AliThinks

It's A Small, Small, Small, Small World

It's A Small Small Small Small World, originally uploaded by Alison.

OK, I know I said I wasn't blogging, but my kids are asleep, and this is something I wanted to post last week while I was in France. However, I didn't have the USB cable for my phone with me, and the e-mail setup didn't work (this photo is floating around in the ether right now), so it had to wait.

Here's what I posted at Flickr:

I couldn't believe what I saw as I sat at a stoplight in my former hometown in France: a University of Kentucky bumper sticker on a car in front of me. First of all, the French don't do bumper stickers. Second, The University of Kentucky, located in Lexington, Kentucky? The place I now live represented in the place I used to live?

If the light hadn't been about to change, I'd have gotten out of my car and knocked on the driver's window. As it was, I was lucky to get this shot.

Click on the photo to see the note I placed on it, and view it large here.

This One's For...

Betty C., who wanted to see photos.

Jeff, who wanted a photo of Pittsburgh.

My SIL, who wants me to update more often.

This is the loo at The Beehive on Pittsburgh's Southside. For more information about The Beehive (and a view of the men's room), click here.

Dichotomy

Lunch at Shoney's in Huntington, West Virginia.

Dinner at Seviche in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

R & R

Allan and I decided to Get The Hell Out Of Dodge™ last week. We came to visit our friends BlueHeronDruid and hobbitt in the Pacific Northwest. It was quite a spontaneous trip, and we had no agenda.

Today Allan and I went to Seattle to meet up with a couple of friends from Radio Paradise. I also have a couple of blog friends from Seattle: Margaret and Sizz, and I don't think Karan is too far away either.

I really thought about contacting my blog buddies while we were in the area. But then I thought about why we were here. And I didn't want any stress in planning*. Today was easy because Tommy isn't working at the moment, and Saundrah just met us for lunch at a tasty place she suggested. Tommy took us around the city, as much as you can do in a few short hours.

We visited Pike Place Market, Post Alley, the Sculpture Park, and Kerry Park. We also got to walk through a bit of Capitol Hill.

Today was a great day. And it's been a great week. This is a gorgeous area of the country. We'll be back. And you can see some photos of our trip here and here, although as I write this, most of the Seattle photos have not been uploaded to Flickr.

*Forgive me, blog friends.

Somewhere Out There, I Have A Kindred Spirit.

Seen in the women's bathroom of a rest area on I-71 near Delaware, Ohio.

It's Been A Day

Everything was fine until we got to the Cincinnati airport. Our flight to Lexington was delayed. We figured it was normal, because there had been delays at other airports. So we sat and watched the flight bored board. Every so often the flight time would be moved back by ten minutes. We started grumbling a bit, as did the other passengers around us.

There were announcements from all different gates, and they all said the same thing: "We're missing crew members; as soon as they arrive, we'll board you on the plane."

We joked about where all the crew members must be. I guessed they were all in the lounge, bitching about us passengers. Ha ha.

Our flight got its pilots, so we expected to board. And it didn't happen, and didn't happen, and yep, it didn't happen. Then we heard that the flight attendant hadn't shown up. The woman sitting across from us raised her hand and said "I'll do it!" and we all laughed, because, yeah, it's a 20-minute flight. I mean, really.

I'm really tired and this is getting boring, so let me just say that they found a new flight attendant, we got on the plane, the cabin door was shut, and the safety procedures were explained. The flight attendant then said, "We're sorry for the delay; we just had word that we're waiting for a passenger from a connecting flight."

A pilot got on the plane and sat in the first row. THAT was the "passenger."
Can you see me rolling my eyes?

We got into Lexington two hours behind schedule. That's all I'm sayin'.

Tomorrow morning we're leaving for Pennsylvania, in the car this time. And before you ask why we didn't just go to Pittsburgh from New York, let me say that due to matters of timing, it just didn't work out that way.

Hope you all had a great holiday, and continue to have a great week. Stay tuned for the recap of Christmas dinner...

I Ought To Be In Bed, Asleep.

The alarm on my cell phone is set for 3:45 am. Yeah, I know. But we have a flight to catch at 6, and we have to pick up Allan's sister Jo Ann, and you do the math.

The three of us are flying to New York City for Christmas. We're meeting Allan and Jo Ann's brother Mike and his daughter Justine there; Mike's other daughter Briar is a pastry chef here, and couldn't get enough time off for a trip home, so we're all going there. On Saturday, Mike's son LittleMike and his wife will join us.

I've been to New York twice in my life, each time for just one day. The first time I was 13, the second, 19. I'm pretty excited about this trip!

Friday we're going to meet up with an old friend of Allan's, and on Sunday we'll spend part of the day with my aunt and uncle, my cousin, and her husband. And guess what else? We're taking the cameras, but not the laptops.

This is a pretty dry entry. Sorry about that. I'm wiped out, yet I'm wired, and I can't think of anything to say except the facts. But now you know why Allan and I exchanged gifts last night.

We'll be back on Tuesday evening, and because we're a little nuts, we're driving to Pennsylvania on Wednesday morning to spend some time with my family. The only missing elements right now are a lovely preteen and her handsome younger brother.

And with that, let me wish all of you a very happy Festivus! Whatever holiday you are celebrating right around now, may it be full of joy and light and warmth.

Hiya

I don't know what to say. My brain is out due to jetlag.

Go read Allan.

SoaP Dish

SoaP, or Snakes On A Plane. Dish. Heh heh. I kill me.

Yeah, so we saw SoaP last night, just because. I mean, how could you not want to go see a movie with such a campy title? Really, the internet buzz about it was almost secondary.

The worst thing was the complacency of our fellow movie-goers. How could they not cheer at the infamous line, the one that got added to the script because of some internet fans? After the film was over, we decided that all the internet geeks had gone to see the movie last weekend, when it opened.

At least we got to see it before it leaves the theaters.

I'm sitting here chuckling because I can't believe we went to see this movie. It was better than I expected. Go see it, if you are up for some laughs (and a few tense moments). Go see it, if you heart Samuel L. Jackson -- and how could you not?

The movie capped off a great day spent with some friends from Radio Paradise. They know who they are.

SoaP was just the icing on the cake.

See Yinz Guys Later

We're on the road again, this time to Philadelphia to see some friends and family.

I'll probably blog some more details later. Suffice it to say that the impetus for the trip is unconventional at best. The icing on the cake, of course, is seeing loved ones, like my cousin. (archive alert!)

Phooey. I'm writing this ahead of time, and I need to go to bed. We'll probably be out of Kentucky by the time you read this. Bon weekend!