I've updated my blog about my last two weeks in NY! Catch up!

http://triskay86.blogspot.com/

I'll be leaving this Sunday for NYC! Can't wait!

Well guys, I can't even stress enough how much MySpace sucks now, and I barely get on it anymore. I think the only reason I keep it is because I love to write / blog, and I know there's a couple of you guys out there who actually read my stuff, and that's enjoyable for me.

So, first things first, Facebook has been, and will continue to be, for a while, the best way to keep in touch with people. Seriously, if you don't have one / are obsessed with it, you need to get on the ball. Find me on there, Emily Redmond, and be my friend. You'll be able to see my daily, or several-times-daily, updates and see what / how I'm doing in NY.

Also on Facebook is my Triskay Photography fan page... If you don't have Facebook this might not make sense to you, but you can find "Triskay Photography" on there and be my "fan". It's where I post updates about my photography business and post new photos after every shoot.

ALSO on Facebook (on my page, and my photo page) are links to my new, personal website.

http://www.triskay.com

This will be more professional in the future, but it will house my graphic design portfolio, my photography portfolio, galleries, and prices, and it also has a short "about me" section. I recently had some photos of me done for that section, a-face-with-a-name kind of thing, and so far it's the only section finished. But it also has a link to my new blog.

http://triskay86.blogspot.com

This link is also posted on my personal page and photography page on Facebook. Get on that, serously.

I made a blogspot mostly because I wanted other people to be able to see my blog, not just people on Myspace. There are certain people I won't accept friendships with on Myspace, particularly because of some of the photos I have on here. I keep it all clean on Facebook, no partying pics or anything.

On my blogspot, I'll be updating, hopefully daily, from NYC, and I can post pictures in the blogs too. I'm really excited about doing all that, and it surely keeps me from having to tell everyone everything about my trip when I get home. People kept telling me to "keep them updated!", so this should do the trick.

Again.... I may start writing in here less and less :(  Just check me out on my blogspot, or try to remember my website so you can get to it. I'll leave it on my profile page too.

Adios peoples.

I finished packing this afternoon and my immediate thought upon zipping my suitcase was "Oh no." I'm lucky to have gotten the thing off of my bed without breaking any toes or throwing out my back. My second thought was, "Where does everything else go?"

I've always been an over-packer. My mother would argue that there was no way possible that I would or could use everything that I would attempt to take with me on any of our trips; I knew otherwise, until I proved myself wrong. Every time.

But I'm gonna argue this time that everything in my over-sized, over-stuffed suitcase is well worth it and will come in handy while I'm in New York. I will be there for a month, after all. Not to mention I have to take my own sheets, towels, blanket, two cameras, all of my camera accessories, a tripod, and all of the spectacular new clothes I bought specifically for this trip. Makeup, shampoo, and an extra handbag will have to fit in my duffel bag.

Then I remembered... my blanket. Dan let me borrow the lightweight comforter off the twin bed in his old room at home. Lightweight, maybe, but it wouldn't fit in either the suitcase or the duffel bag, with or without the bathroom necessities. I would need to venture to Wal-Mart for a solution for this problem: a Space Bag. And the ones I bought are particularly awesome; I can vaccum or roll. :)

So Dan comes over to help me roll the folded up comforter into the much smaller Space Bag, and upon attempting to lift my suitcase I can safely say he is siding with my mother on the over-packing issue. Especially after he saw I'd packed a pair of heels. Heels that he knows I won't wear, and probably won't even attempt in the fast-paced environment of Manhattan.

Either way, after Space-Bagging my comforter, towels, sheets, and rolling flat another bag of shirts and dresses, I can officially say that I fit everything into that giant suitcase (other than my bathroom stuff). I can see it now, packing to come home and having two or three other girls with me laying on top of those bags to get the air out. Awesome.

Well, last night in Salem with just Daniel; tomorrow night I'm throwing myself a going-away party, because I can. And I will drink a couple of vanilla vodka-crans and probably cry; not because I'm afraid I'll miss something awesome with my friends while I'm gone, but because the thought of me rolling that massive suitcase down the sidewalk in Greenwich is terrifying.

I think I’m long overdue for an update. I’m not even sure when the last time was that I wrote about what was going on in my life; a week; two weeks? Anyways, the reason I haven’t done so is because I’ve been at a complete loss of words over what to write and how to explain how I’ve been dealing with what is currently going on.

I left off with encouraging words; I was happy, excited about the changes I was about to start making and secure in the idea that Daniel and I would be better and back together with time. I was everything “good”. I got a high from my optimism, and got up that Friday morning with more confidence and the biggest smile that I had had in a long time.

Slowly, people came across what I had written about my feelings and situations, and slowly, people began to respond. I was terrified, actually, about posting all of that information for anyone to see except myself. Usually when I write like that, it’s private; too much information for anyone I feel comfortable with, even. But I let it all out, put it all out in the open. It was raw and fresh, and I could literally feel the stress and the pain pouring out of me onto the screen. Writing, once again, began my therapy.

But that wasn’t even the beginning of it. As people read what I had to say, they began to respond to me with encouragement and love. I got texts, MySpace & Facebook messages, comments, and personal conversations from people telling me that they were in disbelief of my openness. I had people tell me they were proud of me, others hugged me and told me that my entry had reminded them of why they love me. People called me brave, strong, and wonderful. I’ve even had one person tell me that they were going through similar situations, and my note helped them realize the sources of their pain. My therapy was therapy to others, and the love I received because of it all was even more therapy for me!

I wanted to write again, immediately! If writing made me feel so good, encouraged others, and helped me gain support from friends in such a positive way, I want to do it every day! Why, then, has it taken me so long to write again? I think it has to do with the fact that the high I received from writing, like any other high in life, was short-lived. Within a week, I was back at the bottom again, and it’s been a roller coaster ever since.

I now completely understand the meaning of that phrase; life being a ‘roller coaster’. I mean, I’ve used it before, but now more than ever I really, fully understand it. Up, down, up, down; Dan even asked me if I was bi-polar. (Which I most certainly am not.) And it’s only because I’m trying now to take every day, day-by-day, and I was already in the habit of doing something similar before… a habit that I have not yet managed to break. Did that confuse you? It confused me to write it (can you understand my frustration now!?) But when I explain it’ll make perfect sense. I hope.

I went to see my new counselor for the first time last week, and it was great… love her. It was mostly an introduction session, explaining my stresses and anxieties, and planning a beginning course of action to help me resolve those problems. She says, and I agree, that my biggest problem is my inability to control my thoughts, while at the same time, being completely over-concerned for the future. Basically, my worst habit is that I sit and think, and then over-analyze, and then panic, and then start to grow this huge situation out of nothing, then link it to other things, which branches out and makes me freak out about everything else, including how all of these non-existing things will affect my future. (Whoa- breathe…) She says it’s like a tree; it starts at the very tip of a root and branches out into this huge catastrophe. I agree completely. My second problem is that with all of this new craziness in mind, I will sit for days and worry about how my future is now all thrown out of whack because of the ‘tree’. The solution, she says, is to live for today, and to learn to control my negative thoughts.

I know all of that sounds pretty crazy, if you could even decipher any of it. Right now, I’m just trying to find a balance. But I have a clear mind about it all, and I know what I need to do, and which things I need to remove from my daily thoughts. But for now, while I’m still trying to ‘live for today’ while also not having any negative thoughts (which is proving itself quite difficult, obviously,) it’s making my life a continuous ride on the most obnoxious, bumpy roller coaster I could ever imagine (and would certainly never ride by choice).

Which is why I haven’t written, and why I don’t know how long it’s been since I have. Every day has run itself right into the next, and while that makes me sound like a walking zombie, it’s really not that kind of monotonous. It’s just that every day has had something happen. I’ll have a really good day, then the tiniest of negative thoughts makes its way into my mind. Something small, like a grain of sand. But isn’t that how pearls are made? The oyster feels that piece of sand, and rolls it around and grinds it around because it’s aggravating, and the next thing you know it’s huge! Damn “tree”; damn “pearl”. This definitely isn’t pretty like a pearl.

Dan and I have definitely been fighting constantly since my last entry, no matter how inspired and excited I was about what was happening. It’s all because of those damn pearls, and my constant struggle between those two conflicting worlds of chaos. I’m afraid I’m going to send him to a breaking point, and I wish I could stop every time. (But every time I feel like I have a valid argument. Which is another story in itself, that, I’m sorry, I will keep between the two of us.) This is all turning out to be way more difficult than I ever could have imagined. Positive thinking about changing the situation and encouragement from others is only allowing me to get so far every day. This is definitely going to take a while.

One thing I found interesting from meeting with my counselor is that she didn’t focus on my adoption issues as much as I would have expected. She seemed, rather, to focus on my relationship with Daniel and how I should start sorting out those issues before anything, because they were the most pressing. I tried again, explaining that I felt like our problems were being caused by my insecurities and anxieties from my adoption. Instead of suggesting we tackle those issues, though, she suggested reading “The Five Languages of Love” by Gary Chapman. I’d heard of this book once before at Liberty, but never read it. She pretty much insisted that I read it, and Daniel do the same; just ignore the words “husband” and “wife”… that it helps unmarried couples, too.

So I go and buy this book, and finish it, after two extended sessions, in one afternoon. Suddenly I understood why she wanted me to read it; although I was suffering from multiple issues concerning adoption, not all of the problems Daniel and I were having we because of them. Some of these problems were exclusively ours. We need to figure out each other’s ‘love language’ and start showing each other love in those ways. (There’s even a quiz in the back of the book that can help you understand your ‘language of love’… very helpful.) After finishing reading, I truly felt like I had learned something, and that I now possess a new bit of information that could help save our relationship; if only Daniel will read it and feel the same (which he assures me, he will do). “Good,” I’m thinking, “We’ve got this. This is going to help fix everything!” I guess I forgot about my problem with negative thoughts…

Just today, a huge grain of sand made its way into my mind… and I rolled it around until I cracked. “Why hasn’t Dan read the book? I bet he won’t. He thinks it’s stupid. He thinks I’m crazy for believing a book has any answers for us. He’s never going to read it. He doesn’t think it’s important. He must not think I’m important. He doesn’t have time to read it. If he wanted to fix things, he’d make time. If I’m important, he’ll make time. But he’s not going to make time. I’m not important. I’m not a priority. He can’t spend five minutes on me; on us…” Etcetera… Ta-da! A big, shiny, disgusting pearl. I managed to roll that one around all day; actually, I think it may have even started the night before. Way to go, me. And I cracked. I called him, and I lost it, and I went off on him, just assuring him once again that I cannot fix my problems and that I am a lost cause.

But, there are my negative thoughts again. After we both calmed down, he assured me, he loves me. And if I just keep working at keeping my negative thoughts at bay, we’ll be just fine in the future. And I believe him, if he can believe me that I am trying, and that my main goal is to be happy, completely, and for him to be happy around me. I don’t know what happened to me, but somewhere since my last entry I sort of forgot about this ‘separation’ thing, and things started drifting back towards the way when we were really, completely together. I don’t think I’ve given him as much space in the last week or so, and I need to remember to do that.

In a summary, I need to:
1)    Give Daniel space. More. Lots more.
2)    Live for today. Be happy. Enjoy ‘right now’, without worrying.
3)    Destroy all the damn pearls.

I know this wasn’t as happy and inspiring as my last entry, but it’s still just as open and real as the last one. This is how true life is… it’s not always exciting, things aren’t always going great, and sometimes the roller coaster gets a little out of hand, no matter how well you thought you were handling it. But somehow I’m still positive about it all, surprisingly enough. I know he still loves me the way I love him, even thought I get so frustrated with him sometimes that I would rather throw him or myself out of a window than have to put up with any of it anymore. (A lot of it is just because of my negative thoughts, anyways!)

So I’ll keep on keeping on. I think last time I was so exited, that I forgot to be real about it… not this time. I can’t guarantee that next week will be awesome. I really want it to be, but it’s going to take a lot of work on my part, a lot of encouragement from people around me, and a lot of love from Daniel. I’ll leave you with saying that every day is a new day, and every single day I will work myself to death trying to make it all the way through without hopping back on the roller coaster.

Love,
Em

Ps… Anyone wanna hang out next week and help me destroy those pearls?

...of feeling unimportant.
...of being 0 on his priorities list.
...of not being thought of in a positive way.
...of being annoying.
...of not feeling loved.
...of these same things every day.
...of trying so hard to get something out of him, and getting nothing.
...of these feelings.

It's not just me. I'm not the only person who needs to try. I'm not the only person with "problems".
But I'm the only one who feels this way. I'm the only one who's going through this. I'm the only one who is putting in so much effort.

I'm just so tired.
Of everything.
Of all of it.

Where were you?
When everything was falling apart
All my days were spent by the telephone
It never rang
And all I needed was a call
That never came

In the end everyone ends up alone
Losing him, the only one who’s ever known
Who I am, who I’m not, who I want to be
No way to know how long he will be next to me

You have no idea what you're doing to me...





and it hurts.





You know who you are. You know what you did.

I'll be unpacking my suitcase in my dorm room at Parsons!
That will be May 24th, and I'm about to lose my mind thinking about it!

In a way, it's so scary, because, Do I really want to do this?
I'll be away from Dan for a long time, on my own with no friends, and it's really expensive, I need that time for summer classes, etc...so, is this the right move for me right now?

But I've wanted to live in NYC since I can remember! So that makes me think, Yes, this is right for me, and not a minute too soon.

So, for anyone who doesn't know, I'm going up to take a photography course. Basically I'll be attending one of the top art schools known to the US, Parsons New School for Design, and my homework is to run around Manhattan and take pictures, then develop those pictures. How could it get any better!?

Well, for anyone who truly knows me, my all-time favorite band EVER is No Doubt... I'm talking 8 years old, dancing in my room, wearing crazy outfits, Beacon Street Collection, favorite band ever!!

And they're going back on tour this summer, and tomorrow I'm buying 4 TOUR CLUB ADVANCED TICKETS TO THEIR SHOW IN PHILIDELPHIA!!

So, that weekend (June 11th is the night of the show) is Dan's and my 2 year anniversary (the 12th)! So, I've pretty much told him he's coming to visit me that weekend, and now, since Nicole has break that week also, Dan, Nicole, and John may be coming and meeting me in Philly that Thursday night for the show and spending the whole weekend with me in NYC!

I'M SO EXCITED I COULD EXPLODE!!

I hope Dan agrees... I know he said he'd visit but he really doesn't wanna go to the show... he says too many screaming 13 year-olds will be there for his liking (they're playing with Paramore). Hopefully, since John says he'll go, he'll come too... it'll be perfect. And hey, it's our anniversary!? Can't he do this for ME!?

Haha... CAN'T WAIT FOR 4PM TOMORROW AFTERNOON!!! I'll be the proud new owner of 4 awesome No Doubt tickets!


EEEEEEE!!!!

2009... yay! (sarcasm goes here?)
If you get excited about that sort of thing, go you! Either way, it's just another new year. The way I look at it I'm kind of on a roll already...
     -New apartment in Salem close to all of my friends? Check.
     -Awesome boyfriend? Check.
     -Doing great in school? Check...and my GPA is a 3.38!

So what is it with the resolutions and shit? No one keeps them... It's February 1st, and I'm willing to bet that 98% of people who bothered to make a resolution this year have already jumped ship. Why can't people just keep themselves motivated all year long? Why give up and wait around for another January 1st so they can give it another try?

Here, I go putting my foot in my mouth... My "resolution" this year is to stay motivated in all of my endeavors all year, and to continue on with that motivation forever. Does that make any sense, at all? I'm not going to renew that vow come December 31st, 2009, either.

Is anyone following me?

Anyways, 2009 is going to be an exciting year... and no I'm not talking about all of this epic President Obama bullshit (btw, Mr. President...you have 4 years to prove yourself...go!) That kind of stuff is the least of my worries or excitement.

This year I'm not going to make these off-the-wall, over-zealous goals, I'm just going to be realisic:
     -I want to finish this semester with an overall GPA of a 3.5. That's not too much to ask, is it? I'll have to work hard, because I have this one crazy bitch teacher...but that's another story for another day... Trust me when I've accumilated enough stories about her and that class you'll be sure to get an earfull about it.
     -I want to go to the gym. No, seriously this time. I'd like to get off my ass for once. I'm not saying "I'm going to spend an hour everyday working out," cause everyone who knows me would write that off in a second. Hell, once a month would be better than nothing.
     -I want to get a job, or do more photography shoots. Or both. Either works for this guy. (girl...blah)
     -I want to go out and do more things with my "girl friends." I guess I need that in my life? It could be fun. I guess. We'll see.
     -I want to learn more about myself, from my recently-friended madre, Kim :) She's awesome, and we are SO much alike! So exciting!
     -I'm moving to NYC, (Greenwhich Village, to be exact,) and I want to learn about my own strengths, weaknesses, independence (or lack of), and talents in the short 4 weeks I have there. I want to take thousands of pictures of the most amazing place in the world (to me), and learn about myself through them. Wow, I sound like one of those crazy art students :] (If you don't understand, you never will.)
     -And last, but not least, I'm going to be Lyndsi's maid-of-honor in her wedding this August!! Yay! I'm hoping I'll be the best MOH ever and can be helpful and awesome for her! It's so exciting! And I promise not to embarass her :]

Anyways, Im going to disturb Dan from his Fable playing... he's gotta get off that 360 sometime.

xoxo

He even has a cape...

Now he just needs a helmet.


Excuse me, I'm running out of things to do.
Lol.

Dear Earthlink,

After calling to set up an account, I took me nearly two weeks to get my modem and installation kit. I blame this on the woman who helped me open an account and did not bother to add my apartment number to my account address, even though I clearly gave it to her over the phone and heard her repeat it more than once to me.

After finally getting the kit, we realized that there were no phone lines physically installed in our apartment. This is not Earthlink's fault, and I fully understand that, but my roommate and I are college students who need internet service immediately, and can not afford to wait any longer for it. Before even receiving the Earthlink modem, we had already found a cable service and had it installed.
I called your customer service today to cancel my account. I was on hold at first for at least 15 minutes.

The first man I spoke to was Indian, and completely impossible to understand, and for some reason put me back on hold and transferred me to a different department.

I was on hold another 15 minutes. I spoke next to another woman who could not speak proper English, although this time I could make out much of was she was saying to me. She told me she had canceled my account and told me to have a good day. I attempted to confirm with her that all I needed to do was box up the modem I received and send it back. She said I did not need to send anything back, as I had dial-up? (I had DSL.)

In total, by the way, I was on the phone with Earthlink's customer service for 45 minutes.

I got online to chat with someone to confirm the modem situation, as I was sure she must be wrong about me not sending it back. As soon as someone spoke to me online, he told me my account was still active and had not been canceled. He also wanted a cancellation confirmation number, which I had not received from the previous woman.

I told him I wanted my service canceled NOW and he also transferred me to someone else. This second online person attempted to resolve my problem by transferring me to someone who could tell me how to make my modem work. He refused to understand that there is no phone jack in our apartment, and we cannot install the modem at all. Finally I firmly told him to cancel my account now and I did not want to speak with anyone else; do not transfer me to anyone else.

He canceled my account and gave me a cancellation confirmation number, and the told me that my credit card would be charged $149.95 as an early termination fee and that upon the return of my equipment I would be refunded that amount.

I was under the impression that the early termination fee only applied to someone who had had the service past the first 30 days. I will be okay if this money is refunded, but if it is not I will be contacting the Better Business Bureau with my concerns.

I am disgusted with the runaround I was given today, and even more disgusted with the fact that I could not be put on the phone with someone who spoke proper English in order to assist me. It almost seems that Earthlink is so desperate to keep a customer that they will avoid talking to them on the phone by putting them on hold, and then force them to speak to people who are only in foreign countries in order to piss them off and cause them to hang up, consequently keeping their service. This is RIDICULOUS.

I am a college student who moves every year and must get a new service for internet, and I have dealt with several companies who gratefully thank me for my time and assist me best as possible, with the hopes of me returning to their services at another time. I promise you I will never again consider Earthlink's services, and I will be sure to tell all of my friends the same thing.

I will be checking my bank account repeatedly in the next couple of weeks, as the equipment should be returned to you within one.

NO Thank You,
Emily Redmond

Friends don't let friends use Earthlink. Spread the word.

Have you ever felt like you just have way too much to do and not enough time to do it all?
I hereby pronounce this phenomenon be called, from now on, the 23 hour day.
I cannot belive I've been doing it this semester, and by "it" I mean surviving through this list of things:

-8am classes. Every day. Holy crap.
Not only can I imagine some peoples' jaws dropping at the idea of me being up, ready, and in my seat in class by 8am, but I can't imagine any of them believing that I actually go in early to get work done, sometimes before the sun is up. 6:50 at the earliest, I think, so far.
I actually walked back into my apartment one morning and checked my clock because I could have sworn it was 3am.

-281. A class my school considers essential to a graphic designer's degree. A class I call "hell" and the "bearer of carpel tunnel".
Let me sum it up for you; time-consuming homework assignments due at the beginning of every class (2 a week, takes about 2 hours each assignment);
one bigger project due every Thursday (I'm gonna say these range from 2-8 hours of work, each);
and one major project going on in the background that can take you anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks.

-I'm also working, or attempting to, in the Barnes & Noble Cafe, one or two afternoons a week, making people Starbucks coffee.
But people, we are not a Starbucks!
And while I'm on it, stop complaining about that fact, throw your trash in the trash can (that's sitting right beside your table), and put the fucking books back on the shelves where you got them!

-I'm taking 18 credit hours at school. That's a full load, people!
Digital photography & 3D foundations are fun and easy.
You've already heard about 281, or "Graphic Design Production Technology" as they like to call it...trying to make it sound nice.
Typography is great, but time-consuming and somewhat challenging (teacher loves tricky assignments).
Watercolor; hmm...have I mentioned before that I'm completely incapable of putting things from my head down on paper? That only works if it's ending up on paper from me printing it out on the computer.
Now...ceramics. Let me say now, clay and I are not very good friends. We don't like each other. I destroy it and it destroys my outfit. Daily. I did manage to make one bowl, but I've got this suspicion that either a) it'll slump when it's fired and become a giant mass of blah, or b) someone will steal this and my only hint of clay creativity will become lost forever.


In other news, I'm starting to belive that the 24th hour of my day may be returning to me shortly. Projects are thinning out, and I'm starting to get excited about a whole new slew of awesome coming my way...

UPDATE TIME!

If you didn't already know, The Venus Transit is back together!! This means shows, shows, shows! Look at their MySpace for dates and times and other awesome! TVT Awesomeness!

On a random note, my tutu creation turned out amazing for Halloween! This was enough to be excited about, considering I didn't have much time for things like sewing.

I'm going to NYC!! Dan and I are going to visit Amie November 22-25th! Yay! East Village BITCHES!! Can't wait! Photos will be taken and posted everywhere.

But guess what the better NYC news is? While I'm in NY, I'll be visiting Parsons New School for Design in Greenwich and PAYING MY TUITION AND HOUSING! Yes, that's right! I'm moving to NYC in May to take photography during summer classes! YAY!

Aaaaand...to top off all my excitement, Nicole and I are moving to Salem at the end of December! I can barely wait! Especially since I've only stayed at my apartment like 4 times in the last 4 weeks. (And yes, I still drive 40 minutes in the morning and beat everyone to class.) I can't wait unitl my clothes are there too. How convenient.

AWSM!
GOODNIGHT!

So I've named myself the new pizza conniseur of Southwest Virginia.


Nothing can be considered good NY-style pizza unless it has 3 things done right;
(1) it has to have a just-thick enough crispy crust that you can eat with a fork;
(2) each slice has to be larger than a paper plate; and,
(3) the cheese has to be so hot that it burns the skin off the roof of your mouth.

Those standards, along with the perfect tasting dough, sauce, and toppings make a great NYC style pizza. And I've been on the hunt for just that type of happiness since I've returned to SW Va.

I've seriously tried pizza from over a dozen places since I've been back. Let me give you the run-down on what I've had so far:

-Pizza Inn, near Downtown, Christiansburg. This one is right down the road from my apartment, and I pass it every day on the way to work. I'm figuring, "it's a mom and pop place, it has to be fabulous." And it was pretty good. The crust was tasty, but nothing like a NY pizza...but not that they were trying for it. I was just looking for the taste (this was before I decided to start comparing everything to NY). The sauce, though, wasn't my favorite. On a scale of 1-10 (10 being best), I give the Pizza Inn a 4.

-Humble Pie Pizza, Electric Road, Salem. I tried this last Friday night when I went out with Dan, Caleb, and Kim. I said, "Pizza", as a suggestion, and this was the closest they could think of to Kim's apartment. It's in a strip mall, but that doesn't make it any less awesome. The menu was pretty incredible for such a small place, with great service. You could make your own pizza with just about any kind of sauce (ranch sauce, buffalo sauce, regular, etc) and any topping (mandarin oranges, anyone?). I ordered a small 8" for myself, and it was pretty good. The sauce was ok, the pepperonis were typical pepperonis, but the crust was where my problem was. It was that crunchy, air-filled crust, where the crust at the top was all bubbly, and cracked into a million pieces when you chomped down on it. Not the best tasting crust, either. I give it, also, a 4.

-Chico's Big Lick Pizza, Center in the Square, Downtown Roanoke. John suggested this be my next pizza-trying adventure, especially since we were already in Downtown Roanoke. Center in the Square already has my attention as a great place to eat downtown (Burger in the Square is fabulous!), and one look at Chico's told me this could be the place. The owner took my order, tossed my slice of cheese pizza into the oven, right on the rack, just like a real NY pizza, and out came my super-hot slice of deliciousness. This has got to be my favorite, so far. It was hot, too big for my place, and delicious. The crust could have used a little more crisping time in the oven, but it was within perfect range of being the most delicious pizza SW has to offer, compared to NY. I give Chico's a 9. But only because NY gets a 10 or 11, and I haven't tried everything yet. Something does tell me, though, that this is as good as it gets.

-Franks Pizza, Downtown Salem. Dan and I went to Frank's downtown Sunday afternoon with Ray, Sara, and Jocelyn. I was excited, this looked like a great NY style place. It even said it on the menu. I got one slice of pepperoni, one of just cheese. (I believe this is the best way to compare.) They had one thing down; the grease dripping off when you folded it in half. That's another thing you have to have in a great NY slice. But the crust wasn't that right; very soft, not crunchy. And they really held back on the sauce. It was really good, just not crispy enough for my liking, and kind of dry. I give it a 6.5, maybe 7.


I still have a lot of detective work to do. Right now I've been told to visit a place in Vinton, Italiano's in Salem, and some brick-oven place in downtown Blacksburg. They're on my to-do list, and I'll let you know asap. :)