So I've started looking into the planning of my trips next year, and I'm very excited. I realised I've barely mentioned some of the trips I'm going on both in the near and distant future. ;)

First up is Chicago, August 7-11th. The primary purpose of this trip is to attend the Terminus Harry Potter convention. Three of my friends who went last time are also going, we're going to be all staying in the same hotel room and I'm super excited about the opportunity to hang with them again. We had such great times in Toronto, not just the academic experience (and I'm not kidding, some of the panels were really amazing and got my brain going like crazy!) but the fun after hours as well. Also, my friend Charlotte lives in Chicago now, and I haven't seen her in probably five years or more. I miss her a lot!

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Following that closely is Dragon*Con in Atlanta from August 28th - Sept 1st. It will be a Dragon*Con like no other because my bestest friend in the entire world is joining me. We're having ridiculous dresses made to copy the Clockwork Droids from the Doctor Who episode "The Girl in The Fireplace."

We're also considering making female versions of Dr Horrible and Captain Hammer, and when I say considering, I mean we are.

Also, we have BSG outfits, cause duh. Has anyone seen the people from BSG that are attending? Tahmoh Penikett (Helo), Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck), Jamie Bamber (Lee Adama), James Callis (Baltar), Tahmoh Penikett, Edward James Olmos (Admiral Adama), Aaron Douglas (Chief), did I forget anyone? Oh yeah, did I mention TAHMOH? :)

Also, Matt Lewis (Neville Longbottom) and Devon Murray (Seamus Finnegan) from Harry Potter are also attending. I just found that out. Its going to be ridiculous.

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On September 12th - 14th I'll be in NYC to see Equus with Vicki. VERY excited for that! Should be interesting, to say the least. ;) Who wants a blurry cellphone photo of Harry Potter's Junk?

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September 19th-21st, I'm currently planning a trip to Boston with my friend Ann. We've got a flight, but are going back and forth on hotels because our first choice is full on Saturday night. The entire city of Boston has gone insane, and some of the hotels are charging $700 freaking dollars a night. Apparently there's an event in town we were unaware of, or something. Cause seriously, EXPEYONSIVE!

We're bouncing between the Marriott Boston Long Wharf and the Milennium Bostonian. The Long Wharf will actually wind up being a bit cheaper because I can get a free night with Marriott points, but Milennium is right next to Faneuil Hall and looks downright awesome.

So, we'll see :) Also, yeah. Including the camping trip on the last weekend in Sept, I have ONE weekend that I'm home in Sept. ONE. Neat.

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For Christmas, I'm going home, since I get four days off in a row! :) Of course the airline companies have heard about Christmas, so I get to pay...wait for it... $880 dollars for a flight that is usually in the neighborhood of $350-$500 (even post airline-fuel-crisis-of-doom). Nice, huh? Nothing like companies having the fucking Christmas Spirit.

But still, NM at Christmas. Prepare for an onslaught of Luminaria photos!

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In early February of next year, I'm going to Jamaica. We've got a reservation booked at the Sandals Grande Ocho Rios. It is ridiculous and beautiful and in an entirely new part of Jamaica that we've never seen. We get to go to Bob Marley's house and Port Royal and its very exciting. We've made reservations with at least two other couples in a villa, which is supposed to have a 'semi-private' pool but we're waiting on one more person, and then we'll have our own pool between the 8 of us. Jenni and Jackson are one of the couples, and I'm super stoked to hang with them more! Jenni, my spectacularly talented tattoo artist, in case you're wondering. ;)

We've already dropped a deposit and one payment on the room, and we have to pay it off before Christmas, which shouldn't really be an issue. :)

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In June of next year, I'm taking my Mom to Scotland. We're going to Edinburgh, and then to Aberdeen. We aren't certain of all the arrangements, but we're hoping to rent this flat for four days, and then head up to Inverurie (just outside of Aberdeen) to Swallow Thainstone House Hotel, which looks amazing.

Our main point of going up that way is to see the castle that our clan built, Dunnottar Castle. Also, I want to check out some more stone circles, of which there are many. Plus, Aberdeen looks pretty amazing, and I've never been there. After Aberdeen, we'll come back to Edinburgh for one night, before flying home.

We're currently accepting donations to stay in JK Rowling Suite at the Balmoral Hotel. Its only 965 pounds (or almost $2000 USD) to stay there, so dig deep, people!

Seriously, though. I would like to stay at the Balmoral. It is gorgeous, and the more reasonable (define: reasonable) rooms are $400 USD. :) Thinking about it. Just for one night. :)

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In September sometime, Mark and I are going to ENGLAND. I'm very excited. We've got plans to stay in a posh hotel in London and then we're going to the midlands to stay in the The Prince Arthur & Catherine of Aragon Apartment at Ludlow Castle.

The more astute of you (or those who know me personally) can probably guess why we are visiting there.

We also plan a day trip to Cardiff to stalk Doctor Who. Or I do, anyhow. :) Mark can stalk Billie Piper or something.

Obviously the plans for England are like, REALLY far out, so I don't have anything more concrete other than Ludlow Castle. Oh, and Stone Henge. OH and Gloucester Cathedral. They film the courtyard scenes of HP there. ;) YAY!

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So that's it for now. That's ENOUGH, seriously. But I'm excited! So yay!

Saturday morning, I got up at 630 and went out to my friend Tory's house in Lovettsville to help her pack stuff up for her move. We got some stuff, but not all of it done, before I had to leave to go to an appointment with Jenni at 1230.



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That took about...six hours. And I'm not even going to lie. It hurt like crazy. The last bit of the treasure map, I bit my hand it hurt so bad, and had teeth marks there for like an hour.

After that we bbq'd and then went to see Hellboy 2. We went to Brambleton, and they informed us that the showing had been cancelled because of the Dark Knight. At first I was pissed, but then I was ok with it because there was a later showing at Regal in Sterling (still ghetto despite recent improvements) AND it meant that Batman was probably going to kick Spiderman 3's ass at the box office. Cause that movie SUCKED. Just saying.

Hellboy 2 was fairly awesome, although TWO love stories were a little much for me. More shooty. Less kissy. Thanks. I was SO freaking tired I almost dozed off during a couple of the slower parts. But, you know. Early rising + ink trauma.

Sunday morning I had nothing going on. But I did have a florescent light in my kitchen that should be set dressing in a zombie movie. So I decided to tear it down and see if I could put up a normal light. Turned out, I could!

So I went shopping and got a couple of matching hanging lights that are all kinds of awesome. I got the first one up, and then started watching 28 Weeks Later with Mark and drinking margaritas and decided that electricity and tequila probably don't go well together, so I put the second one off for another day. Either way, I have two working light fixtures now! They just don't match, yet. :)

Last night, Mark commented how on the way back from the movie, I was like "Yay! I don't have ANYTHING to do tomorrow!"

He's like "you don't 'do nothing' the way most people 'do nothing', just so you know."

Anyway, it was a fun weekend. And now, I'm exhausted. :)

Fucking.

Ruled.





Watch me make this pencil disappear!

The Jack Daniel's Distillery was an interesting experience. It was a dreary, rain soaked day, when we drove up into Lynchburg. We had an interview with a gentleman who had been with the company for a long, long time, long enough to remember it before it went massive corporation. Then we had a tour with a fella in a pair of bib overalls. In fact, all the tour guides were wearing them. Its the height of Jack Daniel's fashion.

They definitely played up the Tennessee roots, and more importantly, the eccentricities of the character behind the Old Number 7 Blend.

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The legend of Jack Daniel's overarches everything he did, whether the truths have been bent or skewed by time and telling, I'm not one to say. But I can appreciate it. Far more than I can appreciate his whiskey. ;)

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My mom and I went up to Philly for the three-day 4th of July weekend, to sight see and check out fireworks and generally have a good time in a town we'd never been to.



Friday, after we got into town and checked into the hotel, we went down by Independence Mall, to see if we could catch a glimpse of the Liberty Bell.

( Friday... )

Saturday morning, we got up early and bought tickets for the PHLASH, which is a trolley, or really a trolley car shaped bus. Five bucks, and you could get anywhere in the City Center ALL DAY until 6pm. Nice!

We got down to Independence Mall, and started to get in line for the Liberty Bell, only there was no line. We went in straightaway.

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Next we hopped back on the Trolley/Bus thing, and went to the Franklin Institute, where the Real Pirates Exhibit is.

( Pirates!... )

After the museum, we went back to the hotel to chillax for a bit before we went down to see the fireworks. We considered going to Penn's Landing for the big concert/fireworks party, but when we found out about Moshulu, we changed our minds. Its a tallship that has been renovated as a restaurant and bar. It has several decks and a magnificent view of the water and Benjamin Franklin Bridge.

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Overall, we had a nice trip. It wasn't a bad drive up or back, we went the scenic route through Pennsylvania instead of up 95. We stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott and it was nice and relatively reasonably priced (If you do the prepay thing at their website) and well located. The parking for the entire weekend was $62 bucks, which in a city, is not too bad.

For more pics, see the full galleries!

Philadelphia
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Independence Mall
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We went to Merriweather last night to see John Mayer play. Guess what? IT RAINED! ALL NIGHT!

Luckily, I have a gigantic umbrella, so we did ok. It was crazy though. There were huge mudspots everywhere because all these girls were wearing those rubber flip flops? And falling repeatedly into them. The sinks in the bathroom were clogged with sand and there were women everywhere covered in mud. It was a little amusing.

I managed to stay vertical, possibly do to the choice of appropriate footwear (old beat up sketcher tennies) and the fact that I wasn't wasted on lite beer.

Anyway, Mayer was great. Very entertaining. He kept throwing random snatches of other songs into his songs, I caught at least two from the Police. He'd be in the middle of a song, and start playing the guitar line from Wrapped Around your Finger. Then I'm standing there like WAIT! DOES. NOT. COMPUTE.

He talked a lot in between songs and he's pretty hilarious. Also, giant new sleeve. Its gorgeous. I had to google it to see it more clearly, since we were waaaaaaaaaaay out in the lawn, but now that I've looked, we probably got as good of a view of it as that photo, seeing as how its so small.

We had a great time, even with the weather. I took a few photos with my new camera, but I was super paranoid about getting it out in the rain!

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Also? The disparity between the Dropkick Murphy's show on Wednesday and the John Mayer show? HILARIOUS. Just sayin'.

Mark got me a Canon SD1100 IS Digital Elph to replace my old (seriously old.) SD250. Its for my birthday but it came early and since there are so many concerts between now and then he said I could have it early.

John Mayer on Sunday. (I thought it would be a nice chill show. It'll probably rain, cause its at Merriweather.)
Marley Brothers (Damien, Ziggy, Stephen. Super excited about Damien!) at Roots Rock Reggae fest in Baltimore on July 26.
Linkin Park/Chris Cornell and like 9 other bands on the 27th.

Plus Counting Crows/Maroon 5, but that's on Aug 16th.

I'm definitely taking this little badass out and about tomorrow to see what it can do. Mostly, I think it'll be nice to have a cam that has more than 3.2 MP to take out and about when I don't want to carry the big rig around. YAY!

Fedorov back with Capitals

Permission to stalk him now, plz? kthx.

I wonder if the Caps will call me back now to ask if I want season tickets? They called me a month ago to offer me full season tickets and I said "Call me when you sign Fedorov."

Went to see Dropkick Murphy's last night at Merriweather (WHICH WAS TWENTY SEVEN KINDS OF FREAKING AWESOME!) and it poured rain while we were waiting to go into the show. Seriously, has anyone ever been to a show there where it didn't rain?

And shouldn't they change the name? To "Inclementweather" or "Bringanumbrella Post Pavilion?"

When I was younger, I was a stranger to things out of doors. I hid from the sun, inside or in shade. I worked at night, slept all day. I would go out into the desert at night to sit and stare at the bowl of stars and watch satellites fly by, but camping, swimming, hiking, they were foreign things. I feared scorpions, snakes, things that hid in the creek at the bottom of Sabino Canyon. I hated the sun, the heat. When my friends would plan trips, I would bow out, or if I went, I would sit on the fringe like I didn't belong, and think about how I never should have come.

I liked sailing, but I only got to go once. My uncle had a sailboat and the one time we went to visit him, he took us out on it. We went down canals, under a big bridge and suddenly into the gulf of Mexico.

Somewhere along the way, the two things became entwined. Going out on boats also meant hikes through bug infested Mexican jungles to see Mayan ruins and swimming in the ocean despite the jellyfish and other fears. SPF 70-85 eliminates sunburn problems. I learned that being in the water makes the heat less bothersome.

And the fear of things in hidden depths?

I wonder if it is the fear losing its grip on me, or the enjoyment I've found doing such things that overpowers it.

As previously mentioned, quick_chick and smjayman brought me in to shoot their friend Kate's wedding two weekends ago in Chesapeake, VA.



It was a unique, fun and joyful experience, the wedding taking place on the grounds of the Kate's parents house, with a piper, and a big pool party, and friends and family helping with the set up.

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- Wedding photos (currently uploading)
- Pictures and words from the spectacular trip to Philadelphia.
- Squeeage about the beginnings of my Death Eater Quidditch Uniform.
- Random ideas for my birthday party this year, some of which include a tallship cruise and a happy hour at O'Faolain's.
- More whiskey photos/photos from the Great Whiskey Tour of 08.

Originally uploaded by jettdelirium.

Off to Philly! Have a great weekend a great Fourth, everyone! Try not to blow any fingers off! :D

I'm excited to go to Philadelphia this weekend. Its funny, nearly everyone I mention it to around here is like "Oh I've been to Philly. Well, I've been through there. But never to sight see."

Its so close! Why wouldn't you go for a weekend! I guess close is relative. I used to think Denver was close. We used to drive to San Diego from Tucson all the time for a weekend.

Oh, also? Google maps is just cute. I put in the route from Ashburn to Philly, and it had me taking the beltway to 95 and up. It said "3 hours, 7 minutes." and then underneath that, "3 hours, 50 minutes in traffic."

Isn't that hilarious? Have they BEEN on the beltway or the 95 corridor btwn DC and Baltimore in traffic? Realistically? Add TWO HOURS. And that's being optimistic.

We're going through Harrisburg so we can see virginiadare on the way back on Sunday. I'm not going anywhere NEAR 95 on the 4th of July. The last time I got on 95 that weekend, I sat for EIGHT hours in what closely resembled a parking lot, before finally making it to Williamsburg. If it hadn't been the day that LIVE 8 happened, and I hadn't had XM that day...I shudder to think.

My mom comes in tomorrow. Right after the cleaning crew leaves. *whew*

Also, I'm more than halfway through the wedding shots. SOON!

And because I thought perhaps ya'll might want a different impression of smjayman beyond "that guy can kick my ass."

Also, because Dara asked for it. :D


Here we have Jay, with a gaggle of children, helping them learn how to blow up balloons on the helium tank. If that doesn't amuse you enough, pretend he's just inhaled a bunch of it and is talking to them in a munchkin voice.

Because as far as you know, that's exactly how it went down.

Before (with stencils of new fish):



( And After.... )

This weekend, I shot a wedding down in Chesapeake, VA. The bride was a friend of quick_chick's and so she and smjayman brought me in and covered the travel expenses to offset the cost for her. :) Plus I got to spend the weekend with them. We had fun!

Jay and I got to see Wanted on Friday night after the Rehearsal Party and it was BRILLIANT. LOVED it! The plot may have been a little questionable in parts, but it was spectacular and so visually stunning. Also, if you ever want to get to the advanced levels of a shoot-the-mummies game in the movie theatre arcade, it helps to have Jay as the other player. Its kind of alarming how good he is at shooting things.

We went out to dinner with Dara afterward at a Friday's that was pretending that 12:52 means 1 AM and was trying not to serve us food at all.

The wedding was great, apart from the actual weather not being very cooperative. It was 97 at one point, and humid and there was a smoldering fire in the Dismal Swamp that meant the entire town was a haze of smoke the entire weekend. The wind kicked up on Saturday afternoon, blowing some of the smoke off, but at the end of the day I was covered in sweat, bug spray and sunblock. Uck.

The bride is quite proud of her Scottish heritage, and she had a piper for the ceremony! HOW cool is that! I love pipes! The ceremony was quick and touching and the grooms son's were ring bearers and were super-cute all day. I have like a thousand photos, but I'm getting through them and I'm pretty darned happy about how they turned out.

After the festivities wound down, we each got to shower and then we all went out for Mexican food and Margaritas and it was a nice ending to a physically tough day. I'm glad I got to spend more time with Dara. I like her a lot and I hardly ever get to see her!

Yesterday I got off work a wee bit early and went to see Jenni. She worked on my old, crappy Delirium tattoo, and it is now all kinds of spectacular. I'm so pleased! She added some fishies and relined and coloured the whole thing and you can't even tell there was anything under it. It's amazing. Pictures of before and after as soon as I get a good one of the new :)

Also, it hurts like WOAH. My foot is having trouble bending. Going down stairs is superfun this morning. :)

We went to see Hulk last night. I thought it was GREAT! And I had totally forgotten that Tony Stark was supposed to show up in it! I was so happy! <3's Iron man.

It was a well done film and the CGI didn't even bother me. I didn't see the Eric Bana version (because Eric Bana sucks and I tend to steer clear!) but from what I've heard about it, this one completely lays waste to it. Good action, sweet love story, Hulk Smash. What more do you want? ;)

I didn't actually get the chance to do the tour of Jim Beam, because we were headed to Tennessee. But I did get to use their bathroom. I think I used the bathroom at every distillery IN Kentucky. HAHA!

I'd give it a 3 out of 5. Buffalo Trace's was way nicer. Heaven Hill was lovely as well. But I digress.

Their property was exceptionally beautiful, and we wandered around for a few minutes before getting back on the road.



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And there we leave Kentucky behind. Tennessee coming right up!

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