To anyone that reads this, I started blogging on my myspace account instead. http://www.myspace.com/andiemae

did I get hit with the lucky stick?

I didn't think that my week could get any better but it did. Towards the end of a conversation with my boss, he informed me that I will be receiving my 10% bonus! Hell yeah! He then told me that I also got a 10% raise. 10%? Good thing I wasn't driving when I found out.

B-Day What??

I got a birthday card today!! For most people that wouldn't be anything un-ordinary, but I don't have an address. Let me start at the beginning.

While I was getting ready for work this morning Shelly called me. I semi-expected she would be the first, but to get five other calls from unexpected people before noon... wow!

I didn't even know that that many people knew it was my birthday. The phone calls didn't stop as the day went on. I feel like the luckiest girl ever. The guy I was working with today figured it out and had the staff at T.G.I. Fridays do the show. Embarassing, I know, but the cheesecake was much appreciated.

I got to my hotel in St. Joseph Missouri and didn't notice the sign until I returned from the bar the first time but, I was the guest of the day.

I asked the nice guy at the front desk if it was because it was my birthday and he wished me a happy one. I went to the bar a second time soon thereafer, why would I sit around half-sober today.

Upon my second return I was surprised by a card (from the hotel staff) under my door wishing me a happy birthday with a Starbuck's gift card. Most people know that I hate Starbuck's but it's the thought.

It has been a fuzzy feeling kind of day. My friends have made it the best. However, I have to say that it is a great feeling that the hotel chain in which I live, however corporate they can be, have made me feel more at home today than I have felt in a long time. THANK YOU!

Hooked on blackjack

I was hoping that I would be able to catch a Modern Red show while in St. Louis but they had nothing scheduled today. Instead I decided to go to the casino to see what I could get myself into.

The guy at the front desk of the hotel warned me that it would mostly be middle-agers but I didn't really care. I busted out the black skirt, fish-nets and the boots, it was on.

After a 15-minute cab ride I was wandering around just staring at all the bright lights. I found a $5 black jack table with an empty seat, which is where I would end up spending the next 4 1/2 hours. It may sound kind of boring but the dealer was cute and very talkative and interesting people kept coming and going. To my surprise, there were people there from all over the country.

I finally left the table when I started feeling kinda drunk and didn't trust that I would stay a winner. Luckily for me I was $200 up at the time. The downside to all the fun is that I will want to do it again, and probably more sooner than later.

On the road again

After about a month of not doing much of anything, with the exception of a little manual labor, I'm back in the truck and back in the hotels. I was very sad to leave Chicago today. I was really starting to feel at home there, especially with new friends and new artistic opportunities.


I'm on my way to Dallas with plans to spend Friday (tomorrow) in St. Louis to run around and take pictures all day. I only drove for a couple hours today, one of which was spent in traffic but after rushing around this afternoon trying to get out of the city it was all I could handle.

The only hotel that had rooms available was a Double Tree. It's very nice but its swarmed with college freshmen in town for a special event. I had to step over them hanging out it the hallways on my way to my room. One of them even hid his bottle of cheap champagne to keep from getting in any trouble, I was jealous but I'm actually able to buy it for myself.

They made me feel really old. It doesn't help that my 24th is less than a month away. At least I can say that if I was 19 again there isn't much I would change about the path I've traveled since then.

By the end of this weekend I will be up to state number 30! I'm not sure if I consider that to be an actual accomplishment, it almost doesn't even feel real. Getting the raise I'm up for is probably the only accomplishment I'm worried about right now. Not that money should be the judge but it helps.

just another sunday

After another great morning of sleeping-in, I got a burst of motivation grabbed my gear and hit the streets. I had to make up for Saturday with dead batteries in my camera. I stopped at H&M to return some pants that made me look fat and hit sears for a fresh power source for my Nikon N75.

I always feel a little self-conscious when I'm running around taking pictures, almost afraid that I will come off as another tourist but I got over it. I had two hours to get in a couple rolls before I had to be somewhere to watch the Bengals - Steelers game.

I decided to travel in the direction of wicker park since I have not been there so-far during this stint in Chicago. I ended up in an artsy self-proclaimed urban bar with a menu no different than any onther bar in Chicago. I don't even think they offered vegetarian options other than fried cheese sticks and salads.

I was not worried about watching the game alone but I welcomed company. I ended up sitting next to a professional photographier with whom I shared much converation centered mostly around our artistic preferences.

The game went horribly, Palmer was out of the game before the end of the first quarter and even though Kitna was doing OK, it wasn't Carson. By the end of the game I was so drunk that I didn't really care.

The most exciting part of the evening was getiing my picture taken and being invited back to spend a day with my photographier friend to be a subject in a series. I just hope I can work it into my schedule in the very near future.

Get out of my dreams

You've been haunting me lately. Every night for the past few weeks you have been there. Are you trying to tell me something? If so I guess I'm not picking up on it. When this started it was almost calming to see you when I sleep. But now it's too much. I've tried falling asleep to music and while watching TV to try to keep you out. It doesn't work. I had a tarot card reading yesterday and I asked her about you. She told me that it's because I am not satisfied with the closure I got. I can agree with that but it's been so long I'm not sure how to fix it.

Gina's Pest Problem

This was taken at my sister's house in Charlotte. Apparently the squirrels keep trying to get in. I don't know if any have made it through the screen yet but they have been successful around other parts of the house.

So I try again

This is my second attempt to write this blog today, I was almost finished and my computer shut off. I was writing really well but I'm going to try again.

I was free on Tuesday so I slept in, checked out of my hotel at the last possible moment, left my truck in the parking lot and took a cab downtown with my i-pod and cameras to see what I could get myself into. My tour-guide of a cab driver took me by the post office, a little work had to be done, before dropping me off at the acclaimed Chattanooga Aquarium. He insisted that I check it out.

I purchased my tickets and grabbed a quick salad and coffee lunch before passing the extremely bored ticket-takers. I knew that watching a bunch of fish on an empty stomach would make me want to run to the sushi bar, again.

I started off with the "Ocean Journey" part of the tour, which only consisted of petting sting-rays and reading a bunch of info boards. It was really hard to read while LCD Soundsystem rocked out my eardrums, so I skipped the educational part and checked out the butterfly garden before moving on.

Next was the "River Journey" building which, also housed the jellyfish and sea-horses. The jellyfish were extremely hard to photograph due to the low-lights and their fast pace but I got a couple OK shots.



I could probably watch them swim around for hours, especially with my i-pod cranked up.

The sea-horses were also fun to watch; they are the cutest little creatures.



It took me a while to get a shot, they are very quick, but I'm really happy how the above photo turned out.

I also had an interesting photo-opportunity on an escalator. I swear it took me up four stories but it was hard to get pictures with both cameras during the ride.



The rest of the tour was what should have been a fresh fish educational experience but I was more interested in my music and my photo opportunities. I could have spent hours wandering around in full amusement.

Here are a few more aquarium pictures...





After the aquarium experience I grabbed a cup of coffee and found the small shopping district just across the river. I wandered through the hippy shops and galleries for a while without buying anything even though I found a couple cute non-hippy clothing stores that had many tempting articles. I impressed myself with my strength!

I wandered back across the river trying to absorb the small city and in search for dinner. Yet another salad but I substituted the coffee for a beer sampler at the local brew-pub. That was plenty of exploring in one day for me so it was another cab ride and on to the next hotel.

Chattanooga People Suck (at least the one I met)

I was excited to find out that my Chattanooga hotel room was only a $5 cab ride from what is most likely the only Sushi joint in the city. I contemplated delivery but neither pizza nor Chinese sounded pleasing. Raw fish sounded much better. I was the only one in the restaurant sitting at the sushi bar so I felt privileged when I was offered to try a few things for free. I had octopus for the first time. It wasn't as good as the yellow tail but much better than squid.

After I had my Japanese fill for the day, I decided to wonder the streets of Chat instead of heading back to the homestead. I found a bar with a band and eventhough I figured it wasn't my kind of shit I checked it out anyway.

I was very pleased to meet a few cool people among the blue collared shirts and khaki pants. I spent a couple hours hanging out by the bar and making fun of the bands and the crowd. It was hysterical.

I hung out with this guy Sam most of the night. He was really nice until all of us were winding down. Out of nowhere, he got this asshole attitude with me. F-that! Now I fully understand why he is single. And to think he actually had a chance. I was really angry at him for his comments. Just more proof that older men can be just as immature, if not more, than the younger ones.

Frustrated and offended, I caught a cab back to my hotel.

I swear time goes so fast, which makes it really hard to keep up with this. I haven't been home in a couple weeks but it really doesn't feel like it's been that long.

I spent this weekend around Atlanta, mostly at my sister Carla's house. Last weekend I was at Gina's in Charlotte. I think I'm ready to get out of the burbs for a while, i can't take it anymore. It is nice to have a place to chill that isn't a hotel room.

I ventured to downtown Atlanta last night to catch LCD Soundsystem. Super Furry Animals played in another room there but it was going to be impossible to catch both. The venue had a capicity of 1100 but I swear there were less than 500 people there. It was nice to have plenty dance space on the floor. It took me all of about three minutes to find a group of guys to hang out with. It was awesome! My body hurts from dancing non-stop, but it was so worth it. I'm still numb with excitment. I'm actually thinking about driving to North Carolina to catch them again.

Mini-vacation begins

I got to the airport in Baltimore on Friday about three hours before my flight just because I didn't know what else to do with myself. I killed most of the time finishing up some work that I didn't want to visit over the weekend but saved the last 30 minutes before the estimated boarding time to slam a couple Sam Adams Oktoberfest drafts. A buzz on an airplane is a great feeling. As I headed back to the gate, I was disappointed to discover the flight was delayed a little over an hour.
I notified the crew (Kyle, Kevin and Laura) and settled in a deserted area of seats across from the gate. I was buzzed and bored so I dove into the Spin magazine I had picked up earlier. I had already been stuck in the non-smoking airport for hours and I seriously thought another hour would kill me. I never expected that I would get so excited over actually boarding an airplane but as soon as I was in my seat, there was no wiping the smile off my face. It had been six weeks since I revisited the place I call home.

Kyle and Kevin walked in the Dayton airport sliding doors just as I was exiting the secure area, perfect timing. I pretty much ran out the door for a cigarette that actually gave me a buzz. We grabbed some coffee and such which were going to be much needed on the drive to Cincinnati and got the hell out of there.

We dropped Kevin at Sarah's and Kyle and I headed to Laura's so I could unload the luggage and fix my hair before heading to the infamous Murphy's pub for a little reunion.




No matter how long it's been since the last time I've been to Murphy's, nothing there has changed. I guess it provides a little comforts zone for me. I still know all the bartenders and I still walk through the door without anyone checking my ID.

We kept it in true after-hours style when they kicked us out of the bar. Laura, Kyle, Kevin, Pate and I headed over to Kevin's with our 12-pack of carry-out for some card playing and general chilling until we started dropping like flies, good times!

The Tool Lady

Great, out of all names it had to be the Tool Lady. Not that they're serious but I have a feeling the joke is going to keep running for a while. It was a really long day, as of now 15 hours, two of which included talking business at the bar. No complaints there. I was excited to hang out with familar faces over a couple drinks. It was the tool lady and three gentlemen who happen to be at the top of the pyramid with-in their respective companies. It was a new record for the "if you ever need a job, call me" line at 3, excellent.

It's days like this that remind me why I took my job. Not only are these guys impressed by my very detailed tool knowledge but they have commented that the company I work for hit the jackpot by puting a smart female with a fireball personality on the road! I was blushing. I hate excessive flattery from guys hitting on me but when it's work releated, I love it.

Those of you whom have been there on my good days, my bad days and my very bad days, thanks. Today, overall, has been a good day and I believe that tomorrow will be better.

Today didn't start off so well. I couldn't sleep last night which snow-balled into sleeping later than I wanted to which snow-balled into running around to get out the door to meet a co-worker for breakfast. As usual I was right on time, to the minute.

I was expecting to go out for breakfast but when he saw the free stuff in the hotel lobby our plans changed, a menu I usually try to avoid. It's not that the food is complete crap, just that it's the exact same breakfast no matter where I go. I had the usual.

We drove about 25 minutes to meet up with Rob, the salesman I was scheduled with for the day. To my surprise, he was actually cool; an invited alternative to the 'typical' middle-aged sales guys I usually work with. The work talk was kept to a minimum, jokes about the ex-cop pimp look-a-like with horns on his hood (wish I took a picture) and the count of guys asking for my phone number took its place. Today I had a new record of four, just beating the previous record of three with their level of success still remaining at zero. Good thing I don't hand my business cards out like candy.

Today for the first time I ever, as far as I can remember, I can actually understand why chicks get so pissed over breaking a nail. I have yet to give into old habits and I am very proud of myself, but I was so mad that I actually considered getting a fake one put on to match the length of the rest. About two seconds later I was over it.

Once I checked into my hotel, I was looking forward to finishing up a few things, hitting the treadmill and taking it easy but it didn't take too long for that to go to shit. My phone didn't stop ringing, my email was messed, I needed to do laundry and somewhere I had to squeeze in eating time and some easy paperwork. I wouldn't have been so overwhelmed if I wasn't also messing with music files and writing this but that's my own fault.

Anyway, for tomorrow another day in Baltimore, another day in the rain.

bored in Baltimore

This weekend I'm in Baltimore. I haven't ventured far from my hotel, mainly because of rain and a lot of work to do.

Lat weekend I stayed at my cousin Doug's in Boston. We spent the weeking watching a lot of football and drinking a lot of beer. I didn't see much of the city but I wasn't really up for being a tourist.


Sunday I drove to Pennslyvania where I worked for two days before heading to the outer banks of Maryland for the remainder of the week.

Thursay I got hooked up with a sweet deal on an expensive hotel room located next to a great seafood place and a bar. I hit both. At the bar I started chatting with the guys sitting around me, very interesting individuals. One of them talked me into singing karaoke with him, which I never do, but I did. We were terrible, it was awesome. We ended up singing a handfull of times before we realized we could barely read the words on the screen anymore. Everyone there knew everyone else, small town, so the guys kept getting asked who I was. It was kinda fun for like an hour or so but then I just felt like I was working.

Friday was rough, I was supposed to be flying home so I was a little aggrevated, it rained all day and needless to say I was just a little hung over. Luckily, I have perfected my ability to function when needed, that and I sucked down about four cups of coffee before lunch. I alomst got taken to a fast food place for lunch, but I nicely refused. Luckily there was an alternative and I didn't have to buy. I've been able to aviod fast food for a couple weeks now, awesome.

I'm in the Baltimore area for the rest of the week. I'm flying to Cincy on Friday and then it's further down the east coast.

What's up with the weather?

I've been in the west during a severe heat wave, in Seattle for 4 sunny days, in the desert when it rained and now I'm in New England during a flood. It's been raining for almost a week and I can't take it anymore. Don't get me wrong, I love the rain but I like it to go away too.

I'm really pulling for better weather this weekend while I'm visiting my cousin Doug in Boston. It's kinda strange, I haven't talked to him in at least a year and who knows how long it was before that, but i called him out of the blue today to see if he wanted to hang out at all. To my surprise, he sounded excited I was in the area and is looking foward to hitting the town. I don't think we've actually voluntarily hung out with each other since we were kids.

Work was kinda boring today, except for my semi-flashback lunch experience. We went to a small local family restraunt that reminded me of my childhood hang-out. The tables and chairs, coffee mugs, salad bowls, and even the dinner rolls were the same. Strange things to remember but when you grow up in a restraunt, it's those kind of meaningless material things you never forget. There was even a guy behind the bar smoking a pipe that could easily scare small children.

After having such a bad week, especially after the indian food incident, it made me feel much better. I even ordered clam strips, one of my Town House favorites and considered chocolate milk just so I could blow bubbles in it. I stuck to coffee.

I have a feeling that this next week is going to be much better.

bored

Today I'm in massachusets, yesterday it was connecuit, Sunday New York City. I visited Sara for the third weekend in a row. I didn't want to leave but I did and then headed to connecuit only thinking about when I will be able to return. Sara and I didn't do too much over the weekend, ran around in the pouring rain a couple times and ate a lot of sushi. I'm going to miss being able to spend time with her but I guess Thanksgiving and Christmas aren't too far away.

Work has been ok. I took today off because I felt like shit and couldn't sleep last night, but I'm making it up on friday, which I had as an off day. Once again my hotel is in the middle of nowhere so I got delivery, sushi once again. I'm starting to get a little burnt out but I'm not sure if it's because I want to go to Cincy for a couple days or if it's because I miss the way my life was before my real job. It's probably some of both.

I've been working with some really great people, especially in New York and Jersey. Most of them have been guys in their mid-40's and have been very parental like. It's nice to know that they are looking out for me.

This next weekend I'm either going to hang out in Springfield, Mass or possibily visit my cousin in Boston.

Yeah my life's not that exciting right now, hopefully it won't stay that way fro very long.

Cleveland it is

After Laura snuck out of her bartenders class early, we used up most of our motivation and got ready for our road trip to Cleveland. We got to Scott and Regan's late and headed downtown ASAP. The plan was to hit the House of Blues to see Fireball Ministry and CKY but we already missed most of Fireball Misistry's set (friends of Scott and Regan), so Kevin, Laura and I wandered "Ingenuity", the little festival going on, while Scott and Regan stuck to the original plan.

I knew the festival was going on but didn't realize the House of Blues was in the middle of it. We found the "All Go Signs" area in search of the members of Infinite Number of Sounds I found Matt and let him know that we were around and would be back to see their set.

We killed an hour at some cheezy chain restaurant/bar with a couple rounds of Long Island's. Kevin and Laura hit another bar while I wandered around and checked out art work and worked the crowd. While at the "All Go Signs" area, I had three people I apparently didn't recognize from the last event I attended in Cleveland walk up to me to ask where Steve was, very annoying. The fourth person that came up to me I actually remembered, Eric (To Box with Man). To quickly change the subject I asked him about his music projects, I have a few of his spoken word MP3s on my computer that I listen to often. I was happy to hear that a CD is in the works and a MySpace account will be set up soon.



Laura and Kevin resurfaced mid-set, Kevin joined Danielle (Dave's GF), Eric and I in the front row of seats while Laura continued on with Scott and Regan to Peabody's for the CKY / Fireball Ministry after party.

INS played a great set. I was also blown away when Eric joined in and performed the spoken word for the last song. I've only seen him do his thing once before. I'm excited to see INS again next week in Bowling Green, Ohio. Luckily for me they just happen to be playing there while I'm in the area.

After the show I said my good-byes and Kevin and I got a cab to Peabody's to meet up with the crew. We seemed to get the most incompetent cab driver ever, Kevin gave him specific directions and he still had a hard time getting us there, he's lucky I paid him half the total fare.

When we got to the after party we quickly discovered that everyone else had drink tickets. Scott and Regan used some of theirs to get us drinks but I didn't want them to run out too soon so I came up with a plan. After talking to a guy for a few minutes, I would offer to buy him a drink. Once they noticed I was paying with cash, they would tell me to put my money away and use their drink tickets. It was flawless!!


We got to stay at Peabody's after they kicked most people out for the after after party, I felt special. Also we were the only chicks in the bar (Regan Laura and I) surrounded by many hot male musicians. I can't think of a better scenario.

Time off, Yes!!

My flight landed noonish on Friday, I wasn't sure if I really wanted to be in Cincy for stupid reasons but I was much looking forward to the plans Laura and I spent the week constructing. I was also looking forward to a few days with no internet. When I'm on the road and not out on calls, I pratically live on the internet.

After a stressful and annoying work week, I had an urge to go to a spa and get my nails done. I talked Laura into going and treated both of us to manicures and coffee afterwards. After that I was ready for anything.

I dropped Laura off at her class and took her car to Clifton to hang out with Kevin and then to Michelle's to get ready and chill for a while, not very exciting. Laura was finally done at 10 p.m. so I picked her up and we headed to her place so she could pick up some stuff for the rest of the weekend. I usually live the nomadic life but Laura was ready to join in for the weekend.

Our plans to hang out in Kentucky by the river went to shit pretty quickly (along with our Sunday plans), but I got over it. We picked up some grub and went to Kevin's. I made sure I oinked out before drinking cause I had a feeling the night would entail some kind of craziness.

We did Murphy's mostly because it's in walking distance. The first hour was lame but I was bummed and all of us were sober. We stepped it up a notch and dove into some long islands after a round of vodka-red bulls. As time went on I was really happy that we went to Murphy's. The 'crew' was there so I got to see many of the people I hung out with there before I quit hanging out there. The drunken conversations at the end of the night were very flattering. Jess & Pate both gave me the 'I love you man' speech.

Chris showed up after running around Main St. I was super happy to see him, such a sweetheart. We grabbed a six pack to-go right before they kicked us out and headed back to Kevin's.



Kyle, Emily and Kyle's friend Kevin came over to join the party. I was excited to meet Emily but I'm not sure if it was the best idea to meet her at 3 a.m. after being at the bar.


For Entertainment purposes we had a very humorous digital photo shoot, mainly due to the lack of anything else to do. I am so glad I had my camera with me!



We continued bull-shitting until about 4:30 when we started dropping like flys. Good TImes!

there's never any time!!

I was hoping to have the chance to recap the past six days or so but that will have to wait until I actually have time to sit in front of my computer for longer than 30 minutes without other work to do. Actually I should probably still be doing work but it's late I'm tired. I think the official time of the end of the work day was 10:45 p.m.; it started at 7:30 a.m. and included a two hour drive in the middle somewhere. Good thing I like my job.

I recieved a disturbing phone call from Julia this afternoon. Her cousin and our high school drinking partner Tony was in a really, really bad car accident on Sunday. She told me that it was easier for them to count the un-broken bones than the broken ones. He is very lucky to be alive though he is in very bad shape.

Some lady ran a stop sign and hit his driver door. I later found out that my sister already knew and didn't tell me because she didn't want to upset me. grrrr

Anyway, I have a lot more I want to say but I'm just too tired. It will have to wait until I can find extra time.