17 September, 2005
In protest of X
Amazing what kinds of things the symphony makes you think of. I love it for that reason. Good orchestral compositions transcend a mere appreciation or enjoyment of the music itself. It goes much farther, for me, to the point where you are elevated to a much higher level. It takes you to a place of memories and ideas and free thought flies around and you just grab it out of the trees like a leaf. It sounds like I am smoking pot, I know, but hear me out. By the way, I'm not, never have. Take, for example, tonight: approximately 2 pages into the "Moon Reflected on the Second Spring" by Hua Yanjun, I began to ponder. Do we really need the letter X in the alphabet? It serves no purpose except for the silent decoration of French words and the notorious copying of the sound of the letter Z. Which brings up another point: Is it really X that needs to go or Z? If I had to make that decision, I would probably choose X. X is just the cooler of the two letters. Z is a bit choppy and takes a good three strokes to finish (for the sake of argument let's forget that cursive exists) and just when you are gaining momentum you have to change direction. X is two strokes and you can make the last one as strong as your pen desires. ...Or your sword. What if Zorro had been spelled Xorro? He would have had momentum on the second sword swipe and seriously doubt that other guy would've come back for more. Also, much cooler scar. To sum up, I move that we petition for the removal of X or Z (pick your favorite to keep) from the alphabet. 25 letters would suffice...no one ever remembers if there are 26 or 28 letters anyway.
15 September, 2005
I've got a crush...
As i was leaving work the other day after a long day at school and the LSU student media advertising offices (yay,yay) I had a strange and wonderful feeling of infatuation. I flung my bags over my shoulder and headed out of the "basement" where i had been with a computer and phone and stressful deadlines. As soon as I hit the air outside with the pre-sunset glow in the sky and a breeze that blew light and free, a bit unusual compared to the weather we have had lately, my heart fluttered. It was then that I realized, I have a crush. I have a full blown infatuation. This fondness is an amazing, fun, incredible, enlightening thing. You may ask, who is this? do i know him? yes you do. Depending on your level of involvement you may know him very well, or you may have only heard of him. His name is Free Time. YES! I have a crush on free time. The kind of free time that you know can fill with tons of things or nothing and it doesn't matter, cause it's FREE. It's mine and it's free. And I don't care who knows it...Free Time is mine. Shout it from the rooftops.
22 August, 2005
24 July, 2005
fancy some chips?
1/2 day here
Once we left Interlaken, we went to Frankfurt Germany, basically to get our fill of protein in the 1/2 day that we were there before flying out to London.
leaving Paris the first time
We were in the Interlaken region as well as the Jungfrau region (which means virgin). This was one of the most stunning landscapes I have ever seen. Interlaken is merged between two lakes of crysal blue water and surrounded on most sides by the alps. There is a glacier in the background and at any given point in time you can see paragliders coasting down from the mountains.
Catch me if you can
So this is my attempt to regain consistency. As a do so I will post pictures and maps (but maybe tomorrow because I am tired.) I am back in the states and internet was getting expensive in other countries so I ceased posting...sorry to the faithful. I had an excellent final week of travel by myself. I met up with Mona in Paris and we toured the Dali museum and went to the Eiffel Tower for the Bastille Day festivities (thanks to SUPERDAVE I know what that was all about) which included a spectacular fireworks display off of the tower coreographed to music. I also had a few interesing occurrences to do with trains and buses and where to stay at night, during which time I made friends with a hotel night clerk who talked with me until the wee hours of the morning about the african congo, paris, modern art, his family and how I was a great desk watcher when he needed a cigarette break. thanks, night clerk for letting me stay in the hotel lobby after the train station was closed and even though the hotel was booked and there was no other accomodation for miles and for letting me take a one hour nap. Then off to London I went the next day on a long bus ride (did you know that you can take a bus to London from Paris even though it goes over the English Channel?) to London and then another to Leicester to meet Chris (thanks for letting me chill in the English countryside with you and the sheep Chris). I have successfully covered every mode of transportation at this point (with the exception of skateboards and mopeds). Chris toured around midlands England with me for 3 days during which time we went to Warick Castle and saw jousting, the Peak district and saw a state house and lots of sheep, leicester in general and i met all of his friends who kept me laughing so hard that I didn't get but about 3 sentences in the entire conversation. I also successfully evaded two sets of bombings and a bout of riots and aparently some disturbances in madrid as well. Safe and sound back home, I find that my spanish tan will rapidly evaporate because I do not want to leave the airconditioned house as the air outside contains 80% of the water in lake Ponchartrain. Feel like I am swimming through the humidity. I will continue to update this with pictures from the trip and a retrospective I am sure. maybe eventually real conversation pieces but since no one really comments ;) I doubt that one. Weddings make me feel older than I should. XX and goodnight to you all.
15 July, 2005
What's the story morning glory?
HAPPY BASTILLE DAY TO YOU! ok so it was yesterday. It was fabulous though, and I thought that I should extend the celebration on a day. The party was last night at the Eiffel Tower or Tour Eiffel as the French say. They also say a lot of other things but I won't get into that. I was able to ask for directions in French though. I ran into Mona (not lisa although I saw her too), a friend of mine from the states who was studying in Paris for a month. We hung out and went to the Dali museum...my favorite. Dali is one of the coolest most creative and bizarre psycho painters ever in my opinion. Just check out "the dream made from a bee circling a pomegranate a moment before awakening." Crazy. Brilliant. It may be give or take a few words but that is the approximate title. Hey any history buffs out there, what is bastille day all about. I heard something about a prison, I don't know. They put on a good show though. The eiffel tower is where about 1 million + of your closest friends meet and watch the fireworks. They are coreographed to about 7 songs and shoot off of the eiffel tower in spectacular form. Don't worry I have footage. Was there ever any doubt? I am either going to copenhagen or london today so we'll see. the next update will be a mystery destination...ohhh, ahhh. I know. Adieu to you and you and you.
13 July, 2005
WOAH
So that was a whirlwind and a half. So here,s the progression. From Paris where i spoke none of the language, we went to the gorgeous magnificent country of Switzerland. it was just ok. The mountains, glaciers, crystal clear mountain lakes, crisp weather and they speak all languages...just about. we went canyoning which in a nutshell was awesome. We xent repelling, hiking, sliding and jumping off waterfalls, rip chording and swimming all in water that if we didn,t have our wet suits on would,ve given us hypothermia. The food was great, particularly a soft drink called rivella and swiss fondue. they also make cheesecake with crust on all sides, yum. From there we went to frankfurt for an afternoon and on to london, where we saw nothing but from the outside and ran into a good friend from way back, ryan mahoney. then to Dublin. you,ve gotta see that place. we took a bus tour of wicklow which is the surrounding countryside and wow. it rivalled switzerland something fierce. bea-utiful. Bono lives in dublin. he knows. then we went back to london where we spent the night in the airport and thomas and jenny left for porto and then home. i am now in paris, again, where i don,t know the language and the keyboqrds qre terrible. cqn you tell? Money has been more than tight and things are so expensive some places. Switzerland almost tore apart our friendships and then began to mend them again. It,s hard sometimes. A lot of things were dealt with in a manner in which theyshould not have been and miscommunication, lack of sleep and the elements begin to wear on you. it makes me sad to think about, but the petty things are too often mistaken for important and cause us to exchange harsh words. love to all. pictures are promised soon.
06 July, 2005
viva le france
ok. so now we...t and jenny and i... are in France. where, you ask? France...they come from france. anybody remember that commercial, with the cute kid? no? it is a classic. this french keyboard however is not. I feel like i am back in keyboarding in 9th grade with JOE...where you been joe?...i have to look at my hands the whole time, my fingers keep going to find the m and the a in their normal places but instead there is a q and a coma/semicolon. A 60 year old french guy from bordeaux and i had a conversation on the train here and it was the worst attempt to understand ever. I pulled the smile and nod out a lot. I do not really know how these things work in France, but if a person invites you to come and visit and go out to a good french restaurant where you could have some good bordeaux wine and stay in the apartment that he owns in another french city, is that a little forward? i think that i will write in the american style for a moment to show you my frustration with this computer. zhere qre jenny qnd tho,qs, they shouldùve ,et ,e by noz qnd i q, tired qnd hungqry qnd need to ship q bqg bqck to the stqtes. yqy. oh and the ws are not right either there is a z there.
the last week in granada and madrid were amazing and so much fun. we saw a flamenco show, the prado, the reina sofia and the tyssen which is the best out of the art museums in my opinion although the prado has classic works. I also went exploring. the value of the trip to madrid would have been lost to me if I had stayed in the overpopulated/ overtouristated puerta del sol the whole time. I made some excellent friends and need once again to empty a photo card. despirately.
the last week in granada and madrid were amazing and so much fun. we saw a flamenco show, the prado, the reina sofia and the tyssen which is the best out of the art museums in my opinion although the prado has classic works. I also went exploring. the value of the trip to madrid would have been lost to me if I had stayed in the overpopulated/ overtouristated puerta del sol the whole time. I made some excellent friends and need once again to empty a photo card. despirately.
27 June, 2005
OK...ONCE for all of you slower ones
This is how this works. YOU who wanted me to keep in touch and keep a blog so you could have somewhere to contact and keep up with me while I am in Europe...this is for you. I keep a journal and I can see my own pictures any time I very well please. So, If you are going to take the time to read the blog...POST A COMMENT! Here is how we do it...go to the end of the post (that is what you are reading) and go to the comments link...the underlined thing that says comments. Good work. Then, click it. Type. click log in as anonymous. Publish (there is a button that says that). You are done. Good job. Repeat. Looking forward to it.
25 June, 2005
Plaza de Toros (thatś the bull ring)
SO this week has been crazy. I can´t believe that I only have like 6 days left in Granada before we go to Madrid. This is an incredible city with incredible people and I have loved every minute of it. Was there ever any doubt that I would? Before I go on, the picture was of Sarah and I in Sevilla at the bullfighting ring last weekend. Beautiful. Then again I didn´t see the actual bull fight. I may have had a few sick feelings after seeing 6 bulls (who don´t even get a chance by the way) tortured to death. We went on the tour in Sevilla of the bull ring and they told us that there was one bull who killed two matadors before he, himself was killed. So, naturally, they killed his mother. Anyway, enough with the bull. We went again to Sevilla and saw the Cathedral...the third largest in the World after St. Peter´s in Rome and St. Paul´s in London. Ah-mazing! I promise to get pictures up soon of more recent things. The largest moon in 18 years was two nights ago. We went up to this "platform" type of thing (very large terrace I guess) called the Mirador de San Nicolas to see it. It overlooks La Alhambra and the entire city. So cool. The moon was fairly small for being so big. But we had a good time. We also went horseback riding in the Sierra Nevada WEdnesday. We not only rode through the mountains but through the olive and apricot (I think) groves. My horse Letizzia (doesn´t she sound a little ghetto?) liked me. We were tight. The view was amazing. I wish to leave you with a small amount of words from a poet who is one of my favorites:
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
20 June, 2005
42 degrees centigrade, starbuck´s and walking in circles (accompanied by MAN this bus stinks)
So this weekend we excursed (yes I am allowed to make up words- I do it in Spainish too) to Sevilla. So freakin´ hot. Do you know how hot 42 degrees is? No, not in farenheit, although that would have felt very good, in CELCIUS or centigrade, whichever you prefer. It is 107 degrees of pure unadulterated heat. And by that I mean it is without humidity but it also stays hot from 10a to 10p (that´s when the sun goes down). So I am more tan and bought a few skirts because jeans are verging on unbearable. And we eat more ice cream but walk minimum of 8 miles a day so it´s ok. I am not complaining though...I´m in Spain...but you knew that by now. So, Sevilla. Right. Tid of history for you: Sevilla is the Capitol of Andalucia which is the provence that Granada is in in Spain. It is gorgeous. We explored a goverment building that was far to beautiful to be used for politics. Found a random flamenco singer that we thought was a girl...nope. Old guy. Good singer though. We walked a lot...we (and by we, I mean not me-lead groups of people around with my direction skills? seriously doubt it. I´m sure that scares you mom since I will be by myself for a week. Oh well. Remember I am never lost...sometimes just severely turned around) had the map and the city in different directions (namely the city (not the map) was upside down). First thing that we cultured americans do when we get to a part of town that is remotely in the right direction? Go to starbucks. We suck. Others sell out on a regular basis to Burger King, Tex MEX (yes they did), Hagaan Daas (slightly more understandable) and the worst of them all, McDonalds. I´ve only sold out twice so far- McD´s at the beach because it was the only thing open during siesta and starbucks (no excuse). Finally, on the bus home, we were sleeping, and I do mean like a dead sleep, and out of nowhere...probably the bathroom...we were awakened by an extremely unpleasant odor. A reek of pungence wafting through the air at the speed of light hit about five of our group simutaneously and the next sound that was heard was (imagine) UGH! What IS that? Still don´t know...don´t care to know. I would like to congradulate Natalie and Michael on their recent marriage, Sean and Courtney on their upcoming marriage and grad school-you will be missed as my favourite (catch the Brit english?) bartender at the MAC SHACK. Dos besos a todos. Ciao.
19 June, 2005
Puppies
Look at the Cuteness going on in this picture. Everyone has pups here and they love them and I love the fact that they love them.
16 June, 2005
You knew how I am about angles and light.
A cross on top of a monument on the beach at Almuñecar dedicated to a saint. WE climbed the rocks (peril) to get up there and THEN found the stairs.
Just to give you a relative size of the rocks.
This is Kyle and Christian jumping off the rocks at Almuñecar. The water was stinkin cold...but hey it´s the Mediterranean Sea, who cares?
Viejos
There are such cute little old people in Granada. Look at the guy on the left. How can you not love him?
My roommates
This is Camille (left) and Rose (or Camila and Rosa as our mamá calls them). They are my roommates in Granada.
VESPAS!
They are everywhere and some sidewalks have their own street corners dedicated to parking them.
15 June, 2005
This is what we call AT LAST
Sorry guys I had so much trouble getting my camera and these computers to work together in peace and harmony- actually they never did but I improvised. Enjoy
12 June, 2005
Cascais, custard and cabos
Went to visit Thomas this weekend in Portugal. It was so good to see family, even if only for two days. He showed us so much. Of Lisboa and the surrounding areas. We went by bus both ways (about 30 hours/way). I don´t know how people tour on buses except for the fact that they have beds. Ok so that wouldn´t be bad. We went from Madrid to Lisboa on one bus. Our busdriver was so great. There were about 7 portugese men on the bus and my two friends and I. I sat in one seat by the second entrance about halfway back. I had my chair leaned back and was sleeping curled up in both of the seats (remember folks, I´m only 5´1" thanks to my fabulous genetic structure so I can do that-you can see what is happening in a crowd of people that are tall, I can curl up and sleep like a puppy anywhere...no cause to be jealous). The busdriver comes by on one of our stops and tells me in portugese (which I do NOT speak) that my seat leans back all the way into a bed. When he realizes I understood like two of those words, he proceeds to show me. PLOP! I fall backward abruptly onto the seat behind me. Everyone else wants to change seats with me they tell me in Portugese (this I understand). I tell them that´s ok and that if you snooze you lose...I snooze I get a bed. We finally arrived in Lisboa at 5:45am. Thomas met us and took us around the city with one of his advisors, Linda. She was wonderful. She showed us MAFRA, Cabo da Roca, Hell´s mouth (i think that was what it was called), a convent made by Franciscan monks that was like a cave in a mountain that they had made everything out of stone and cork, a mock Versailles built by portugese royalty, a view of a moorish castle and the ruins of another monestary on the top of the mountain and Sintra, a beautiful town whose houses were built in the 1600s. The next day we went to Belem and had Paisdais de Belem which is a pastry that they are famous for. THey like custard a lot. I also had Galao which is coffee with more milk than coffee...very good as I am a tea kind of girl. WE saw the president´s residence, the river and a monument to the discoverers/explorers. Then we went to Cascais to the beach. Beautiful cold atlantic ocean. We got a little burned but not bad...pinkish. Then we went to the Castle of St. George which has a beautiful view of the city. It was amazing. The whole thing was a blur yet relaxing. We saw so much and yet nothing at all. The time spent with them was so fun. I also met Thomas´s house mom Doña Ana...she spoke portugese to me and I spoke spanish to her...somehow we understood each other most of the time. She make fun of Thomas because he doesn´t speak as much portugese as she thinks that he does. Too cute though. Sorry had to describe all of this. The computer does not like my USB cord so although I have about 600+ pictures of everything, I am unable as of yet to publish them to the blog. I am working on it though. Ciao. DOS besos (one for each cheek).
Salsa is red hot
Well, it is the truth. Whether you get the american version in a restaurant with cilantro (my preference when referring to mexican food) or the often mistaken for foreign salsa which is the dance that was actually invented in the grand old U.S. of A. in New York! Oddly enough more hispanic countries practice this dance. It is so much fun. We salsa-ed four nights in a row last week and we were sooo tired by Wednesday that we had to take a break and just chill. Which is equally as fun and entertaining. Story first though: so it is Sunday night...our very first Salsa dance lesson ever. It was so much fun. We stood in lines and practiced the steps like a dance routine. Until...dun-dun-da...Alfredo. like the sauce and equally as formless. It was fun don´t get me wrong. He looks like a computer science/calculus teacher with glasses he keeps pushing up and pants that are so high up that you can´t quite tell where his chest is. note: salsa is very much about moving the hips. Alfredo has none. he shuffles his feet to make up for this. BUT he despirately wants to dance...with you. YOU who have never had a salsa lesson other than today and with a partner? Well, you just better hope that he is good. But he doesn´t know what he is about to do much less let you know. So he pulls and pushes you around the dance floor until you have severly tripped over yourself and him. KEY to dancing with a partner guys: use firm arms to let the girl know exactly what you are going to do. Better yet, your friends are off to the background laughing histerically and taking tons of pictures. OH yes. You vow never to try it again...until salsa lesson no. 2 at Chicago´s on Monday night.
04 June, 2005
Dame mas Gasolina
Ok so that has nothing at all to do with this post, but it is a really fun song to dance to. Today we were in Córdoba and had a grand time even though it was a three hour bus ride there and back. The mosque that we went to that is part of the city square is a beautiful mixture of cultures. It was originally built in like the 700s AD and was a mosque (an Islamic place of worship). They expanded it three times so it is huge...capable of housing 44,000 people. CRAZY! It was finished in 900 AD and then the reconquisition began and the Christians began to kick out both the Jewish poopulation (I realize I spelled that wrong but it was too funny to erase...I´m tired.). They built a cathedral right smack in the middle of this mosque. It is mad interesting. They also have a jewish quarter but no jews. Those Spaniards. The spanish phrase for today is ¡por supuesto! this means ¡of course! I like to say it like an italian and raise my hand and say "but of course!" I also like the upside down exclamation marks and question marks and the siestas a lot. Esta bien. I think that it is a good day for helado (ice cream). It´s hot. Or Paris Hilton´s version...that´s hot. Ok I´ve reached a new low. Hasta for now kids.
31 May, 2005
Dogs and Cats (the truth about them)
¡Hola! ¿Cómo estan? That´s "Hi! How are you?" Really folks, you´ve got to learn the language. Sometimes even that is not enough, though. Like yesterday, for example, my roommates and I were looking on our part of the city (which is over a river, but not through a woods) for an internet cafe. Most houses don´t have internet access so you have to pay for it elsewhere. So, we walked and finally asked an older gentleman who was just standing near a park but not in it. ¿Dónde esta un café por internet? He began to speak in a bit of mumbled spanish and I ended up asking him what he was saying several times. Eventually, we thought we understood so we thanked him and left. We got to where he pointed us to and it was definently a bar. Not an internet cafe. So, lesson number one: know thy audience. Lesson number two: make sure that your "audience" is young enough to know what the internet is. Pictures are coming for those of you who crave visual simulation. Granada is a beautiful city with lots of history. Tidbit: Granada was the last Arabic stronghold in Spain after the moors took over in the 1700s and the christians decided to reconquer it. So, there is a lot of Arabic influence in the Architecture, the fashion and the food. My house is located in a cool district that leads into the mountains. The family is three daughters, a mom, a dad, the abuela (grandmother- no teeth and bad knees but she is so cool.) and then three dogs and three cats. We also have two professors from South Dakota staying with us. The animals like to be under your feet when you are sitting and or eating and they shed everywhere. Peaces to you chicos y chicas. Hasta.
24 May, 2005
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