Picture Pages! Picture Pages!

My version of the virtual tour...

My apartment was a combination of toys, fantasy/medieval items, super heroes, and religious artifacts. There was no real rhyme or reason to it and I decided it needed a slight makeover. These are the before pictures.

These are the new "themed" rooms. I redid the spare bedroom to encompass some of my Halloween collection and Clive Barker pieces. The kitchen is reserved for my heroes (be they super heroes, musicians, or anyone else I look up to). The bathroom has become my Zen temple. My bedroom/Mash's room is dedicated to the Renaissance period (with the exception of the computer). The living room contains a collection of Southwestern images.

I've included a few of the flood pictures showing how I lived for several months, until they finally worked on my apartment (it is absolutely amazing that I did not wig out). This is also why I take pictures of my apartment--they come in immensely handy after such incidents...

Okay, yeah. I know you guys are thinking that school bus demolition derbies must be for huge rednecks! Actually, it's universal. Who didn't dread the school bus ride knowing where you were headed?

For me, the school bus was an evil place where bullies and perverts could get you and nobody knew. I rarely had less than an hour ride (damn rural areas). There was always the fear that there would be no seats left or that nobody would sit with you. I think I hated the bus even more than school itself. One adult and fifty kids. Not good odds.

In elementary school, we had a bus driver that wouldn't take us home if we were bad--she'd drive back streets, up over sidewalks, and all kinds of scary stuff. So of course, the high school kids would push her to see how crazy they could make her--not pleasant for us little ones that were missing our afternoon cartoons!

I think it's natural to enjoy watching school buses be destroyed. But then again, I am not denying that I tend to be a bit warped...

Wizards and Wonders Weekend, 2004. These are from one of the Greater Pittsburgh Renaissance Festivals, located near Greensburg, PA. We always dress in full costume and spend the day (no matter what the weather). From ghouls, to faeries, to giant rabbits that hate faeries--you'll see it all!

This was also the year that Ed Beard, Jr. was present (artist: Magic the Gathering, J.R. Tolkien, Harry Potter, etc) and I got several awesome autographed pieces.

I don't care what anyone says! I think that Brockway is a beautiful little town!

Our campsite in Livonia, MO and Johnny's misfortune. The graveyards in Missouri that we visited. The trip to Lake of the Ozarks State Park (the entrance to Ozark Caverns and Coakley Hollow Trail) in Linn Creek, MO.

Pictures from Matt and Jennifer's Hawaiian-themed wedding (July 2005), which took place at our Grandmother's house in Emerickville. Pictures of Jennifer's son, James (Matt is in some of them too), during their visit last Christmas (2004). These were taken in the roommate's revamped room and now the spare bedroom (soon to be Stinky's room?).

I have received permission to include Lisa and Steve's handfasting from last summer (July 2004). I still have as of yet to see the secretly videotaped version of the wedding (I guess a handfasting in Brockway causes a bit of a stir)! Of course, the videotape may just be one of those urban legends...

The random album is precisely that--random photos that didn't offer enough to make a full album, but yet they exist.

I've included photos from Beasore, CA (Lou's property); Santa Monica, CA; and North Fork, CA (including the infamous acorn-filled tree). More locally, there are photos of Cook's Forest, PA; Clear Creek, PA; and pictures of the Kinzu Bridge after it was taken down by a storm. There are also a couple of photos from Central Park, NY.

The photos aren't in chronological order and the bottom date is guaranteed to be incorrect (I think those are the dates the album was originally made)--but the location and year printed on the top line are correct.