"each year the entire globe goes around the blazing round sun at a pleasant distance so next year on the same day there'll be another birthday, for the exact same baby, but older and wiser and bigger, another party but a more complex party, it invites all its friends and they invite their friends and it makes new friends and the new friends make friends that are new for them, friends they hadn't known before but once they've met it's like they've known each other all their lives" (from Bob Perelman's "Revenge of the Bathwater")
Yes, Virginia, there is an OTP... Sorry we've been so lax in updating stuff! This year's theme is... A Happy Mead-ium! Kinda explains itself. Dates are June 30th to July 6th. The wiki has been updated.
apparently i'm making scones for this party. i love when i do that.
no, really--it's a feasible, enjoyable, and tasty task. as we've learned in past years that huge batches of scones travel okay but don't have an all-week-long shelf-life in raleigh weather, however, i think i'll be working on the buy-supplies-and-bake-in-fresh-daily-batches theory this year.
i hope nobody minds.
oh, & if anybody else has any other expectations for contributions i should be prepared to make or talents i should be prepared to demonstrate, please let me know! :D
My boss begged me to pick up two shifts at the start of my vacation. (He's desperate enough to let me drop five shifts at the end of it.) I'll be stuck in Blacksburg until Saturday morning.
So, it looks like I'll be arriving in Raleigh via a Greyhound bus at about 8 PM on Saturday evening. (Google says the address is 314 West Jones Street.) Can I beg one of you fine people for a lift to the party proper that evening, or would I be better served to call a cab when I arrive?
Also, this itinerary involves a layover in Winston-Salem from 1-5 PM or so. Can anyone recommend a fun thing to do in Winston-Salem (around 100 West 5th Street) for an afternoon?
There doesn't seem to be a way to do tables, so we'll try this format. If anyone has any good ideas, feel free. :) I tried to do manual html table... but that wasn't easy to manage. ;)
Anyway, feel free to update with your arrival info. :)
Has anyone started thinking about traveling to OTP? Just wondering when people were thinking about going/leaving?
I was thinking of flying in on Wed and flying out on Tuesday. (unless my boss decides its a good idea to send me up to DC for work while I'm on the right coast. ;)
Man, if only we had something like a wiki to put this info up on! *wink* *hint*
So, I am (as well as a few other Blacksburgers) going to have a really unpleasant week mid-April again, so what better time than a week later to visit the Viles? Even better, this aligns with a number of Triangle events. Technically seeing as I don't live there, I can't invite anyone, so if you're interested in a visit, confirm it with someone that lives in the area rather than me, but I suspect anyone who wants to join us is welcome.
Dates: April 23-25
Agenda (tentative):
Saturday April 24, Sunday April 25 - vilejynx will be at the NC Ren Faire and can get half priced tickets for anyone who's interested. Contact her ahead of time.
Got this on Fb this morning, to share with the class:
We still dwell in the memories of your stay and the rocket launcher has been appreciated by more than just my kids. Little Moya is walking (running) since she was 10 months and she is the delight of our hearts. We all want to wish you a great christmas and a fantastic new year!
Please forward to all your friends of the "Irish Castle Invasion Force 2009"
--Sheila, Patrick & Moya and all the rest of the Nordstroms
Yall make it there in one peice? Nothing's been updated on the OTP Wiki or here so I figured I'd ask. Comeon where's the webcam and pictures being posted!
All right, folks -- I need your help. I want to get together some recipes for feeding folks at the castle. I'll bring my scone recipe, pie recipe, and the recipes in my head... (And any others you can think of that I should bring.) Will you post your favorite "crowd pleasing" recipe so we can have some more to choose from? I figure it will be easier to shop by recipe than try to come up with stuff when we're there... We're repeatedly proved that the larger a group is, the less capable it is of making a decision... Thanks in advance!
Has there been any discussion about food for the week? I am very up on the idea of hitting the grocery/market Sunday (or Steve and I can maybe make a run in Cork since we arrive Saturday evening.) Economical, convenient and healthier than eating out.
For those of you in withdrawal from the recent trouble with onetruepary.org, it should be working again. I've been moving my sites to a new hosted service, and while I didn't move onetrueparty.org, I did move a domain it relied on and hijinks ensued.
For the technically minded, onetrueparty.org was a CNAME for www.ranjan.org, which used to be on the same copy of Apache. I moved ranjan.org to the hosted service, so onetrueparty.org then would point there, and hostgator would redirect it unhelpfully. I switched onetrueparty.org over to its own A record pointing back to my home box.
In the not-too-distant future, I'll be moving onetrueparty, including the wiki. Getting mediawiki set up on hostgator is more work than I want to do (and exactly the kind of work I went to hostgator to avoid), so I plan to convert it all over to TikiWiki, which hostgator supports. From my early analysis, TikiWiki should give us all the functionality we were using with Mediawiki. The markup syntax might change a little bit, though.
ride board to collect airport-to-castle info for the otp ireland trip is here: ride board on the wiki. you may add yourself and your info if you're confident in your wiki-ing, or comment here/email me and i'll take care of you. :)
East Coasters- There are U.S. Air flights for $613 (taxes, fees included) to Dublin from Boston and New York for monday-to-monday around the 4th of July. I haven't checked other dates or airports, but today is a pretty good day to buy. I used Kayak.com to find the flights.
From the West coast, I'm currently looking at http://www.wholesale-flights.com/ who claim to have $529 fares. I'll report back when I finish with them.
For any other flights you're taking before mid-June, prices are at a several month low today.
anybody with particular preferences among the following options should speak now or be prepared for a rock-paper-scissors room-trade upon arrival:
would you prefer: main castle vs. attached garden apartment that might be quieter? a particular roommate? a particular NON-roommate (you can email tyra (username at gmail) offlist to request this, and i will try to honor it without telling anybody that you said they stink)
(rooms are all for 2 people except for three 1-person ones that seem to be sharing a larger garden apartment with a double room, so if anybody wants dibs on that for a particular group of folks rather than it being batched for wholesale distribution, comment soon please; otherwise those 3 rooms can go to 3 ppl who don't want roommates at all)
also, please comment if you own a sleeping bag that's small and easy enough to pack to travel, because it looks, at least from the lists we've got, like we might have a few more bodies than beds, and i, for example, am willing to sleep on a couch or floor but don't have a sleeping bag, & i figure others might be in similar straits.
earlier responders are more likely to get what they want. :D
edit that's a definite, for now, that we do currently have more bodies on our list than beds that we're sure of, so if some of folks' groupings are amenable to sharing a 2-person bed among 3, that would be good to know. i count 3 couches in the main castle and at least one in a garden apartment that can be assigned if we have sleeping bags, but i'm not sure the single people on this trip would all agree that single-hood is a good reason to draw a couch for a week while other folks get automatic beds, so, seriously, get bids in!
You really want to go check it out, and look at the picture, and follow the links, and get all excited. You do. Believe me. (By "I made this," I mean vileone figured out and implemented several key wiki points that I didn't know how to do, and I did the rest, so "I" is mostly true.) And, of course, you want to add more ideas to the list!
There's also another story behind this post, but it's going in my own lj instead. Happy planning!!!
ambient noise: my roommate singing tom petty with his guitar
I'm not sure how many kids we've got coming to IRE, and what ages they'll be, but I've been mulling over an activity and I'd like some impressions:
I'd like to do a morning or afternoon of castle siege activities. I'll bring and/or find materials to make some small to medium scale catapults, trebuchets, etc; bring a water-balloon sling that can be managed by the smaller set; and perhaps for any castle defenders some nerf bows-and-arrows. We'll talk about how to bring a castle to its knees and secure the obedience of those within. There are all sorts of instructions online for building things like this at any scale, and I'll pick scales and materials to keep things age-appropriate.
I also want to bring the tennis ball mortar we built for my housewarming party (from the book "Backyard Ballistics")- that would be for demonstration and adult use only. Powered by butane lighter fluid, the tennis ball, which may or may not have been on fire when it left the tube, cleared a 50 foot tree in the backyard.
This will probably involve some mailing of materials directly to the castle, and securing permission of the castle staff, but I'm willing to undertake all of this. And I'd love help with the 'lesson plan' if anyone is inspired.
I keep forgetting to post this for y'all... But finally, the Scones of Goodness recipe:
2 cups all-purpose flour 1 T baking powder 3 T sugar, 1/2 t salt 5 T cold unsalted butter 1 c heavy cream 1/2 c whatever -- dried berries, mini choc chips -- whatever sounds good.
Preheat oven to 425. Mix dry ingredients together. Cut butter into dry ingredients. Add the berries or whatever. Add the cream; mix with a rubber scraper or spoon. Turn out the dough; knead with a little flour a couple of times. Press into a disc about 8" across on an ungreased baking sheet. Cut into 8 wedges and separate slightly. (I like to brush a T of cream over the top and sprinkle with sugar before baking.) Bake at 435 for 12-15 minutes or until light brown. Let cool for about 10 minutes (if you can wait that long).
That's the quick version; I often use my food processor to cut the butter into the dry ingredients. Oh, this recipes comes to us courtesy of Cook's Illustrated's The New Best Recipe cookbook -- if you don't get Cook's Illustrated magazine or Cook's Country, I recommend them both. :) Hopefully those links will work better for you than they did for me; their sites seems to want to give me errors...
Jul. 31st, 2008 @ 08:49 am
This is your friendly OTP Ireland trip mom reminding you to renew or apply for your passport if you don't or won't have a valid one... Yes, I know it's way early. Do it anyway. :P
Jul. 29th, 2008 @ 03:04 pm
1. Words can imitate life. 2. Drinking placebo tea from the getgo might lead to not having a sinus infection. 3. Buy powdered $SPORTSDRINK *before* someone needs it. Between heat, sickness, and alcohol, someone will end up needing it. 4. To a purist, really good soap removes even its own scent. 5. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Jul. 19th, 2008 @ 05:19 am
I actually wrote up most of these in the day or two after vilejynx gave us our homework assignment, but I've been continuing to fail to post them. And everyone else was posting thought-provoking things so I didn't feel worthy. I'll just have make up for it with quantity!
Five A few things I learned at OTP this year:
The house shrinks in the rain. (Feels much much smaller when everyone is inside out of the rain).
I'm not the only one who feels like an outsider. (Even when all reasonable evidence proves otherwise.)
I'm getting more and more comfortable in my body in front of people ... but apparently I'm still not confident enough not to sing in Rock Band without first seeing how the logistics work.
I enjoy making sawdust with a circular saw. Having fun and employing the Socratic method while doing so improves everything.
A portable, butane powered nail gun is the shiznit.
Always travel with spare rope. It comes in handy in many different ways.
Oh, and here are a couple things that I knew before but relearned or had reinforced this year:
For a bunch of geeks and weirdos, we're surprisingly well-socialized. At least within the sphere of our tribe.
i had conversations on this topic with a couple different people at OTP, so figured it might be interesting enough to post here: the new yorker article on how fashion photography is retouched to inhuman perfection is Pixel Perfect: Pascal Dangin’s virtual reality. sadly, the online version doesn't include the before-and-after images of a retouched photo - which brought home to me, viscerally, how my body-image and my ideals are shaped by force i don't understand - but a quick google search found me the perfect substitute: glen feron's portfolio. specifically this or this or omg, this...
also, my failure to conform has been pointed out to me; for those of you who didn't already see them, i posted the five things i learned OTP in my own lj, rather than here in the community. horrors! :)
Jul. 14th, 2008 @ 01:47 pm
So sit at my desk pondering life and listening to 'As the Rain Crashes Down' and it occurs to me that it rained most of last week end. Resulting in no fireworks and limited back deck musings. And one of the seeming constants in OTP comments? Wasn't the rain fantastic? You people are just that cool.
Jul. 11th, 2008 @ 07:40 am
( Today's Zero PunctuationCollapse ) (Contains naughty language and crudely drawn naughty bits so don't click play if you're at a humorless workplace.)
Jul. 9th, 2008 @ 06:04 pm
1)Driving a vehicle that can fit 8 people is really useful and means that I often have lots of people filling up my car with happy vibes. 2)As we get older, the quality of the alcohol served gets exponentially better. 3)If you need an answer or logistics planning ever, just ask Marda. She really does know everything. 4)Being outside in a thunderstorm at night with friends is simply amazing. 5)Air mattress X 4 people = critical mass. 3 is okay but 4, even when all you're doing is laying there is just too much.
Jul. 9th, 2008 @ 12:54 pm
Thanks to teky4lf, I now listen to Eddie from Ohio. Thanks to this past weekend, I have a quote for you all. I absolutely adore the imagery in the last verse, and now I have a new mental picture to put to it: a view out the kitchen window at a laughing, happy tribe performing a new ritual dance - welcoming the rain, celebrating the lives, and freely embracing joy.
Go ahead vileone send me some dimensions, I have ninja proofing on the brain this morning.
And by the way after OTP it is so very shocking when you have to explain WHY the treehouse NEEDS to be ninja proof. What kind of question is that?
Jul. 9th, 2008 @ 05:55 am
1. Brace yourself when Chris yells "TACKLE HUG!" – He means it.
2. Don't eat the donut mulch.
3. When jumping up and down in a knock-down, drag-out, cats-and-dogs, religion-starting downpour, ditch the shirt. And maybe the shorts. They'll only get soggy, and nobody minds.
4. You can meet new people and discover that you've missed them, all along.
5. Whether it's been ten years, ten minutes, or ten seconds, your friends are your friends are your family. Thank you for letting me rediscover that. I'm so glad I could come.
Jul. 8th, 2008 @ 09:22 pm
1. Laughing in the rain on a summer evening amongst the flashes of lightning and crashes of thunder is a wonderful way to enjoy the company of close friends
2. Ginger scones are really yummy
3. Being immersed in the love and friendship of people that you really care about in a place and time where that is explicitly the point melts away stresses and tensions that you didn't even know you had till they are gone. It is a truly amazing experience
4. When your stomach isn't feeling it's best, going downstairs into a cloud of bacon smell or even thinking about joining your friends at a sushi restaurant aren't the greatest of ideas
5. Even when it takes twenty hours of missed and rebooked flights to get home, there's no question that it is worth it to go spend four wonderful days with great friends
Jul. 8th, 2008 @ 08:05 pm
Yesterday was jarring, my teeth were rattling in my head for a good hunk of the morning, reality is a harsh mistress some days. I am nothing if not a pack animal, and the pack came together for a few brief shining days, and now has slowly migrated back to thier homes. It is good to be back to my little corner of the world, hanging out with Josh, but I find myself lifting my nose to the wind, searching for familiar scents and calling out to the night hoping for a response.
5 things I learned at OTP.
1. Blood is VERY different than family.
2. Self confidence is easier to come by when surrounded by people that love you.
3. There is no such thing as bringing too many tools. We just might not get to use all of them this time around :)
4. Weight limits on ladders are like the pirate code....
5. well timed thunderstorms are truly amazing things.
Jul. 8th, 2008 @ 09:31 pm
Brain hurts can't think. Nor can I form cohesive memory recall. To that end I know that at some point someone asked in passing that I ask my friend in Waterford/Galway something in relation to OTP 2009. Who were you and what was the question?
Jul. 8th, 2008 @ 08:40 am
Now that you have all mostly ceased to make me cry I will begin the daunting task of expressing what just happened, what it did and who I can blame for it.
So firstly, I love all of you. If you didn't get a hug I apologize and will be available for penance later. You are my people in ways I can not express to anyone that isn't.
Now on to my homework. "What I learned on summer vacation..." 1) Family is not chosen and it has nothing to do with genetics. Family are the people that found you when you weren't looking. When I told the idiot at the airline desk Sunday night that I had family to stay with in Raleigh I meant it.
2) Scones are a food group. And real cake does taste better than a box.
3) Boys look even better in kilts and all girls should have a corset. (there is no better way to find your inner woman.)
4) Safe is harder to find than the powers that be want you to believe. When you find it do not let go. (I found a lot of safe this weekend)
5) My architecture degree and building experience did not prepare me for the necessity of a safe, ninja proof treehouse entry method that defies gravity, can be operated by a three year old and doesn't involve electricity.
Jul. 7th, 2008 @ 10:35 pm
jpenamelist just left, leaving us I think four OTPers. Sometimes they hide, so you have to dig around a bit to find them all. This was, for me, and incredibly successful and incredible OTP. Not bad for number 10. The treehouse, while far from complete, has the parts that I most need my crazy people for, and who knows? I may even get some railing on it before OTP 2010 (Space Odyssey Electric Bugaloo).
It's amazing how much of my year revolves around this little tribal gathering. It's just a small hole in time and space that vilejynx and I carve out and so many of you fill up.
The water tank worked as designed. We drained the well, but we still had water. Isn't that life? Having enough to do what you want, but not so much you waste? We didn't have to suffer the Draconian rationing of prior years. Just a little practical information and awareness, using what you need but thinking about what you use, and knowing what we have. If only our other natural resources could be seen so clearly.
I miss the noise already, and I'm so happy for the silence. I should shower. I should dress the littlest boy. I should put up a railing. But for now, I think I'll just sit and smile.
Jul. 7th, 2008 @ 10:53 am
happy
