Thursday, June 30, 2005

Insurance Sales People and Accidents

Okay, I know that I should have spent the day napping and eating healthful foods like the rest of the crew on layover but I just couldn't. Instead I spent the day with crazy Shannon (flight attendant pal) at Six Flags Over Georgia riding roller coasters and drinking slushies. I took a great picture of the two of us posing with Porky Pig to post but when I got back to the hotel and actually looked at the fool thing I changed my mind. You see, it was taken right after getting soaked on the Log Flume ride on a day when neither of us bothered to do anything normal (like shower). Oh, and I wore a dress that, on second viewing, resembles a little to closely a mumu. Not one of my better looks. So no picture. Unfortunately I have to fly an airplane full of Insurance sales people to England for some sort of reward vacation in a few hours and am completely exhausted. So, does flying a couple hundred insurance sales people drastically improve the likelihood of having an accident? That would be rather ironic. Wish me well. Irony kills.

Wednesday, June 29, 2005


Me, in uniform, with a crazy looking bus in Catania Italy Posted by Hello

Vesuvius smoking as seen from Catania Italy Posted by Hello

Crazy Crazy Crazy

My job is crazy. I find myself unexpectedly in Atlanta Georgia and so tired I can barely see straight let alone count. And worse yet I have taken to assaulting people with bizarre non-sequitors like "If it doesn't give you great pleasure or cause great pain then it just isn't worth noticing. I guess I am just a narcissistic hedonist." When the hell did I become Confucius? Shoot me before somebody else does. I need sleep! Tomorrow I am off to Canterbury England. Wish me pleasant nightmares.

Sunday, June 26, 2005

Hallucinating

It's about 4:30 am and I have just arrived back in to the states with 240 passengers from Naples. I must say it really hurt my feelings to have to leave Naples on a glorious Saturday evening. What a waste. I am officially to that level of tired that can not allows the simple respite of sleep. I am, to be put it plainly, wired off my ass and strung out on the leftover caffeine that is still singing through my veins. My hotel in Naples ROCKED!! The pictures I posted are all from my balcony. Matt Damon stayed there while filming one of those Bourne movies. He has good taste. In the spirit of my latest wedding neuroses I was, of course, bombarded by pretty Italian men calling out after me to check the status of my marriage availability. And if not them then the myriad of beautiful Italian brides tying knots all over scenic Naples on a Friday evening. Italians make beautiful brides! But all in all it was a highly successful layover. I am headed back to Naples in a few days and I would love some suggestions about what to see and do while there. Who needs sleep? Please post lots of suggestions!!

e

View from my hotel balcony in Naples (Matt Damon stayed there when he was making The Bourne Identity Posted by Hello

View from my hotel room in Naples Posted by Hello

Crazy passenger asleep on the air craft floor on the way to Naples Posted by Hello

Saturday, June 25, 2005

Hallucinating

It is 4:24 am east coast and I am at that level of tired where you just can't sleep. I just flew 240 passengers in from Naples and I am completely mad with exhaustion. And I am so craving pizza. I would sell my mother for a decent slice of pie. (Sorry mom, it's more of a figurative transaction). I posted some new pics of Naples. My hotel room rocked! Matt Damon stayed there while filming the Bourne Identity. He has good taste. In the spirit of wedded madness (or is it bliss) everywhere that I walked in Naples I was bombarded by men asking me if I were married or by people getting married. Italians make beautiful brides! Hope you enjoy the pictures. I am headed back to Naples in a few days and I am looking for some really good suggestions of places to go and things to do while there. Please send the ideas my way! I hate to waste a perfectly good layover sleeping! I must explore! Please leave lots of comments with ideas.

e

Monday, June 20, 2005


Don't piss your flight attendants off! We have guns! Posted by Hello

Ross's Shit

Do you think that Ross will notice if I sell all of his shit on ebay?

Sunday, June 19, 2005

Enormous Beer

Right now I am drinking an enormous beer. One of those huge cans that is really at least two normal sized beers. It is Sunday evening and Miles Davis is on the stereo. Ross and I spent the entire day cleaning and semi organizing the apartment. Those of you that have been here no that it can be quite the shit hole. Since I turned 26 (it was June 2nd) I have started having a mid 20's crisis. What should I do with my life? Should I be married by now? How can I make my boyfriend be less of a slob? etc...Today I had a total melt down about the state of the apartment. Poor, poor, Ross. He spent the entire day removing most of the contents of our home and placing them on the back patio only to bring them all back in in a slightly more organized fashion a few hours later. Ross believes in decorating in boxes. I mean he puts a pile of papers in a random empty box and then places that random no longer empty box at a random entirely inappropriate location usually in the middle of the floor. Or on a table. Then he likes to try and hide it with some dirty laundry. I am no Miz Clean myself, but a girl has got to have some limits. I finally reached mine (again) and so upheaval insued. But after about 10 or so hours we have NO BOXES. I won't say that the apartment is remotely sparkling, but I'll take what I can get. Unfortunately Ross is hiding from me and won't come out for fear that I will find him something else to do. Poor, poor Ross.

Saturday, June 18, 2005

Wedding Shower Madness

Okay, I am going to the wedding shower this weekend. I tried so many terrible things to try and get out of it. For a moment I considered feigning illness and being rushed to the emergency room but at the last second I figured that that might be too much. So I am awake and mentally trying to prepare myself for the day ahead. This day consists of me, Ross's mom, R's moms best friend, and R's aunt Jean all piling into a car for close to two hours each way to head to R's little sisters wedding shower. I, of course, won't really know a single person there with the exception of family. Sounds like a thrilling way to spend a beautiful Saturday afternoon? Not. Sounds dreadful! I even called work to beg for a trip! That's just plain scary. Besides, I guess that I could use the money if I am taking July off. So many weddings. So much money to spend. They did assign me a trip but it doesn't start until the 24th. I'm headed for Biloxi Mississippi, Limerick Ireland, and Kuwait City. I'll post pictures as I take them so check back for them after the 24th. For those that need to know I should be back in the country on the 30th of June.

Hope your weekend is less full of tradition than mine
And, again happy birthday to my little sister GAB.
e

Thursday, June 16, 2005

July!!

Yippee!! I officially have July off! That should give me ample time to restore my reserves of niceness to a sufficient level to keep me from biting anyone's head off too quickly at work in August. A girl needs some down time. And what better month to take off then July? Apple pie and sunshine and fireworks. In spite of my not working the month will still prove impossibly busy as both my little sister and Ross's little sister are getting married one weekend apart during the last two weekends in July. And Ross's mom has suddenly noticed that Ross and I have been together for ages (getting closer to six years everyday) and that we still aren't married. I catch her talking about this on the phone to friends and relatives pretty often. I think that it's hysterical. Hasn't she had enough of weddings after planning her daughters? It's like she woke up one day a few weeks ago and it suddenly hit her. When she was my age she was long married and had a child. When my mother was my age she was married, divorced, remarried and getting ready to have me! It does make a girl feel a bit old. Am I developmentally behind? Or just plain smart?

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

Home at Last

Whew! Home at last. It's three in the afternoon and I am still chilling out drinking tea in my pj's. My first day home after a lengthy trip away I am completely useless. I need this time to detox and get comfortable in my own skin. The sudden stop in action sometimes feels like being stopped in mid jump by a brick wall. SLAM! But quickly the shock wears off and it feels good to be still. This last trip was just gorgeous. I had a magical birthday season. I watched the sun rise over the Himalayas, visited the seaside in Ireland and had a picnic in Hyde Park. I feel so pampered and spoiled. I love that. And now, at home, I am relaxing into lazy bliss. This is too good. It should probably be illegal.

Check out my pics on this site and at www.picturesfromtheroad.blogspot.com

e

Sunday, June 12, 2005

Chicago weekend

Chicago rocks, kids! In spite of the intolerable heat this weekend the jazz fest more than made up for it. Excellent tunes, excellent booze and excellent pad Thai? I take pleasure where I can find it but even I was a bit perplexed by the presence of GOOD Thai food. And have you ever noticed that the city wide uniform for trendy Chicago woman mostly involves some sort of denim (be it jeans or a skirt) and some sort of black tank top? What's up with this? As a wise young singing group can be heard to say "If I had to choose a favorite color. I'd have to choose them all..." And then they finished with a rousing dance routine involving rhythmic gymnastic wands and ribbons of a rainbow of colors. Seriously, check them out. They are called 'HI 5' and they are a children's entertainment group and they are massively disturbing. I had the bizarre pleasure of catching their act at the Chicago Book Festival this weekend. Vendors there gave me free popsicles. I love popsicles.

e
pictures to be posted soon.

Thursday, June 09, 2005


Excellent Guiness Advert on a street corner Posted by Hello

King John's Castle Posted by Hello

Worst museum dummies Iv'e ever seen (King Johns Castle Exhibit Center) Posted by Hello

St John's Castle Limerick Ireland Posted by Hello

St Mary's Cathedral Limerick Ireland Posted by Hello

Modern Mosaic in ST Mary's Cathedral Limerick, Ireland Posted by Hello

Change of Plans

Change of plan kids. Turns out I am done working a few days early and headed back to the states in the morning (6/10). As Ross is running a crazy race up a mountain and biking a crazy race up a mountain with his dad at Whiteface I am footloose and fancy free for the weekend. Chicago here I come! I have not seen my friend Jeff in over half a year and I am impossibly excited. I spent my last day in Limerick seeing some local sights. If it was reachable on foot I visited it today. My personal favorites included St Mary's Cathedral and King John's castle. King John was quite the ruler. On his first visit to Ireland as a leader (albeit young leader) legend has it that he exceedingly poorly behaved going as far as to yank on the beards of the ruling chieftains. I know that I have days like that but I am not the ruler of Ireland so it isn't so important. Poor Ross's beard. I posted quite a few new pictures on my other site

www.picturesfromtheroad.com

Till Tomorrow
e

Wednesday, June 08, 2005

Wednesday Music

After finally peeling myself out of bed in the early afternoon I tooled about Limerick for a few hours and then took myself out to dinner at Dolan's pub. Lucky for me Dolan's has live music practically every night of the week. They had two concert venues and traditional music playing in the bar proper. I chose the wild card event. A self proclaimed Nova Scotian hip hop artist by the name Buck65. Those of you that know me are probably surprised by this as I have never shown a propensity towards hip hop but I must say, DAMN! He was quite good. Just one skinny white dude hip hopping his heart out and spinning. Excellent lyrics. Lucky for me I managed to meet the manager for the folk singer Luka Bloom who invited me upstairs to listen in on the other concert there. Luka Bloom is wonderful, Irish and lovely. His version of "Black is the color of my true loves hair" made we sigh. Oh, thanks again for the free CD Niles!! I am listening to it right now. After leaving the pub (a girl has to sleep sometime, right?) I was offered a ride back to my hotel by two lovely Irish girls that I met in the pub. Score! Saved me 10 euros. All in all a wonderful night filled with good music and good wine. What more can a girl ask for on a five day layover?

Pictures from the road

Hey kids. I posted a new blog with more pictures from the road. Check it out!
www.picturesfromtheroad.blogspot.com

I also added it as a link from this page.

Insomnia

It is two AM here in Ireland on the eighth of June and I am wide awake having just spent the better part of the last two hours trying to call all of my crazy friends and family members back. I finally listened to my voice mail for the first time in about eleven days and I was astounded to hear all twenty messages! I love you guys! The birthday greetings rocked! A much better showing then previous years. Mom, as always your singing is haunting. Hearing all of your voices makes home seem so much closer. And to those I didn't get in touch with I will be back in the country on the twelfth in the afternoon. As always I love you all madly. Thank you all for helping maintain my sanity.

e

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

Birthday Season

Hello friends. As most of you have expressed mild to extreme displeasure at my lack of tangible existence I am starting this blog for you. As you know I spend the major part of my waking hours somewhere else. These hours I am in Limerick, Ireland. This has been my fifth consecutive birthday season spent away from home and was it a doozy. I would, of course, rather have spent it in all the amazing and varied cities that you live in but duty calls. To date I have celebrated with strangers (a lovely United Airlines IAD based crew I met checking in to a hotel took me out for Brazilian food) in London a stones throw away from Hyde Park on the actual day. Surprising, but somehow all the more lovely for the sheer randomness. After consuming copious amounts of wonderful Chilean red wine with members of my crew and United's I hit my room and took about a dozen silly drunken self portraits. Everybody wants a picture of themselves on their birthday, right? Next day I was on to Ireland. The flight attendants on my flight (I was commercialing not working thank god as the hangover was substantial) were completely mad! There are hardly words. Highlights of the flight (only one weird hour) include two of the dears running at full tilt through the cabin waving their hands madly and yelling at each other for no discernible reason . It gives new meaning to the term 'inflight entertainment'. On my flight I managed to sit next to four New Yorkers visiting Ireland on holiday and a girl who grew up about thirty minutes from where I live now. Americans are taking over the world! On arrival at my hotel in Ennis, Ireland I am enjoying breakfast only to be surprise attacked by my favorite blond almost cousin Julie. A perfect birthday surprise as I hadn't seen her in months. She, of course has plans for yet another birthday celebration to be had in Ireland. And so begins birthday party number two. We, being the little snots that we are, sneak our own bottles of Champagne and Wine into the bar to save money and have a wild old time. The bartender didn't seem to mind as she chilled the champagne for us and wished me a happy birthday. And soon we have more lovely company and a true party is born. Only hours, wine bottles and a after a veritable mountain of french fries and pizza later (courtesy of the golfers from Michigan living it up on the last evening of their holiday) the night ended quietly with alkaseltzer and water cocktails to stave off morning after hell. All in all, a wonderful second birthday party. But duty calls so off to work I went. After a fifteen hour workday I landed in Bishkek (one of those unspellable 'Stans' over by China) and immediately fell asleep. I slept the entire day before heading to yet another of the 'Stans' . And, this is not at all my fault, another celebration commenced. It seems that we have multiple crew members with June Birthdays. This party, ultimately, commanded the best view. There really is little that compares to standing on a ninth story balcony with cocktail in hand watching the sun rise over the foot hills of the Himalayas surrounded by both great friends and future friends. Life is good. Now I am back in Ireland (Limerick this time) and beginning a five day layover. We'll see what I make of it.

Yours, in lexicon,
e

Me Posted by Hello

The lovely mountains as seen from the aircraft stairs in Almati Kazakhstan

The lovely mountains as seen from the aircraft stairs in Almati Kazakhstan
Posted by Hello

The lovely mountains as seen from the aircraft stairs in Almati Kazakhstan


The lovely mountains as seen from the aircraft stairs in Almati Kazakhstan Posted by Hello

Unnamed fiend modeling potential new uniform accesories at birthday party number three in Almati Kazakhstan


Unnamed fiend modeling potential new uniform accessories at birthday party number three in Almati Kazakhstan Posted by Hello

Julie and I celebrating in Ennis Ireland Posted by Hello

Julie and I celebrating my birthday in Ennis Ireland Posted by Hello

Hyde Park London Posted by Hello

Drunken 26th Birthday Self Portrait Posted by Hello

Hyde Park London Posted by Hello

Hyde Park London Diana Memorial Palque Posted by Hello

Hyde Park London Italian Garden Posted by Hello

Hyde Park London  Posted by Hello