In an effort to do something with the next two hours of my life that doesn’t involve getting anxious about tonight’s performance of God of Carnage, I’ve decided to give you all a mash-up of the random little dodads that have been happening in and around Camp Crystal Lake.

A few weeks ago, I posted about our trip to Maine for our friends’ wedding. There were a couple of mini-adventures that weren’t directly wedding-related, so I didn’t include them. But here, in our miscellany post, they’re perfect!

Cristen and Jayson took us to the Glen Cove Motel for a spectacular photo shoot:

So, it’s clear that I look good as a lobster and that I will pursue this as my next career.

We also went to the Maine State Prison gift shop. The products — beautiful woodwork and leather goods — are crafted by the inmates. The detail in everything from the wooden salad bowls to the model ships is meticulous, and the prices are reasonable. If we’d had more room in our suitcases, we’d have gotten a lot more. We picked up a couple of gifts for friends and family, and of course, something for ourselves:

While we were in Maine, I figured out the likelihood that we’d be able to sneak over to Bangor for an afternoon drive past the house of my favorite writer, Stephen King. Roadside America lists his house as an attraction (weird, right?) and I really, really, really, really (really) wanted to go check it out.

But Trevor refused (why? why, Trevor, why??), and realistically, we didn’t have time (I guess that’s why [boo! (j.k. I love you, Trevor)]). So I guess that means we’ll have to book another vacation just to Bangor. From this vacation, I settled for a copy of Carrie that I snapped up from the Stone Soup Books in Camden.

A couple weekends after we got back from Maine, our neighbors, Joe and Mary, invited us to go boating with them at a quarry they hang out in Cary (the town over from Camp Crystal Lake). They go to the quarry to water ski, BBQ, sit on the beach, and enjoy life. We very thankfully joined them and had a great time.

When we got home, we (read: Trevor) built a fire on the porch. It had been a moderate day and the night was clear and cool. We stared at the fire for a few hours before going to bed. It was great.

On the Fourth of July we went to the Lakeside Fest in Crystal Lake. We drank some beer, ate some ice cream, and watched a lot of teenagers put their lives in the hands of this death machine:

 

Trevor assembled our planter, and I got our miniature garden going a couple of days ago:

And last night we had dinner with my old roommate, Jenn, and her husband Jeremy. Jenn and Jeremy live in Seattle and are visiting for the weekend; I have performances tonight, Saturday, and Sunday, so I was so happy they were able to meet us for dinner the night they flew in. I haven’t seen them in years and years, but we picked up right where we left off and had a great time while stuffing ourselves with Thai food in our old Wicker Park neighborhood.

And that’s all of our random news from Camp Crystal Lake!

Now, I’ve successfully focused on something other than my nerves about tonight’s show! We have three more shows, so you should absolutely come to see it. It’s cheap. It’s short. It’s been well reviewed. And it’s full of swear words!

You can make a reservation by calling 815-455-8746 or emailing Jay Geller at jgeller[at]mchenry[dot]edu.

Check back for more posts about the God of Carnage Family, Friends, and Fun weekend with the Power clan and our Glen Cove Motel friends Jayson and Cristen; and for posts from our final week of the Lake Projects Online Writing Group. See you soon!