The Ninth Floor

Moving to China

2009-09-10T09:35:00.002-04:00

I started a new blog for my China trip. It seems like the thing to do to have a dedicated trip blog, and I thought I'd see what all the fuss is about over at Wordpress. You can find me here. Wordpress, Blogger, and many other sites are currently blocked in China, and I had to subscribe to a VPN service to access them, so please don't use my real name in comments or links to the blog. Thanks for

Um

2009-06-27T14:13:00.002-04:00

Well, what to write about now? I can't believe it took me seven months to finish "blogging" my China trip. Here's a highlights reel of what I missed blogging about while I was transcribing my travel journal entries (or, more properly, procrastinating on transcribing my journal entries):I went to the Bay Area for a conference, visited some people, and went to a wedding. Obama got elected. I

Odyssey

2009-05-25T17:36:00.005-04:00

[Written on October 5]Arrived on the afternoon of the third, and have felt overwhelmed to some extent since my plane rolled up to the gate, The journey was about as comfortable as a 13-hour flight in coach can be; I think I'm a fan of Air Canada. The difficult part was getting up at 3:30 am to catch a plane to Toronto, only to wait in the airport for five hours.I left the Beijing airport on an

Beijing: Day one

2009-05-18T08:18:00.003-04:00

I woke up early--I'd slept in short spurts all night long--and set off in search of another Lonely Planet-recommended hostel in the neighborhood. This one seemed to have ceased to exist as well, but I'd seen signs for another hostel the night before, and this one I eventually found. I moved, then set out for the Forbidden City and Tiannanmen Square.The square was still decorated for the Olympics-

Beijing: Day two

2009-04-11T17:19:00.003-04:00

Went to the Lama Temple, where there were many people praying among clouds of incense. Was strangely underwhelmed until I wandered into an exhibit of sculptures of strange, Indian-looking gods. It was raining a little. I walked around nearby hutongs for a bit, then down an important street past a Ming-era center of Confucian learning. I feasted at a somewhat pricey vegetarian buffet on the

The wall

2009-04-05T20:15:00.004-04:00

On October 6 I went to the Jinshanling section of the Great Wall with a bus bull of backpackers who'd booked the trip through our various hostels. It was a 3-hour drive each way to this less-trafficked section of the wall. We walked from there to the Simatai site, 10 km away. It was great to breathe fresh air again and see the wall, and it was a perfect sunny day. But it was another essentially

Terra cotta warriors

2009-04-05T19:54:00.005-04:00

It was foggy and rainy in Shaanxi province. I'd made a reservation for once, and got a shuttle from the station to the hostel. Feeling like a new woman after a shower and breakfast, I set out to buy my next train ticket and see the terra cotta warriors. I managed to use my Chinese to buy a "hard sleeper" ticket for the next day, and left the train station feeling quite proud of myself, even

Xi'an

2009-04-05T19:49:00.002-04:00

I got a reasonably early start on the 8th, though I was slowed by some difficulty finding breakfast. I was determined not to eat in my hostel, on the grounds that it was overpriced, smokey, and too backpacker-y. But the coffee shop I found wasn't open yet, and street food just wasn't as ubiquitous as I'd expected. So... I settled for toast and scrambled eggs in the hostel next door, which turned

Chengdu by bike

2009-03-15T22:57:00.006-04:00

The train pulled into Chengdu at 5:30 am. At the taxi stand I was besieged with offers of a ride, but didn't realize the touts weren't official taxi drivers, but freelancers. One told me he'd take me to the Wenshu Temple (which was supposed to be near my hostel) for Y40, which I knew was ridiculous. I settled on Y15 with another, only to discover that his "taxi" was a motorcycle. No way was I

Sanxingdui

2009-03-15T14:36:00.002-04:00

From Chengdu I took a day trip to Sanxingdui, a site perhaps an hour away via two fuses. It's two museum buildings on the site of a 20-year-old archaeological dig. There's a very impressing collection of pottery, jade, and bronze artifacts that are like nothing that's been unearthed anywhere else, as far as I could glean from the exhibits. I spent a few hours there, fascinated.Back at the Chengdu

Big Buddha

2009-02-26T22:35:00.003-05:00

I took the bus two hours from Chengdu to Leshan to see the giant Buddha. It's supposed to be the biggest Buddha in the world, or even, according to something I saw, the biggest stone carving.The place was swarming with tourists, mostly Chinese tour groups who mobbed the area to the side of Buddha's face to take pictures. There were other things to see on the top of the mountain, like a tall

A day at the park

2009-02-22T11:38:00.002-05:00

On Sunday I resolved to do nothing in particular. I had a leisurely breakfast of fruit in my room and packed to the sound of CCTV. I called my great-aunt Lily, a task I'd neglected to take care of before coming to China. Lilly lives in San Jose, and I was planning to stay with her in a couple of weeks. I thought I should give her a heads-up. Hers was the first familiar voice I'd heard since

Wenhai

2009-02-22T10:55:00.002-05:00

I woke up early to the sounds of a cat crying insistently and of a German tourist telling the hostel worker her plans. Leaving my window open had been a mistake.I gave up sleeping eventually, and showered and packed. The woman who worked there was no longer in the courtyard when I came out. No one had asked me for money the night before or even my passport, but no matter--Mama's Naxi Guesthouse

Forbidden fruit

2009-01-01T20:45:00.003-05:00

I woke up late and went down to take a shower in the cobwebbed bathroom that Simmons described as "shared but clean" (it was neither shared nor particularly clean at the moment). There was no hot water, where depressed me. Not because I couldn't shower, which didn't seem too important in a place this remote, but because the water was supposed to be heated by the solar panels. I stood shivering in

Back to earth

2008-12-14T22:46:00.002-05:00

In the morning Mr. He had me put some of my things in his backpack. He strapped one backpack to each side of the horse, and we were off. It took half a day to walk to Shuhe village, and I was confused when we arrived because it looked just like Lijiang's Old Town.We met Mr. Cun at the edge of town, and I said goodbye to Mr. He and the horse. I loved the mountains, even though the ecolodge was

Lijiang

2008-12-14T22:15:00.002-05:00

On my first full day in Lijiang I tried to go have a look at Tiger Leaping Gorge using public buses. This turned out not to be as easy as Lonely Planet made it sound, so instead I went to Black Dragon Pool, between Lijiang's old and new towns. I wandered into some sort of Dongba Culture Center, and some enthusiastic young English-speaking Naxi gave me a little tour of their classroom, where their

Tiger Leaping Gorge

2008-12-14T13:37:00.003-05:00

All of the other people in my minibus to the gorge were Chinese. A middle-aged couple from Hong Kong translated a few things for me and we chatted. They introduced themselves as Eric and Pansy. Three other lone travelers invited me to join them on the lunch break, which saved me from having to order in Chinese, and from sitting alone at one of the 8-person tables. The "menu" at the restaurant was

Baisha

2008-11-27T11:56:00.002-05:00

I rented a bike for the trip to Baisha, a village known for its frescoes and its Taoist doctor. Before I even found my way out of Lijiang I managed to crash the bike; a car had pulled out in front of me in the bike lane and I thought I could make it up on to the curb, but didn't. I did a decent roll, and came away with a small cut on my elbow, one on my shin, and a few impressive bruises.I

Hangzhou

2008-11-22T13:11:00.002-05:00

At 8:00 in the morning I flew to Hangzhou. On the bus in from the airport I saw a cluster of skyscrapers on the outskirts of the city; as we drew closer I saw that two-thirds of them were under construction.As directed by the woman at the hostel, I took the shuttle to the final stop and then got a taxi. The first taxi driver I tried wouldn't take me to the address I showed him, and I couldn't

Wuzhen

2008-11-16T18:01:00.002-05:00

On the outskirts of Hangzhou, the bus to Wuzhen pulled into a large, new, gleaming bus station. We were there for 10 minutes or so. No one got on or off. There was no one inside on the long rows of waiting-room chairs, and just a few people who seemed to work there. The place was surrounded by empty fields, but a short distance away was a cluster of what looked like high-rise apartment buildings

Huangshan, Day 1

2008-11-13T18:40:00.002-05:00

On the morning of the 21st I went to the bus station and bought a ticket to Huangshan, which Lonely Planet described as "China's most beautiful mountain." It would be my last stop before Shanghai, and the guidebook made getting there sound somewhat complicated: Change from a bus to another bus to another bus, and find a place to stash luggage in between. I wasn't looking forward to dealing with

Huangshan, Day 2

2008-11-11T23:32:00.003-05:00

***Warning: Extreme complaining follows***I woke up at about 3:00 because people in the room were moving around and having quiet conversations. I went back to sleep, and woke up a little later to similar noises. At around 5:00 my fellow tourists apparently decided it was time to get up. Seemingly the etiquette of shared rooms is different in China, or perhaps only on the top of Huangshan. I

Shanghai

2008-11-09T10:53:00.005-05:00

I'd had a lot of ideas, earlier in my trip, about what I might do in Shanghai: Shop (since I wouldn't have to worry too much about packing light at that point); get a massage, a haircut, a manicure and a pedicure; ride the world's tallest elevator. But by the time my bus actually approached Shanghai my ambitions had been pared down considerably: go to the doctor, and see the Bund.We pulled into

What I did on my October vacation

2008-11-09T10:15:00.003-05:00

I'm back! For those who haven't heard me talk about it ad nauseum already, here's where I've been: China for three weeks on vacation, California for just over a week (at a conference and a wedding), back in DC for a week trying to catch up on things.I'm going to try blogging my trip backward, Momento-style. It might be more interesting that way, and because of the reverse-chronological nature

Visa

2008-09-14T17:12:00.005-04:00

I renewed my passport for my China trip. The good news is that passport renewal has gotten much faster: I got the new one about 10 days after mailing in my application. The bad news is that the new passports are hideous. Where the old passports look dignified and old-fashioned, the new passports bear a chip that allows them to be read through your pocket, quotations from the likes of Lincoln, and

Peachy

2008-09-08T22:41:00.003-04:00

This belated entry is brought to you by my Comcastic internet service.For Labor Day weekend I went to Colorado for Niffer-bur's wedding reception. It was the first time in four years that I'd found a good excuse to visit Colorado in the summer, and it wasn't just summer: It was peach season. Colorado's peaches seem to be a well-kept secret, but believe you me, they are delicious. It could just be

Olympics

2008-08-24T18:35:00.003-04:00

The Olympics always make me cry. I know, weird. The first time I remember crying over them was in 1996 when Kerri Strug twisted her ankle but won the gold anyway. But I cry over much more mundane stuff than that, too, like when Ireland got its first swimming medal. I cry sometimes when people mess up and cry themselves, and I cry when they win and look really happy. At least I've never cried

Local flavor

2008-08-12T22:13:00.002-04:00

I pass this coffee shop every day on my way to the Metro, and it's always got some quirky message for me, usually ending in an exclamation mark. One of my favorites: "We have cupcakes!" Lately they seem to be less about advertising specific Pound offerings, though, and more philosophical. One day it was "A powerful city deserves powerful coffee!", and yesterday, "Waking up and facing Monday

Bus rage

2008-08-12T21:53:00.003-04:00

I interrupt my long blogging hiatus to bring you this story (with a strong warning that it is NSFM - not suitable for mealtime).Three thoughts:This story is a week old. How did I just hear about it today? Are my friends too tasteful to post it on their Gmail Talk status lines?Whoever dreamed up this ad campaign had clearly never ridden a Greyhound bus, or been anywhere near a terminal.Wow.

Vacation

2008-07-01T22:04:00.002-04:00

I bought my ticket to China today. I'm leaving on October 2 and staying for three weeks. Flying into Beijing and out of Shanghai. Beyond that, I don't know yet where I'm going or what I'm doing. I don't even know whether I'll be able to meet up with Deme, or whether she'll be long gone by then. But I do know that it's going to be awesome.

The time, they are a-gentrifying

2008-06-23T21:42:00.004-04:00

The very week KFC closed, what should appear in our neighborhood but a cherry picker full of dudes with flower baskets, decorating the light poles. I also noticed that the abandoned houses on our street now have plywood covering their window-holes; not only that, but the plywood is painted the same color as the house it decorates. This is going to be a classy neighborhood, I tell you. Makes me

Bulletproof KFC

2008-06-18T13:18:00.003-04:00

To this Eckington optimist's post about the closing of a neighborhood restaurant, I would add step zero: remove the bulletproof glass encasing the employees. And perhaps a step 0.5: install tables.

Belted

2008-06-15T18:10:00.004-04:00

Yesterday I finally got my black belt. It's hard to take myself too seriously as a result when the test group consisted of me and one other 20-something woman and about a dozen elementary schoolers. Perhaps the hardest part of the test was sparring, in which teenagers kicked my ass in front of an audience of proud, photo-happy parents. But as someone who's been pretty terrible at every sport

SufferJets vs. Psycho Dolls

2008-05-28T22:22:00.003-04:00

The Ithaca SufferJets took on the Syracuse Psycho Dolls on Friday night at Cass Park, and I was there. This was the second roller derby bout I'd witnessed, so for the uninitiated, here's my one-word summary of the sport: awesome. It's even more awesome when you know some of the competitors, and (spoiler alert) they win. Several hundred people showed up, which was a pretty impressive turnout

Ithaca

2008-05-28T22:03:00.002-04:00

Nell loads Franklin the horse into the Blue Goose for histrip to the boutI arrived in Ithaca two hours behind the scheduled time. Nell picked me up in the Blue Goose, her '84 Volvo station wagon, and calmly explained that she was in "panic mode." The debut home bout of her roller derby team, the SufferJets, was mere hours away, she'd barely slept, and she should probably be at the rink by now,

Bus odyssey part 2

2008-05-27T21:51:00.002-04:00

The bus from New York City to Ithaca was also over an hour late, for no apparent reason. I lined up for it at around 7:30 am. Half an hour later a security woman came by and scolded us for not lining up single-file. "This line is in disarray!" she said. Once we finally started boarding a woman near me in line, wearing fashionable glasses and a green trucker hat, kept yelling suggestions at

Bus odyssey part 1

2008-05-27T21:46:00.003-04:00

I took the bus to Ithaca. Many people pointed out to me that this was a bad idea, but Ithaca isn't an easy place to get to, especially sans car. Several friends in DC suggested that I take the train, which I thought was cute--apparently people in DC assume that you can take the train anywhere. Agent V recently told me he's contemplating taking the train to the Florida Keys, since it's "only"

What I accomplished this week

2008-05-23T16:40:00.004-04:00

1.) Doing the splits (front and back--I'm still working on middle) for the first time since I was about 17 and taking ballet.2.) Keeping my downstairs neighbor's cats alive until his return today. This may not sound like a big deal, but I seem to be kryptonite for cats. One of the neighbor's cats got sick a few days into his three-week absence, I took him to the animal hospital in the middle of

Ubiquitous

2008-05-16T14:34:00.004-04:00

There's someone out there with the same first and last names as me, who has the same email address as me except with a middle initial in it. Some time ago she apparently began putting the wrong email address (mine) on forms left and right. Long story short, I ended up finding out her real email address and now I forward her anything that comes to my inbox that isn't spam but is clearly not for

Up and coming

2008-04-27T21:35:00.004-04:00

I noticed this week that one of the buildings in my neighborhood will be hosting Artomatic this year. A bit of background: Nothing fun really goes on my in neighborhood, as far as I can tell. I was excited last weekend to find out there's apparently a good Thai restaurant... a mere six block away from my place. A few days after I spotted the Artomatic building, I saw a poster advertising an

Blooming 2

2008-03-11T22:07:00.003-04:00

Today I saw a tree in bloom for the first time this year, and was excited enough to stop and take a picture (not shown). There is one thing I expect to miss when summer comes, though, which is the kick-ass view from my room and balcony. Here's what dominates the skyline at night now. Between me and the Capitol is a large tree, though, which I expect will dampen the effect in a month or two.

Unlucky 2

2008-03-11T21:57:00.003-04:00

This past weekend I had strep throat. If you're thinking, "hmmm, I haven't had strep since I was 12," there's a reason for that: Adults rarely get strep. If, like me, you're an adult with no tonsils, your odds are even better. But there it is: I had strep.Which wouldn't have been so terrible--ok, I could barely swallow, but I spent a couple of days sleeping a lot and watching DVDs--except that

My stats

2008-03-06T21:00:00.004-05:00

Here's an email I just got:subject: [Coloradan], you are more desired than 79% of all people.mailed-by: facebookmail.comThis email was sent by Social Profile. You can disable emails here.---In total, you were reviewed for dating 5 times and 2 people expressed interest in you.You are more desirable than 79% of 23,337,936 people.Check your Social ProfileI have to say, I thought the "compare people"

Cross-cultural

2008-01-24T15:30:00.001-05:00

There's an old Chinese man who plays outside various Metro stations with a traditional-sounding instrument (I think it's called an erhu) and a recorded accompaniment. I like it when I catch him--it adds a touch of the exotic to my day.This morning I was riding up the escalator and heard him playing, so I took out off my headphones to listen. As I got closer it became clear that, yes, he was

Google analytics

2008-01-24T11:17:00.000-05:00

It's a huge day for my blog if it gets 10 visits. So I was fascinated to learn that on January 11, 139 people landed on this page after Googling "died in a knitting accident." The Internet is weird. People have also gotten here after Googling something along the lines of cats afraid of vacuum cleaners why.

Spam

2008-01-23T15:20:00.000-05:00

It's my opinion that spam is a greatly under appreciated pop art form. For example, I have to admire this choice piece of email (from one Dr. Jerry Gutierrez, JerryGutierrez@denisehamilton.com) for its complete lack of subtext:Your woman shack up with your mate that's why you are alone.His device is bigger than yours and this is the main reason of leave.Don't worry fellow. At present you have

Primaries

2008-01-10T17:57:00.000-05:00

I was feeling like a bad Washingtonian for choosing my preferred candidate based on his or her charisma, so I decided to take this handy quiz to see who I'd vote for if I were judging based on Issues. And, well, I defy anyone to find meaningful differences between the Democratic candidates' positions on just about anything (I didn't attempt to slog through the Republicans).Maybe this is news

Back yard

2008-01-05T13:29:00.000-05:00

So yes, K and I moved a month ago. The new place is terrific, and the housewarming party is tentatively scheduled for the 19th.While the house is nice, I think its most interesting feature is the creepy back yard. Let me take you through the experience of coming home through the alleyway. I took these pictures during the day for illustrative purposes, but try to imagine going through this in

Changes

2007-11-25T16:37:00.000-05:00

It's been an eventful month, so I'll blame my complete lack of blogginess on feeling that my life is in such a state of flux. Also on relating interesting anecdotes to K when I get home instead of sitting down to blog about them. In an effort to make up for it, here's my month in review:K, upon contracting a bad sore throat, declared she was allergic to the futon and began sleeping on the floor

Boulder

2007-10-25T21:40:00.001-04:00

On my long Western journey I went to Boulder for an afternoon. Pueblo and Boulder should really be more than a two-and-a-half hour drive apart; they're about the same size and located in the same state, but going from the depressed desert industrial town to the mountainous hippie enclave gave me culture shock. For example, you wouldn't find a "women's bookstore" in Pueblo, much less an oxygen

Friday

2007-10-14T13:12:00.000-04:00

I flew into Denver on Friday afternoon, and Niffer-bur picked me up from the airport and drove me to Deme's parents' house, where we'd be staying for fifth year reunion weekend. Deme and SGB were already there. We chatted for awhile and then went to our class reception.As expected, I didn't recognize many people there. Appart from a handful of close friends, I somehow didn't get to know many

txt me

2007-10-02T18:19:00.000-04:00

Shortly after I moved to DC I signed up for emergency text message and email alerts. I'm not much for disaster planning, but it seemed like a good idea. And while I've gotten my share of completely useless information (DMV closed early due to excessive heat, gas leak five blocks away has been repaired), it's also proved handy sometimes, as when it tells me when the severe weather warning will

Extra heavy

2007-09-30T09:06:00.001-04:00

This post is dedicated to Nell.Q: What's more yucky than a gallon of mayonnaise?A: A gallon of mayonnaise that bills itself as "Extra Heavy."I saw this in the wee hours of this morning in a fast food restaurant that also sells some Middle Eastern teas and canned goods, along with industrial-sized condiments.

Retail therapy

2007-09-25T22:47:00.001-04:00

How awesome is this bag? I've begun to worry that maybe I'm developing a purse fetish. Which is ironic since I didn't buy my first purse until my 23rd birthday, when I decided it was time to quit schlepping my stuff around in a canvas bag. And now look at me: so many bags they barely fit on the back of my closet door anymore. I go into TJ Maxx to buy clothes, and I end up with a bag that

Bus

2007-09-23T23:41:00.000-04:00

Yesterday morning I woke up at 8:00 (as my body still seems to feel that six hours at a time is more than sufficient), and decided to go to the 10:00 tae kwon do class. My bus was early and I had to run to catch it at a light. Once on board I felt around in my bag for my wallet... and felt... and rumaged... and it wasn't there. I had no Smartrip card and no money. I briefly contemplated

Circadian rhythms

2007-09-18T01:03:00.000-04:00

For about two weeks now I've had trouble sleeping. It takes me forever to get to sleep, and then sometimes I wake up in the wee hours and have to start all over again. I don't know why this is--I certainly don't have jet lag. It's as though my body has suddenly decided that it only wants to sleep in the afternoon. And no, insomnia detectives, my problem is not an excess of naps: I think I've

Signs

2007-09-17T23:09:00.001-04:00

CityPaper Originally uploaded by ChezShawna You know you live in Washington when... this is the cover story on your weekly paper.If you're curious what the reasons are, the full article can be found here. I haven't actually read it yet, but something tells me it's intended for mature audiences.

Ithaca is far

2007-09-07T23:04:00.000-04:00

I rented a car and went to Ithaca over Labor Day weekend. I hadn't been since January, and decided I'd better make it up for the last weekend of summer. I saw NCSV and Deano and Nell and Jepetto, who'd just gotten his Ph.D. that week. Also some people who don't have names on my blog (yet). And I visited some of the places I've missed, like the Chapter House and the Carriage House and the

In which my tastes are called into question, and defended

2007-08-21T17:48:00.000-04:00

Last night I was reading the Atlantic, congratulating myself on actually getting through a whole issue rather than just letting it contribute to the Leaning Tower of Pisa on my desk/nightstand like so many other publications, when I came on this article by Michael Hirschorn right at the end. As take-downs of pop culture phenomena go it's rather gentle. I think its fighting-est words are:Quirk,

Buffy

2007-08-19T10:55:00.001-04:00

Yesterday I watched the final two episodes in the Buffy the Vampire series. It doesn't sound like a great way to spend a gorgeous Saturday afternoon (hey--I went outside, too), but it seemed momentous, given that I'd been slowly making my way through the series on DVD since January 2005.So what am I going to do tomorrow? Maybe I'll set the world on fire. Or maybe I'll start on the other 213

Pimp my cat

2007-08-16T21:43:00.001-04:00

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this is Icanhascheezburger material. I just need the right caption. Ideas?

Thai Hot

2007-08-09T19:38:00.000-04:00

This is the receipt from M.M.'s birthday dinner on Tuesday. Even with six exclamation marks, it wasn't hot enough for him, so he asked for some hot sauce and piled it on. Afterward he claimed he couldn't concentrate because his mouth was on fire. What a wuss.

A Rock in a Park

2007-08-01T20:40:00.000-04:00

Remember how I wrote that hanging out with Joey and E97 was sort of like being in a Kevin Smith movie? Yeah, I didn't think so. Anyway, for E97's sister, editor of this surreal, er, short, it was apparently like a completely different kind of movie:(Don't feel like you need to watch the whole thing. It's very much an inside joke. I think.)(Also, I don't make an appearance in this video.)

In which the Virgin performs a miracle

2007-07-27T23:13:00.000-04:00

On Friday night those of us who had never been to A Day in Rock City before were awarded Virgin candles from the Mexican store.On Tuesday I was late to the airport. I'm somewhat notorious for being late to the airport; when leaving from DC I arrived 50 minutes before takeoff. But I had the impression that it took 45 minutes to get from Niffer-bur's to O'Hare on the El; in fact, it took an hour.

Komodo

2007-07-26T21:25:00.001-04:00

When Niffer-bur and I got to the Chicago aquarium on Monday we found a line that went out the door, down the front steps, and halfway across the courtyard. A clue to the reason for the madness was the giant blow-up lizard whose mouth the line disappeared into: There was a temporary lizard exhibit going on, including a Komodo Dragon.While I was impressed with the aquarium, I thought the Komodo

A Day in Rock City: Swiss Canoe Races

2007-07-24T23:12:00.001-04:00

Much as I didn't come to Illinois expecting to rollerblade bewigged and half-naked in the Rock City Day parade, I didn't go to the Swiss canoe races with the intention of competing: I was just going to sit on the bleachers and take pictures. But Niffer-bur's team that needed a fourth, and apparently I can't say no to potentially humiliating physical feats--at least not when I'm in the Midwest. So

A Day in Rock City: Parade

2007-07-24T22:06:00.001-04:00

There are certain moments in my life that have caused me to reevaluate some part of my concept of who I am. I start to wonder who this person is who made the decisions that put me in this situation. I had such a moment when I tried to sneak out of my Turkish dorm room and found myself hanging from a windowsill over a 12-foot drop onto concrete; another just before jumping out of a plane with a

Ha! Ha! Ha!

2007-07-16T13:27:00.000-04:00

Behold: My feelings about called laughter have been brilliantly captured by The Onion.

Randomness and the nature of The Ninth Floor

2007-07-07T19:27:00.000-04:00

This morning I went with N.Lu to see Al Gore speak outside the Museum of the American Indian, part of the Live Earth concert series today. Turned out we didn't actually see the man -- ok, I didn't, but N.Lu claims to have seen his back as he took the stage. Then we heard Garth Brooks an Trisha Yearwood sing "We Shall be Free." Then we met TOWWAS at the Folklife Festival.I'd been the week before,

100%

2007-06-27T12:11:00.000-04:00

I heard a McDonald's commercial a few nights ago that ended, "With 100% beef, nothing beats a Big Mac." I'm no expert on burgers, but isn't being 100% beef really the least you'd expect? Do the other fast food restaurants cut their beef with, say, horse? Soylent green? A "secret ingredient"?As a side note, this is my eighth post to carry the "food" tag. I guess this is marginally better than

Tourists III

2007-06-19T22:52:00.001-04:00

These are the kinds of food we ate this past weekend:AfghaniFrenchsandwich (Potbelly, such a hit we went back the next day)EthiopianTurkish (ok, only so E97 had the Turkish breakfast, but I'm counting it)sushiI also introduced Joey to the wonder that is the mojito.On Sunday afternoon Joey and E97 walked up the Exorcist stairs in Georgetown. Then Joey pretended to fall down them. Then they

Tourists II

2007-06-18T17:32:00.001-04:00

I've had out-of-town visitors for the last two weekends, and much fun has been had. In the case of Joey (from Colorado) and his high school friend E97 (who lives in Baltimore now, but whom I had not seen for nine long years), I felt kind of like I was in a Kevin Smith movie. Except that the dialogue was nerdier (in a good way), and, on E97's part, much less crude.I'm a long way from getting

Editrix

2007-06-14T16:37:00.000-04:00

A big congratulations to M.M., who informs me he's been accepted to the University of Maryland's M.B.A. program. He was nice enough to give me some credit for editing his essays (but do admissions people really read these things? I have my doubts). It's great to know his work paid off, including my making him re-write two of his three essays. I find editing other peoples' stuff to be oddly

Posted

2007-05-14T21:55:00.001-04:00

A few weeks ago, on my way to work, I noticed this sign. I've walked past here every day for 10 months now, but hadn't seen the sign before because it's about a foot off the ground. Conveniently, it's at eye level for dogs. It says "Please do not walk on flowers."

Three movies, two Twists

2007-05-06T22:44:00.000-04:00

I saw three very different movies this weekend: The Host, Spider-Man 3, and Infamous. Oddly, the second two both included scenes of people doing The Twist in their Manhattan apartments. What are the chances? I thought I remembered The Twist also featuring prominently in Ferris Bueller, but of course, that was Twist and Shout. Can anyone else think of a movie where people do The Twist?On the

Unlucky

2007-05-02T23:24:00.000-04:00

Lest you think my life is all free art and decadent California breakfasts, here are some unfortunate things that have happened to me recently:I got a $35 parking ticket in Del Mar while M.M. and I were off hunting for quarters to put in their ridiculously overpriced meters.The bottle of vintage Nicaraguan rum I picked up in Tijuana broke in M.M.'s checked bag on the way back (curses to Homeland

Now that's a breakfast

2007-05-02T23:20:00.001-04:00

Breakfast (or brunch) is my favorite meal of the day to eat out for. There's something very decadent about being able to go to a restaurant for breakfast: It's a signal to myself and the rest of the world that, hey, I don't have anyplace to rush off to. I can go out for breakfast. At 11:00.So, although I took plenty of pictures at the wedding I went to this past weekend in San Diego, and at

Magic word

2007-04-18T23:10:00.001-04:00

This is an excerpt from the instructions on my Trader Joe's organic whole wheat pasta. It seems so Trader Joe's to include the word "please" in cooking instructions, as in, "We at Trader Joe's care deeply about our pasta and about your experience thereof, so although we don't like to be bossy, we respectfully request that you not overcook this spaghetti."Joey (no relation) had a different

Free stuff week

2007-04-18T22:57:00.000-04:00

Two free things I got recently, but didn't mention in my last post because they weren't art:1.) a glass of wine at Artomatic, courtesy of Zipcar2.) a Ben & Jerry's ice cream cone yesterday, which happened to be Free Cone DayThe kicker, though, is the Zipcar mouse pad and a Not for Tourists Guide to Washington, which it turns out I won in the raffle I entered Saturday at Artomatic. Awesome.

Free art weekend

2007-04-17T23:20:00.001-04:00

A painting by the nostalgic Turkish guyWell, once again it's my bedtime and I haven't yet blogged, so I'll make this quick. I soaked in a ton of culture for free this past Saturday without even going to the Smithsonian. MM and I started off with the Japanese Street Festival, which concluded this year's Cherry Blossom Festival. While the bastardized pan-Asian cuisine and landscape architects

Blooming

2007-04-04T17:44:00.001-04:00

I like DC much better now that the trees are in bloom. Here's a picture I took a few days ago on my way to work. Even the pathetic triangle of dirt on 17th and New Hampshire that passes for a dog park was bedecked with beautiful white blossoms.Yesterday half of our office went down to the Tidal Basin (where the famous Japanese cherry trees are) for a picnic lunch. The famously ephemeral

Tourists

2007-03-21T22:29:00.001-04:00

One nice thing about living in DC is that it's easy to impress out-of-town visitors. A few weekends ago NSCV came down for a festival involving Flogging Molly, a pseudo-Irish band we both like. M.M. came out with us, and I introduced them both to Turkish food one night and Ethiopian the next, both at restaurants within walking distance of my place. This past weekend G.R. made his first trip

Australians

2007-03-15T08:18:00.000-04:00

In my ongoing desperation for content, I've resorted to telling other peoples' stories. Here's an email a Virginian colleague of mine (I'll call her V.C. for short) forwarded me yesterday:>>> <> 3/14/2007 4:47 PM >>>Subject: Fwd: "Slug" loses umbrella...Colleagues,From time to time on the Front Desk we receive calls that are a little out of the ordinary; one follows:Earlier this morning (

Winners and losers

2007-03-06T21:38:00.000-05:00

Just a short rant about TV. Why are networks still making tired sitcoms with tired ensemble casts (hot women, loser-ish unattractive men, and their smartass kids) and tired laugh tracks? I ask because, as a fan of Comedy Central's always-fresh Daily Show, I was interested to see The Winner, the network show that Rob Corddry left the Daily Show to star in. I think I caught the pilot on Sunday,

Nosy Samaritan

2007-02-27T22:02:00.000-05:00

Last night while waiting for the bus I noticed a wallet sitting on the curb. There were other people around, but none of them seemed to be looking for a lost wallet, so I picked it up and took it home. It turned out not to be very interesting: no credit cards, no money, just a Howard University student ID, Blockbuster membership card, Safeway gift card, AAA membership card that expired in 2001,

California girl

2007-02-19T22:19:00.000-05:00

Just got back from a week in San Francisco: part work, part play. I hadn't been to the West Coast at all in two and a half years (except for Peru), so it was very exciting. There are myriad things I could blog about from the trip, and maybe I will if I'm feeling ambitious lately, but I think for now I'll just say that it was a fantastic trip, and that I got to catch up with friends from college

Obama's Space

2007-02-11T08:33:00.001-05:00

In the wake of yesterday's announcement, www.barackobama.com has added a crazy social-networking component where you can create a profile, upload a picture, search for other supporters, find campaign events to go to, blog about how much you love Barack Obama, and even track your personal progress in raising money for the campaign. Best of luck, Barry--I just hope you don't get sued by Rupert

"Food"

2007-02-03T12:53:00.000-05:00

Yesterday our office held its annual white trash cook-off, a tradition that began... last year. While some might view our trying to out-do each other by making creative and disgusting dishes out of processed food products as an ugly expression of East Coast-liberal elitism, I submit that we were in fact departing from liberal elitist stereotypes by shunning political correctness.While there was

Another purchase, another blog entry

2007-02-01T22:25:00.001-05:00

My blog's been going through a slow time, but nothing inspires me to write like a major purchase. One of my goals for this year is to decorate my apartment, and I took a step in that direction this week when I bought this mid-century bed I found on craigslist. How awesome is this? I think it goes particularly well with my 40s building, and maybe even the TV that's almost as old as I am. My

I Heart Hodgman

2007-01-18T21:58:00.000-05:00

Having nothing to blog about lately, I'm going to fall back on a time-tested blogger trick: borrowing other people's content. Not just any content, though--John Hodgman/Jon Stewart content. Hodgman is not only hilarious, he's everywhere I want to be: NPR, The Daily Show, hocking Macs. Which leads me to that stolen content:

Flickr

2007-01-11T21:50:00.001-05:00

For all my readers who've been losing sleep about how I can't walk and will probably lose my job and end up on the street, have no fear. I limped for less than 24 hours and am walking (even running for the bus) quite normally now. But the bruise now covers nearly my whole foot. You can indulge your morbid curiosity here.Speaking of which, my first disgusting foot picture has gotten 27 hits

Ow

2007-01-09T22:50:00.001-05:00

Picture this: I'm sparring in tae kwon do. I jump up, spin 540 degrees and kick my six-foot-tall partner on the side of the head so hard that he flies across the room. I bruise my foot in the process.What actually happened was that I was doing forms, which are these sort of formal routines--not upper-level forms, but forms that involve a lot of emphatically stepping into new positions and

Taxidermy

2007-01-04T10:45:00.000-05:00

How hilarious can taxidermy be? Find out here.

Lesson

2007-01-02T20:59:00.000-05:00

I've observed before that when I blog about needing/wanting something, it's often miraculously delivered to me: a DVD player, a corkscrew, a digital camera. But I wasn't thinking about that history when I blogged last week about how brown and depressing Pueblo and its environs were. Sure enough, whatever gods there be sent me a three-day snowstorm. Maybe you think that's no big deal because you

Today's the Day

2007-01-02T20:30:00.000-05:00

The day DC goes blissfully smoke-free, that is. Hooray!Oh, and it's also the day of Ford's funeral. But you already knew that.

Photographer

2006-12-27T14:55:00.001-05:00

I got a new camera for my birthday/Christmas, which means I can now take my own pictures of tumbleweeds. Yay! My pick for the blog was going to be one with horses in it, but I went with reindeer and cacti instead.

Home on the Range

2006-12-24T21:53:00.001-05:00

I arrived at the Denver airport (on time) yesterday afternoon to find the place looking somewhat lived in after the snowstorm that closed it down for two days. The line for security stretched around the baggage claim (pretty significant, given the size of the airport), and there were announcements asking people to wait until four hours before their flight to get in line. Four hours!Two hours

Soapbox II

2006-12-14T16:21:00.000-05:00

What do you do when someone writes a near 4,000-word cover article about you, culminating in this take-down?And now, like a mighty t-rex that has escaped from Jurassic Park, Crichton stomps across the public policy landscape, finally claiming the influence he has always sought. In this sense, he himself is like an experiment gone wrong--a creation of the publishing industry and Hollywood who

Santa's in Town

2006-12-09T19:22:00.000-05:00

This afternoon I went to TOWWAS's Christmas show: two and a half hours of wholesome holiday revelry put on by a talented group of singers (and dancers). Then I headed to the Froggy Bottom pub with a couple of fellow audience members for an early dinner. It was five o'clock and we'd stumbled on a pub full of Santas: it was Santarchy.There were male Santas and female Santas, an Elvis Santa, a

How I know I've been working hard in tae kwon do

2006-12-05T20:47:00.000-05:00

1.) Two of my knuckles are raw2.) My abs are still a little sore from doing pyramids in Saturday's class(if you don't know what pyramids are, count your blessings)I've finally graduated to the advanced class at tae kwon do after trying to catch up with lower-belt requirements since August (I came in with a red belt, but each school's belt requirements are different). So far there hasn't been a