Killing time in an airport isn't the worst way to spend an afternoon. It isn't the best, but it isn't the worst. And I seem to be doing that a lot recently. Not because I've been travelling more, but because of how I've been traveling. Through the generosity of a friend, I'm in the in-crowd, able to hop on flights for free or little money (provided it's the right airline) without jumping through the hoops of time-sensitive fares, blackout dates, etc. Yes, I'm a travel companion!
The upsides of this arrangement are many. There's the whole cheap cheap travel, of course. And then there's the way the airline folks treat one of their own. I've had so many great experiences, esp. with the ticketing and gate people. And maybe they're this nice to everyone. If so, I didn't notice until now. And with the cost of travel a non-issue, freedom of travel increases. Hop to San Francisco for an evening? Why not? Weekend trip to Hawaii? Alhoa! But as with anything, there are downsides. The two biggest for my situation are this: the airline I get to go free on has a business model that isn't conducive to flexible travel. They serve small airports via hubs and don't do any connecting flights. This works great if I'm just going Bellingham to Vegas or LA, but doesn't work well if I want to head to the east coast. It can be done, but it involves overnight layovers and transfers in obscure midwest locations. But the biggest downside is what has me killing full afternoons in airports unexpectedly: I only fly standby. It seems when I was flying via traditional paying means, none of the flights I ended up on were fully booked. There was always one seat to be had somewhere. But now, a full 25% of my flights have been booked to the point of leaving me waving to them from the airport while they taxi away. It's not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but it can sure throw a wrench in one's planning*. So here I continue to sit, poaching free wifi and counting heads as the waiting room fills up, hoping there will be one measly seat for little old me. |
Sunday February 23 2014 | File under: travel |
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Hey, I've got an idea. Let's write Roses are Red poems right here on the blog. It'll be great. I'll write a few to get you started. Then you can contribute your own. Over the next week or so, you can check back to read the awesome ones other people write. How about we set the rules as every poem much contain either the word "roses" or "red" and must follow the standard Roses are Red rhyming/stress pattern.
Full disclosure: this is not a new idea. It's been done many times, some of which were right here on this blog! Check out posts from '13, '12, '11, '10, '09, '08, '07
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Wednesday February 12 2014 | File under: poetry, holidays |
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Monday February 10 2014 | File under: crafts, misc |
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Interest, both mine and the world at large's, in troothpicks tends to wax and wane. Someimtes I'll go 10 months without thinking or hearing about it at all. Other times, there's seems to be something exciting happen with them every other week. Some recent excitement was inclusion in Nomad, a travelling trailer full of indy art, based out of Bellingham and some long overdue internet sales!
So keeping in form with this latest wave of interest, I've decided to step it up to the next level. I've open up a troothpicks store on Etsy! My hope is that the wider marketplace will bring troothpicks happiness to more people making the world a better place...and maybe putting a few bucks in my pocket*. I've heard a number of Etsy success stories recently, including Della's! She makes awesome juggling bags and has sold out in just the last week on her Etsy store. You should go check it out yourself and get a pre-order in before demand drives the price through the roof*! Anyway, it's my hope that this new move puts troothpicks where it deserves to be: on the verge of making me a million dollars! If you felt so inclined, I'd love help spreading the word. Tell your friends, 'favorite' my etsy shop, --heck, maybe even buy a package for yourself or a friend. |
Saturday February 1 2014 | File under: misc |
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The happy coincidence of having family in the same city as a well known juggling festival led me to hop on a plane and bounce on over to Madison WI for the weekend, a place I've always wanted to check out anyway. The verdict: pretty dang neat.
Seeing the midwestern version of a juggling festival was interesting. Madfest, now in it's 47th year is pretty big as far as juggling festivals go. Lots of people, lots of talent, and lots of age diversity, which was really nice to see*. And while between the awesome show and all the happenings in the gym, there was plenty of great stuff to watch, the overall vibe was a bit cliquey. I mostly juggled by myself* and am looking forward to getting back to the awesome Bellingham club meeting to get my fill of high level passing. Aside from the juggling festival, there was lots to do and see in Madison, and I had a great tour guide and host. We walked the city in freshly falling snow, sampled a bit of the local cuisine, got a geocache(!), saw Cora's school, and much much more. It was the perfect taste of the place and it has me looking forward to coming back someday. In short, my time in Madison was awesome. Getting there and back, however, there were a few more ins and outs. But that'll have to wait for another post. |
Monday January 20 2014 | File under: travel, USA |
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Tuesday January 14 2014 | File under: misc |
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Pub trivia (or trivia of any kind, for that matter) is becoming a pretty big part of my life these days. I do my darnedest to attend the three local events (as covered here) and always try to hit up new spots whenever I travel. It's fun. It's engaging. And it can be pretty dang lucrative.
Well, as is my way, I decided to start tracking me and my team's showings just for kicks. Not only will it be neat to look back at how we did, etc., but it will serve as a way to track winnings. At one spot alone last year, we earned an estimated $2000 in gift certificates. Not bad for a bunch of nerds. Much in the same way I keep my sleeping around online, I've put the trivia data up as well, just for yucks. You can check it out here. Take that NSA. No need to bug my phone or e-mail. I've got it all laid out nicely for you right here on my blog. |
Friday January 10 2014 | File under: games, data |
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Remember those game nights from back in the day, when a bunch of people gathered at my mom's house, chatted, ate yummy food, and played games? If you don't, here's a few links to refresh your memory (2006 and 2007).
Well, after a far too long hiatus, we tried it again. And again, it proved to be dang fun. Thanks to everyone that came and played along. A first time addition to this game night was trivia, which I wrote and hosted. I really like writing and hosting trivia. I had a go at it this past summer with Chautauqua which proved to be a hit. And this turned out pretty great. An innovation I hadn't experienced before emerged: everyone contribute one question for the final round. Good times. The picture round can be seen here*. To counter the new time addition, we played a couple rounds of the good old standby Pictionary Telephone (covered here on BdW before). Here are a few of the highlights: 1, 2, and 3. Yep, to whomever suggested the resurrection of game night, a hearty thanks. And now that I remember how awesome it is, maybe we'll have to do it again next year! |
Thursday January 2 2014 | File under: games |
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Wednesday December 25 2013 | File under: holidays, poem |
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Can it be? Really? Well humdinger, it's a Friday Comic! How did I used to do this every week? Now I'm averaging 1 every six months. And this one wouldn't have come about if it weren't for some gentle coaxing from a few friends that, to my utter surprise, expressed missing these artistic atrocities. Well, for those few folks, here you go: an early Christmas present. And since there have only been 2 comics this year, you've no doubt forgot about all those old ones. Why not check out the archive to track down your favorite or let randomness decide. And while I'm sure it's a little late and a lot flat, I can't post a comic around x-mas without at least half-heartedly trying to sell you on one of my amazingly funny compilation books. Get them here: Volume 1, Volume 2. (And for an extra Christmas bonus, Della did a comic too! Good times!) |
Friday December 20 2013 | File under: comic |
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