Oh, It Burns So Good!

mgrasso reminds me that, while my life is currently semi-dull, I've yet to blog about my weekend.

It was spent in Branchville, NJ, at Jesse's family's "lake house". It's on the shores of Lake Kittatinny, a lake entirely manufactured by humans in order to vacation and fish. I've wondered before whether they headed over to Petland Discount upon building the lake and bought a starter kit, but certainly the fish in the lake are large and enjoy weekenders' stale bread.

This year was different, only because i came from New York instead of Maryland. The drive was therefore much shorter and more pleasant, with Jesse's dad and his brother Seth. We made it to the house in under two hours (it's about 5 from MD). Jesse's dad is listening to Deathly Hallows on audiobook right now too, so it was a great ride.

Friday was lazy lazy. I spent most of it in the hammock, reading a yuki_onna classic. I can't really think of anything more perfect than reading a good fantasy novel in the quiet countryside. Especially if there are hammocks involved.

On Saturday, we planned the Big Trip -- Kayaking on the Delaware River. They refused to let the eight of us on Class 1/2 rapids, so we did the lazy river route. Of course, it was still a good five hours of paddling.

But what fun it was! I had mighty splash battles with Rich and dshadow -- and I did eventually capsize. I'll say vaguely that John's kayak had something to do with it, but I'm tempted to think that my own clumsiness is more to blame. Luckily, nothing of value was in my kayak, except my fabulous Scarface sweatshirt, and really, the only damage was wet.

We'd bought little disposable cameras that were waterproof too, so I'd thankfully left my real camera at home. And of course there was lots of laughing involved as we tried to empty the kayak out at the shoreline, Rich, Omar, John, Jesse and I. My crappy $1 shoes from Broadway and 147th paid the price -- they broke, but I was kayaking, why did I need shoes?

After about 4 hours, I probably longed for shoes, or really, any other mode of transportation. Arms sore, definitely knowing my impending sunburn would bite me later, it was a bit of a crawl at the end.

But what a TON of fun. Sure, my thighs are red and burned, but it was undeniably worth it.


One thing, however, is indisputable. Fall is coming. It was in New Jersey this past weekend, chilling my little equatorially-spoiled bones. I bought a bitching SCARFACE hoodie for $3 at a yard sale. But the cool air filtering through the still-green trees was cooling and chilling and definitely a harbinger.


It's time to put away the summer dresses and pull out the sweaters -- which leads me into my most perfect segué -- I finally have a closet that is not falling down and broken, throwing my clothing onto the floor.

Freddie went with me yesterday to the Container Store and, after arguing with a useless dumpy saleslady, explaining that their standard wardrobe racks couldn't hold a bag of chips, we found this shelf which is multi-purpose -- it can either be used in your closet, or in your garage, to store your bricks.

I've put most of my clothing away already, and it seems to be working well.. I have no one to thank for its construction other than James (ursus_archetype) -- my roomie who BLED for its completion. But it's up.

Mason pointed me towards a completely humorous Futurama tie-in, found here. The Container Store might be one step up from IKEA, but I'm sure James would have appreciated NOT having to whittle the plastic piece with his knife.

So that's literally all my news. I have a guest coming this weekend, which I'm excited for, and I'm still on a weekend-high from the relaxation from last weekend.

And now, back to putting my clothing away in the new closet!