for Tess

So, one of my followers, who will not be named in the interest of confidentiality, would like to know the story behind my nap with the kangaroo (photo on header). I'm sure numerous others of you are dying to hear it as well!

Last October, my best friend Shelby, my sister Marina, my friend Coco/Dave/James Coltrane Ryan and I went to The Fest in Gainesville, Florida. Now The Fest is a rousing good punk music festival on Halloween weekend supplying good bands and cool people in bulk.

[meet the four of us jolly travelers-- Coco, me, Shelby, and part of Marina. we had just arrived in Florida and were overly-excited about the cool swamp-like southern trees (see background)]

[this is probably a better picture of our little quad]

Since it was Halloween, Coco brought (and wore) his Kangaroo costume. Unfortunately the boxing gloves that came with it had been lost. Needless to say, we felt pretty cool hanging out with an animal from Down Under.

[yes, I am one of those losers who wears ear-plugs.]

[myspace profile pic!]

Florida was gloriously temperate all weekend and we had a grand time staying up way too late and causing a ruckus with hundreds of others at the Holiday Inn (let's just say an elevator was broken) and attending a show in someone's crowded hotel room...

[seriously, guys, it was more crowded than it appears. just believe me, OKAY?!]

... and having a mediocre breakfast at a crowded bagel joint and meeting our idol Bert from Sesame Street and crowdsurfing for the first (and second) time as well as befriending a local reptile...

[getting familiar with Coco's/Dave's hairy arm]

... and just having an altogether good time! (Sorry, sometimes run-on sentences are necessary, like when encasing the story of a fun trip in a nutshell.)

Now, on the last day we had to check out of our hotel early in the morning, but there were still shows to see and things to do and bars to smell and so forth! So we stashed our stuff in a friend's room and went outside to enjoy the day. That afternoon, when we fancied a nap, we had no where to go but the lawn in front of the Gainesville city hall (or some sort of municipal building). It was one of those amazing naps where you go to sleep in an instant and wake up not knowing if you've slept a day or a year or five minutes, but feeling great.

[for your additional viewing pleasure]

[some of us were feeling more rested than others.]

So that's the story. Now that all of the mystery and suspense has been taken out of my blog, I'll *sniff, sniff* understand *sob* if you don't want to read anymore! : ( :' (
Hehe.

Anyway, it is one-two-three a.m. so I will be going to bed now.
But thanks for reading! (and one way I can know you are reading is if you press "Follow"... hint, hint.)

christie

p.s. I learned a new word today. "Janky." How fun does that sound? My friend from Christian summer camp, Justice, used it on Facebook so I asked her what it meant. It means bad/uncool/lame/stupid/I think you get it. Cool, eh? (I love new words.)