Day Twelve (4 Things)

1.  I’m going to jump on the bandwagon and say, “YAY TWITTER!”  Anyone who poo-poos Twitter has never spent two weeks in the deep New Hampshire woods with only sporadic internet access.  Twitter has been HUGELY fabulous while I’ve been away.  Thanks to Twitter, I found out about Michael Jackson in a timely manner and I was able to follow along with the NHL draft while at the Apple Hill skit night.  Twitter is a great way to stay connected when you are away from a computer.  At this point in human history I demand to know what’s going on at all times, but I ALSO like leaving the house and stepping away from my computer.  That’s where Twitter is awfully handy.  Plus, it’s a hoot to see who rocks at Twittering and who sucks.

2. I hear Darcy drafted some big, punchy dude.  Excellent.

3. It sounds like Spacek is not going to be a Sabre next year.  That pisses me off a bit.  I get irritated when people act like losing Jaro is no big deal.  I think we still need him.  I know it’s still very early in the off season, but Darcy has a LONG way to go before I stop assuming the Sabres will suck next season.  A long long looooooooong way to go.

4. It also sounds like we should keep one eye on the Stafford situation.  I can’t quite put my finger on Staffy.  Part of me thinks he’s never going to pan out as a points leader, and part of me thinks that in a different system, with a different coach, he’s got the potential to be great.  I just have this hunch that Lindy and Staffy hate each other.  I’m wary of letting Stafford get away, but I’m also wary of giving him a contract based on his “potential”.  I’ve had it UP TO HERE waiting for the Sabres to live up to their potential.  Personally, I’d fire Lindy before I’d give up on Staffy, but I’m willing to admit that my judgement is wacky when it comes to these things.

Day Eleven

After lunch and dinner at Apple Hill we have a very informal concert for the camp participants in the Concert Barn.  This is the “practice” before the real concerts on Saturday and Sunday.  Today there was a thunderstorm so we had to close all the windows.  It was very cozy.

Day Nine

I ate lunch in this little restaurant/grocery store in Harrisville, New Hampshire that was STRAIGHT out of Glimore Girls.  It was so Star Hollow that I half expected Luke to walk in, wipe the table down while I was trying to eat, and get exasperated by my fruity tendencies. (Because, I’m, um, soooo Lorelie.  Heh.)

Seriously.  This is what Harrisville looks like.  It’s full of friendly, interesting looking people who all seem to know each other.  I wonder if they have knit-a-thons, and starlight festivals, and a hilarious local nerd named Kirk.  I hope so.

Life is pretty good today.  Tonight I’m going to eat homemade Korean Barbeque, and then martinis.

I sat down at the computer to catch up with Sabres news, and there is none.  I know it’s still early, but I was hoping that half the team would be traded by now.  Move your ass, Darcy.

Day Eight

Faculty concert?  Check.

Now comes what might be my favorite day of the year- the day off at Apple Hill.  I’m going to spend all day tomorrow chilling in Keene, enjoying the big city lifestyle, and dreaming of the day when I too will have such glamorous amenities.

Day Seven

I took this photo on my cell phone before a rehearsal this evening. This is the view from the Winter Rehearsal Room at Apple Hill.

That rectangular thing on the left with the four posts sticking up from the ground is Mike’s raised bed garden. It’s the old ping pong table, upside-down and filled with dirt.

I took this picture on my phone, through a window screen. The photo looks cool on my phone, but I haven’t seen it on a computer, so forgive me if it’s just a green blob. If I ever have computer internet service again I’ll post something decent.

Day Six

When I lazily titled my post a few days ago “Day Two,” I didn’t really consider that numbering the posts would make me feel obligated to post every day while at Apple Hill.  If you ever want to further understand the kind of crazy I am, just know that I’m the kind of crazy that feels obligated to write on “Day Six” if I’ve written on days one, two, three, four, and five.  I don’t really care about the quality of the posts (good heavens, NO), only that I write every day.  It’s a sickness.

_____

Here’s a little story: 

Today I ate lunch with the six-(almost seven)-year-old daughter of an Apple Hill participant.  We discovered that her birthday is on July 23, and my birthday is on July 22nd, which makes us soul sisters.  Elise’s birthday is on July 26th, and the six-year-old has a friend whose birthday is on July 24th.  So, what we need is another friend whose birthday is on JULY 25TH and then we could have BIRTHDAY PARTIES ON FIVE DAYS IN A ROW.  (This prospect made my young friend literally squeal with delight.)  If you, or someone you know was born on July 25th, please contact me IMMEDIATELY.

Day Five

Sometimes you wind up having a really good rehearsal on the night you think you’d rather die than rehearse.

Day Four (No Goal-eriffic)

Day Four at Apple Hill is the last taste of relaxation before everything gets all topsy-turvy and busy.  Until today I’ve just been rehearsing with the other faculty in preparation for our concert on Tuesday, but tomorrow the coaching begins.

So, in celebration of my soon-to-be-over freedom, I drove into town to sit around in Brewbakers for a few hours.

I was cruising around on the interwebs when I made a shocking discovery.  Today is the 10 year anniversary of No Goal!  Ten years ago I was living in Philadelphia (dude, it’s crazy that that was ten years ago), and I had never seen a hockey game in my life, so the No Goal anniversary has no particular emotional significance to me personally.

But, I imagine some of my Sabres-loving brothers and sisters look upon the event with a frown in their heart, so, in an effort to cheer you up, I will now make an embarrassing No Goal-related confession for your amusement.

Reason #48,937 that Katebits is a num-num

I first saw the famous picture of “No Goal” when I got really into the Sabres in 2007.

It burns!  It burns!

I read the story about Hull’s skate in the crease, and of the grave injustice, and learned that Lindy rose to (nearly invincible) power in the aftermath by dubbing the play, “No Goal”.

“It’s a TRAVESTY!” I declared.

The thing is though, while I was perfectly willing to hop aboard the “BUFFALO HAS BEEN ROBBED” train, I didn’t really understand how Buffalo had been robbed.  You see, I had made a terrible mistake when I first looked at the famous photo of No Goal.

I….looked at the wrong skate.

I know.

In my defense, when I looked at the photo, I was looking for something controversial. I was looking for a “close call”, and I thought the photograph was the “smoking gun”.  The skate that I thought was Hull’s skate is the only skate in the picture that is both visible and even slightly open for interpretation.  I didn’t occur to me that Hull had literally been STANDING in the crease.  My eyes just went to the skate that looked the shadiest, and that’s where I assumed all the controversy lay.

Of course, had I deployed even one or two brain cells, I could have pick up on a few other “clues” in the photograph.

Katebits is an idiot, case closed.

Oh, but I’m not done.

Here is the true scope of my stupidity: I didn’t just hone in on the wrong skate in that photograph back in 2007, I honed in on the wrong skate for two years. I didn’t realize the truth until APRIL OF 2009.  I had been writing a Sabres blog for a YEAR AND A HALF at that point. A few months ago I saw the photograph for some reason, and like a bolt of incredibly slow moving lighting, it occurred to me, “Heeeey…..waaaait a minute…”

Dear Readers, I have many times thought about telling you this story, but I always stopped myself because honestly, it’s really embarrassing.  For some reason I LOVE to tell the internet all about how I’m a complete idiot.  Telling stories about my near inability to function without protective headgear has been a staple of my blogging from day one, but this one is humbling, even for me.

When I turned on the computer and realized today was the ten year anniversary of No Goal, I couldn’t resist.

(I’m NOT having mini-strokes.  This is just how I AM.  I know it’s hard to believe.)

Day Three

It’s raining.  It’s raining and it will not stop, and it’s never going to stop raining, and I’m going to drown in the woods. (But at least I don’t have to watch the NHL Awards tonight.  Thank God for small favors.  Heh.)

At Apple Hill I get to see many of my favorite friends, including frequent commenters, Elise and Piece_of_etc.  The Apple Hill Chamber Players is a year round organization, and both Elise and Piece_of_Etc are wonderful musicians and people.

They are also lunatics.

Piece_of_etc  gets comically peeved when I bitch about the sub-human accommodations here, but I feel it is my duty to TELL THE TRUTH.  I’m living in a mouse infested shack and it will NEVER stop raining and it’s a MIRACLE I’m still alive.  If Piece_of_Etc wants me to stop whining, well, maybe he better get to work building me a fully equipped bungalow (PLUMBING INCLUDED) with cable television and a hot tub.

Today, while gazing pathetically out into the torrential rain, I suggested that we begin building an ark so that this doesn’t happen to us:

Totally realistic depiction

Piece_of_Etc was unimpressed with my apocalyptic vision of our near future, but he agreed that we should build the ark.  Here’s how he sees our situation:

Totally UNrealistic.  This could never happen.

Day Two

I’m still alive!  And I’m slowing coming to terms with nature.

Is anyone else getting ants in their pants about the Sabres?  I keep breathlessly checking the computer for news that Darcy has traded Lindy and Jochen Hecht for Bylsma and Malkin.  Or, maybe Darcy will trade Yo-Yo and the rights to Andrew Peters to the Islanders for their first round pick, and then we get Tavares! ….that would rock.