Sausage Fest

in

Holy Smokes!  I have got to tell you guys something that really made me laugh out loud while I was sitting alone in front of the computer. A little background....I'm going back to New England for awhile....so I've been looking for apartments.  I was offered a room in a house that is owned by some Maine Maritime Academy (MMA) Alumni.  Basically everyone who lives in the house ships out - and they all went to MMA.  I'm going to be staying there for a little while but I didn't take a permanent room....

I just responded to an add for a room in a house on Craigslist - it's a little bit more 'alternative' - a little 'crunchier' if you will.  The location is great and the price is right.  So I've been e-mailing my Mom about it.

Here's a snippet of our conversations....actually, they are short and sweet so these are the whole e-mails:

 

Me to Mom:

I responded to this one....Because the location was BOMB!!!!!  Plus, the price was RIGHT!!!!!

I don't know if you can google map....but if you can...google map it (there should be a google map link at the bottom of the page)  When you do you can go to street view - check out how close it is to the water!!!!!!!

Mom to Me:

WOW!!!  This sounds quite perfect ...  a real come and go kind of place ...  sounds interesting too ...  not isolated.  Did you get a response back yet?  By the way, what happened to the house that you were going to share with your friends inPortland...  did that fall through?

Me to Mom:

Well, I kind of hedged on the one in Portland with friends....just because I knew it was going to be a sausage fest....and I really wasn't into living in a post mma frat house....ya know?!

I haven't gotten a response back.....my friends think I'm nutso for taking it without meeting them first....we'll see, for all I know it's already taken!

Mom to Me:

sausage fest?

Me to Mom:

ummm.....as in house full of boys.....

Mom to Me:

thank you

Link Love :: Pinterest Edition

in ,

Pinterest.com was a link that I love love loved back in February.  I spend waaaay too much time on Pinterest - but I find SO many neat ideas, pretty pictures, and style ideas!  I love, love, love it (yes Johnny, so much that I'd marry it)!  Here are some of my recent Pinterest discoveries!  

 

Have you ever had old t-shirts that you absolutely COULD NOT part with - but you had no idea what to do with since you never wear them?!  Turn them into bags!  Pure genius.

If I was home I'd be baking this bread....pretty much right now so I could eat some ASAP.

This clutch is fabulous....Hilo ladies - imagine it with some sig zane fabric!

I'm not much of a knitter - but if I was, this little project would be at the top of my list.

This Letterpress card totally cracked me up - probably because I'm a Preacher's Kid with a warped sense of humor....

Canoodle Lounging Chair?!   MUST HAVE!!!!!! (Anyone who has seen me curl into a tiny ball in my Mom's white leather chair knows that this might be fate.)

I think Orange Goodness (I swear I should trademark that) just got a whole lot better.  (And yes, I totally just pinned my own photo so I could link up to it - heh heh.)

 

 

I'm going to end this here....I could go on forever!  (I'm mostly ending it because I can see the ship is swinging and I know I'm going to loose the internet any second....)

 

 

 

 

What do you do with a drunken sailor?!

in

When you think about the stereotypical sailor what comes to mind?  Before I started sailing I would have told you:  They go ashore and spend lots of money....on booze and loose women.  Friends, I can sadly say - It's TRUE!  They run ashore - flock ashore - knock each other down to get ashore faster.....so that they can spend ALL their money....on booze and loose women! Now, I realize that some of you sailor's are gentlemen - and that you're sitting at home thinking 'I really hope my wife doesn't read this!' and that some of you lovely sea wives are sitting at home thinking 'I really hope my husband isn't a stereotypical sailor!'.  I apologize in advance for the gross generalizations I'm about to make.  Sea wives who I'm friends with - I would totally tell you if I saw your husband at the type of establishment I'm about to describe!

We've officially been at anchor for 2 weeks.  This drastically changes things - why?  Because the boys (the deck gang are commonly referred to as 'the boys') have time to go ashore!  They are able to establish contact with unsavory sorts - and then develop relationships with unsavory sorts!

It's been my experience that the boys will find the closest, nastiest watering hole - then, they'll make friends with the bar keep - and THEN the bar keep will invite (a.k.a call) some girls he knows to come 'hang out'.  The boys will never look for another bar and the girls will be available whenever the boys aren't working.  This nasty watering hole will become a base camp of sorts.  After one or two visits the boys will get a 'lay of the land'.  They'll find some nearby convenience stores, pharmacies and cheap hotels - and they'll essentially establish a short term residency where they can have their 'needs met' on a daily basis.

I was lucky enough to meet this ports watering hole girls - four Dominican women who don't speak a lick of English - how convenient!

I've seen this unfold over and over and over again - in ports all over the world.  I try my best not to pass judgement - most of them are young and single and most importantly, making money.  Notice I said I try?  I TOTALLY PASS JUDGEMENT!

It's not really that I don't appreciate that they have needs - that they're having 'met'.  It's that they are soooo freakin' lazy!

I mean really!!!!  We're in ATHENS!  There are beautiful women everywhere!

With two whole weeks in a port they could have met a nice local girl who could tour them around the city - show them good 'local' eating spots (or maybe even made them some home cooked meals) - teach them some Greek words to help get them around town.

Is it because I'm a woman that this sort of encounter sounds far more appealing?  Or is it because I'm willing to make an effort to get some nookie?!  Besides, the second encounter didn't even take into account the benefits to their health (I mean clearly, the watering hole girls may leave a lasting impression if you get my drift...).

I just don't understand....no need to explain the birds and bees....I get that part of it....I just don't understand how it can possibly be fun.... naivete on my part?

I think when we leave the anchorage in a few days the boys are going to go through withdrawls - hopefully the ships hospital has enough penicillin for the whole deck gang!

 

 

I'm actually a mermaid wait...make that mermate

in

I've been meaning to write this post for ages.  I've never properly explained where I came up with the name of my blog:  nautiemermate. I've always had a 'thing' for mermaids.

When I was a little girl playing at the beach I always wanted to play mermaids.  This was the best game ever because there were no rules!  All you had to do was swim around for hours with your legs together - make up fun mermaid names (mine was always bubbles) - and collect seaweed off the rocks.

In high school my friends and I would get out of school and head straight to the beach.  One of our favorite hangouts was a group of big flat rocks at Richardson's.  We'd lay out for hours (or until it clouded over - it was Hilo after all) baking in the sun.  I made a pit stop in the bathroom one day on our way back to the car and found the most beautiful grafiti in the bathroom!  There was a big colorful butterfly with lots of swirls and dots and a quote that said:  Remember Ku, Pray for the ancestors, listen to the mermaids, swim in the stars.  I thought this was the most wonderful thing I had ever read - and I still do.  (Also, just to bring you up to speed Ku is a Hawaiian God - so it's basically saying remember God...)  For my senior quote in my final yearbook I wrote:  Listen to the mermaids, swim in the stars.  I fall back on this quote over and over and over again - simply because it reminds me to be fanciful, to enjoy the ocean where I spend so much time, to remember that my family loves me and that I was raised to have faith.

About the time that I found this quote I had an epiphany.  It happened when I was walking home with my best friend after school.  I blurted out, 'Oh my god!  I know why I don't have a boyfriend!!!!'  She looked at me with a 'oh this should be good' face and so I rushed on to explain....'no, think about it!  I'm a mermaid so I need to find a merman!!!!!'.  This is something that we laugh about to this day....and whenever I meet a guy the first thing she always asks me is:  'Well?!  Is he a merman?!'.

The whole mermaid thing also works out pretty well for me - because my initials are M E R!  Which also happens to mean ocean in french!  Fairly appropriate!  (For the record, I still think I need a merman....I mean, really....)

I started this blog while aboard my last ship....my shipmates were soooo sick of hearing me talk about starting a blog and what should I name it.  I had it narrowed down to something that included being nautical and being a mermaid.  I ended up deciding that I should be nautie - a girlie version of nautical - which also implies that I misbehave (which I do but only a little bit).  For awhile I thought I had settled on nautie + mermaid but THEN one of my shipmates said 'no, no, no - not merMAID - merMATE'.  It was glorious!!!!  Get it?!  Because I'm a Mate!!!!

So there you have it....I'm a nautical (sometimes nautie) mate with the initials m.e.r who loves mermaids and is looking for a merman.  Megan the Nautie Mermate.

(via polyvore)