What a long strange trip it's been

Iowa: Home, Sweet Home. Ben holds an apple dumpling in his hand, which he ate in Ohio.

We had a crazy, eventful year beginning in Amherst and ending in Plainsboro, with a smattering of America thrown into the middle. We took many winding roads to get here, and we're just about to hit the road again. We figured that photos speak louder than words, so here's a half-year photo review of 2008, in no particular order:

Luke!

Livestock!

Knobs. August involved an ungodly number of trips to various NJ Targets to secure enough knobs. I found one in the car in Tennessee, a reminder of many lost hours screwing, unscrewing, purchasing, and chasing down these devils.

The view from the second story, Keswick, VA.

Ithaca is gorges in the fall, even if you need to drive through Scranton to get there.

The road. We know thee well. This was after a freakish rainstorm in the Texas panhandle. We'd just had an unlikely meal of Sushi and hit a fierce storm en route to New Mexico.

And who can forget the Olympics? Here Ben poses, just before the end of this year's events, with the mascots at the US Olympic Headquarters in ColoSpgs

The Garden of the Gods on a late August evening. Peace on Earth.

The Egg's Nest, near Rhinebeck, NY, on J's birthday, after eating too many M&M's at Bard College.

Shade-seeking pup Doogie.

Evening creeps onto the Cliff Walk, Newport, RI.


The result of melted peach ring candies; it took a hair dryer, a razor blade, an hour, and two grown men to eventually melt that out of the car. Remember that, friends, next time you're tempted to ingest some.

An intentional oasis in the desert: Biosphere II.

Whole Foods invade Arkansas. We invade Whole Foods. Everyone wins!

MAshley arrive (with goods and movers) in Montclair. September.

Wii MarioKart! Best way to spend a festive evening.

Matching fleece!
Your intrepid travelers wish you all a happy, healthy new year. There's lots more to do in 2009, places to see, experiences to share, blog entries to write. We'll see you all on the flip side.

Blogger Awards

Hear ye, hear ye!

Paid in Sunshine presents a special blog announcement.


The winner of our "Best Commenter of 2008" award has been mailed his commemorative pin and winning certificate. This is an item to treasure for all eternity, Hal-Kar. May you continue to write witty, inspiring, and laugh-out-loud comments for the lifetime of this blog.

(Ben knowingly posed like that, I promise)


Some of our favorites Daveisms of '08 include:

"Stay warm. Stay dry. Stay revolutionary."

"You know how that One Glove Movement will go: First, it becomes hip, then it becomes a trend, then the cool kids mock the uncool kids for wearing the glove on the wrong hand, then, for wearing the wrong color or brand. So it goes."

"When BD sees this, she'll say, "I want a puppy!""

"Word from Fred: "Headed East, looking for newer blue Safeways, to improve their bubble gum departments.""



Thanks, Dave! Now you can safe with confidence, "Yes, I was the best in 2008." We'll even vouch for it!

Here are some photos of the new apartment (well, actually, just of the kitchen, because who are we kidding? It's obviously the most important part of the home!):

It is a tiny, 500-something square foot place, recently renovated (we'll be the first tenants since the re-do), and right on the train-tracks downtown. This is, of course, a huge bonus and somewhat of a trade-off, but it's right near Ben's office and on the free trolley line.

Don and Sue did all the work touring it for us, taking photos, and giving us advice. We loved a much bigger place with a sweet community center (complete with suana!), but this spot is 2/3 the price and right downtown. We think it'll be a fine, tiny little home for the next few months. Plus, there's the inticing Albermarle Bakery nearby, a Whole Foods, and, of course, the University, which Don just found out loans to non-student residents -- this is good news, because I just sent in my paperwork to withdraw from UMass. Maybe not a grad student right now, but always a reader. ;-)

Now if only Monticello (or anyone else for that matter!) would get back to me with job news...


Thanks Don and Sue for all your help! We owe you an ice cream sundae in our brand new kitchen asap.

There's not much room to put anyone up, but everyone's welcome to vie for a spot on the (lovely, new parquet) floors! ;-) Enticing, we know, but we'd love to have visitors and we can promise a fun, if squashed, time.

We're grooving to Christmas tunes (mostly courtesy of Don's impressive collection), anticipating and preparing for a splendid holiday, and finishing up work projects. Koala is home from the shop with a shiny new hood and thanks to the help of our favorite Keswick residents, we have signed a lease on an apartment in downtown Charlottesville sight-unseen. We'll be there by the weekend of the January 3rd, and will keep you all posted.

In the meantime, may we suggest "Carol of the Bells" -- any version -- on repeat with a nice glass of merlot over supper and a trek later out into the starry winter's eve to look at festive light displays? Or cookies laid for Santa to see (don't forget the carrots for the deer!)? A cup of warm cocoa and lovely company? Whichever way you celebrate, Merry Christmas!

Hope you and yours have a joyful, happy, and healthy holiday!

Love,
Ben and Meg

Ben and Luke celebrate the first day of winter

Montclair Bureau

K9-Nephew Christmas Present Success 2008




Luke wishes everyone out there a very ¡Feliz Navidad!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Seems like a day for hot cocoa and some caroling around a Java-log fire, if you ask us!

May stockings be hung for Santa to see, and may all your wildest Christmas wishes come true. ;-)

Readers, don't be jealous just because we spent Tuesday evening eating Don's Famous Guac:

BD, this is merely further proof that avocados are great and that brocco-mole is an abomination.

quick hello

Greetings from Revolutionary Soup!
It is rainy in C-ville (of course), though we are warm and relatively dry.
Hope you are well; take care and will post more soon.
-B

Christmas Season Begins

Christmas is slowly reaching the 'boro. Stay tuned for updates.

The offender in the Roll Over Koala Incident admitted responsibility after we learned that the car wasn't safe to drive around, so his insurance is providing us with a rental.

Yesterday, we sped up the Turnpike in a groovy ride.

Today, depending on how you look at it, we've upgraded to a Seabring, which will help us haul some more boxes to Charlottesville Monday when we head down to sign a lease and University paperwork. It's not as snazzy, but comes with charms of it's own. The K-bear should be fixed by Christmas, according to the nice (but slow) repair folks in Ewing. In the meantime, we'll be traversing the Midatlantic in a borrowed ride.

Nassau Street Surprise

Koala, our ever trusty Subaru companion, made it across the country and back, through over 130,000 miles and nine years, with nary a scratch if you ignore shopping cart-related incidents. And wouldn't you know that it would take a lawyer parallel parking in downtown Princeton to create a stir?

Ben was on his way to get a trim at Mike's Barber Shop when an SUV backed right into and over Koala, despite some loud horn blowing. Luckily, Ben's just fine, but a little ticked from many hours on the phone with the insurance company and his stopover at the Princeton police station.

Koala has seen better days and prefers the nice comfortable spot at 5 Webster to the mean streets of the People's Republic. The damage is minor enough to render the car operable, but severe enough to warrant a trip to the repair shop.

We'll keep everyone posted on further Koala-based news. Speaking of, an officer from the Oklahoma City police department called last week to confirm some details of our theft in August (guess paperwork takes longer in the Sooner State?). Apparently, the second-story of the Santa Fe parking garage (in OKC) where we parked Koala has been the scene of a rash of identical break-ins and major thefts. Ours was unique only in that the perpetrators broke the trunk lock; in all other cases, there was no sign of entry and people found out later, like we did. The police said they're investigating further and would be in touch if they learn anything substantial for our case.

We proclaim: No more car-related dramatic scenes for any friends and family in 2009. We've all earned a respite after the thefts, accidents, deer, break-and-grabs ["smash-and-grabs"--Ed.], and repairs. Maybe this is a lesson in the value of public transportation? ;-)

And now it's time for a Plainsboro Pause, a look inside our fair borough.

In an effort to save a rental Toyota, J fought the Arizonan tumbleweeds, and the tumbleweeds won. My parents went to the desert, and all they brought me were these wounds! I kid -- they brought back awesome kokopelli shirts and child-labor-law-violating necklaces. And, of course, they let us stay in their house while they were gone; what were they thinking?!

They had an excellent trip, even though they forwent guest blogging in favor of enjoying themselves and soaking up the Western skies. Highlights included a sidetrip to the Petrified Forest, hiking at the Canyon, and chocolate-covered strawberries in Sedona. :-)






Thanks to the hippest trend in Walking About Plainsboro (tm), J is now able to cover his tumbleweed shame with a single glove. Seriously, all the cool kids are doing it. Plainsboro Pond couldn't contain our hip, so we're probably going to have to take it to the Preserve this week. You're all invited to participate in One Glove, our latest movement. Please send photos!

Early December

We've neglected our blogging duties long enough. We're back from a Great New England Getaway and ready to share some of photographic evidence.



Be forewarned: Meg was capable of taking decent photos earlier this autumn, but something happened amidst the salt air in the Ocean State rendering her incapable of clearly capturing the moment. Blurry, you're doing it right.




There's nothing quite like a shore thing. After a day of mansions, we enjoyed marshmallow chocolate fudge at sunset while hiking along the Newport Cliff Walk at Sachusett Beach. Lesson learned: fudge tastes better when you're wearing gloves and squinting into a chilly evening breeze.




The spray at the Puffer's Pond waterfall was freezing onto the trees Saturday afternoon, something we've never seen in all our years as faithful Pufferians. It was serene at our favorite little spot. Even a vicious crow fight in the branches above wasn't enough to deter from the peacefulness of being back on Julius Lester Trail.





Later, Ben and Amanda had a spirited discussion of Virginia geography over Hampton Inn hot cocoa spiked with flavored creamers and shots of coffee. Amanda was a real trooper, entertaining us well into the night even after taking the LSATs in the morning. Be glad you're not seeing photos of the night's longest endeavor, watching childhood television show intros on YouTube. It quickly devolved into tedium, and we learned the hard lesson that, even if you remember something, it isn't necessarily cataloged or accessible to professional researchers.



And, finally, Gina wishes everyone in the blogosphere a Merry Pink Christmas. ;-) She fed us apples and homemade peanut butter (a friend after Meg's own heart!) at WMA Sunday while we considered the restructuring of basic humanities courses, mulled outdoor education and Chinese canoers, and tried to make sense of neurological trauma and recovery. It was a perfect afternoon in the snow. [Edited to add: Poor Gina can't be held fully responsible for that tree... It was a fitting, if very pink, gift!]

For better and for worse, Western MA was just as we'd left her, full of great friends, good food, a beautiful landscape, 90s music on the radio, Subarus with bumper stickers, and too many Merrells to count. Must be our place after all.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving 2008 in New Jersey is as irreverent as ever. Considering our schedules and temperaments, we opted for a Sunday evening supper complete with a Celebration Roast, mushroom gravy, mashed spuds, roasted brussel sprouts, walnut stuffing, pumpkin pie, and a bottle of the newly arrived WSJ wine. It was a true feast, albeit a four-day-early one. We had to get it in while we could, before K & J swept off to a thrilling 30th anniversary adventure in the southwest.

We dropped The Big Kids off at the airport this afternoon, both clad in their new North Face jackets and with big backpacks. It felt like the first day of school (except, of course, for the Newark Airport setting...). How sad to see them off, but how vicariously we are living through their trip! Arizona might not be the best place for us to complete graduate studies, but we're hardly ones to complain about a Sedona jaunt and we happily peppered their itinerary with "M&B Must-Sees." Speaking of, we've extended a guest-blogging offer to the intrepid travelers, and we hope they take us up on it (hint, hint!).

In the meantime, we're still waiting for start-date details from UVa (it could be a week before we hear more) and we're plotting a second irreverent feast, this time with a "tacofiesta" flavor. Matt and Carissa are coming south for a bird-free, Mexican-flaired, pumpkin-pied festival in the 'boro on Thursday.

We hope all our friends and family have a lovely celebration, complete with gratitude and stuffing. As usual, we'll politely encourage you to steer clear of fowl, too. ;-) We'll toast to all that we're thankful for this year at some point, as irreverently as possible. High on our gratitude list: all our lovely consorts along on this odd journey of a year. May you know how important you are to us!

Preview!

Looks like we will be moving to Virginia, thanks to a recent job offer directed Ben's way. He doesn't have a start date just yet, though we know that he will be doing psychological research at the University of Virginia. More details as we obtain them.
Before that comes to pass, however, he will complete work on AvianEdibles, his new nonprofit venture. What is AE? All shall be revealed shortly after the solstice. Until then, allow this enigmatic image to whet your appetite...

Brian's Birthday

Rumors that we only love frozen confections have been highly exaggerated. Proof that we love all desserts, especially when flames are involved:

That's a (barely visible) pumpkin cake with spiced frosting (as requested by the birthday boy) with a single candle to connote the beginning of a new year. Be grateful you're missing the accompanying singing.

Most of Ben's life has been spent interviewing for jobs and vacuuming, hauling, and composting leaves lately. The leaves are brown and the sky is a hazy shade of winter today, but he keeps on raking, sucking, and chipping. It begs the question: will we miss the never-ending buzz of the motor once winter begins? (Answer: only if J doesn't buy himself a snow blower!)

Hope you all are enjoying the impending seasonal change (we recommend mulled cider to help!).
We'll be back in VA next week for Ben's second interview at UVA before heading to our old stomping grounds in lovely MA for a concert and some time with very missed friends.

For Matthew

A Post-Election Journey to the Confederacy

In Photos

Classic "Down the Shore" soft-serve,
in a land-locked valley over one hundred miles from the ocean.

The quaint Keswick, VA, train depot, hidden behind the post office

And the Blue Ridge Obama Headquarters on the C'ville downtown mall,

closing shop after a monumental week
(and typically red Virginia voted for change!)

Yes We Did!

Fin

The Great 2008 (Faux) Painting Extravaganza has come to a close.

Many walls have been primed, plastered, and painted. The house is no longer covered in plastic, the air no longer gives headaches, and the drips of paint in the back yard are fading into the grass.

But the completion of the project also means no more early morning discussions of dancing the tango with Ori, and no more humming "Everybody Dance Now" in an Israeli accent up on a 14 foot ladder. No more lessons about Guatemalan coffee plantations and the differences between pesco and pescado with Edwin. The house is decidedly quieter today.

And Halloween is over, too. Not enough trick-or-treaters, but a few highlights: little girls who appreciated our Obama pumpkin and squealed "Yes we can!"; a tiny Buzz Lightyear with a bothered older sister in a cat costume, who dragged him along, and said, "Yes, he's a very annoying and SMALL Buzz Lightyear"; the girl from across the street dressed as the New York Times (much to Karen's disappointment that she wasn't the WSJ); two adults dressed as Superman and Superwoman, herding some fairies and cartoon characters in their wake along Madison Street. 

Until next year, Halloween, when I hope everyone will be as excited to see you as I always am.