Red, blue, green, orange

Are there rules? Of course there are rules. You're talking to the person who set up rules for the Vice Favorite Red Sox Player position. Hello.

The rules for seeing a much-loved former Red Sox player battle against his old team are pretty simple, though. Easy to understand and to follow.

Overall Objective: To see Player do well. NOT to see Player win.

Offense: Player is encouraged to hit the ball well and get on base. A strong offensive effort is supported by Fan, assuming, of course, that this offensive effort does nothing to score Player's Current Team any runs. Home runs are hereby forbidden. Player is not allowed to cross home plate or pick up any RBI's. Stolen bases, if applicable, are encouraged.

Defense: Player is encouraged to demonstrate precisely why he earned Favorite Red Sox Player status during Boston seasons, but only if Current Red Sox team is enjoying a lead. Diving catches are always cool.

Outcome: Player makes Fan proud. Rightful Team (Red Sox) win game. No Fan loyalties tested.

Kevin Millar followed most of the rules on Tuesday night. He did cross home plate, but such an oversight was far more Timlin's fault than Millar's. With a good lead racked up midway through the game, I was free to enjoy Millar's turns as Baltimore's DH, cheering him while hollering for the Boston boys to bring home the win (I did in fact proudly wear my No. 15 Boston shirt to the game, one of only two that I saw at Camden Yards that night).

Everything was glorious, if you ignore the near disaster that was the bottom of the ninth. We won. Let's focus on that.

For those who haven't made the trip to Baltimore, you should. Particularly if you're a Red Sox fan. With a team that hasn't done much of note since that World Series in 1966, Baltimore has become a haven for opposing teams' fans looking for a good ballpark and easy ticket acquisition. The city is laidback and accomodating, the fans are game for seeing superstars roll into town and Orioles Park is breathtaking. Tuesday marked my third trip to the park (first since moving back to Vermont after the District City days) and the third time my jaw dropped at the beauty of it all -- the factory stretching the length of Eutaw Street, the markers for home run balls, the brick and green steel color palate...

We were seated in Section 262, halfway between third base and the foul pole and, unbeknownst to us, a swanky area of seating. A private entrance, Hall of Fame Lounge directly behind us and waitresses ready to take whatever orders we wanted so we didn't have to miss a moment of the game. I left my seat once.

Oh, and the beer is better than it is at Fenway. And cheaper.

Trying to compare Fenway and Camden is akin to a showdown between (Granny Smith) apples and oranges, I know. Old/new. Tradition/innovation. Obstructed view risks/no bad seats in the house. Sellout crowds/bargain night specials.

It's really no contest anyway -- I'm a girl in love with her Yawkey Way. But were Fenway not around? Camden would have my heart, no question.

What makes it even easier is that the place might as well be Fenway South. Different color scheme, fancier scoreboard, no "Sweet Caroline," but the place still echoes with cheers for the Sox when they're scoring, boos when Timlin's walking off the mound after nearly tying the game in the ninth. You see more red and blue than orange -- a fact that I'd almost feel badly about, were the Orioles fans not so excited to see the Red Sox themselves.

Millar. Millahhhhhh. Couldn't we bring him home with us? I don't think it would have required much arm-twisting. Pre-game, I raced to the Os dugout to find Millar laughing with his old teammates; hearing that cackle made my face instantly break into a grin. I've missed him. Sure, the fielding was spotty. Yes, I know the hitting was streaky. But I loved the X factor he brought to the team -- slow baserunning, frosted tips and all. Millar is, in my mind, still a Red Sox player displaced.

He was why we were there. After the move, seeing him once more at Fenway was out of the question. We opted for Baltimore instead. And after the chaos and tension of the Red Sox Virtual Waiting Rooms, the ticketbuying process had been glorious. Might as well have come with a backrub and a Pina Colada, pink umbrella included.

The ultimate stress-free baseball experience.

Baltmore itself was surprisingly new, not at all what I'd expected. We spent the entire day in the Inner Harbor, which I admit lends itself to overall city juding much in the way Back Bay belies Boston, Adams Morgan falsely represents DC. But I was expecting to see a city with a little more historical meat on its bones, presented instead with modern structures of turquoise windows and brick, with a huge Hard Rock Cafe guitar serving as the cherry atop the former Power Plant building.

I'd gone looking for Edgar Allen Poe and found space more befitting Nicole Ritchie instead.

That said, not at all bad. Far from it -- actually quite enjoyable and lovely (guitar aside). As we walked the quiet city streets, we encountered Sox fan after Sox fan, making me wonder if the city residents proper had decided to take a few days off and head to the hills once they learned Boston was coming into town.

(Also, several things should be quickly noted:

- Ellipsies in text messages = rather bizarre. Doesn't that go against the very nature of the quick communication process? That said, thank you, cell phones, for letting me laugh from my bleacher seats at a Monster Seat friend during Sunday's home game.
- Hector on Stilts. Band out of Western Massachusetts that I caught at Bill's Bar on Friday night. OUTSTANDING. A friend described the band earlier in the day as "really smart, just really good indie pop." He was right. Go catch 'em live. The lead singer reminds me of Scott Weiland crossed with Gene Wilder, circa Willy Wonka. In a good way.
- Read Bill Simmons' "Now I Can Die in Peace" cover to cover during the trip from Baltimore to Boston yesterday. I highly recommend.)

Now, back from this set of adventure, I prepare for tomorrow's -- Austin and all that comes with it. Bags are packed (I think), itineraries set (as much as they can be) and the promise I made to myself to get to sleep early tonight.

I have a hunch that that will be easier said than done.

I'd been wondering when the mental Plinko game would come to an end and next week's events would actually register with me.

As it turned out, it was while writing a brief bio about myself, attaching a digital photograph and sending off the email.

Hey. I'm going to Austin. Texas.

I've held off saying anything, as I was waiting to be sure that everything is in place and good to go. As I write this now, I believe it all is. If not, well...I'll take my chances.

The quick story: after the adventures in DC (hello, old brief stomping grounds) and Baltimore (otherwise known as Victoria sees Kevin Millar At Least One More Time), I return to Boston briefly (overnight) and then head off to Austin for the Austin City Limits Festival. As it is being touted, "8 stages, 3 days, 130 bands."

It's my first largescale festival in some time. Since Woodstock '99, actually. I also like to think of it as "Van Morrison, Willie Nelson, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers and Countless Others." Including, amusingly enough, Matt Nathanson, Guster, Tristan and a slew of other people that tickle my fancy.

I'll attempt to refrain from seeking out John Mayer and slapping him upside the head for the Jessica Simpson debacle.

So yes, a pretty outstanding lineup. But why would I make the trip to Texas, you ask?

Because I'm going to be writing about it. The contest I to which I made brief reference in June proved to surprise the hell out of me. By which I mean that I won it. I'll be an official field blogger for the festival and Project DU.

(Insert adoring, thank you so much sentiments here. Kisses to those hooking me up for this adventure - I'm most appreciative.)

Texas, baby. Texas.

the whirlwind road trip adventure begins tomorrow! i'm psyched - the next few days should be great ... tomorrow afternoon, beth and i are heading to boston for averi, followed by a return to vermont saturday. perhaps a mini-roadtrip on sunday, followed by the just-offered opportunity to go back to boston on monday for the red sox/tigers game at fenway with my father and a couple of his coworkers ... whoo hoo!!!

so i've finally figured out my schedule for the next couple of weeks:

i leave in the morning for boston with becca, spending the night at michelle's and seeing averi at paradise, returning to vermont saturday. sunday i head to connecticut for the o'neill, where i will be until the 27th, at which point i return to vermont. the time at home is short-lived, however, as i head to saratoga springs to see dmb at spac on the 29th and then hit the open road again, this time with my father, for a trip to d.c. because i have my interview with patrick's people on the 31st, after which we return to vermont and my future could be completely up in the air.

oy. so really i won't be readily available to anyone or anything until august 1, but, knowing me, i'll find a computer with internet access between now and then.

came home from work to a message on the table to call rhiannon so, naturally, i did. had a chance to talk to her and daniel (turns out all three of the other dc crew are at first session). the o'neill sounds like it's going to be a lot of fun. i'm already incredibly impressed by the people who are there.

so my plan is to get to waterford early saturday afternoon, which means i'll get to spend at least a few hours with rhiannon. daniel doesn't leave until sunday, so i'll get to see him regardless, but there are plans to party like rock stars saturday night. and then two weeks of theater...it's going to be a blast.

attempting to describe a band to someone is a thoroughly daunting task, might i add. daniel asked what kind of sound averi had and, by the time i was finished trying to describe it (rather poorly, i think), he thought i was describing a "hippie jam band." averi? hmm...not so much. but it's not like i can say, "well, they sound like...averi," or just say, "they're good." i'm sending rhiannon a copy of my averi cd, so daniel can hear them then and realize just how un-hippie-jam-band-esque they are.

it was so good to hear both of their voices tonight...i've missed the dc gang.

so.

in the past two weeks, i've traveled close to 3,000 miles, seen cities like cinncinatti, minneapolis, and new york city from the window of an airplane. i've ridden through the desert as it morphed from mountains to plains to canyon to mesa. i've seen joshua trees and the ever-delightful palm trees, set back against the orange clay of southern nevada. i visited sin city after spending time in the mormon capital of the world. i saw a member of a boy band after making stops in new york city, ancient egypt, venice, rome (paying respects to bacchus inside), the circus, paris and others. i was shot 100 feet into the air from an 1100-foot-platform. i saw snakes, eagles, deer, antelope and mormon crickets (the nastiest things ever). i drank more than i thought i could and danced beneath the dancing lights of freemont street.

i loved 105 degree weather and discovered, much to my chagrin, the truth behind the "dry heat" i have heard so much about.

and, after all that, i hopped in a car yesterday, picked up two of my best friends and went on a road trip to boston to see other good friends, driving back in the humidity today.

needless to say, i'm exhausted. but happily so.

but, waiting for me in my inbox today was the latest simplesimon, much to my delight. ben at never-ever.net makes me exceptionally happy each time he sends the maling list another bit of his writing.

my o'neill experience will be sandwiched by two sure-to-be-enjoyable concerts--averi right before (yes, beth, i sent that email today--hehe), dmb right after. that's the way things should be...two nights of great music with two weeks of theater smushed into the middle. it's like a huge creative oreo cookie. without the glass of milk to dunk it in.

yeah.

i leave for my adventures out west a week from tomorrow.

heehee...i can't wait.

i'm really looking forward to the coming weeks. two weeks out west, including five days and four nights in vegas. i come back just in time to travel to quincy for michelle's graduation party. then a couple weeks spent working followed by averi in boston, then followed by the o'neill. then dmb at spac (i hope--who's with me???? let me know...it's the only dave show i can go to this summer). then, maybe, hopefully a job???

it should all be fine holiday fun. unfortunately it means i have little time to do that whole money-making thing, but hey, it's the summer after graduation from college. it's supposed to be fun.

my mother is officially a horrible influence on me. i've been incredibly good for the past couple weeks, conserving money and whatnot. today i blew more money than i have since i've been back. granted, it went towards great causes--a gorgeous dress for the vssa luncheon on sunday and a much-needed pair of sunglasses--but there i was, trying to be smart and rational while my mother was practically dragging me to the atm to take out my money to buy the items. it was hilarious...i figure that i got overtime last week and this week's check will be huge (relatively speaking, obviously), so i might as well treat myself to something nice that 1) i need (for the luncheon) and 2) could be considered an investment (i'll be able to wear this forever--very classic).

but i still hold her responsible if i don't save a lot of money this summer!