A fine line

Halloween came and went, another year of being too old to gather free candy. But not another year to skip on dressing up (or down, you'll see).

Rachel and I made a Goodwill run to get outfitted for the night. Perfect for my costume: a hobo. Rachel ended up dressing up like a redneck. I didn't allow myself to feel guilty for haplessly purchasing secondhand clothes, even as many folks actually, and seriously wear the clothes we sported in jest. After all, we were giving funds to GW, so they could stay open, right? Spent $12. Made a hobo suitcase with a broomstick and some grocery bags. Added a little makeup and I was good to go.

Here's where the fun started, at least in my mind. I was dressed like a hobo, but man did I look homeless. When you think about it, a hobo is funny; a homeless man is really sad. People gave me some strange glances at the party, but I assured them I was in fact a whimsical hobo, who would ride locomotives from town to town, living a lifestyle of the free spirit. But still they all looked like they wanted to give me money, yet worried I would just spend it on booze. Is the only difference between a hobo and a homeless guy their mode of transportation from town to town? Meh, I'm overthinking this. But I really should have invested in a corncob pipe. What do you think?

This is what will happen to your stuff

The grandparents' house is also ready for the market. We cleaned out the 3rd story attic 2 weeks ago, and finished the rest of the house, including the garage attic, this past weekend. Don't hoard, people. We are resolved to keep only essentials at this point. We literally (and sadly) had to fill a dumpster with grade reports from the 40s, battered clothing from the 50s-70s, random unsellable trinkets, and plenty of dusty, broken, miscellaneous junk from the 80s, 90s, and today. Stay simple America, and come to our yard sale this Saturday (9/10/11) from 7am-2pm. 504 Northbrook Dr. Raleigh, NC.



Viva la haggling!

See Below

Here come the non-Facebook updates, introspections, and much anticipated info on the Hunts.

Well, not much has changed. Drat. Well, except that I just wrapped up a summer at Alexander Family YMCA, and Rachel is starting Duke this fall. This has been a quick year, and I attribute that to just getting older. We have mastered our routine, and the day-in-day-out part of life has set in. That routine does come with its surprises along the way, but it's not the same as being young and dumb. Maybe not dumb, but the sense of optimism we had as kids, eg, "I could be president" or "I'm going to be a marine biologist", is no longer a goal or an issue. I remember an Inside the Actors Studio episode when Alec Baldwin said: (See 6:25-7:00, or watch the whole thing)



So embracing these next steps of our lives with a sense of normalcy in routine is really the goal. More so for me than for Rachel. Job-wise. You get it.

Other than figuring out how to plan for an amazing future, there are other happenings in our family life. Will graduated from UNC, Caroline and Rita are approaching the end of college, and Ed is recovering from his last chemo treatment. We just moved my grandparents into an assisted living complex, and we're cleaning out their old house to get it ready to sell. Found a lot of cool stuff in the attics, including artwork and mementos from the 50s-80s.

Friends are getting married, having kids, buying houses and cars, finishing internships, getting promotions, moving closer and farther away, and settling in to their lives. That's another thing you deal with in your twenties. In school you are almost force-fed friendships, as the academic setting is like social superglue. I love our friends, but as I'm more of an "out of sight, out of mind" type guy, maintaining relationships has become more work. Good work, that I need to pay more heed to. I hate grammar. That I need to pay more heed? Heeding pay for good work is a must? Bah.

And here are some thoughts I can't just work into a flowing paragraph:
I installed a new horn on the Vespa. Beowulf is in a constant battle with his GI tract, and he's finally putting on more weight. I drove the Vespa to Durham for an oil change. We have no dining room table, as it was taking up too much space. Rachel has almost finished the entire Harry Potter set. I'm getting a new tattoo. We are seriously considering buying a juicer. I'm refinishing an old rocking chair. I spend too much time on modernvespa.com. Companies do not send you requests to see your master's degree. I think I'm too old for Facebook, I'm not LinkedIn, and I don't use Twitter. This fall, we plan on tailgating at State games with the Vespa. We still don't have cable, and we're fine with that. Dyson vacuums have saved our lives. Irene did not affect us, and yes we felt that earthquake.

Thanks for reading, see you in a month!

Has it really been that long?

Here is a map. More posts to come. Also, I a 1/16 Cherokee. No joke.

"Three Wolf Moon" shirt review

From Amazon, enjoy:

"This item has wolves on it which makes it intrinsically sweet and worth 5 stars by itself, but once I tried it on, that's when the magic happened. After checking to ensure that the shirt would properly cover my girth, I walked from my trailer to Wal-mart with the shirt on and was immediately approached by women. The women knew from the wolves on my shirt that I, like a wolf, am a mysterious loner who knows how to 'howl at the moon' from time to time (if you catch my drift!). The women that approached me wanted to know if I would be their boyfriend and/or give them money for something they called mehth. I told them no, because they didn't have enough teeth, and frankly a man with a wolf-shirt shouldn't settle for the first thing that comes to him.

I arrived at Wal-mart, mounted my courtesy-scooter (walking is such a drag!) sitting side saddle so that my wolves would show. While I was browsing tube socks, I could hear aroused asthmatic breathing behind me. I turned around to see a slightly sweaty dream in sweatpants and flip-flops standing there. She told me she liked the wolves on my shirt, I told her I wanted to howl at her moon. She offered me a swig from her mountain dew, and I drove my scooter, with her shuffling along side out the door and into the rest of our lives. Thank you wolf shirt.

Pros: Fits my girthy frame, has wolves on it, attracts women
Cons: Only 3 wolves (could probably use a few more on the 'guns'), cannot see wolves when sitting with arms crossed, wolves would have been better if they glowed in the dark."

Coloradi

Heading out west this weekend to go to Rachel's cousin's graduation from the Air Force Academy, near Colorado Springs. Here's some pics of Cadet Chapel.




We'll be staying in some hefty houses provided by her aunt and uncle, which is very exciting. Though we Hunt's have traveled near and far, this will be the first time either of us has been to Colorado. In gearing up for what will be a great trip, we asked ourselves, "what kind of clothes should we be packing to accommodate for both the temperature and style of the mid-west/west?"



While this probably is not proper attire for the actual graduation ceremony, it sure looks warm. We're taking Beo to boarding school this afternoon, so we may hit up some thrift stores afterward.

If anyone wants gifts from the wild, wild west, be sure to give us money before we leave. We also charge a $5 handling fee. Until then friends, be well and do great things.

Time for a new ride: Getting stung by the Wasp

***This was to be posted May 14th, but Blogger was experiencing technical difficulties***

If you're good at keeping up with my ramblings, or reading my mind, well it's time to get a Vespa. I am going to comprise a Pros and Cons list in a second, after I spend some time letting you, our faithful readers, get to know our situation.

"Scooters aren't safe"
"The Explorer isn't safe"

The battle wages on. Rachel drives 26 miles round trip to work each day. She takes our Honda Civic. The fact I called it "our" Civic will probably disturb her. She hates the car. I drive 1 mile to Caribou, and 1 mile home. Many times I just ride my bike to work. Because I hate the Explorer. Horrible on gas, falling apart, screeches, bad shocks, etc. So...

Sell the Honda, let's get a Subaru something
Sell the Explorer, and I'll get a Vespa, you keep the Honda
Send both off cliffs and collect a fat $8,000 check
Keep both, hire Rita as a running coach, run everywhere

Those are our options. A Saudi guy from Caribou tried to tell me we could sell the Explorer for $2500 on Craigslist - there's a Vespa right there. Now let's pause. Why do I want a scooter? There are many practical reasons:

Thrift


70-80 miles per gallon. And your animal can ride with you. Seriously, not having to pay $40-$60 twice a week would be tear-jerking sweet. And insurance is something like $20 a month through gecko, so that would be substantially cheaper as well. Plus I ain't got no kids. That's enough. Picture number two.

Eye Candy




I mean, just look at it. Here's where I realize many of my goals are just about right, insofar as they are realistically attainable. I don't want some yacht, or 1.8 mil dollar something or other. With a scooter you can be kind of poor, but interesting enough that people will still look at you. Gotta be hip, right? I digress. But there's a point in there somewhere. Anyway, remember when you got your first adventurous medium that took you places faster than you could run? Bliss. The lot, wind in your face, going too fast, wrecking, bleeding, and doing it again. Then we got cars and windshields, seat belts and airbags, and if you're lucky, a sun-roof or convertible. Where's John Eldredge when you need him? And that leads us to our next chart:



And to make a long post short, we took a trip to Richmond, bought a dragon red Vespa LX 150 with only 380 miles. Oh yes we did. And now it sits idly by as I study for a motorcycle permit/license. Fast ending, but hey, it happened. Thanks for your support! Please don't hit me on the road.