Hannibal, Missouri.

Back in school , when I read "Adventures of Tom Sawyer", "Huckleberry Finn" did I have any idea that one day in a not too distant future I would be able to actually find myself in the town that formed the backdrop of these classics ?
I had heard of this place called Hannibal in Missouri which was the hometown of Samuel Langhorne Clemens aka Mark Twain. So when the university sent out an email about its day trip to Hannibal , we friends decided it would be a good chance to have one of those picnics we had in school ...complete with packed lunches and water bottles :-) . When we reached the place what struck me was how much the sleepy little town of Hannibal had become a slave to commercialism....a Mark Twain hotel on one side, a Tom Sawyer store on the other. But I guess, it is a small price to pay when it comes to preserving places with so much history. The most exciting part of the trip was the quarter mile guided tour of the cave . As we entered the cave, and the last person was instructed to shut the entrance after him, I was hit with a severe attack of claustrophobia...which I tried really hard to push aside and concentrate on what the guide was talking . Suddenly the book seemed to come to life . It was so surreal , imagining Tom and Becky lost inside those dark, bat infested caves with just a candle to guide them in the neverending maze. The tour guide was great as he regaled us animatedly with the stories and legends of those times. The caves are scribbled with about 250,000 names of people from all over the world ...but not allowed to write on them anymore. I found a narrow walkway that was aptly called the "Lemon Squeeze" quite amusing :-) . The walls in places appeared polished thanks to the thousands of people who had run their hands over them. The formations in the cave were so incredible that there was even a "room" in one part of the cave complete with a love seat, bookshelf , and a grand piano (that supposedly only plays 'rock' ;-). The village committees used to hold their town meetings in this room, when the weather became too hot outside during summers. After the amazing tour of the caves, we visited the lighthouse and Mark Twains house, the white picket fence :-) , Becky Thatcher's house which were all so well maintained . We walked on the cobblestoned streets, lazed around on the banks of the Mississippi and headed back home.
Deal of the day ? a $2 unabridged version of "Adventures of Tom Sawyer" !! . I know I am never going to forget this trip ...the book is going to take me back everytime I read it :-)
Some sites for those interested :

http://www.marktwainmuseum.org/

http://www.marktwaincave.com/

http://www.marktwaincave.com/Pictures.html

Vent -o- mania !!!

One of those days , when all you wanna do is plonk in front of the TV and crib about how much life sucks !!! Not that any other day is any better , but just sometimes feel an overwhelming need to vent , and feel stupid after having done it . And my only reasons for feeling exceptionally crappy today were : I did'nt have a watch , my car is been sitting in my parking lot for so long i am pretty sure it's started laying eggs, and I don't have headphones anymore that fit my mutated ears !!! Ok I am feeling stupid already !
I somehow feel the need to justify all the three random and wierd reasons that apparently blew my top . OK so I did'nt know how much I was a slave to my watch....up until the two watches I had (one being a Fossil ) that together decide they will not budge another second ahead. I had everything programmed on these watches...when the minute hand struck 15 after the hour was when I had to leave home to catch my bus ...I would reach the bus stop and the bus would be there within 2 minutes...Perfect !!! I had worked it all down to the minute. None of the other 10 watches in the house were programmed this way...as long as I had one on my wrist, did'nt even care about what time of the day the others showed . So when my only two croaked and refused to budge...started the series of unfortunate events ...I was totally disoriented.. either missed the bus one day or was 5 mins ahead of time the other day ...5 precious minutes of my sleep ...gone !!! It was just too much torture the past two days ....i finally went and got a new one today !.
And the car ...oh Lord ...who knew a brake pad could just fall off the car if not changed on time ? I just drive the car ...i don't know a thing about them ...Now I need to get it towed and fixed ...which probably needs to be done one of these days :-(
And yes ...the tragedy of my life ...my ears ...the cruel joke HE played on me ...they look just fine to any other person ...but they are so freakin small ..I hate those phones that look like you have ear muffs on in the middle of summer ...I have almost given up on finding a pair of those cool tiny earphones that disappear into your ears, and stay there... what would I not give to have one cool pair in my ears ...without falling off every time I move an inch on the treadmill. I spend more calories just jamming the damn thing inside my ears then jogging. I just got me another pair thinking it just might fit ...guess what ???
Now i am bored of even venting ...I think I will just get back to work then ...stupid manuscript ...godawful PhD $#*& !!!!