Monday, September 6, 2010

Cars, Trains and Things Found Along The Way

I just developed a roll of film from this past July. The girl at the drugstore was very friendly and helpful when I warned her that I had been having trouble with the film door on my camera. I left feeling confident and anxious to see what was on that roll of film. Most of all, I hoped it wasn’t all exposed. The photo tech chatted about holidays with me for a while and then told me to come back in about half an hour.


When I walked into the store just a little over thirty minutes later there was no one at the photo counter. I waited while looking in the corners of my eyes for my friendly photo tech to hand me my pictures with a smile on her face…I waited and waited. I finally spotted her down an aisle changing sale signs on items. I stood in her view to give her the old “I’m waiting, but I’m patient” message. I still waited. I started shuffling around to make some movement and noise until I heard her walking towards me. She was walking fast and seemed upset to see me. I frowned. Did I do something wrong? Did my pictures not come out? I was so nervous you would have thought I was there to ID a body.

“So…how’d they come out?” I asked the girl while biting my lower lip.

“Eh…”

“Oh no, were they exposed?”

“Some of them, not too bad…here, you can look through them if you want,” she said while throwing the pictures down on the counter at me.

Then I realized why her attitude changed towards me in just half an hour. The roll of film was filled with pictures of underage drinking, some offensive things and children. This girl definitely no longer wanted to associate with me. I could have explained that I had a flat tire in the middle of nowhere with some railroad tracks splitting down the middle and taking pictures passed the time, but if I did that I wouldn’t have a story to share these pictures with you.
I don't know how to change a tire. This is not me.





The scenery is beautiful at 1460 feet above sea level.

A stroll down some tracks seems like a good idea.

You wanna go faster than a snail's pace while crossing any tracks.
Uhhhh...time to turn around!
WHAT THE FUCK?!
West is best.

The flat tire journey was short, but well lived. I’m going to have to take the next roll someplace else…who knows what’s on the rest! 

Simple Blog Change on Music Monday

I had to change my blog again. I know, I know. I'll keep this one for a while. The template I used to help build and customize ended up being way too much work. Did I mention that the entire thing was in Spanish? I know basic Spanish, enough to translate most of the code, but there was still so much HTML Spanish that I just don't have to the time to decode right now. So I went for just a simple approach. I should be spending time writing, not deciphering Spanish nerd code.

Oh and I'm so fucking stoked for this Friday! Vampire Weekend is coming to town! I've been obsessed with this band since a friend gave me a copy of their first album a while back. Here's a mix of some of their tunes, familiarize and become a fan!



MusicPlaylistRingtones
Create a playlist at MixPod.com








Sunday, September 5, 2010

Chimney Bluffs

I thought my friend and I were going thrift store shopping when I got out of work last Wednesday. I met him in a plaza and hopped in his car with a cigarette dangling from my mouth. He started driving in the opposite direction.

"Where are we going?" I asked him.

"Oh, you'll see," he laughed.

My friend has a record of being crazy...literally. This is the same kid that once swallowed an entire bottle of aderol just to know what it felt like to be Lindsay Lohan. He once stood with his toes over a local waterfall until an ambulance was called and he was taken away. I shouldn't have trusted him but I was feeling adventurous. We drove for what seemed forever until I saw a dead end ahead.

"Is that water?" I asked.

"It's Lake Ontario, baby!"

I peeled my legs off his leather seats and stepped out of the car into the 90 degrees and humidity so thick you could see it blanket over the water. I had never been out this far before and had no idea why he brought me here, but I followed him down a trail to the lake. I was wearing a rather short sun dress and platform flip flops. There were quite a few times where he had to actually carry me down so I wouldn't break an ankle. We made it down safely and started walking along the water.

"This is beautiful!" I exclaimed while heading to dip my toes in the water.

"Oh, Money, wait till you look up behind us!" (Yes, he calls me "Money")



It was amazing. Those steep cliffs along the lake are called Chimney Bluffs. I found out later that they lose three to five feet a year due to erosion. I tried climbing up one from lake side (yes, in my dress and platforms) and realized how fragile they were when rocks and dirt just kept sliding me down.

"Money! Let's go around and climb to the top!"

I eagerly agreed. There are a few wood trails that bring you to the top of the bluffs, although it's not recommended to get so close to the end as we did, but hey...you only live once (until you plummet to your death). We began our hike and I learned that my neck can sweat profusely if it's literally hotter than hell outside and you're hiking up a bluff.

We climbed up to the top and looked out to the lake. Stunning. I couldn't believe that I had never heard of this place before, it was just so beautiful. It didn't feel like I was in Rochester, NY.

After standing on the very edge of the bluffs and taking in all the scenery I started to think how easily it would be to fall.

"Did you bring me here to kill me?" I asked my loving, but yet unstable friend.
"No, I wouldn't kill you here."

So we took pictures. These are just from his phone. Luckily I had my mom's old camera from the 70's with me, I can't wait to develop the film!







We decided to drive back into town to grab clothes to go swimming. The water was perfect but I was a little afraid of going in the deep end after seeing Piranha 3D. My friend pretended he was drowning a few times and I lazed about, letting the current gently drift me as I looked up at the bluffs.

"What's wrong with you?" I yelled at him as people looked on as he pretended he couldn't swim.

"AHHHHHHHH!!!!!" He screamed while gurgling water and splashing his arms.

I ignored him and went under for a dip to cool off. As I poked my head out of the water something hit my face. I wiped the water from my eyes and saw a pair of shorts floating next to me. I immediately looked at my friend who was all smiles.

"Are these your shorts?!"

"Oh yeah! WOO!" he yelled and did a handstand in the water...completely naked.

I love my friends.





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