amalthya

I've been meaning to update all week -- and now the week is over!

Scandal!

So I turned 24. I'm old. And ancient. And it isn't so bad.

Saturday was one of the best days in my recent memory.

It started off going to the Brandywine Lion's Club "Bluegrass Festival" with Mason and Rob. Mason had heard about the festival on the radio, and was just dying to see the General Lee. Not being a huge fan of the Duke Boys myself (as my pre-1989 TV tastes were pretty much dictated by my dad), I was (to abuse the pun) ... along for the ride.

Just the same, one of the best afternoons I've had in ages. Thinking that we were all organized by the fallacy of "MapQuest directions", I discovered halfway there that Mason had just gotten directions to "Cheltenham, MD", not to the actual fair, because no where could he find the actual address. "It's a small town, I'm sure there are signs... right?"

Twenty minutes later, we were lost, I'd lost my coveted shotgun seat to Rob, and we were in some Firefighter Training Camp. I'm a brash New Yorker, and have no qualms asking people for directions, but for such a small town, the people of Cheltenham know nothing. We also saw no signs whatsoever. We could also hear the faint sounds of bluegrass in the air. Literally. So we kept stopping the car, craning our ears, hoping for some sign of the direction of the music. Finally, I suggested we pull over by a modest yard sale and I was directed to the yard saler's father, this very stereotypical vet with his VFW hat adorned with pins and a grizzled, smiling face. Of COURSE he knew where the festival was, because it was at the Lions Club. What proper vet is not a member of the local animal-themed male grunting club?

Renewed with a sense of direction, we followed the grizzled vet's clear instructions and finally saw a sign! And what a sign it was Sheesh! No wonder we couldn't find it!
We also found out upon arrival that there was a $15 entry fee, payable only in cash, and of course, none of us had cash.

Mason said "Where's the closest ATM?" a simple enough question. The guy at the gate, a similar gruff vet, this time with the special inclusion of the potbelly, exhales deeply, looks perplexed, and scratches his chin. NOT a good sign. We find out the closest ATM is about 5 miles down the road, near the McDonald's. Bless you, Mickey D's. You may have made Morgan Spurlock fat, but you encourage civilization. We also found a Food Lion, and FooLee's chinese restaurant. Next to PhenLee's Hair Braiding. Now how do you suppose those two siblings divvied up the occupations? tee hee.

I wasted time by trying on silly Food Lion sunglasses and we mocked one another as we modeled various straw cowboy hats and boat hats. Saw some very disturbing soda. Can't say any of us were brave enough to try it, tho. We were all Perky enough! Anyway - Got cash, and made our way back to the festival.

There was not much in the way of food at the festival, and we laughed that we stuck out like sore thumbs. I certainly didn't fit in, but both Mason & Rob claimed some sort of "Spiritual Brotherhood", both being from the "South" (North Carolina and Virginia, respectively) Suuuuure guys, whatever you tell yourselves. You blend.

The food ended up being pretty good. I experienced the Swirled Potato, which is somewhere between a potato chip and a french fry. It was clear what the preferred method of cooking here was, simply based on the enormous fat vats behind the counters. Yummmmy!

The music was surprisingly good. It had a bit more Country than I was used to, and reminded me a lot of the mock-folk music from A Mighty Wind, but was toe-tappingly catchy. Everyone else was much better prepared and had folding chairs. We had a one-side waterproof picnic cloth that Mason had been given in his Employee Appreciation Scam at Wilmer. I was still thankful to have it.

After we'd been there about an hour, The General Lee pulled up with none other than the King of milking his fifteen minutes,Ben "Cooter" Jones. Despite my feeling bad that he was forced to continue using his nickname from a show that had its heydey 20 years ago, he was jovial and everyone forgot about the music and flocked over to the General. Mason and Rob were giddy like schoolboys and we took lots of pictures.

Mason even used his excellent digital camera-using skills and took a picture of me with the General

The pictures really showed how happy we were, despite their silliness. I liked them.

After fawning over the General, we flopped on the blanket and listened to the music. There was something totally peaceful about it all -- Lying on the blanket (and on Mason), with the most perfect, unscarred blue sky above me, smelling the hay underneath us. I don't think that, two years ago, I would have ever imagined myself in such a place, or having it make me happy. We also marveled at the classic cars. I have hilarious (and illicit) photos of Mason trying to get into the black car (and anyone who knows what kind it is, please tell me) -- I guess that people in those days didn't go above 6 feet tall. He probably could have driven it with his knees.

I somehow managed to not get that burnt. Mason shielded me with a program through half the afternoon and sprayed sunscreen in my hair. I was also constantly re-applying 30. I was proud of myself, and am on the road to my self-promise NOT to get sun poisoning this summer. Yay!

We headed back and I finally entered the land of Cellphone Signal again. Terry, Paulina and Vanessa were almost at my house, but decided that I was an asshole and went to dinner. heehee

The party was scheduled to start at 8, and it was about 7 when I got home. I put out the food, and did little last minute preparations while Rob & Mason went home to change their clothes.

People started arriving pretty much ontime and the gifts began to flow in!! Most people were too afraid to try my family's secret punch, but it was pretty good, even without being cut with club soda. I would say for people to try it again in a couple days ... but Chris poured it out while he was housesitting, but alas.

The crowd was still good, and lots of people came that I didn't expect to! By my second glass of un-cut punch, I didn't really care whether people were having a good time or not, because I was having a great time!

I also found myself possessed by the greedy present monster. .

Here is my l00t list!

A beautiful PS2, to replace the one I'd sacrificed to the broken relationship gods.. According to my lovely card, I should thank Natasha, Keir, corneredangel, reene (who also coordinated the whole gift!), John, Matt, grysar, virgovirago, Adam, unreason, Steve. And um. I think that's it. Did I forget anyone, Reene?
The Best Gift for a girl with a new PS2 - a Best Buy giftcard! From kamalloy
Another perfect gift (that I've already used to buy two pre-viewed DVD's) - a Blockbuster gift card from reverend_dave
Gandalf the White! With Staff Extending Action! Try to say that without laughing! From Rob. So good!
Beautiful set of LOTR from Jesse & Nicole
The Last Unicorn from capfox AND (by mistake) helloneko
The Eye Toy from jammie718, puckylunk and delirum6969! A fabulous little toy that is very addictive and very good for parties. There is amusing video somewhere (Terry? Terry?) of Chris swatting away ninjas with his kung-fu accuracy. Certainly something that I shall enjoy muchly. And that will make me exercise! Yay!
Items received long before the party: a new power cord for my iBook to replace the broken one AND a 128 MB Jump Drive from Mason :)