Vacation!

Well, not yet, but I did make reservations today. I'm taking my first "real" vacation next month, and by "real" I mean not camping and more than a couple hours away. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I love camping, and the other close by places I've gone I've really enjoyed. I decided this year to pull out the stops and go somewhere farther away.

I explored a few options before settling on one. I considered Maine, it's pretty, there's ocean, and Acadia Nat. Park sounds awesome plus if I remember correctly you can sometimes see whales there [citation needed]. However, it's a 18 hour drive. I also looked at going to the Adirondack area in upstate New York, again very pretty, lots to see and do (museums and shopping and such), and only a 12 hour drive. Then quite a few people I know are going to the Outer Banks and other parts of the coast this year, so I thought "hey, I'll look into it." I surfed around google maps, looking at reviews before deciding that I was deciding that this was it.

I ended up choosing a hotel in Atlantic Beach, NC. I chose that area because, while there are still plenty of hotels and condos in the area, it's not as built up and ridiculous as other places like Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head, etc. One of the reviews was like, "there's not a whole lot to do" and I was like, "Awesome." Let's face it, a beach is the one place you can go on vacation for a week and do literally nothing and no one will find that be strange. And that's pretty much what I intend to do: take some books, a sketch pad, sunblock, and veg out for 4 days. I also plan on checking out the critters at the North Carolina Aquarium and the couple of trails they have. Other than that not much planned. I'll probably cruise around and see if there are any cool local shops.

I'm pretty stoked about the whole thing. Oh, and the hotel is right on the beach and all the rooms are ocean front with private balconies, so even if it rains I can still sit by the sea. The only "downside" is that I had to spend a little more than I wanted because the only rooms they had left were the ones with a jucuzzi in the room. It'll be tough, but I'll live with it. ;)

Wait, what?

I am trying to sell a couple pieces of excess furniture (including a futon) on craig's list. I say trying because it seems the people who use craig's list have trouble conducting a transaction as simple as this. I posted the offer ad and photo. I tried to be descriptive without being long winded, and listed a price, mentioning that it was negotiable.

So far I've had 4 responses.
One asking if the futon was still available. Okay, that's not too bad.
Two simply said "I am interested in the futon." That's it. Nothing else.
And the last asked if I was selling the items. Ummm... that's kind of what my ad said.

Maybe I'm the one who is missing the point here. Maybe I'm committing some social craig's list faux pas. Honestly, how do I reply to that?

I say: I want to sell this futon.
You say: I am interested in this futon.
I say: ......um....ok? Good for you.

I just think if you're responding to an ad for something you'd like to buy you might put something more like this:

I am interested in buying the [thing] you have for sale for $[Amt]. I am willing to pay $[offer], and I can pick it up [at your convenience/Tuesday/next weekend/etc]. You can also reach me at [phone number].

Thanks,

[Your damn name]

Look! See how much information is there? Now we can proceed with our transaction/haggling. Saying "Want!!!!!!!!!!!!!1" And demanding I call the phone number you've listed seems a trifle rude to me. Can we not communicate in sentences and complete thoughts? Please?

But, hey, maybe that's just me.

I wish I had taken a picture

Several weeks ago I started some seeds for my garden. I had a bit of a surprise when I checked on them the other day. I lifted the dome off the cheap plastic incubator-thingy. Amongst the neat rows of cute, baby plants was an abomination. It was a many tentacled vision of (very mild) horror nestled in the tray (okay, it was more like brief confusion, than horror). It was the sort of thing that gives you a fleeting moment of What is that? What is that?!?

Brief confusion because I realized that the hairy white tentacles emerging from the soil were the roots of one of the seedlings and the damn thing had sprouted upside down! I pulled it out of the dirt and, sure enough, the leaves were in the ground. How does that even happen? As a plant you've got, like, three jobs to do: photosynthesize, make oxygen, and grow towards the light (upwards), oh and give people hay fever. If you, as a plant, fuck one of these up then the future does not look bright for you.

I think I have a retard plant.