Finals Week

No pictures for this entry.  I've been swamped in studying for finals and everything coming to a close this semester.  So far I have made Christmas cookies with my housemate Steph, rocked out on "Rockband" while working at campus tech services, aaaand have blown a fuse in my brain attempting to write too many papers.  But the holiday season is drifting closer and hopefully there will be lots time for recharging.

A recap from one of my Nashville entries: the Jane Dear girls are going on their first tour with Jason Aldean.  So, if you have tickets to one of his concerts, watch out for this one semi-hit wonder in the country music scene.

*stressing and studying*

Megan

Goodbye Fall Weather, Hello Ice

Fall has officially been over for a while now but it wasn't until this past week that Geneseo received snow.  It's only a dusting but ice is everywhere.  Having never smashed a pumpkin because I am a positive member of society and not a hooligan, I decided to rebel and fulfill this secret dream.  Taking my housemate Helen's pumpkin that has been sitting on our television since early October, I marched outside to a desolate staircase...

I chucked it as hard as I could down the staircase and with baited breath, waited for the explosion.  It never happened.  The pumpkin was slightly rotted on the inside and decided it was too fibrous to fly.  Thus ended my epic experience with pumpkin chucking.

*Rotting Seeds and Dropping Temps*

Megan

Taking the Adventure Subterranean

This past weekend I went with the Geography Club on a tour of the Rochester subway system.  It is very short in general but the fact that it was abandoned, home to homeless, and listening to the urban planner's ideas for the area made it a very interesting trip...also the stop at Dinosaur BBQ afterwards didn't hurt.

<<A lot of the subway was very dark and without the camera flash, this is what it looked like>>

<<My trusty flashlight(s) died within 5 minutes. Yes, I brought 2 just in case and even the backup was a fail.  Murphy's Law = my life>>

<<Creepy little side tunnel. Actually felt kind of bad going in there because we were walking on somebody's blanket/bed>>

<<Though there was some hate writing, a large portion of the graffiti was artistic and as the tour guide said, the artists sometimes hold competitions down there.  The problem is that none will own up to their work, it's very *no pun intended* underground.  I guess a few students from RIT documented it's change over a period of time, sounds like an interesting project>>

<<The stairway that led to nowhere but we climbed anyways.  Thank goodness the door was labeled, I'm not sure we could've figured that one out>>

<<No flash>>

<<Tour guide!>>

<<Part of the tunnel under construction to prevent the highwayers above from plummeting to their deaths>>

<<Freedom!...and we can save money!...so much hope *sniffle*>>

<<Dan and heavy machinery...not sure how I feel about this one>>

The only disappointment I received was not being able to meet a hobo.  It is a life dream of mine to befriend a hobo and write his/her memoir.  Also, the cajun spiced deviled eggs at Dinosaur BBQ were incredibly delicious, highly recommend.  For those who debate on the BBQ's original place, there's a newspaper clipping on the wall of Rochester's Dinosaur BBQ that admits Syracuse was the first.  Syracuse: 1 Rochester 0. 

*Dust and Dereliction*

Megan

Picking Produce Again

One might refer to me as a part-time harvester as I spent the day (after Church of course) picking apples and pumpkins with the fam- well part of the family, the rest are still in college. First we went apple picking...

<<Notice the delighted girl behind them>>

<<Neil picking an apple, so exciting>>

<<Posing with apples. For those of you who don't know him that's typical Neil behavior right there>>

<<Apples as far as the eye can see!>>

<<Sarah searching for Woolly Bears>>

<<Still the bug whisperer>>

<<Sick, sick, sick>>

At this point we were waiting for mom and dad to come out of the orchard and Neil decided to go into the woods and chase chickens. We couldn't see him much but we did see the occasional chicken come tearing out of the woods squawking...then Neil would squawk back which sounded surprisingly similar.  Then the lady in charge came up to me and asked me to get him out of there which I yelled from the picnic table Sarah and I were sitting at. When Neil came out of the woods he was bragging about chasing the chickens and carrying a rusted shovel head. I introduced him to the lady in charge and said, "You know this is her land right?" it was awkward silence for about 2 seconds and Neil points to her and starts singing, "This land is your land" points to himself, "This land is my land, from the..." I seriously died laughing. The lady just nodded and walked away.  Then two little girls came out of nowhere claiming we stole their dog and grabbed the leash and attempted to run away with Mandy but their mom stopped them and reminded them that theirs was in the parking lot but it still took a few minutes to get out dog back.

Paid for our apples and went to a pumpkin patch on the other side of Marcellus. Tim's is a tradition and so we went.

<<Neil and me on our not-so-secret pumpkin search>>

<<Just doing some fabulous pumpkin modeling>>

<<Pumpkins as far as the eye can see, well, this was only the back field>>

<<The bunnies Pepsi and Dragon>>

Walking back with the wheelbarrow Neil stops and whispers, "Do you hear that?" "What?" "They're conspiring against us." We begin to walk again and the pumpkins are squeaking against each other. Neil, "I can hear you!"

<<The awesome buffalo statue out front>>

<<Oh no Sarah, your friend crashed into the pole!>>

<<Bad lighting = zombie child of the corn apparently>>

<<Going through the corn maze of straight rows with the occasional open area. Methinks it wasn't actually a maze.>>

<<We heard the children of the corn and were preparing for battle>>

*Traditions and Situations*

Megan

Cross Country Siblings

Saturday I attended the East Syracuse Minoa Cross Country Invitational. Getting there was interesting as the highway was down to a crawl from construction so mom had to improvise on directions which included some, shall we say faith inspiring moments. After we got there we ended up walking "cross country" to get to the cross country race where I was just in time to witness sister Sarah take off in Girl's JV race.

<<Sarah in front of 2 other Marcellians. Go, go go!>>

<<Lookee 'dere she got a ribbon and came in 6th and everything>>

<<Brother Neil's race begins next with Boy's Modified.  Seriously, the wall of hyped up young boys was a little terrifying not gonna lie.>>

<<The mud traps were huge>>

I almost let Sarah convince me to run through them to get a good picture but sorry readers, my commitment to pictures for this blog is not that strong...yet. Thus this and the last picture came from Sarah who was already covered in mud at this point and so didn't mind the sickening squish between toes or the cold seeping into socks that was beginning to occur in my feet.

*Mud Puds and Spiked Feet*

Megan

Shout Out

Shout out to my friend and ex-housemate Amy B. who's in Houston, TX for graduate studies. She sent up some awesome chocolate chip, oatmeal cookies and they were deelish! For some awesome recipes check out http://smittenkitchen.com/

<<Stole this from her facebook haha>>

Walk for Breast Cancer Research and Awareness

This morning I got up early (read 7am) to jump in a car with two of my professors and two fellow geography majors to walk 2.4 miles through the streets of Rochester for breast cancer awareness.  It was a pretty great time overall despite the cold temps and the odd rain drop or two.

<<Bright and early in our matching sexy sweatshirts>>

<<Walking from the parking lot...exciting!!!>

<<Initial registration, warm-ups with Jazzercise! dance group, eating free apples from Walmart>>

<<The beginning of the walk where we just happened to end up next to Brockport people wearing their green hoodies. Yeah, it was awkward for a little bit there>>

<<The batmobile was just one of the many oddities I saw along the 2.4 mile trek including a guy wearing native Scottish garb aka kilt>> 

<<My fellow walkers>>

<<10,000 people showed their support>>

<<A nice street band which Dan felt the need to temporarily direct/dance to>>

After the walk, while we waited for traffic to peace out, we walked over to the High Falls which interestingly enough is the reason why Rochacha is where it is as opposed to Ontario Lake.  Returning to a near empty parking lot, we took off to Sticky Lips BBQ which had a post WWII theme and I got some pulled pork (I mean it is a BBQ joint) despite being in the presence of two vege-lame-ians.

<<In front of High Falls>>

*BBQ and Boot Blisters*

Megan