Monday, December 30, 2002

amanda, dave b, dave s, jen, justin, and heather b -- glad i got to spend time with all of you when back in pittsburgh.
i'll go ahead and wish everyone a happy new year now: happy new year!
made it to my sister's in VA. i barely made my flight. pittsburgh airport security is exceptionally slow. and i would have missed my flight had i not accidently jumped queue to get my boarding pass. you see, they didn't mark very well that it was the self check-in exit. and there were 3 open terminals. so i just walked up and had my boarding pass before i, or anyone else, realized what happened. then i got upgraded to 1st class with a certificate from my mom. i must have good travel kharma.

Saturday, December 28, 2002

last night i went to the improv at the waterfront in pittsburgh. the headliner was the "millionaire" that got married on tv. the show was entertaining, but i've seen better standups. afterwards we went to dave & busters. had a good time there (along with several gin and tonics). even ran into mike and kelly george. it was a fun night. heather and dave are practically my half brother and sister (yes, that means i'd have two sisters named heather); and it's nice to be able to get together. it seems to happen less and less as people get older.

going to see amanda for coffee/tea in a bit. i'll get caught up on how her and mike are doing and maybe get a little from the tj grapevine.

Saturday, December 21, 2002

"Silence is my gift to you"

Thursday, December 19, 2002

PICTURES as promised...
home sweet home. after nearly 18 hrs of travel, and being awake for 23 hrs, i got home, and slept a good, solid 8 hours. for some reason, i woke at 8 am (est) after going to bed at midnight. surprisingly, i feel pretty good. i need a shower and breakfast desperately. it feels good to be home.

Monday, December 16, 2002

today was a good day in london. hardly any rain. i went to the tower of london before lunch, ate there in the cafe, then went to st. paul's cathedral. the best part was after descending the stairs from the top of the dome at st. paul's, there was a practice for the choir, so i just sat and listened to them for 15 mins or so. a peaceful break in the day. again, there will be some pictures soon, really, i'm serious this time. yesterday i spent at the national gallery. i figured that was the best bet since 1. it's free, and 2. it was raining outside. even the audio tour is free, altho they ask for donations. i donated a few pounds, less than what they ask, but i consider it my student rate. in any case, i saw my first Cezanne and Monet originals, there were also some Van Gogh's as well. time's almost up on then computer, better post now.

Sunday, December 15, 2002

a few days down, a few more to go. i said yesterday, "the weather hasn't been great, but at least it hasn't been pouring down rain." oops, you know what its doing today, right? anyway, i've seen The Globe Theatre, Westminster, Trafalgar, Oxford Circle, Piccadilly (sp?), strolled along the Thames, and a bit more. Still plan to see St. Paul's, National Gallery, Covent Gardens, and Tower of London. let's just hope my money holds out ;-).

Thursday, December 12, 2002

london bound...

Wednesday, December 11, 2002

yesterday i came across a parking officer taking a picture of a car's license plate and receipt. i asked him about it. he said they use it fight appeals. i was fairly impressed with such a high tech solution. i guess it can really pay for itself if there were a lot of appeals that were successful.
woohoo! essay is turned in, this term is officially over for me.

Tuesday, December 10, 2002

me and this postmodernism essay have just about had it out. i'm pretty happy with the first half, the second have isn't quite as good, but i think it's going to have to do. tomorrow i'll put the final polish on it, print it, and turn it in. then its Christmas shopping time and packing. hard to believe i'm leaving for london on thursday!
the internet and flash is great for silly cartoon humor. check out strongbads emails at starrunner. this might be my personal favorite. link courtesy of sam, my flatmate. sam doesn't have a webpage, but what can you expect from a canadian english phd student? closest you'll get is junetile's webpage.
the more people that read your blog, the less personal it becomes.
"all the lonely people, where do they all come from
all the lonely people, where do they all belong?"
- Beatles "Eleanor Rigby"

Sunday, December 08, 2002

there was a huge fire last night here in old town. we were coming back from a Christmas concert and saw all the smoke and commotion. as we were walking up the royal mile to our flat, we could see the flames roaring through the roof when we got to hunters square. from the initial reports, there was no mention of any deaths, which is pretty amazing due to the magnitude and there are several pubs and clubs in the area.

Friday, December 06, 2002

in the spirit of procrastination, i've cleaned up the pictures pages. blogger.com seems to have added the http upload button to their blogspot plus (thats me), so i can now upload from my room. expect more pictures soon. and if this is a mistake on bloggers part, please don't tell them.
i need to hand in "24 pages of poetry" for this term. that is on average over two poems per week. that's a lot. luckily the pieces do not have to be finished. i think i have my portfolio put together. i'm sure i'll go through it again before i hand it in, but i was able to scrounge up 24 pages worth of material, even if some of them are half finished poems, it shows that i'm working, which is the whole point.

now i just have to finish this essay for my postmodernism class by thursday...

Monday, December 02, 2002

"cinnamon and sugary and softly spoken lies
you never know just how you look through other peoples eyes"

Sunday, December 01, 2002

i uploaded some pics to ofoto. the only down side is that you have to register (it's free) to view them.