Ever since I bought one set of tickets from Ticketmaster, they've been sending me little periodic emails saying Don't miss __ ! as if they are letting me in on some kind of secret. Yesterday, I got an e-mail from them entitled: Don't miss Oasis! Oasis?!? Seriously? Do people still give two sh*ts about Oasis? Okay, I thought, maybe there's a slow music season here. But then I open the e-mail and scroll down to see that The Pixies are coming to my 'hood next month. So I ask you, are Oasis really bigger than The Pixies nowadays? Because my interest would have been much more piqued by a Don't miss The Pixies e-mail. Now, to see if I can actually obtain tickets- I suspect they are going to sell fast.
But, alas, let me destroy any musical cred I may have just been granted by admitting with much guilt that this morning, on the way to work, I heard Love at first sight by Kylie Minogue... and... I turned the volume up and felt better about the world. No logic can explain this; I won't even try to defend it. No. I'm just going to crawl under my desk in embarassment. I suspect someone is now dreading the mix cd I finally finished and am mailing out tomorrow...
This article about Machu Pichu has me a little frantic. On the one hand, I don't want to be one of the tourists contributing to the ruins being overrun and therefore declared an endangered monument. On the other hand, it strengthens my resolve to go this year before it is too late. And of course, because I am the queen of rationalization, I've reasoned that the main driver for the current crowding at the ruins is the train service that now allows people to get there without trekking. But as my good buddy Samir from Office Space would say "I am also not a pussy," and therefore, I am going the Inca Trail route.
It should be noted, though, that I have been labeled a wuss and a half for choosing to do the Inca Trail. The tri-guy who agreed to go with me when I first started planning this trip had his shorts in a bunch about doing the Inca Trail. He wanted to do a 7-day, 6-night trek that went some back route around glaciers. I was getting visions of Into Thin Air when I started reading the description of that trek. A fight ensued; negotations broke down. My mother, a haggler at birth, has set an example for me when it comes to skillful negotiating. If you really want the upper hand in any such instance, you have to be willing to walk away. My mother has taken this to proportions I can't master. I'm not convinced she ever really wants anything in Indian stores, based on her ability to feign complete indifference when she's bargaining. I stole this technique briefly when I threw down the gauntlet and told the tri-guy he could do his 7-day vision quest on his own, or he could choose not to do the trip at all, or he could do it my way.
It also helped when he later discovered that he has only 5 days of vacation.
However, I now have two other friends who are on board to go, and there is just one thing left to do. Plan the damn trip. Some people will just be doing the Inca trail, some will be going for a more extended stay. I want to go to Arequipa, where there are supposedly amazing condors to be seen. Deal me in, man. I'm in charge of researching trekking companies. Right now I'm trying to decide between Q'Ente, SAS, and Andean Life. SAS seems the most established, but it's hard to know which one will be best (anyone have suggestions? feel free to let me know if you have any experience with this). By the end of this weekend, we will have airplane tickets in hand. By next week, we need to make decisions about trekking companies. It's driving me a little insane right now, but I'm hoping that, come May, I'll be beaming with an "I love it when a plan comes together"... sans cigar, of course.
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