Why did they take my train station away?

A four day weekend and I'm outta here.

First stop, Rochester NY to see finally the amazing Storm Large live on stage as Sally Bowles in Cabaret. Then on to Poughkeepsie for fun times with old friends, there and back again by train.

I hate it that Amtrak stopped service in Akron. I would so love to make the five minute drive to the station from my house and jump on board for points east or west. Instead, I must drive all the way to Cleveland to catch an Amtrak train.

Trains are the most civilized form of transportation. They go at a pace that gives one opportunity to think, read, sketch, work on a laptop or snooze without feeling crowded or stressed, unlike the present day hassles of flying. Flying is also bad for the environment and I'm thinking I should save my flying for true life essentials like catching the opening of Ray Davies' musical in England, whenever that finally hits the boards.

But meanwhile, I'm thrilled to get to see Storm's performance and I will be reviewing the production here, you can bet on it

While I'm gone, be sure to check out the Carnival of Ohio Politics, celebrating its 100th issue with 100 posts from Ohio bloggers of all persuasions. Thanks to all the folks who put that together. This was my first carnival of anything anywhere! I'll try to find something worthy to send along for future editions.

Leaving you with the only video bit of Storm Large as Sally Bowles that I could find on YouTube: