The Incredible Journey

          This morning we left for Alfred, New York to see my father's side of the family. My brother caught me off guard in Sean-oflage this morning, which was momentarily unsettling due to me not being in Kansas. For those who are unaware, Sean often wears a sweatshirt with thick grey and black horizontal stripes; so often, in fact, that anyone wearing that design is automatically recognized as Sean.
          After an hour or so, we drove through Prattsville, which was devastated by Hurricane Irene this year. The damage seemed surreal. Entire homes were washed away, and much destruction remained the way it had been dealt – collapsed buildings, downed trees, flooded areas. There was also an enormous pile, maybe sixty feet tall, of debris from the homes that had been wrecked. My father commented that there had been a pile of about a hundred cars next to it for some time. I'm grateful to live in an area that almost never experiences that sort of devastation.
          About halfway we passed through Binghamton, which was experiencing its usual rainy/overcast weather. I dodged that bullet by choosing Northeastern over Binghamton University (really just a fancier SUNY), my mother's alma mater. Not a cent of legacy money, and I'm glad of it now. The city itself is horribly grey and depressing, and the campus reflects that mood in brick everything and general drabness. Also, it's in the middle of rural New York State, which raises instant red flags on its own.
          It turned out that I didn't have to resort to my laptop at all. Instead, I read old issues of HANDY, The Conservationist and Cicada and listened to some Dan Savage podcasting goodness. Dan Savage is a prominent relationship advice columnist and gay rights activist, and has the funniest and most informative podcast I've come across. I recommend giving a listen to an episode or two; the beginning of #259 is more serious but very touching. Later I just put my iPod on shuffle, and my shuffle mojo displayed itself as “The Boys Are Back In Town” came on just as we entered Alfred. It's snowing gently here, and is beautiful as always. Hopefully I can get some pictures with my new point-n-shoot.
          In computer news, I taught Ian to play TF2 on offline practice. Alas, no internet connection here. Like any nooblet, he favors the Heavy and Pyro and disdains the Demoman, but he shows promise. From midnight to five a.m. I worked on Iris' short story. I'm always stricken by the urge to create at the most inconvenient times, but it really is coming along now and I'm quite happy with it. Naturally I'll post it here pending Mandarin approval.