TRIPWIRE ROCKS!
Holy shit, I'm in Maryland! Let's see what Answers.com has to say about Maryland.
A state of the east-central United States. It was admitted as one of the original Thirteen Colonies in 1788. The colony was founded by Lord Baltimore in 1634 as a refuge for English Roman Catholics. Annapolis is the capital and Baltimore the largest city. Population: 5,550,000.
Well, that's interesting. Anyway, here I am in the Old Line State (whatever the hell that means), ready to start doing more Southerly things, such as bailing hay and milking cows, even if I'm not really in the South exactly. And I don't see any cows anywhere, though I suppose I could try milking Vani's parakeet. Not sure if anyone involved would enjoy that, though.
So yeah, we got back from the Travel Plaza and I dropped my stuff off. Vani and Jay live in a really nifty townhouse overlooking a really nifty valley full of really nifty trees and stuff. I like it a lot. After getting situated, we headed out for a local bar, where again I was confronted with NASCAR. But again, I'm heading south now so I guess I'll just have to get used to it. It's not easy being a member of high-class Northern society, but I try.
We got there and I met a few of Vani and Jay's pool-playing buddies, then we sat down to drink many beers and smoke many cigarettes (Maryland hasn't banned smoking in bars yet, so I now love Maryland). We were also promised the musically stylings of a band called Tripwire, and I've been a huge fan of theirs since before they got big, so I was pretty psyched. After awhile, another pool-playing buddy, Susan, showed up and she gave me a hug, which is apparently customary in Trinidad, where she's from. So that was pretty cool.
Drinking and chatting and smoking and eating, it was a nice introduction to Maryland and I was feeling very comfortable and not at all bothered by the fact that I am now hundreds of miles from home and whatnot. Then Tripwire came on and the place started rockin'! From the woman with the big hair dancing the same dance to every song to the drunken meathead proclaiming that he likes ten year old boys in the bathroom, I'm surprised the whole place didn't crash down to its foundations due to an explosion of awesomeness.
Um. Tripwire wasn't that great. Well, the lead singer did a fair job at singing their cover tunes, but the drummer was crapalicious, and their rendition of Crazy Train was particularly painful. But I can't really complain, since I was having a great time. Vani and Jay really made me feel at home, and I can't say how much I appreciate that.
After drinking enough, we headed back to the house and watched teeve for a bit, and I was properly introduced to Mouse the parakeet. She's a cute little thing, and pretty funny when she spots a mirror and attempts to poke and dance at the bird on the other side of the glass. Then Vani and I hung out on the deck, smoking and talking, and then everyone went to bed and she had some kind of allergic reaction or something and got sick THE END!
And now today, I'm farting around, trying to take advantage of the few weak wireless signals bouncing around the neighborhood, and watching Stargate SG-1. And uh, I can't think of a good way to end this, so there.