2 posts tagged “amherst”

What was your favorite road-trip of all time? 
Submitted by bodhibound. 

There are actually several memorable road trips, not the least of which was our trip up the coast for the ASM conference at Amherst, MA (Summer 2006).  That was a fun trip.  Had lots of good food and passed through at least 13 or so states - if only for a moment.  As I have posted on this trip a good deal already, I believe, I will not post anymore for now.

However, one very memorable trip was our trip to San Angelo, TX.  We took this trip because my wife was visiting the college there in order to check whether she wanted to work on her Master's Degree with that department.  Alas, she did not and we ended up in Little Rock, AR at UALR, but I digress.  This particular trip stands out because our friend "Cheetoh" came with us.  Also, this was about a 12 hour drive from Lafayette, LA and through the heart of Texas.  I should add, I HATE Texas - San Angelo, however, was very nice.  There were delays (few hours) somewhere around Dallas or some other big shite-hole in Texas.  We eventually made it to San Angelo sometime around 2 or 3 in the morning, which was good because I was starting to see little green men on the dash.  Anyway, San Angelo was lovely.  There was also this little out-of-the-way, plate-lunch style place that I will never forget - Diego's.  They had the best Mexican food that I think I will ever eat.  I did not want to know what the meat was or how long it sat out, but it was the best!  Heehee, only Cheetoh and I ate there, as my wife was busy with her interview thing - she missed out. Anyway, Diego's is now legendary to the Cheetoh and myself. Now, some pictures from this journey:

First off, let me state that I am a huge fan of the children's series The Spiderwick Chronicles.  With that said, as some of you may know, or may not, my wife and I visited Amherst, MA this past summer.  While we were there, we stopped by the R. Michelson Gallery located in downtown Amherst.  This was, and is, an incredible art gallery that featured tons and tons of works by local artists and children's artists - not the least of which were works by Dr. Seuss (originals at that).  Well, we could not really afford the Dr. Seuss prints, but we did manage to purchase a Polar Bear ("Polar Bear's Dream") piece by Jeff Mack - the one that is currently on his homepage (we have print #1)!

Well, to the point, while we were in the gallery, I noticed that Tony Diterlizzi had several prints available.  If you are not familiar with Diterlizzi, then you need to be - he is a great artist and illustrator.  We did not purchase any of his art because we had previously purchased the polar bear and Tony's stuff was a bit expensive (deservingly so).  However, I did find out that Tony is a local artist and would be willing to sign anything I wanted.  To make a long story short, when we got back home, I emailed the galleries' owner and arranged to get Arthur Spiderwicks' Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You autographed.  I just got it in the mail today (Monday).  Anyway, this is what it looks like (the book, not the autograph), and yes, I am bragging!

Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You (Spiderwick Chronicles)

Holly Black