It's the Only Thing I'd Gladly Do for Free

We're going on a trip tomorrow, so I thought it would be appropriate to write a bit of an overview of what's been going on with us. Really, it's not all that much. Beth has been working a temp job, and she's been dealing with weird hip pain. I've been concerned about how it feels like the Internet just isn't as interactive as it used to be, although that could be based on false nostalgia on my part. That's just how it feels to me, like no one will really engage with anything anymore, and it's something like talking into the void. But maybe it's just that I'm boring or annoying, and I've been worried about that before I'd ever gone on the Internet.

Beth and I went on Monday, the eighth of this month, to see Sparks at the Keswick Theater in Glenside. It's interesting how the place is mostly surrounded by residential areas. The band played several songs from their latest album, as well as an assortment of other songs from throughout their career.

They did three from No. 1 in Heaven, which is half of what's on that album. Russell introduced "Please Don't Fuck Up My World" as a song that's even more relevant now. I suppose "Goofing Off" would be considered a klezmer song, and "Whippings and Apologies" is one Russell sings in a weird voice I don't think he uses elsewhere. And "Reinforcements" was fun.

For "Suburban Homeboy," Ron talk-sang all except the last verse, on which Russell joined in.

He also danced during the break in "The Number One Song in Heaven," as is standard.

He was quiet throughout most of the show, though.

The main set ended with "Lord Have Mercy" and the encore with "All That," songs I associate with each other due to their grand, sweeping kind of sound. Beth went to three other Sparks shows without me that week, and we're both going to see them in Los Angeles.

Yesterday after work, we went to Great Adventure. It was already pretty late at that point, and the traffic was pretty bad, so we were only there for maybe three and a half hours.

And we spent part of that time in line for two rides that shut down due to technical difficulties while we were waiting, the Flash and Sky Screamer. We did ride Skull Mountain, Batman, the Ferris Wheel, the Carousel, and Houdini's Great Escape.

The Carousel was running backwards for Fright Fest. There weren't a whole lot of people there. We also caught the tail end of a husband and wife freak show where she swallowed swords.

Our main purpose in going there was to get our season passes. Six Flags bought Cedar Fair last year, and they're offering passes that are good at their parks as well. We're planning on visiting Magic Mountain and Knotts Berry Farm in the coming week, although I don't think the passes cover the Scary Farm events. It's one of those things where it's irritating that a few corporations own pretty much everything, but there's a temporary benefit in it for us.

I don't have a whole lot to say otherwise, although I should mention that we visited the marsh trail in Secaucus on 23 August, and we saw a little deer. It was eating grass near the trail, and didn't seem to notice us. It must have eventually, but even then it left pretty slowly.