think They Heard It All the Way Out In Bushnell
Sufjan Stevens

Monkey Gone to Heaven
Pixies

Not Alone
Soulstice

Magic Mind
Earth Wind & Fire

Where You Are
Marc Broussard

Push Th' Little Daisies
Ween

Living Water
Ryan Farish

Steal My Sunshine
Len

Where Do The Children Play?
Take 6

Questions
Jack Johnson

Out of Reach
Cities of Foam

Future Love Paradise
Seal

Slip & Sliding
Matt Bianco

I Put Myself Together
Charles Brown

I'm so looking forward to the day when I get my entire collection digitized (oh that won't take too long), and then the eclectic nature of my taste will be even more apparent by these lists. By the way, the title of this entry is a Nik Kershaw song from long ago.

confession

I'd heard a lot about it. It sounded interesting, but it wasn't until a couple weeks ago that we decided to TiVo it and see what all the fuss was about.

Troy

Ted thought it was silly. I really liked it. And now, it won't get out of my head.

Gabriella

Catchy songs. Fun dancing. Sweet story. Cute kids.

Getcha Head in the Game

It combines some of my favorite cinematic elements -- musicals, Disney, Grease.

We're All in This Together

I restored it from the TiVo "recently deleted" file and watched it again when Ted wasn't home. Next on my list, buying the soundtrack. I'm just waiting to get my new computer (less data to transfer).

I admit it: I'm a fan of High School Musical. The cherry on top? I just read this Newsweek article, and Zac Efron has given hope to the unskinny teenage girls of the world (check out the peanut butter question).

not-so-little girls

For all the time I've spent on windows and rocks, it's been a while since we've been able to visit some of our favorite small people and their parents. Luckily, in the last two weeks, we've been able to do some catching up.


Our friend, Alia (formerly known as Lulu but much more mature now) is seen here in ladylike repose with a sporty summer dress and sandals, balloon, and powdered sugar ring around her mouth. Alia-Lu is 5 and 3/4 years old, thankyouverymuch, and looking a bit devilish here, don't you think?

Miss Paige is 6 and a 1/2 years old and was found swimming in a new bikini, against the whirlpool created by her Dad. She also demonstrated her vastly improved diving technique (almost getting her head underwater on point of entry). This is what happens when she's asked NOT to pose.

Then there's Alli-baba. Miss Allison is Pay-Pay's little sister (I love that nickname), and she can still be aged in months (21 of them). Napping when we arrived, she had to be slowly reintroduced to Auntie Kelly and Uncle Ted. It's been months since we've seen her, so it was kind of like starting all over again. Here's Step 1: being shy (with Mommy and bink).

Here's Step 2 (after about 20 minutes): friendly (with cracker and foot).

And mere moments later, we arrived at Step 3: outgoing (with Pay-Pay).

These two are a double-whammy kick in the pants. If I were smarter and had my new computer, I might actually be able to upload video (which I've never done) and link it here to show off the song-and-dance they put on for us with their Dad. Paige is quite good at replicating the choreography. Allison is just a riot of wiggling and jumping and crashing into pillows, kind of in step with the music.

I have a few other not-so-little girls to highlight, but photo uploading woes prevent me from continuing tonight. Another time.

By the way, I am supposed to receive returned via FedEx on Monday the 24th, the "new" computer I bought a year ago that has never worked correctly. Admittedly, after the last battle in October, I put the whole thing -- wrapped completely in its original box -- in the garage and let it sit while concentrating my life on the Forum. Now that that event is behind me, I finally decided to take the cause back up. So, there may be a continuation to the emachines story here this week (in addition to fixed pictures, new pictures, maybe some video, maybe another vacation installment... hey, wait, I don't have time to do all that!). Toodles.

blogging chicks

I've joined a blogroll! The commonality of its members is that all the authors are women. There is a wide range of blogs on this roll. Some are very tech oriented while others are mommy blogs. A few are random online journals like my own. There are topics of all kinds. To check one or more of them out, go to the list under "Blog Stuff" in the right column.

annoyed!

I finally get around to writing a new post, and Blogger's playing head games with me again. Two of my pictures are a tad too wide for the column, thereby pushing to the very bottom of the page the whole right side of the blog. This looks sloppy and annoys me tremendously, however Blogger will not allow me to go in and re-upload the pictures in a smaller format. For some reason, it also keeps adding paragraphs tags that I didn't put into the HTML. So my apologies for the zigzagginess of the page. I promise to fix it as soon as the Blogger gods allow it.

juneau

At long last, I'm here to continue my vacation story. So, it's Friday, May 26th (pay no attention to the date on this post). We've just shoved off from Pier 66 in Seattle and are bound for Alaska.


It took approximately 40 hours of cruising to reach our first destination -- Juneau. As we approached the dock, we took quite a few pictures of the surrounding mountains. This was the beginning of the realization that no picture could ever do justice to this scenery. Here is one of the many waterfalls along the way.


For some reason, we were a couple hours late getting to port, and so the excursion we'd booked had been cancelled. Luckily, we were able to get onto another one, and as soon as we disembarked, we boarded a tour bus to head for the whale-watching boat. Even though there were cloudy skies and a bit of a Seattle-like mist, we were pleased with the weather. The temperature was in the mid-60s!

Riding through downtown, we learned that Juneau -- like most towns in the Southern part of the state -- is landlocked: you can't drive into (or out of) town. In fact, we saw directional signs along the lines of "End of Road 3 mi." We also learned that, because the town can only be accessed by air or sea, it has the busiest airport in the United States.

We went past Mendhenhall Glacier. A stop at its visitor center was part of our original plan, which I still would have liked to do, but there just wasn't enough time. I actually took this picture from the whale boat.

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The bus driver was quite chatty, reveling in his role as tour guide by imparting trivia and corny jokes along the way. One interesting tale he told (which we heard from several other tour guides throughout the day) was about the airplane that had a mid-air collision with a fish. Apparently, as the plane was taking off, it crossed paths with a bald eagle with a salmon in its talons. The startled eagle released its prey, which then unceremoniously splattered onto the plane's windshield.

We arrived at the dock in Auke Bay to board a much smaller watercraft for whale watching. So certain are they that you'll see a whale, they offer a $100 money back guarantee. And they were right. There were dozens of opportunities to see whale backs, tails, and even a whole body over the course of a couple hours. Contrary to my dark, blurry, and uninspired pictures, it was an amazing ride.

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My camera, resigned to its limitations, sat idle while we watched one whale breach the surface completely. It was breathtaking. We also saw a bald eagle being harassed by a huge crowd of seagulls flying erractically all around him, hoping to annoy him enough to drop his fish (which, thanks to the bus driver, we now know they are wont to do). There were a number of sea lions hanging out on bell buoys and a variety of other wildlife in, above, and at the edges of the water.

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We stopped at Orca Point Lodge for a salmon bake. My Costco radar was in the red, as nearly everything that was served was Kirkland Signature. The grillmaster even had KS vegetable oil, plastic wrap, and foil at his station.

I made it a point to have salmon nearly every day during the trip (c'mon, it's Alaska!), but I must say this was probably the least inspiring version of it I encountered. Teriyaki. Still good, but it couldn't hold a candle to some of the amazing salmon appetizers, entrees, sushi, and even lox aboard the Mercury.

Anyway, it was an interesting place. A day lodge (no overnight accommodations) run by a couple who were two of only eight people who live on this island. Their house is on a ledge near the shore, and they have to climb a 30-foot ladder to get to it.


After dinner and shell-gathering, we headed back to Juneau. With about 90 minutes remaining before we set sail again, I did a burst of shopping while Ted, Sam, Donna, and just about everyone else went back to the ship. I found the Wal*Mart of Alaskan tourist giftware, where I immediately procured t-shirts for every family member (including myself, which is rare). There was a great store that only carried pieces handmade by Alaskan artists, a trinket store that was a mess of high quality and low quality items, and a jewelry store from which I procured a free watercolor painting of the town (part of a shopping guide deal I joined onboard). I also found the first couple items for the kids' Christmas stockings.

There was no time for anything else. I made it back to the gangway at precisely the moment we were told to be back (9:45pm). A few minutes later, I returned to our cabin where Ted had just gotten off the phone with ship security -- they called wondering where I was! At 10:00pm, we were sailing again.

All in all, we spent about seven hours in Juneau -- two fewer than planned and not nearly enough. Although I was very much enjoying my vacation to that point, I decided the future trips to Alaska would not be by cruise.

Next time, Skagway. I wonder if it'll be August by the time I get around to that entry.

~~~
An aside. I regularly break out into this song whenever I prepare broccoli for dinner. Been doing it for years since seeing the skit on SNL, I think when I was in college or shortly thereafter. Now, our friends at Cute Overload have nicked it to go with this incredibly cute picture. How funny.