several photos have been made available, documenting a recent meeting of the:
EECS Avengers

hopefully the link will work. the reunion, though brief, was exciting to say the least. Check out the last picture. That's right- contrary to what you might have heard from his press agent, Chris Carraba is now a member of the EECS Avengers. (Well, we had to have a replacement for Rob 2.0, who may or may not have gone to Japan, but who has in any case apparently completely dropped off the EECs Avenger Radar)

i'd just like to share,

1. CMVC is evil. EVIL!
2. i put up a *few* photos at
http://photos.yahoo.com/spoongrrl19
in an album called "random foto." if i get inspired, i'll upload a few more tonite.
3. for anybody who doesn't know, it's over between me and the cats. they are very cute, but it was an abusive relationship. i kept hoping things would change, but i really had no reason to think anything would. then the "brave" one really ticked me off. the pair of them seem to come as a package deal, so unfortunately for the shy one, neither of them will be getting anything more from me anytime soon. and it will take MORE than just looking cute to get back in my good graces.
4. the archives of this blog have been fixed. it was reported to me that 3 months of archives were missing. i notified blogger.com and i was very impressed w/ their quick and effective response.

ok, now i'm just ticked off at stupid blogger.com. i just typed in this whole blog entry and when i hit the "publish" button, POOF! it just vanished. from now on, a copy is going onto the clip board. ERGGHH that's just so irritating. (i know, i know, stop complaining and write your own stupid script)
i'll try to reproduce my original post.

first, i wanted to put up a link to http://10.95.inr.net/tools/html-escape-codes.cfm because it might come in handy again some time and it's not convenient at the moment to add it to my links page.

and there's another place worth checking out (especially for you, j, if you havne't already -yes, i'm talking to you James Mickens- as i break down the 4th wall w/ reckless abandon)- Forthright's Phrontistery. I found this site some months (years?) ago when i was trying to look up the word "lethalogica." the ironic twist here is that i couldn't look it up because i was suffering from it. but i had some idea about the word, and i while i was attempting to look it up in all manner of arcane dictionaries (both online and physical) i found that site. I thought it was really neat, and by "really neat" i mean dorky like scrabble or penny loafers. then i lost the link, due to the endless cycle of Windows reinstalls (Favorites folders never seem to have a very long life). and i could never look up the site because i couldn't remember that crazy word, "phrontistery." but in an unusually lighthearted twist of fate, i happened upon the site again today when i went to look up the word "triptych," (which incidentally, i did know the meaning of, but i wanted to make sure).

well this has been yet another remarkably content-free installment. stay tuned.

ok, i realize this blog is not supposed to be all about SCO vs. IBM, or IP rights vs. Open Source, etc, etc, but this latest quote i read from Linus Torvalds was just TOO stinking hilarious to not share.

From an interview with eWeek, in response to a question about whether it might be infeasible for Linux developers to remove the quantity of offending lines of allegedly stolen code, he replied, "They [SCO] are smoking crack." (http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,3959,1227150,00.asp.

i'll keep the one person who's actually reading this posted. Stay tuned for more developments and (eventually, i promise) a real blog entry.

ok, so it's not like anyone out there is running a hash function over this page and is about to realize that it has changed, but i feel it's finally time to post at least a cursory blog entry.

you see, i just couldn't pass up an opportunity to share a quote from Linus Torvalds, "I allege that SCO is full of it."
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,3959,1134068,00.asp.

Now, without a doubt these comments are highly entertaining. and based on everything i've read so far, Linus is almost certainly correct. Nevertheless, this type of bombastic tomfoolery is not really adding to the credibility of the Open Source Movement.

well, i'll make a better blog post later. chou

Ok, well i have several things to address this evening. 1st off, Austin seems pretty cool so far. it's been pretty fun. people around here ACTUALLY are into music, which is of course awesome. so i'll be going to lots of shows, some of which i'll probably blog about. the most apropos weblinks i can share are austin360 and austinchronicle. (after all, this IS a weblog, right?)

anyways, more about that another time. thing is, i have to rant. it turns out Radiohead is playing in Houston the first of October. even though i just saw them, i'd be totally up for seeing them again. so i went to their site to try to buy tix like 3 days ago or something. i refrained from buying the tix at work becuse i'm trying to be a consciencious (i can't spell that word, incidentally- i just tried like 8 different spellings... this new keyboard doesn't help, either b/c it feels different from my old one, which is now at work, and i'm not used to it. but it IS wireless, which is cool. but i digress...) employee and what-not and i didn't even go to find tix as soon as i heard about it.

so at the last page, it says something like "don't hit submit again if it takes a long time or you will order double tickets, or maybe nothing at all.." etc etc. well, something goofed, because i never saw any confirmation screen. i dunno if the page popped up and i immediately killed it, thinking it was a pop-up ad, or what happened. in any case, i had already given it my credit card number, and i didn't want to try again for risk of buying twice as many tickets. because they were none too cheap for lawn tix. so i immediately emailed their support address, explaining what happened and saying "could you let me know whether the order went through, because if it didn't, i'd like to order again before they sell out"

well, they didn't email me back. and i never got a confirmation email. so i figure, it must not have worked. so i went to the site again today thinking to just go through the order process again, and guess what? they're SOLD OUT. big surprise- i should have known because this type of thing ALWAYS happens to me. anyways, i was really ticked off. b/c if they would have emailed me, then i could have got the tickets in time.

so the end result of all of this is, DON"T BUY ANYTHING FROM WASTE.CO.UK because they're total losers. i emailed them to complain but they probably don't even care. obviously they don't, or they would have answered my first email. but who knows, maybe they never got the email. i don't think it happens very often, percentage-wise, but after all, the internet is a best-effort system. it's possible the email never got to them. maybe i should try to give them the benefit of the doubt.

incidentally, that post about the "other" "Laura Lynn" was totally not serious. i mean, it was all true, but the stalker part. i'm seriously not a stalker. i have better things to do w/ my time. (well, other people who are higher on my list of stalkees, at any rate.) but i did think it an odd coincidence.

ok, i'm so sick of not being able to find the man pages i need. i used to have a bookmark at school to a really nicely laid-out web site with man pages. but i don't feel like wasting a lot of time trying to find it right now. so for the time being, i'm putting up this link:http://www.rt.com/man/ to a site that seems to have a pretty complete listing of UNIX man pages, although the layout leaves something to be desired. i'll try to include a real blog entry later w/ some additional (better) links.

ok, so THIS is freaky. some time ago, it was brought to my attention that there's another "Laura Lynn" using blogger (http://lauralynn.blogspot.com. I asserted at the time that if she started signing her blog entries "~L" (which everyone who's ever received any email or handwritten note from me knows is MY trademark), then i would have to take action to protect my on-line identity from this OTHER (all but counterfeit) Laura Lynn. well, i thought i'd check on her (see what's going on and what-not in her peachy life) AND CAN YOU BELIEVE I THINK SHE'S ALSO IN AUSTIN, TX!!!

you realize what this means, right?

heh heh heh... this is exactly how stalkers come into the world. *rubs hands together eagerly*. it MAY just be that this town is big enough for both of us. MAYBE. after all, she is several years younger than i am, so our spheres of influence aren't likely to overlap. NEVERTHELESS i think some type of meeting may have to occur, by "happenstance" as it were. i'm betting on the fact that she hasn't noticed my blog. really, there's no reason for her to know about it. i don't want her to know about me, at least not yet. i think i'll just sort of watch her cautiously, from a distance.

seriously i mean what are the odds? too many strange coincidences have been occurring lately. *shakes head*

oh yeah, incidentally today was my first day of work at IBM. since this is a weblog (technically), here's a link which anyone reading this (and i seriously doubt anyone IS reading this) will likely find completely useless.

Quote from John Loiacono, the vice president of Sun's Operating Platforms group, "I never want to be lumped into any categories with Microsoft other than profitability." (originating article)

that just killed me.

incidentally, i'm in Austin, TX at the moment. i was kind of out of touch for several days, but they finally hooked up my cable internet access 2 days ago. i know i promised to tell about the Field Day concert, but i don't feel like writing a lot at the moment so i'll just give a brief synopsis.

Chucke and I got to the concert, which was relocated from somewhere far far away in Long Island to Giants Stadium in Jersey, which is only like 20 minutes or somethign from his house. we got there around 1 or somethign, in time to hear the end of Liz Phair and all of Beth Orton. which was cool. except it was pretty much raining from the start and kind of cold. i was wearing jeans and a tank top w/ a light jacket. unfortunately, the rain seeped right through my jacket and i was soaked almost instantly. also i was freezing once i got wet. we went outside to the 2nd stage because we wanted to hear Thursday. but by the time they finally started playing (incidentally, i don't ever recall going to a concert where the bands took more time to set up between acts. seriously.) i was so cold i knew i had to get a dry shirt on or something. so we went and i got another t-shirt (oh yeah, i had already got one concert t-shirt and put it on over my tank top so i'd be warmer. but once it got wet, it ceased to help). and chucke got us both ponchos.

so i took off my wet shirts and put on the new, dry shirt under the poncho. i felt a TON better after i got on the dry shirt, even though my jeans were soaked clear through. we stood under the shelter of some stairs for a bit, then we decided to go back into the stadium and go sit in the seats, under the overhang to try to dry off a bit. we had all-area passes so we weren't supposed to be in the seats, but luckily they weren't being too watchful. so we had some warm cookies or something and sat in the seats and listened to Underworld and Blur. i was impressed by the hardcore fans who were dancing the entire time Underworld was performing. also, we witnessed this crazy girl in an orange shirt who was literally going crazy during Blur's performance. this girl was INTENSE. i wonder if she was on speed or something. i mean seriously. she was out of control. we were watching from far, far away on the mezzanine level. the sound was still pretty good up there though. we hung our wet shirts on the seats in front of us but they didn't get dry. fortunately, my pants did get a little bit more dry.

throughout the entire show, i did not drink anything at all. i didn't want to have to go to the bathroom when Radiohead finally went on. so i literally didn't drink anything. not even water. for like 12 hours. i guess i must have been absorbing water through my skin though because i didn't feel dehydrated.

we finally made our way down to the floor toward the end of Blur. we wanted to get as close as possible so we could stay there until the end. once we got down there (incidentally it was still raining, usually POURING) we were dismayed to learn that Beck wouldn't be playing, supposedly due to an injury that put him in the hospital. like, a slip & fall injury or something. a lot of fans were dubious and vocalized their opinion that after what we'd been through (w/ the rain) and what we'd paid (too much) Beck should come on stage in a wheelchair if necessary. we were kind of doubtful whether this supposed injury had actually occurred or if Beck just was smart enough not to want to be at an outdoor concert in the pouring rain. *shrugs*

At any rate, after MUCH delay the Beastie Boys finally took the stage. now, i'll admit i'm not a big fan. nevertheless, i do enjoy a number of their songs, in particular such classics as "Sabotage" and "No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn." they didn't play those 2, or hardly any of their other older hits. not even the breakout "Fight for your Right" (or whatever its actual title is). they mostly played new stuff and i was not impressed. my biggest impression was that they're getting old and their show really lacked energy. plus for the first half of their set the mics needed to be turned up. not particularly encouraging. anyways that's my opinion on it.

so then we were waiting around FOREVER for Radiohead to finally play. it was getting dark by this time. oddly enough, i ran into this guy who i met last fall at a Cake concert. i mean seriously, what are the odds? i can see us both being at that concert, even though it was on the other side of the country, but what are the odds of us actually seeing each other? and we both recognized each other and remembered stuff, like that we were both into computer engineering and what-not. so that was kinda wild. there were easily a coupla thousand people on the floor of the stadium by this time, not to mention the stands were filling up. it was a sizable crowd, and i'd estimate the amount if i were any good at estimating numbers. (aside: well, i DID tie to win the "baptismal pool" this summer at the convention at Pontiac- i guessed 230 & there turned out to be 231 baptised.) i think Chucke said he thought there were 10,000 people just on the floor.

to keep us from getting upset, the cameraman was panning the crowd and people were making faces at the camera and what-not. of course, he started to get girls to flash their boobs. then they switched over to showing some words and stuff on the big video screens. around 10 minutes later i was wondering if they were finally going to go on, because the stage was dark but i could see some people were moving around there. chucke boosted me up onto his shoulders so i could get a better look. i was just sort of looking up there, trying to see what was going on when suddenly the people nearby started saying "hey, look- you're up there!" i was like "wha-.?" and then i looked at the screens and saw i was up there. of course, once i looked, everybody started screaming. i started shaking my head, mouthing "NO WAY" and so they started screaming louder. i was thinking if i didn't do anything the cameraman would just move on, but he didn't. i was so embarrassed but Chucke let me down pretty quickly. i mean seriously there was no way i was gonna flash everybody. geez come on. anyways, it was embarrassing. and you know i dont' typically get embarrassed that easily. but when i do, i always make sure to tell the story to everybody. kind of backwards, i'd imagine.

anyways, FINALLY Radiohead went on, and it actually stopped raining around when they started. also, it was warming up becuase the press of people was so great. several times, the crowd rushed forward and everybody was swept along in the crush of bodies. this really short girl was right in front of me and i and a couple other people practically had our arms around her because we didn't want her to get flattened, being so small as she was. there is no way anybody w/ any kind of social phobia would have been able to handle that situation. we were packed in there like sardines. it was mad.

they opened w/ one of their new songs- i'm pretty sure it was "There, there." man, they sounded SO GOOD. they played almost entirely stuff taht i liked, including almost every song off the new album (which somehow, a ton of people there already had got their hands on, but which was entirely new to me), probably every song off Kid A, and a lot of stuff off Ok Computer. they also played a few B-sides like that one song "Talk Show Host" off the Romeo & Juliet soundtrack. i was really happy that they even played one or 2 off the Bends (for instance they played "You Do It To Yourself"). another cool thing was that the lights and stuff that had going on actually added to the overall effect. it seems like sometimes the stuff people do at concerts can actually detract from the music, or at least be a distraction. but their lights & special effects really added to the music. they put on a great show, without a doubt. i wish we could have got closer, but as it was, that entire field was crammed w/ people, so we actually were probably closer to the stage than at least 80% of the people there. we also were fairly positioned toward the middle, where the stereo sound is best. Radiohead gave us a good hour and a half or more of music- they came back for a half-hour long encore set which i think was well-deserved after the way we all put up w/ the rain for them.

SO... the verdict is, it WAS worth it. even though my jeans still hadn't dried by the next morning and i had to take a bath when we got home to warm up. but i don't think i would have stuck out that concert for any other band but Radiohead.

after that, i drove to Canada and hung out w/ my Canuck friends for a few days. it was really fun, but i can't think of any big stories to tell from that experience, other than the fact that i was detained by Customs officials on the way into Canada at Niagara Falls. because i look like SUCH a terrorist, ya know? (NOTE TO THE DOD BOT READING THIS: I'M JUST JOKING, OK? No need to throw out any red flags). despite this delay, having to turn around 2wice because i misinterpreted my brother's vague directions, and getting slowed down by torrential rains, i still made it to Kasey's house in much less time than everyone said it would take. and i'm infamous for my frequent bathroom stops. *shrugs* go figure.

COMING NEXT: airport irony & my new apartment

aside: you know, that "brief synopsis" didn't turn out so brief, did it? ...ah, central time...

weary, so weary. why do i bother?

hello. well i just got back a few days ago from traveling all over the place. i was in Austin, TX for a week to look for an apartment (i found one, yay!). then i went to New Jersey to visit some friends and spend some time in NYC, which is a place i like to visit at least yearly.

Anyways, while i was in Austin, i looked at a bunch of apartments and got a lot of help from my realtor, Myles (hats off to Myles). i found a totally sweet place that actually has a nice view (most of the apartments have a view of a parking lot). there was a Harley convention in Austin that weekend, so we were driving around w/ all these bikes everywhere, especially when we went to the Oasis on Lake Travis. it's a neat restaurant that's kind of perched on the side of a cliff. there are tons of terraces where you can sit and eat (and watch the sunset, often). the place was swarming w/ bikers when we went there, because the road you take to get there is the perfect road to ride a motorcycle on. it's paved and winding, with lovely scenery, and you can tell it's the kind of road that *normally* prolly doesn't get a lot of traffic. we also drove around on this crazy road that goes to a park. but to get there you have to go around about 20 hairpin turns. at the tops of the hills are multi-million dollar mansions. (they are not paying for accessibility, i can tell you that). i'll post some pics eventually, most likely to my yahoo album. we went swimming in lake travis and it was pretty nice. it was SO HOT! at least one day it was over 100 degrees F, and this was in May. crazy.

After I got back from Austin, i left immediately to go out east. i made it across the state of pennsylvania in a record-breaking 4 hours (well, it was a record for me anyways). i can't stand driving through PA, and i just wanted to get it over with. half the time i was being pursued by a PSYCHO TRUCK DRIVER. he would come flying down those looooooonggg hills right behind me, typically when there was a car in front of me and to the side of me, so there would be nowhere for me to go when his truck slammed into the back of my car because he was going TOO FAST and weighed TOO MUCH and his BRAKES FAILED. luckily, this didn't happen, although he kept riding up on my back bumper i coulda sworn it was gonna be the end of me and Plucky. psycho truck drivers aside, it was a nice ride. i musta listened to 10 or more cds, and i made phenomenally good time. even the construction didn't slow me down much because traffic was light.

i went out to dinner w/ the friends i was staying w/, then we rented a dumb comedy. Julie insisted that i sleep in her bed instead of the couch, and i had weird dreams every night (apparently water beds have that effect. at least on me. it was the first time i had slept on a water bed). Thursday morning i slept in, then met up w/ my friend Jer, who's a bethelite, in Brooklyn. unfortunately my phone was on drugs and he wandered around looking for me for half an hour while i blithely waited for him to call my phone (yeah... he tried like 3 times). stupid phone. it's not verizon, it's the phone. later, when i tried to access my voice mail, it flashed some weird message like "3294" then turned itself off. when i turned it back on, it magically was working (w/ full digital signal, no less. *sigh* and all day i was thinking i just wasn't getting signal, despite being in the middle of manhatten). jer and i went into manhatten and walked around, went to the Virgin Megastore at Times Square, wandered up to central park, had lunch, etc. i ended up being glad i bought a 10 buck metrocard instead of a fun pass because i ended up only using 2 rides. so now i still have a card w/ 4 rides on it for next time i go back.

i then went to my friend Melody's apartment in queens (or right on the edge of brooklyn/queens? i woulda considered it queens). jer warned me to avoid getting busted for yacking on my cell phone (apparently it's illegal in all the buroughs, unless you have a hands-free. yeah, i blatantly broke that rule several times... oh well) so then i went w/ Mel and her friend Rodney to her meeting. at her Kingdom Hall, you can hear the subway trains go by (but it's not distracting or anything) and there are 3 spanish vs 1 english congregation. (a sidenote: in Austin, evidently pretty much every hall has 3 english & 1 spanish). oh yeah, this was the first time i got to meet Mel in person, so that was really cool. she was just how i pictured she'd be. it's cool to meet an online friend in person finally. they had to work the next day, so i just headed back to jersey at like 11 or something.

Friday morning we headed out to the beach in NJ- island park. the water was COLD!!! man, it was cold. much colder than lake michigan had been memorial day weekend when we went out to the dunes to play volleyball. THAT was invigorating. this was just DEATHLY COLD. bone-numbing cold. but it was all right. it was sunny and gorgeous that day, although i wouldhn't have minded it bieng a bit warmer. Friday night chucke and i drove into Manhatten to meet up w/ Mel and some other friends at a Moroccan restaurant in east village. Mel also took us to this totally sweet 2nd-hand record store. i like east village. it has such a comfortable atmosphere. it felt good walking around there, and almost made me wish i had taken the job in NYC instead of Austin. the thing about the city is that it's never quiet, though, and i don't know if i'd like that. the novelty might wear off in time. anyways, back onto topic, we picked up Jer and drove over to this cool hungarian cafe in Soho to meet up w/ my friend Matt from long island (interestingly, another friend whom i initially met on-line). on the way there, chucke nearly got us killed (several times). all 7 of us were crammed into his caprice.

Ok.... what next.... (i took a break from this for like 7 hours or somethign... it's been a long day). So we finally made it (alive) to the cafe and had a drink and this DELICIOUS chocolate mousse cake. it was SO GOOD. everyone that tried a bite of someone else's ended up getting a piece. we were somewhat dismayed when the bill came and we realized that it was 7 bucks a pop. but the jazz band was great and there was no cover, so we didn't really mind that much.

after the group split up, chucke, jer and i went to see 2 fast 2 furious (the cars were cool, but they shoulda left out the "plot" and just kept the action sequences). when we got back to the car, there was a $100 parking ticket on it becuase we parked somehwere that had a sign that said "no parking 7am-7pm, no standing 7pm-7am". ??!!!!?? is all i can say to that. we weren't standing. we were parked. it was around 10 or 11 until 12 or 1.

ok, well, i'm getting majorly sick of typing in this blog, so i'll have to continue the story later. COMING NEXT: the story of the ill-fated Field Day music festival and the universal question: was it worth it for Radiohead?

here's a useful link:
www.cybercafe.com

This is a supposed international guide to help you find cybercafes. i have been looking into this today because i'm going to austin tomorrow to look for an apartment and since i don't have a laptop, it's going to be tricky getting internet access while i'm down there. the idea of going for an entire week w/out internet access is not only unappealing, it would actually be very problematic, since i'm auctioning something on ebay and i'm going to have to be in touch w/ the buyer over the next coupla days. grrrr not having a laptop is irritating. but IBM is supposedly gonna hook me up w/ one. so that'll be cool.

anyways, here are some other links i've found dealing w/ internet cafes.
Some guy's blog
NetCafeGuide
Another searchable database of internet cafes

An interesting thing i noticed was the prevalence of internet cafes in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. i was thinking about it today, and realizing i can't even think of a single internet cafe in Ann Arbor, except if you count the Espresso Royale on State St (shout out to my homeys at ERC). (incidentally, i don't actually have any homeys at ERC, at least not the one at State Street, but i do play my guitar out in front of their place every now and then.) and that's not really an internet cafe per se, but it does have Internet access, which is the important thing. i've never actually used it there, though.

anyways, i was going somewhere w/ this thought... oh yeah, well i was thinking, i guess maybe there really aren't all that many cybercafes in the states, because everybody has internet access at home. but in playa del carmen, there was practically one on every corner. which would make sense, since a lot of people don't even have phones, much less internet access at home. ok, well i've droned on enough i guess.

ok, i just wanted to share something i discovered today:
AirportDiscountParking.com

Very nice!

hey. well, i was kinda too depressed to post anything here for a while, but i finally feel up to it. i figured since i've been mostly listening to a particular subset of my musical collection, but i'm too lazy to make a new "music pix" page, i'd post some music reviews here.

In my CD player now:
1. Portishead- "Dummy." This is just such a great record. I've been told that the genre of music is "trip-hop," although I have to admit i'm not entirely sure what that means. I just know that i like it. I was first exposed to Portishead when i learned a dance to the song "Numb" (track 7, incidentally) in my modern dance class. Being the child of the Internet that I am, of course i had to immediately go home and download a bunch of mp3s, and from then on I started to get into the other songs like "Wandering Star" and "Sour Times." One song I actually hadn't heard until I got the cd turned out to become one of my favorites- "It could be Sweet". Well if i keep this up I'm going to list every single song because they're all good. *sigh* what a great cd.

2. The Flaming Lips- "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots." Although I bought this CD almost a year ago when I was in Chicago, I find that i'm still listening to it on a consistent basis, especially lately. I actually finally even figured out how to play a song off it on my guitar, the inspired if somewhat sad ballad "Do You Realize." Most of the album is twinged with melancholy, although I'd by no means say it's a depressing record. The first track, "Fight Test," gets it off to a very strong start, and the rest of the cd doesn't disappoint. It's about this girl battling robots and so on and so forth. I think i've mentioned it on this blog before.

3. Smashing Pumpkins- "Siamese Dream." I think this might be the pumpkins' most underrated album. Despite radio hits like "Today" and "Disarm" (that's that one "killer in me is the killer in you" song where Billy sounds kinda whiny- incidentally one of my least favorite tracks), it seems like this album didn't garner much acclaim. Nevertheless, I really enjoy most of it, especially the last half of the cd, including "Soma," "Mayonaise," and "Spaceboy." The last song, "Luna," which is kind of softer than the rest of the record, is really good, too. It also sounds like it has a sitar or something, which is kind of neat. There's a lot of variety on the cd, which makes it good to listen to the whole thing. One of my favorite things about the songs on this cd is that many of them are split between soft, melodic parts and harder rocking sections. This is particularly noteworthy on "Mayonaise," which starts off with some very light, pretty sounding guitar licks, and then gets rougher during the chorus or whatever. *shrugs* I like it when songs have variety in them, kind of like how in most classical music there is a lot of variation of tone and volume throughout a piece.

4. Coldplay- "A Rush of Blood to the Head." The first coldplay cd was so good, i had to brace myself for disappointment before buying their 2nd cd. However, my fears proved totally groundless since it turned out to be so good. I would be hard pressed to even choose which one of them i like better. From radio hit "In My Place," (also one of quite a few of their songs featured on the teeny-bopper tv show "Smallville," which happens to be the only tv show that i actually watch) to my personal favorite, "Green Eyes," (a song which is special to me) this is a really strong album. It's one of those discs that just keeps growing on you the more you listen to it. There is a soft spot in my heart for track 4, "the Scientist," which sounds to me like a perfect song to dance to. I just love songs that have a long intro and then finally when the drums come in it just makes me feel like dancing. this sounds SO LAME. well, whatever. this is my blog so i'll write whatever i want. =) Some other highlights are the 3rd track, "God put a smile on your face," which has cool-sounding guitar, and "warning sign." seriously, it's all good- anyone who liked the first album will definitely enjoy this one as well.

Well i was gonna put up a few more, but i don't have time now. However, some other stuff i've been listening to somewhat lately is James Taylor's greatest hits (volume 1), the White Stripes' "Elephant" (I think Meg has improved. really), and this cool jazz cd i stole from colette (well, actually she gave it to me) by the Ellis Marsalis Trio called "twelve's it." I usually only like jazz live, but colette has been trying for at least a year now to win me over w/ recorded jazz and she finally pulled it off. this cd is very nice to listen to especially if you don't mind drum solos. personally i kind of like the drum solos.

ok, i'm done.

i've often made us of the cliche that "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger." in fact, last semester it became something of a mantra as i struggled through 470. however, i've realized of late that this expression is really only true in a long-term sense. in retrospect, it seems obvious, yet it came as something of a revelation when i realized that struggles that take an immense toll have a serious weakening effect in the short-term. much like weight lifting actually tears muscles, and its during periods of rest that the actual growth and muscle building occurs, i'm starting to think that it's in the periods of relative ease and recovery that true character development and healing occurs. and that's what makes you stronger.

i'm a stupid, stupid girl.

*sigh*

ok, finally i think i'm ready to share the 2nd Installment about my fun-filled mexico trip.

Saturday, Mar 1
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8 or 8:30am- i wake up, immediately head out to the beach and lay on a chaise lounge (incidentally, isn't that a great word?) and read while soaking up some rays. it's already getting hot, but there's a stiff breeze off the ocean, making the temperature very pleasant in the sunshine. i wander around for a bit, walk quite a ways down the beach. some kid is like, swimming in the ocean w/ a little boogie board and no adults in the immediate vicinity. i'm like, "hey, kid!" but he doens't pay attention to me. so i'm like, "HEY!" but he just kind of swims away, like maybe he doesn't understand or he's afraid of me or something. but i'm all concerned 'n what-not because this kid is swimming in the OCEAN and he appears to be like 7 years old or something. apparently some maternal instinct that resides deep within me and is seldom expressed has been stirred. i start walking again, but looking around trying to find an adult to associate w/ this child. i finally see this guy starting to walk towards me so i say "hey, is that your kid?" and he's like "MINE-" while pointing to the kid. so i'm relieved, and resume my walk back up the beach.
i find out the harbor is closed, but nobody knows why. i ask if it's because of the high winds, but they tell me it's really not that bad. evidently, there is one guy in charge of the harbor, and when he says it's closed, it's closed. there are no boats in sight, but several windsurfers totally going crazy jumping the waves and stuff. the australian guy at a stand (for renting boats and stuff) tells me that those guys are relatives of the guy in charge of the harbor and that's the only reason they get away w/ being out there. i'm bummed, becasue i wanted to go parasailing or something, but i can't since the harbor's closed.

11am-2pm: i relax in the hammock in the shade and finish reading Lord of the Rings: the 2 Towers. i am getting alot more out of these books the 2nd time around than i did when i read them before in high school or whatever. i have some lunch and generally stay out of the sun because i don't want to get burned. however, despite multiple coats of sunblock and staying in the shade, i still get some sun.

2-5pm: i borrow a bike from the hotel and ride around Playacar for a little bit. there are all these weird houses that i photograph. i ride down a trail that goes through a golf course, and i want to ride down this dirt trail i see but then i realize that i have no idea how the Mexican trespassing laws work and i've heard all kinds of stories about tourists getting thrown into Mexican jail. so i ride back onto the street, then i ride into the town of Playa del Carmen. the streets are dusty and chaotic, filled w/ milling pedestrians from bronzed natives to sunburnt tourists, mopeds, bicycles and an assortment of cars, mostly taxis and small fuel-efficient vehicles. but there are occasional vans. not a lot of SUVs down there. i ride onto 4th avenue and get yelled at because you're not allowed to ride bikes there. but i don't have a lock, so i just walk my bike back to the nearest cross street.
on the way back, i stop at a tiny little convenience store to get some water. i grab a bottle and notice w/ disappointment that despite having been in a fridge, it's not even slightly cold. then i open the bottle and it explodes because it's actually carbonated. so that's pretty disappointing. i drink as much as i can force myself to, then hop back onto the bike and ride back to the hotel feeling rather dusty and tired out, since i have ridden all over town at this point. there are no traffic lights in playa del carmen, just an occasional traffic cop in the middle of the intersection waving his hands and blowing a whistle ineffectually. nevertheless, traffic moves, albeit in somewhat chaotic patterns.

5-8pm: upon returning to the hotel, the guy who takes care of the bikes strikes up a conversation. for some reason i still haven't fully ascertained, he asks me "estudias la biblia?" when i respond in the affirmative, i discover he's also one of Jehovah's Witnesses, or los Testigos de Jehova, as we are known in spanish. so that's kind of crazy. his name is Marcos. we talk for a bit, then agree to meet later so he can show me around town. i had been planning to walk back into town later so that i can see the shops and what-not (and not get busted for riding a bike where i'm not supposed to, etc). I go swimming in the pool, get cleaned up and have dinner.

8-11pm: i meet up w/ Marcos and we walk back into Playa del Carmen. we go to a place where this lady braids just the front part of my hair in corn rows for 10 bucks. i kind of fake out the lady and her husband who work there, since they don't realize at first that i understand everythign that's happening. once the joke is up they start talking to me in spanish. we keep trying to find marcasite earrings for my mom, but nobody has any for anythign resembling a reasonable price. i figure if i can get it cheaper STate-side, why buy it in Mexico? in the end, i only wind up getting a present for tonya, because i see an anklet i think she would really like, and plus i espeically wanted to get something for her and/or Jakes, since they will pick me up at hte airport the next day. so it's the least i can do. we wander all over town and occasionally i pretend not to know spanish.

11pm- finally i'm back at the hotel and my trip is almost over. i try to pack almost everything because i know i have to be up at like 6 the next day. Marcos is despondent at the thoguht of my imminent departure.


Sunday, Mar 2
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6am- i miraculously wake up. moments later the front desk actually remembers to give me a wake-up call. i stumble into my last remaining outfit that wasn't packed and discover my bathing suits are both still wet because it's so humid down there. even though i brought everything in one carry-on bag, i'm not up to the challenge of somehow cramming it all back in there. so improvise my beach bag as a carry-on and pack everythgin else into my rolling backpack. I wish Marcos well and after checking out (and not getting charged for my phone call to the US, remarkably) I'm off to the airport.
I get searched, oddly enough, but luckily i don't have very much stuff so it only takes a few moments. then i'm waiting around for the plane and really there isnt much to tell. our plane gets to detroit about half hour early, but they wo'nt let us disembark because stupid Metro isn't ready for us w/ customs personnel. so we sit on the plane for EVER and wait. this is so typical of DTW. meanwhile, Ta and Jakes drive in circles because they were there on time and they're waiting to take me home. luckily, i grab my bag instantly off the baggage carousel and proceed through customs quickly.

and that's really that. sorry i got kind of rushed towards the end i just didn't feel like writing about it anymore. some other stuff happened but i think i included all the highlights. the trip was really too short, but it was a good start i think . and i finally have a stamp in my passport now!

=)

hello all. well, i'm back from mexico and ready to cause trouble again. in case anyone is interested in my trip, i figured i'd publish a run-down here. a page will be available soon and i'll post a link. in the meantime, small versions of my pictures are available here:
http://photos.yahoo.com/spoongrrl19

so here's basically what happened:

Thursday, Feb 27
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7:45 am- got to the pathetic excuse for an airport known as Detroit Metro Wayne County. everybody was there at like 9:30, so they said they'd let our 10:25 flight leave early. however, since it's DTW, we sat on the runway forever waiting for a de-icing machine. so the plane didn't take off until closer to 11.
2 pm or so (local time)- arrived at Cancun. proceeded outside swiftly, since i brought everything in my carry-on. waited for a while on the sidewalk until my transportation finally arrived. rode to the hotel in Playa del Carmen. apparently the driver had only driven before once or twice. i was sitting up front so i saw everything. it was scary, but i survived. i actually tipped the guy out of gratitude i was still alive.
3-5 pm- frantically running around trying to make a phone call home to tell my parents i got there all right. was irritated because my cell phone got 3 bars of signal but i still coudln't call anybody w/ it. whenever i tried i got this wack message. i think the lady was saying something about an invalid number, but i have trouble understanding spanish over the phone. i couldn't get my dumb phone card to work, either. some dude at this store at the plaza down the street from the hotel was all "No hablo ingles" then he was really surprised when i said "esta bien. Necesito usar un telefono, pero los telefonos alli no me permite usar mi tarjeta..." it was kinda funny. finally i ended up using the hotel phone to call my aunt's house (my parents' was busy). the receptionist told me it would cost me 10 bucks, but they never charged me. [NOTE- later i find out that my cellphone didn't work because i didn't have international dialing ACTIVATED, a small matter that the verizon representatives i spoke w/ just a day earlier to ask about the cost of using my phone in Mexico FORGOT TO MENTION)
5-11 pm- later i spent some time w/ this lady who represented my tour company, Apple. after much waiting and such, she managed to book me a tour for the next day. i went swimming in the pool and explored the hotel a bit. had dinner, which was delicious, around 9. lounged in the hammock a bit (all the rooms have hammocks outside on the porch, which is AWESOME as far as i'm concerned). went inside to discover hte bathroom had been taken over by a small colony of ANTS. killed as many as i could, but they all ran away when i turned on the light. the A/C made a noise and generated a gentle, warm breeze. i tried to go to sleep since i had to be ready to leave at 7am.

Friday, Feb 28
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6:10am- miraculously i wake up, despite the fact that i didn't hear my alarm going off on the other side of the room. i was afraid my cell phone's lousy battery would die (it often does) so i plugged it into the charger using the only outlet, which was across the room. apparently in an effort to make my vacation feel more like a vacation, the hotel does not have any clocks. period. shake my head w/ relief that i still woke up. i get ready and wait for the tour van to arrive, which is 25 minutes late or something. but i didn't know it would be late, so i didn't go upstairs and get breakfast.
7:30am- riding in the van, the guide, Salvador, is amazed that an American can speak even rudimentary Spanish. our chatting apparently distracts him and he forgets to pick up one couple who is coming on our tour. we have to go back to Playacar to pick them up. nobody minds, since we're on vacation. after a brief pit stop, Salvador shares gives us each a weird but tasty cookie. this is the only food i will have for the next 5 hours.
11am or something- arrive at the Mayan village of Pac-Chen after driving down roads that put even Michigan potholes to shame. I'm glad i was riding in the front, since i probably would have been sick otherwise, not having had any real food all day. Once we get to the Mayan village, we hike around for a bit then canoe in a beautiful lake. salvador reminds the tourists that paddling on one side makes you go the other way (based on my own observations, this counsel was needed by at least a few of them). Salvador and I share a canoe, since i'm the only one there who's not part of a couple. we're the only ones w/ no lifejackets, and the only ones who actually jump in the water for a bit. (maybe the others were scared of the caymans?)
then we hike around the lake, and get to this rip cord thing. it's maybe 40 or 50 feet high cliff, w/ water below. i'm not good w/ distances so maybe i'm off. the rip chord is really fun, not scary though. none of it was. it was all just fun. the other people act like they're scared to go, but i don't know if they really are or not.
after that, we continue to hike to this other part of the village, where we rapel down into a cenote, which is a big cavern filled w/ water. the one we go into is called Jaguar cenote. it's about 50 feet down to get to the water, and the water is hundreds of feet deep, but perfectly clear. tree roots hang down from the roof above into the water. the sunlight shines down in beams from the few holes overhead, casting eery pools of light into the water and transforming anyone who briefly swims into the beam into an angel bathed in gold. i get cold after swimming around a bit, and venture to climb up the long rope ladder to get out. it's crazy and not for the faint of heart, or weak of limb. my arms are shaking slightly by the time i finally reach the top.
2pm or so- we finally hike back to the village proper (if you can call it that) and eat LUNCH! by this time, my body has forgotten how to metabolize food. a newly married couple from pennsylvania and i discover a new form of refreshment- sprite mixed w/ grape juice (it was yummy).
3pm- we pile back into the van and drive about 45 mins to Coba, one of the largest and least-developed Mayan archaelogical sites. since the yucatan is flat, anytime you see a hill, you know it's man-made. there are many unexcavated mayan structures all over the place. at Coba, which is a national park, Salvador leaves us w/ a guide who unenthusiastically tells us some stuff about hte ruins. then I rent a bike to ride the kilometer or so to the biggest pyramid, an ancient temple that stands some 40 meters tall. i am the first one of the group to get there, since i was flying on my rented (for 20 pesos) bike. without hesitation i begin to climb and reach the top a few moments later, slightly breathless. Salvador is waiting at the top.
the view is amazing- it looks way higher when you're actually up there than it did from below. the treeline is far beneath and we can see the lake we passed earlier on the way, glimmering in the slanting orange rays of the sun as it slides toward the horizon before us. there is a little room at hte top that you can enter. unfortunately, a sign forbids climbing onto the top of hte roof (i'm thinking- hey i've come this far... but evidently those Mexicans read my mind before i even got there). eventually all but one of our companions climbs up and we hang out for a while until this park ranger dude makes us leave (which is a bummer since we wanted to watch teh sunset up there). although Salvador and I are the last to start making our way down, we're among the first to reach the bottom.
6pm- we get ready to leave coba. i take a picture of this WACK huge ATV that has been converted into an RV. the folks who own it don't mind my camera. the others in our group drink Coronas. we take the long drive back to Playa del Carmen, and this time Salvador actually openly blames me when we almost forget to drop off one of the couples near the exit for Xcaret. we're talking in spanish and the other passengers don't seem to notice when we turn around and backtrack about a half mile or so. in the end it only takes an extra 5 or 10 mins. i get to the hotel and promise to email Salvador the picture of hte crazy ATV thing. i swim in the pool, clean up and have dinner. i write some postcards and have a drink, then lounge in the hammock again before bed. the stupid lamp in the hotel room shocks me when i touch it w/ barefeet. it freaks me out at first, then just makes me angry. i discover that the ants are back- evidently they only come out at night.
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check back later for hte Next Installment.
(this is taking just TOO, TOO LONG to write up!!)