Things

What I get for spending all day refreshing the LJ images feed:

-somuchcute it should be illegal (thank you john kalb)
-very funny to those who are familiar with myspace
-some people are very clever
-found this amusing
-perhaps the best t-shirt design I have ever seen
-important life lesson
-mortor!
-I want to escape here for a little while

Stuff I got from Kevin:

-Thank you Kevin for this: DDR + Fire = brilliant/stupid?
-Darth vader + Cheese = ?
-Yay!
-Because I never got around to it
-You've gotta admit this is kind of funny (but then again I think anything that contains the word "n00b" is funny)
-And finally, the Best Thing Ever: Zombies v. LARPers

Despite my tolerance and usual easygoingness, things that make me really angry:

-The Man Show
-Any use of the word "jugs" or any derivative thereof (or the t-word for that matter) used in reference to any part of the female anatomy
-Adam Carolla
-Any mention of "girls on trampolines" that is not made by a gymnastics instructor
-That show where they set themselves on fire and stuff...what is it? Oh yeah, Jackass.
-To a lesser extent, reality shows like Laguna Beach
-Adam Carolla
-When they publish an article in Cosmo explaining when it's okay to "ask your man if you're exclusive" ...or maybe I've just never done it that way before. Seems odd.
-The Man Show

This is my family.

This is my family.
Originally uploaded by Beepifier.

Look at us. Representing Greece, Japan, Argentina, and most of Western Europe. Woot woot.

Just bullet points

-I loved the His Dark Materials trilogy but I HATE the stupid unfair ending.

-A Lot Like Love makes me want to shoot myself because like most romantic comedies THAT STUFF NEVER HAPPENS IN REAL LIFE

-Sparrows = one of the cutest things in the entire world. I wish they could be tamed as pets.

-Doves and pigeons are pretty much the same thing, and though there are official names for all of them they're interchangeable in colloquial speak (in japanese they're both called the same thing). What we usually call pigeons (the ones in the city) are actually called Rock Doves, a.k.a. feral doves. Hahaha! Where's the foam and blood and glowing red eyes?

-Here's the soundtrack to the road trip. Sometimes we switched it up, there was some eisley, and we listened to the two imogen heap songs for two days straight, but in general this was our fuel:

Hot Hot Heat - Goodnight Goodnight
The Killers - Mr. Brightside
Fall Out Boy - Sugar, We're Goin' Down
My Chemical Romance - Helena
Coheed & Cambria - A Favor House Atlantic
Coheed & Cambria - The Crowing
Imogen Heap - Hide and Seek
Imogen Heap - Goodnight And Go
--CD sampler from Eisley Concert--
Copeland - Pin Your Wings
Denison Witmer - California Brown And Blue
The Rocket Summer - Brat Pack
Umbrellas - The City Lights
The Jealous Sound - The Fold Out
Lovedrug - Black Out
Cartel - Honestly
Brandtson - Escapist
Reeve Oliver - I Want Burns

-I have a new cell phone number. I'll let those of you who have reason to call me know asap, but I just want to make sure nobody tries to call me in the meantime and wonders why nothing is happening.

-Obviously, I'm home.

Aloha.

I am in Hawaii and sunburned once more. But I am alive, which is good. And as usual, it is mind-blowingly gorgeous here. I'm not sure it gets much better than this.

One night in Paris during a deep philosophical conversation Jamie said some things that made me realize I need to seriously reevaluate the way I approach certain aspects of my life. That's good. I figure I'm at a good point in my life to be able to tackle this, too, since for the first time in four years I'm indefinitely separated from college life, which has a sneaky tendency to thwart my efforts to improve. I'm just not sure I've ever received such good, believable advice before.

Speaking of efforts, I've been much less successful in leaving things behind on this trip than I had hoped. It's my fault, of course, for not completely forsaking the internet, but I am a Dartmouth student after all. Old thoughts permeate my dreams and follow me in to waking life, but sometimes I succeed in distracting myself.

**Aside: The hotel girl just blew the conch that signals the beginning of the lighting of the torches. The beach is lined with torches that are lit one by one by an employee dressed in a grass skirt and a floral head wreath and swinging a lit rag on a stick. It's quite fun, and not as kitsch as it sounds, I assure you.**

I've learned that I am terrible at breaking codes, too, despite having just read a book on the subject.

Now it is dinnertime, and I'm going back to my world of manapua and guava juice and papayas and mangos and pupus and sunburns and sea turtles and eels and sea urchins and snorkeling and baby sea hares and schools of pipe fish and green green leaves and pina coladas and palm trees and 80 degree ocean water and sand that's really parrot fish poop. (And somehow I still manage to slip into depression or anger from time to time...goes to show the weaknesses of my soul.)

PS--reading The Last Temptation of Christ. Not bad. Also: was slightly saddened to find that Be My Escape is about God and not a girl.

PPS-My facebook picture is of my new favorite statue.

One last thing before I go

Let me tell you something:

In Europe, they sell Special K with CHOCOLATE FLAKES.

There's also cereal with chunks of dark chocolate in it by Quaker.

The US needs to get with the program.

Also: Interesting tidbit: Italians don't understand the concept of a "line."

Also: The Eiffel Tower is painted a really ugly shade of brown but it makes the view from afar and the view when fully lit at night absolutely perfect.

Also: Moroccan mint tea is too sweet.

Also: goodbye.

Alive and Home

Now: Enter The Vacation: Part Deux