So I had to drop my second summer semester class, and now I have my first free summer in three years. I am not sure what to do with myself. Here is a partial list of my projects:

• Get ready to move in September. The roommates and I have been displaced from our apartment - our landlord wants to move into it. I have already started the hateful process known as "packing." I started with the worst part: the basement, where I have been throwing all sorts of junk for the past two and a half years. I cleaned out a lot of trash, put a lot of books up on half.com, and am going through all my CDs to prepare to sell them at Tunes. I brought about a sixth of the total in over the weekend, and netted $250. Sweet!
• Starting an Endnote database. Going through all of my readings for my first education class, and logging them into this program. This is nice because I am starting at the very beginning of my program, so hopefully it will be useful all the way through. So far, after my first education class, I feel qualified to say that the social sciences are a whole different scholarly ballgame than the humanities I am used to. I don't dislike the discipline, it is just taking some getting used to. In many ways, it is easier.
• Reading a long list of Education books in preparation for the fall. Related to the previous. Hopefully to give me a little more background.
• Web design and photography for my roommate's movie. More on this at a later date.

Clearly I don't know how to take a break. Mike is in North Carolina this week with his family, so I was able to get started on most of these projects already, and my class ended just last week!

Posted by Victoria at 4:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Taking a page from R.C., here's a list of songs that keep me statisfied--

1) Whiskey Bent & Hell Bound- Hank Williams Jr.
2) St. Louis Blues- Bessie Smith
3) If I Am a Stranger- Ryan Adams
4) Houston Chicks- Doug Sahm
5) I Don't Wanna Go Home- Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes
6) Easy from Now On- Emmylou Harris
7) How Many More Years?- Howlin' Wolf
8) Star Witness- Neko Case
9) Crazy Little Thing- Captain Beefheart
10) A Damn Good Country Song- Jerry Lee Lewis
11) St. Dominic's Preview- Van Morrison
12) Satan is Real- The Louvin Brothers

PS- Miss you all so much and think of you often

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The Club Diner is perhaps the most successful in the diners-we-tried-just-for-this-website category, because we have been back four or five times since we first went there in November. There are a few reasons for this: it is close, the food is good, and the decline we are starting to feel about the Phily Diner.

I like this picture, even though it is overexposed.

When we went to the Club Diner in November, they were undergoing renovations on the left wing, and I was a little apprehensive about it, because that is where they seated us. They only had these temporary folding tables and chairs, and to tell you the truth, I was not at all sure that this place was going to prove to be any good. Fortunately I was mistaken.

You can see Zac and Mike's reflections in the middle pane of the glass here - I think mine is to the left, holding up the camera.

Since it was November, the Club Diner (and almost every other diner) was offering Pumpkin Pancakes, and that's what Zac (Mike's brother) ordered. I may be mistaken, but I think these are not actually made with pumpkin, but are just spiced like pumpkin pie, with cinnamon and ginger, etc. Let me know if I am mistaken. Zac is a big fan of the pumpkin pie, and he was also a big fan of the pumpkin pancakes. There was lamenting all around that these were only available for a limited time each year.

Club Diner, renovations complete.

Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera inside for this first expedition, so I don't have any pictures of these mythic pancakes, nor of the chicken caesar wrap, french fries, milkshake, and omelet that Mike and I got, but all of these got the thumbs up. I recall (with the help of my notes) that the service was slow, which might have been due to the renovations.

We started going back to the Club a few months ago, and this time I brought my camera inside. The renovated dining area looks beautiful. I ordered the vodka penne, and Mike got the chicken caesar salad in a tortilla shell. My penne was preceded by a house salad, which was the only disappointing part of the meal - way too much iceburg lettuce and not much else. I also didn't really like their Thousand Island dressing. I think it is homemade, but still it's kind of surprising, since I've never had a problem with that kind of dressing before. I had much better luck later with the Honey Mustard.

Notice the also excellent (according to Mike) banana bread in the background. I don't like banana bread.

Here's the tortilla shell salad, again looking kind of bland in the picture. Maybe I should try taking the picture from above next time.

And here's the vodka penne, which I really enjoyed.

The Club Diner is located just down the Black Horse Pike from the Phily Diner, in Bellmawr. It has the feel of a local favorite; whenever I have been there, it seems that the place is full of regulars. I'm glad their renovations are finished, because the diner's architecture is very striking. I don't know any history about the place, but I will try to find out. It also has a cool sign...

..that lights up all fiery at night. Yay, Club Diner!

The sign alternates flames, and I got this picture with film, so I am glad it turned out lit up. I was trying to time it right. Yay me!

The Club Diner gets

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