Wakkie Nu Nu!

The Official Diary From the Road (edited for normal syntax)
17 June 2005
North Carolina highlights:
-North Carolina is clearly irresponsible about fire- I saw 2 (sort of)! One was in the brush by an offramp, and then I saw a large column on smoke off beyond some farm field not 20 minutes later (and it was in a different direction, so it belonged to something else).
-There was some really awesome guy playing one-handed air piano out of the window of his car.
-North Carolina believes in roadside beauty- there were big yellow daffodils all along the highway throughout the state.
South Carolina:
-North Carolina makes South Carolina look bad. In an effort to keep up, the Southerners planted orange flowers by the road at first, but gave up after a few miles, hoping we'd forgotten how much prettier North Carolina is.
-I was trying to draw (I'll get those pictures colored and posted sometime soon), and was much annoyed by South Carolina's bumpy roads- another way they are worse than NC.
-I saw a guy riding his motorcycle with his feet hanging off- his legs were perfectly straight. He went very fast.
-I rocked out to the Ramones because South Carolina is boring.
Georgia
-There was a sticker on the door of the welcome center that said "Georgia Welcomes Its Canadian Neighbors," and had a Canadian flag. I thought that was rather nice of them, but then felt it was sort of rude to only welcome their English-speaking Canadian neighbors. If I knew French, I would have complained loudly, Quebec-style.
-It rained a little bit around Savannah, but then it just got kinda cloudy and I could see the rays of the sun through the clouds, and it was beautiful.
-Georgia is a really really pretty state- we drove all through these great wetlands, with green green grasses and really blue water that just shone in the sunlight.
-The hotel had a really hyperactive air conditioner, which I discovered on the way back is apparently normal for Best Western, and murder on my throat (why do I always get stuck sleeping next to the AC?)
Arrived in Florida June 18.
The house was really great- we'd stayed there once before, so I knew about the pool and the awesome view and all, but it's still nice to be reminded. I took pictures, but I'm still trying to figure out how to get my new camera (don't get me started on my new toy- I love it!) and my computer to play nice, so I'll post those when I work everything out.
I went to Dollar General on June 19, and was really scared when I saw books with titles like "Britney: Not So Innocent" and "Demi: The Naked Truth." There was also one that looked like it was about Tom Cruise and the end of time, but maybe I just interpreted it wrong.
Also on June 19, there was a big Father's Day party at my granddad's place, with every single one of my dad's siblings (there are 6 including him, and it's rare to get them all together) and some cousins I'd never met, and second cousins too, and a talkative bird, and a great time was had by all. I have tons and tonnes of pictures from this event, and my excuse for not posting them is above. When I post them, I'll remember the awesome stuff that happened and share.
On June 20, I encountered some people speaking German at a pizza place. I did not attempt to interact with them, because it seems rude to just go up to someone and say "Hey! I know the language you're speaking!" But I got all happy inside to hear German.
I spent the next few days swimming and lounging by the pool. It was wonderful. Also, it rained a bit, which is my dad's fault for washing the car. Also for trying to play golf, although he was ultimately successful. In spite of the clouds, I managed to get a pitiful pale-skin's attempt at a tan, but did not burn! This is the first time I've not burned in Florida, and I'm proud.
On June 24, we left Apollo Beach for Daytona, planning to spend the night there and catch one of my cousin Kevin's baseball games. On the way to Daytona, I saw a reststop with "no facilities." It was a parking lot and a bunch of trees. I worried a little, and was glad I didn't require it.
That night, I hung out in the hotel room because baseball is way too boring, and it's not like we were actually going to be able to talk to and/or hang out with Kevin. It stormed, and the game got called after 8.5 innings anyway. I didn't care, because I was hanging out in the hotel room watching VH1 (there were lots of power ballads, so I was very happy).
On the morning of June 25, Travis and I found the best. infomercial. ever. on tv. It was for Appliance Direct, and involved this apparently Hawaiian guy and his overly energetic female business partner discussing all the benefits of their direct-from-the-factory appliances, and the guy would yell "I Love Appliances!" all the time, and say things like "Wakkie Nu Nu!" Well, maybe you should just go to the site and watch the commercials- they are truly golden, each and every one of them.

As we were driving north, I watched Tom Tykwer's Heaven. That movie is absolutely amazing, and the commentary is more like Tykwer talking about his filmmaking philosophy than the movie itself- I plan on watching it again and taking notes because he said so many amazing things. I've now seen every Tykwer movie available on DVD (unfortunately only 4), and he's definitely my favorite director. He's apparently done a short with Natalie Portman (who I love), and I really hope I'll be able to find it somewhere (like Germany)- Tykwer makes me excited that I know things about movies and making them. I also took advantage of the hotel's free HBO and watched their new movie The Girl in the Cafe. If you get a chance to check that one out, it's pretty good, too- a little overly political at times, and it could have been more subtle, but it was really well-acted and when it's not trying to shove it's "Save Africa, G8!" message down out throats, it has some really brilliant moments. Also, saving dying children is pretty important.
Today, we drove through South Carolina and I read South of the Border billboards. These confused me:
-"Virgin Sturgeon! (also unused bagels)"
-"When the going gets Tuff- the Tuff go shopping!" (why the spelling change?)
-I though "Time for a Paws" with paw prints all over it was a cute pun.
-I belated tried to get some pictures, and was mildly successful. Unfortunately, I did not capture my favorite billboard, "You never sausage a place! You're always a wiener at Pedro's!" It is 2 miles from SotB on northbound 95, and anyone who manages to get a picture will be my personal hero.
Also in South Carolina, I saw a hotel billboard advertising "indoor plumbing." Heading south, I'd seen a sign offering "P-NUTS" at some store. I'm really worried for South Carolina.

That's pretty much all I recorded in my notebook. I also worked on my Norwegian, and scribbled some Iron and Wine related stuff- the new Woman King EP is so so so so amazing- it's better than Our Endless Numbered Days, which I had thought was about as perfect as music can get. Of course, with a title like Woman King, how could I not love it?

Gender: 50.4% female (just barely, and this is the first post to have enough words- hmmm).