Romeo & Juliet Text Message Version

ROMEO AND JULIET
Net Txt Version

--------------------- Act 1 -----------------------

Login:
Romeo : R u awake? Want 2 chat?
Juliet: O Rom. Where4 art thou?
Romeo: Outside yr window.
Juliet: Stalker!
Romeo: Had 2 come. feeling jiggy.
Juliet: B careful. My family h8 u.
Romeo: Tell me about it. What about u?
Juliet: 'm up for marriage f u are.. Is tht a bit fwd?
Romeo: No. Yes. No. Oh, dsnt mat-r, 2moro @ 9?
Juliet: Luv U xxxx
Romeo: CU then xxxx

--------------------- Act 2 -----------------------

Friar: Do u?
Juliet: I do
Romeo: I do

--------------------- Act 3 -----------------------
Juliet: Come bck 2 bed. It's the nightingale not the lark.
Romeo: OK
Juliet: !!! I ws wrong !!!. It's the lark. U gotta go. Or die.
Romeo: Damn. I shouldn't hv wasted Tybalt > banished.
Juliet: When CU again?
Romeo: Soon. Promise. Dry sorrow drinks our blood. Adieu.
Juliet: Miss u big time.

--------------------- Act 4 -----------------------
Nurse: Yr mum says u have 2 marry Paris!!
Juliet: No way. Yuk yuk yuk. n-e-way, am mard 2 Rom.

--------------------- Act 5 -----------------------
Friar: Really? O no. U wl have 2 take potion that makes u look ded.
Juliet: Gr8.

--------------------- Act 6 -----------------------
Romeo: J-why r u not returning my texts?
Romeo: RUOK? Am abroad but phone still works.
Romeo: TEXT ME!
Batty: Bad news. J dead. Sorry m8.
--------------------- Act 7 -----------------------
Romeo: J-wish u wr able 2 read this...am now poisoning &and climbing in
yr grave. LUV U Ju xxxx
--------------------- Act 8 -----------------------

Juliet: R-got yr text! Am alive! Ws faking it! Whr RU? Oh...
Friar: Vry bad situation.
Juliet: Nightmare. LUVU2. Always. Dagger. Ow!!!
Logout.......!

Stealth Bomber

Wanna see a Stealth Bomber? GO HERE

It's in the middle of the page. Zoom In. :)

Our George and Theirs

Their George and Ours

July 4, 2004
By BARBARA EHRENREICH


When they first heard the Declaration of Independence in July of 1776, New Yorkers were so electrified that they toppled a statue of King George III and had it melted down to make 42,000 bullets for the war. Two hundred twenty-eight years later, you can still get a rush from those opening paragraphs. "We hold these truths to be self-evident." The audacity!

Read a little further to those parts of the declaration we seldom venture into after ninth-grade civics class, and you may feel something other than admiration: an icy chill of recognition. The bulk of the declaration is devoted to a list of charges against George III, several of which bear
an eerie relevance to our own time.

George III is accused, for example, of "depriving us in many cases of the benefits of Trial by Jury." Our own George II has imprisoned two U.S. citizens - Jose Padilla and Yaser Esam Hamdi - since 2002, without benefit of trials, legal counsel or any opportunity to challenge the
evidence against them. Even die-hard Tories Scalia and Rehnquist recently judged such executive hauteur intolerable.

It would be silly, of course, to overstate the parallels between 1776 and 2004. The signers of the declaration were colonial subjects of a man they had come to see as a foreign king. One of their major grievances had to do with the tax burden imposed on them to support the king's wars. In contrast, our taxes have been reduced - especially for those who need the money least - and the huge costs of war sloughed off to our children and grandchildren. Nor would it be tactful to press the analogy between our George II and their George III, of whom the British historian John
Richard Green wrote: "He had a smaller mind than any English king before him save James II."

But the parallels are there, and undeniable. "He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power," the declaration said of George III, and today the military is indulgently allowed to investigate its own crimes in Iraq. George III "obstructed the Administration of Justice." Our George II has sought to evade judicial review by hiding detainees away in Guantanamo, and has steadfastly resisted the use of the Alien Tort Claims Act, which allows non-U.S. citizens to bring charges of human rights violations to U.S. courts.

The signers further indicted their erstwhile monarch for "taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments." The administration has been trying its best to establish a modern equivalent to the divine right of
kings, with legal memorandums asserting that George II's "inherent" powers allow him to ignore federal laws prohibiting torture and war crimes.

Then there is the declaration's boldest and most sweeping indictment of all, condemning George III for "transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation." Translate "mercenaries" into contract workers and proxy armies (remember the bloodthirsty,
misogynist Northern Alliance?), and translate that last long phrase into Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib.

But it is the final sentence of the declaration that deserves the closest study: "And for the support of this Declaration . . . we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor." Today, those who believe that the war on terror requires the sacrifice of
our liberties like to argue that "the Constitution is not a suicide pact." In a sense, however, the Declaration of Independence was precisely that.

By signing Jefferson's text, the signers of the declaration were putting their lives on the line. England was then the world's greatest military power, against which a bunch of provincial farmers had little chance of prevailing. Benjamin Franklin wasn't kidding around with his quip about hanging together or hanging separately. If the rebel American militias were beaten on the battlefield, their ringleaders could expect to be hanged as traitors.

They signed anyway, thereby stating to the world that there is something worth more than life, and that is liberty. Thanks to their courage, we do not have to risk death to preserve the liberties they bequeathed us. All we have to do is vote.

Tom Cruise & Katie Holmes

I don't mind Tom Cruise, and I really like Katie Holmes. I began watching Dawson's Creek when I was in grad school. I watched all but one episode. Now a lot of people are bitching because Tom Cruise went on Oprah and jumped on a couch. Now I equate his rants to those of Howard Dean last year. Now a lot of people bitched about Dean last year also, but I think he had a right to do it. He was energetic and emotional. Some people cannote handle when others are histrionic. And I tell them to go screw themselves. If you want to be emotional, then do it. But here's my problem with Katie and Tom; he's too old for her. That's what part of me thinks, but I bet that's the boy wishing Katie climbed my ladder. But I know people who are with other people and are much older or younger. So that will work too I suppose. But then there's the Scientology thing. What's up with that? I bet I don't have much to say about that because I know absolutely nothing about it.

Toao

Who?

The Historian (Kostova)

I am currently reading The Historian by Kostova. I'd like to mention this book here because it's written so well. I am less than 5% into the 700+ novel that came out last week and it had me from page 1. It's easy to tell when writing is done well, and this is superb.

Bush shirt

I took this photo in Little Italy. It was a t-shirt that I do not have enough courage to ever wear.

Not my president

skillful coder

If you can read this, please email me. We still don't know what is says.

Is that left or right?

Who knows if people have gender or if people are bicycles or if people need racks, or even if left is really left?

June 13 Washington D.C.

June 13- DC off and about

We as a small group finally decided it was time to break away and do some things on our own this afternoon. Most of use felt a 3-4 hour stay at Mount Vernon and a 30 minute drive each way was a waste of our time. My two favorite spots in DC are Georgetown and DuPont Circle, and I was not walking to Georgetown.

In the morning we visited the Petersen house where Lincoln died and toured it before stopping outside Ford's Theatre that was closed for renovations. We were also privy to an inexpensive souvenir shop nearby where we encouraged our kids to spend their money. Actually our tour director said "this is the place where you should spend all of your money" before we called out NO from our respective seats. A few souvenirs were fine but I know I didn't want a situation like I had in Ireland one year where a student came with one 30" suitcase full and left with two!

My boys and I decided to join the New Mexico group at the Spy Museum and made it in for half price. The exhibit was cool and my code name was Gary Wozniak. We spent two hours wandering through the museum before wee were picked up to go to the Supreme Court to meet the others.

They had just come out of the Library of Congress and we all entered the Supreme Court. J asked about going into the Supreme Court chambers, which was available. We ran up a flight of marble stairs and joined a tour walking in. We sat in the large wooden benches where cases like Roe Vs Wade were decided, and where Rehnquist sits near Sandra Day O'Connor. The nice lady mentioned in a quiet voice that no photos where allowed, but I saw several flashes. I lifted my camera and went to click a photo while the lady next to me nudged me and said "no photos allowed" … I clicked the photo before turning and saying "what?" I got a dirty look but I got my picture too.

While walking back to the bus, the Florida and Arizona group lagged behind and then stopped, turned, and walked away. As Charlie pulled our bus onto the road toward Mt Vernon the travelers looked out the window at us standing there.

We walked towards Capitol South and walked into Cosi's where a DC lunch was in full force. The line wrapped around the front of the store and several of us got in. I ordered a salad and went to find seating that was reserved upstairs. We spent some time there and I called my friend who I was planning on meeting in the afternoon.

We had agreed to go to DuPont Circle and didn't want to leave DC without riding the Metro, so we made our way there. I asked my group if they could spend some time with J as their chaperone so I could break away for an hour to see a friend from college. They whole heartedly agreed, especially since one of my boys was becoming more and more attached to a Floridian girl.

When we arrived in DuPont Circle I left them and stopped to check my email before making my way on Metro to Pentagon Circle. My friend and I met and listened to the Michael Jackson verdict (not guilty!?) before she decided to join us for dinner at the Torpedo Factory in Arlington, VA.

We entered the parking garage and I climbed into her banana yellow Jeep Wrangler for a short trip to Arlington, VA. We arrived at Washington Square where we met with most of the other groups to head down towards the dock and food.

I called J and she said they were running late. My friend, N, mentioned that the n nearest Metro stop was 1 ½ miles away, and I knew thee kids would be grumpy when they arrived. After another half an hour they walked in soaking wet with sweat and I was glad I was not with them.

J joined us and was happy to be among adults only. Esther came over to tell us our tour was at 8:45 and since it was only 7pm we were disgruntled that we had to wait that long. She tried to call the tour guide and never got a hold of him until everyone dispersed to kill times in shops in old town Alexandria. J and another group leader didn't take that an answer and rounded up the groups to start the tour at 7:15. N and I said our good byes before I ran to join the group.

The ghost tour around the city was lead by a 19th century dressed man who led us by candle light in the increasing twilight. As he told us the tale of Victor who attacked women in the square for the last 150 years, thunder crashed above our heads before the imminent downpour.
We did become somewhat wet (some more than others) but the rain let up enough to finish the tour in a cooler, muggier peace. Surprisingly we were back on the bus and to the hotel before 9:30pm, which left most of us with no idea what to do. I burned some photos onto CD and watched some TV, checked on my boys, and went to bed.

Voyage to Uranus

Hahahaha

Smithsonian bomb shelters

I love bomb shelters, and all the culture that surrounds that part of our history. This is a replica in the Smithsonian.

G Wash Alex.

Church where George Washington worshipped in Alexandria, VA.

Rain in Virginia

I miss it when it doesn't rain, and we heard ghost stories in Alexandria while watching the rain fall around us.

smoke 'em if you go 'em

Our tour guide chain smoked everywhere. Check out the sign.

Protesters who don't protest suck

These are some protesters about of the Supreme Court Building, but they have tap over their faces. How damn stupid. How can you protest something without speaking? We were there for an hour and I still do not know what they were bitching about?!

June 12 - DC

June 12 – DC sites

Early on the 12th we met drove into DC only to be rerouted due to the Sunday 30th annual Gay Pride parade near the Mall. We eventually met our tour guide, Julien, at Union Station before starting a three hour tour of the city. We stopped for a cool phot0-op on the South side of the White House and had the lawn in front of the Capitol Building to ourselves. We made our way over the Potomac to Arlington Cemetery where I'd never been. My only memory of this part of town was driving over this same bridge with a friend years ago and having his hat fly out the moon roof. I remember playing Frogger across the bridge to retrieve the hat.

The two major sites at Arlington are the tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the other is the eternal flame. We walked high up the hill towards the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Each and every grave has one of 23 symbols representing that soldier's faith.

When we arrived Julien said to wait after the changing of the guard to see if we could watch the writhing ceremony where they change the wreath outside the tomb. The actual tomb contains three soldiers from four wars. The Vietnam soldier was eventually identified through DNA testing and taken to his hometown for burial. They say there never will be another unknown soldier because of technological advances.

We continued up hill to General Lee's home where he and his wife lived before he rejected the leadership over the northern armies in the Civil War. He then went south and led the Southerners until Appomattox Courthouse where he finally surrendered to General Grant toward the end of the war.

The next stop was a simple white cross where Robert Kennedy was buried. Robert and John were best friends in life and Robert had a few simple requests of where he would be buried. He wanted to be on a hill overlooking water in Massachusetts. After his assassination in 1968 he was buried near his brother in Arlington. Two out of three ain't bad.

John & Jackie Kennedy are buried nearby surrounded by stones from Massachusetts. The eternal flame blew in the wind behind their graves that were surrounded by the graves of two daughters who died at child birth.

Julien announced a down hall walk to the joyous cheers of all, and we headed to the water fountains, restrooms, and air conditioned bus. A local came on the bus and sold us post cards, 10 for $100 which is the best we could ever hope to get.

We had time to visit one memorial before leaving Julien and he walked us around the Jefferson memorial reflecting off the water across from the Washington Monument and the Mall. It was impressive to say the least and I was moved by the words of Jefferson engraved in marble in the rotunda above his immense statue.

Lunch was at Pentagon City shopping mall before we made our way to the National Archived. I had never been to the Archives and didn't really realize their significance, even after seeing National Treasure. The line was shorter that we'd expected for a Monday and we made our way inside quickly. I went straight to the rotunda to see documents that included the Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of America.

In the archives room behind the Rotunda I was able to read a letter Einstein wrote to the president outlining the importance of Uranium in creating a nuclear weapon unlike any ever made. This lead to the Manhattan Project, the dropping of the bombs in Japan, and an entire Nuclear Culture in America that permeates our society into the 21st century.

Dinner was at Union Square where we had burgers from Johnny Rockets before going to B Dalton's to ask the locals the points of interest outside the usual things. The next day we had planned to break away from the group in the afternoon to see more of the city and less of Mt Vernon. I bought a pop-up DC map and whish I had one for NYC and Boston as well, so when we left dinner to do a walking tour of the mall around the monuments I was prepared.

I have been to DC several times but I never really toured the monuments and I cannot tell you which my favorite was. The Lincoln Memorial struck me the most I believe and I took several pictures. I was also tickled that I was standing where Forrest Gump stood giving his Vietnam speech before reuniting with Jenny in the pool.

After taking a group photo I dropped my camera and broke it! I was not too thrilled and everyone was concerned, but I found a way to temporarily take photos for the remainder of the trip. If you had an Olympus be very careful about the sliding hinge on the front. They're not perfect.

The Vietnam memorial was sublet but impressive, and there was a young man on a ladder searching for a relative and becoming frustrated because his long search thus far had been in vain. I asked the man's name before proceeding to recognize it carved in the marble directly in front of me. Once I pointed it out, I moved away while the man was tearfully thankful.

The Korean memorial is one of the two newest we visited and very cool. It's the small triangular plot of land with statues of soldiers walking through the fields. After taking several photos here, our group walked towards the newest memorial to the men and women of World War II. That massive low-lying pool and circular monument moved me to call my grand parents since my grandfather had served. I took several photos for him before we loved on around the tidal basin where the Cherry Blossoms bloomed in the spring and Matthew McConaughey flirted with Jodi Foster in Contact before we arrived at the FDR monument. I was practically out of disk space in my camera and quickly deleted some duplicates before shooting off a few photos of this interesting monument. There were several exterior rooms that even included a statue of Eleanor, which is the only presidential monument to include a woman –not to mention a pet dog.

Iwo Jima was next after a short bus ride and the soldiers loomed high above us in the dark night sky. They said the sculptor added an extra hand to represent the Hand of God, but historical documentation and evidence eventually discovered there was another soldier who was not included in the final form.

Back at the hotel, we ordered pizza and played Spoons with some of the Floridians and two chaperones before we sent the girls off to bed and said goodnight to my boys.

National Treasure

I was able to visit the corner of Broad Street and Wall Street where Trinity Church lies, and supposedly the treasures of the free masons lie far beneath my feet while taking this photo.

Our four...err I mean Fore fathers

This is Independence Hall. Ben Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, and others were all here.

Philly families are huge!

Woohoo! We're all in the biggest friggin' wedding party in the history of Philly!

June 11 - through Philly to D.C.

June 11

Early this morning we road the coach through New Jersey to board the ferry to Ellis Island. On the Island is immense registry building where the immigrants checked in on the second floor. Out the right window you could see the New York City sky line, and it made for a horrible existence if you were one of the immigrants who was denied entrance to the US and shipped back home after seeing the city and tasting freedom. Through the large second floor we could imagine the people crammed together shoulder to shoulder in a contemporary Babelian state. Downstairs I checked the registry for Stefan Gmitroe who came over in late 1890s, but to no avail. I could not find him. After buying some souvenirs we boarded the ferry for nearby Liberty Island where Lady Liberty watched over the poor and weary traveling to the United States.

I had never been to the Statue of Liberty and she was what we've always expected. Her greenish bronzed enormous frame loomed over the bay above, as we slowly circled the shore of the isle. We clicked pictures until we needed to board the ferry to go towards Battery Park and Ground Zero.

I had waved the New Mexico group towards the ferry boarding area, watched the group leader nod at my motions, and then I stepped onto our ferry with everyone but them. When we arrived in New York City, we realized they weren't there. The tour director sent us along on our own and waited for the last group to catch the next ferry. We crossed Battery Park where two nice law abiding men were selling copies of Episode III for only $5, which is cheaper than I paid to see it in the theatre.

National Treasure with Nic Cage culminated in Trinity Church at the corner of Wall Street and Broadway in NYC, so we made our way there quickly. We walked through the church clicking pictures before I lost sight of our small group of 11. Stepping from the church into the graveyard I saw the large root ball of a 200 year old tree that fell from the blasts of the WTC. It fell within a 10 foot space between the ancient church and the historical cemetery steps from Wall Street.

After a quick call to J I realized they had left me there and I quickly made my way to Starbuck's for an Iced Carmel Macchiato to sip on the walk to Ground Zero. Above a large empty space hung between sky scrapers reminding us of the occurrences of Sept 11, 2001. Below there was not much of anything, and I watched through the tall metal fence while a visiting choir group sang the Star Spangled Banner loudly for the crowd while facing the hole in the ground.

We the quickly met the bus and left the city. Stopping in Delaware at a rest area we had a quick, expensive lunch. The lines were out the door so I grabbed some cheese and an air freshener. This odd purchase was for the rear of the bus that stunk from days of multiple bodies shoved together. We reboarded the bus as soon as possible due to a humidity that felt hotter and more humid than Dante's lowest level of Hell.

We arrived in Philly at 3:05 to have our local tour guide board the bus in consternation for our mere minutes of tardiness. We visited the sea port before doing a walking tour through historic Philadelphia past places where the founding fathers met to discuss what no other group had ever discussed before. There were few photo-ops before making our way to Independence Hall for our tour. We arrived on time but had to pick up our tour tickets over 30 minutes in advance so most of us could not take the interior tour. I was one of those inside and viewed the signing room where the founding fathers signed the Declaration after writing and revising it in a room across the hall. It was one heck of a tour. We then walked across the square in Philadelphia to other sites before returning to the bus to head to dinner at the Spaghetti Warehouse.

At dinner, the tour director gave us her itineraries for the remainder of the trip and requested that we tailor our trip in DC to our liking. The four group leaders put together a game plan before we arrived in Gaithersburg, MD at the Comfort Inn. The tour director had provided the hotel with conflicting information and they gave away some of our rooms, which eventually worked out but the tour director had no room and slept in the dining room. We were nonplussed by her experience.

June 10 - the center of the Universe

June 10- New York City, the center of the Universe.

I find it odd that when you want to be pregnant you always see pregnant people and now that I've been away from my wife and daughter for a week, I keep seeing little kids. Strollers here, Bjorn there. I like this trip but will not regret going home.

This morning we made our way onto the bus and towards the Lincoln Tunnel only to find things backed all the way up. Today is the first time since 9/11 that the Lincoln Tunnel is closed. It's flooding from all the rain. I bobbed along on the bus, with my hood over my head and neck pillow balancing my noggin' back and forth in rhythm with New Jersey potholes.

Two hours later we arrived over an hour late in front of the Dakota Hotel to meet our tour director who bared an uncanny resemblance to Molly Shannon. She gave us an abbreviated tour of the City starting with a walk across Central Park. The Dakota hotel was built over 100 years ago the builder was scoffed at because he was building a hotel so far uptown. His friends said the only people who would stay there were the Dakota Indians since it was so far away. So he named it the Dakota. On a winter day in 1980 Henry David Chapman, to impress Jodi Foster, shot and killed John Lennon out front. Yoko Ono dedicated a memorial mosaic across the street in the park called Strawberry Fields.

The park was lush green but the humidity was sickening as our clothes hung from our skin. We walked by famous landmarks and the ponds in various movies. We also saw the fountain in Home Alone and Ransom, not to mention about 186 other movies. Molly Shannon, tour director Julie, was very informative and I stayed nearby. On the opposite side of the park we met the bus and went toward Saint Pat's where we took a 5 minute photo-op that turned into 15 because one of the groups has disregarded all punctuality. We then walked down the English Channel into Rockefeller Center to the GE building past the ice skating rink and into the GE building where Kahlo's husband was commissioned to paint a large mural that Rockefeller destroyed because it represented Hitler and Communism, while Rockefeller was all about Capitalism.

We left our tour director at Time Square at 1pm and walked around looking for lunch. We got Sbarro's and paid too much before taking several photos of the entire area. J wanted Coldplay's new CD and we went into Virgin Megastore. We were to meet the bus to head to Sea Port Village eventually, but part of one group was over 20 minutes late.

The MET is not open on Mondays, but today was Friday. We went into the front of the museum and received small pink clip-on pins to make sure we paid. Then we snuck out the front door for Plan Q, which was to escape across Central Park on foot to the small café where Hanks and Ryan met in You've Got Mail for their date.

It was quite a hike and we were rank by the end of it, but nothing beats the lush greenery of the Park on a muggy June afternoon.

After eating the fluffiest cheesecake ever, we made our way quickly back to the MET and jumped our coach toward Seaport Village, which thrust us into rush hour traffic downtown, which sucked.

We then sat in traffic and made it about 10 blocks in about 2 hours. We drove through some interesting parts of town and saw a lot but got know anecdotal information from anyone.

After making it about 20-30 blocks in about two hours, we realized we'd never back it to Sea Port Village and back to Broadway before Phantom of the Opera, so we turned around. Yuck.

The bus carried us uptown to Time Square, and in over three hours we were where we started. We walked the Square and went into a small fast food joint with seating for dinner. We bought fried grease and I called home, while our small group made their way to the Toys R Us where there's a 4-story ferris wheel inside. I stood across the Majestic and listed to my iPod while waiting for Esther and the tickets.

Eventually we all met up and thrust tickets into their hands as we made our way through a crowd of beautifully people up to our seats. The theatre experience was well worth it, even with our nose bleed seats and me in my sweaty t-shirt, shorts, tennis shoes, and Yellow iPod earphones around my neck.

Afterward we made our way back into New Jersey through the now opened Lincoln Tunnel to our hotel room.

Pigeon :ady

The Pigeon Lady's house in Home Alone. Scary!

King Kong, Fay Wray, and Peter Jackson

King Kong on top of the Empire State Building! Roar!!!

John Kerry's house

The house with the flag belongs to John Kerry. Teresa Heinz's silver PT Cruiser is out front.

Russian Cigarettes

Our recent tour director likes to buy her Marlboro's from Mother Russia where she can get them for $16.00 a carton and smoke them around small children.

June 9 - Boston, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and into NYC

June 9 - Boston, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and into NYC

We had an early breakfast today with my boys and J before getting on the bus to tour head to the Science Museum. The wind whipped around my head and I went to grab my sweatshirt from the seat, but it was on the floor of the locked bus. It was soaking wet. I was not happy. We hung it in the back bathroom that was off limits, but Carlos (his name is really Christopher, but that's another story…) had urinated in their the first day and didn't know. So here's my good sweatshirt drip drying in this small, hot smelly room.

We arrived at the Boston Science Center around 9AM. Matt & Kyra are sitting in the back of the bus, while Kristy sits with Jason now. Zach seems like the odd guy out. We careened through the museum for 15 minutes, and I took photos of a space ship used in Star Wars Episode I before we snuck out the front door.

Part of the group wanted a Starbuck's and the sisters (K&K) didn't get breakfast since they work up late. After asking a security guard which way Starbuck's was, J got the idea that we should walk to Boston Commons since we didn't get to spend much time there. Of course I didn't know it was over one mile to get there and we had about an hour left. As we made our way through construction over the freeway, I plugged Ozzy into my earphones and hiked through the early morning haze over Boston. As the sun pushed through the cloudy, muggy day sweat formed on my forehead before I yanked my shirt sleeves off over my head. We made our way over Beacon Hill, past Boston Commons and another four blocks to Starbuck's. After toilet stops and coffee, we walked back toward the Green when I dragged everyone into the Old Granary Burial Ground where Hancock and Adams are buried. I took a few pictures before we walked to the Green where J had the brilliant idea to take T back to the Science Center. By this time K&K who are naturally tiny were dying from hunger and jogged across the road into Burger King. I took a few photos before we made our way underground to catch the green line. Security yelled at us for taking photos in the T station before we made it as far as City Hall. We had to transfer to a bus and came up into the 10:50am daylight to find the Boston Flag, American Flag, and Pride flag looming over head. We caught our bus and walked up behind Esther waiting near the tour bus with 15 minutes to spare! We were lucky and to this moment told no one else about our extended optional excursion.

Years ago my parents visited Mystic, CT where that bad Julia Roberts movie was filmed. I remember staying at my cousin's house and getting a postcard. Now here we are 90 minutes later, pulling over. Of course I had McDonald's instead of lobster, but what I can you do? After that the blow up neck pillow came out, and I was asleep to Stevie Nicks to NYC. I remember parts of Rhode Island before this and Providence, and then it was us driving over the Manhattan Bridge from Brooklyn. I looked left toward the Brooklyn Bridge with Lady Liberty guarding Ellis Island in the background. I was here the last time in March of 1996, and it was a cold Saturday, but I didn't ride the ferry to Ellis Island. This time I will.

We were dropped in Little Italy and had an hour to shop before dinner at LaMenla on Mulberry Street, so we walked toward Canal Street and bought knock off Seiko watches and Kate Spade purses. K&K was whisked into a back room of a small Asian shop and offered several different purses. Before the purchased one, the small lady stuck on an authentic looking faux black sticker that read "KATE SPADE". The purse was $15.

J gathered our money and went to buy Canolis for all of us while I watched the kids along the street. Fire escapes hung from the building sides high above our heads and we watched water drip drop down off air conditioners, splashing on the sidewalk, although NYC does not stink as much as Boston.

I believe dinner include Gnocchi which I adored after picking off tomato seeds. We then ate our Canoli in the road while people ran in and out of little shops in groups of three or more, after the backroom incident. J came back from the small shop with the barmaids phone number and email offering her a place to stay anytime in the Big Apple.

The empire state building was built in the 1930s at the height of the Great Depression and became famous by way of King Kong and Fay Wray. (Later, Jessica Lange and then Peter Jackson [is he directing or starring? Hahaha]).

We parked near the building and it looked the same as it did in 1996. We stood in line and took photos before going up around the maze looping back and forth to the elevator up to the top. It carried us to the 80th floor and my ears didn't need to pop.

We walked out on the observation deck you've all see in Sleepless in Seattle and the older movie. I took photos all the way around, and had some photos of me taken. The wind howled through my hair at 1,050 feet above the city before I hit the gift shop for some over priced souvenirs I didn't buy. We then tried on funny hats before taking a photos and high tailing it to the bus. We sat on the bus for half an hour playing a game of throwing the small Verizon beach ball at each other's head – a game we'd played earlier in the back of the bus. We met some of the young black Mormon girls from Utah (Yes, they do exist!) and we road through the Holland Tunnel toward our hotel in New Jersey.

When we arrived here at the Holiday Inn, they didn't have my reservation, so they put me up in a suite with a King Size bed on the top floor of the tower, which is nice but my kids are on the bottom floor on the other side of the hotel. J said she'd watch them, and they pulled my sweatshirt from the dryer that I had put it in when we arrived. One boy even had a can of Axe deodorant that I sprayed all over it before drying it in hopes it would smell better. Goodnight.

Can you hear dolphins sigh, and moan, and...

Can you see the Dophins, you sick bastard?

Into Boston

June 8-

Today my baby is two months old and Anne Bancroft died, before we visited the State House that was built in 1713. When the Declaration of Independence was read from the upper balcony, the colonists threw ropes over the Lion and Unicorn statues (symbols of England) and pulled them down, much like Sadam Hussein's statue yanked down last year in Iraq. Eventually the symbols were replaced so we could remember our past.

Boston was founded in 1630 and 20 minutes northwest are the small towns of Lexington and Concord, near the Old Manse.

Breakfast at the Holiday Inn was American, which is a lot better than Continental Breakfasts. Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy was born on the North End of Boston in 1913, which is now the Italian section of the city.

We visited the house where she was born. This is also the section where the Puritans settled, and the area where the first public schooling was started. Rose died at 104 years of age, and was baptized and had her funeral in the same church south of Old North church near Paul Revere's marble statue.

We also walked by Boston Commons, and visited the Old North church where Paul Revere told Newman to put two torches in the balcony so the minutemen knew the Redcoats were coming by sea, or in our case the Charles River. Revere's house which we visited next is the oldest standing wooden house in Boston. People wondered how he made so much money going back and forth over land helping the colonists, but few people take into consideration that he had 16 children at home. He didn't have to do much work!

The Old North Church was built in 1723 and over 1100 people are buried beneath it. A clock sitting in the rear of the church was built in 1726 and still works to do this day. It was the first Anglican Church in the USA, and it's pipe organ was the first built in the USA. On April 18, 1775 Robert Newman, the janitor, hung those famous lanterns and John Hancock and Sam Adams were warned by Lexington that the red coats where coming to destroy their stockades. Newman was subsequently arrested and spent 3 months in jail before George Washington got him out. Moreover, people in the church had to purchase and furnish their own pews and bring in their own foot warmers.

We walked from there to the harbor where the USS Constitution sits still in service after centuries. As we climbed the hills I saw several broken televisions lying like wingless birds in the streets. The Constitution is called Old Ironside, and never lost a battle.

After this we were dropped on the top of Beacon Hill and saw houses worth 4-7Million Dollars. We walked down a small street where John Kerry and Teresa Heinz Kerry live, and we took photos of her car parked out front. Across the small wooded park was Mary Louisa Alcott's home and the current home of author, Robin Cook. We then walked down Acorn Street lined in river rock from the Charles River.

Parking Spaces in this area cost over $176,000 in the local garage!

MIT was founded in 1861 and the bridge we rode over the Charles River was measured in Smoots, which was a freshman measured head to foot over and over across the bridge. The smoot marks are still on the bridge. Our director told us that if you have a degree from MIT that you can get a job anywhere and many people sing a small song to the tune of Mickey Mouse…. MIT PHD M.O.U.S.E. !!! Hahahahahhaaha

Cambridge, MS was founded in 1630 and has several large universities and colleges, including Radcliffe which was a women's college originally and is now part of Harvard.

I had lunch at Crazy Doughs, and had some thin pizza that wasn't great. I then walked the shops the Garage, an old garage changed into some shops. I got a Starbuck's and walked Harvard Yard where they were setting up for graduation today. Several people looked like Andrew McCarthy from St Elmo's Fire, and the maroon flags hung high above the colums of the library and grass crawled up the chair legs row over row.

I purchased Nickel & Dimed in Harvard Bookstore and they gave me a free book mark.

After lunch in Harvard Square we took the bus to Lexington and stopped on the green to reenact the battle there. There 177 minutemen were poised to defend themselves against over 700 redcoats. Late at night the 177 decided to go to the tavern and wait for the red coats who had to cross the river in the low mud with 50 pound backpacks.

Eight minutemen were killed and buried under the monument on the green. Of the 177, 100 of them left before the battle and most were turned running away when the red coats shot. No one knows how the war began, but it all started with the shot heard 'round the world.

We next visited the Old Manse in Concord, MS, which is a house built by Emerson's grandfather where Hawthorne honeymooned for three years with his wife! The house was stifling hot as we stood in room after room listening to a volunteer tour leaders who said "Um" was too much!!! Outside of the Manse was the Old North Bridge where the minutemen came back into the town of Concord. The redcoats were in town burning up cannon holders, and the redcoats saw the smoke and thought their town was being burned down. They rushed the bridge and a battle ensued before the redcoats headed back to Boston and the Revolutionary War had begun.

We then returned to Boston to Fenuiel Hall for a texmex dinner at ZUMA's. Not a real treat those of us from AZ and NM. We ate a quick dinner before two of the groups decided to go see the Boston Pop's. We ran from the restaurant toward the "T" and one young lady decided she needed to use the restroom. So we sent her with two friends, while a larger group of us jumped onto the T toward Symphony Hall. I took a few of the FL kids with me to the Symphony while J waited for the girls. We got there and the man told me that none of the $16 seats were left. I told him to check again and he found them. We bought six and ran upstairs at ten til 8. We were in the back in the student discount section high above the stage. We sat among the pennylings way up high, much unlike in the Globe where we would've stood on the floor. I received a text message that J and the girls had made it and were on the floor. We met them at Intermission, and they were given free ticket vouchers from a man out front at 7:59pm. They wanted us to sneak onto the floor to the $120 seats with them, but we chickened out at the end. I sat upstairs listening to folksy, symphony like something out of the deep south or Oh Brother, Where art Thou? It was quite cool.

After the show my wish came true as rain belted down splashing from car windows into the gutter-rivers. We pulled our t-shirts up over our noses and ran into the rain toward the T station. We transferred underground toward Copley Plaza and ironically were headed towards the Hard Rock to eat Ice Cream sundaes in the chilly Boston night.

Chewy, our waiter, allowed us in even though it was late, and we ordered our desserts and used our napkins to wipe rain from our faces. Stevie Nicks purple dress hung in a cabinet above the stairs down the bathroom before we stepped into the street back toward the trolley station. A slight grey umbrella protected several of us huddled together from a slight drizzle. Splashing through puddles, we made our way back underground and to the hotel where we slipped into warm beds

harvard.com

Only on the shelves at Harvard Bookshelf could I find so many Foucault books all in one place!

Quincy Market

Quincy Market in Boston. Love it!

Boston Duck Tours

ducktourshome

The plan is to take a duck tour of Boston tonight. I am stoked out. I've never been there so here we come.

Chowda, baby!

My first New England Clam Chowder in New England!

Logan Airport

In 10 hours I will board a plane to Logan International. I've never been there, and I am looking forward to it. My first trip to Boston. I sit tonight at dinner flipping through an AAA guidebook and wondering what I'd like to see, and what I could miss. I finally touched base with all of my group leaders, and I think we'll get along. Some of us will obviously get along better than others, I'm sure and my boys aren't going to complain about hanging out with girls, either! There are some high school girls going. Woohoo for them. Going to finish packing.

Violent Femmes & Pixies

So my sister is at this concert right now and called so I could hear Add It Up live and in person. I am a tad bit jealous since I rocked out to them both while she was in church school and braces. Ugh. She called me from the boyfriend's cell, so now I have those digits, too.

Going back to The Forgotten now. Boring as hell so far.

MilkandCookies - George Lucas in Love

MilkandCookies - George Lucas in Love

This is friggin awesome. I found it a few years ago, but lost it until now. Surely everyone and their moms have seen it. Of course you can spend $30.00 at Amazon.

Two in a row

My best friend's brother is in our wonderful town interning so his parents flew in for awhile. We had a BBQ today with beer brauts and other fun stuff. He put chiles in the burgers. Yum. It was too damn hot and I left my friggin bathing suit there. I'll have to get it from him. Hmmm... Nice to see everyone and as we grow older parties have more and more children at them.

Of course now I am home and have some random person chatting me online. Now that happens to me every now and then, and eventually I figure out who it is, but perhaps not this time. If my IM wasn't there I'd post the messages here. They're hilarious.

So this chick is 15 and thinks I am some dude she met at a party tonight. She's hitting on me and stuff and lives in Maine. haha. Funnyfunny.

Also, I leave for Boston in a few days. I will blog my trip here. If you want to read it, then be here or be ... well, you know. 'Night

Par-Tee

Today after work we all went to my bosses house to drink and play poker. My big boss. Some swam and others drank. It was a good time had by all. A completely different side of things and people. Very different.

You might from Pennsylvania if...

If you consider it a sport to sit in a tree stand all day long with a bow or a gun just to put food in your freezer you might live in Pennsylvania.

If you're proud that your region makes the national news 96 night! s each year because Bradford is the coldest spot in the nation, you might live in Pennsylvania.

If your local Dairy Queen is closed from November through March, you might live in Pennsylvania.

If you instinctively walk like a penguin for five months out of the year, you might live in Pennsylvania.

If someone in a store offers you assistance , and they don't work there, you might live in Pennsylvania.cause you're all so damn friendly.

If you have worn shorts, sunglasses and a parka at the same time, you might live in Pennsylvania.

If your town has an equal number of bars and churches, or if you are in church and your priest or minister asks you to pray for the

STEELERS and wants to get you all home for 1 p.m. kickoff you might live in Pennsylvania.

If you have had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you might live in Pennsylvania.

YOU KNOW YOU ARE A TRUE Pennsylvanian when:

1. "Vacation" means going up north past I-80 for the weekend.

2. You measure distance in hours.

3. You know several people who have hit a deer more than once.

4. You often switch from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day and back again.

5. You can drive 65 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard, without flinching!

6. You see people wearing camouflage at social events including weddings.

7. You install security lights on your house and garage and leave all the doors unlocked.

8. You carry jumper cables in your car and your girlfriend knows how to use them.

9. You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.!

10. Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are fill ed with snow.

11. You know all 4 seasons: almost fall, winter, still winter and road construction.

12. You can identify a southern or eastern accent.

13. Your idea of creative landscaping is a concrete statue of a deer next to your blue spruce.

14. You were unaware that there is a legal drinking age.

15. Down South to you means MORGANTOWN W V.

16. You find 0 degrees "a little chilly."!

17. Your neighbor throws a party to celebrate his NEW FORD F150.

18. You go out to fish fry every Friday and bingo every Wednesday.

19. Your 4TH of July picnic was moved indoors due to frost.

20. You have more miles on your snow blower than your car.

21. You refer to your state as 'PA' not 'Pennsylvania'

22. You actually understand these jokes, and you forward them to all your Pennsylvania friends.