tofurkey day

Now that I've moved out of my parents' house, I've joined the world of those who travel to visit their families for Thanksgiving. I cut out of work at 5:30 on Wednesday and rushed up to Penn Station, only to wait around for an hour for the train to arrive. Luckily, I had the fabulous company of one VReing for the wait and the ride.

And what a ride it was.

We squirmed our way to the head of the mob to get onto the train (the Penn Station staff really shouldn't complain about people's inability to form a line when they don't encourage one with those seatbelt-y divider things), and found two seats next to each other.

Ah, the Acela. Cleaner and faster than all the other Amtrak trains. What luxury! Altho, apparently, the bathroom was gross. I bet it still was better than the non-Acela bathrooms, and the ones on the bus, but I can't say I minded never having to find out for myself.

Anyhoo, the biggest challenge of the ride was staying awake for the whole thing. Work is hard; even a 3-day workweek wears me out. So I was just about to doze off somewhere between New London and Providence, when the train came to a halt. Once I figured out that we were nowhere near Broadway/Lafayette, I began to wonder what was wrong. But no worry! An announcement came over the PA just then, informing us that they were working on getting power back to the train. Soon, another announcement! (we're so popular, us train passengers) This time: The next power grid is fine, but the current one still has no power, and we'll let you know what we know in 15 minutes. Half an hour later... Guess what! You get two trains for the price of one! They had failed to get the power back to the wires, but another train was on the way (the one that left an hour after we did), and would pick us up.

Soon, sure enough, the next train pulled up next to us, as full as ours (over 75%). It was a harrowing journey, involving a plank and a bridge guard bearing the warning, "Only one person on the plank at a time, please." Luckily, she didn't quiz us on things like our favorite color before we could pass.

As the passengers on the quiet car (oops), we got to get on the new train first! So VReing and I and our new-found across-the-table grad-student friends found a spot with three stools and one leaning spot in the cafe car--four of the best seats left on the new train.

Train v. 2.0 was full of interesting characters, all of whom had come from Train v. 1.0 like we did. It featured:

-Drunk Guy with a Boston Accent (DGBA): double-fisting when we met him, DGBA had been imbibing since 6pm (it was now 10:45) and was slurring the hell out of his speech. Amusing, but easily angered. Finished two beers and two wines during the brief time we were perched/leaning near him.

-Smoking Man (SM): put out the cigarrette after the announcement stating that anyone caught lighting up would be kicked off of the train, causing further delays.

-Adorable Love Connection (ALC): were having the most boring conversation ever (he describing brain function and she detailing her stint of jury duty), and totally loving it. Were smitten with each other. So cute.


At long last, we arrived, in time to go home and basically crash. Everybody's ride home from the station had been waiting around as long as we had, as many had left to pick us up before we stopped in the first place. Ah, the holidays.


In other news, I've been Googled! And MSN'd! 3 Google searches and 4 MSN searches have returned this very blog as a result. Most awesome keywords: foedal and ooh. Yes, I know I misspelled foetal. I was angry about politics or something. Also, the previous links are to Google searches, when those words found my blog through MSN searches. But the former when Googled also returns me. Found by a misspelled Internet search keyword... how embarrassing!

The Onion Almost as Good as Sex, Says Exiting Employee

We had yet another going away party at the office the other day. I mean, only the second since I started... One might think that our office parties would be different from the norm. One would be wrong. Mostly. But, I'll never pass up free cake. It's like that Seinfeld episode, where Elaine eats that thousand-year-old cake. In his farewell speech, the latest deserter alluded to working for the Onion nearly measuring up to some kind of unmentionable situation.

My office also features:

Writers!
Often mistaken for loafing slackers, these people appear to roam the office looking for things to do, while really producing all of that funny stuff you read on the site or in the paper (you should really read it on the site rather than in the paper tho. The site is way cooler. Mostly because that's the part I work with).

Ping-Pong!
Well, a ping-pong table. I hear it is used. Sometimes for actual ping-pong! Sometimes for Beirut. I've seen neither so far.

Improv Comedy!
Weird rehearsals... I'm sure the shows are great, but I don't tend to get out of work in time to see them.

Parties!
Ok, these tend to be at bars. Fun nonetheless, especially when they involve free beer and latkes.

iTunes!
Werd to ethernet music-sharing. The whole staff has pretty awesome selections. Except when iTunes wants passwords for purchased music. Grr.

Dogs!
... maybe. I haven't seen any yet, but if a bring-your-dog-to-work lobby forms, I'll totally join.

Beer!
Again something I haven't actually seen, but there are definitely cans in the fridge, and once I saw an empty Pabst can. Apparently nobody really cracks anything until after 6pm or so. Besides tasty soda from Joe's Cold Beverages of course.

Joe's Cold Beverages!
Cheapest snacks you'll ever find in SoHo. More hot beverages than cold, and such items as candy and chapstick.


All in all, definitely the "non-corporate work environment" advertised in some job postings on their site.

Hey aerob, why haven't you blogged in forever?

New jobs are hard. Like, way hard. Sometimes they don't get easier all that quick. I work really hard. And I work a lot.

And, when I get home, the last thing I want to do is go back onto a computer.

But after a nice long weekend (we, unlike most of the world, got Veteran's Day off... but not Martin Luther King day), I can once again bear to look at my laptop. Good thing, because my desktop is not in the same room as the TV and, therefore, 'Friends' on DVD.

This weekend saw many marvelous adventures! We could have an entire montage scene based on it!

First, on Thursday night, we vegged out in front of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (with Jonny Depp), including the awesome Dance Video in the extras (Didn't that seem rather... choreographed?). Friday saw more vegging. I guess the whole weekend involved much vegging. But, when vegging, there is always much sliding down the hallway in socks also. At least, in the winter, when I wear socks, there is sliding.

Friday night started out as an awesome women and Ben's night out in the Lower East Side (LES). Off we went on a grand trip to the Boar's Head Tavern, sight of many a fun night out previously. We got free shots, all we had to give the bar was our email addresses (hey, what is gmail for, anyway?)! So Bsom and Jhoff wussed out when it was only like 1am (I was thinking there that 1am would sound really late, so the phrase "only like 1am" would be humorous, yet in my head 1am really does sound early). That's when the real fun started.

And by real fun, I mean a dude old enough to be our father (turned out he *has* daughters our age) struck up a conversation with us. So we go into bullshit mode, aiming for interesting conversation and possibly a free drink from Mr. "I got rich off of the Stock Market, lalala." Unfortunately, he was far more interested in getting my attention by putting his hand on my leg, especially while I was talking to some other dude about his fancy cell phone ("And I don't care... if your cell phone... has a qwerty keyboard... But at least you are... not ske-etchy..."). So TMQ and I went to the bathroom. In retrospect, this was a bad idea, because it left KPd alone with Mr. Sketch. I return upon getting an sos text message from KPd, to find super-sketchy-old-dude touching her hair. So I yelled at him, and he left. It was way cool. I mean, guys being sketchy sucks. But this made it cooler to regulate his ass. Dudes need to stop assuming they can do shit like assuming they can touch women they don't even know. Rarr.

Saturday night was much better, and way more dance-tastic. We went to a hipster bar, also in the LES, and danced out pants off. The bouncer was 'hawked, the tunes were kickin', and the crowd was way trendy. And we fit right in! Mostly because we rawk, and are sweet-as dancers. It was a blast and a half. And we left before 3! We could have gone to the Panty Party (apparently a way hip thing to get into), but were exhausted.

Today, we slept in again, as per usual. Then we went to Bay Ridge (home of all the Norwegians!) and checked out the pier. There was fishing, and biking, and skateboarding, and even some scooting! And a great view of both Manhattan and the Verazano Narrows Bridge. Didn't really find any of those Norwegians tho... But we did find an awesome home-style restaurang/ice cream parlor! Like Friendly's, but without the chain-restaurant-ness or the slow service. Only they screwed up my order... whatevs.

Upon arriving home, we watched Shaun of the Dead, which is awesome. Then more 'Friends.' Then I blogged!

Adios, for now.

Slope-tastic

So, here I am in the Tea Lounge, pulling a Jess (updating my blog from an Apple laptop in the Tea Lounge, that is, oh and also doing this after a trip to SoHo to go shopping at American Apparel... and other places).

Work is insane. This isn't to say I'm unhappy, just busy. Like, way busy. Like, I thought there were laws against this busy. Ok not *that* bad, but my roommates are starting to wonder if I still live at home. I think I saw my face on a milk carton the other day, come to think of it...

I finally have more than one pair of pants! After the above SoHo shopping spree. I'd been rotating between the one pair of jeans I have here (think I left the other pair up in the MA), and it was getting old. My signature green cargo pants are stained, alas. But I have stocked up on made-in-the-USA knitwear! Woot!

Also, bsom, aberg, kpd and I reached a new level of trendiness by playing Settlers at Buttermilk, the nearby hipster bar. It's like a coffee shop that serves alcohol, noted KPd, who also won, keeping Wesleyan undefeated in Settlers in Brooklyn (yes, Vassar, consider the gauntlet thrown). Ben's glasses... Kerry's new t-shirt collection... rounds of Yuengling... we're so trendy =D Apparently my boatneck top is also hipster-ish, but I feel like things I bought at the mall could never really be defined as hipster-ish. Working at the Onion is pretty hip, I guess. And, yes, I do have some pretty hipster-tastic t-shirts. But I wasn't wearing one of those at Buttermilk.

oh werd?

::dusts off keyboard::

when was i here last? oops. i like to be more reliable to my faithful readers. all three of them.

so, um what happened since i've been gone?
-we stopped the war. er, we said 'make levees not war,' which became the theme of the protests, according to the news media. they failed to mention the part where tons of veterans were there, including veterans of this particular war.
-i got a job. at the Onion. i'm wicked psyched. i started today. and worked 9 hours. woah. i was gonna work more, but things didn't work right when i got them home, oops.
-i started design school. i'm so trendy. and, it's a shit-ton of work.
-i learned--or re-learned, rather--that some boys are mega-tools. but some are way hot. ok, plenty are both.
-the red sox got the wild card pick again. this time by tying the yank-offs' record. bullshit, if ya ask me. well, what's bullshit is the part where there would have been a mini playoff had cleveland also tied the sox and yanks. stupid crazy baseball rules. anyhoo, GO RED SOX!
-we went to some parties. much fun was had.
-clearly, i forgot how to be dryly humorous. i'll work on that for next time.

Ask Bono

New! At The New York Times! Ask Bono a question (or five) about world poverty and/or the UN Summit!

class warfare

Thanks to The Huffington Post, I've come across continuing ricockulousness of FEMA and the right wing media-industrial complex (Yes, it's an industrial complex too now. Or maybe it would just be the right wing media complex? I dunno. It's crap is what it is).

In Louisiana, Bush's visit to New Orleans postponed the delivery of 3 tons of food to starving hurricaine victims; in Atlanta, some 1000 firefighters were trained to pass out pamphlets to refugees, rah-rah-ing FEMA and telling people which toll-free number to call with questions. But with what phones? you ask... I've been wondering the same myself.

Meanwhile, Rick Santorum thinks harsher punishments for people refusing to evacuate would prevent catastrophes like this from occurring in the future, and First Mother Barbara Bush thinks the victims are better off homeless in Texas.

It's times like these i really wish I got Comedy Central. And CNN. Even FOX News is getting slightly critical of the handling of the situation (Geraldo cried).

Me? I'm fucking pissed off. Instead of doing anything at all to help, the administration is posing for photo ops and FEMA is doing the PR work. I will see each and every one of you in the streets on 24th September.

dear myself from a week and a half ago...

you'll want to remember these things:

• the F train is not running its normal route for the weekend of 26-29 august. get the fuck off the train at hoyt-schermerhorn.
  
• dude, that's the pier where the folks were held during the rnc!
  
• the tp can wait. say hello first.
  
• skip the thing about the wine; maybe say something about the haircut instead.
  
• not that way! the projects are that way! remember what vik said about what nyc projects look like? that's it.
  
• "i don't think that's your concern" is a perfectly reasonable answer when sketchy guy down the street asks if you're single. also, lying. that works.
  
• don't forget to leave enough time to *buy* the metronorth ticket. there are machines if need be.
  
• also leave time for the F train to once again be screwy, and take forever.
  
• one beer is enough before assembling furniture.
  

that is all.

And I don't care if your cell phone has an iPod in it...

do do do do dooooo...

So the New York Times thinks that Apple, Motorola, and Cingular plan to release a cell phone iPod, probably at Apple's press event on 7th September. Now, I love my iPod, and my cell phone, as much as the next kid, but I don't think I'd want them in one package. My first thought was, what if you run down the battery playing music, and then need to make a call? Maybe it has two batteries? But that would be ridiculous.

Generally, I'm not a fan of this wave of multi-use gadget craze. Yeah, it can be fun to take a picture and send it to somebody else's phone, but I'd rather have a phone that works well and a camera that works well and an iPod that works well. And I really don't like the whole idea of sneakily taking pictures with a cell phone, pretending like you're finding a number or whatever. So, that's my rant about silly gadgets. I will say, I have gotten used to the camera phones over the past two years, maybe the same will be true for the iPod phones.

In other news, comments are back! With decipher-the-word-like-when-you-buy-concert-tickets action! Try it today!

also

new states visited map! (you'll have to check the archive for the old one)
since the road trip, it looks like this!



create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

not an urban legend after all

It hadn't reached urban-legendary enough status to make snopes (which has a new top navigation banner, but the same old look on the bottom... resulting in total weirdness... and i should know, i'm about to start design school) yet, but we'd all heard the rumor:

Nalgenes cause cancer.

Well, somebody finally did googling, and came up with an article... or, more aptly, a blog post, detailing various studies done on the plastic over the years. Long story short, yes, the hard plastic Nalgene bottles cause cancer and birth defects in mice. And since human ova are weaker than mouse ova, they probably at least cause birth defects in humans too. Klean Kanteen has links to various other articles on the subject, as well as stainless steel bottles for purchase.

Some bottles are safe. The dangerous ones, on the bottom, have a 7 in the recycling symbol with 'PC' under it. Far as I know, the soft ones are safe. Unfortunately, my new Zion National Park bottle is PC 7. Sigh. Somebody alert Wesleyan... Maybe it was a plot by Nalgene against the Left.

that's it! no more comments!

after 5 comments in the span of an hour, all complete junk (ads), i've limited commenting to only members of this blog (ie, me). if you email comments, i'll post them, but i refuse to be a tool of spammage. or the man. yeah.

fuck you, sploggers!

shite!

ok, people need to stop spommenting (splogging? spam-commenting.) on my blogs. it will be deleted, all of it. and if it doesn't stop, appologies to all, i'll have to stop allowing comments at all (or, at least, by people who aren't me, basically). grr.

in other news, i'ma get a certificate in graphic and digital design (focusing on web design) at parsons. woot!

pics from the road trip on their way, i promise.

Kitchen!

kitchen/bathroom
Originally uploaded by ertzeid.

Where the food is. And the door to the bathroom. Check out the awesome shower curtain, thanks to KPd!

Living Room

living room
Originally uploaded by ertzeid.

Here's where we play Settlers. And sometimes I read there, if it's not hot enough out to make me hide in the bedroom (see below)

The view

view
Originally uploaded by ertzeid.

Here's what I see from my bedroom window. More excitingly, what I see *in* my bedroom window is an air conditioner.

bedroom/office

bedroom/office
Originally uploaded by ertzeid.

Here's where I sleep, and work for the moment. As always, IKEA-tastic!

The 'hood

street
Originally uploaded by ertzeid.

Here's our street, as seen from my roommate's bedroom. It's a cute, neighborhood-y spot, right near the park and the subway and trendy 7th Ave.

harry potter!!!

well, i finished reading harry potter and the half blood prince. rawkin good book, but not my favorite. i'll post in the comments section so as to prevent accidental spoilage. so, don't click comments if you a) don't want to read spoilers or b) don't care.

schadenfreude

i saw my first 'don't blame me, i voted for kerry' bumper-sticker this evening. it was worn enough that it was probably there before friday, and it's nowhere near as cool as the original, but this rove story is beginning look at least a little like 1972... i imagine.

it's not just that it's fun to watch the Republicans squirm (but oh man is it fun...)

we've all been hurt, over the past six years, and disappointed, by the wusses who try to pass for the Left in this country, when they failed to produce dynamic, likeable candidates in 2000 and 2004; when they misplaced their balls over the iraq war issue; when they were forced into a "compromise" over the federal judges... some of us curled up into the foedal position ready to hibernate until 2008 (hey that rhymes!)

but there is a new hope for the Democrats and for we the forces of good in this nation. perhaps it's only a small glimmer of a speck of a dream (hey, dubya's media machine makes "it depends on what the definition of 'is' is" look like "i am not a crook"... ok i'm not really sure what that means). but for the first time in a long time, the White House is running scared.

really scared.

and forget that they deserve far worse.

we finally have some hope that maybe the country will wake up and, come fall of 2006 (two whole years early!) vote in some people who won't let the neocons get away with whatever they want; that maybe the media will start asking real questions and printing real stories; that maybe, just maybe... can we let ourselves dream?... somebody in this administration may just be forced to resign (or get fired... or... impeached? well, that one would depend on the Dems winning back the House on '06, or the GOP deciding to cut and run from the Dubya drones).

It's not just schadenfreude that's making the Left excited to turn on the Al Franken show and read the New York Times in the morning. Could we actually get some level-headed, honest people back in the Executive branch... and the other two too? Dare we dream?

And this time, if the neocons pull through with a full deck, we're *definitely* moving to Canada.

Most-updated blog!

Of the three blogs I post(ed) too (this, eurotrip04, and oniondreams), this one, as of this post, has the most posts. Eurotrip04 of course has lots of posts because it's one post per picture, because that was easiest from flickr.

Anyhoo, here's the actual post:

From the annals of Oniondreams

Says Paul Krugman in today's opinion piece,

To understand where the budget deficit came from, you can't do better than the Jan. 18, 2001, issue of the satirical newspaper The Onion, which predicted the future with eerie precision. "We must squander our nation's hard-won budget surplus on tax breaks for the wealthiest 15 percent," the magazine's spoof had the president-elect declare. "And, on the foreign front, we must find an enemy and defeat it."

So, for those of you new to badass title, or just generally not in the know (out of the know?) there was for a short time last summer another blog called oniondreams, which linked articles in the real news that looked more like The Onion than they did like real news. Now, it has come full circle, and the actual news has come to resemble an actual Onion article. Well, i guess it had happened by a year or two ago, but this doesn't change the fact that The Onion pre-emptively reported the actual news.

i think i forgot my work ethic in massachusetts

create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

BROOKLYN!!!

so, i've moved to brooklyn. i have no mattress yet, but that should be delivered today. we also have no gas, but someone's coming to look at that today too. we do have a subletter, who so far is pretty cool. and who plays settlers! tmq is gonna have to learn to play now. today's project is to set up all my shit where it goes, so that i'm not overflowing into tmq's room anymore. and so that the mattress can actually go on the bed. i hope to post a photo essay of it all soon... but, i'm on poached wireless from my work computer now, and my pictures i manage on my own computer, so... we'll see... ooh i wonder how much airPort cards cost...

gimme a call/email/something if you're in the area! let's hang out!

Vin Diesel holds the world record for being a hovercraft

more on brooklyn

so jHoff sent me an awesome article about brooklyn, so now i'm even more excited about living there. but, i'm also getting nervous about leaving home, cuz this time it's kinda for good. i keep having to remind myself just how independent i was when i was abroad.

the plan right now is to move in for good on 1 july. this depends on how quickly the locksmith secures that skylight :
but, i do have to be there on the 2nd to receive my mattress.

also, on the way home last night, we found the Athenian Dinner I! as in, the first one, in new haven! it was just like the middletown one, only smaller. way smaller. it's right off the merritt parkway in new haven. we ate dinner there at 9pm-ish (it was a looong day).

big up to brooklyn. it's totally gonna rawk =D

it'll totally rawk for whoever sublets KPd's room for the summer too. email if you or someone you know is interested.

after!

IMG_1552
Originally uploaded by ertzeid.

i call it 'tq hasn't moved all her couches and other living room furniture in yet chic'. it's totally the up-and-coming design style. anyhoo, check out the rad exposed brick! and come hang out once we're moved in for good!

before

IMG_1551
Originally uploaded by ertzeid.

so i moved all my stuff to my new apartment! yesterday, with the much appreciated help of KPd and Mrs. KPd's-mom. this is what it looked like after getting everything up from the sidewalk (where we had to watch it closely or someone would come by and take it thinking it was free... oops) to the 4th-floor-walk-up. we all felt quite rubbery by day's end. but now we're totally fit to bring up all of KPd's stuff when it needs bringing up =) i'm in lincoln again for a couple weeks but the plan as of now is to move for real on the 1st of july.

canadians are the rudest drivers ever.

anecdotal evidence suggests...

ok, say what you will about boston drivers (and of course new york drivers, but i'm personally way more familiar with boston driving so that's what i'ma discuss here). we're aggressive and rude and bestow the bird upon many a fellow driver. we don't make it easy to drive or navigate our fair city if you haven't already been where you're going a good ten or so times. all in all, we have quite a reputation.

canada has no such reputation (why do i have the feeling the first comment on this post is going to be something like, 'everyone knows toronto drivers are the worst ever'?). canadians are our polite, peaceful, socialized-health-care neighbor to the north, whence some people get cheap prescription drugs. canadians never hurt a fly. canadians get beat up on by americans blah blah blah.

well, it's crap.

cases in point (and in iambic pantameter!):

1. from the parking lot, making our merry way home, what do we hear but the beep of a horn. ten feet up, a big truck lumbers out of its space, without bothering to look up and check if it's safe. we're compelled to give way (either that or get smushed), and to let the large vehicle enter our path, at which point he stops again, blocking the road, so his wife can climb into the oversized cab.

grr.

2. on my way home, again, but this time from work, i have stopped for a traffic cop raising his hand. and who should approach on my right, but some jerk who thinks he's more important than us bostonians. passing me on the right on a one-lane-wide road, and then cutting me off in full view of police, its maple leaf mocks me the next one-point-five (that's miles, fucker) as i fume at the gall of this vehicular beast.

fookin' 'ell.

ok, maybe not exactly iambic or pantametric. but in verse. i swear it wasn't on purpose! at first...

in conclusion, canadians need to get off their high horse and respect the locals. jerks.

omg

lucky shaved and cut his hair short. he is now so hot. i am now so sweaty. unfortunately, it's mostly random annoying teenager sweat.

You are Deb and you could drink whole milk if you wanted.


Which Napoleon Dynamite character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

come along!

7th June
dresden dolls, kaiser chiefs, raveonettes, autolux, futureheads, dear leader, sage francis, lost city angels, etc.
lansdowne street
boston
$10
tickets/info

party

yesterday:
rei sale! bring it on, elements, i'm ready now.

last night:
people!
music!
fun!

can't wait till the next party involving a tent ; )

today:
5 superman plus 7 batman plus 1 cyclone plus 2 thunderbolt plus 1 teacups (pop quiz hotshot--how are the teacups like voting?) plus 2 tram plus 1 colossus plus 1 log flume plus 1 poison ivy plus 1 houdini (did i forget anything?) plus 1 fried dough plus 1 bsom plus 1 travbot equals enough sfne to last me another year.

want a car?

My parents are getting a new car, and either selling or trading in their old one. It's a Saturn; it runs very well but is rather crappy. But I've seen worse. Way worse. Details are:

1996 Saturn SL2, 4-door sedan
5-speed manual transmission
120,000 miles
never been in an accident
broken air conditioner (best guess $300+ to fix)
manual windows
passenger door lock doesn't open with a key
driver's side door gave me trouble one day, but not since
engine in great shape
must change oil every 5k miles (or you need to add oil)
front bumper cracked down middle (not an inspection issue in Massachusetts)
crack in side view mirror
clean; doesn't smell bad
one owner; kept serviced
29mpg city, 40 highway, 33 overall

Kelley Blue Book values:
Trade-in $575
Retail $1,695

Best offer over $575 will be accepted
Best offer below $575 will be noted in case the trade-in offer comes in
lower

email or call me if you're interested; spread the word.

Funny, i never thought of myself as a fly girl/guy... the e makes all the difference =)

[aerob]'s Aliases

Your movie star name: Veggie Booty Mauritz

Your fashion designer name is Amanda Oslo

Your socialite name is Amanda Banana New York

Your fly girl / guy name is A Rob

Your detective name is Dolphin Lincoln Sudbury Regional

Your barfly name is Chocolate Tequila

Your soap opera name is Ertzeid Tower

Your rock star name is Chocolate Concorde

Your star wars name is Amabam Robmat

Your punk rock band name is The Bored Butt Plug

The Amazing Meganame Generator

Slow time

IMG_1544
Originally uploaded by ertzeid.

So this weekend I went back to the land of no daylight savings time and few hills to see Bestest Bro in a dance performance. Now, I love Wesleyan dance of course, but this show was like if you took the best (and, admittedly, some of the worst too) of WesDance and put it all in one show. And then if the activists added a couple numbers too. Any show that includes a ballet piece to Bullet with Butterfly Wings, belly dancing to Mysterious Ways, and modern/ballet to New Kicks by Le Tigre is, by definition, *amazing*.

The best part, of course and by far, was The Richmond Dance Explosion's Seeking the Apex of Masculinity: Attempts at the Construction and Biography of Normative Man through Dance, the one my little bro (shown here) was in. It wasn't as pretentious as it sounds. Or, it was, but it was also *hilarious*. And pretentious in a gender-studies/sociology way, not in a dance way or anything. But you get that more by reading the MANalysis.

We also discovered some kick-ass hangout spots in Richmond. Like the old broken piano factory. And the coffee house/art gallery in some other old factory building. And the park by the river. And the movie theater, when it's showing The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. And anywhere there's lots of people wearing eyeliner.

Peace Guardians

So, in a stoke of unintended consequences, each of my parents received a copy of Pax Centurion, the Boston Police Patrolmens Association and Boston Emergency Medical Technicians' union paper. Apparently, by giving money to the Lincoln Policemens' Ball we got a subscription, or at least a couple free copies.

On the cover was an editorial by Jim Carnell, one of Boston's Finest and editor of the paper (whose title means 'Peace Guardian'), about the 20th March anti-war rally and unpermitted march, titled:

City Councilor Chuck Turner leads illegal parade; causes near-riot[sic]
Mischievous Midget leads Misguided Mopes on Malignant March

So, already in the title, he's managed to not only call the Left misguided mopes, but to use an epithet to describe a longtime civil rights leader-turned-elected official.

Reading the article (I didn't realize at first that it was talking about the 20th March rally), it sounded like a bunch of prepubescent "anarchists" and crazy old hippies had staged a snake march and then blocked an intersection.

Reading the indymedia account of the same demonstration, it sounded like an amazing, united group of all different anti-war groups joined a snake march in solidarity with the Anarchists who'd planned the unpermitted action, showing that, at least for an afternoon, the Left can be a strong force against oppression, senseless war, and all things bad in society, at the end of which there was police brutality and five people were arrested.

Obviously, both accounts are a little biased. Even if I did exaggerate the indymedia article a little. But, seeing as I'm not nearly as good at exaggerating as the Boston Police (there's no stoppin' 'em!), I'll give ya that article/editorial's highlights in quote form (all sic):

"Many BPD officers were ordered[...] to perform overtime duty at this 'Anti-War Rally' on the Boston Common, organized by a variety of left-wing groups naming themselves by a variety of acronyms: i.e.: the FMM (Free Mumia Movement) whose goal is to gain freedom for Mumia Abu-Jamal, convicted murderer of Philadelphia Patrolman Danial Faulkner), the MAALACS (Morons Assembled Against Logic And Common Sense) and the IHMRLDAMS (I Hate My Rich Liberal Daddy And Mommy Society)."

Am I wrong in assuming he made those last two up?

"They carried a variety of hand-painted signs opposing or supporting various causes which they collectively knew nothing about, such as the supposed terror of the World Bank, seal-killing in Canada, whale-killing in Norway, nuclear proliferation in North Korea, etc. etc., all of which could (natch) be blamed on (you guessed it...) the US of A."

Wow! I've never seen a Norway whale-killing sign at a protest! Not that I don't believe there was one (although, if this guy was on duty, did he really have time to take notes?).

"And then there was the usual cadre of aging idiots like alleged 'Professor' Howard Zinn from Boston University, an icon of stupidity and an absolute waste of oxygen from the Vietnam era. (Howie- your friends in Ho Chi Minh City are just dying for you to move there so you can spout some drivel to the communist murderers you so admire- call Jane Fonda and please leave soon...the BPPA will pay the one-way airfare...)."

And to think I actually wanted to read that Zinn guy's book...

... "Councilor Turner, without a permit and in direct violation of the law and not giving a damn about anyone else's right to enjoy the public streets of the City of Boston, began to march against the traffic, down one-way streets into oncoming traffic at 4:00 p.m. in the afternoon, causing alarm, invonvenience and annoyance (at a minimum!) for everyone who had committed no crime other than to drive into the City of Boston to enjoy a day with their family."

Dude, *nobody* considers driving around Boston a relaxing family activity.

Apparently it's the "command staff" who didn't want to interfere, while all of the riot cops were ready to "uphold the honor of the BPD" by beating up some pacifists. I guess the part of the article that relates to the union at all is this beef with the command staff. Of course, the first 3+ columns of a 4+ column article are about the permitted part of the rally... maybe he doesn't like the forced overtime. Which is legit, but has little to do with the rally.

The article will probably eventually turn up here if you're interested.


When I am one of the "spoiled-rotten offspring of [...] detestable aging hippies and guilt-ridden yuppie nitwits, who have never worked for anything but have had liberal Mom-and-Pop pay for private school/college and now desire to present themselves as some sort of revolutionaries-seeking-victimhood status" of which he writes, I try to give the cops the benefit of the doubt: they're just doing their job, and are trying to make the whole situation safer for all of us. Hell, many of them agree with whatever the issue is anyway. They just look scary because of the masks, batons, guns, pockets full of tear gas...

You get the idea. My point is, here's why protestors get beat up by cops. Dude, disagree all you want with Left-wing politics, but don't take it to work. And don't put it in your union newspaper, however problematic the BPPA may or may not be. And don't think that being a cop is a good way to channel all that anger you have. Take a Tae-bo class or something. Gosh.

aerob... gross

for serious, this post is not for the feint of heart. just don't say i didn't warn ya.

so, after a punk-rawk-tastic birthday party last weekend, i ended up sick. again. my latest theory is that the alcohol consumption lowers my immune defenses, thereby letting the working-with-kids germs launch a sustained ground attack that punches holes in the forward wall of my timesheet. three visits to/from wesleyan, three sore throats, three different diagnoses. arg.

this time it was strep. and just like my all-time favorite editorialist discussed just today, i put off seeing the doctor perhaps longer than i should have. it was only a day too long, but by the time i dragged myself over to the er (haven to the uninsured), i'd already lost about a night of sleep and my uvula (y'know, that hangy-ball thing at the back of your throat) was so swollen it was touching my tongue.

finally today, after a day and a half of meds, the pain is gone (woot!). however, the uvula is still swollen and gross (hey, i warned you). even without the pain, this isn't a pleasant experience; it's like i'm constantly about to swallow the damn thing.

for now, i'm off to wash down the latest dose of penicillin with some champagne (to celebrate my dad getting a new job! double woo!) and watch the SOX =D

nobody likes you when you're 23!

hm... there needs to be a better song about 23. maybe there is. if so, do tell me about it.

so, as of 15 minutes ago, i'm 23 years old. sweet-as. and to celebrate, i get:

• to sleep in
  
• to eat mexican food for dinner
  
• to wish mom and dad HAPPY SILVER ANNIVERSARY!
  
• to throw a kickin' party at la casa aerob
  
• to leave work after 6 hours (ok, so that's typical for a wednesday, but still)
  
• to put off doing my taxes yet one more day
  
• to wish rcart HAPPY THESIS BEING OVER!
  
• to go to bed. and wake up *still* on my birthday! 'night y'all, werd

Best little bro ever!

Thugged out t-bot
Originally uploaded by ertzeid.

So, this is T-bot, my little brother. And by little, I mean he still weighs less than me, even though he stands about 6 inches taller. As I imply above, he's rad-tastic. Even though he rolled his eyes when I gave him "Hallowmas Live at North Six". In all fairness, he did enjoy it upon actually hearing it. And I'm sure he's now way jealous that I met Mr. Jack Terricloth in the flesh =D

This summer, little bro, we'll go to some shows.

baby cousin!!!

Baby before bath
Originally uploaded by ertzeid.

So, this is my cousin's baby! He's 6 1/2 months old. He visited for 3 weeks, during which he learned to not flop backwards while being held and to jump in the baby bouncer i found at a thrift store for $7.99. Now he's gone home again, and by the next time I see him he'll be speaking a foreign language! Well, it won't be foreign to him. But I'll understand him way less than I do now that he speaks by smiling and crying.

You are

What Rejected Crayon Are You?

congratulations!

As J to the E to the double-S so duly noted, I have just had my 1000th visitor to my humble e-ponderings. Ze hailed from ce-web1.wesleyan.edu, and visited at 1:55am Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. So, Mx thousandth visitor, comment here to claim your prize! Prices and participation may vary.

Skipping out of school and sneaking into shows

Memo to all unfamiliar persons riding the bus to NYC:

• If my headphones are on, it most likely means I would prefer listening to what they're playing than to you.
  
• If I tell you I'm not that into hardcore, that should imply that I have not heard of the random bands you did merch for one summer.
  
• When sleeping, lean back against the seat. Do not lean forward. Most especially, do not lean forward and halfway into my seat with your crusty gelled hair, even if the sideways movement is due to centripetal motion of the bus.
  
• Inquiries regarding my illegal drug use are not polite conversation.
  
• If my headphones are on loud enough that I do not hear you speak to me, do not touch me to get my attention unless it is an emergency. "Do you think the movie is loud enough?" is not an emergency.
  
• If I tell you that I do not follow graffiti, proceeding to ask me whether I have heard of xyz random graffiti artist is an annoying exercise in futility.
  
• Do not be offended or angry at me for failing to predict the bus making an unscheduled stop at Roy Rogers. The driver has already informed us that the stop was due to the bus making good time.
  
• No. You cannot touch my iPod.
  
• If I tell you that I do not smoke cigarrettes, that implies that I do not know whether a pack of Marlboros is cheap at the Port Authority.
  
• The fact that as soon as I answer your stupid questions, I put my headphones back on, implies that I do not wish to speak to you further.
  

I think I'm in love

With Brooklyn. And the Villiage. And 24-hour subways. And open-till-4am pubs. And my Metrocard(s). And the song, My My Metrocard. And the song, I Love New York City. And, basically, all things New York City.

Hello, my name is Aerob, and I am an addict.

It started with listening to the recorded stuff. I kept wanting more; I even paid for some of it. Then I saw them live. I've now seen the World/Inferno Friendship Society twice in three weeks. And I still want to see them again on Friday, even if it means leaving CT at 7am on Saturday to make it to work on time.

Lesson One

It would have been faster (if logistically impossible) to have gone to Connecticut to sleep than back to the Hamptons. Of course, checking out JHoff's school was nice, plus seeing the ridiculousness of the Hamptons in, well, some of its glory (it is only March, after all).

Lesson Two

Just keep your knees bent, and your arms in a vague blocking position, and even the big, sometimes scary DKM fans will not kill you in the pit. Also, the DKM/Yankee fans will not kill you for cheering for the Red Sox.

Balls

slang. noun. 1: Bravery, courage. 2: Playing 'Tessie' with a backdrop of 2004 ALCS highlights in lower Manhattan.
See: Dropkick Murphys.

The Toast List

Highlights include:

• To drunk-dialing one's employer
  
• To drunk-dialing other people's parents
  
• To Fanta
  
• To Rex the Pirate
  
• To Murphy's Stout
  
• To Shannon Stout
  
• To awesome kid from Cork
  
• To flipping that guy off in the bus station
  
• To being a Wes alum and still getting invited to parties with the word "naked" in the name
  
• To tuberculosis
  
• To the guy on the subway who likes spelling bees
  
• To the Molly Wee
  
• To floor hockey
  
• To writing my English midterm the night before it was due and colling Mom for advice
  
• To BCod's "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" video
  
• To the Flying Caffiene Squad
  
• To Aunt Mary Beth
  
• To textured floors
  
• To Graceland, dog bombs, 35 Home Ave, Frank Bertino, and the housing lottery.

Lesson Three

Everywhere in NYC is farther away than you think. Subway rides can, in fact, take longer than 15 minutes. Especially when you really, really, really have to pee. (Note: the lesson is not "Pee before you leave the pub", because we did, and still really, really, really had to again by the time we got home.)

And the moral of the story is:

• You never know where Jason Berger might show up.
  
• Even the NYPD can rock out when they try.
  
• If the bartender is still listening, you haven't missed Last Call.

ever have one of those days where you show up to exercise class, and instead of the usual instructor is her really hot husband, and then nobody shows up so it's more like a personal training session, and not only is he really hot but also impressed by your weightlifting technique and your familiarity with brazilian jiu jitsu?

that was today.

it's st. patrick's day!

the night before
hey mom and dad, want to get irish breakfast with me on thursday? it'll totally be worth getting up at the ass-crack of dawn!
ok

6:40am
oh wow, that line at what will probably be the best irish breakfast ever (dropkick murphys playing an acoustic set; giving away a pair of u2 tickets, plus the plane tickets to seattle where the concert is; and most importantly, sausage) is really long. maybe somewhere else is serving irish breakfast at 7am

6:45am
hey look, this place is serving breakfast, *and* giving away free t-shirts! even the girls who left best-irish-breakfast-ever (bibe) came here instead, altho they only did it becase bibe wasn't serving alcohol till 8am... probably due to state law

7am
welcome to other-irish-breakfast (oib). please have your id ready.
but i only want breakfast, no alcohol.
you still have to show your id.
but you can't legally serve alcohol for an hour, and there will be about 5 people in your establishment, so you clearly won't lose track.
sorry. any other day, but not today.
but any other day you won't be serving sausage! sigh.

7:30am
this american breakfast, while tasty, is not irish breakfast. who would have thought the drinking could hinder my st. patrick's day plans?

6pm
ooh... guinness stew... and guinness... tasty!

10pm
yay the asgard! alas, no harpoon brewery pipe band(s) this year... to my knowledge.

friday

24 points in the first round... i *rule* at gambling!

saturday

7pm
hey aerob, will you cut my hair into a mullet and dye it blue?
sure tbot... um, you know i don't know how to cut hair right?
whatev. thanks!
um... i think your scalp is more blue than your hair.
eh

11pm
::dance dance dance::

sunday

1:30pm
decordova, i heart you! not only do you have cool art, but you always let my friends in for free!

5pm
um... maybe we should have figured out the baby seat *before* it was time to leave to pick up our cousins at the airport...

5:30pm
the plane landed. why are we still tinkering with the baby seat, at home?

5:45pm
yes, please mr. toys r us guy, put a rush on the baby seat.

6:15pm
have you been waiting long?
oh no, only ten, fifteen minutes.
aw, cute baby!

11:45pm
18 points in round 2... i *suck* at gambling!

***

next weekend... off to nyc to see some shows =D

fuck this cold shit, when's spring? werd

on the horizon:

19 march: T-BOT COMES HOME!!! ... for the night.
20 march: cousin p-fred comes to visit with husband and baby!
25 march: world/inferno friendship society in BROOKLYN!!! with the jessmeister (who'd better not back out...)
26 march: dropkick murphys with KPd and...?
1-3 april: t-bot home again, to see the cuz
13 april: 23! oh... shit... if 21-year-olds can't die, and 22-year-olds are bulletproof... what happens at 23?

keep an eye out for things made by me for sale on ebay. or, i'll post links, when they exist.

and once again, i'm cutting it close with my homework... and all it is is taking pictures! ... and getting them developed. imagine if it took a few hours to print your essays, and you could only do it during typical business hours--how many would have been late?

upcoming excitement

all of a sudden there are a million shows i want to see. or, 4-ish. one is already out, as there's nobody to go with and it's a school night (boo), but perhaps flogging molly will tour this summer and i can go with t-bot (aka, the best ever little bro). then this weekend off to see world/inferno with z-gold and a new and exciting friend of squirs. then the 26th the dropkick murphy's are playing in nyc, plus world/inferno is playing eclectic (apparently), and so now i'm torn.

also, new clubs start this week at leap. i'm assisting with a knitting and crocheting club, so i got me some yarn to make exciting new things. these things i then hope to sell at a profit on ebay. i have a prototype pair of (slightly not matching) chunky blue finger- and thumbless gloves (armwarmers?) available at cost, if anyone is interested. unfortunately, 'at cost' even might be too expensive (but, who knows? at least when it comes to ebay), but i think i might know an amazing way to cut such costs... and no, i'm not going to steal from the yarn store.

yahoo search sucks

somebody found my blog (yes, right here, these random, dry, sarcastic thoughts about my quite insignificant life) by doing a yahoo search for 'sore throat AND Amoxicilin' (they didn't actually put it in quotes). i tried it myself, and found an archived page about when i was sick last fall. how is this helpful to somebody trying to learn about treating a sore throat? i mean, i don't mind the odd random wanderer finding my page, but seriously if this is the seventh hit, that's a problem. other times, people have found it by searching for song titles and other random, normal-to-search-for things. oh, how strange... not that i care if random people read this, but i doubt they care about me seeing this concert or that multi-million dollar art installment in central park. speaking of which, anyone who'll be in central park on saturday afternoon should call me.

i thought i had something else to say. um... oh, i had one of those vivid nyquil-induced dreams the other night like becca commented about, so yeah becca, i sometimes get wicked vivid dreams on nyquil. so weird.

ok, i'ma try to take some self-portraits and then go to bed. anyone up for some thrift store shopping sometime soon?

er

::insert classic green-souding (to me at least) 'er' theme music here::

echoing KPd, i need health insurance, werd.

so, i had this sore throat for a week. i still kinda have it in fact, only now it feels more like my throat has scabbed over and gone rather numb, which is somewhat of an improvement i suppose. anyhoo, it didn't feel like strep, so i didn't bother seeing a doctor. instead i went to work all week. finally i thought, ya never know, maybe i should get this checked out. this was always easiest at wes, as it involved merely walking across campus and asking to see someone, and then even if it was viral they gave me a cold pack (which was the best my frosh year--it included ricola cough drops and packets of just-add-water chicken-type soup and was rawktastic), and were generally mom-like. it was still pretty good at my hmo at home, as i would pay the co-pay and then they'd take a look and tell me it was viral.

last fall, when i went back to my hmo doctor after my hmo coverage had ended, they made me feel like an idiot for being uninsured. this was of course on top of already being sick. but at least the doctor said it was bacterial and i got medicine that made it go away.

today, like the rest of uninsured america, i went to the emergency room. for a sore throat.

cut to waiting room. me sitting there reading my book.

fast forward to waiting room, me sitting there, reading my book.

fast forward to waiting room, me sitting there, reading my book, only this time i have a hospital bracelet because i've been to the window where they ask who to bill and what my birthday is.

fast forward to me sitting in the exam room this time, reading my book and looking at ear-nose-throat poster.

doctor sees me for about a minute, says i don't have strep and therefore need only rest and fluids, and maybe tylenol.

3 hours after arriving, i get to leave, now feeling like an idiot for going in the first place, as it was rather antithetical to that rest thing. better to make sure of course, but this visit cost way more than the $5 copay of old.

60-something percent of this country would like universal health care even if it would mean higher taxes. werd to that. it'd be way cheaper than this fuckin' war. not that we're paying for much medical care for vets either. just tanks and bombs and guns. i mean, dead people don't even have to pay the copay i guess.

* * *

in other news, i hear there's some peace march thing in boston on 20 march (the day after the ones in nyc and hartford). my house always has places to sleep, if anyone needs one. i may go to the demo, if there's anyone to go with. i might even be convinceable as to the nyc one... fucking iran war, goddamnit.

ok i gotta go watch the soup. meaning, actually watch the soup.

Oh, the good old hockey game

is the best game you can name!

in an awesome-tastic stroke of karma, this dude gave me and my dad a pair o' tickets to the BU hockey game this evening. not only that, but the tickets got us into the free parking lot and also into the free club dinner area. where we ran into my aunt! and then, the seats were *this close* to ray bourque's (his son is a frosh on the BU team, and amazing at hockey)! and by this close, i mean about 30 feet away. but unless i randomly passed the guy on the highway sometime without knowing, that's the closest i've ever been to RAY BOURQUE ever! also, the BU fans are *amazing*! not that "::clap clap clap clap:: BC SUCKS!!!" is a very inventive chant, especially seeing as they were playing UMass (remind you of any other boston-based sports fans? hm...), but they've got a little more character than most pro sports fans. aw, i miss playing hockey.

then, between the second and third periods, we got dessert! also, at that time, some people went SNOW TUBE BOWLING on the ice! it had all the charm of single-a baseball, and all the... um... hockey of a hockey game! woot woot!

just the best party

no, i don't mean rcart's birthday, altho that would work as well.

on 6 march (the first sunday of spring break), world/inferno friendship society is playing at the middle east, in cambridge. who wants to come!? you could crash at my place. unless you're one of those random people who arrived here via that 'Next Blog' button. but, if you're my friend, come go to the show with me. yay.

i heart spring

except for the nagging cold. which has nothing to do with spring. but, it's not really spring yet anyway. it's just warm. until this weekend rolls around. oh well, maybe i'll stay home all day and get healthy, for real this time. the saturday after (26th), i'm going down to nyc to see the orange shower curtains--come hang out if you're nearby.
next week is vacation! and i might just spend it catching up on work i missed when i was sick last week. or, i'll take a day off and go snowboarding. or both.
as for this week, i'm planning on nyquil-sleep and suphedrine-hyper, alternating. who's in?

3 Limes to Freedom

Wow. Rawktastic weekend down at the WesU. And no duct tape-clad 17-year-olds in sight. In conclusion, seeing and hanging out and partying with friends=amazing. The rest of being back at Wes=surreal and weird. But overall, the weekend was looing.

So then i get home tonight and we're having this dinner event with family friends. Only, it's more like a St. John reunion (see earlier post, about the Caribbean). Complete with rum punch, with floaters. Only floater #2 is over an ounce of rum on its own. And then we have some single-barrel as a post-dinner something. And I thougt my WesFriends would try to get me drunk...

Anyhoo, great weekend all around. Only, I still need to finish my photo homework in time to get the slides developed for Thursday. Stupid 36 exposure film.

phoning it in

so, this week, i have been sick. upsides include sleeping in. downsides include needing tons of sleep. and soup. soup is an upside until one gets sick of it... no pun intended. however, being sick this week did mean i got to participate in my first Conference Call! otherwise, it would have been a company meeting, that i would have missed due to being at my other job when it happened. as it is, i put the phone on speaker and mute, so i could hear what was going on while sitting nearly upside-down in the comfy chair in the family room. and i got paid for it! or, i will, once i get my paycheck. and by paycheck i mean direct deposit.

in other news, i start a photography class tonight! nothing fancy like darkroom skillz, but we'll learn about f-stops and stuff. i think. oh, and composition! which KPd and i learned all about in drawing class last year. we also learned all about just how little sleep makes one feel ill monday morning, when one is more active than merely sitting on one's arse in paclab. turns out, about 2 hours for the whole weekend does that. but it's nothing a little ass-kicking (read: self-defense class) can't cure!

hm... you know things are bad when you have to revert to stories from "the good old days" when you were still in college. whoops. oh, speaking of which, i'll be down at wes this weekend to party it up with RCart, birthday style. werd.

I GOT RED SOX TICKETS!!! against the braves, in may. in a related story, virtual waiting rooms suck. also, they should never have gotten rid of same-day standing-room tickets (6am solidarity, werd). so, that made my day =D especially after u2 was sold out before it even went on sale, *including* the extra show they added on sunday. jerks.

in other news, born-again christianity scares and angers me. especially when its preacher proselytizes during funerals. fuck that.

i moved into my (semi)permanent office today. corner office, baby! only, in the corner furthest from the windows. well, there's one window. it looks out on the hallway, and has cardboard taped over it. but i do have a brand-new computer! that stays with the company after i leave. i'm still considering whether to look into telecommuting once i do move...

i thought i'd have more to say, but this hasn't been the greatest week in the casa de robinson/fredriksen... love would be much appreciated...

The Blizzard of 2005

George
Originally uploaded by ertzeid.

So, there's my poor car, buried in the snow.

the weather people are calling it the blizzard of 2005. but only because they're sensationalists. but, it was still a shitload of snow. it snowed saturday night, and some schools cancelled monday and tuesday! but, not the one at whose afterschool program i work...

Help Wanted

So some newspaper article was discussing what the generation currently between something-teen and 30 should be referred to as. It suggested we be called "the twains" or something like that (the "twixts?" i can't find the article and it's too late at night to care). In any event, it's dumb. Then again, so is anybody trying to think up names for the youth generation anyway. Especially if they're, like, 40.

So, I was going to ask, fellow members of the something-teen to 30 generation--what are we? But then I thought, that's dumb. But here is what some of us are:

-too young to have capitalized on the .com boom, or to find computer jobs easily before they all moved to india
-old enough that our parents advised us to study computers because "it's the only way you'll find a job when you graduate"
-old enough to own a flannel or two, and perhaps even to have owned spandex pants and scrunch socks
-too young to remember reagan very well
-old enough to remember how excited our parents were when we had the first democrat president of our lives
-old enough to have seen the breakfast club, better off dead, and sixteen candles... on video
-too young to have any idea what to do with our lives
-too old to like this whole replacing-lighters-with-cell-phones-during-slow-songs-at-concerts trend; in fact, very, very frightened by it

Ok, maybe those are just me. At least, they're mostly pretty specific to the 20-24 age bracket. Whatever.

Anyhoo, I've added another job to my repertoire, further testing the limits of how many part-time jobs a person can have and still work less than 40 hours per week. For those of you not keeping track, this makes four. And this makes me a caffiene drinker again.

Drunk Bay

Drunk Bay
Originally uploaded by ertzeid.

Rainbow over Coral Bay

Coral Bay Rainbow
Originally uploaded by ertzeid.

After the picture, the rainbow started heading right for us! It got, like, way closer... only, rainbows are just light, so it wasn't technically moving i guess... but it was still pretty cool

Sunset

Sunset
Originally uploaded by ertzeid.

as seen from the villa.

Termites

Termites
Originally uploaded by ertzeid.

They live in these giant nests in trees, but they go down to the ground to eat dead wood and make dirt. So, it's like mutual aid or... something

Sugar refinery ruins

Sugar refinery ruins
Originally uploaded by ertzeid.

This is where the slaves would refine the sugar cane into sugar.

Casa Yaya

Lack of windows, Casa Yaya
Originally uploaded by ertzeid.

Check out the non-windows. It's like sleeping outside! I mean, I guess it kind of is sleeping outside... only with a bed.

View from Casa Yaya

View from Casa Yaya
Originally uploaded by ertzeid.

... where my parents were staying, with friends

View from the villa

View from the villa
Originally uploaded by ertzeid.

... where TFR (my little bro) and i stayed

people have linked to my blog (yes, right here!) via yahoo searches of "heteronausic", "homonausic", and "PCU Wesleyan". hm...

ahhhhhhh. that was great. y'know those stereotypical vacations with beaches and sun and pina coladas, that people on tv do for their honeymoons? that was last week, for me. only, minus the honeymoon, and replace the pina coladas with rum punch. and many other drinks involving rum. and some beer, usually corona but i branched into heinekin and carib too.

so, my family went to st. john, in the us virgin islands. wow, it was *amazing* (in that sadownik roll-eyes-into-head-to-emphasize way). i'll put pictures somewhere soon. ish. i didn't get that many, but that just means it won't take so long =)

there was sailing, and swimming, and snorkeling, and snorkeling from the sail boat, and shopping, and lying around on the beach, and more snorkeling. and there was rum. lots and lots of rum. only, i was usually the designated driver, so i didn't have as much. then, irony of ironies, i got sick from the juice i was drinking when everyone else was having wine/beer with their dinner. but, i was better by morning. oh then there was the fruit-infused vodka. i'm *definitely* gonna try that at home.

so, they drive on the left of the road down there, just like in the uk, ireland, japan, australia, and new zealand. unlike the uk, ireland, japan, australia, and new zealand, however, the steering wheels are still on the left side of the car. this makes it a bit of a challenge. plus, the roads are all so windy (as in, twisty-turny) and hilly you can't really go faster than 25, ever. mikki (the woman who owns a house there with her husband steve) like this, because it's easier to talk to people on the side of the road that way. there is lots of hitchiking, and just lots of not being in a hurry, so stopping to say hi to a friend is usually fine. as long as you don't take *too* long.

there are also all kinds of bugs. and mosquitos that carry diseases. there's a spider whose web is so strong that people used to use it for thread. there are also tarantulas. and scorpions. and tons of sharp/thorny/stinging plants. some, you're not supposed to stand under when it rains or you'll get a rash ("i want to take shelter... in the poison rain... where the streets have no name" i mean, the streets on st. john do have numbers, some of them, and bono was singing about something else, and those aren't the correct lyrics, but it sure as hell reminds me of the place). oh and there's fire coral, that burns you when you touch it, and sometimes jellyfish. and feral goats. ok, the goats aren't dangerous, unless maybe you're driving too fast and have to swerve to avoid one. there's donkeys and pigs and chickens wandering around all over the place too. but, i managed to not have any run-ins (knock wood... still can't be sure i didn't get bit by a denghei mosquito i guess). it's an adventure =D

but, mostly, it was amazing. and i didn't even think about any real-life anything for a whole week. i didn't even check my email, and not for lack of internet connection. i had no clue what was going on beyond the island, and it was so nice. it was like heroin. but, not something i could do permanently of course. tho, that boat co-op, live in the caribbean idea is sounding better all the time... =)

my prediction:

lupin will come back to hogwarts teach harry occlumancy.