Made it to poland in one piece. flight was late, but other than that, tiny puddle jumper was fine.

have been fed and piwo-ed up and am looking forward to sleeping, since i haven't done that since 7am eastersn on wednesday (apart from my nap in the english gardens.

tomorrow is chilling with my cousins, who are pretty cool and the Ola (not the Ola getting married) is actually studying theology. we'll see what fun / trouble to cause around here.

Much love to all.

mut sleep soon as my contacts are going blurry

Gratuitous munich photo.

more here

• 06:24 not the night of sleep i wanted right before leaving for europe. #
• 09:34 A first: hearing yankee doodle on bagpipes. Courtesy of boston police #
• 13:38 Forgot how long the lines are for intl. Gimme easy checkin and no bags anytime #
• 14:07 Checked in. Bags sent ahead to poland. Now time for security line #
• 14:23 Made it thru security! #
• 15:08 The boarding for lufthansa seems like it was organized by italians not germans #
• 15:15 Security with semi automatics. Joy. #
• 15:46 Plane about to leave #
• 22:52 Cute customs agents make things better #

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my bags are packed (and already on their way to poland), and i'm just waiting for the flight to board. (while taking care of some last minute things)

Itinerary:
20 Aug - depart US
21 Aug - spend in Munich - arrive in Poland
21-22 Aug - Family near Wroclaw
22 Aug - Go to Kluczbork
23 Aug - Wedding in Kluczbork
24 Aug - Wedding (cont)
25-27 Aug - Unknown - hopefully Krakow in that time
27 Aug - Wroclaw - Munich
28 Aug - Munich to Boston

Expect me when you see me.

Love to all!

• 09:58 yay for plumber arriving! #
• 10:03 YAY! TOILET FIXED! #
• 15:01 i love restaurant week. #
• 20:59 i want summer glau's flexibility #

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• 22:26 judging for women's gymnastics is so schitzo #

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Mail call for postcards from Munich/Poland? Leave me a note and I'll do my best to send you one!

If I don't have your address, email it to korina [at] gmail [dot] com :)

• 08:42 is awake and relaxed and had the most wonderful dream. :) #

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• 11:43 stupid basement stairs . #
• 08:42 is awake and relaxed and had the most wonderful dream. :) #

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• 09:42 footy is much better with UK announcers. #
• 11:43 stupid basement stairs . #
• 08:42 is awake and relaxed and had the most wonderful dream. :) #

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• 09:03 off course the toilet decided to stop up. and isn't easily fixed. #
• 09:42 footy is much better with UK announcers. #
• 11:43 stupid basement stairs . #
• 08:42 is awake and relaxed and had the most wonderful dream. :) #

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i gotta say, i do love the olympics. There's something about so much sport from so many nations in such a short time that's just always captivated my attention. (Even if they don't feel as special when they alternate two years apart). Of course, this means I almost alwasy watch the primetime coverage, along with certain events online, and of course, the Olympic soccer channel (which makes me very happy, btw). Watched the women's all-around gymnastics last night (and gagged as Nastia Liukin's pepto bismol pink leotard). The funniest moments are of course me wandering around, hearing something on the tv and going, 'oh that sounds familiar' to find out it's the national anthem. I do wish that equestrian was broadcast more on tv and not just online. At least the jumping, because I think that could captivate a US viewing audience.


Heading to Rhode Island tonight to move furniture since there's a couch being delivered tomorrow to bad_influence's parental home. Saturday I'm headed off to Connecticut to visit the parents & grandparents, Sunday is a Focolare picnic at Luminosa in upstate New York with Szajda central and then back to RI to pick up bad_influence and then back to MA.

And then I leave for Germany & Poland on Wednesday. It still hasn't quite hit me. But it should be fun.


And the U.S. Women just beat Canada to move into the semi-finals in soccer! Yay!

Searched out a banana bread recipe since we had quite a few ripe bananas. Turned out quite well.

( recipe )

After a week of being upset that the air conditioner was blocking his view, Harley discovered he could climb on top of it.

So, just finished watching The Making of Me that featured John Barrowman and how he came to be gay - nature versus nurture and if he was born like that. It was incredibly fascinating - much better than I expected. There's apparently a group at Northwestern that measures brain response to erotica in order to determine sexuality and bad_influence and i were talking about how we'd really like to undergo that. I mean, I can say whatever I want and believe whatever I want, but because of the epilepsy and concussions, I'd be really interested to do more neurological research, especially in regards to sexuality. And see whether or not it conforms to what I believe or not.

The one thing that I noticed was that all the scientific stuff was either gay or straight - there wasn't really much room / space given to bisexuality or transgendered. I know it's much easier to think about stuff in a gay versus straight mindset, but I think binaries in general usually lead to failure. Or at least to things revealing themselves to be much more complicated and messy than intended. Things don't usually fit in neat boxes.

Amusingly enough, I think I want to burn it to dvd and play it for my parents - even if that means having to have some conversations I'm not sure I'm ready to have. They know I'm bi, but sexuality is just one of those things we don't talk about. 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'. Bedroom preferences should stay in the bedroom. But it's been on my mind since reading Barrowman's autobiography and well, I'm a curious child who doesn't want to hide things. Maybe that's why I tend to overcompensate with openness to an extreme and lack of TMI/Modesty filters in other areas of my life. Who knows?

I think that it's really one of those 'anything is possible' situations.

( drive-by updates from the road )
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27. Title:The Twilight Streets
Author: Gary Russel
Pages: 251
Date Finished: 21.VI.2008
Thoughts: Another Torchwood Novelization. This is one that I actually would recommend to people and not just because it's Ianto-centric. It deals a lot with Bilis Manger and presents future AUs that I think are well crafted. I'd love to see it filmed except then you'd lose all the great pov stuff. A speedy, delightful read.

28. Title: Maurice
Author: E.M. Forester
Pages: 256
Date Finished: 2.VII.2008
Thoughts: I saw the movie based on this years ago and thought it was a cute touching story. I regret to say the movie was better than the book, or well, flowed better. The book, well, I enjoyed the story, but it was a bit odd in some points and a bit cliched in others and felt like a bit of a jerky ride. But yet, I still felt it was worth reading just to see how the gay novel was done back then.

29. Title: Victory of Eagles
Author: Naomi Novik
Pages: 329
Date Finished: 16.VII.2008
Thoughts: The Temeraire series is still one of my favorites, because dragons ans the age of sail - doesn't get much better than that. This book didn't disappoint and I loved what she did with Temeraire and the ferals. There was a lot of battle, but as someone who grew up as a military history buff, that didn't bother me.

30. Title: Kushiel's Mercy
Author: Jacqueline Carey
Pages: 653
Date Finished: 5.VIII.2008
Thoughts: Mmmmm... Imriel. Yeah, that sums up my thoughts. I actually think I preferred Kushiel's Justice to Kushiel's Mercy but that's because I think the ending of Mercy could have been better. It reminded me of the ending of Doctor Who S4 where I was like, 'that's great, but could we get another few minutes of resolution for the supporting cast?'. Definitely wasn't enough Mavros in this book, and I would have like to have more Sunjata as well (everybody loves a eunuch), but over all it was good. I'm constantly amazed at her ability to weave a story where you think it's almost resolved when you're only halfway through the book, but then you find out that there's oh so much more.

So, found out that the F.U.D.G.E. theater company in Watertown, MA was doing a production of "Bare: A Pop Opera" and decided to go. I'd been turned onto the soundtrack by boysnoggage and omg!gay + catholic + angst = my ideal show. Well, turns out I was right. The show was fantastic, as was the talent. I sobbed through almost the entire second act. It did strike a little too close to home and the mother's response to the phone call was just gut wrenching, but it was very well worth it.

They've extended the run to do performances August 7 & 8th. So, if you have a chance, GO!!

( drive-by updates from the road )
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shamelessly stolen from tryslora:
( questions )

my parents informed me today that in the interest of living life to the fullest and taking advantage of every opportunity, they're sending me to Poland at the end of August for my cousin's wedding!!!

i was flabbergasted, but zomg, squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

top three purchases for the trip / recently

- Keen Newport H2 Sandals
-Joby GP2-00EN Gorillapod Flexible Tripod for Digital SLR Cameras
-Olympus Stylus 1030SW 10.1MP Digital Camera with 3.6x Optical Wide Angle Zoom (Green) - Waterproof & Shockproof!!!

just got drenched from being caught in a summer storm. it ruined the bag my gift from yael & noam was in, but all i could do was laugh and grin and jump in puddles.

thanks, world, for washing away my cranky, worried, angst from this morning with a gorgeous storm. i forget how simple life can be sometimes.

SCATTERGORIES! Copy the text below, erase my answers, then use the first letter of your name to answer each of the following. They have to be real places, names, things. Nothing made up! Try to use different answers if the person in front of you had the same first initial. You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

WHAT IS YOUR NAME? korina / kori / kor
4 LETTER WORD: king
BOY NAME: konrad
GIRL NAME: katarina
OCCUPATION: KKK
A COLOUR: kelly green
SOMETHING YOU WEAR: khakis
BEVERAGE: kumquat juice
FOOD: kolaczki
SOMETHING FOUND IN A BATHROOM: kiwi scented lotion
PLACE: Kluczbork, poland
REASON FOR BEING LATE: killed someone and needed to wash the blood off
YOU SHOUT: Killer!

(this is much easier in polish... *grumbles*)

Also: Please ask me a question about each of the following:
1. Friends
2. Sex
3. Music
4. Drugs
5. Love
6. LiveJournal
7. Family

So, a full update of the road trip will come later, but for the meantime:

# of states visited: 14
MA, RI, CT, NY, NJ, DL, MD, VA, NC, SC, GA, FL, AL, TN

# of bridges crossed: over 20 (no bridge counted twice - some were over five miles long)

# of bumper stickers added to the car: 8

miles driven: approx. 3970

$ spent on gas: $605.90

state license plates seen: 49 (all but hawaii)

Five most amusing moments:

5.my dad loosing his swimtrunks when they blew off the hotel balcony where he hung them to dry
4. watching people run like mad when it poured (three separate times) at Animal Kingdom
3. having a family friend come out to us after being told (incorrectly) that bad_influence and I were a couple. gotta love backpedaling.
2. Having to stop in Shenandoah national park & set up the computer to dump photos from the SLR camera
1. watching someone run back to the hotel to bring the bride underwear for the wedding so she'd have something 'borrowed' and apologizing it having a slight tear



Five most worrisome / least fun moments:

5. stupid humans on assateague island
4. having my mom & her sister lecture both their brothers on divorce
3. too many Polish alpha females trying to take charge
2. being low on gas in Shenandoah national park
1. having the brakes/tires on the car smoke in the smoky mountains. appropriate, yes?

Five best overall moments:
5. arriving on assateague island / the wild ponies
4. eating fresh crab every day on the way down the east coast
3. sea turtle tracks on the sand - and seeing one swimming in the water
2. watching the sharks brought in while we ate dinner
1. Watching my brother and his wife exchange wows. Best moment ever - I was bawling.

( drive-by updates from the road )
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The road trip is going well. Have access to internet this morning, since Tennessee is full of road closures and detours (as well as Alabama). We dealt with a police barricade closing part of I-59 in Alabama and then a detour for I-40 in Tennessee. Which all translates to us arriving at Smoky Mountains National Park after 10pm, in the complete darkness and rain. So, after passing through the Vegas/Orlando love child town of pigeon forge, we decided to just stay at a hotel, since it would have taken us at least another thirty minutes to find our campground in the park. But our hotel is right on a river, which is a pretty amazing view to wake up to. And the mountains are covered in 'smoke' this morning, living up to their name.

Pensacola was a blast - getting to see Angela and April was fabulous as always and got a chance to see Wall-E which I highly recommend.

Orlando was fabulous as well. Tracey took us to a great artist's tapas restaurant and the food was amazing. We also had an incredible time at Animal Kingdom. (even if it did pour and soak us thee times).

So yeah, we'll end up in Shenandoah National Park tonight, and after that, it's a detour to West Virginia to see the Halley family, then to D.C. to drop off the wedding presents / all the rest of the happy couple's stuff. I know I owe a bunch of D.C. people a visit, but we'll really probably just be crashing at my brother's without much time for socialization. Next time, I promise.