same as it ever was...

On Friday, I was brainstorming a post entitled, "Miles to go before I sleep" but ran out of time in the transition between excellent concert adventures in Virginia and excellent youth retreat adventures in New York. And so you get another Josh Ritter- covering- Talking Heads- reference (since he did it again on Thursday night): same as it ever was, same as it ever was, same as it ever was, same as it ever was! As ever, I am tired and paying dearly for my adventures, but pretty happy for them nonetheless. I traveled by car about 1100 miles in a week, about 800 of which were between Thursday and Sunday-- Northern VA to Charlottesville and back, to Toms River, to Glen Spey in New York, and back to Toms River. As Joe Pug sang when he returned to the stage for the encore, "I don't mind riding around."

I am grateful to Fiona for driving us to the Jefferson Theater in Charlottesville on Thursday, saving me several hours behind the wheel. The concert was awesome-- Josh never fails me, and Joe Pug as the opener was a great match. I enjoyed the rolling drive along county and state roads between Fairfax County and the City of Charlottesville, including at least six counties... I wonder what it would look like if I started keeping track of that (more a la this blog). That drive actually reminded me of another ridiculous time in my life (not more or less ridiculous so much as different ridiculous) during the infamous spring of senior year. I made the same trip with my friends Matt and Ross when they played a show at a tea shop just a few blocks down from the Jefferson Theater. Anyway, awesome adventure with Brittany and Fiona.


never a disappointment

Friday morning I woke up, already quite exhausted, and left the D.C. Metro area at the tail end of rush hour with far more success than I expected. I arrived back home a swift four hours and fifteen minutes later, and after a quick run, shower and double checking of what I packed, I was driving a van full of luggage to Lake Champion in Glen Spey, New York for our youth group's annual Winter Camp retreat. I was delighted to have a co-pilot, my friend Mike, as that drive is notoriously harrowing. We made it alive and didn't have to kill too much time before our busload of junior highs arrived with the rest of our leaders.

After little sleep and lots of fun (and ukulele jam sessions), the retreat was quickly over and I found myself behind the wheel of the van again, returning home earlier than the rest of the youth group as to participate in the bell festival at church.


This is what said harrowing drive looks like during daylight.

Mike again served as co-pilot, our overtired silliness carrying us through the 150 mile drive home (through a nor'easter, no less). The concert went well and I was in bed by 9PM. Over 9 hours of sleep later, I am still paying for these adventures, even more so now because I'm still awake, loaded with caffeine, determined to finish Thesis Draft Number Six tonight, after this short blog-updating-break... which ends now...