guacamolepizza

tumblr

2009-07-03T01:32:00.002-05:00

I think I am moving here: http://guacamolepizza.tumblr.com/

new upstairs neighbors pt. 2

2009-06-28T01:53:00.002-05:00

Also, she snores. At least it's not as bad as the owner of the unit. Maybe I should ruin my hearing a bit so I'm not so sensitive to sounds.

new upstairs neighbors

2009-06-24T18:42:00.007-05:00

What I've learned from living here is that I need to find a place that has:

1. quiet neighbors and/or

2. better soundproofing between floors/units and/or

3. a vacancy on the top floor and/or

4. a complex with physically separate units or

5. live in a house (eventually, hopefully, please)

Also, the neighborhood you live in really makes a difference in overall happiness. I might not feel this way if I lived on the north side where I would feel safe going out alone in the twilight and coming back after dark. But then again, I think having a car would make almost the same difference. As much as I like my place, I do at times feel trapped within and that is not a good feeling.

I'm not sure which upstairs neighbors are worse - the grad students (3: 2 male, 1 female) who thought it was OK to take salsa dancing lessons in the living room/put some kind of weird exercise machine (I'm assuming) in the master bedroom that would rattle my light fixtures/have the sound on their computer turned up so loud that I knew when she was gchatting at 2AM/go completely psychotic on her roommates and scream at them at such a high decibel that all of her words were perfectly audible through the floors. Or... My current upstairs neighbors (3 I think: 1 female, 2 young daughters). The mother is actually fine, it's just her children that are Satan spawn. I can actually live with the frequent screaming and crying of the kids (the floor and ceiling do a fair job of muffling that), but the near constant running up and down the halls I cannot. Also, many times the screaming and crying is accompanied by stomping which rattles my light fixtures. I can't count how many times I've jumped because I thought something was going to fall through the ceiling... and they only moved in last Friday.

It's a toss-up. :(

Driving Around Durango

2009-05-20T00:01:00.008-05:00

Will and I had some time to kill before meeting up for lunch with family members, so we ended up driving slightly out of the main town. I'm tired. Commentary dwindling... Cows! Moooo.

Books!

2009-05-19T23:53:00.004-05:00

Books! Glorious books! Will and I stopped by the Southwest Book Trader in Durango. We were driving around the main town and I noticed this bookstore. They have a pretty amazing selection of used books. If you dig a little you can find some rare books. The coolest book I found was the kind of book (a primer) you would have had if you attended a one room school house back in the day. I think it was from the early 1900s. I wanted to buy it, but it was $30 (probably a really good deal) and I wouldn't know what to do with it, unfortunately.

i'm insane

2009-05-19T23:48:00.002-05:00

I decided it would be a good idea to start a new blog about my eating habits. Because I'm so good at updating this one... lol. We'll see how long the new one lasts, although I would like to make it work.

back from durango

2009-05-18T11:14:00.005-05:00

Weddings are exhausting! It was exciting, and I would do it again, but I'm glad I'm back (I was out of town from the 13th to the 17th). Will post pictures later.

shooting #2

2009-05-11T18:45:00.003-05:00

Ok, I have no idea what's going on, but the violence in front of my building has gotten a lot worse this year. This is the second shooting... the last one was just a little over a month ago. I've lived in this building for what, 4 years now? and this is the first time I've been aware of shootings directly in front of my building. Sure, I've heard gunshots in the distance before, but not that frequently, and those were probably at least a few blocks away.

Today's shooting was by a kid, most likely in his late teens to early 20's, running and aiming backwards at the police, who were chasing him in an SUV. The 2 policemen ditched their car in front of my parking lot, doors wide open, to run after the guy in the direction of the elementary school (again! and yes, sad). Another police car arrived within seconds and within a couple of minutes 4 more cars arrived. Unfortunately, it looks like they lost the guy, because all of the officers are slowly walking back to their cars and congregating.

And geez, I just looked out the window again and found that they've blocked off the street. 4 more cars on the opposite end. A lot of officers walking around, questioning people. I guess this shooting is a lot worse than the one last month, maybe because this time the guy was aiming at a police vehicle.

Both last time and this time occurred about 45 minutes after I got home and both times I was sitting in the living room. Go figure... considering I don't sit in the living very often. Awesome. I'm going to go live in the back rooms some more. Maybe I'll buy myself a mini fridge and a George Foreman grill so I don't have to come to the front anymore.

miss california

2009-04-22T21:44:00.003-05:00

I'm not going to say anything about the controversy, but I will ask this. Perhaps it's the makeup/orange skin, but is it just me or does she look like she's 21 going on 35? She looks like she belongs on the cast of The Real Housewives of Orange County.

interior design

2009-04-22T21:20:00.005-05:00

I've gotten kind of obsessed with Apartment Therapy. Maybe I feel like a spring cleaning is in order or maybe it's a good site for procrastination. Either way, they update quite frequently so there's a lot to look at and process. Enter the Saarinen Tulip chairs and tables:

Admittedly, I think they're kind of cool even though they're not my style. What I don't understand is how a design can be called modern if it was originally created in the 50s, especially when it's so retro-looking. I also don't understand how people think they're so fabulously/utterly unique for owning them when they seem to be fairly prevalent. Maybe because the cost of owning them is prohibitive for most?

I took the pictures from here.

a few things

2009-04-20T11:37:00.004-05:00

1. Because I know it is of great importance - I finally found a dress. Purple strapless knee-length dress from The Limited. I don't know what made me go in there, considering nothing in there fits me well. Well, actually, this dress is no exception, but I might be able to work around it. Or I might have to have it altered. Seriously, how many size 0 girls/women do you know that are (naturally) a C-cup or larger? They need to work on their proportions.

2. It's getting slightly warmer. This weekend it was in the low 70s and sunny. Unfortunately today it's in the high 30s - low 40s and rainy. Rain is kind of annoying, but what I hate most about light showers that last for extended periods of time (for example, all of yesterday through now and beyond) is that it makes all of the earthworms come out of the ground. I don't know why they do that; I assume it's to avoid drowning in the saturated earth. Which would be fine, because hey, drowning wouldn't be a fun way to exit this world, except that they come out onto the sidewalks where they die anyway. Then there are all these pinkish-white bloated earthworm carcasses littering the sidewalks that have become mangled because people trod upon them. It's just... gross and I always feel like I'm on the verge of vomiting since I don't want to step on them, but have to look to avoid them. It's like I'm playing some kind of perverse dead-earthworm-hopscotch, hoping not to feel a squish. [shudders]

3. I have a creepy admirer that I have to pass in the mornings. Although he's not outside if it rains (yay rain - oh, the irony). That's all I'm going to say on that subject.

4. Had a doctor's appointment a couple weeks ago. Apparently I have the blood pressure of a teenager (nurse's words, not mine). So hurrah for being healthy. The doctor did laugh at me about the amount of exercise I do [cough]. I found out that I am not anemic, but discovered that my index finger bleeds profusely and can actually bruise. Also, 71st and Jeffrey is sketchy and I hope that I stay in good health so I never have to go back there again. However, the trip did cure me of my irrational fear of taking Metra.

5. Oreo Fun Stix are tasty. Good for people who like oreos and straw-wafer-cookie things. Which would be me.

monday night

2009-04-08T13:49:00.009-05:00

I rented a zipcar Monday evening because I needed food and I felt like choosing my fruits and veggies myself (as opposed to getting a Peapod shipment). Whatever, call me weird. I like flicking apples to make sure they're crispy and I like picking up avocados and snubbing them because they're not up to my standard. Anyway, I drove a Honda Element named Estella (I guess zipcar names their cars?) which took a little adjusting, considering I haven't driven since December. The whole system is pretty easy - you register and they send you a card which you use to unlock and lock the car. The keys are left inside the car at all times.

I made it to Treasure Island without incident. Got all of my groceries, although I was a little dismayed about their frozen corn selection. I just wanted a small bag of generic-brand frozen corn. All they had was Birds Eye Steamfresh frozen corn. Which isn't bad (actually, it's quite convenient), but it's not like I can't warm up my own frozen corn without the aid of a steaming bag. It's frozen corn, not a chicken pot pie. Plus, I could probably get a 2 pound bag of frozen corn for only a few dollars more at Costco. I'm trying to save money, even if it is only on frozen corn. To conclude: I just thought it was interesting that Birds Eye had a monopoly on frozen vegetables at Treasure Island.

Don't shop on an empty stomach or when you have no food in your pantry/fridge. It was murder carrying those bags up the stairs. But I guess I'm pretty weak, too, so that didn't help at all. After carrying the groceries up, I ran back down to the car and drove it back to the lot with about 8 minutes to spare (I rented it from 6:00 - 7:30). I walked back and chilled in the living room for a few minutes until I heard loud gunshot-like noises at around 7:45. Um, yeah. Those weren't "loud gunshot-like noises." They were loud gunshots. In front of my building. I was sitting at the counter and looked through the curtains after the first 8-10 shots to see a guy running east toward the elementary school. Then he shot behind him two more times and I was able to see the gunfire out of the barrel of the gun. Yeah. That was scary. I'm staying inside and away from windows (perhaps I should sleep in the bathtub?) until some of this gang violence calms down (2 fatal shootings in the past week and 1 non-fatal all within 3 blocks of me... not exaggerating). UCPD was in front of the building within a few minutes and they've been patrolling quite diligently since. Oh, a random thought - real gunshots don't sound like gunshots on TV and in movies.

23 Feb 2007 - Sainte Chapelle (Windows)

2009-04-03T18:48:00.002-05:00

I love me some stained glass.

it's april?

2009-04-02T19:17:00.006-05:00

Sweet baby jebus, how did we get to April? I still don't believe it, but I think that's mostly from the Chicago weather playing tricks on me. It's been what, averaging the mid-30s? It should be at least in the mid-40s. Not to mention last weekend's late night overhead light-flickering rainstorm and subsequent waking up to flurries of snow (insert groan and rabid mouth foaming). I like snow, but come on, 2009, give it a break already. It's spring. You should have gotten the memo.

Interesting conversation of the week. My status was a rhetorical "why is dress shopping so hard." From K I got:

K: because you are not a real girl?

me: lol

why am i not a real girl?

K: because you find dress shopping difficult!

me: lol

so?

K: so you are not a real girl...

Which I sent to S, who said:

S: oh, i see

it is true

you are a fake girl

i lived with you

i should know

Only A defended my gender, because I like to shop online. So basically, according to my friends, I am half a girl. No one will explain why, though. I guess being born a girl isn't enough to constitute being one. Oh well.

Back to dresses. Dress shopping is hard. Well, this dress in particular. I need a dress to wear to Will's sister's wedding next month and so far everything that I like it either over $300 and/or black. The rest of the dresses out there are messy bohemian styles (sorry, I don't do bohemian), maxi-dresses, Herve Leger bandage dress knock-offs, or really awkward looking one-shoulder dresses. I don't have anything against one-shouldered dresses, but these just look weird... and I'm unable to elaborate. I found the perfect dress the last time I went out - it was a BCGBMAXAZRIA (yeah, so it was somewhat pricey), but they didn't have it in my size. I probably would have gotten it if they did have it, just to save myself the effort of looking for another dress. Because I've been looking for a dress for the last, oh, 3 months or so, and that was the best I've come across so far. Ugh. I'm going out this weekend and I'll be by one of the blue line stops, so maybe I'll find something at a small boutique up there.

In conclusion: DRESS SHOPPING IS HARD.

it's time to get out

2009-03-27T13:38:00.002-05:00

K's friend told her to write a poem about going back to Chicago, but she didn't want to create one, so I did it for her:

me: lol

here i made a haiku for you

My dear Chicago
Corruption and violence
Is my home sweet home

Um, yeah. Those are my first thoughts? I think it's time to pack it up...

sometimes i love my alma mater

2009-03-14T20:53:00.000-05:00

Thanks to K for bringing this up:

23 Feb 2007 - Sainte Chapelle (Lower Chapel)

2009-02-03T18:26:00.003-06:00

This is the first are you enter. The "famous" part of the building is upstairs. If I recall, the stairway was fairly narrow.

the selby

2009-02-03T18:08:00.004-06:00

It seems these days I have been hooked on looking at the selby by Todd Selby. Kind of surprising since it's a little too hipster for my taste. But I guess it piques my curiosity - I mean, who doesn't like looking in the houses of other people? These people, from what I can gather, are the young/creative set. Can't say I've heard of any of them, except Peaches Geldof, and that's only because she made a brief appearance on celebrity blogs for marrying some guy. (Yeah, shows you how much I paid attention).

Probably the coolest photo I've come across so far:

23 Feb 2007 - Sainte Chapelle (Outside)

2009-01-31T20:32:00.002-06:00

Outside view of the chapel - you can see the same gate that surrounds the Palais de Justice.

pancake

2009-01-26T22:46:00.005-06:00

It seems like all Pancake does is sleep all day. I don't know if that's because she's depressed/mourning or because I just happen to look at her only when she's sleeping or because she's fat and Jabba-like.

rip, pumpkin

2009-01-24T01:42:00.005-06:00

Pumpkin, the smaller of my 2 hammies passed away last night. She had been turning light grey and losing fur on her belly and hind legs, so I knew she was getting up there in age. But her sudden decline kind of came out of the blue. I was hoping she'd pull through, but I knew that it was probably her time when she wouldn't touch the sunflower seeds I put next to her.

She was a good hamster; my silly brat of a hamster, picking on Pancake all the time, but fun to watch climbing the bars of their cage.

I hope she didn't suffer and I hope Pancake won't be too affected by her absence.

tiffany's

2009-01-23T00:47:00.003-06:00

Ok, so you can tell the economy is floundering when Tiffany's has categories of "Valentines $150 & Under," "Gold $500 & Under," and "Diamonds $1,000 & Under." Tiffany's with "bargain" deals? Puh-lease.

22 Feb 2007 - Palais de Justice

2009-01-16T15:06:00.003-06:00

The Palais de Justice is in the same complex as La Conciergerie and Sainte Chappelle. We went inside, but didn't spend much time there.

oh, yay.

2009-01-16T00:17:00.003-06:00

This should be pleasant. Just slightly brisk.

22 Feb 2007 - Les Invalides

2009-01-15T19:50:00.002-06:00

Yes, we definitely got around Paris this day. More photos of Les Invalides. This time there were soldiers there, but I'm sorry to say that I'm lacking a definitive explanation for their appearance.

22 Feb 2007 - Musée d'Orsay Clock

2009-01-15T19:45:00.002-06:00

Another picture of the clock in Musée d'Orsay, this time with a person in front for scale.

22 Feb 2007 - Conciergerie

2009-01-15T19:35:00.004-06:00

La Conciergerie used to be a palace and prison. It's kind of hard to miss, considering it takes up a large section of the Seine close to Notre Dame. We actually got a combination ticket for La Conciergerie and Sainte Chappelle (forthcoming post) and saved a few Euros that way. They were having some kind of exhibition while we were there... on old churches/monasteries? Sorry for the grainy pictures. No windows = not a lot of light.

jumping jacks fail

2009-01-06T17:46:00.003-06:00

I just about died laughing at this and I don't even know why. I hadn't realized it was so hard to do jumping jacks...

bus queue

2009-01-05T23:51:00.005-06:00

Sometimes (depending on when I leave work) there is a long bus queue outside the entrance of my building. I always think it's hilarious that I get death stares from the people waiting, like I'm shameless enough to cut all of them to stand at the front of the line. This isn't China pre-McDonald's, people (fyi, I can't find the paper I actually wanted... even JSTOR fails me this time, sigh). In addition, if the shame didn't stop me, the fact that I would probably be beaten down by 30-some-odd people would. It might even be a welcome respite from standing outside in the bitter cold... and might even warm up the poor souls.

21 Feb 2007 - Sacré-Cœur/Montmartre and Covered Passageways... Redux!

2009-01-04T20:40:00.006-06:00

I've already covered both of these in an earlier post here, but these are nicer pictures so I'm doing it again. I'm not sure how, but Will ended up with all the luck in the weather department. It was bright and sunny the day we went to Montmartre. Here is a picture of the basilica and a view of Paris from atop the hill.

Will heard about the covered passageways from me and thought they sounded interesting, so we stopped by there as well.

21 Feb 2007 - Eglise Saint-Jean-de-Montmartre

2009-01-04T20:29:00.007-06:00

A very pretty art nouveau church on the way to Sacre-Coeur. Will was able to visit me for a week, so I took him to see many of the main tourist sites. If I remember correctly, this was very close to the metro stop.

19 Rue des Abbesses
18th arrondissement

2009

2009-01-04T19:21:00.003-06:00

Oh man, seriously, how is it 2009 already? 2008 seems like a blur. I kind of want it back so that I add more stuff in there... to make me feel less unaccomplished, heh. Oh well. Can't do much about that now. On to 2009!

2009 is going to be a year of changes for me. Not necessarily changes in the New Year's Resolution sense (never been one for resolutions - if I want to do it then I'll do it. No sense in setting a goal that I know I'm not going to achieve.), but in a life-changing sense. Big changes. But I'll get to those when the time comes. Oh! The suspense! (Well, not really).

Back to 2008. I was out of town for quite a while - December 19 - 28. Will and I drove his car from Chicago to Houston since he needed to move back in order to take some classes. That was a long drive - Friday afternoon/evening, Saturday all day, and most of Sunday. One of the cities we stayed in was called Arkadelphia. And I thought Texarkana was bad, although there is a logical reason for that name. It was a little rough getting out of Chicago with all of the grey snow on the road causing traffic to build up, but once we were out the drive was fine. We met up with Will's family in Tyler, TX that Sunday to pick up their new dog Junie B. She's probably the cutest Airedale I've seen and also very well-behaved. Though that's kind of to be expected - she's a retired show dog.

What I remember most about Houston is the food. I always feel so gluttonous. I ate Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, Cajun, Christmas dinner. I'm missing others, but I'm still feeling the remnants of the resulting food coma, so pardon my failing memory. Also, I'm always surprised by the changes in the city. Like I-10. That highway is ridiculous. It's what, 18 lanes across?

Back to 2009. I added a music widget to the sidebar (I named it "the toppings"). It consists of a few of the songs that are on my most played playlist in iTunes/my iPod.

Anyway. I really should get on the posting of all my pictures. I can't believe it's been 2 years since I was in Europe. With that said, here is a picture of a random boat on the Seine:

18 Feb 2007 - Casa Batllo (Roof)

2008-12-22T22:54:00.002-06:00

The roof of the house is probably the most famous part of the whole place. There is some magnificent mosaic work up here.

18 Feb 2007 - Casa Batllo (Upstairs)

2008-12-22T22:46:00.002-06:00

I love the whiteness and the flow of these upstairs rooms even though they don't really match the rest of the house.

18 Feb 2007 - Casa Batllo (Hallway)

2008-12-22T22:35:00.003-06:00

I say "hallway" but I suppose it's more of shaft in the middle of the building. The design is quite ingenious - the shaft lets in light and air/ventilation (since this was built before central air/heating) pretty efficiently. I've got a picture of the shaft with all of the interior windows as well as a picture of one of the windows where you can the actual vents. Also quite amazing - the blue tiles get progressively darker as they approach the top of the building so that the shaft looks like the same shade of blue even with varying intensities of sunlight at the different levels.

18 Feb 2007 - Casa Batllo (Patio)

2008-12-22T22:27:00.004-06:00

Entrance to the back patio.

Back patio.

View of the back of the house.

anyway

2008-12-16T22:40:00.003-06:00

I'm very much looking forward to going home for the holidays. None of this 5 degree weather with a 15 degree windchill nonsense. Also, it's been snowing the entire day. It was snowing this morning when I left for work and it's still snowing now at 11pm. I hope it's not snowing tomorrow. And I hope it won't snow until I leave.

I started reading this blog, chinaSMACK. It's pretty interesting. They describe what they do as "cultural voyeurism." Basically, they take some facet of Chinese culture (news articles, videos, pictures, etc) and translate the item and the resulting forum posts from Chinese websites, giving insight into what the Chinese think about local and international sensations. It's probably only interesting to me considering what I majored in... but others might like it too.

ugh

2008-12-16T22:35:00.002-06:00

I'm feeling lazy and it's been a rough few weeks... details of which I won't be posting here, at least not now. Maybe in half a year if I still remember, but I will be trying hard to not think about any of it.

Also, you know you live in a rough area/area going through gentrification when you can joke about kids dying...

10:33 PM Kelly: in addition to the 14-year-old being stabbed and killed, an 18-year-old was also stabbed with an ice pick this weekend and killed

i love my home

me: niiiice

10:34 PM Kelly: and i hear gunshots last night

lol

win!

me: lol

sounds like you're in a rougher area than hp

10:35 PM although sara sent me a link about a guy getting held up at gunpoint by a 10 year old and a 13 year old on 53rd

Kelly: wow

apparently the issue is 2 gangs are fighting for this turf

so i am hoping/assuming these are incidents intended for certain people

and not just let's kill the yuppies!

10:36 PM me: it sounded like it in the news article you sent me

10:41 PM Kelly: Police say the death of Sanchez is the third area homicide in three days, all within a 1-mile radius. Just on Wednesday, a 21-year-old man was shot in Adams Morgan, near a REC center. And the very next day, someone opened fire on a 37-year-old man inside a home on Kenyon Street. As a result, some residents are too afraid to speak out.

adams morgan is where i walk through to get to work

and kenyan is in my 'hood

10:42 PM sigh

aahhh... the black gang and the hispanic gang are fighting

yay racism

us white yuppies need to form a gang

10:44 PM me: lol

what are you going to do, make bottles of peppermint schnapps into malotov cocktails?

10:45 PM Kelly: lmao

10:47 PM me: lol

10:48 PM i win

18 Feb 2007 - Casa Batllo

2008-12-06T14:58:00.002-06:00

Casa Batllo is another of Gaudi's architectural masterpieces. It was originally designed for a single family, which is kind of ridiculous considering the size of the place. Here's a view of the front.

This mushroom seating area was kind of amusing. Apparently this was where the kids who were of marrying age could meet with potential suitors... with their escorts, of course. I'm not sure why you'd want to sit inside a giant toadstool, but it looks fairly cosy.

Interesting ceiling and light fixture. Very nautilus-like.

Interior doors and bountiful stained glass.

TGIAF

2008-12-04T19:17:00.002-06:00

(thank goodness it's almost friday)

This week has been... interesting... to say the least. I was really sick Monday night, probably from the pizza I ate. Tuesday my central heating stopped working. Then Wednesday my hot water stopped working. Which is... bad, considering it's Chicago, in the winter, with snow outside. Kind of miserable until I got both issues fixed today. The central heating was my fault - kids, make sure you change your air filters so that your furnaces don't go into "safety" mode. As for the hot water, well that wasn't my fault and it actually needed a replacement part.

17 Feb 2007 - Parc Guell (Part 3)

2008-11-29T21:39:00.008-06:00

Above the columns exists the more "famous" area of the park - the fabulous serpentine benches. As you can see, it started to drizzle, but that did not detract from the view.

After it started to drizzle it began to pour. And by pour, I mean POUR. Lightning, thunder, you name it. Kacey and I were forced to shelter ourselves within this gift shop.

When it became apparent that no end was in sight, we made a mad dash for the metro. The distance between the park and the metro is no short jaunt. By the time we made it back to our hostel we were squishing in our sneakers and spent a large portion of the afternoon/evening next to the dryer trying to get our clothes and shoes dry. But the trip to the park was well worth the discomfort.

17 Feb 2007 - Parc Guell (Part 2)

2008-11-29T21:31:00.004-06:00

My favorite feature of the park is beneath these pillars. Lovely, lovely mosaic suns.

Interesting architectural point, to be seen again at Casa Batllo.

hanging in there...

2008-11-29T21:06:00.006-06:00

It's been a while since I last posted. Work's been kind of insane, but I'd rather not dwell on that. I've taken to knitting a lot more than I thought I would. I finished my garter stitch Hollyhock (purplish-pink) scarf and am now working on a ribbed Vaa scarf for part of Will's Christmas present. It's turning out pretty well. The Malabrigo site has a picture of Vaa (51), but it's way more blue than what I have. My Vaa is definitely a dark forest green, with sprinkles of olive. Maybe my skeins were incorrectly labeled. If I remember I'll post a picture of the two scarves at some point. I'm halfway done with Will's scarf. I'll start on another scarf for myself afterward (ribbed - 98 Tuareg and 9 Polar Morn). According to Diane I'm a fast knitter (she nicknamed me "wonder child") and is still slightly amazed that I discovered/cultivated my knitting prowess via YouTube. Seriously, if you're interested in learning I would recommend elsteffo, ThreadBanger, and expertvillage. Eventually I think it would be cool to knit these armwarmers, but I think they might be a ways off.

Hmm... what else. Oh, finished the Harry Potter series in barely over a week. Good series. I will reread those at some point. Will was kind of disappointed that they didn't last me longer, but if I like a book, that's kind of to be expected. Finished season 4 of Doctor Who and season 2 of Ugly Betty. I know there's some other stuff, but I can't remember what right now....

Oh, I watched the much anticipated Twilight movie. Le sigh. I just... ugh. It was so painful to watch, but I will end up watching it multiple times. Apparently I am down with masochism.

me: so i watched twilight

Sara: lol

and?

me: omg it's so horrible

it's like a made for tv movie

like, if lifetime were trying to be "hip" and "down with the youth"

Sara: lol

Thanksgiving was good. Made chicken instead of turkey since I couldn't justify buying and eating a 12 pound turkey for only the two of us. Made a ton of sides though - squash casserole, stuffing, sweet potatoes, coleslaw, biscuits. Super stuffed as we should be.

17 Feb 2007 - Parc Guell

2008-11-22T18:52:00.010-06:00

After visiting Sagrada Familia, Kacey and I headed to Parc Guell. We got a little lost on the way over, thinking we could get off the metro before the "designated" stop. On the map it looked like all we had to do was cross the street after ascending from the metro. However, we found out that the "street" was actually a huge valley. Yeah. That didn't exactly work out so well. Since we were perusing the map and pointing in the general direction of the park, it was obvious that we were tourists. A nice guy stopped to see if he could help us, and he did, but not without informing Kacey that her friend (me) was "muy guapa." I just smiled and let him think that I couldn't speak or understand Spanish. That was amusing.

Anyway, we got back on the metro and off at the recommended stop. The park's actually more buried behind residential areas than you'd think. I would have thought it would be more heavily advertised, but I guess it has enough of a draw that it doesn't need the help. Here's the street we had to cross in order to get to Parc Guell.

We passed a couple souvenir shops, but didn't buy anything except for ice cream bars. Then we finally got to the entrance of our destination:

Very impressive, although I was slightly disappointed since it seemed like everything I wanted to see in Europe was under construction. Either that's just bad luck or everything is under perpetual restoration. Oh! Actually, I just found out that the famous dragon (which was hidden by netting) had actually been defaced (ok, partially destroyed) that month. So I guess that was just rotten luck on my part.

I love this park because of the fantastic mosaic work, but it was kind of like stepping into the macabre world of the witch in Hansel and Gretel. Fancy gingerbread house, eh?

17 Feb 2007 - Sagrada Familia (Inside)

2008-11-10T18:30:00.004-06:00

Stained glass, mosaic, massively vaulted ceilings. What's not to love? Well, it was rather cold inside. But I would definitely go back again, given the opportunity.

17 Feb 2007 - Sagrada Familia (Above)

2008-11-10T18:29:00.004-06:00

After we got inside we immediately queued up for the elevator ride to the top. This line was also massively long, due to the fact that only a handful of people could fit in the elevator at a time. We took some pictures while we were waiting, but you can only take so many of one view. We ended up watching an old episode of Grey's Anatomy on my iPod. If you go, I highly recommend you take some kind of entertainment to pass the time.

We didn't stay long when we got to the top. I'm not usually afraid of heights, but normally when I'm up somewhere that high there's glass protecting me from falling. I can lean my forehead against a plate glass window in a skyscraper and feel just fine. However, the top of Sagrada Familia is full of narrow passageways and exposed to the wind. Not exactly comforting.

17 Feb 2007 - Sagrada Familia (Outside)

2008-11-10T18:27:00.002-06:00

La Sagrada Familia is Gaudí's unfinished masterpiece. The line to get in was ridiculously long, but well worth the wait. In addition, the admission was a little higher than we expected (10 Euro). Kacey and I decided to brave the line, but Sylvia and Napthalia took one look at the line and headed off to Parc Güell. The church is so massive that I couldn't get the whole thing to fit into one picture.

Week Recap

2008-11-10T17:41:00.012-06:00

It's been kind of a busy week, in a sedentary sort of way. Last Friday Will's sister and her fiancé came to stay with us. We hung out with them a little bit, went for Chinese and deep dish pizza at Giordano's.

Read books 1-3 of Harry Potter, and am now 1/3 of the way through the fourth. I had Will get me the adult box set for my birthday since I couldn't think of anything else that I actually wanted. Figured I would read the original (UK) version. I have to say, I didn't expect to enjoy them this much. Better than the movies (and I thought the movies were excellent, even without a point of reference), but then again, the books usually are better. Sigh. What's happening to me? Turning into a reader of YA fiction. First Twilight, now Harry Potter. But the writing quality of HP far exceeds that of Twilight. Good thing I like the books, considering the massive size of the ones to come.

I also taught myself how to knit via Youtube, of all places. I've been thinking about learning for a while now (I'm not too keen on having idle hands while watching shows). Bought my yarn and needles at Nina, which probably wasn't the greatest idea since I'm just starting out. They're on the expensive side since they only (mostly?) sell natural fibers. But I figured I would be more likely to wear my scarf if I actually liked the look and feel of the material. The fact that it was close to an El stop also helped make my choice, heh. I picked out a fabulous kettle dyed Malabrigo yarn - (148 Hollyhock if you're interested). I think I'm doing well so far, had a few mishaps but nothing too major.

After fixing the idle hands problem... onto shows! I watched season 5 of Project Runway which was disappointing at best. The designers were underwhelming and their personalities were ugly, ugly, ugly. If the three finalists had been on any of the previous seasons of PR, they would have been eliminated halfway through the season. What else... I'm at various points of Doctor Who (season 4), Fawlty Towers (season 1), Gossip Girl (season 1), and Ugly Betty (season 2). At some point I will try out Torchwood and maybe actually get to my Netflix movies. M. Hulot's Holiday has been sitting next to my computer for two weeks.

Puppy Cam

2008-11-07T22:45:00.000-06:00

I'm kind of obsessed:
Live Broadcasting by Ustream

Obama

2008-11-05T08:32:00.031-06:00

I've managed to keep this blog free of politics (mostly because I think I've discussed and researched them enough to fill several blogs and I usually try to avoid drama), but because this is such a momentous occasion, I suppose I can break my silence. I am incredibly relieved that Obama won. I am upset that I wasn't able to cast my ballot this year (issues with receiving my absentee ballot), but not distraught since an Obama vote in Texas wouldn't have changed its electoral college votes at all (not that I believe that my vote "didn't matter"). Of the two elections that I was able to vote, I had to vote in the Bush v. Kerry one. Go figure. Oh well.

While I disagreed with him on many issues and his ways of handling certain matters, I don't think McCain would have been a bad president. It would not have been another "Bush administration." McCain has his own ideas about things - while they may have been similar to Bush's ideas, they were not the same and I think it's important to keep that in mind. As for Bush, I truly believe he was not a bad president. Starting his presidency with a national tragedy paved the way for an extremely difficult eight years. Yes, he made some bad decisions, but he is only human. Every four years we elect a human to be our president and it is extremely naive and irresponsible to believe our president is or should be infallible. It is unfair to make Bush the villain when he loves this country and it was absolutely not his intention for us to be in the position we are in now. We all make mistakes. Besides, as citizens, we should take some part in the blame if we must deal it. Even if you or I did not vote to put Bush in the White House, we are not completely innocent. This is our country, not only his.

Back to why I'm relieved about Obama's win. Sarah Palin. I will admit, I did like her when they introduced her at the Republican National Convention. I thought she delivered her speech well and it appeared as though she knew what she was talking about, that she would have her own opinions as to how we could fix our country. I had an open mind starting out, so I don't want anyone to think that I denied her any hope of swaying my vote. But then we got to know her. I am fundamentally opposed to her views on issues of which she is more passionate about (women's health, civil rights, teaching creationism in schools... just to name a few) and unconvinced on others, such as energy, of which she is supposed to be a great expert. In addition, her interviews (that disastrous, slightly hilarious, one with Katie Couric!) made it painfully obvious that she was unable to answer the "hard" questions. Even without all of those embarrassing answers, her inability to formulate coherent sentences under pressure made me doubt her ability to perform in any kind of domestic and/or international forum and be taken seriously. As I mentioned before, I would not have minded McCain as my president, but the addition of Palin destroyed his chance of getting my vote. McCain's age and medical history (I suppose this might be rather short-sighted; Will thinks this is my weakest point, and maybe it is, but I still find it valid) made it even more likely that Palin would not only be VP, but eventually President. The average life expectancy of a US male is 75 years old. Throw in the possibility of cancer coming back (after 3 times) and the extraordinary stress the President must be under, and I think that him dying in office (or at least becoming ill and incapacitated for a time) was a very real risk. Unless she broadens her world view/experience and changes some of her views, Palin will not be my president if I can help it.

Obama has some incredible challenges ahead and it will be interesting to see how he ameliorates our problems while still attempting to implement his promises of change. I was a Hillary supporter until she was nixed from the running. At that point I didn't really have a definitive opinion of Obama, except that he needed more experience and that I disliked the cult-like ways of his followers and his celebrity status. This is why I was considering Republican candidates. Obviously he's grown on me. However, I still don't own any Obama stickers, wallpapers, signs, ring tones, or apparel. Anyway, I am impressed by his ability to mobilize and unite people in ways we have not seen in a long time. And the fact that this was not only on a domestic scale, but a global one, was even more impressive. I hope that our nation will now be on a path to being more diplomatic and less militaristic and selfishly demanding toward other nations, whether they be friend or foe. I look forward to our future and I wish President Obama the best of luck.

17 Feb 2007 - Metro

2008-11-03T23:09:00.001-06:00

Ah, Barcelona metro. What would this blog be without a picture of the public transportation system? It was easy to figure out/use and wasn't very crowded.

17 Feb 2007 - Touring Barcelona

2008-11-03T23:02:00.005-06:00

Apparently we were not able to escape the rain in Paris. We walked around a bit, but our spirits were lower than the day before. I don't have much to say about these pictures since I'm not exactly sure what they're pictures of or don't know very much about them. I do know that the modern art statue in the third picture is called "El Cap de Barcelona" created by Lichtenstein. The last picture features a statue of Columbus.

16 Feb 2007 - La Rambla

2008-11-01T01:26:00.013-05:00

I think the Barcelona airport might be my favorite airport. New, bright, modern, and clean: a recipe for a good airport. In addition, it's kind of like a mall and an airport fought each other for space and ended up smashed into each other. Most of the airports I've visited have stores, but they're small. This airport had tons of stores, but all mall-sized. Now shopping isn't my pastime, but browsing stores sure beats sitting at my gate, twiddling my thumbs while I wait for my plane to arrive. The plentiful moving walkways were especially helpful to the lazy like me. Bouncy, too! Provided great fun for the four of us.

Getting from the airport to our hostel was fairly easy as well. We went outside to the sidewalk and bought a bus token from a machine. The bus was clean and not too crowded. It took quite the scenic route (passed by the Olympic village) and stopped at the major tourist spots - lucky our hostel was right off La Rambla.

La Rambla is an interesting place - a very wide pedestrian-only street with vendors, markets, street performers, etc. We spent a lot of time just looking around before we arrived at our hostel.

The hostel is on the left of the picture below. I found this place through Hostelling International. It was cheap, and right where we wanted to be. I would recommend anyone planning on backpacking to Barcelona to stay here. The place is very clean (including the bathrooms), has free internet, free breakfast, and is open 24 hours. The four of us managed to get a room to ourselves for the same price as a bed in one of the larger communal rooms. This was helpful because we were able to look the door on our room to ensure even greater protection of our stuff.

Barcelona - Rambles Center
Hospital,
63
Barcelona
08001
Spain

Tel. 34-934124069
Fax. 34-933171704
reservas@center-ramblas.com

16 Feb 2007 - Flight into Barcelona

2008-10-31T00:22:00.006-05:00

Finally, Barcelona. A few girls (Kacey, Silvia, Naphtalia) and I flew to Barcelona out of Orly (that is one ghetto and disorganized airport). The flight over was pretty uneventful, but kind of hilarious because I was having some kind of language identity crisis - I brought some of my French homework to read on the plane and a couple of books from Shakespeare & Co (English), but I also read some of the magazines and newspapers that had been left on the plane (Spanish). It seemed like the guy sitting next to me didn't know what to think of me and my tri-lingual-ness (I wish).

You have no idea what joy I felt as we approached the coastline of Spain. After a month and a half in Paris, where it was drizzling, cold, and grey, sunshine and blue skies were quite the luxury. Come on, how excited would you be if you saw this out your window?

The descent provided a view of the hovering smog which was kind of a downer, but very quickly forgotten. When we stepped outside it was sunny and warm.

Back to Europe

2008-10-26T16:56:00.004-05:00

Starting where I left off after Amsterdam. I'm slowly starting to forget parts of my travels, so I'd better get a move on!

To come: Barcelona, more Paris, Normandy/Bayeux, Venice, Vatican City/Rome, and yet more Paris.

And to start - one reason why I love Europe:

The US isn't old enough to have details like this (at least outside of churches). Found this in the WHSmith Bookstore on Rue de Rivoli (English language bookstore - British, specifically).

Speaking of British, I'm hoping for a London '09 trip. Keeping my fingers crossed. :)

In Conclusion (29 Aug - 6 Sep)

2008-10-26T13:27:00.004-05:00

The trip was great. I might go back to Vegas if it were free/really cheap and/or if there was something I wanted specifically to see. I'm not into gambling (although I am up $4), drinking, clubbing, or scantily clad ladies (even ones dressed up as vampires), so it's obviously not my "dream" vacation. I will say that the Bellagio buffet is AMAZING. Yes, it's expensive, but once you enter and see all the different choices you'll quickly change your mind and agree it's worth it.

My mom asked me at the end of the trip how I would rate the parks. I said: Bryce Canyon > Grand Canyon > Zion > Coral Pink Sand Dunes. I rated Bryce over Grand just because the structures were so unusual and I could not have imagined that formations like that existed on that scale. The Grand Canyon is such a part of our national culture/heritage that we all know what it looks like. Pictures don't do the sweeping views justice, but I think the familiarity takes away some of the surprise. I rated Zion after the Grand Canyon, but my sentiments are similar to those about Bryce. I liked how they eliminated car traffic (and I fully support their decision) but by only allowing us to travel by shuttle (not all of us have bikes and/or are able to hike long distances) made the park kind of theme-parky in that we could only go to specific places. As for the Coral Pink Sand Dunes - it was fun, but small. It's hard for a state park to go up against a national park.

Of course, this "rating" isn't set in stone (ahh, forgive the slight pun). We were only at each park for 1-2 days so it wasn't possible to truly explore. If we had the time, perhaps a mule ride down the Grand Canyon or a hike through the Zion Narrows would change the rating to Zion > Grand > Bryce > Sand. I won't know for sure, but maybe I'll find out in the future.

Vegas End

2008-10-22T22:26:00.001-05:00

What better way to end the trip than in front of the famous Las Vegas welcome sign?

MGM Lion Habitat

2008-10-22T22:13:00.004-05:00

Went exploring the other casinos again. I enjoyed the MGM Lion Habitat. Almost all of the lions are descendants of the MGM lion you see at the beginning of MGM movies.

And before anyone gets up in arms about animal cruelty, here's my conversation with Kelly:

Kelly: why are you uploading your pics so slowly?

lol

GEEZ XTINA

NOT COOL

me: lol

sorrreeee geez

and the lions are actually treated pretty well

they don't live in that glass enclosure

they're just there a few hours a day

they live on a ranch

Kelly: ah

me: they have like 30 lions that they rotate out

apparently they can't take a couple of them to the glass enclosure anymore because the two lions like being there too much

so they wont' leave

Kelly: lol

fame whores

me: lol

They also can't hear anything from outside, so heckling isn't a problem either. Imagine having this guy's job. Cool.

Venetian

2008-10-22T21:44:00.003-05:00

And... back to Vegas. This time we stayed at the Venetian. The public areas are more theme park-y rather than a faithful representation of Venice (and I would know, considering I've visited the city). I found the decor kind of cheesy, but I guess that's somewhat typical of themed Vegas hotel/casinos. Also, some of the decor is more Vatican City than Venice. (Yes... snobbery!) I wanted to take a gondola ride, just to say that I did it both at the Venetian and in Venice, but quickly decided against it. It costs $16 per person and the gondoliers don't even row to propel the boat - they have (somewhat) hidden foot paddles connected to a motor which does the work for them. Despite all this, the actual rooms are more than comfortable - each "room" is actually a suite (living room, raised bedroom) and boast 3 LCD TVs (1 in the living room, 1 in the bedroom, and 1 in the bathroom). And I want one of those mattresses. I don't know who makes them, but I want one. If it was possible to fit a mattress in a suitcase, I so would have stolen one.

Zion: Beginning of Zion Narrows

2008-10-22T20:52:00.004-05:00

I wish we could have walked the Zion Narrows trail. The pictures look really cool. We didn't have the time, and more importantly, the equipment to go any further than we did. Will and I took off our shoes and waded through a very small portion of the river. The water was extremely cold and the riverbed is covered with slippery rocks. You need to wear shoes with good traction - it was a struggle to cross to the other side barefoot - because apparently you spend about half of the trail wading or swimming. If I ever have a chance to come back, you can bet that I will traverse this trail.

Zion: Riverside Walk

2008-10-21T22:10:00.004-05:00

Riverside Walk is an easy hike which follows one of my favorite things - water. The trail is fairly heavily traveled in comparison to some of the other trails, probably because it's paved. The guides say that it's wheelchair accessible, but I would hate to be the person pushing the chair. While the path is flat, it's not that flat. It would be quite the workout. Another reason people walk this trail is to get to the start of the Zion Narrows trail.

The river is calm enough to wade through and the views are very pretty. In some places there are small weeping rocks so once in a while you walk past hanging gardens. People feed the squirrels (illegal) which have made them both tame and aggressive - tame in the sense that they'll walk up to you, but aggressive enough to steal food out of your bag if you're not watching. We had to shoo them away from Will's bag more than a few times. They can fend for themselves, though. We watched one of them rip apart and devour a large beetle.

On to more pleasant images, though...

Zion: Temple of Sinawava

2008-10-21T21:48:00.002-05:00

Stopped at the Temple of Sinawava because the Riverside Walk (trail) begins at this point. The "temple" is alright - kind of like being within a stadium but with sheer rock walls - but the best part starts at the trail head.

Zion: Emerald Pools

2008-10-21T21:40:00.002-05:00

Maybe it's because we only walked to the lower pool, but the Emerald Pools stop only rates a "meh" for me. There wasn't much water in the pool, so it was more like a marshy pit. The middle and upper pools are supposed to be better, but we didn't have time to explore those.

Apple Picking

2008-10-20T23:14:00.004-05:00

Yesterday Will and I drove out to Indiana to pick apples at County Line Orchard. It was only about an hour's drive, but it took slightly longer because there were no street signs and we kept missing turnoffs. When we arrived I realized that I had actually been here before with Chamberliners, 4 years ago, as a second year. Oh man, that brought back memories. It was crazy though because the place has expanded considerably. I remember we grabbed lunch in front of a large bbq smoker, but this time they had a covered outdoor cafe/building.

Anyway, Will and I had a lot of fun. At first we couldn't find any apples - we walked through rows and rows of bare trees. After some searching we finally found some trees with abundant fruit. Will discovered a love for Sundance apples and picked a bunch of those. We also picked some Gala and Golden Delicious apples.

Zion: Weeping Rock

2008-10-20T18:48:00.007-05:00

This was my second favorite stop, most likely because there was water and shade, which provided a refreshing respite from the heat. This attraction is called Weeping Rock because the porous sandstone seeps collected water. But this water isn't from yesterday's rainfall - the water coming out of these rocks fell some hundreds to a thousand years ago. Unfortunately you can't drink the water because of the giardia... good thing I found that out after I drank a handful (out of curiosity - tastes like water by the way)... oh well. Ignorance is bliss. Or at least insignificant amounts are.

Zion: Court of the Patriarchs

2008-10-20T18:35:00.004-05:00

One of the more popular shuttle stops. It's a short hike up to the scenic view area. The three peaks are named Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in keeping with the Zion namesake.

A couple of other peaks, whose names I don't know.

Huh.

2008-10-20T10:25:00.007-05:00

You learn something new (that should have been known) every day. I found out last night that narwhals, do in fact, exist. And they're weird looking. Right up there with the platypus.

My gmail status is: "wtf... since when have narwhals been real?"

Rob: lol you didnt know?

me: haha no

not sure how that one slipped by me

Rob: they live in the great lakes

lol

its not often you see them though

me: true

freaking weird looking

Rob: yea are you but no one is complaining

me: lol

Anais: narwhals are real

me: i know

Anais: why did you think they weren't?

me: no idea

Anais: lol

me: somehow i've made it 22 years having only seen drawings and not photographs of narwhals

and they're always lumped together with unicorns and other mythical creatures

Anais: lol well I think unicorn myths are attributed to narwhals

like mermaids and manatees

me: yeah, they are

apparently in the middle ages people would sell the horns and say they were unicorn horns
Anais: which were supposed to be aphrodesiacs

me: and if you made a cup out of the horn it was supposed to negate any poisons

Sara: Seriously?

Narwhales have always been real

always

me: yes, yes, i've been getting this all morning, lol

Sara: lmao

me: me: somehow i've made it 22 years having only seen drawings and not photographs of narwhals
and they're always lumped together with unicorns and other mythical creatures

Sara: lol

hahahaha

i'm sorry that i find this so hilarious

but damn

Apparently I have become the butt of jokes today. Anyway. Narwhals are quite interesting creatures and play a small yet interesting role in medieval times. But I'd rather unicorns exist over narwhals. They're prettier.

Entering Zion National Park

2008-10-18T00:20:00.009-05:00

The third and final national park we visited: Zion National Park in Utah. Some very interesting rock formations along the drive to the parking lot.

At one point, this tunnel was somewhat famous for being the longest tunnel in the United States. That was back in the 1930s - the tunnel's only 1.1 miles long, which would probably only barely register on the record scales these days. But still, digging 1 mile through a mountain with only sticks of dynamite is kind of impressive.

You can either park outside of the park and take a shuttle into the park or you can park inside the park (we opted to park inside). Unlike the Grand and Bryce canyons, you're not allowed to drive from point to point within the park and must take one of the shuttles. This rule was implemented in order to decrease traffic congestion within the park. The park only allows shuttle, bicycle, and obviously, foot traffic. No matter though - the shuttles arrive frequently.

Coral Pink Sand Dunes

2008-10-17T00:22:00.009-05:00

Meh, I lied again. The Coral Pink Sand Dunes is a state park, not a national park. Kind of a small park, but fun nonetheless. I think I got a grain of sand stuck in my camera because now it makes a slight grinding sound when you zoom out. It's not a big deal though - the lens wasn't scratched and there's no indication that the camera was damaged.

Picture of the dunes from the observation deck (close to the parking lot).

Footprints on the way over to the massive dune.

Windswept sand.

From far away the dune doesn't look that big, but from close up the walk up is quite daunting. Walking on flat sand is difficult enough; walking up a giant sand hill is tiring and requires a serpentine path.

This is what the top edge of a sand dune looks like.

At the top, looking down at our shadows.

Conquering the beast.

Driving Through Town

2008-10-16T20:04:00.009-05:00

In Utah, of course. We were driving between Bryce Canyon and the Coral Pink Sands Dunes.

We passed this earthship-type house and domed greenhouses.

Also, rock shops are quite popular. We passed by a few. And you guessed it - they sell rocks! I'm not exactly sure who needs head-sized rocks, but apparently some people do.

This restaurant was in front of our hotel. Bad food, but hilariously inappropriate motto. And yes, the "ho-made" is on purpose, but they've been around so long that "ho-made" was actually short for "home-made." Now they play upon the double entendre. I only wish they had a shirt in my size.

Oh, by the way, if you ever pass through Kanab, Utah, I command you to grab lunch or dinner at the Rocking V Cafe. The owners are a husband-wife team who like to travel the world and gather inspiration from their culinary experiences abroad. The husband is an extremely friendly host and the wife is the pastry chef (whose desserts are to die for). All of their food is organic, ridiculously fresh, and absolutely delicious. On the slightly pricey side (I had the buffalo tenderloin for 38; most entrees are in the 15-25 range) but worth every penny. This place would put many "city" restaurants to shame.

Bryce Canyon: Waterfall

2008-10-12T21:09:00.002-05:00

This is actually at the same stop as the mossy cave. The water was very cold and refreshing.

Bryce Canyon: Mossy Cave

2008-10-12T16:29:00.003-05:00

I was expecting the cave to be more cave-like (it was pretty shallow) and mossier. The rock walls were more interesting than the cave itself. It wasn't so disappointing though - the cave provided a cool respite from the hot day.

Bryce Canyon: Inspiration Point

2008-10-12T15:42:00.004-05:00

Elevation 8100. The pictures don't do this view justice, but I can tell you, this is definitely an inspiring point. The other awesome thing about this place was that I was all alone and really able to appreciate the magnificence.

Twilight Trailer

2008-10-12T12:01:00.003-05:00

The final trailer for Twilight is out. I'm embarrassed to say that I'm excited for this movie to come out. But I'm not a fangirl either - I would never spend my time going to Q&A sessions or meeting the author or making I <3 Edward shirts.

I'm still not 100% convinced of Robert Pattinson's (Cedric Diggory for you Harry Potter fans) American accent, but he looks good as Edward so I'll have to let it slide...

i listen to stuff

2008-10-11T20:06:00.008-05:00

First things first... I'm not linking in this post. There are just way too many things to link and I'm feeling lazy.

I've recently gotten back into listening to drum and bass (d&b - jungle, whatever). It's been a few years... I think I stopped listening to it in either 2003 or 2004, but not because I stopped liking it... I guess I just kind of forgot about it after getting more into trance, and to a slightly lesser extent, electronica based lounge.

When people first meet me I think they're surprised to know that I listen to probably about 75% Electronic Dance Music (EDM)/electronica. I've been listening to EDM since high school - Will introduced me, although he doesn't really listen to it anymore - and I haven't strayed since. In fact, I was so interested that I wanted to write my BA thesis on the spread of EDM, but my advisor kind of steered me away from that topic. I instead wrote about globalization and the world music genre, which was quite a successful endeavor... err, going on a tangent. The only EDM subgenre I'm not too keen about is minimal. I fail to see the point. I mean, it's not as bad as John Cage's 4'33" (4 minutes and 33 seconds of silence - ugh, please don't bring up the controversy/debate about this "song") but it's just so... plain. And yes, I know that's the point, but it's like they built a skeleton and forgot to put on the muscles and skin.

Anyway. I got back into d&b because Will downloaded someone's ET:QW frag video and they had the song Blood Sugar by Pendulum in the background for part of it. Since I've been out of the scene for some time, I created a Pendulum station using Pandora. (By the way, I love Pandora. I use it all the time at work - too lazy to create a playlist for my iPod.)

In addition to d&b, I've also rediscovered Frou Frou. They're probably best known for the track Let Go on the Garden State soundtrack. But it wasn't Zach Braff who introduced me to them - Hed Kandi's Winter Chill 06.04 CD featured Hear Me Out. I've known about them for a while, but I've become obsessed with them again. It's too bad they only put out one CD, but Imogen Heap's music is equally amazing.

I'm rambling a lot. I guess the point of this post was to say that I've been listening to a lot of d&b/Pendulum and Frou Frou/Imogen Heap recently. And that Pandora is awesome.

My Pandora stations: Pendulum, Linkin Park, Frou Frou, Kronos Quartet, Sia, Bitter:Sweet, Gavin DeGraw, Jean Sibelius, Sofia Gubaidulina, Giaochino Rossini, Dmitry Shostakovich, Bela Bartok, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, I Am Kloot, Cake, Bush, Voicst, Hayling, Ferry Corsten, Apocalyptica, Hed Kandi, Honeycut, Audioslave, Bebel Gilberto, Henry Mancini, Nouvelle Vague.

Bryce Canyon: Bryce Point Video Redux

2008-10-11T19:45:00.002-05:00

une vidéo pour vous...

Bryce Canyon: Bryce Point

2008-10-11T18:35:00.012-05:00

Elevation 8300. There were some fantastic views of the canyon and the amphitheatre. I followed the trail up to Inspiration Point (pictures to follow) where it was quite breezy. I unfortunately wasn't used to the high elevation (Chicago is at 579 feet above sea level) so I was extremely winded afterward.

I liked seeing how the wind twists the trunks of the trees over time.

Bryce Canyon: Natural Bridge

2008-10-11T18:25:00.005-05:00

Elevation 8627.

A bridge... created naturally....

Bryce Canyon: Rainbow Point

2008-10-11T18:12:00.007-05:00

Elevation 9115.

Bryce Canyon stands apart from other national parks due to its unusual rock formations called hoodoos. They look kind of like people. Here are some pictures of hoodoos. These aren't quite as spectacular as the hoodoo amphitheatre; I will get around to uploading those soon.

Driving into Bryce Canyon

2008-10-10T19:29:00.005-05:00

Many, many more pictures of Bryce Canyon to come.

Navajo Bridge

2008-10-06T23:23:00.002-05:00

Not a national park, but we crossed this bridge on the way to our hotel in Utah. Pictures of Bryce Canyon coming in the next post...

Big Rocks

2008-10-05T00:44:00.003-05:00

Heh. "National Parks" is becoming somewhat of a misnomer. Oh well. This was also on the way to Bryce/Zion. We took another rest stop (like the dinosaur tracks) because we saw this house built into a giant rock:

It vaguely resonated with me only because my "rival" elementary school is named Shelter Rock Elementary. Not that I remember ever seeing the actual rock for which the school is named, but it still reminded me of it. We ended up spending way more time here than was actually necessary... but it was pretty fun because we goofed around on top of, around, and inside the rocks.

Driving to Utah

2008-10-03T00:28:00.002-05:00

I know, not a "national park," but the scenery is still quite nice. I can't believe I used to be so ignorant of the middle of our country. Before, I thought of national parks as forests or lake areas, usually on either coast, plus the Grand Canyon. And I basically thought of the middle states as flat wasteland. Yeah, I know, really, really wrong, but I'm glad that I've been thoroughly corrected.

Dinosaur Tracks

2008-10-02T00:00:00.007-05:00

I know this doesn't count as a "national park," but I'm putting it under that tab anyway since we were on our way to Utah to look at Bryce and Zion national parks. Also, I don't know how legit these are since we saw some random hand-painted sign on the side of the highway that said "Dinosaur Tracks ---->" and decided to take a short break.

We got there and were shown around by a Native American guide (forgive me, I can't remember which nation). This small little kitten also followed us around the whole time. Poor thing was abandoned the night before along with the rest of the litter.

Dinosaur footprints?

Velociraptor talon?

Dinosaur egg?

There was a lot of fossilized dinosaur poop around. Yes, that's right, dinosaur poop. I didn't take any pictures of the mounds, but my dad did. They also had a stand of handmade jewelry. Some very interesting stones. I bought a cute ring with turquoise inlay, except now it's too big - Utah = hot, Chicago = cold - so my fingers are not quite as swollen.

Train Robbers!

2008-10-01T19:47:00.001-05:00

i watch stuff

2008-09-30T23:40:00.030-05:00

I've been watching a bunch of Asian dramas recently. I actually re-watched the J-drama (Japanese drama) Hanazakari no Kimi Tachi e (Hana Kimi) because I tried watching the Taiwanese version, Hanazakarino Kimitachihe. I couldn't get through the first episode of the Taiwanese version - the acting was just so bad... and not to be superficial, but the main girl is more manly looking than the guys. The only saving grace (that I could garner from the one episode I watched) is that it's closer to the manga than the Japanese version (not that the liberties the Japanese version took detracted from the show or storyline). Anyway, I still found it entertaining the second time around. Gender-bender romance is quite amusing.

After Hana Kimi I moved onto another J-drama: Hachimitsu to Clover (Honey and Clover). I haven't read the manga for this nor have I watched the anime. I just decided to watch the drama because I heard a lot of good things about it and one of its stars is Ikuta Toma who was in Hana Kimi. I liked him in Hana Kimi so I figured I would like him in Honey and Clover, which I do. I've only watched a handful of episodes and liked them, but I've decided to give it a short break. I'm just not in the mood for a weird/sheltered female protagonist, so much unrequited love, and school life right now. I do have plans to finish it later.

Then I went onto yet another J-drama, Nodame Cantabile, again because I heard good things about it and also because classical music and performance is quite close to my heart. Like Honey and Clover, I haven't watched or read the anime or manga. Also, I haven't finished this one yet, but plan to pick it up again. Megumi Noda is yet another weird socially inept female protagonist. It's amusing, but I think I can only take it in small spurts. (This seems to be a trend.)

Taking a break from J-drama, I decided to try out some K-drama (Korean drama). First up: The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince (or just Coffee Prince). I thought I might like this one because it's another gender-bender romance like Hana Kimi. I'm halfway through and I plan to watch it to the end (currently at the part where Choi Han Kyul finds out that Go Eun Chan is a girl... eek! drama!). I like the actors - they're very believable in their roles.

So I liked the main actress,Yoon Eun-Hye, of Coffee Prince so much that it made me curious about other shows she's been in. That led me to Goong (Princess Hours/The Imperial Household). The set and costume design are exquisite. It's also quite a shock to see Yoon Eun-Hye transformed from the tomboy of Coffee Prince to a princess in Goong, but she is extremely compelling as both characters. This show is so full of unrequited love it's stifling. But somehow it's still got me eager to watch more episodes (I'm on episode 7-8 now?). It's too bad that there isn't going to be a second season. And I haven't decided on whether or not to watch the spinoff, Goong S. I heard it wasn't as good, but I'll probably end up checking it out anyway.

Heh. So all of this drama-watching earned me the ridicule of Kelly (and in turn, mine of her):
Kelly: k-dramas?

me: korean dramas, lol

6:33 PM Kelly: wow

that's intesnse geekage

me: lol

it's like you guys watching roswell

and going omgomgomgomg he's so dreamy i want hawt alien secks

Kelly: lmao

ok fine

i'll give you that

me: lol

And that gchat conversation probably earned both of us the ridicule of anyone reading this. Oh well. Still funny. :P

All of this Korean and Japanese has made me crave some English language programming. So I started watching the British show, Doctor Who (the newest version). I've watched 2-3 episodes and I still like it, despite the embarrassingly horrible CGI (I do hope it improves). Unfortunately, I can't have a Doctor Who marathon since I've been streaming it from Netflix and have limited hours.

And what am I watching now? Candide (the operetta). Yes, random, but it combines three things I really enjoy: musicals (especially ones composed by Leonard Bernstein), the New York Philharmonic, and a libretto based on Candide, by Voltaire (heh, here's his final resting place). I read Candide in 10th grade and I remember thinking it was hilarious, although the only part I recall is that someone's buttock (just one!) gets cut off... and I think eaten? Yeah, quite the odd tidbit. Anywho. I'm watching the 2004 version, graced by the charismatic Kristin Chenoweth (perhaps best known as Glinda in Wicked. She's like the new Bernadette Peters... not that BP can ever be replaced) as Cunegonde. I was surprised by the lack of sets and backdrops, but somehow it still works quite well, probably due to the hilarious use of anachronistic props. I'll finish it tomorrow... it's getting a little late.

Wow. I think I need to get out more.

Grand Canyon Railway Redux

2008-09-30T20:05:00.005-05:00

We took the same train back from the Grand Canyon.

A few shots of the train before departing:

A picture of the train while moving, please ignore the glass reflection.

Cows. Mooooo.

And horror of horrors, we wuz robbed! Videos to come later.

Grand Canyon (from the Watchtower)

2008-09-29T19:31:00.003-05:00

As promised, pictures of the view from the Watchtower. Pretty spectacular.

Watchtower at Desert View (Grand Canyon)

2008-09-29T19:17:00.004-05:00

The bus system at the Grand Canyon is quite fabulous. You're supposed to allow 10-15 minutes between buses, but we really only waited about 5 minutes between each. Anyway, we ended up at the Watchtower at Desert View, which was designed to emulate an Anasazi tower. This post only has pictures of the outside and inside of the tower (views in the next post to come). If you have the time, you should definitely stop here - the views are pretty spectacular.

OMG I LOVE AVOCADOS

2008-09-28T20:04:00.002-05:00

Why are they so awesome. Seriously. I could eat an avocado for every meal and not get tired of them.

Grand Canyon

2008-09-28T19:11:00.004-05:00

Grand Canyon - El Tovar

2008-09-28T16:42:00.005-05:00

We didn't stay at El Tovar, but we stopped by because it has a pretty spectacular view of the canyon.

Next door is the Hopi house, which sells a lot of Native American knick-knacks.

Another view of El Tovar.

Yavapai Observation point. Sorry, not writing much. There really isn't that much to say... it's more of a visual experience than a cerebral one.

Grand Canyon Bus Tour

2008-09-26T00:31:00.008-05:00

The first thing we did after getting off the train was get on a bus. We took a tour that drove us to some of the popular sites. We had this crazy hippie mumbly guide who didn't really tell us much about the canyon and spat out the window a lot (ick). But we did find out his life story (not that that's supposed to be a plus...). Yeah. I don't know if the other guides were better, but I wouldn't recommend this guy.

We arrived at our first stop and the view was...

Heh. For some reason it happened to be quite foggy that day (apparently somewhat rare). We were supposed to be able to see out beyond that sign, but all we saw was fog. The fog was pretty neat though.

Anyway. The fog finally cleared - it rose out of the canyon and into the sky. Quite dramatic.

More views of the canyon. This is just a taste. I will have many more posts of just pictures.

Grand Canyon Railway: Banjo Edition

2008-09-25T18:05:00.003-05:00

We were treated to a banjo performance aboard the train:

Grand Canyon Railway

2008-09-25T18:01:00.004-05:00

We took the Grand Canyon Railway out to the Grand Canyon. The ride lasted less than a couple of hours. We rode in one of the old Pullman cars because it was more "authentic" considering we were being pulled by a steam engine. Apparently very few conductors are trained to drive steam engines so the company trains their drivers. They also do their own maintenance, which is impressive.

Before our trip we were treated to a "Wild West Show." It was kind of entertaining. They took a big guy out of the audience and made him hold his daughter's Barbie backpack. The show was mainly talk, though, with some short gunfights.

Picture of the front of the train from inside.

Bellagio Fountain

2008-09-25T18:00:00.004-05:00

Fountain at the Bellagio. Same song, broken into 2 parts.

Hoover Dam

2008-09-24T19:17:00.012-05:00

Went to the Hoover Dam. It was... dam-y. You might remember seeing the dam in the movie Transformers. We took the short tour (the one without the hard hats). It was interesting, I guess. Hoover Dam + Colorado River = Lake Mead = Bureau of Reclamation awesomeness! Ahem. Pictures below.

Vegas Strip

2008-09-24T18:56:00.011-05:00

Pictures of casinos on the strip. But they all look better at night.

1. Caesar's Palace
2. New York
3. Luxor
4. Mandalay Bay
5. Monte Carlo
6. Excalibur
7. Mirage

Bellagio

2008-09-24T17:58:00.023-05:00

Not really much to say. Pictures are smaller just because there are so many, but clicking on them will have them show up at their normal size. I don't gamble and I don't drink, but I still like this place a lot.

Famous glass sculpture ceiling in the lobby of the Bellagio.

Front desk and lobby.

Casino and botanical garden.

Weird robot eagle chicks and the tiled floor in the botanical garden.

Room and partial picture of the bathroom.

Chocolate fountain and various goodies at the Jean Philippe Pâtisserie.

View from the room: Paris and Planet Hollywood.

Las Vegas

2008-09-23T21:40:00.018-05:00

I went out of town from August 29 - September 6. First stop, Las Vegas, Sin City. The trip started out... unusually. I don't know if it was because our destination was Vegas, but Southwest airlines proved to be stripper friendly. Will and I were stuck sitting in front of a group of a dozen raucous drunk guys and three strippers. I think the girls made somewhere between $500 - 1000 on that ride, but I won't go into details as to how... I'm sure you can use your imagination. Bleh. I'm going to have to repress some of those memories.

Anyway, we finally landed and I don't think I have ever been that eager to leave a plane. We grabbed our luggage and went outside to find a ride to our hotel. Las Vegas is hot. I knew it was going to be hot beforehand, but I guess I've never had that much exposure to dry heat straddling the line between high 90s and low 100s. It was more oppressive than I expected. After we checked into our hotel room at the Bellagio and got settled, we went out to explore the strip a bit. This is a picture of the Bellagio and Caesar's Palace from across the street at the mall.

We ended up at Paris because it was across the street. We didn't want to walk that far since it had been a long day and we figured we could explore the Bellagio whenever. Here are some pictures of the outside:

The outside of the casino/hotel actually wasn't that bad, as far as reproductions go. (Perhaps later if I remember and still hold the inclination to do so, I will do a side by side comparison of the reproduction and the real thing.) However, the inside is unbelievably cheesy.

Casino. This is supposed to be a view from under the Eiffel Tower.

The shopping area reminded me a lot of the Yesterday's Main Street exhibit in MSI, except with a French flair.

I guess this is their interpretation of the Galeries Lafayette ceiling?

Stopped by Lenotre to grab some dessert. Tasty.

Then we headed back across the street. Here's a short video of the Bellagio fountains. I actually have a really great one set to Singin' in the Rain that I took from the room, but it's about 300mb so I unfortunately can't upload it here.

And hmm... I am less than thrilled by the size and quality of this video. Back to uploading videos on YouTube then...