Why does 4:30 AM even exist arghelbienabnele i can't even words

Home again, home again, jiggety jig.
I'm sitting in Seattle airport, having flown here early in the morning from Walla Walla, having driven to Walla Walla at <5.AM.
Why? Because flight-times out of Walla Walla suck T_T
Typing this in a Notepad document because the internet's being picky and such XP May or may not get this posted in Seattle, or even before I get home.

I know I didn't blog enough recently, but, y'know...nyeh.

After I left Cerny and Jay's place, I flew aaaalllll the way back to Washington to stay in Oregon with Layli and the family again.
Flights were all fine, except for one big cafuffle.

DUDES STOLE MAH LUGGAGE.

I had to take a convoluted series of flights from South Carolina into Washington, which included going into Phoenix, Arizona, for a short time.
I had to check in seperately in Phoenix. I'd been told in SC that I'd have to check in with American Airlines, and that my luggage would go all the way to Pasco in Washington.
THEY LIIIIIEEEEEDDDDD.

This is the dude from SC right now.

I went to American Airlines, and they told me I had to check in with Alaska Airlines.
Because of this messup, I asked about my luggage. They called up and checked, and it turned out they'd taken it off in Phoenix and it was waiting for me to pick it up. I couldn't get back to the luggage, but they said since I paid for it, they had to put it on my flight anyway.
Unfortunately, they couldn't get it to my flight in time, so they put it on another flight that was meant to get to Pasco just a little bit before I would anyway.

So, everything was fine. I got on my flight, checked into my next one, flew into Pasco feeling pretty okay.

Went for my luggage.
My luggage was not there.
It was not in the back.
It had disappeared, in thin air.

So I was like DAAAAAAAMNIIIIIIIT cause I had a bunch of awesome stuff in there and presents from and for people.

They managed to find it and get it flown in and delivered to me the next day though so everything was hunky-dory =D

So, I spent another day-and-a-bit with Layli and family, as discussed before.
They continued to be amazing.

 Pictured: Amazing.

Dan rocks the 'locks.

On a related note, it was Layli's birthday! Not really, but we celebrated early. There was pizza!

HUGEPIZZA, EVEN.

And cake, and icecream!

At least three of these were re-igniting candles. I was pleased.

And presents!

Gee, books! What a surprise!

And nerf-weapon gladiatorial combat! Layli's little brother is scary and vicious.

Srsly, a lightsaber, and an axe. Think he's got the advantage.

So, I fly from Seattle to Los Angeles, and from LA to Sydney, and from Sydney to Brisbane. One of my best friends is meeting me in Brisbane and staying the week, cause she missed me.
Everybody now; one, two, three, Awwwwww.

I've had a great time in America. Everybody I've stayed with has been lovely, I've laughed a lot, I've run around stressing a few times (seriously, losing your luggage is scary as crap), and anybody I've visited is more than welcome to stay with me if they ever come to Australia.
I'm sorry to everybody I didn't get to see. It definitely wasn't anything personal, it just didn't work out somewhere in the timing or other aspects of the situation.
I should be coming back in a few years. Maybe I'll get to see you all then.

<3

Blogbloggityblogobloglog.

Yes, yes. I'm slack.
Lemme alone.

Right, so what's been going on? I went to New York (state, not city,) and stayed with Ariel, who is awesomesauce. Staying with Ariel was great. Why? She lives in a fucking castle.

This is where she -lives.- She got a better deal than any of us.

So yeah, hanging with Ariel was cool. We laughed a lot. We didn't get to hang out much because, y'know, she's a student and not a lazy bum travelling the world, but it's okay. Why? Well, not only were she and her friends, awesome, but so was the food.

Seriously, look at this thing. It was fucking -huge.- And delicious.

So, after a few days of shooting the shit with Ariel and her friends, I've headed to South Carolina to hang out with my oldest online-friend, Cerny.  It's beautiful here, and Cerny and I have known each other for seven years, so we never stop laughing. He and his partner Jay introduced me to Chicken Bog, a well-seasoned Chicken and Rice style dish with smoked sausage and stuff. Was pretty good.

Southerners eat a lot, though. A full meal's worth of Chicken Bog was accompanied by a full meal's worth of mac-and-cheese.

What have I done in return for all this? I have introduced them to the beauty that is the Aussie Works Burger. They were sceptical (especially since the beetroot we found was incredibly bland, and the closest approximation we could get to sidebacon was thick cut and INCREDIBLY salty) at first, but come the first bite they were ecstatic. Pineapple, egg, and pork side will be purchased a lot more in this house, I feel.

Cerny likes the pineapple.

He does not like the cone of shame.

My trip is nearly over. I fly out on the twenty third I've enjoyed myself thoroughly, but I am, in a way, looking forward to being home. I miss my big comfy bed.

Yarr.

It is my birthday.

There is the possibility of having NY style pizza tonight for my birthday.

Wooooooo birthday.

Bluhbluhbluhsotiredbluh

OKAY SO I KNOW I HAVNT DONE A BLOGPOST IN FOREVER BUT SHUSH I'VE BEEN BUSY NOBODY READS THIS ANYWAY BLARGHLEBLARGH.

Ahem. So. As you knew already, I was staying with my friend Alena, who is awesome.

Also adorable.

She took me to Art Prize, where I saw loooooots of cool stuff. Also, her mother collects clocks. Awesome clocks.

This one does a jingle, has twirling gears, and

the bits in the middle spin.

Also, we went to her brother-in-law's diner, and the mozzarella sticks there were everything I ever dreamed. They were simply amazing. I have a picture of me eating one, but I've had comments that my blog is too much of a food-journal. Also-also, we tried to go to the zoo, but it was closed, because the zoo owners are meanieheads that do not want the Anuan to see the bears.

However, I have flown from Michigan into Baltimore, Maryland, where I'm staying with Jerry and Amanada and their tiny bundle of adorability, Pickle. I mean, Puddingtroll. I mean, Jared. Yes. That's the one.

Rockin motorbike, little buddy.

They're really awesome people (as the people I visit tend to be) and have been very nice. We've been playing a bunch of card-games, and tomorrow (I.E, later today) we're going to be having a D&D session. yaaaay!

Today, however, we went to the Rennaisance Festival. It was...amazing. Even Pickle was excited, he stayed awake nearly the entire time.

Tiny jesters are the best jesters.

Of course, he did not stay complacent the entire time. In fact, he rebelled.

"NOW WHO IS THE ONE THAT WILL WEAR

THE HAT WITH THE LITTLE BELLS?

MARRY, NUNCLE, THOU SHALT BE SLAIN."

 

I competed in every throwing-item game at the fair. Zeb (Jerry) joined me for Knives, Axes and Two-handed Axes, Alarra (Amanda) came and threw Stars with me. Every game was at least partially crooked. Literally, in the case of the knives and stars. Seriously bent gear happening.

Some lady threw an axe that ended up bouncing off the wall so hard it came back past the do-not-pass barrier. And nearly the fence behind us into the crowd.

The sign says 'play at your own risk' for a reason, but it should include a comment about observing.

There was a lot of trying-on of outfits at the RenFest. We all tried on hats that we didn't end up buying:

Incredibly dapper folk all round.

 

I tried on (and purchased! :D ) a magnificent cloak that  doables excellently as a wizard-robe due to the shallowing of its sides.

I put on my robe and wizard hat.

...Seperately.

 

Zeb got a new shirt and a doublet, which looked far superior to his beginning outfit.

We all ate large amounts of scary but delicious (and, in some cases, disappointingly undelicious) food. I tried macaroni-and-cheese on a stick, a scotch egg (WHICH WAS JUST AS AMAZING AS I ALWAYS HOPED 8D), Jalapeno poppers (disappointing 8c ) and chocolate-coated cheesecake-on-a-stick, which was pretty good. Also there was a joust which was disappointing both in quality and length, though one of the competitors was this really cool old dude.

Then, when we were all tired and such (Zeb worked overnight and had no sleep before leaving for the festival this morning, poor troll) we went to Outback Steakhouse for dinner. The food was good, but the menu was ridiculous. Alice Springs Chicken? Seriously?

That's not a knife.

  So, dinner was good, if hilariously poorly named and accompanied by a silly little Pickle that hadn't slept all day. But the best part about dinner? Zeb, Alarra and I were all in costume the entire time.

I took this photo from the inside of a hood, in a very croweded restaraunt.

There were -looks-.

  So yeah. Today was big. And fun.

Michigan internets is good internets.

It's true, it's true.
Anyway. What happened today? ALENA FIXED MY CAMERA THATS WHAT HAPPENED 8D.

Then we went to the last little stall-selling-thing of the season, which everyone hoped would be big because Artprize is on this week, but apparently that stopped anyone from coming out. Very few people sold very much. I got a present for Felix. I'd post a picture (it's pretty cool) but I think he'd get grumpy for 'spoiling' it.

I just hope it fits.

I saw a Orange-Tailed Chazzwazzer today! Alena called it a Squirrel. Silly Americans.
I didn't get a picture though, as it was spotted running across the road as we were driving past it.

Baw.

We went out to dinner at the Olive Garden with Alena's family, including brothers and...I think cousins? And a brother-in-law, or something. And the girlfriend of one of the guys. Everybody there was cool. I heard 'maybe we should go to Outback Steakhouse instead, hohoho" twice tonight.
"That was funny the first time I heard it, guys. Several months ago."
"Well it's the first time I've said it, so it's okay! :D"

My coins got passed around a little bit (Alena insists it's the coolest thing,) and her older brother and I got along really well.

I spent much of the afternoon describing Australia to Alena and her mother. Mostly telling horrorstories about the wildlife (especially water-dwelling creatures) and dispelling certain myths.
Like "Koalas are cute and cuddly."
Alena's poor mother looked so horrified at the videos showing the sounds those things make.

Oh, and Alena's dog Sadie no longer hates me. When I arrived last night she'd run around barking and terrified. By this afternoon she'd let me pet her.

She's so cute when she's not running around insanely.

I LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE

Okay, I doubt anybody's been checking or worrying or whatever, but yeah, I'm alive. I was with my buddy Soro in Peebles, Ohio, and only had dialup internet, which wouldn't allow me access to Blogger.

A LOT HAS HAPPENED. YES INDEED.
First, I'll write up some very brief reviews.
Good first.
Layli's family, that I stayed with first, deserves special mention in here for being amazing. Seriously. They're all just really cool people. Good conversationalists, intelligent, knowledgable, fun. Plus Sarah's a fairly awesome cook.
Five thumbs-up out of five, would stay there again.

Now for the bad.
UNITED AIRLINES.
NEVER. NEVER FLY UNITED AIRLINES. EVER.
You'd think 45 minutes would be plenty time enough to get from one plane to another. Especially since the airlines wrote up the ticket. I booked from one place to the other, they organised the inbetweens with connections to that place from this place, etc.
Well, not when we sit on the runway for the entirety of that 45 minutes doing absolutely NOTHING while the pilot has his thumb so far up his butt he makes the Goatse Guy look like an amateur.

Normally I'd put a pic here, but nobody needs to see that again.

The plane left without me, I had to wait two hours or something for the connection, then the next flight had a delay of half an hour.

So bugger those guys.

I've stayed with Soroma for the past near-week. He's a great guy, I've known him about seven years now.

Bros for life, yo.

I taught him to use a sword, everything was hunkydory. We went to Serpent Mound, which was cool, but it was a surprise so I didn't have my camera on me at the time. I did take a picture of a butterfly, though.

Not a bad shot from several feet away.

We also went to Portsmouth to see the Floodgate Murials. Muri...Myer...PAINTINGS.

I envy not these ancient winters.

  

So basically, Ohio was nice. Hot as buggery, though, and very humid. Soroma owns the complete collection of Calvin and Hobbes, and the box-set of SatAM Sonic the Hedgehog. Much fun was had. The only real down-point was that yesterday, Soro's six year old neice broke my camera, right after we took her photograph. She insisted.

Gaze into the face of EVIL.

So, unfortunately, I've no pictures of the drive to Michigan, where I now am with a dear old friend, Alena.  We're off to a little art-show tomorrow, where Alena will sell absolutely adorable buttons that she makes. I will be bringing back a little bagful as presents for people =3

Sorry for small post after such a long absence, but I've driven eight hours or so today and I'm wrecked.

The Sick Couch

Blargh, sick!
Layli, her younger brother Gareth and I have all been afflicted with some disgusting flu-virus thing. So the past day or two we've spent sitting on the couch in the livingroom, dubbed 'the Sick Couch' and treated as a sort of quarantine, watching Harry Potter movies because the internet has also been mostly out. A guy came by to fix it this morning and it's been better, but still troublesome for me =/

Nothing really to blog about, past that. I'll leave here for Ohio in the next few days, where I'll be staying with my buddy Soroma. The family here has been lovely to me, and are all amazing. Sarah has a book she wrote about King Arthur as a vampire. So amazing. When I come back I have to read it.