Jones

I have a spoon doll, thanks to a molto kewl local antique shop. (There were loads of wonderful antique shops in Stillwater, MN, but there are a couple nice ones in this really small town of mine.)

"I don't have a name for her yet," I told William. "What should we call her?"

"Think of a book ..." he suggested.

"A book character?"

"Yeah." He paused. "How about Coraline?"

But I suggested Coraline was kind of a special name. This doll was not a Coraline.

"How about we name her after Junie B?" I exclaimed. "We can call her Junie!"

William said we should call her Jones.

"Perfect!" I said. "Because Coraline's last name is Jones, too!"

Thank you, William.

(Post trampolining outside. We're a bit frazzled.)

~Emily

Freak Potato

A Few More Photographs

As far as the photographs go, I think we left off somewhere around the trip to the antique shop - well, one of many antique shops we visited - and the Star Trek drinking glasses.

After the glasses, I found this.

Interesting, no? ...

Later that day, the Fiends left for a three-hour cruise on the lake (whose name I'm afraid I don't know).

I - very gladly - stayed behind to have supper with Susan Runholt (http://susanrunholt.com/ ... but if anyone wants to tell me how to paste a link here so that you can just click on her name and be led to her website ...). Susan was a really kind, genuine person - one of the sweetest people I have ever met in my life.

I never get tired of this shirt.

A lovely MN sky.

A day alone in town ... sitting by the lake reading Star Trek books.

And finally, Benjamin is happy that Emily is home. Emily is not.






Jack, of course, is the same as always. And not particularly happy to have his sister taking up his computer time.

Thus ends the travel log.

Until next time.

~Emily

Picking Up Alice

Library this afternoon ... for the first time in over a week. It felt so good. "Intensely Alice" finally came in for me, the latest in the series I love by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. I hate to say it, but I really think she's losing her touch in the way she writes in Alice's teenage voice. But hey, I still want to know what's going on with the characters; I've been following the series for almost five years now and I am not about to stop ...

~Emily

More Photographs

So we move onto birding with the Birdchick (http://birdchick.com/wp ... she rocks. Check out the blog). The nature reserve was amongst the most beautiful places I have ever visited. And I saw an Eastern bluebird for the first time in my sixteen years. Can you believe it - living in Rhode Island and never having seen a bluebird? There just don't seem to be many of them around these days. But Sharon - the Birdchick - assures me they're making a comeback.

Lorraine's gigs were so completely awesome. I don't think I've ever had so much fun in my life as I did the Friday and Saturday I was in MN. This is me having too much fun with my marvelous camera at about one-thirty in the morning, post-gig.

Almost dead!

And does anybody else like the shirt I got at the nature reserve?

Yes, and this of course is Emily having WAY too much fun with her camera.

That's a pillow on my head, if you were wondering. Some people have asked.

Revelle reading "The Zombie Survival Guide" (which I've never read), as a zombie.

A good deal of fun with Lorraine and Cabal, her boss's (http://journal.neilgaiman.com/) dog.

He was a terribly sweet dog.

Chantrelle did not disappoint with the socks:

No, she never ceased to amaze me.

Donielle, who was impossible not to like.

Revelle was very excited to find, in a little antique shop in Stillwater, my favorite word to describe her.
This same antique shop bore the cheesiest but most fascinating Star Trek drinking glasses (thanks to Lorraine for pointing them out: I said, "Check out these Star Wars glasses. Ha." Though I don't actually watch Star Wars - that's Jack's forte. And Lorraine said, "If you go over there you'll find Star Trek glasses." I leapt away to see.)

More pictures are coming. But for now, I need a break. Eat supper, maybe, after a long day of working at a local festival. Waitressing is a fun way to keep busy!

~Emily

Snapshots of the Marvelous Voyage

I promised you pictures, and now that I'm home from my second trip - as a nanny for a family vacationing in Massachusetts - I ...

... keep trying to think of something clever to say, but the best I could come up with - seriously - was, "I have got them pictures, dudes."

If someone would like to volunteer to kick the dead half of my brain into shape ...

This here was the only vegetarian item on the menu of Leo's Grill and Malt shop in Stillwater, but it was totally worth it. Yummy fruit - a delightful touch.

My roommate Revelle, being Special. She has a thing for Jurassic Park and velociraptors - so here she is, Revelle the Velociraptor.

The view from the gazebo nearby the inn where we Fiends gathered.

The bridge, of course, leads to Wisconsin. Isn't this so amazingly beautiful? (Ha. I didn't miss Rhode Island.)

The Valley Bookstore had birds in it, in a big glass cage. I did try to get better snapshots of the brightly colored ones, but I had trouble. I am, after all, a novice.

Chantrelle had truly awesome socks.

Perfectly Fiendish!

Siri, Bobbee (my temporary mom for the trip, and Revelle the Veleciraptor's permanent mom), and Marjorie (who gave me this camera).

(For those who wonder, "Here for the Quiche" refers to Lorraine of http://blog.fabulouslorraine.com/. She is called Quiche and is the leader of the Fiends. Plus she's awesome. Forgot to mention that.)

Revelle found a hat in an antique shop. She sports it, as you can see, with pride.

Like mother like daughter ...

Now, I am afraid this shall have to be the conclusion for now. More tomorrow? Or whenever I can get around to it? I will be back, I promise. I would like to say I'm not ready to fall over and never ever get up again, but the thing is, I am.

So more later, Fiends and all.

~Emily

Coming up ...

I now have a camera and I promise you pictures.

Thank you, Marjorie ...

~Emily