New Hampshire Travel Blog

Exeter Farmer's Market pt 2

2011-07-07T14:30:00.000-07:00

Today was an unusual market. They came in twos and threes at first, and I wasn't sure I'd seen them. But then it became obvious, the women portraying Colonists in Exeter's upcoming American Independence Festival had come out to stroll the market.

Exeter Farmer's Market pt 1

2011-07-07T14:24:00.000-07:00

You can see what the basic fashion trends are. You need a big floppy sun hat, and a shoulder bag.

2011-05-27T08:49:00.001-07:00

I really have to get back into this and spend a little more time spiffing it up and being like, professional. I'm not going to start any other blogs, they all seem to turn into angry ranting anyway.

New construction in Hampton Beach

2011-05-06T11:34:00.000-07:00

A building is going up where Mrs. Mitchell's used to be. I wonder if she's coming back?

There are flags lining the beach now. I kinda like it.

Rebuilding the band shell.

The condos which have been advertised for like three years, are finally going up. I was begining to wonder if they
ever were.

A bike race...or ride, I'm not sure. They're not wearing numbers or going very fast.

Photos from the Made in New Hampshire expo

2011-05-06T11:15:00.000-07:00

The annual Made in New Hampshire Expo was held at the Center of New Hampshire hotel in Manchester. Unfortunately, in spite of having an entire hotel to spread out in, they crammed everything into one room. If you have disabilities, or anxiety or sensory issues or even if you're just carrying a rather large purse, this is a little unpleasant.

There were things I wanted to see that I never got to, because I simply couldn't get through (I didn't appreciate being told to "stop blabbing and get the F out of the way" by some lady who was upset that I'd paused to sample a gourmet marshmallow).

And I would have preferred it if they'd offered more in the way of actual food, but of course, there weren't enough tables to eat at anyway.

In spite of that, there were plenty of interesting products available to view and sample.

And the ticket takers were really, really, nice. I had arrived with someone else (my sister) who had gone to park the car. I hadn't realized that we got hand stamps instead of paper tickets, so I had mine but she didn't have hers. And you know what? The ticket people were willing to stamp my sister's hand when she arrived, they even remembered me from before!

I wish I could talk more about the products but this post is going up so late because I have no internet access at home right now. I've forgotten a lot of the specific products I saw and sampled.

Regal Cinemas in Newington

2010-12-10T10:38:00.000-08:00

I thought I might go over to Regal Cinemas in Newington to see Voyage of the Dawntreader or perhaps Deathly Hallows. I had a little cash and a lot of spare time. But here's the thing...

Regal Cinemas in Newington is the only theater around for miles now that the theater on Lafayette is closed, so is the one in Hampton (we totally needed another chain drugstore) and the promised Epping one has not yet materialized. The Ioka, of course, no longer shows first run movies or basically, any movies at all. There's a Cinemagic in Amesbury but then you have sales tax. There's one in Barrington...

Regal Cinemas knows they're the only choice. It's why their matinee prices are two dollars more than the agreed upon norm. Seriously, the last time I went to a matinee there, I was disappointed that they didn't have matinee prices. Oh, apparently they do, their discount comes out to what all other theaters call "the normal price".

In the Manchester/Derry area, there are like four or five theaters and they all have an average matinee price of $5 and an evening price of $7.50.

I'm not going to make it to Derry in time for the movie and be other places I have to be today.

I can pay the Newington price, but do I want to?

2010-12-03T09:24:00.000-08:00

So, I had a Traveling Doll visiting in the last two weeks. Her name is Hannah and she's from Georgia.

Basically, a Traveling Doll is like a Flat Stanley. She's sent around to different people, who photograph her doing interesting stuff and write about her adventures. There is a bit of a security risk, but the
forum mods have everyone's name and address, so if you try to use it as an opportunity to get a free doll, they can call the police on you.

part one: Newburyport and Hampton
American Girl store Natick, Barrington, Portsmouth, Thanksgiving
Odiorne Point
Keene

I badly need to fix this blog's layout, I will need to work on that soon.

The human costumes from Saturday

2010-11-02T00:47:00.000-07:00

Halloween display in a dress boutique

Horse and buggy

A street performer. I'm sorry, I didn't catch the name of his group, but here he is juggling silver bats, then standing on his friend's shoulders.

Paddy O's Halloween costume event...of some sort

I thought this picture came out so well but it's totally a candid even though they didn't seem bothered by the photo.

Last but not least, Chewbacca on a Segway!

Faneuil Hall Halloween Dog Costume Parade

2010-10-31T17:33:00.000-07:00

Eating Out: Claremont: Ramunto's Brick Oven Pizza

2010-09-22T17:02:00.000-07:00

I had some of the best pizza I've ever had today at Ramunto's Brick Oven Pizza in Claremont. That is to say, my experience of this fairly clean, aesthetically pleasing pizzeria with pleasant waitstaff was a surprise and made a rainy day a little more enjoyable. I smelled something wonderful as I walked in, so I knew that had to be a good sign.

There are a several creative pizza and pasta dishes available. The pizza is a little expensive but not if you share it with another person.

We had the reasonably sized Four Cheese Pizza, which is made with four very obviously different kinds of cheese, a feature you'd think would be common in Four Cheese Pizzas but isn't. Not just different flavors but different textures, including feta.

When the waitress heard that I thought it was the best pizza I'd ever had, she looked a little uncomfortable. Maybe it's not the best ever, maybe I just thought it was because it's better than a lot of pizza I've tried to eat (and I have eaten some pretty awful food lately due to my lack of an oven or range top)and I was pretty hungry, is that better?

Actually, it appears that they're a chain. So the pizza at other franchises might not be as good. And the fact that it's a chain means this whole "it was awesome" thing might be a fluke. But it also means I might not have to go all the way to Claremont to get more (great, because it doesn't reheat any better than any other brand of pizza). It's a toss up.

Claremont in the rain

2010-09-22T15:32:00.000-07:00

The Claremont Chamber of Commerce building is one of the most beautiful in the downtown. I've wanted to photograph their etched glass chandelier, antique molding, twisting dark wood stairs and stained glass windows since the first time I randomly wandered in there.

This time I ducked in due to an freak thunderstorm (glad I brought my Nicole Miller umbrella).

This is some kind of Real Estate office, but I just loved the windows.

I saw an 18 inch doll sized park bench in a second hand bookstore. I asked the owner where she got it, and she told me "Nana's Attic". When I met up with the other person I was traveling with, she had also been to a store called "Nana's Treasures".

So I had her drop me off there while she went off to do some other things (I would've walked but I was starting to Not Feel Well).

Nana's Treasures is kinda...big. It's three floors, apparently, although I only saw the main floor. It's just endless piles of weird junk. Some of it genuine antiques, some of it collectibles, some of it adorable kitsch, and some of it horrifying and tacky...

But I found plenty of things I wanted to take home, two miniature glass vases, a doll for one of my dolls, and a yellow/gold brocade clutch for myself.

2010-09-09T17:35:00.000-07:00

We didn't get to see any awesome foliage, but you can tell the leaves are at least starting to turn.

My family spent a night and two days up in Colebrook, NH, which I will talk more about when I do the food reviews.

Our motel room was in the back, which gave us an incredible view of the mountains. The
rooms themselves were small (really small) but reasonably clean, safe, and had cable and free WiFi.

A bridge from Vermont into NH.

Chutters,in Littleton, the longest candy counter EVER.

I hadn't realized licorice came in so many flavors besides "black" and "red". Too bad I don't really like licorice.

I will post reviews of the places we ate in a couple of days.

Kaya's Colebrook adventure

A Terrible Photo of the Morlocks: Exeter UFO Festival

2010-09-05T12:54:00.001-07:00

I'd blame the weather. The Exeter UFO Festival wasn't as big or exciting as I'd hoped (or was promised) it'd be. But 1)the area was expecting a hurricane and 2) we got there in the evening, which means according to the schedule we mostly missed all the lectures, sidewalk sales and etc. Even the hotdog cart in Swazey Parkway had gone home.

We went to The Ioka lunch counter to find something to eat. It's under new management now, the "Save the Ioka" campaign was successful in that regard, although it has not yet been turned back into a real movie theater. It's just a snack bar with what I have to believe is the world's smallest nightclub downstairs (I briefly worked at The Ioka once, I've seen it). Prices are reasonable, but our pretzels took an oddly long time to arrive. However, they were also huge, so that sort of made up for it. It seemed like the staff wanted to close up and go home too.

Before we stopped at The Ioka, we tried to go on the "self guided UFO tour". You get a map of the area, with the sites of alien spottings marked, and you drive around to them. In theory, that's how it works. In practice, not so much. The map is unhelpful, if you're starting from downtown Exeter you have to sort of hold it diagonally. General areas are marked, but there are no indications of how many miles or feet you should proceed for and many of the smaller backroads are not named at all on the map. There are no signs up at the actual sites to tell you when you've found them, either.

I told the person I was with, as we drove around the rapidly darkening woods that pretty much all looked like it could be the scene of alien visitations, that it's a good thing I'm from the area or we would've ended up spending the night out there, maybe eaten by wild animals.

"Or abducted by aliens," she said. There is definitely a feeling on Route 88 that weird things could happen, and unlike fairies, aliens are probably not bothered by suburban subdivisions (it doesn't help the tour that the roads have changed a bit from when the original sightings took place). We didn't have time to see if the other route was any better.

The dance wasn't as well attended as last time. Once again, I'd chalk that up to the weather. The storm was a disappointment, it barely rained, but by the time everyone realized it wasn't going to be so bad, they'd probably already adjusted their weekend plans. The age groups between fourteen and forty were also severely under represented this time. It's hard to know why, other than the festival organizers must have made some kind of decision that resulted in young adults and people my age deciding that the dance wasn't worth their time this year.

There were marionettes, and some amazing hula hoop work by various people, and a hobbit danced with an alien. I wasn't able to dance but I did enjoy listening to the music, provided by The Morlocks, a New England based band that has been together since 1965.

And a terrible, TERRIBLE photo of The Morlocks

the non storm

2010-09-05T12:51:00.000-07:00

Photos from Star Island

2010-09-01T16:43:00.000-07:00

(the stairs leading down to the lower deck on our boat)

(the fourth oldest yatcht club in the country)

The John Smith Memorial

Notes on Craiglist

2010-08-31T12:56:00.000-07:00

Once again I am apartment hunting and once again It Is Not Going Well. However, I think I'm getting a lot better at it. And this is one of only two rants I'll do on the subject this time around.

Job Search:
It occurred to me that anyone looking for writers or editors on Craigslist is either clueless or trying to score a cheap deal. Because when I think about how many writers I know (and I know A LOT of writers) who send their resumes and clips out to every single newspaper or magazine in the area and aren't getting hired (which is also a lot of people) it seems to me that any legitimate newspaper or mag capable of actually paying someone is not exactly lacking in potential employees. They hire and promote the employees they can barely afford to keep In House or recruit through colleges or local talent or agented submissions. Having to actually go out and look, even advertise, is not the mark of a flourishing or worthwhile publication unless you are advertising on an actual, well established, professional writer's job market forum. Craigslist just looks like you threw up a vague idea in hopes that someone else will help with your vague idea for cheap or even free.

THINGS THAT SHOULD BE IN YOUR CRAIGSLIST HOUSING AD

First, of course, THINGS YOU CANNOT PUT IN YOUR CRAIGSLIST AD

Any language that states a preference for certain types of people. It is illegal by federal law to discriminate against tenants due to race, religion, national origin, familial status, disability (physical or mental), gender or age. And in New Hampshire, the law also includes sexual orientation and marital status.

Do these laws apply to everyone? No. If, for example, you are looking for a roommate, then you can state a preference for a gender or age or family type ("looking to share with another single mom"). You can even ask for a certain race or religion, but you have to tread carefully. You can say "I'd like an Indian roommate" but you can't say "No white people". You can say "Looking for another Christian" but you can't say "do not email me if you are not Saved".

None of it applies if you're a landlord who owns four or less units and/or lives on the property. And by "none of it applies", I mean, you can discriminate as much as you want, however, you can't say so on Craigslist. Craigslist has its own internal TOS in addition to the laws of the countries it hosts boards for. Breaking the rules you agreed to when you posted your ad can get your ad "flagged", removed, even get you permanently banned.

It is also illegal in New Hampshire to charge first and last month's rent PLUS security. You can charge last month's rent OR security but NOT BOTH. A lot of people don't know this, so tenants probably won't call you on it, but if you still do it after knowing it's not legal, you're a gigantic creep.

There is no excuse for not including any of the following. Craigslist ads are free (except for certain professional categories that aren't Housing) so you can include as much information as you want.

Why should you include this information? Because Craigslist visitors will have to scroll through hundreds of ads, deciding which ones to click on and which ones to take time out of their day to respond to. You have to give them a reason to click on yours.

Things Your Ad Needs:

Coherent sentences in English: Or whatever language the rest of your Craigslist board speaks. Type out the whole word, correctly spelled, without overuse of teenage/internet slang and multiple exclamation points. Ads that look like they were typed by concussed children or stoners don't work out too well. If you need help, ask for it.

Complete description: Size, whether it is a walkup or has an elevator, which floor it's on, how many bathrooms and what kind, full kitchen, kitchenette or lack of cooking facilities, how many bedrooms, what else is in the neighborhood, security, laundry, parking, internet/cable, age of the place, etc. You have no business renting the place out if you can't answer those questions. And you may feel that these questions can just be answered when the tenant comes to look at the place but there are a lot of people who won't even answer your ad if they don't see this information in it. I know what I want and I want to know if you have it.

A picture: One photo of the outside, one of each room in the unit, or one photo of the outside and one photo that shows as much of the unit as possible. Photos do not have to look like professional magazine work but they should be clear, in focus, well sized, decently lit and the right side up. There are many affordable digital cameras out now, and plenty of easy to use free photo editing programs (they often come with the camera, whether you wanted them or not). Picassa, Photobucket, Flicker, among others are all free or semi free online photo storage sites that also provide editing tools. Remember, Craigslist is not Ebay, you don't pay a fee per picture.

Once again, if this is too hard for you, please ask for help. But you're not getting points for effort, no one's going to look at your upside down picture of a staircase and think “Oh, I'll contact him about this apartment because he's really trying.”

Your address: Normally, you would not put this on a public site online where strangers might see it and come to your home or place of business, but this time, you want them to. It's the whole point. Now, you don't have to give them all the info in public all at once. You can just list the street and name/number of the building, or just the street and get into which unit and where to park when you're making the appointment to meet the tenant. But you have got to give them something. They need to know what town it's in- just saying “New Hampshire” is not enough. New Hampshire is roughly the size of Wales (and it's one of the US's smallest states). That's like saying the apartment is located in “Wales”. WHERE in Wales? If the town or city is large enough, people like to know what neighborhood too, where in Brooklyn? What about the street? Streets can matter when it comes to bus stops, school districts, crime rates, and property values. Even what part of the street matters- the road I live on goes on for eighteen miles and passes through four towns and two states and the two ends could not be more different.

So give them something that tells them where your property for rent or sale is located, so they can decide whether they want to live there or not before they go out and see it. And don't lie, if they're locals, they'll suss you out.

Craigslist househunters usually search by location and price, so the more specific the location, the more likely you are to attract a potential tenant who is looking for exactly what you have. You don't want to cast the widest net possible, you want to close the deal, then you want to target people who will definitely want what you're selling. If I'm in Portsmouth and looking to stay there, I will only be annoyed by the ads for your apartment labeled “New Hampshire” that turns out to be Claremont. If I want to move to Claremont, I will type “Claremont” into the search box, thank you very much.

Only putting the state, or region of the state, also indicates you might be a scammer. Maybe you don't know where the apartment is located because you took a photo of someone else's house while driving past or scanned it from a magazine. And why so coy when I press the issue? If you're not a scammer, why are you afraid to tell me where you are? Yeah, I could be a serial killer or burglar but no one can rent from you if they DON'T KNOW HOW TO FIND YOUR HOUSE. At some point, you have to tell me.

How much it costs, including utilities and any fees: Shouldn't this one be so obvious I don't have to mention it? Apparently not! Craigslist is not an auction site (seriously, this is a hot button issue for Craigslisters). Yes, you can include an OBO (“or best offer”) clause, although Craigslisters tend to resent those if they are not in proportion with what the item is worth, but don't try to induce bidding wars. If you insist on haggling, first of all,mention the negotiable rent in the ad. Then make sure haggling for price is what you actually want to do- forcing tenants to guess how much the place costs and then refusing to budge an inch on the price is not haggling, it's some kind of weird gameshow. If you want people to bid on your home, go through a Realtor or auction house.

Make sure that you're clear on whether the price is by month, by week, or by the night, and that the price in your subject line is the same as the price in the body of your ad.

Tenants search Craigslist by price as well as location. So putting a price close to what you want to rent/sell for in the subject line of your ad can't hurt your chances. Someone might've told you to cast as wide a net as possible by not naming a price, that person was wrong. It only annoys everyone. It either makes them suspect a scam, or they assume that if they have to ask, they can't afford it. Oh, and it screws up their search parameters.

Mention the utilities. They're gonna ask anyway. Also mention any fees for credit checking, especially if they are over $10 and non refundable.

Pets, yes or no: DUH. There are pet people, and then there are non pet people, which one do you want? Better make sure you know and make sure they know too, whether they're allowed pets (and what kind) and whether there are already pets on the property. Man, guy in Candia? I was going to rent your apartment but the fact that you didn't tell me “shared backyard” meant “shared with the neighbor's large and hyperactive dog” was a major deal breaker.

Other requirements for renters: Do you require employment? If you require minimum income levels, then dude, find some legal way to indicate that before the tenant arrives to view the place (and DO NOT pretend these don't exist, you know it, I know it, but not everyone does). Are you age restricted? Subsidized? Section 8 eligible? Does the landlord live on site? Where does the landlord live?

A phone number and/or email address that you have daily access to: If you are worried about posting your private phone number in public, post one that you don't mind strangers having access to. Don't have one of those? Stick to email until after you meet the tenant in person. Worried about giving out your email? Craigslist allows you to “anonymize” your address. The link will appear as a series of random numbers and letters, the other person won't see your real address unless you respond to their email.

And can I make a plea on behalf of everyone? Don't demand that responders only contact you by phone. It's the 21st century and if you don't want email responses, stop posting on the internet For Pete's Sake. Criminy!

Next time: What to do if someone responds to your ad.

2010-08-29T09:22:00.000-07:00

A couple of pictures from a birthday trip to AGP in Natick.

At Hampton Beach State Park, two women on the beach left their food exposed and unattended and this is what they came back to.

I am shocked, I tell you, shocked.

They threw rocks at the birds, because everyone knows birds can tell the difference between when you've left food for them on purpose, and when you're coming back for it and gulls haven't become addicted to scavenging off humans due to generations of humans feeding them.

Kaya tries her hand at being a Traveling Doll

2010-08-02T13:44:00.000-07:00

Kaya visits Columbus, Ohio

(Note: None of the pictures are mine, they were taken by her host, Romperoo, and most of the text was also written by the host family)

I felt a little awkward around the other girls. But I liked Laura.

(This is Laura)

The house I stayed in

I got to go to the Anthony Thomas candy store!
http://www.anthony-thomas.com/

This is called a Buckeye, like the state nut of Ohio. Romperoo explained that Buckeyes are a nut from the official state tree. The nuts have a hard brown casing around them which cracks open and looks like the eye of a deer (buck eye). While you can't eat those nuts, you CAN eat the buckeye candies! They are chocolate coated peanut butter tidbits that are delicious!

This giant version weighs 235 pounds and costs $3500!

How to make a Buckeye (I am going to do this!)
http://candy.about.com/od/fruitnutcandy/r/buckeyes.htm

Jeffers Mound (as it is known today) is prehistoric mound is all that remains of a much larger complex of earthworks that once occupied this site, a dramatic 60-foot bluff overlooking the Olentangy River. The earthworks are believed to have been built by the Hopewell people between 100 BC and AD 400, although archeologists have found signs of human habitation at this site dating back to 8,000 BC.

There were once an estimated 10,000 American Indian mounds and earthworks in the central Ohio Valley. Today, about 1,000 of these ancient landmarks have survived through efforts of private landowners, local, state and federal agencies and conservation groups. Of those sites, only about 73 are open to the general public or visible from public places.

We walked around the mound and tried to find remnants of the remaining earthworks. We all imagined what it would have been like so long ago, before farmers tore up the land and before cars went whizzing by

http://www.worthington.org/about/jeffersmound.cfm

Romperoo has headed out for the day for a girl's scrapbooking getaway with her friends. But before she left, she told us that she was going to come back tonight because... we are going to a Columbus Crew MLS soccer game tonight! I am so excited. I wish I had a vuvuzela!

Wow! That Crew game was so exciting! They won 2-0 and secured the lead in the league. Romperoo's DD had to fill me in on all the details because I had to sit in the car and listen. Bad storms were supposed to come in that night and I did not want to get my freshly braided hair messed up!

This morning, Mr. Romperoo also took us to the Columbus Zoo (but forgot the camera!) to walk through the North American and Polar exhibit. The bison was HUGE!

http://www.thecrew.com/

I still felt awkward and out of place

But I got cheered up when we went to the North Market

We piled in the car and headed downtown today. First we had a stop at the Santa Maria on the Scioto (say "sigh-oh-toe" or "sigh-oh-tuh") River. The ship is a life-size replica and the most accurate replica of the original boat. We could not imagine crossing an ocean with huge waves in this 98' vessel!

http://www.thesantamariaexperiment.iwarp.com/

It is so ridiculously hot and muggy. We are hanging at the pool today. Romperoo told me she is thinking about smuggling in some margaritas for the big people at the pool. Oh, lucky them!

Before the heat and humidity attack us today, we headed over to Highbanks Metro Park for an early morning hike. Romperoo wanted to show me more Native American earthworks and also had a surprise for me, but wasn't going to tell.

The park is huge (1, 159 acres) and incredibly beautiful. There are ancient trees, deep ravines and meadows and you can even play in the shallow areas of the Olentangy River.

We trekked all over the park and stopped to visit two earthworks in the park. Overgrown with vegetation (and having very cloudy skies), the first earthworks that we saw was a little hard to see. The Highbanks Park Earthworks consist of a C-shaped embankment that encloses a tall bluff overlooking the Olentangy River in Delaware County, Ohio. The earthen walls are about 3 feet high and are broken by three openings, or gateways. There is a ditch on the exterior of the wall that originally was 3 feet deep, indicating the ditch was the source of the earth that formed the wall. This embankment and ditch may have served as a defensive wall for a Late Woodland (600 A.D. to 1200 A.D.) or Late Prehistoric (900 A.D. to 1650 A.D.) village of prehistoric Native American people. I was happy to see how this sacred area was being respected by people today.

Try as she might, Romperoo's camera could not take a good picture, so she has added some links to show you what we saw:

http://www.safetgallery.com/MoundPix/MoundFrameset.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highbank_Park_Works

We continued to walk on the trail and observed two deer feasting on some acorns that fell a little early from an oak tree. Romperoo told me that once she saw a litter of fox kits playing in the forest.

Down a slight slope on the path, we came to an observation deck balancing on poles overlooking the Olentangy River. I could hear the hawks screeching overhead and looked up to admire them. Guess what? Those weren't hawks! It was a Bald Eagle! Not too far from the observation deck a pair of eagles had built a nest early this spring (Romperoo saw it before the trees leafed out and reported it was massive). The wingspan on these great birds is impressive. They are so majestic to watch as the fly.

It was hard to leave the area, but we had one more sacred spot to visit. This small mound, known as the Adena Mound, is only a few feet high and about 45 feet in diameter, but was much reduced by plowing when the park was still farmland. Most archeologists believe that because of this mound’s location and general appearance it seems typical of the Adena type of earthwork.

http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1287&nm=Adena-Culture

We also went to the Children's Fountain in the Battelle Riverfront Park. Would you believe that it was under repair? We still got to play on the fantastic bronze sculptures that tell the story of The Pickaweeke and his hound.

Here's the story: The hound drinks from the fountain and is turned to bronze. Pickaweeke goes on an adventure, talking to different animals and mythical beings, trying to help his hound.

The Unicorn sits next to the fountain. Pickaweeke needed to gain the Unicorn's power as part of helping his hound. The unicorn thought he knew everything. Pickaweeke noticed that the Unicorn's horn was very powerful. Pickaweeke pulled out some gum, and found the Unicorn's weakness was taste. He offer the gum to the Unicorn, and the Unicorn started chewing it without question as he knew everything. This caused the Unicorn's mouth to get stuck shut. Pickaweeke offered to help and grabbed the Unicorn's horn to pry its mouth open. As Pickaweeke pulled, he pulled the power out of the Unicorn's horn.

It's my last day here in Columbus - and a hot one. Before the sun got too high, I went out to her gardens one last time. The squash were growing well and the black-eyed susans had come into full bloom.

The hotel I stayed in on Saturday night (for Readercon)

2010-07-16T16:44:00.000-07:00

Readercon

2010-07-11T15:52:00.000-07:00

Went to Readercon, in Burlington, MA. It's a con devoted to SF/F literature- no movies, no tv, no comics. It's a little academic but once you get past the pretentious panel descriptions, not in a way that shuts people out. I went to a "Metaphysics in SF" panel this morning and was able to follow all the physics stuff. Well, when the panelists and audience members enunciated. Because nerds have so much info and opinions in their heads and it all tries to come out at once, and if you're nervous...this can result in long strings of babbling that grow increasingly incoherent.

It's a great old fashioned con, the kind where you can buy cheap day passes and as long as you don't leave and try to get back in, they'll overlook the fact that you've been there all night and didn't pay for a second day. Everything as cheap or free as possible because people come to share ideas, not to be awed by spectacle.

They didn't have an Art/Collectible dealer's room but they did have a large bookstore selling used and antique SF/F books.

On the rack of flyers advertising upcoming cons, discussion groups and new SF books for the fall, I saw a handful of promotional bookmarks for a Donna Andrews mystery. I was briefly surprised until I remembered that the mystery solving couple in the books consists of a SF tv actor and a Ren Faire blacksmith and that one of her mysteries is a very accurate takeoff on SF conventions. She's OoU, I guess?

Burlington itself is suburban Hell. "Mall Road" which the hotel was on, seems to have been designed to prevent first time visitors from ever getting out. It took us 45 minutes to get into the hotel parking lot, even after we found the hotel. But it is one of the easier towns to get to in MA. It takes less than an hour, with no toll roads.

I went to the "Fanfic as Criticism" panel first. Good stuff, about the question of whether fanfiction is a method fans use to critique the author indirectly. My only real quibble was the idea that nobody is writing Temeraire fan fiction because "Naomi Novik doesn't leave any questions unanswered so fan writers don't have a way in" (paraphrased, implication being her books are just that perfect).

No, it's because 1) Not enough people have heard of it, for a number of reasons and 2) she went and got herself involved in fandom politics. Instead of being the impartial, far away entity that most authors are, she has taken sides. So people who don't like the group she's publicly aligned herself with are going to avoid going anywhere near a Naomi Novik book, let alone spend time writing fic for it. They may even resent the author as a person for looking like she endorses some of the stuff going on (or they resent her for having the cake of continuing to write fan fiction under a pen name while also getting to eat the cake of being a real published author, this may strike people as slightly unfair). The issue in question, btw, is perhaps one of the most widely debated and heavily divisive in the entire history of fanfiction. Who you side with matters in a way that little else in fandom ever has.

Knowing that the author is posting fanfiction, even if it's not in her own fandom, may also put people off from doing it. It's harder to be completely honest when you know she's somewhere nearby. And if the biggest fan fic writing fandoms grow up around the most flawed stories, maybe it's not such a great idea to know *so much* about how fan fic writers think?

It's like that story about my aunt and the pizza. "There's nothing to scrape off!"

The guy who asked for recommendations of fan fiction was funny because that's like asking "out of all the possible pairs of shoes in the world, which ones should I buy? And tell me without knowing my size or what I plan to use them for."

We had an early dinner at Fitzwilliam's Pub in the hotel. Very crowded, very noisy, very confused waiters, but interesting atmosphere and good food. They serve their soups with "cheddar planks", which are thin, stiff crackers fried with cheddar cheese. A little salty and peppery though.

The other restaurant in the hotel is called Summer and Winter, run by two gourmet chefs from Maine and seems to specialize in high end salads. My friend warned me it was expensive, and when I looked at the menu posted outside I was like “Yeaaah. Not eating there.” I immediately roll my eyes at anyone who pretends their mayonnaise is "aioli" anyway.

I saw the Kirk Poland Bad Fiction Prize or whatever it's called, and it was hilarious!
But why was there what looked like an eight year old child there? Not only were almost all the passages quite raunchy but it started at 10 pm and let out at 11. Why was that kid even still up for something that can't have interested him? There was an involved joke at the start about how the prize was “John Norman's consciousness” loaded onto both a floppy disk and a reel of computer punch tape. There is no aspect of that joke that kid could have understood.

"Mommy, who is John Norman?"

"He wrote books about a planet where everyone thought it was okay to be really mean to women, and he wasn't a very good writer."

"Mommy, what's punch tape?"

"It's what they used in computers when your grandparents were teenagers. A floppy disk is what they used in computers when I was in middle school."

"Mommy, why is that funny?"

"It's funny because those are prizes no one wants...It's getting a little late for you, isn't it, honey?"

I went to Get Lamp: A Text Adventure Documentary after. The filmmaker wears a porkpie hat but let's not hold that against him. It was interesting, and tugged at the heart strings a little. The movie, I mean, not his hat. It's the story of Infocom and text adventure games. Which I have never played, but the human aspect was fascinating. Apparently they are very popular with the visually impaired, which makes an amazing amount of DUH sense.

The academics and business people interviewed are able to look people in the eye, but a lot of the computer programmers seemed unable to look directly at the camera. Could be common neurological afflictions of the type found in nerdery, or just that if you spend your life on a computer, you don't know where to look when you're not in front of a computer.

I am not disrespecting the film at all when I say I'd love to see Christopher Guest do a takeoff on it. Much like Jason Scott (the filmmaker), he specializes in filming stories about small groups of awkward people obsessed with things the rest of the world doesn't understand or care about and making you root for them because of it. They're mockumentaries, but done with such attention to detail. There was a woman interviewed named Mary Ann Buckles who looked like, and had the exact same mannerisms as a brunette Meryl Streep. Same delighted laugh and everything. I also saw a Steve Martin, a Bill Murray, a Judah Friedlander and a Geoffrey Palmer. I'm sure parts could be found for his favorite go to actors Eugene Levy and Parker Posey.

Eating Out: Wilbur's Family Diner

2010-07-06T20:48:00.000-07:00

Wilbur's Family Diner in North Hampton is...strange. One the one hand, it's your classic old fashioned diner. It serves classic diner food like cheeseburgers, grilled cheese, thick, classic cut french fries, and an extensive all day classic breakfast menu for worryingly reasonable prices. On the other hand, it all feels like they just set it up, even though it has been in the same spot for twenty years. Like a random office where someone just put tables in and started serving food.

Service was quicker than most places I've eaten lately and I think we got our money's worth.

L&C pt 2

2010-07-04T10:47:00.001-07:00

Lexington and Concord Slideshow pt1 (with Miss Felicity Merriman)

2010-07-04T09:57:00.000-07:00

2010-06-22T21:15:00.000-07:00

This site contains information on the Abenaki

I've been wanting to have more details for Kaya's background (I want a specific location for her family). There are some interesting facts there. I'm glad the population is back up from 1,000 to 12,000 (according to this paper) but their case (aside from three Maine groups) for being considered a federally recognized tribe has been pending since 1982?

this is a simplified, kid oriented version with pictures.

Contests and Counterfeits

2010-06-21T12:59:00.000-07:00

Construction on The Marine Memorial Bathhouse

A boat race. I didn't see who won, or even who was sponsoring it though.

Sand Sculpting Contest

CANDY!

Knockoffs.

A store called "Deja Vu". I think the store name is meant to imply that they sell
designer imposters.

Portsmouth Elf Display

2010-06-20T16:11:00.000-07:00

In Prescott Park's "All American" flower garden, there is a display that seems to consist of various people's interpretations of fairies and elves. How many characters can you spot?

Another thing I saw while I was wandering around the park at an absurdly early hour, by myself. A lobster boat.

2010-06-20T15:59:00.000-07:00

Sets for Prescott Park's summer theater

A wedding and bugs

2010-05-24T11:08:00.001-07:00

A lovely outdoor wedding on the patio of the Ashworth.

And then, an invasion of disgusting bugs! All those brown spots are the bugs. There were also little brown spiders crawling on the pavement. This was...a few days ago, just after all that rain. They were crawling all down the North Beach seawall.

Northeastern Surfing Championship: Ladies Longboard

2010-05-22T18:21:00.000-07:00

Okay, some pictures of guys ended up in here too, and one of the pics is not even from the competition. It was supposed to start at 7:20, but...surfers are apparently not known for their punctuality. I wasn't feeling very well, so I very nearly passed out waiting, which is why I didn't stay for more than the first heat.

I've never seen a surf competition before. I think it would've been great if it had been held somewhere people could sit down while they were watching.

Nuns on the Beach

2010-05-18T19:04:00.000-07:00

2010-05-12T11:40:00.000-07:00

Eating Out: The Beach Plum

2010-05-11T14:17:00.000-07:00

It's won a couple consecutive awards for "Number 1 Ice Cream On the Seacoast" so I was intrigued to see if it lived up to that.

I was certainly...not the only one interested. The open air, cottage style ice cream stand across from Jennes Beach was packed on the Saturday night I stopped by. Nowhere to park, nowhere to sit, and a very long line. The atmosphere was fairly convivial though and it's much nicer to sit on the sea wall than on some boring picnic table.

Prices were very reasonable, especially for the amount of ice cream you get (like any good ice cream place, order the small or "kiddie" size, the medium and large will be too much to handle). There are what looks like more than fifty flavors of ice cream, and several more of frozen yogurt, as well as seafood, hamburgers and hot dogs.

As far as the actual ice cream goes...it was great but I'm confused as to how it can be voted "best ice cream" when about a quarter of the flavors are the Gifford's brand, a collection of ice cream flavors manufactured in Maine and distributed to several restaurants, including ones as far north as Berlin. There are local ice cream shops that make all their own flavors.

But you can't beat the atmosphere, so I suppose that counts.

Eating Out: Seabrook: Tripoli's

2010-05-06T17:29:00.000-07:00

Tripoli's is a classic takeout pizza place on Seabrook Beach near the Salisbury border. We'd been meaning to try this one for awhile.

My sister didn't like the square shape, because it reminds her of school cafeteria pizza. Although I remember the high school switching to triangular pizza slices, the minuscule square of pizza was definitely a staple throughout elementary and middle school.

It's definitely cheap food. There aren't many places on the beach (or in town) where you can get a slice of pizza for under two dollars. If you are down to buying food with spare change, it may not matter if the pizza doesn't exactly blow your mind. You're just paying what it's worth, which is a rare thing in boardwalk food. It's perfectly okay two dollar a slice pizza. And they have a dessert counter with plenty of delicious looking desserts (canoli!) and they also sell frozen pizza slices- their own, which is at least bound to be better than most of the frozen pizza I'm used to.

Plus, service is fast, clean and efficient, there's enough parking, picnic tables, and the business seems to have been around awhile so you can trust it. It's also open almost year round, and there aren't many places in this neighborhood where you can get fresh pizza year round for two dollars a slice.

Oh, and there's an ice cream stand next door.

2010-05-03T16:34:00.001-07:00

The Menu

More of the peacock made out of food (too cool to downsize!)

SCA, Spring's Inspiration, Elliot, Maine

2010-05-03T12:28:00.000-07:00

A blankmanger

This is a peacock made out of food!

Roast Rabbit

UR Doing it wrong

2010-05-01T20:40:00.001-07:00

Road Race

2010-04-01T15:13:00.001-07:00

The sponsors

This woman from Rhode Island came in about third or fourth- walking

Liz Turner had the fastest time for the women

The winner, I think. Going so fast I didn't have much of a chance to shoot him.

Beach Themed Things

2010-03-28T11:39:00.000-07:00

After the storm.

During the storm, a building on the boardwalk caught fire. It spread rapidly because of the high winds, and ended up wiping out the entire building. This building was home to Mrs. Mitchell's (a popular and longstanding gift shop), the waterfront branch of Hearts and Crafts (its downtown Hampton store is still open)and a large candy store known for its huge bins of every kind of saltwater taffy imaginable. There was also a small cafe and several apartments on the upper levels. The building itself has been around since the 50s.

(adjacent building badly scarred by the heat)

(you can see my old apartment building behind it)

And for major mood whiplash, a colorful kite festival!

Why not to feed the sheep? Deerfield Fair 2009 pt 2

2010-02-17T11:08:00.000-08:00

Deerfield Fair 2009 pt 1

2010-02-16T06:58:00.000-08:00

(the people in this one have some pretty amusing expressions on their faces but if you can't see their faces I feel less
bad about taking pictures of them without their permission)

2010-01-28T09:09:00.000-08:00

2010-01-09T08:33:00.000-08:00

It occurred to me that I should decide whether I want to take this seriously or not. Like, start editing my posts and also, you know, post all those reviews and photos I didn't post while I was in my Funk.

Boston, NYE 2009

2010-01-03T12:53:00.000-08:00

Soon, I won't have to complain about housing for awhile, since I found an apartment. Frankly, I feel a little weird about the whole thing now, considering I solved my own problem with no help from anyone, so I'm not sure what the point of blogging about it was. Except at that at least someone said how they felt and put it out there.

Anyway. Went to First Night Boston with my sister. We wanted to go on the harbor cruise, but it sold out when we were twenty five people away from the ticket booth. I thought there was going to be some kind of riot! Maybe next time, they could think about getting a second boat? I'm also wondering if First Night buttons are a bit of a ripoff?

We went to the Hynes Convention Center instead, where she went to poetry slams and I watched a dance troupe. But all the food was gone by the time we got there. I shot some video of the dancers, but I need to get it into an editing program to cut out the parts where idiots kept walking in front of my camera.

The uh...Federal Reserve? Or something

Observation room at Rowe's Warf

Urbanity Dance

Boston street view, from really high up, behind a window

Eating Out: Joe Kelly Pizza Update

2009-12-10T09:56:00.000-08:00

Joe Kelly has apparently sold his pizza place. Speaking of things owned by horrible people that are now under new management.

The house in yesterday's snowstorm.

2009-11-18T19:50:00.000-08:00

Thread on Social Anxiety Disorder

Really informative and accurate.

Mia and Kaya at the Goodrich site

2009-11-05T14:35:00.000-08:00

To Be Continued on the Doll Blog.

Why Is My Craigslist Ad Unsuccessful?: A Tutorial

2009-10-29T09:40:00.000-07:00

So you've posted an ad for a product or service on Craiglist, but so far either no one has responded or only the "wrong" sort of person has, or it's just in some other way failing to work out.

Rather than sit around complaining about how stupid all these people are for failing to want your product or service, or about how stupid and/or crazy they are for thinking they could have your product or service when they clearly shouldn't have even hoped, perhaps you ought to consider whether it has something to do with your ad or method of dealing with the people who respond to it?

1) Is Your Ad Posted in the Right Section?

Apparently it's not as clear as you'd think that an ad for a boat should go in the boats section, or that people looking for housing in Maine are more likely to check the Maine category than they are the Florida one.

2) Is All The Information Present, Accurate, and Clear?

Customers search by price and location, even people who don't tend to use the search box glance quickly at the ads as they scroll past, looking for those two facts, the price and the location. A customer is not going to contact you about buying or renting if they have no idea what you intend to charge. Imagine your ad is a shop. When a customer comes in and sees that there are no price tags on anything, they'll assume one of three things, 1) that the items are the same price as they are usually in other shops, 2) that the shop owner is disorganized and imcompetant, or 3) that it's one of those "if you have to ask, you can't afford it" places. Either way, you're just confusing people and you need to cooperate with them, no matter how much you, for whatever bloody stupid reason, do not want to tell them the price.

Location is pretty important too. Have you been as specific as possible about the location of the item, home or service? If a customer doesn't know where you are, they're not going to respond to the ad. Yes, we know which state you're in, we know because we clicked on that category on the main page, but what *town* is it in? No, don't give me that vague "____area", surely you know which town your item, home or service is in? Otherwise I might be tempted to think you're one of those scammers who drives past a house, snaps a picture of it, uploads the pic to Craigslist and then tries to sell a house they don't own, while charging a hefty fee.

In fact, including your exact address saves everyone a lot of time. You're trying to engage a potential tenant or customer, not recruiting spies for the CIA, your tenant or customer doesn't need to be tested to see if they're smart enough to figure out where you live all on their own.

I know everyone's worried about security, especially after the Craiglist Killer thing but your customers or potential tenants are not interested in playing games either.

If you have a minimum income requirement, or an application fee, mention that before the tenant fills out any paperwork-preferably before they even get in their car to come see the place because believe me, they will be TICKED OFF if they come all the way over there only to discover they either don't qualify or are being asked to pay a fee to apply. Never, ever, EVER assume they already knew that. Never EVER EVER assume they already know *anything* or that they will ask the right questions (of course, some landlords prefer that tenants not ask too many questions but if there is something your potential tenant needs to know in order to decide if they want to rent from you do not assume they'll know to ask).

In a roommate situation, this includes the number of bathrooms, gender of roommates, and whether or not they have pets.

3) Are You Accessible?

If you don't want to leave an email address, leave a phone number. But in either case, make sure it is an email address or phone number that you check or answer every day, EVEN ON WEEKENDS. One couple I just tried to rent from, the husband would only communicate with me through email, while the wife would only communicate by phone and neither seemed to communicate with the other.

I've dealt with several landlords who clearly disliked dealing with people by email. I wonder, then, what led them to start posting their ads online? The internet is not just a cheap source of advertising, you know. Don't sign up for an internet message board in order to sell a product or rent a home, include an email address in your ad and then refuse to deal with customers by email.

If I wanted to talk to you on the phone, I'd have called you on the phone. It's the 21st century, deal with it.

4) Did you include large, clear and well lit pictures of both the inside and the outside of your item or home?

We live in the age of easily accessible digital photography. You can snap a picture and have it uploaded to the internet in a couple of hours. Or if you can't, get someone who can but don't expect people to buy a product they can't see clearly or at all. A poorly lit, upside down shot of your staircase is very interesting but it doesn't make me wanna rent from you.

And for Heaven's Sake, make sure your item or home is as clean and well presented as possible when you do take the photo.

5) Is Your Ad Written In Coherent, Grownup English?

With proper spelling, punctuation, capitalization without CAPSLOCKing all over, correct paragraph breaks and a minimum of teen slang and/or exclamation points?

6) How Do You Treat Ad Respondents When Contacted?

Do You:

A) Wait three to four days to respond to an email, or more than 24 hours to return a phone call?

B) Provide confusing instructions or unspoken but confusing protocol? Such as requiring ad respondents to email one person and talk on the phone to another? Withhold information from tenants who do not conduct their interviews the way you'd like them to? ("No, you can't take the application home with you, because I never get them back").

C) Are you rude, obnoxious, overly nosy? Have you ridiculed a potential tenant or customer for asking a question you thought was a stupid one? If a customer says they're on disability, did you laugh at them and demand to know what kind? If a potential tenant calls up and and asks to speak to you, giving their name, did you rudely snap "Who are you again?"

Did you lie about the place you're trying to rent, misrepresenting the size, state of repair,neighborhood or price? Are you and the person you posted the ad for in agreement on the price? Technically, I believe that a written agreement trumps a verbal one, so the price listed in the ad IS the price, not the one quoted by someone else later.

Did you talk down to the tenant because of their age, gender, or the sound of their voice on the phone?

Do you make a habit of conducting other business while dealing with a potential tenant, such as fighting with your children while on the phone?

Did you answer the phone in a way that makes the tenant suspect you are drunk?

Did you show up late? Did you fail to show up at all? If so, did you refuse to admit you were the one who had the wrong time?

Can you speak English well enough to communicate with a tenant?

Do you refuse to tell tenants things, like your address, for whatever bizarre reason of your own and then wonder why they never showed up for the appointment?

Do you engage in moronic headgames with tenants?

Do you not answer phone calls or emails?

Did you act as if basically dealing with tenants is something you are less than thrilled to be doing, as if you're actively attempting to keep people from renting the apartment? Act like you're doing them a favor?

Is your house, apartment, car, or other item overpriced? The flip side to the capitalist idea of having the right to charge whatever you want is that customers also have the right to refuse to pay what you're asking.

D) Did you make sure the place is cleaned and repaired before showing it? If you're remodeling, wait til that's *done* before inviting strangers to offer money to live there.

E) Have you been discriminating based on age, gender, orientation, race, religion, familial status, disability or source of income?

You might not *think* you are, but that doesn't mean you aren't. Sometimes it's better not to pass up a sure thing in favor of some non existent ideal tenant who hasn't shown up yet... I've found a lot of landlords and/or roommates want this perfect person, and do not want any indication that someone lives in the place/lives with them, let alone anyone not one hundred percent perfectly normal.

No matter how hard a person tries, they're going to leave evidence that a human being is living there. That's what *happens* when you're a roommate or when you allow another person to rent out your apartment.

Haunted Hikes of NH

2009-10-14T18:11:00.000-07:00

I attended a lecture on Tuesday at the Hampstead Public Library. The guest speaker was Marianne O'Connor, author of Haunted Hikes of New Hampshire. I've read the book, so I was really interested to see what else she had to say.

Different crowd than when I went to see the Jackie Kennedy impersonator (the attendees there were all middle aged to elderly middle class white women), this audience had a lot more men and tween boys in it.

She used Powerpoint, with sound effects, showing us photos of the various places she's investigated. It was a lot of fun, I heard some more about the stories I remembered from the book (and other books I've read on the subject) as well as a couple of new things.

I wished there was more, though. It seemed to be over too soon (even if I was so tired I nearly fell asleep twice).

I would love to go on more "haunted hikes" if I had the energy and felt better more often.

Deerfield MA: Yankee Candle Factory Outlet

2009-09-20T15:02:00.000-07:00

It's about two hours from Concord, NH, which makes it...a bit further from my house. And you have to cross into Vermont first. But it's a nice, scenic ride at least and there are no toll booths.

Boy is this place popular. Finding parking was a challenge.

It's basically a big mall that sells holiday decorations, locally made crafts/gourmet condiments and candles. There are several departments throught the building, "Yankee Candle Toy", "Yankee Candle Home" (with separate kitchen shop), "The General Store", "The Black Forest", "The Nutcracker Castle", "Kringle Market" and the Candle Emporium. There's also a horse drawn wagon ride, and a high end restaurant. Supposedly there's a museum with candle making demonstrations but I saw no demonstratons and the museum was undewhelming. The restuarant was too expensive for us, so we ate in the Food Court.

Don't do that. It's overpriced. My aunt's sandwhich and water were $9. My nachos were a pile of chips, a tiny plastic tub of what is probably generic storebought salsa, and a tiny plastic tub of cheap melted cheese sauce. Apparently, in addition to paying more for it than we should have had to pay, I was required to assemble my own lunch. The cheese was cold by the time I finished drenching my chips with it.

However, refills for your drinks are free, so you could get a shopping cart, set the drink down in the front basket, and when it's empty, go back and refill it for free.

And as for food, I mean, just eat a real meal somewhere cheaper and then snack on the lucious popcorn and fudge options.

What I noticed most were all the thoughtful little details around the store. It starts with the long, wraparound wooden porch, which is draped in flowers and leaves. The ceiling in the "Black Forest" occasionally spits big drifts of fake snow. Everyone who noticed would stop and watch excitedly. A tiny train zips around the complex on a track above the heads of customers.

There is an animatronic band called "The Candle Mountain Boys". I don't know how I feel about that. But I did love the Black Forest. I have this thing...I really enjoy a nice indoor forest. I tried to get at least one picture of the ceiling, with the lighted canopy of evergreen but the camera just didn't want to cooperate.

The Nutcracker Castle. For one thing, there's a moat with running water. But the Nutcrackers themselves-that industry/art form has really taken off, for better or worse. You can get a Nutcracker of almost anything now, and about half of the options were in that castle.

And speaking of thoughtful little details, the staff there are amazingly polite and helpful, which cannot be easy to do when you spend all day in a year round equivalent to Christmas at the Mall.

The home decor store is not that special. There's a whole lot of Vera Bradley, Bakegarde, etc, which you can get in any high end gift or home decor shop in New England.

The candle store though...is everything you'd want in a candle store. They have every single Yankee Candle scent currently available, plus exclusives and they have them in all the forms (tea light, tart, votive, small jar, medium jar, large jar), as well as their new soy candles, reed diffusers, and "Simply Home" line (although I can't figure out what makes "Simply Home" different from the normal ones). If you can't find the scent you want in the main emporium, it's somewhere in the building.

I'd wanted to go and get one of those custom candles, the ones where you choose your color, scent, and mold (you can even get one shaped like your own hand) but I remembered about the sales tax and wanted to make sure I'd even have enough money.
But the line for the registers was so long I did not want to leave it once I got in, and I didn't want to go back through once I got out. There's a row of cashiers in one room- you don't pay for separate stuff in separate departments.

On the one hand, this is good because you can wander about the entire store without having to stop and pay before leaving each department, but it not only makes for a depressingly long line at the checkout area but it also means you have to really
work to keep track of what you're spending. I think they *want* you to lose track.

It's why the food court and bathrooms are buried deep in the middle of the store and you have to go through at least one other department to reach the candles.

I bought two cases of 12 mix and match candles.

Christmas on the Beach
Holiday Home Sweet Home
Frosted Cedar Wreath
Moonlight Harvest
Eggnog
Mulling Spices
Mulled Wine
Fresh Water
Holiday Bayberry

"Fresh Water" is a new favorite of mine. It actually smells...like water. you wouldn't think water had a smell, not good water anyway but it smells like water. It's a trick perfumers often use, Yankee Candle has a few "aquatic" scents (Spring Rain, Mountain Lake, Ocean Water, Coming Storm among them) and so does BPAL.

"Moonlight Harvest" is some type of outlet store exclusive. I LOVE it. I would've filled a whole case with it if I'd found the votives before I found the other scents. It's like Midsummer Night with a lot of fruit underneath.

"Holiday Home Sweet Home" is "Home Sweet Home" all winter-holidayed up.

"Christmas on the Beach" has a coconutty undertone, I just like the idea of Christmas on the beach and wish I could do it again.

2009-09-15T15:57:00.000-07:00

Bob Wilson on "Roadside Stories" spent an episode with this potter from Alaska, and she was totally coming on to him the entire time. It was uncomfortable to watch.

the Mahrajan at Our Lady of the Cedars

2009-08-17T07:59:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, I visited the "Mahrajan" or Arabic Festival, put on by the Our Lady of the Cedars parish in Manchester. They are a heavily Greek and Lebanese congregation, but they also got the occasional Muslim wandering by to see what was going on.

I LOVED the music provided by professional DJs "Main Event", although I don't know where I'll find it again since I don't know the names of the groups or the titles of the songs. Dancing was scheduled for later but we had places to go and things to do so we couldn't stick around for it.

There were animals to pet

And tents of things to buy and eat

Hookah pipes of various sizes, style and quality were for sale.

This is a sampling of Greek and Lebanese treats, such as garibedes (?), baklava, and others. It was really, really good. There was also a free wine tasting, offering samples of Greek and Israeli wines, which were also available for $4 a glass at the drinks tent.

Kaya explores The Lakes Region pt1

2009-07-20T17:32:00.000-07:00

2009-07-20T16:09:00.000-07:00

Claremont and Newport

2009-07-19T10:57:00.000-07:00

Dover

2009-07-11T10:52:00.000-07:00

This mural in Dover covers the entire side of one building, a music store in the center part of town. It depicts several typical turn of the century Dover scenes.

Dover is an old factory city, and there are lots of old, well, factories around. I took three of this one simply to play with my zoom lense, which I love doing. Sometimes I'll take pictures of random stuff really far away just to show off how awesome my zoom lense is.
I was about two blocks away, maybe three, when I shot this.

The town trolley

Policepersons on horses!

Onway Lake

2009-07-06T15:17:00.000-07:00

That's not Onway, that's just something I saw on a backroad that I thought looked cool. I have a better version, but I'm saving it-I made a folder of what I think are my most awesomest pictures ever, and I'll be doing something else with those.

Anyway, Onway Lake is in Raymond, and used to function as the free Town Beach. My sister and I took our swimming lessons there.

It had a leech problem. I used to see the Lifeguard going out to sprinkle salt in the water.

Classes would swim out to this free floating dock and then jump off it, the goal for the littler kids was to grab onto your boogie board as you landed in the water. OF COURSE I didn't make it, and remember clearly and horrible, sinking under that murky water. The dock is gone now, but this picture shows aproximately where it used to be.

It is now a public boat launch, not a swimming beach.

2009-07-04T10:45:00.000-07:00

More Fuller Gardens

2009-07-03T17:41:00.000-07:00

Misty mountain type things- Deerfield, Manchester, Nottingham

2009-07-02T19:27:00.000-07:00

2009-07-01T18:24:00.000-07:00

I took this on a back road in Nottingham (well, isn't Nottingham *all* back roads?)

A Filk: My Attempts to Visit AGP Boston

2009-06-15T19:49:00.000-07:00

Feel free to imagine someone is playing a ukele.

To the tune of "Margaritaville" by Jimmy Buffet, which I swear I heard five times today.

Didn't wanna pay shipping
I went day tripping
To American Girl Place to get the new doll
Had to run gauntlet
Of a huge Neiman Marcus
Michael Kors, Kate Spade and Louis Vuitton

Chorus:
Yes, I'm taking a trip to the Natick Mall
Going to buy me a Rebecca doll
And it's a pain to drive 495 in the rain
But oh yeah, I'd do that for a doll

Two fifty in tolls
And running the EZPass
I bet that's gonna come back to haunt me
Four dollars in Sales Tax
I must be on crack
This saved me no money at all

Chorus:
Yes, I'm taking a trip to the Natick Mall
Going to buy me a Rebecca doll
And it's a pain to drive 495 in the rain
Now I think
Too much to do for a doll?

Wrong eXit through Lowell
Went back home through Haverhill
Stalled out on that big hill downtown
And now I'm in Epping
%&#(@ Epping
I was supposed to come out in Manchester

Yes, I'm taking a trip to the Natick Mall
Going to buy me a Rebecca doll
And it's a pain to drive 495 in the rain
But it's too much to do for a doll
And it's a pain to drive 495 in the rain
But it's too much to do for a doll

Kaya takes you to Lake Massabesic

2009-06-11T17:21:00.000-07:00

Fuller Gardens: A Plethora of Cacti

2009-06-09T14:48:00.000-07:00

A Greenhouse Full of Cacti

those look like roses but they're not, they're cacti. Isn't that cool?

The leaves on this plant were so huge I didn't know any other way to get it all into the frame

Rebooted Children's Museum is disappointing

2009-06-06T16:23:00.000-07:00

First, a few American Girl doll pictures. Since I figured it'd be better to keep this blog single themed, I opened a new one just for doll pictures.

Anyway

On Friday I went to visit the new location of the Children's Museum, because my mother was doing a story on it.

I LOVED the old version, but this new one, situated in a snazzy brick building in downtown Dover, I'm not all that enamored of.

Now, maybe that's because even someone as childish as I am is still too old to get very excited about equipment I can't and shouldn't, be using even if I wanted to. Not having brought a child with me anyway, all I could do was walk around going "well, that's new and interesting". But I was not impressed anyway. It starts with the fact that unlike Portmouth's easy and picturesque Park adjacent version, Dover's stupid and inefficient traffic setup means you're already cranky by the time you manage to actually get into the parking lot. I can't imagine what that'd be like with an overtired/over hyper child under the age of eight, especially when you get to the part where you try to get *out* of the parking lot after.

And the inside, well, it's just not the same. There are a couple of new, cool things like a "train car" and a weaving station (complete with examples of Victorian textile factory spools) but aside from one extremely awesome exhibit, it was all pretty disappointing.

The old version...maybe I was just more easily entertained back then but it had a different feel. The museum was housed in an old schoolhouse, complete with bell tower, rising up on a hill in the Historic Dockside of Portsmouth, just down the street from Strawberry Banke. It was such an airy building, for a start. The ceiling was epically high, the windows were huge and let in an extrordinary amount of light. The background colors were largely white and blue, with a touch of seafoam green. The rooms were huge too-at least the way I remember them but bear in mind the last time I was there I think I was twelve. The rooms were big enough-there were about three large exhibit areas- that you could find a quiet corner, lay down on some fish shaped pillows and just relax.

The exhibits rarely changed, but that's okay because they were *great*. Not "Boston Children's Museum Giant Dollhouse/Teen Tokyo" great but for the budget you could expect they had, the exhibits were pretty cool.

The exhibits at the old one included:

A child sized "spaceship". You could climb up inside all on your own and do pretend space missions.
Baba Yaga's House in child sized form (they had a lot of Russian stuff back then for some reason, and it's all gone now)
A wooden "post office", the old fashioned kind
An old fashioned telephone operator's system
A gigantic "submarine" structure, which was the crown jewel of the entire building. This was almost two stories high, and contained three or four small rooms, including an engine room with a periscope, and a set of Navy style bunks built into the walls. It was probably one of the greatest pieces of indoor playground equipment I've ever seen.

Maybe these things were too much to maintain. It's always possible they were too expensive and difficult to move to the new place. Or maybe they were exhibits seen as too out of date and not relevent to newer generations. But I hate the fact that I wish there was a museum for old museums. The only thing that survived the move was the "Post office" set up, lame "Dino Detective" alcove and the "Four Seasons" masks on the walls.

There's a new submarine set, but it's smaller and more open-you can't play out elaborate seafaring adventure fantasies and you certainly can't hide in there or anything (par for the course in the Helicopter Parenting Era, there's hardly a single place in the exhibits where a child will be out of sight of their parents and none of the children were playing unattended- when I used to go to the old one I can't remember any time when either of my parents actually followed me around to the different play stations, my mother might as well have not even *been* there-if I was a child right now, growing up in that environment, I'd probably snap and do something desperate).

ETA: I thought about it, and realized that this might be the point. Maybe it was deliberately designed so children could be easily kept in view at all times for safety reasons. It's just that if you're actually a kid, this is a bug, not a feature.

I'm trying not to begrudge them obliterating a childhood memory of mine, but it's not easy. I hate change. HATE IT HATE IT HATE IT.

It's like someone gave my favorite doll away to a bratty younger relative. They've even changed over from an ocean theme to a Cocheco River theme.

The one good new exhibit is located in the far corner of the second floor. It's a "castle" room, with a faux fireplace and a tiny throne. There are clear windows done in a series of triangle patterns, and underneath there are piles of colored clear gel "stained glass" pieces that you can stick to the windows in various patterns. It's the only spiritual successor to The Glorious Submarine.

And since I rate all museums on some level by their giftshops, I need to say this giftshop is LAME WITH A CAPITOL L.

Long awaited Sheep and Wool Festival pics

2009-05-27T18:37:00.000-07:00

Horsies!

2009-05-27T18:09:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day Fireworks 2009, Hampton

2009-05-27T17:47:00.000-07:00

2009-05-09T19:17:00.000-07:00

Ellowyne Wilde in "Her Secret Garden".

pt1
pt2

ETA: Even though I showed those pics to two people before posting, no one alerted me to the fact that my camera, part of my shirt, and my hand are all visible in the mirror in the last pic.

I will have pictures from the Sheep and Wool Festival soon. It was pretty good, although there were fewer vendors this year. I *definitely* reccomend you eat beforehand or bring a picnic lunch, because they don't have much of a selection of food vendors, especially for those who want a full meal but don't eat meat.

Sunsets

2009-05-08T18:44:00.000-07:00

The last of my winter pictures

2009-05-03T06:31:00.000-07:00

I've moved my non New Hampshire related doll photography to another site, Voyage of the Doll Treader. Watch that one for interesting developments.

The Wentworth By the Sea and other Newcastle shots. I had planned to go to Fort Constitution as well but I can never actually find it, and then the batteries in my camera died anyway.

To learn more about the Wentworth, you can go here

JFK: Man and Myth

2009-04-13T13:28:00.000-07:00

I went to The Kennedy Library and Museum, in South Boston on Sunday to see Garrison Keillor. That event was unfortunately cancelled three weeks ago, even though I never got an email about it. But admission was free anyway, so we decided to do the tour.

There are always so many people from all over the world who come to the Library, it's really amazing.

The tour begins with a 17 minute documentary film, partially narrated by JFK himself. In the first scene,he's talking about the problem with mythology. But this whole documentary is based on the JFK Myth and you can clearly see from the first few minutes of the film that he owes a lot to mythology. The Kennedys as a family got their earliest and biggest breaks using the "fake it til you make it" philosophy.

Family patriarch Joseph P Kennedy is the man who is famous for saying "It's not what you are that counts, it's what people think you are."

I'm thinking about the ways the Kennedy Mythology affected their lives and the lives of the people around them. In the film, he claims his dad was a "strong authority figure" but anyone who knows about the Kennedys knows Joe Senior was a frequently absent philanderer who encouraged the children to run wild and that Rose was the actual authority figure. We also know that Jack's first book was a borderline plagiarized vanity production. He was a playboy who had a repuation for not applying himself academically until college. Joe Senior strongly encouraged the UK to appease Hitler, which contributed to WW2 starting, a war in which he ended up losing his eldest son, and it left his second eldest son with a lifelong physical disability. Jack himself wasn't an especially religious man, and yet he ended up a hero to millions of American Catholics. We still don't know why he was killed, but a person's theories about it tell you more about how they saw him than anything.

For whatever reason he was actually murdered, every theory is consistent on one thing- he was killed because his murderer didn't approve of the direction his presidency was headed in.

See, I don't think JFK planned on being a hero, or in changing the world with his administration. I think he just kept stumbling into situations where people needed a hero and expected him to play that role. And since he was a really good actor, he tried to live up to their expectations until he turned into the person they wanted him to be. You can see the difference in the many films available at the museum, which are arranged in chronological order so you can observe the changes in his focus. He starts out rather, as my sister put it, "obsessed with Communism"* and ended his life with a reputation as one of the most Pinko Liberal presidents we've ever had.

When asked how he found the courage to be a war hero, he said "I had to, they sank my boat." Above all else, Jack was pragmatic. He didn't set out to be anyone's hero, but when thrust into situations where something needed fixing, he couldn't not try to fix it. The violent racial discrimination of the 50s and 60s not only wasn't right, but to Jack, it also wasn't right because it made no sense, it was a stupid, silly, impractical way to run a country. He saw his job as president was to keep order and keep the country running efficiently by protecting the constitutional rights of all Americans. What was happening was illegal, and the president of the United States is not supposed to allow American citizens to openly flout the law by violating the constitutional rights of millions of other Americans like that.

Funnily enough, there were too many people in the country who did not regard it as a matter of logic versus non logic or The Law versus Not The Law. They heard "Kennedy says state schools recieving federal funds must, by law, admit everyone regardless of skin color and all American citizens must be allowed to vote regardless of skin color" and went absolutely NUTS. The more his enemies built him up into this Liberal Bogeyman, the more he wanted to live up to the heroic image his supporters had of him. So he becomes one of the heroes of the Civil Rights Movement just by attempting to do what any decent human being should've done in that position.

Because he did that, he inspired millions of people all over the world to think "JFK wouldn't stand by and let this happen, if he can do it, *I* can do it!" And they're still being inspired by him to make the world a better place, more than any president we've had since. Even Obama counts JFK as an inspiration. Of course, the person most inspired of all by JFK was Bobby Kennedy, who, as you know if you know anything about me, is my Political Hero. Bobby helped create and maintain the Jack Mythology, largely because he carried out all the practical aspects of it since people needed to like Jack and didn't need to like him. Bobby took it seriously, and all those other people started taking Bobby seriously, and all this amazing change came out of that. Not only in himself (he started his career working for Joseph McCarthy and ended up being accused of Communism himself) but the whole world is different now, from huge things like the Peace Corps, better conditions for the poor, and full rights for blacks and Hispanics, to little things like no more cigarrette ads on television.

Conservatives seem to look on the Kennedys with extreme dislike at best. During the previous election I heard neocons complaining with horror in their voices about "liberals like Ted Kennedy" , as if he were Abby Hoffman or something. I mean, how disgusting is that, that all you have to do to earn the scorn and horror of conservatives is to be someone who advocates basic humanity? But also, it shows how strong the Kennedy Mythology is, since his mere presence on this mortal plane bugs a certain class of person. It's not anything he's done, it's all the things people are afraid he *might* do, like his job, which is to make life better for the people he represents.

**it was an era when paranoia about Communism was everywhere because of the Cuban Revolution and no US president since then has successfully managed to avoid being bullied into denouncing our Marxist neighbors regardless of what monumentally stupid foreign policy it is to do so.

American Girls in The Valley Cemetary, Manchester, Easter Weekend

2009-04-11T17:38:00.000-07:00

The Backstory: Samantha and Nellie are both orphans in 1906. Nellie's parents died of a disease when she was nine, and Samantha's parents died in a boating accident when she was a toddler.

Nellie's faux pearl rosary was provided by the awesome Doll Clothes Sew Beautiful. I can't remember who made Samantha's dress but it's also from Ebay. My sister provided the flowers, from an arrangement she was given while she was in the hospital.

Eating Out: The Bratzkeller

2009-04-09T20:49:00.001-07:00

The Dinnerhorn/Bratzkeller is a restaurant on Route 1/Lafayette that is very popular and frequently hyped. So I wasn't really sure if it'd live up to the high expectations I felt I was supposed to have.

But you know, it did. The waitstaff was really nice and helpful. The Bratzkeller is a pub, but their private label sodas are just as good. And their pizza is...I think it lives up to its reputation, I ordered a ten inch onions and green peppers and I wish I had some more.

The decor is a bit "rich guy's gameroom if he liked English pubs" but not in a way that's really bothersome. I'd also wonder why they built next to the water but didn't arrange for better water views, but it's no big deal.

The prices seem reasonable, competitive with the type of restaurant it is.

A few Portsmouth pics from the fall

2009-04-06T09:15:00.000-07:00

This poor tourist couple looks *exhausted*

Newfields church

2009-03-31T19:42:00.000-07:00

Newfields church

Exeter: Houses

2009-03-31T19:40:00.000-07:00

More Swasey Parkway

2009-03-24T15:11:00.000-07:00

a few fall themed American Girl pics (and one Narnia doll)

2009-03-24T12:22:00.000-07:00

Swasey Parkway

2009-03-10T15:37:00.000-07:00

Odiorne in the Snow

2009-03-09T10:20:00.000-07:00

Beach in a Snowstorm 2

2009-03-06T08:21:00.000-08:00

Beach in a Snowstorm pt1

2009-03-06T08:20:00.000-08:00

Deerfield Fair, 2008

2009-03-05T19:14:00.001-08:00

Lake Massabesic

2009-03-05T19:03:00.000-08:00

I took these pictures in the early fall, at the lake. It was just starting to rain. This lake is haunted by the Indian tribe that used to live on the shores.

Abe Emerson Marsh

2009-03-05T18:45:00.000-08:00

I know some of the shots are blurry, but you try getting a flock of wild turkeys to stand still.

New Hampshire Sheep and Wool Festival, 2008

2009-03-04T19:45:00.000-08:00

American Girl Dolls on the Beach

2009-03-04T19:41:00.001-08:00

Portsmouth photos 2

2009-03-04T19:30:00.000-08:00

Portsmouth Photos 1

2009-03-04T19:25:00.000-08:00

Country church, unidentified horse farm

2009-03-04T19:18:00.001-08:00

Photo shoot at Odiorne with Narnia dolls

2009-02-28T16:54:00.000-08:00

You may have to click on the pictures to get the whole image. I must not have switched the setting back on Photobucket, but it's too much of a pain to redo. The dolls are also really pale, next time I'll put some powder on them (lol) or try to angle them so the light hits differently.

Susan's coat belongs to the Hermione Granger weekend casual clothes set.

Misty watercolor memories

2009-02-22T13:50:00.000-08:00

(the same thing, larger for all the details)

That would be my dream piece of property (as literally beachfront properties go, I have other dream locations) if I didn't know what lurks beyoned the frame.

The Christmas Dove

2009-02-17T19:30:00.000-08:00

A trip last year to The Christmas Dove and Calef's Country Store. Mostly pictures of the grounds. The first three pictures are actually a field I saw on the way there and I had to stop and get pictures, for obvious reasons.

Prescott Park, summer 2008 pt 1

2009-02-13T16:31:00.000-08:00

Eating Out: The Old Salt

2009-02-06T19:56:00.000-08:00

The Old Salt might be one of Hampton's oldest restaurants, but even if it isn't, you'd never know. It's the dining room of the Laramie Inn, done in rustic Colonial style, with twinkly lights and two separate dining rooms, one that has old wooden booths.

It's definitely old, it goes back at least to the forties or fifties, they have black and white news clippings on the placemats.

It's *quiet*, which is always a plus when you're trying to actually talk to the person you're eating with.

Drinks are served in recycled mason jars, which is cute even if it doesn't get you as much drink for your money. The complimentary hot roll basket comes with two choices of butter, regular and maple.

I ordered the spaghetti with marinara sauce, which was surprisingly good. Restaurants specializing in things that are not pasta rarely do pasta to my satisfaction.

They have a sign at the front of the house that says "Courtesy is Treating Everyone As If They Matter" which is a nice sentiment and even nicer to see in such a semi elegant restaurant.

2009-02-06T19:46:00.000-08:00

What do you think of theseBecky Oh handbags?

I saw two or three I liked a lot, and they're all very reasonably priced but nothing screams out "BUY ME!" However, the organization of the site, and the quality of the photos is very slick and professional, it looks more "grownup" than my favorite homegrown handbag company the Anna Street Studio.

Which I found out is not designed by someone named Anna Street (and already knew is not located on Anna Street either) but by someone named Carrie Saunders.

Although I'm still confused by Anna Williams in Newburyport, which looks to be exactly the same type of shop selling very similar purses but in a less appealing atmosphere. Divisions of the same company? If one is a knockoff, which one is it?

First Night Portsmouth

2009-01-09T22:25:00.000-08:00

It was *freezing* and nearly deserted, just a small group of people dancing around by the church in Market Square, something going on inside the church, and something going on at the Beth Israel synagogue (lights were on, people were going in, someone had a guitar). I walked down to the park by myself, which was creepily deserted.

First Night parties have not been that hopping the past two or three years, it seems to be dying out. We didn't stay long, it was just too cold.

Some of the pictures are shaky because I was using someone else's camera.

Dancers in front of the bank

Sea Monster

Church

Poseidon

Sea Monster torso

Storefront

Former site of Portsmouth Public Library

Market Square

Market Square 2 (you can see a man on skies in the background if you squint)

Church Window

Door with wreath

Other door with wreath

Strawberry Banke, side entrance, Shapiro House. I guess that means I could've just walked in...

White house

Bushes

Fountain

Snack Bar

Garden

Lone Tree

Lamp Post

Blue lights on tree (Chanukah bush?)

Fence

Hampton Beach, New Year’s Day, 9 a.m

Eating Out: The Divine Cafe

2008-11-22T15:05:00.000-08:00

Divine Cafe is in Exeter, just off the Academy campus. It's located in a pleasant old house and the staff are friendly and welcoming.

They offer the widest variety of organic, vegetarian and vegan options of any place I've been in so far. I had a "chicken" sandwhich with carmelized onions, mushrooms and chedder cheese that was almost a perfect substitute for a regular chicken sandwhich. The portions are decent and the price is reasonable.

There are only two drawbacks- the dining room is *tiny*. Really, really tiny and it's hard to move around in. And my meal came with a salad I didn't ask for, but a lot of people would be happy about that so it doesn't quite count.

Odiorne Point at 9.a.m on a foggy November day pt3

2008-11-08T21:14:00.000-08:00

Odiorne Point State Park is at the far end of the beaches , just before Rye turns into Portsmouth. Technically speaking you have to pay to get in during the tourist season but there’s a one hour parking lot with beach and jogging path access that makes it quite easy to just walk into the park without paying. They don’t really care if you’re there more than an hour but the catch is that you probably shouldn’t park there if you don’t want to do the walking. There are several overlapping jogging/walking/biking trails, but I caution you that in warm weather, deep in the forest, it can get quite buggy and OPSP forbids bugspray because it is a nature reserve.

No one will stop you but...you know how that works. If too many people do it they'll notice when the animals start dying (btw, dogs must be on leashes, not just for the sake of other patrons but because there are rabbits and foxes in residence).

There’s a memorial deep in the grounds that commemorates the arrival of the first English settlers in NH. The descendents of these settlers kicked off the American Revolution by firing on British ships at Newcastle while Governor Wentworth and his family cowered inside the Fort. They later ran the governor out of the state (but developed a habit of naming stuff after him anyway).

The land was a collection of private homes for generations, it was a summer community in the 20s and 30s but became a Navy fort during WW2 (you can see the remnants of the fort, guard stations and gun mountings all over the park).
But what makes the place *really* interesting is that it gives the impression of being much more ancient. It feels like the sort of place where fairies and ghosts flit around. It'd be a great place for a spooky Halloween hike, or a fantasy themed wedding.

Odiorne Point at about 9 a.m on a foggy day in November pt2

2008-11-08T19:58:00.000-08:00