The First Writing Workshop of the Year!

On Wed. Jan 17th 10 writers gathered to share stories, coffee, laughs, fellowship and encouragement. The Free Prompt Writing Workshop was held at Write More Educational Resources in N Raleigh off of Old Lead Mine and Lead Mine roads. It's a good sign when you see folks hugging each other at the end of the night (and they didn't know each other before the workshop!)
Thanks to everyone who came out! The next free prompt writing workshop is Wed. March 14th from 7-9:30 pm at the same location.
till next time,
Alice

Alice Graduates!

I graduated from NC State with my MA in English December 20th 2006 and boy am I happy!

My husband, Keith, and friends Jane, Beth and Nancy were there to cheer me on, and later that day I picked up my son from daycare wearing my cap and gown. Daniel kept saying, "I'm so happy!" echoing my feelings.

So I made it happen. I managed to balance family, work, school and graduate on time. I think the key to my success was enjoying my work in English and having the necessary support to make it happen. For instance, if Daniel had not been in daycare/pre-school full-time, I would never have made it, because I hardly did any schoolwork on weekends, if that's any indication.

A Long Time Goal

Ever since I was out of college back in the pre-Internet days, I wanted to go to grad school. I remember this phone interview I had the co-owner of the Moultrie News in Mt. Pleasant, SC (near Charleston) about a job as an account exec and he asked me what my 5 year goal was. Naturally, I said grad school. He then told me that was the wrong answer. The right answer was that I should want to own a home in 3-5 years. Why? I thought. I wanted education and a chance to be in front of my career. Much to my disappointment, my dad agreed with this fellow, but that's another story (and, no, I didn't get the job). Now, I didn't know what I wanted to do in grad school, only that I wanted to go. Not until 5 months after Daniel was born did I position myself for an MA in English and then I decided in June '04 that I wanted a concentration in Rhetoric/Composition. Some folks may say, why didn't you go for your MFA, since that's my focus. Well, I didn't have a good enough writing/English background for the MFA back in 2004 since my undergrad was in Finance, not English. The MA was perfect for me and maybe someday I'll go for my MFA...

Looking Back...

Fall '05 sucked. 11 credit hours, 6-7 tutoring center hours a week, 3 sessions of speech therapy/OT for my son. And I took all hard classes in rhetoric and critical theory. I think French was the easiest. But, I sure did learn about Plato, Aristotle, Foucoult, Zora Neale Hurston and many, many others. My classes were Tuesday and Thursdays from 1:30-4 and I had my rhetoric class which was a night class from 7:30-9. I worked from 10-1 in the tutoring center. M, W, F were speech therapy days and I also worked the occasional Friday for Lancome makeup, too. It seemed that I never had enough time to read my assignments. I would fall asleep in my critical theory book at 11am and then wake up at 3am and keep on going. I pulled an all-nighter for my 2-credit research class. And Keith and I mashed in a vacation in late October, so I missed all my classes for a week. It turned out that things actually got better for me after the vacation (I think I had about 2 hours of sleep the night before we left so I could get some work done ahead). I sure rejoiced when that semester was over and I had managed to survive it with all As and an A-.

Journaling Class Photos

My "Journal from the Inside Out" workshop series met Nov. 1, 8 and 15 (all on Wed) at Ideas! Coffee House in Durham. We shared our entries, reflected upon our lives and experienced great fellowship! My next workshop is FREE and it's Wed. Jan 17th in the Greystone Office Park in N Raleigh on 901 Paverstone Way, Suite 8 from 7-9:30. We'll be prompt writing and making the creativity flow!

Pictured: (from left) Deborah, Alice and Carol

Right Lane Ends at the 2006 Writers Conference

Beth Browne, Alice Osborn and Jane K. Andrews -- all part of the Right Lane Ends phenonmenon!

The three of us wore our RLE T-shirts to generate enthusiasm and excitement for my new book of poetry, Right Lane Ends -- it worked! I sold many books and now more writers know where to find me. I also gave away 4 shirts.

I think this year's conference held at the Sheraton in RDU (Raleigh-Durham) was one of the best North Carolina Writers' Network Conference I've ever attended!

If you'd like a T-shirt -- contact me via www.aliceosborn.com -- there's only a few left!!!

Check out these writing blogs!

I've gathered a few fellow womens' writing blogs. Please check them out and feel a part of the writing community -- we all go through the same things (i.e. finding the Muse, writer's block, rejection and sometimes success!)

Peggy Payne: www.peggypayne.com
Author of NY Times Bestseller, Sister India
Blog: http://peggypayne.blogspot.com

Christy English
Blog: www.christyenglish.com

Therese Fowler
Blog: http://theresefowler.blogspot.com

Ideas Coffee House Reading

Here are a few photos from my reading/signing at Ideas Coffee House on Friday, October 20th .
To open up the night, we had talented singer/songwriter La'wren'ze perform, followed by Alice Osborn reading from selected poems from her new book, Right Lane Ends.

Launch Party Pictures

Photo by Michael Graziano




Here are a few pics from my Right Lane Ends Launch Party held at the Royal Bean Coffee House, Friday the 13th of October.

Prompt Writing Workshop

Thank you everyone who came out to my free Prompt Writing Workshop at the Royal Bean Coffee Shop Wed. Sept. 27th. We had a great turnout, as you can see (photo by Michael Graziano). We did 5 timed writing exercises, made new friends and collaborated!

Why Be Normal?

I’m complicated. When I was younger, no one could figure me out. How could I like Phil Collins and Nirvana? How could I love cars, yet couldn’t drive? How could I major in engineering and be learning dyslexic in math? How could I bake scrumptious brownies, yet not be able to fold a T-shirt to save my life? How could I live in Myrtle Beach and not have a tan? Let’s say I confused others and myself for a long time. My favorite question these days is how could I major in finance and now pursue my master’s in English? But, why not? Why can’t a business major switch to writing if that’s what she’s been doing her whole life anyway? I wrote newsletters when I was eight and decided to be a novelist when I was nine. Then something happened: I wanted to get a “real” job when I graduated from college and I didn’t even consider teaching or writing as a career. But, I still wrote on the sly for my high school’s paper and my college’s yearbook, and then later on for my sailing club’s newsletter. I became a shadow artist — I admit it. According to Julia Cameron of The Artist’s Way, a shadow artist doesn’t admit she’s an artist, but wants to be around artists in the worst way. No wonder all of my dates were photographers. After college, I worked for Belk Department Stores, first in their advertising department, then in store management, and lastly in the buying office. Near the end of my career with them, I remember buying a book on writing your first novel and thinking I still needed to do this. Then, life happened when my son Daniel was born four years ago.
The fact is, I love change and complication and am not afraid of it. Change is good and it wakes up the soul. For without change, I wouldn’t be a writer, I wouldn’t have a new poetry book published, and I wouldn’t be within inches of earning my M.A. I’d probably still be in retail management, still believing that Saturdays are the worst day of the week. However, before we can change, we need to let some things go to free up the space for new people and experiences. Daniel made me realize that I’d done a lot of things over the years to please my parents, but once he was on the way, my parents decided to break off our relationship. Of course, I was disappointed and it still saddens me that Daniel has never met my parents, but if I think that my parents left a vacuum for me to change and grow, and now I can see their estrangement in a positive light. When they let me go, I was forced at twenty-nine to define who I was and where my life should turn. My husband and I got married, I kept my name and my 1996 red Mustang, and released myself from my retail career to find out what I really wanted. When on maternity leave, I signed up for correspondence course writing classes at UNC-CH, became more active in my book club, joined a writers’ group and plunged into motherhood — the hardest job on the planet. Slowly, but surely, I wrote bad short stories and sent them off to contests and then took advantage of all the North Carolina Writers’ Network conferences. I also read writing books and novels to study the craft and improve.
This summer I learned a lot and opened myself up to new experiences that were a little scary. I designed and uploaded my website. I published my first chapbook, Ghostcards. I wrote a blog and learned how to upload photos onto this blog. I created a MySpace page and think it's a great networking tool. I read poems and wrote poems, getting two of them published in literary journals (I’ve only started writing poetry since February). I taught a free writing workshop with fifteen participants. Then, I taught a fee-based workshop on creative nonfiction, and that was also successful. My first perfect-bound book of poetry, Right Lane Ends, will soon be hot off the presses and I can’t wait to keep my first dollar from the first sale. I should have started writing earlier. Maybe. But, the time wasn’t right and I didn’t have anything interesting to say. Now I do.

More Pictures from Write from the Inside Out Class

Write from the Inside Out was a course designed to create creative nonfiction in a supportive environment.
The workshops were all held at the Edible Art Bakery on Hillsborough St in Raleigh across the street from Meredith College. All of the classes took place on three consecutive Wednesdays from 7-9:30 pm. All of the participants received a workbook and gourmet dessert and coffee with each session.


Here are a few more photos from the workshop.

Alice

Write from the Inside Out Workshop

Thanks, Nancy, Conrad, James, Ida, and Suzanne for making Write from the Inside Out -- CNF (creative nonfiction) be such a great experience!

Alice

Writing Groups

We hear a lot of talk about writing groups being like marriages, and it's true! It's very important to find a good fit with the 2-3 people whom you share your writing, your thoughts, your concerns, and a lot of your life with. Because writing is so much in our heads, so much of us will come through on the page -- well, sometimes your writing group can be a little like a therapy session, and you know, that's OK! But, if you do this with the wrong group, and/or the energy level is different from yours, then watch out. You may need to move on and find you a different group. Right now, I'm in a fantastic writing group with Jane and Beth. We support each other, share info on upcoming contests in both poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction, and we listen to each other when we need a sympathetic ear (usually not writing-related). I feel this was a long journey to get to this point, though.

Three years ago, I met with my first writing group. I was very new to writing then and was inspired by the NC Writers' Network Conference in Wilmington to find fellow writers. Well, one woman approached me from a historical fiction workshop -- Meagan -- and then she connected me with Sandy, who was completing her second novel. Meagan was writing a memoir on her coming of age which involved a lot of abuse, both physical and mental. And me? I was working on a short story (really creative nonfiction) about a young woman who reconnects with an old flame, who is also dating her sister. Then all three of them get stuck in the sister's apartment during a hurricane which hits Charleston. Fantastic stuff, I tell you.

Meagan, Sandy and I all exchanged numbers, e-mails and manuscripts and before long, we met at Meagan's house. I was a little late because my husband stopped at the gym first and I had brought cookies. I remember Sandy saying, "I don't eat sugar." I never got good vibes on her after that. We didn't talk much about my work (we focused more on Meagan's), but they both gave me suggestions (Sandy wrote all of hers in red ink).

The next time we met was at my place on a January Saturday at 11:30. Daniel was just starting to walk (he was 16 months) and I knew that once everyone got settled, D-boy would go down for his nap at 12:30. In the meantime, I would put on his "Little People" video while Keith was out grocery shopping and getting in his workout. I even planned on getting Panera bagels for us. First, Meagan showed up, a little lost, and then Sandy came in with a Hardees bag. The first thing out of her mouth was, "You didn't tell me you were bringing bagels!" Sorry, maybe read your e-mail next time. She may have felt cheated because she spent $6.24 on a Hardees burger.

My short story was the first to go and it was ripped apart before we even got to the 2nd page. Sandy didn't like how I used brand names to describe tea ("Celestial Seasonings") and told me that I write "like Danielle Steele." Then Meagan chimed in with "you write about rich people too much -- show some diversity." I don't remember a single positive comment. Was this how a writing group was supposed to work? Then we discussed Sandy's story about a talk show host who picks up empathy and starts acting nice. It was good, but the tone was very angry and sarcastic. Meagan's piece was fine, except Sandy quibbled with Meagan till the end about how the speaker would not have folded her clothes that neatly. Meagan responded that she as a troubled young girl was seeking some order in her life (Duh!). Sandy didn't buy it.

Three and 1/2 hours later, Sandy and Meagan left, just as Daniel woke up from his nap. I felt worn out and a little despressed. I recall not looking over Sandy's notes on my story for about a year.

Later that night, Sandy cc'ed me on Meagan's e-mail telling her that she found my home to hold too many distractions for a writing group. I think the "Little People" played for 15 minutes with Daniel being very quiet and Keith's coming in and out for 2 seconds bothered her. I was furious! I expressed my concerns to Meagan, who didn't respond to them, but later one she e-mailed Sandy to tell her she disagreed with her point about the speaker's orderliness.

The writing group disbanded after 2 sessions and it took me a positive critique from Quinn Dalton at the 2004 NCWN Spring Conference at Peace College to have confidence back in my work. A bad group can do that to you, especially to a new writer, like me.

My advice is this: don't jump into a writing group. Get to know the members as people before you meet and then see if your styles and goals are compatible. If not, run to the door. Your writing and your self-esteem deserve better. Also, see what level the other group members are at. I was at a lower level than both Sandy and Meagan (at the time), so we were never going to match. Find a group that wants to make their writing better and is at pretty much the same skill level.

Tell me about your writing group experiences -- good and bad!

Till next time,
Alice

Writing Rituals

This has been a great week for me. One of my poems, Sex Ed, will be published in Jonathan K. Rice's Iodine Poetry Journal (Spring 2007 issue). I also found out I'm the local winner of the Raleigh Jaycees "Write Up" Contest. I wrote an essay of 500 words last month about writing and how my writing projects with the Jaycees has influenced participants. So I get to compete with the other finalists in Asheboro next Sat the 9th. I think it's a timed essay situation. Never been to Asheboro, so it should be something to blog about.

Also this week, my husband, Keith found this car keys that had been missing 7 days. Turns out our son scooped them off of the counter and hid them under the living room couch, where we never go. But, Daniel found the keys, so that was good.

Here are some rituals that may help you focus before you start writing:

Light a scented candle or incense
Listen to instrumental music
Wear a special outfit or hat
Brew up tea or coffee before you write
Read your favorite poems
Stretch
Take a walk
Clear your desk of odds and ends
Take a few slow, deep breaths

In Light & Love,
Alice

Body, Mind, Spirit Show

This is a my little summary of the Body, Mind, Spirit Show Sat. Aug. 19th

Tips for Writing Success

I'm hard at work on my thesis, detailing how first-year students can generate first drafts. I spent all of yesterday and the day before writing/revising my 8-pg syllabus.
Here's few tips for you writers out there that I'll share in my Prompt-writing workshop Wed. Sept. 27th at the Royal Bean Coffee Shop.

***
In a Writing Workshop, when your work is getting critiqued:

1) Listen to all comments -- take what you want from the group, but you're the final authority
2) Allow everyone to finish their comments, then feel free to respond
3) Take notes on your copy

When you Critique others:

1) Be respectful and courteous
2) Always begin with a positive
3) Flesh out your answers -- don't just say "I liked it" or "I didn't like the story" Explain what worked and what didn’t work for you

Revision is crucial
You can revise as you go or revise after you complete your draft
Revision helps you find the right word and "look again" at what you've written.

"The difference between the right word and the almost right word is like the difference between lightning and the lightning bug" — Mark Twain

Try to write in 15-minute increments. Have a piece of paper/pen handy in the car, bedroom, computer, kitchen, or bathroom so that when a great story idea hits, you'll be ready!

Start a notebook for freewriting and start a journal for your early drafts of your work

When you revise in fiction watch for:

Structure/flow: Don't take too long to get into the story. Need action early on.

Characterization: do we know the basics of the characters early on? Make the characters unpredictable.
Reveal your characters through their clothing, actions, dialogue, gestures, bodily reactions, values, and possessions (also valuable for creative nonfiction)

Characters must be credible and consistent (Sally Buckner)

Setting: readers need a sense of place to feel grounded

And also check to see if you have a(n):
Ending that resonates with the reader (not one that just stops!)
A plot twist that has some suspense

The Hikes

Day 5 -- July 20th
We had another solo breakfast (I loved the croissants) since we were the only guests staying at the Forest House Lodge, which was nice since the bathroom was not attached to the room (it said in the brochure private bath!)... this was a good thing since Keith could stand up and extend his arms to touch the walls. I exaggerate, but it was a tiny room with a double bed that wasn't the most comfortable, but still better than the Book & Blanket's bed.

The first hike: Snowy Mtn: 7.4 miles
We cruised down the road past Indian Lake and hiked up the muddy stream bed of Snowy Mountain. Very muddy and in one place, the foot bridge was 4 inches underwater. We only lost the trail once, but I found it again and then we made it up to the summit. This photo shows Keith overlooking Indian Lake and its little islands. There were lots of black flies and other flying pests, but my sunscreen/bug repellent helped (although it did make me break out in huge welts).

Up Snowy's Fire Tower
Fire towers exist to monitor forest fires and we'd never seen one before, much less climbed one in all of our hiking travels. Snowy's was bolted down into the granite, so it wouldn't topple in a strong breeze. The tower had stairs that were broken up into multiple landings, so the climb wasn't a big deal. We had lunch inside the tower, which was bug-free and when I sat down, I only saw clouds. Quite the peaceful setting. Keith found out he had cell phone reception! (we couldn't use our phones to call home while in Blue Mountain). He called in at the office and talked to one woman, but then he lost his signal. Lots of messages were scrawled into the steel like, "Seth Merklinger is a fag" and other people indicating their existence. While Keith was talking, I was pondering how to go about structuring my thesis curriculum, and in fact had thought about it all the way up the hike. I now had a plan! I just have to write it (my problem this week).

We descended and cooled off at the Blue Mountain Lake beach. The water was so clear and cold when you first jump in. There was a diving platform and swimming lanes -- we vowed to come back after the Blue Mountain hike, so we could scrub the dirt off before we drove south to East Greenbush near Albany.

Day 6 Blue Mountain Hike -- 4 miles
I thought this hike would be a snap becaue of its length, but it kicked my butt. First of all, my boots kept slipping on the sheer rocks of the stream bed, and second of all, the rocks were all pointy. Going up wasn't a problem, but I wasn't looking forward to the descent. My legs were sore from Snowy and I proceeded to get more sore as we climbed higher. Nothing to see but forest, forest and rock, rock. After a sweaty climb, we made it up to the Blue Mountain Fire Tower, but this one was closed and we couldn't see the views because of the fog. Darn!

I changed out of my T-shirt and took a few deep breaths, preparing for the down-climb. As predicted, I slipped and prevented about 105 disasters, while Keith wondered what was taking me so long. The rock did win, when we were almost at the end. I cut up the heel of my left hand (I still have a mark a month later) and used an old napkin in my shorts pocket to staunch up the blood. The lake swim made up for this hateful hike, and then we were on the road again.

We found East Greenbush pretty easily after a two-hour ride and I noticed how stairs were a problem for me, both up and down. We swam again in the hotel's pool and my wedding band slipped off, but I recovered it without a problem. We had to rack up our swimming time because at home we don't belong to a pool and our friends have stopped inviting us to theirs (why is this?) After pool time, we delayed our Cracker Barrel dinner to watch "Death on Everest," all about the fateful May 6th, 1996 climb that Krakauer made into his book. It was fascinating stuff and I wish I had time to read "Into Thin Air" -- Please comment if you've read it.

We drove back to Long Island the next day and we were shocked by gas prices -- in CT, the prices were $3.40! After not finding any gas in the Bronx, we finally found a place 1 mile from JFK, but then adjacent to Hertz there was a gas station with reasonable prices.

What I learned on this year's trip

• My body is not used to fruit
• My hiking boots don't do downhills
• I don't do well in busy New York traffic while Keith's driving
• Sunscreen/bug lotion combos make huge pimples on my chest, neck and back
• Pedestrians don't have the right of way in Saratoga Springs
• Many Adirondack trails are in danger of being permanently damaged because of overuse. I wonder way NY hasn't implemented a permit system, because one's sorely needed to limit trail wear and tear!
• We sleep better in a queen-sized bed
• If your Advantix camera conks out on you, yet still advances, it's already dead (Yes, I wasted a whole role of film thinking my camera was still working and it wasn't)

Well, this concludes my Adirondack travel blogs -- hope you had fun reading about our trip.

Till next time!

Alice

To the Heart of the Adirondacks

Day 4 -- Central Adirondacks
Wed. July 19th
We did not have a great night at the Book & Blanket due to the fan's poor air circulation, but at least the temperature did cool down a little at night. Breakfast was quite sumptuous with blueberry pancakes/crepes and fruit salad. We ate alone since Kathy and Fred prepare breakfast when their guests want it; not the other way around. Then we were off to the Ausable Chasm ("Casm" you don't pronounce the "H" -- maybe everyone knows that except me).

In the Chasm
We opted to go on the river "white water" tour, knowing full well that the white water would be like pond water. It was but that's OK. Dylan paddled us down the river and we helped him navigate the 2 seconds of "rapids". The website offers tubing for the adventurous visitor -- I mean, how slow can a tube go down this river? We saw one woman tubing and thought she should have brought a paddle. I think the scariest parts were climbing down the metal steps to get into the Gorge and how bad my Birkinstocks smelled after the boat ride.

The Chasm was founded 400 years ago by Samuel de Champlain and the gorge was formed 500 million years ago. The best part of the Chasm is going down to the Gorge via steps and walking along the river to see the old rock formations.

We bought Daniel a black bear (later christened Yogi) at the gift shop and headed south to Blue Mountain Lake.

Blue Mountain

The road to Blue Mountain was wavy and almost made me sick the way Keith drove -- so I reluctantly put away my book. We had sandwiches at the Long Lake Diner after passing nothing on the way there -- just woods, a little gas place and a bar/convenience store combo with motorcycles out front.

Then we stopped at the Adirondack Museum, which is actually 10 museums in one and a must-see for anyone who visits the Adirondacks.

• The Canoe Museum -- We first stopped at the canoe museum and chatted with a volunteer interpreter who explained that a hand-built canoe takes 9 months; a baby! We also saw canoes with sails.
• The Rustic Privy -- a couple of kids, 10 and 12, didn't know what it was! And the outhouse was a double-seater. Now how would this work?!
• The restored rooms. Some were rustic and some were very ornate with fine woodworking and glasswork. Lots of chamberpots next to the beds and I was relieved to find out they came with lids (I always wondered how they kept the room from stinking)
• The One-room schoolhouse --Built in 1907, our volunteer interpreter lamented the fact that parents aren't taking kids to museums anymore and when this happens, kids don't know any history (and they don't find out what outhouses look like). The school room chalk board had 'riting and 'rithmatic on it in traditional cursive and on the desks were the leather-bound McGuffy Readers. A riff: My grandpa gave me a set when I was about 9 and they were the worst; all full of moral and Christian imagery. I remember looking at the drawings and that was about it. They were very dry and made kids out to be bad and how kids needed proper schooling and discipline in order to find the "right path". Ugh. I remember this one story where a girl has a fight with her sick mother and the girl goes away angry from the house. When she gets back, the mother has died. What a horrible story! I guess it's supposed to teach kids not to argue with their sick parents because, who knows, they could die! End of riff. And the volunteer was doing a lot of side-research to find out more about how the children and teachers went about their daily business and she's trying to locate alumni who were children in the 30s and 40s to come speak at the 100-year anniversary.

We found our B&B: The Forest House Lodge and met our hostess, Ann La Forest who showed us where the public swimming areas were and where our hiking trails started. We picked up our sandwich-making material at the Indian Lake Grocery Store and had dinner at this Mexican place which was quite good. I felt ready for our Snowy Mountain hike tomorrow -- it was a mere 7.4 miles!

Next time: Up Snowy and Blue Mountain (the conclusion of my trip postings)

The Northern Adirondacks

Day Three July 19th

Next on the itinerary was Jay, NY and possibly Lake Placid. We cruised down I-87 and found the humble hamlet of Jay rather quickly. There was nothing there, except a post office and a crafts store and the town just before it , Ausable Forks, at least had one or two restaurants. What made Ausable Forks special was that the Ausable River flowed off to the left side of the road and it looked larger than a tubing river, but a little too calm for white-water. It made you look and want to take pictures.
At the Jay B&B -- the Book and Blanket -- we met our host, Fred, who is a freelance medical writer. He told us that Leonard Bernstein's brother had stayed there while he was doing research on James Thurber, who had lived in the town (a nook in the dining room is named after Thurber).

The Jay Book & Blanket
Our room was the Jack London room and it didn't have A/C -- just a tall floor fan. But, it did have a big bathroom where I could lay out all of my stuff (that's important). I've read a few of London stories in middle school, but once I learned he was a racist (he reported on Jack Johnson during Johnson's prime) -- I was done with him. He died very young due to kidney failure after years of punishing his body and he left his 2 daughters and his wife for a slightly older woman who became his life partner and they did travel and writing together (well, he wasn't all that bed). The room, of course, had about 20 books on London, along with a snow shoes and other rustic Adirondack "stuff". But no A/C -- whoops, did I already say that?

John Brown's Farm
We left Fred for Lake Placid -- the site of 2 Olympics 1932 and 1980. Near Lake Placid is the John Brown farm, which Brown purchased and tried to have free blacks run, but the farm and the project were both failures. His wife and kids (the ones who weren't in his famous raid) ran everything, but the soil was poor and the farm was soon abandoned. Keith took some nice shots of the farmhouse. Near the farmhouse is the grave that Brown shares with most of the 21 Harper's Ferry arsensal raiders. Sheridan Leary is one of them. Leary was Langston Hughes's maternal grandmother's first husband and he was 24. The former Mrs. Leary would place her dead husband's shawl over young Langston every night before he went to sleep -- talk about having to fulfill a legacy! But Hughes did through his remarkable poetry. We didn't visit the museum in the farmhouse because it was closed that day, so we shooed the obnoxious black flies away and drove off to see Lake Placid.

Lake Placid
This famous Olympic town has a very cozy main street which juts up against Mirror Lake (we didn't have a chance to see the real Lake Placid). The Olympic Stadium has a lot of flags out front and even has real snow by the main flagpole. Keith thought it was too touristy, but I thought everyone was tasteful -- reminded me a bit of Sedona -- lots of visitors, but the visitors are cool and the townspeople are welcoming. Lots of bars, shops, bookstores, and coffee shops. In one of the bookstores, we learned about the "Lady in the Lake". This woman was found in 1982 perfectly preserved at the bottom of Lake Placid, but she had died 30 years before. I guess that lake is pretty cold.

And there's even a multiplex on Main Street. After dinner at the Adirondack Brewing Co (we qualified for the Early Bird Special at 5:29 pm), we saw "An Inconvenient Truth". Our first movie together since March. Every year on our vacation, we hope to catch a movie and this year was a good one. Al Gore got personal and we found out that his older sister died of lung cancer (the Gores ran a tobacco farm in TN). Everyone should see this movie -- Comment and tell me if you've seen it~ It was so persuasive. Made me shut down my computer at night.

Alice

Montreal Part Deux

Montreal: Part 2
July 18th

The next day we got up and had our continental breakfast: only the croissants and chocolate pastries were good, but I had to beat back the fruit flies. The eggs, pancakes, and bacon were all cold. We got our car out a tight squeeze in the gravel lot and drove down to Vieux Montreal (Old Montreal). We parked in China Town and tooled around the peer and ventured up to the Notre Dame Basilica and ran into a Swiss band warming up. Having nothing better to do, we followed them down the street till they disappeared, but they later turned up in a parade on the Main Square: Rue St. Jacques by the Hotel Ville. I don't know if everyone knows this (probably not) but one of my heroes is Lord Nelson, the fellow who whipped Napoleon's ass and died at Trafalgar aboard the Victory. Who knows why there's an old statue of him in this square, since he's British and Montreal is a French city, but maybe he did a good deed for the city. The inscription said he helped in a Copenhagen campaign. Looks like I need to do more research on this one.

Border Crossing

I sighed with relief after leaving Montreal without any car damage -- those bikes were a little close for me and Keith ran a red light ("Oh I did?). As we waited in the Customs line at the border and munched our day-old Dunkin' Donuts chocolate chip muffin, we mused that we couldn't get any tax money at the Tax Exchange. Turns out you have to spend at least $20 and have $200 in receipts. Oh, well. Then as Keith was trying to merge into the lane, a maroon mini-van nudged our side mirror with his mirror! Keith got out of our car and said, "You're doing everything in your power not to let me in!" I was impressed he didn't say something stronger, but there were lots of border guards with guns and knee pads around. Luckily, there weren't any scratches on our car. I couldn't wait to leave Canada.

Next time -- to Jay and Lake Placid!

Alice

Montreal -- the City of Sin! (and lost hotels)

Montreal, Monday 7/17
The Auberge Loft fiasco

The next day we rode on to Montreal via Northern Vermont. The roads were full of potholes and made me think of driving on Hwy 17 from Myrtle Beach to Charleston. I always had to avoid the right lane because it was too bumpy. Once in Montreal (at Customs, we presented our passports with no problem) we saw lots of "Witness"-looking scenery outside. Think granaries and silos and little gas stations announcing that they have beer and wine. It was close to 100 degrees outside and my back was soaked despite the A/C.

On the bridge to get to Montreal we saw a bilingual sign, "Road Rage Won't Make You A Winner". I need to tell Keith this periodically.

The Fiasco:
My mother-in-law, Bonnie, had booked us a month ago at the Auberge Loft & Suites on the Rue Ontario. When she booked it, I tried pulling its picture up on Expedia/Travelocity, but I just got a bare-boned listing. I remember having a funny feeling about this, but soon forgot about it. However, I had a hell of a time trying to locate it on MapQuest so we could get there from VT without getting supremely lost. Using Keith's North American atlas, I located a major road off of the bridge and drove towards Rue Ontario. No problem, I thought. We'll be in our hotel room by 6pm and we'll have our showers and then go out to eat. AHHH.

Alas, it wasn't to be.

We went up one street (Rue St Denis) and I saw a lot of European fellows with long hair, bicycles and construction boots and a fireman washing his truck with leather loafers on. I cringed everytime I saw the cyclists edging towards our vehicle. They were everywhere. Then we went down Rue Denis again in the other direction, found our street and parked. Couldn't find the hotel, though, but we did find the correct street address: 335, which was a gray apartment building with a bicycle up front! First, we called the hotel's number on the intinerary, and all we got was, "The party at this extension is not available. Please leave a message." That's not good. So, we went inside the coffee shop on the corner and I asked the barrista in French if she spoke English so we could find this hotel. She hadn't heard of it. We did some more driving, it was getting hotter. Then Rue Ontario merged into another street as it got closer to the downtown. ARGGGH. So, we called Bonnie and told her the situation and she called the number, got the same lax response and said she'd try to book us at another place. Meanwhile, I ran to the Hyatt at the Place des Arts, while avoiding dirty, loud homeless men to find out if this hotel was for real. I check on a map, checked in the Yellow Pages, and asked a very nice Hyatt front desk person. She said, "I've never heard of this place."

So, we bagged the Auberge and stayed at the Best Western, which was a great deal -- although we did have to pay for parking across the street. The place was almost across the Bell Center, where the Hurricanes beat the Canadiens last month.

Looks like we ran into a scam with this hotel. Luckily, Keith's card was never charged because he lost his wallet in a car wash (it was later recovered) and he subsequently canceled all of those cards, including the one he made the reservations with. Talk about luck!!! When we got home, I checked the Auberge on the Internet, and it turns out they did a good job of faking themselves with phony pics from another hotel with almost the same name. So, when booking your trip to Montreal, please avoid this place: The Auberge Loft and Suites!

Now it's 9pm and we're hungry. We changed our clothes and headed out towards St. Catherine St. a main drag filled with chain stores, coffee shops, restaurants -- looking very much like Greenwich Village. Unlike NYC though, every 5th store was a Dance Club featuring full-contact lap dances (they've been legal here since 2001). One place was even called "the Chateau of Sex" (the House of Sex).

The Dinner and the mean waitress

I pick a place called Reubens and order a beer, hamburger and Keith orders a spaghetti/meat sauce plate (looked kinda gross) and a beer. Three seconds after he twirls his noodle, a big flea-like bug squirms into his fork! Keith kills the crawling insect and speaks to the manager, ("Hope it's not a problem in your kitchen) who apologizes profusely and gives him the SAME DINNER! Keith did manage to eat it though, but it was painful to watch. My dinner, however, was yummy.

Our waitress was named Lisa with tight yellow curls, and she never smiled. Her eyes were cold and heartless and when Keith suggested we have coffee, I said quickly we needed to leave this place. Well, since Keith's dinner and beer were free, rude girl decided to look at what Keith left her in the bill wallet to make sure she wasn't shorted because of the bug. Unbelievable!!!

Coffee shop

We walked on, avoided more homeless men -- the urine-soaked ones didn't move, while the more active ones were soliciting on the crosswalks when people were crossing. Montreal's poverty is 27.3%, which is the highest percentage of any Canadian city.

We decided on the Second Cup coffee shop and what was cool about this place was that the bay window opened into the street (with no window), so you could drink your coffee while looking at the passersby, like being on a little stage. I ordered 2 caffe lattes in French, feeling very proud of myself and we got the wrong size and the wrong drink. Apparently, the barrista didn't know French. Although I kind of liked my green tea coffee, it was too sweet on the 4th sip. When I asked another barrista where the restroom were, she had to buzz an iron door behind me and I had to go downstairs. Guess they're serious about only wanting customers!

And soon after we called it a night.

Alice