i don't know, i've never yuengled!

kie: somewhere between toyland and baltimore
kiel: nice.
kio: ben folds five : don't change your plans

i think i'm addicted to ben folds. either that or obsessed.

thanksgiving was fun.

in brief summation:

wed: back late. went to dunkin donuts with brian, neal, josh, matt, shannon. not altogether awkward. thought 'we're getting somewhere finally.'

thurs: turkey, assorted family visitation. high notation of schuylkill county "coal-cracker" accent. yuengling premium and yuengling light* all around. then went to dunkin donuts with brian.

fri: went to centralia to see underground mine fire**. saw elise roecker and brian gish near smoking coal-hole. all parties weirded out completely. went to schuylkill mall, bought ~30 sq. yds of hawaiian print fabric to cover skanked out walls in basement. dunkin donuts (brian, brt, matt, kevin, lutz, gen), a little yuengling***, mr. deeds, more yuengling, pool.

sat: eye appt**** at 10 am, got glasses fixed, saw a baby, bought german dictionary for $3 at ollie's bargain outlet, picked up car, watched babes in toyland (not once, not twice, but thrice!), cut down a christmas tree, went out to eat*****, saw brian boitano on tv, called greg and curt to let them know about it, watched babes again, bed early. no dunkin donuts.

sun: (now it gets interesting) tied christmas tree to vw fox, drove with tree on i-78, i-81, i-83, and i-695 en route to baltimore, listened to schickele mix (today's feature: accordions. très amusing.), went to babes rehearsal, got the "weight" talk from miss helen******, attempted to saw bottom off christmas tree (due to sap build-up), had a hell of a time with that, hammered, hacked, chiseled, sawed, and drilled through stinkin tree, hammered tree into stand, got out lights, broke bulb (thereby disabling said lights), got out next set of lights, put lights on tree, watched law & order, listened to music, poured a glass of wine, began to update weblog.

i thought i'd footnote in order not to break the nearly subjectless flow.

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*did you know yuengling makes a pilsener? it's only sold in schuykill county, apparently. note on the web page it is referred to as a "regional favorite."
**this sad site embodies the stubbornness of the people in my area. this fire could have been stopped had some 12 families not been too stubborn to move ONE TOWN OVER (aided by federal grant money). now since 1961, toxic gases have been spewing out of the ground and the giant fissure in old route 61 provides a glimpse into the smoking, billowing maw of hell itself.
***yuengling porter is rather tasty, although i prefer the lager. brian bought me a case to bring home. yuengling is $14 a case for bottles where i come from. in baltimore it is ~$23.
****the eye doctor did this test where you need these drops to dilate your pupils REALLY wide. looking in the mirror like this is pretty freaky. so is going outside and not being able to keep your eyes open. on a cloudy day.
*****we went to the port clinton hotel. real schuylkill county eating. the food is bland but the portions are huge. i ate a hamburger about the size of a frisbee and a small kiliminjaro of cheese fries. yuengling posters, tins, and even neon signs crowd the walls of this southern schuylkill establishment.*******
******miss helen thinks i should lose weight. if so, i would be "a real romeo" and fina a way to be "truly, blissfully happy". i thought i already satisfied these criteria........ nothing like miss helen to give your ego a little pop.


*******(footnote to footnote) lots of people don't like schuykill county. after being away from a while i am really feeling a genuine fondness for its simple way of life, its love of coal and beer, and even its stubborn population. some might disagree with me. but right now, i live in baltimore. given the choice between a block from waverly and stupid boring ol' schuylkill county, i'd definitely pick the latter. real stars (you can see 6 of the 7 sisters in the pleiades), good beer, unlocked doors, and open space are a few of the things that are virtually non-existent in this post-industrial redux urban environment.

it may be that i love it because it's my home, but i think it really has a very endearing quality to it. the further i get from it, the more i realize it.

ed: the title is from a 2001 play by adam ruben called "salad shooter", and is the punchline to "do you like yuengling, son?" later, "salad shooter: the musical" changed the line to "riesling". it doesn't work as well. i may see elise again in a month or so, and expect to bring up this story. -9/5/06