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Allison, Jodi and I had a wonderful time in Rochester! I have to catch up on e-mail and work so may not be able to post properly about the trip until later this week but Allison is posting photos and will probably also be posting in her LJ later on.
Many thanks to John (above) and Joanne (below) for inviting and hosting us.
On the way home from Rochester, timing and circumstances worked out that we were even able to have lunch with our friend Rand, yay! (Unfortunately Erin wasn't around.)
And as you can tell, I had fun with my camera. The pics on this page were all taken with my Rebel XTi using the Sigma 30mm/f1.4 lens. I did bring the Canon 17-85 lens as well, but ended up with the Sigma as my walkaround lens (again).
Walter also brought his new camera (a Rebel XTi as well), as did Allison! John Hall, of course, is a longtime photographer so always had his Pentax with him.
Not surprisingly, the trip was well-documented. :-)
As I said before, I'll be posting more about the trip in a day or two, and you can see my Rochester pics online. You may also eventually find pics/info at:
Speaking of funny things, thanks to my friend Ray for sending me a link to "Yum Dom Cha." A food rap video! In Chinese, no less! The last half of the video is a mini-documentary about hip-hop rapper Jin.
Leaving tomorrow for Rochester; Walter kindly offered transportation for Allison, Jodi, me and our gear, and we've promised not to abuse him too much along the way. Looking forward to doing our house concert as well as seeing John and Joanne again!
So I discovered that one of my friends, Annie Walker, recently launched a blog about how to avoid and get out of debt. I love Annie's writing, and have always admired her independence and optimistic life outlook.
Anyway, her blog is called The In-Debt Net: Fighting Your Way Out Of Debt. The blog is actually part of a larger site which is still under construction; the finished site will also have forums and other services.
Do check out Annie's In-Debt Net blog. Posts include:
I'm writing this in a Buffalo train station; I just found out that my train is apparently behind a freight train and will therefore be delayed at least an hour and a half, possibly longer. :-(
Fortunately I have my laptop, and I've found a seat near the only power outlet in the room. No Internet, but I'll upload this when I get home. There's a little girl staring at me right now. I smile at her and she asks something I can't understand because of her strong toddler accent. Seeing my blank stare, she asks me again, and this time I understand her: "Zat your 'puter?"
I tell her yes, it's my computer, and ask if she has a computer. Her smile widens and she answers, but I don't understand. Argh. I feel like a stupid grown-up. Fortunately I am spared further humiliation; her mother grabs her hand and pulls her away, saying they have to go. The little girl and I wave good-bye at each other; no spoken words needed. :-)
I had a wonderfully laid-back trip to Buffalo, visiting with my friends Rand and Erin. During the day, I took my laptop and Wacom Artpad and worked in Rand's library. Without Internet access, I got a surprising amount of work accomplished, plus read two books (The Stormchasers by Tim Bowler and Anne Boleyn: A Study (sorry, forgot to write down the author's name)).
Some highlights from my Buffalo trip:
- Lunches with Rand. Because of life/schedulestuff, Rand and I don't tend to see each other as often these days, so it was good to catch up in person. E-mail and phonecalls are great but they can't beat face-to-face conversations, IMHO.
- Dinner with Erin one night while Rand taught a class. I tend to only see Erin when she's with Rand, so it was nice to be able to hang out with her one-one-one. - Working in Rand's library during the day. WONDERFUL library, and I got a ton of work done. Plus I always love seeing Rand at work.
- Dinner outing at A Taste of India with Erin, Rand, Doug White & his wife Kathy, Dennis (friend of Doug's, Adam has performed with his band), Adam English and his girlfriend Jolene (sp?). Doug runs Watchmen Studios; Allison, Jodi and I visited there when we did our vocals/instrumentals for Less Than Art (click on "Still Can't Buy Me Love" to hear a sample from Ookla's 10th anniversary remixed/remastered version).
- Doug's tattoo. Holy cow. (See one of the photos above)
- Visiting Bath & Bodyworks. Toronto doesn't have a Bath & Bodyworks, and I have a weakness for certain toiletry products. I picked up some deliciously minty hand soap, shampoo and conditioner as well as pump-containers of Tupelo Honey and Lemon soap.
- Checking out an Asian foods store (can't recall the name, but it was something like "Hoo-ah," I think) near Taste of India. It reminded me of Toronto's T&T stores except it had a cozier atmosphere: much smaller and obviously family-run.
I saw Mochi Ice Cream, which I had always wanted to try, and lamented the fact that it would melt before I got it home to Toronto. Intrigued, Adam bought it as well as some other products, and insisted we all try them as soon as we stepped out of the shop.
And that remains one of my favourite moments from that night: all of us standing there in the parking lot, yellow light from the store spilling out across the pavement as we sampled each other's purchases, our hands sticky with mango juice (Adam bought some frozen mango bars as well), nibbling at chocolate-covered sticks and mochi-covered red bean ice cream.
Adam also had some interesting-looking varieties of dried plums, and I volunteered to try them with him. We ended up spitting them out into a shopping bag, but they certainly were ... um ...unique-tasting.
The mochi ice cream was fantastic, though; I must get some in Toronto -- maybe T&T has it.
Anyway, I'm home now. It was a great trip...THANK YOU, Erin and Rand, for your wonderful company and hospitality.
Now to unpack and catch up on e-mail...
Trivia O' The Day
I mentioned this a while back, I think, but it bears mentioning again here. Some of you may be familiar with the hit single "Cupid's Chokehold" by Gym Class Heroes. It reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100, #1 on the Billboard Pop 100 Airplay, and #3 on the UK Singles Chart.
The interesting trivia o' the day, however, is that Rand is one who sings the "Ba da da dop" and Adam is playing keyboards. Cool, eh? You can hear the music in the video below or watch the video on YouTube if you have trouble viewing the imbedded video below:
Rand's voice is the first one you hear in the song. :-)
So I'm in Buffalo right now, typing this from a cafe near Rand's library. I'm very much enjoying my visit with Erin and Rand. They kindly let me take some pics with my new camera, and I've posted some of these in today's Blathering. It's the first time I've tried any couple portrait photography with my Rebel.
Erin's a photographer's dream -- she's expressive, relaxed, and is able to have fun in front of the camera. Rand, who is usually like Jeff which it comes to having his photo taken, was much more relaxed as a result of being with Erin. :-)
All photos on this page were taken with my Sigma 30/1.4 lens. To reduce the amount of Stuff I was bringing, I opted to leave my other (bigger) lenses at home. I know that some people think me a tad loopy for choosing the Sigma as my walkaround lens but so far, it's still my favourite.
We went to a great Korean BBQ place last night, where pieces of seasoned chicken and beef were cooked on a grill at our table after we were served a large variety of appetizers that included radish kimchee, something I've never had before. Yum.
Anyway, we wrapped up the barbecued bits of meat in large pieces of lettuce along with some rice. Wonderfully messy and VERY good. :-) I'm going to have to look for a Korean BBQ place in Toronto.
I've spent most of today working in the library, taking notes and doing background stuff in prep for my next novel; I'm using Scrivener, taking a ton of notes and starting to build up my character profiles. Looking forward to hanging out with Erin tonight while Rand teaches his class!
Sunday, September 23, 2007 at 12:54PM 
