I just can't believe it...

I can't believe what I've been hearing and seeing. How could this happen at Virginia Tech, where I went to school? It's a big school, but it's such a small town... I'm sure I'd be shocked and sad if it'd been anywhere else; I know this impacts everyone everywhere, but being affiliated with the school just makes it so intense. Seeing the very buildings I knew so well, the paths I walked every day, the familiarity of the scene flooded by police, panic, and gunfire...it was so bizarre and sad. I can't believe all the things we did there, all of the good memories, all of the things the school has done... and now it will be known for this. I can't imagine how students will just go back to class...

I Pooped in Canada

This blog is long overdue. We've been back for almost a week and half and I haven't written about our trip.

Andrew and I went to visit Brooke and Evan in Ann Arbor, MI. Obviously we had the best time ever. We saw lots of Ann Arbor and the surrounding area, we hung out downtown, we checked out the food co-op, we went to thrift stores, we putzed around the science museum, and most importantly - we went to all the brewpubs and beer bars. We also got to do some house hunting with our realtor, which is great because I love looking at houses, nosing around in people's stuff, and making fun of their terrible decor.

Also, I can now finally say that I've been to Canada. The four of us headed to Detroit on Friday to check out the art museum and another brewpub. After we ate and had a few beers, we joked about Canada and the terrible "brewpub" that Brooke and Evan went to across the way in Windsor. They went there one weekend, thinking it'd be cool and it turned out to be a giant Canadian dive bar that makes ONE SHITTY BEER. They do have lots of bottled goodies, though. Well. We had time. I'd never been to Canada. I wanted to go, dammit! I don't know what I expected - I guess I pictured a paradise in contrast to the disappointment that is Detroit.

So, we decided to go for it. I'm way more excited than I probably should be as we're flying across the border. I giggle with glee when the speed limit signs in the tunnel change from miles per hour to kilometers. I guess I'm as excited as any liberal American fleeing the country. We arrive in Windsor and...it's not really that bad, but...it's...kind of like Hagerstown...but with French AND English signs. There's just not too much to do or see. But as we're cruising the area, I spy...SALVATION ARMY!!! Oh Canada, I could drink a case of you! After much grumbling, I convince Evan that we NEED to go there. I mean, Andrew and I make a point to track down thrift stores wherever we go, so to stumble upon one unexpectedly in CANADA...it's like destiny, if I believed in it. So we check it out and I found a few cool things before I was [literally] dragged out of the store. Then we found our way to the "brewpub". Charlies, I think it was called.

It wasn't a dump, but it was pretty dive. The staff was super nice, though. They gave us samples of their terrible beer and then we ordered bottled beer. They had a Jamaican stout that I'd never had before, so I got that - it was quite delicious. We sat around and shot the shit and I winced every time Evan loudly tacked "eh?" onto the end of his sentences and prayed we didn't get our asses kicked by angry Canadian rednecks. The boys went to view the brewing equipment while Brooke and I were left to be ogled by a drunk Canadian. I finished up my beer and then I felt it - my bowels were turning. I had to go. I think you know what the greatest accomplishment of the day was: that's right, I POOPED IN CANADA! And then we went home. Really, that was it.

The next day was the end of our trip - we wrapped it up with a trip to Kuhnhenn brewpub near Detroit...and man, did that ever kick arse. We had a super adorable and nice bartender and their beers are really fabulous. Very tasty and experimental. Among the best were the banana stout, the unfiltered apricot ale, the tangerine wit, and the simco silly. Then we went home. The end.

Soundtrack for the trip was the new Modest Mouse album which totally rules. I felt the need to comment on that since I don't think it left the stereo the whole week. Awesome.

Oh, also I'd like to comment on how much I love Ann Arbor. Everything is colorful...even the alleyways.

Best Weekend Ever

I have the greatest stories ever from about a week ago. Andrew was moving all his furniture into the house and we were getting ready to go on our trip to visit Brooke and Evan in Michigan...

So, I was home most of Saturday cleaning and making space and getting things ready for our trip when I hear a knock at the door. I rush to the top of the stairs only to look down and see...my next-door neighbor . "DAMMIT!", I thought as I ran down to answer (I really just wanted to ignore him and wait for him to go away). I walk outside to talk to him - because ya know, we have this agreement that involves never crossing each other's thresholds. He greets me in his grumbly way and then he pauses...obviously stalling.

"So, this might sound like a weird question coming from your neighbor," he finally says, "......but......you got any porn?"

WHAT?! Some peoples' neighbors come over wanting to borrow sugar...mine come over asking to borrow PORN. What the hell??? At first I didn't know what to say. In fact, I wasn't sure if I even had any porn. Sometimes Andrew brings funny ones home from the pawn shop to giggle over...but we usually fast-forward through them and laugh and then he takes them back. We exchanged some lame and awkward conversation as I pondered the existence of porn in my home, but suddenly I remembered...

"Wait just a minute," I said with an evil grin. I dodged back into my house and reappeared with......Buffy the Vampire Layer. Oh yes! You know it. And I still haven't gotten it back.

***

The next day Andrew moved a bunch of his furniture in. He has a big computer desk armoire that is just about dead. The used furniture place wouldn't take it, so he put it in the alley behind my house, in front of my garages (they are detached and open into the alley) with the intention of moving it in later on. He also left an old beat up armchair there. Not even two hours later I was coming back from the park with Quincy and as I came up through the alley I saw a pair of legs sticking out from behind the armoire. Someone was sitting in the chair! As I got closer I had to try SO hard not to laugh - it was an old man, red-in-the-face drunk holding a can of Steel Reserve. Where the hell did he come from and why was sitting on this chair in the alley?! To top it off, he swayed in the chair and embraced Quincy, saying "Ohhhh!!! He must be a champion!!! How much did you pay for him???" Apparently he didn't notice Quincy's man-boob and the fact that he is the saddest example of his breed ever. I mean, I think he's the most beautiful dog ever, but he's a terrible dalmatian, hahaha. He was still talking to me, leaning in the chair as I rounded the corner...

So that weekend was just full of good stories. Good times, good times...