A week of not posting, and the summer winds down.

I really have been terrible about posting. Appy polly logies. Okay, let's get down to business.

The day after I saw the Bacon show in NYC, Brittani proposed a play-date for our cats. I brought Hans there, and after a while he warmed up to Brittani's 4 year old cat Peter: I would even say they were friends by the end of the night. Success!

Work has been going well at the Penitentiary, however I have still not given any tours. I was told last week that I would shadow another tour last week, and give a tour very soon. I am still waiting to shadow, but really, it's fine. I finished re-reading Jack Kerouac's The Subterraneans and I really do simply love him.
I gave my first and second ghost groups at the Pen (Paranormal Investigators, who need tour guides to act as babysitters while they look for ghosties from 8 or 9 until 1 or 2 in the morning). They're really not so bad, but I get so tired lately!

I have started watching LOST. After my intense relationship with Six Feet Under, I took some time away from watching tv shows, aside from the weekly Weeds episode. But I realize that it is time to move on, and LOST has gotten such good reviews and is always credited with having great references and being a generally good piece of cinematic literature. And of course, all the seasons so far are on Netflix Instant.

Mom and Nanny came to visit last Tuesday and we had a lovely time. I finally finished decorating my desk area just for the occasion:We had lunch at Fork, Etc., and it was quite tasty. We walked around a bit and I realized that the art store across the street was in fact the Artist's and Craftsman's Supply Store and so we went in and Nanny bought me some new gesso (that I really do hope to break open soon) and I'm glad I know where it is since I think its time to buy a small palette for standing and painting. (Yes, yes, I do think so.) And then I drove us around and we wandered over to the Franklin Mills mall where I got a lovely pair of boots for work in the fall, one thing less on my mind! We had a lovely day and everyone loves Hans, the end.

I also watched both The Reader and Inglorious Basterds last week. Slightly too much Nazi for my taste, however they were both great movies, probably my favorite Nazi films, if one were to pick such things. I saw Basterds with Laura and Jordan, who I haven't seen to much of this summer: they're busy individually and together, I am busy with all sorts of things. But I was informed that they will be moving back to Baltimore (Laura's mom's house) later this week. So, goodbye Laura and Jordan! Three months went by so fast, but I don't really know what a heads-up would have done....

Saturday I actually did not work at the bakery because it was expected to rain and our sales were down last week anyway. So I had the day off and I helped Celia move into her new house about 30 mins away: she will be house-sitting for one year for a friend's family. Later we went to the King of Prussia mall because it is so close to her, and I purchased some lovely and useful shirts which may very well be needed to be worn to whatever job I find this fall.

I have decided that I should apply at a Barnes and Noble as a Barista again, since I liked it a lot, and it's indoors, and I love coffee...
I also finally heard back from Project Basho and it seems as though that will begin for me shortly.

The past few days have been sort of chaotic. Toby got back from vacation yesterday, and it is really nice to ride to work with someone. Amelia came to visit last night, and we did a lot! We tried to find the Random TeaRoom that Celia and I went to, but it was closed. So we went to Silk City for a drink, and then walked to Johnny Brenda's for another drink (technically bar-hopping, eh?) and then went back to my apt for a early night to bed, which is good since we were up at about 8 for no good reason. We went to Rocket Cat for lunch, and then to the Circle Thrift where Amelia got a few nice things. We hopped over to the Pen for a quick look-around and improptu tour, before heading over to the PMA which was lovely as usual, and then we stopped at the bookstore by ESP that Toby has told me is great: and it is! Such a wonderful bookstore, all the best authors, none of the crap. Superb! I bought a book on Joan of Arc that a professor had recommended to me, a book on Baroque art (since I had been signed up to take a class on Baroque but had immediately disliked the professor and switched out), and a tiny book of Kerouac's poems, called "Pomes All Sizes". Then we went to the Spaghetti Warehouse which was pretty cool and fairly delicious, and finished off fooding with some Bubble Tea at a place I have been eyeing for a few weeks. We stopped in at the Spring Garden Market (fairly large Asian foodstore) but it was so cold that we were shivering so we had to leave. After playing with Hans for a little bit, we took a walk to what I have been simply calling "The Compost" when really, it is a beautiful Community Garden. You see, when I first showed up asking about compost, the nice man showed me the corner, smiled, and said see ya later. So I have been pretty much avoiding the rest of the garden except to walk through it. Today, Amelia was so impressed, that of course we wandered a bit. A girl, Rachel, was there, introduced herself and more fully explained the site: they have been there for almost 5 years, it is a community effort, and I am more than welcome to come and spend an hour weeding and whatnot, and am more than welcome to take home some fruit/herbs/flowers. This is their blog. So nice! They have a lot of awesome things, even some things that I am familiar with growing to a certain extent as well! Let's see... strawberries, tomatoes, scallions, tomatoes, basil, carrots, cucumber, beans, and some pear trees, rasberries, corn, sunflowers, squash, thyme, ...oh boy just tons. And flowers on top of that! We actually had to go home to get the camera, although it was getting dark, but Amelia found this beauty

and had to photograph him to further investigate who he is.


Of course I am just a little grossed out to be working in this garden with GIANT spiders all over the place, but who knows. Basho soon anyway, I might not even have the time.