1822 Kilbourne

does this thing still work?

2006-04-03T13:49:00.000-04:00

good chicken's it's been a long time since this site has been active. i'm gonna try to do my part now.

my life in five {or less} sentences:
i'm teaching at parkmont with rich, he loves every second of seeing me in the halls.
my granny is very sick, been in the icu for seven weeks now, turns out she's a warrior.
i'm moving to san francisco. i hear there's gold in the hills.
after 11 years, i've finally suceeded in getting my step-mother to stop talking to me. blissful silence

the big flush

2005-04-01T10:26:00.000-05:00

'Their job demands that they dream of toilets that never were and ask,
"Why not?"'
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.03/toilet_pr.html

Casey checks in

2005-03-15T15:02:00.000-05:00

**Editor's note: Casey posted this as a comment, but I believe she intended it as a full post so I've recreated it here**

So, I've been gone from cyberworld a while. It took me a long time to figure out how to do this....

Houston is hot. Surprise, surprise. It's growing on me, slowly but surely. I'm starting to have good friends, etc., although to be honest, I've been picky and cranky about it given the friends I had in my former place of residence...

Went to Africa (Tanzania) to visit my brother over break--craziness, I tell you. But absolutely wonderful.

So, to prove to you I'm really in a writing program, two things: 1. Two weeks ago Jeffery Eugenides (Middlesex, The Virgin Suicides) bought me two glasses of wine. Very cool guy, and it's not everyday a Pulitzer Prize winner buys you drinks. 2. Attached is a recent poem (yes, they even have me writing poetry--not my forte, but putting fiction here would be difficult):

In a Writing Program without You

Obfuscation, as a word,
is weightless. As a concept too.
But I live in abstractions now—love,
mortality, or the musicality
of sadness.

Here, book. Here, soap.
Here, spoon. I touch each
twice to remind myself
that without them
there would be no gravity,

and no grave thing.

Yesterday on the telephone
you spoke to me of basics,
how to mix concrete,
the things we don’t see
beneath the earth.

You taught me a new word, rebar, which means:
a steel rod used to reinforce.
You told of sheets laced
through a trench, and pouring.
You told it all

like literature.

When the poets here
pontificate and pose
I think of the rows
of ridged steel that spin out
like hydras from our broken
sidewalks.

I think of your strong thighs and hands
and my waistline loosened in the night.
I never knew

how simple.

Well, that's all folks. Miss you. Terribly. Hope everyone is happy and safe.

Love,
Casey

PS Sas and Scott-- Your new place looks great!

Out West - Part II

2005-01-09T13:08:00.000-05:00

When we last left our intrepid heroes they were battling Montezuma's revenge in the Mission. Usually I steer clear of gastronomic discussions on the internet and I can't imagine this is going to make more inclined to read the rest of this post, but the water in the San Fran Bay Area isn't always kind to the system of us, Eastcoasters. But I digress . . . so our last day in SF was spent seeing some of the city's more distinctive neighborhoods. We breakfasted in the Mission, lunched in the Castro, and thriftshopped in the Haight. Nick departed in the afternoon and Amanda and I picked up our rental car so that we could leave first thing the morning for Yosemite.

The next morning, we drove across the Bay Bridge at dawn, escaping all traffic. Despite Amanda's best internet-research efforts, we were unsure what we were going to do in Yosemite. We hoped to snowshoe thinking that hiking wouldn't be a possibility. We didn't know where we'd rent snowshoes, whether we'd need snowchains to traverse the roads, or if we'd have enough daylight to do anything.

Turns out, we were worried for nothing. The drive was an hour shorter than we thought, the roads were clear of snow, and we didn't need snowshoes to enjoy the park. After conferring at the visitor center, we set out on the trail to Upper Yosemite Falls. It looks kind of like THIS!!!

Yosemite was blessedly empty and the weather was great. After our hike, we rushed to a clearing in the valley for a view of Half Dome at sunset.

After the sunset we drove around some of the campgrounds and spied a wolf and, in the next moment, an elk in its path. We captured the scene here. Its very blurry but it has notes pointing out the animals. The next morning before leaving the park, Amanda and I did some more exploring and saw Mirror Lake and the Happy Isles.

Then we drove south towards Sequoia and Kings Canyon Nat'l Parks. The road out of the valley provided a fantastic view. And more wildlife right beside the road.

Out West - Part I

2005-01-07T16:59:00.000-05:00

So I'm long overdue with tales of my trip to California with Amanda. I submitted my final grad school application earlier this week (I applied to business school at UNC and Duke and health administration school at UNC, fyi) and now I can resume everything I put on hold while I was procrastinating. Don't worry, you read that right.

Engage!

So Amanda and I took advantage of JetBlue's two for one promotion that landed us in Oakland hours after she finished her first semester. We spent the first few days in San Francisco. On Day 1, we worked the legs by hoofing it up and around the city's inclines. Fisherman's Wharf, Ghirardelli Sq, Lombard St, Big Ben, Parliament. Dov and Laura joined us for lunch. Our concierge at the Tuscan Inn (okay, it was a Best Western, but there was a hint of Italy) directed us to House of Nanking for a 'casual' Chinatown meal. Casual, efficient, fatherly, and tasty would be my description. As our group took its first steps towards the restaurants front door, the hostess burst from the door, "How many??", and shuttled us towards a table in the middle of the bustling room. Nanking had none of the usual overdone accoutrements of the Chinese restaurants, just cold white tables and chairs. As we puzzled over the menu in front of our waiter, he asked 'First time?" and told us he'd order for us, "I'm chef." Couldn't argue with that. As we devoured plate after plate of food, we noticed our waiter's picture on the wall. Dressed in a chef's coat and hat, he was wearing a medal, commemorating his excellent sesame chicken I'm sure. We turned to the other wall and there was the medal.

After lunch Amanda and I headed to the Haight for some window shopping. We made our way by foot back across the city and to Alamo Square which is known as Postcard Row because of the pretty Victorian houses, named the Painted Ladies, with the SF skyline above. For me its the "Full House" view. Later in the evening, we tried to confirm that we had in fact seen the Full House view and through Google came to believe that the view was at another park. Proof that the internet is stoopid.

Nick joined us later that evening and we double-fisted at the open bar in our hotel, which had wine, beer, and some finger food that looked and tasted like dog biscuits. After the free stuff was pried from our hands. We headed to a house party thrown by some lovable lunkheads I knew in college that was dominated by Two Buck Chuck and merengue. Well, actually we let the merengue dominate our nights, but we were better off for it.

The next day began with clam chowder in a sourdough breadbowl and the growls, groans, and maybe even farts, of the charming sea lion population that basks in the sun off of Fisherman's Wharf.

Amanda and I took leave of the group for a bike ride around the city including stops at the Golden Gate Bridge, Golden Gate Park, and my favorite, the Palace of Fine Arts, which was built for a World's Fair but remains anchored in the public consciousness by its echoing of ancient times and its appearance in the Cage-Connery masterpiece, "The Rock".

The night belonged to margaritas and mexican food in the Mission. Dov and Laura departed for the real world and Amanda, Nick and I repaired to the hotel looking forward to another day in the city. More to come in Part II . . .

Spider Crew Does San Francisco

2004-12-13T11:26:00.000-05:00

Fantastic few days here in SF. The first pics are on the picture site.

sarah, i'm alive

2004-12-07T22:29:00.000-05:00

hi sarah my davidson,
it's been exciting to see all your photos and hear some about london. alas and alack, i have no news here. still looking for a job. i will NOT give in. i am looking in some other cities though. just plugging away. the families are coming to d.c, my sister and the texas gang are going to be in d.c. on wednesday, and my brothe,r with the asian mafia, get into the country then too and are making their way from l.a. to d.c. by car. ahhhh.
do yous have plans for christmas?
i'll pinch the nanny's waiter in the tush for you.
-separelli

Sarah

2004-11-29T02:01:00.000-05:00

Sarah, originally uploaded by nhmarvelle.

Here are a few choice photos from Sarah and Dave's travels. I took great pleasure in liberating from the clutches of Kodak's Ofoto site where you have to be invited and then register.

Enjoy.

Our neighborhood again (SURPRISE!!!!! it's raining)

2004-11-29T01:59:00.001-05:00

Our neighborhood again (SURPRISE!!!!! it's raining), originally uploaded by nhmarvelle.

Sarah and Dave

2004-11-29T01:59:00.000-05:00

Sarah and Dave, originally uploaded by nhmarvelle.

Crunchy Nut Red

2004-11-29T01:58:00.000-05:00

Crunchy Nut Red, originally uploaded by nhmarvelle.

from Sarah and Dave

Amsterdam

2004-11-29T01:57:00.000-05:00

Amsterdam, originally uploaded by nhmarvelle.

from Sarah and Dave

After all this time...

2004-11-24T13:34:00.000-05:00

Hello, all! This is my very first time blogging, so please be gentle...but after seeing the photos of Rose back in DC, I realized I just had to write to say hello to all of you! Unfortunately, I'm writing with nothing too special to say, except that I think of the '1822 crew' frequently and often wish you were all here to share a dinner or a pint...although the truth is that most of what I do these days is read, talk about what I've read, or write about what I've read. If any of you feel like joining in on that, come on over to London! (ok, ok, I promise we can talk about other things, too...) Dave has some photos of our neighborhood, which is similar in some ways to U Street, appropriately enough, and of the mini-trips we've taken so far, so just send an email to my Gmail address if any of you are interested in seeing those and I can send you invite. Otherwise, just be well and take care of yourselves and each other!
Much love,
Sarah
p.s. Sepi, I wake up every morning (well, may be a slight exaggeration) wondering about your job situation...you have to let me know what's going on! :-)

Rose Returns

2004-11-10T13:57:00.000-05:00

I SWEAR SHE WAS HOME!!

If only for a brief moment.

Sushi at Spices with boatloads of fresh fish and beers and MAFIA at the Brickskeller.

More pictures on the photo site. And some from Scott and Saskia's Halloween.

70,000 people in costume

2004-11-06T17:25:00.000-05:00

Chapel Hill's biggest party -- Halloween on Franklin street

Let me set the scene: Franklin street is about a mile long street that borders UNC's campus. There are cozy little coffee shops and countless bars and stores that sell UNC paraphernalia. On Halloween night, everyone (I mean everyone!) comes from all around (Raleigh, Greensboro, Durham, Chapel Hill...) and dresses up to walk this street looking at other people's costumes. I had heard about this party from my friends who went to UNC and NC State, but I had never experienced it. I had told Nathan about it and had read on a few websites that they expected 70,000 people. Nathan did not believe me (and I was a little skeptical myself). However Sunday night Nathan and I, dressed as a plug and outlet (sorry Will and Ave - we stole your idea) headed down to see what the whole fuss was all about...

It was crazy!!! Everyone was dressed in costume, and although I'm not getting my degree in crowd counting... there very well could have been 70,000 people there. The whole street was packed.

However, I have to say although this was fun and crazy, I enjoyed Halloween at 1822 more...

DC in heels.

2004-10-26T14:55:00.000-04:00

One, all...

The infamous Drag Race sprints down 17th Street tonight after work tonight.

If you are allergic to 6’3” men in drag, costumes, or a combination of both, running 3 blocks wearing a minimum 5” stilletto heel, then this is not the event for you. However, if you’re like me and find this to be great pre-halloween entertainment, a group of us are rallying at the Fox ‘n’ Hound around 5:30 or 6pm for a few pre-race drinks.

The weather is supposed to be damn near perfect, and the ballgame will have barely started by the time the race is done. Just for good measure though, Go Sox.

what the fuck?

2004-10-20T11:54:00.000-04:00

so last night i'm up watching the red socks school the yankees, and to my amusment/horror, riot police are rushed in at the bottom of the 8th. i get pretty into these games,(let me clarify, only the red socks-yankee games, other than that i don't give a shit about baseball) but the arrival of the riot police depressed me. why, you may ask. well let me tell you. it's depressing to me that as a nation we can get so passionate about guys with pot bellies, bubble butts and dip dripping from their mouths, flailing their arms trying to hit a sphere with a chunk of wood, yet 80% of us won't bother to help decide the leader of the most powerful nation on earth.

i'm sick of people complaining that they don't like the choices. how often in life do people love the choices we're given? i certainly do not love that i am unemployed, sitting my fleecey robe at noon on a wednesday writing a ranting blog entry, but hey my other choice was to still work with a creepy old letcher who doesn't respect personal space. so i don't like my choices, but i made the best one that i could. see my point? allow me to continue.

i'm the first generation in my family to grow-up in a democracy. my family has lived through democracy overthrown by the u.s. government, replaced by a military dictatorship, replaced by a distorted religious state. members of my family have spent anywhere from years, to months of their lives in prision because they were fighting for the right to live in a world where they had a say in their choices. they couldn't get that at home, so here they are in the united states where they have that luxury. it is a luxury, which millions of people across the world are denied.

so what right do we have as the richest, most powerful, country on earth, to squander the lecgacy given to us by farmers who rose-up against an empire 228 years ago? such power should be treated with reverence, not apathy. of course part of living in a country with so many choices is that it's perfectly within your rights to choose not to vote. just remember, it's not only the people of the united states who have to live with our lack of interest. in my life, the u.s. has helped to undermine stability in guatemala, nicaragua, venezuela, cuba, hati, algeria, nigeria, iran and palestine. at least those are the places that i know of.

if you are one of the lucky few who can help change the course of the world simply by walking to a polling station, making a pencil mark next to the inbred monkey or the overbred robot's name, (can you tell that i don't love our choices) then why the fuck wouldn't you?

Goodbye room . . . fiddlebow!

2004-10-14T22:08:00.000-04:00

Goodbye room . . . fiddlebow!, originally uploaded by nhmarvelle.

It was a little sad to leave 1822 behind. But I'm comfortable knowing that I will be visiting often. And that I have a wonderful new place of my own. And I'm not talking about the attic at my parents' place. I'm talking about this place.

ROSE!!!!! I found it

2004-10-14T22:07:00.000-04:00

ROSE!!!!! I found it, originally uploaded by nhmarvelle.

Are you kidding me?!? On my last night at 1822 I found the ball that Rose hid from Nick and me.

Genetic Manipulation

2004-10-05T23:58:00.000-04:00

Have you ever thought of what it would be like to have the fate of an organism at your fingertips? Well, about once a week, I have that power in front of me.

While in graduate school, in addition to going to classes, I work in a lab. As first year students we have the task of choosing the lab we will work in for the rest of our stint in graduate school—where I choose will be where I will be working for 5+/- years (pretty big commitment). Right now, I am going through the daunting task of rotations where we “test out” 3 different labs to see who/what we want to work with.

Currently, I am working under Frank Conlon in a lab that studies the roles of different genes during heart development, ultimately hoping to solve some of the problems of human congenital heart disease. We use xenopus, a clawed frog from Africa, to do our studies. The frog is pretty cool (although Nathan would tell you that they are just ugly!) because they are a wonderful organism to work on to study heart development. First off, the females lay millions of external eggs after being injected the night before with a hormone.

History Lesson: The female xenopus’s on demand egg laying ability was discovered
in Africa where they used them as a pregnancy test. A female frog was put into a
bucket where as the woman would pee on the frog, if the frog laid eggs in a day
then the woman was pregnant (don’t ask me how they found this out! – it has to
do with the hormone (human chorionic gonadotropin) in the pregnant woman’s
urine). This test was used in the United States up until 1940’s when
hospitals used to keep populations of frogs for this sole purpose.

Secondly, after their laid we can fertilize them and then in a few hours this relatively large cell begins dividing. As it divides into two cells, I take the fertilized egg under a microscope, and with a very precise tiny needle, I inject a tiny amount of RNA into the two cells. This RNA will be passed down into each of the subsequent cells (all the cells of the animal) and will produce protein. Because we have purposefully made this RNA to have an effect on a gene that encodes for the heart after a few hours as the embryo starts to develop, we can test for the effects of this manipulation on a microbiology level (protein:protein intereactions, gene expression, and protein expression). And within a day or two the small tadpole has developed a heart, and we can see if what we injected has effected the development. This brings up another good point about the frog, because it lives in water and has gills for the first part of it’s life, it really does not need a heart to circulate oxygen, and because it lives off it’s yolk sac for many days, it does not need circulation for delivering food.

Two weeks ago my “mutants” (injected eggs) did not form a functional heart. It was eerie to see it. The heart was not beating properly as compared to the normal tadpole, and it was going so much faster. It was even weirder to think that it was me that made this frog become that way. I’m still wrestling with the fact that I have the power of life and death in my own hands. However, how will we ever know what goes on in the human body without seeing how it works in a model organism?

I’m not sure if this is where I’m going to work for the next 5 years. I’m definitely learning a lot, I love the people (I'm working with a guy from England. He's a great teacher and I love the way he talks- Sarah and Dave you can attest to that) and the lab environment is great, but we'll see where my next adventure takes me… and when I get there I’ll tell you all about it.

The axe drops

2004-10-05T01:30:00.000-04:00

Today, I cancelled 1822's phone service. 299-0955 will get you a disconnected messsage read by the delightful computer voice.

I also cancelled our satellite TV. No more TiVo.

I've given up on the revolution. My cellphone number is 202-557-6328. It's also my work number for when I telecommute so don't be surprised if you get a office-esque message.

Nick has a new cellphone, too. I'll let him tell you all about it. He ought to be updating us soon on his trip cross-country.

I had a successful start to my telecommuting steelo last week. I worked from Chapel Hill Mon-Fri and spent both weekends enjoying the southern life. October will be a little crazy. We just hired a new employee and I'll be training him in DC Tues-Thurs most weeks and then working from Chapel Hill Mondays and Fridays, and staying there on weekends.

My little time in DC has let me get to know the new 1822ers. Both have that 1822 spirit. Dave did Peace Corps stints in the Ivory Coast and when the shit hit the fan moved to Madagascar. He has no furniture, loves his iBook, and works in int'l development. Alex is a Chilean lawyer getting an additional degree at GW. He's a fair ping-pong player, Beatles lover, and has several friends in Mt. Pleasant.

I still haven't met Erika, the friend of Scott and Saskia's who will be moving into my room in the middle of the month. When I do, you'll be sure to get the scoop here.

FEELING GUILTY THAT YOU'RE READING THIS AND HAVEN'T TOLD YOUR WONDERFUL FRIENDS WHAT YOU'VE BEEN UP TO? GOOD!

one little rag that aint been rung

2004-10-04T15:45:00.000-04:00

So last night I made a solo trek up to San Fran to see Gillian (pronounced like the Island) Welch. The best part about this show was it was free. Strike that...

The best part about this show was it was free and in Golden Gate park. I still get chills going over golden gate bridge. It's all encompassed in this haze like the clouds are just spewing out fog. It's surreal until you get to the toll and have to shell out 5 freakin bucks.

Going into this show I wasn't sure what to expect. I knew it was free and I knew Gillian was playing late afternoon. I also knew Emmy Lou Harris was closing the show up which was reason enough for me to go.

I parked pretty far away not really knowing my way around yet. As I'm walking there, an impish fellow with a white blue and red dyed mohawk goes skipping by. I reach an intersection where my impish friend looks confused.

"You know which way to get to the bluegrass festival?" he asks.
"I'm just gonna follow my ears."
"Sounds good."
"By the way," mes asks "where did you go to high school."
"Oh I went in Baltimore."
"Beth Tfiloh right?"
pause

"Yeah" says he "for middle school."

Now keep in mind I went to a middle school with maybe 50 kids...total.

We chatted for a bit and at one point I said
“This would really blow my fuckin head if it didn’t seem to just be the way life goes.” (Does that make sense?)

All I remember about him was he was fresh from Russia had horrible dandruff and never wore deodorant.

Now he owns his own company and skips down the streets of San Fran.

We enter the festival together actually traversing some rough terrain to get into the valley called Golden Gate Park. Upon arriving I see there are 4 stages tons of people and food and I see someone selling ice cold Tecate. The more things change the more they stay the same.

The music was great. My favorites were Gillian and Del McCoury, and Emmy Lou Harris. Though everywhere I went I heard great music. The most amazing part was there was no corporate sponsor attached. We are talking a full on production with top names and the only sponsor I found was this booth giving out water. The security guard I was talking to said it reminded her of the 60’s. To me it just made me happy to know there are certain things money can’t touch and one of those is a kick ass day in the park.

And music. It made me think about how much big money is involved in music. The only reason we accept it is music makes everything better…hell even tolerable (like sitting for 5 days a week in an office…hollah if you feel me.) It’s just refreshing that there is music out there that remains true and pure as a spring running through a Kentucky meadow (I’ll give you a hint it’s not Linkin Park or Brittney ((though it was amusing to see her live)) but it’s not also just bluegrass ((I just read this Damien Rice interview where he described how little attention he pays to anything besides the music and the audience ((ie no bling)) it was nice to see ((on a side note he did say he had a laugh at the pictures of Brittany and her hubby making out at his concert (((see how I tie it all together))) )) .) My point is I love music and I breathe it and it makes me feel….well it just makes me feel and that’s enough these days.

east or west, home is best

2004-10-03T22:29:00.000-04:00

i just got back from a fantastic weekend in nyc. it is infact the first time i've truly enjoyed a trip there. i saw good friends, ate good food and bummed around brooklyn. but the best part was coming home. i've been feeling a little stir crazy in d.c. lately, ready to run away for a while, but as i was in nyc, i realized, damn i love d.c. i know many of yous disagree, but it's clean, it's simple, it's pretty and it's my home. the best part of coming back this afternoon was stepping off the train at union station and finding my dad,aunt, grandma,dad's cousin, her husband and mom all waiting to pick me up. i guess the two days was just too much for them. i wonder who'd get me if i left for a week?

cough cough ugggg

2004-09-24T09:41:00.000-04:00

so i drive my non-existant ass out to great falls on wednesday to pick up my portfolio for thursday's interview. when i get there i feel tired, so i lay my sweet little head on a pillow in my dad's living room, thinking that i'm absurdly tired and my throat hurts. as it turns out i have the flu and strep throat. i've never had strep before and i've not had the flu since highschool. right about 9p.m wednesday night i'm thinking that death is the only way of the misery. luckily some advil and antibiotics are doing the trick. apparently i also called rich. uhhh sorry, don't know what i said to you. so i spend wednesday and thursday out at my dad's house. the interview was postoned because quote "we don't want your germs here." uuhh okay, cough cough. the entire time i'm out there i don't have to lift a finger. it was wonderful. "do want butter with your toasted bread?" "i'll get some juice and some water and put them here on the table by the bed." "i made some chicken soup from scratch, let me know when you're done with this bowl and i'll get you some more." though it causes me sharp pain in my heart i have to admit that my step-mother was extremly nice.
i'm just wondering why no one waits on my like this when i'm not sick? is the key to being doted upon being sick. if so, does anyone out there have mono and want to kiss me?????

Farewell to Visions...

2004-09-22T11:59:00.000-04:00

Sent out today by Visions Bar Noir (the closing party will be this Sunday from 6pm to 2am and is free)::

To all of our Friends, Neighbors and Founding Members:

Recently there have been many rumors circulating that Visions bar noir is going to close. Sadly, we must now confirm that the rumors are true.

Visions will be closing its doors this Thursday at midnight after four amazing years of operation. While our financial success in the last year and half was not what we hoped, we are proud to have played an important part in the renaissance of intelligent, independent film in Washington, DC. Our continued artistic success and the support you have shown for our many innovative programs proves that Washington cares about quality, value-added programming. THANK YOU FOR BEING A PART OF THE VISIONS FAMILY!

To celebrate our dear staff, customers and investors and the special role that Visions has played in the community, we would like to throw one last party to thank everyone whose hard work and commitment to the arts helped us to make a go of it in the first place.

We hope you will join us this Sunday night, September 26, from 6 pm to 2 am, as the Visions community comes together for one final blow-out party at the theater. This party is free and open to the public. In typical Visions style we will be having special events -- we will be selling movie posters, our cool film reel chandeliers, our curtains, and we will even auction our bar noir sign to the highest bidder in order to help cover our final payroll.

Please plan to join us Sunday, share some fond remembrances and say farewell to our unique venue. And again, on behalf of all of us at Visions, thank you!

Sincerely,

Andrew Frank, President

Jonathan Zuck, Vice President

Andrew Mack, Vice President

Liz Matheos, General Manager

The Visions Staff: Samina, Sarah, Adam, Sean, Matt, Tim, Paul, Tony, Jessica, Deysha, Eduardo, Brad, Lauren, Jose, Whitney, Tristan and Angele

NYTimes.com Article: Flight Is Diverted to Detain Former Pop Singer

2004-09-22T09:04:00.000-04:00

The article below from NYTimes.com
has been sent to you by nhmarvelle.

Flight Is Diverted to Detain Former Pop Singer

September 22, 2004
By MATTHEW L. WALD

WASHINGTON, Sept. 21 - The Department of Homeland Security
ordered a United Airlines jet flying from London to
Washington rerouted to Bangor, Me., on Tuesday afternoon so
it could intercept a passenger, Yusuf Islam, the musician
formerly known as Cat Stevens, two government officials
said.

Mr. Islam was "denied entry into the United States," said
an official, and was in the custody of Immigrations and
Customs Enforcement. The plan on Tuesday evening was to
deport Mr. Islam, who is a British subject, the officials
said.

The officials, both of whom said they could not be named
because this was a security issue, said Mr. Islam was a
financial supporter of groups believed to be linked to
terrorism. Mr. Islam's Web site lists him as a supporter of
many charities.

Since converting to Islam in 1977 and renouncing his former
identity as a pop singer who sold 25 million albums, Mr.
Islam has been quoted making contradictory statements about
various issues in the Muslim world.

At one point he appeared to support the death sentence
pronounced by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Iranian
leader, in 1989, against the author Salman Rushdie for his
novel "The Satanic Verses." Though he said at another point
that he did not support the ayatollah's edict, his
anti-Rushdie comment drew wide criticism.

After the interception of Mr. Islam on Tuesday, one of the
government officials said, "He is not on a watch list for
making verbal threats."

Mr. Islam was deported from Israel in July 2000 because he
was believed to be a supporter of Hamas, the terrorist
group.

On Tuesday Mr. Islam was on a Boeing 747-400 with 249
passengers aboard. After it was diverted, the plane was
kept on the ground for more than three hours.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/22/politics/22flight.html?ex=1096858248&ei=1&en=737751c37615d589

Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company

we have contact

2004-09-21T22:06:00.000-04:00

well kids, it's finanlly happend. after months and months of slacking and folding cloths and wallowing in self pity... i have an interview. other than the sf moma or smithsonian, it's one of my dream jobs. they're a firm here in town and they do museum desgin AND they're four blocks from my house. sweet. so i gots to buy me an interview outfit, brush my hair [my mom's kind advice] and practice my strut. of course nothing may come of it, but it's exciting to even get a bite.

It's Fall!

2004-09-19T23:48:00.000-04:00

So today I walked outside and it felt like fall, for the first time since last year in DC. The air was crisp, the sun was shinning, and it took me back to that day when a group of us went apple picking. We had so much fun running around the orchards, picking apples, and tasting more apple varieties than I ever knew existed. We spent the evening playing questions and drinking apple cider. But unlike last fall, this fall is different- I don't have anyone to share those types of experiences with. Not to say I'm not making new friends, because I am, but it is still really hard to go from something to so comfortable to something so awkward and lonely. I know Nathan will be coming soon, but right now I'm experiencing Chapel Hill fall for the first time and I'm doing it alone- it is kind of sad. Not to say it's not exciting and fun, but it is hard.

I guess a lot of us will be able to relate to this. So in response to Nathan's post about this blog dying... I am making a plea to all of you involved: Please, keep in touch! As we all start our "new" lives we will become more distracted and busier with school, new jobs, new friends, new houses, new cities, new cultures, and everything else life puts in front of us, but even though these things will take up a lot of our time, we need to remember that we had something pretty great in DC and that it would be horrible to lose that (and I'm even an "outsider", per say, looking in, so I know that those of you who grew up together and who were friends for many years have an even closer bond.)

So to sum it all up: HAPPY FALL! Wherever you may be and wherever you may be heading...

I gotz to

2004-09-15T22:55:00.000-04:00

So it seems like this blog is slowly dying. Oh well. I like writing here. I'd love if any of you 1822ers joined me.

But no matter.

Here are some cool spots on the internet I've run across recently.

Wes Anderson, director of Rushmore, The Royal Tennenbaums, and Bottle Rocket, has a new movie starring Bill Murray as a Jacques Cousteau-esque figure who does . . . funny stuff. Here's the trailer. And if you haven't seen Bottle Rocket, the little-known first movie of Anderson and Owen Wilson (of movie star at Ladies Night in Georgetown, dog-walking fame) SEE IT!

The US gets a bad rep for our ignorance of the rest of world. Well, here's our chance to show everyone that we can find Suriname on a map. Play in the Geography Olympics and have your score count for the good ol' USA. My high score is an 80% but let's just say I'ver hurt our team more than I've helped it.

Rich has found 3 new roommates. I haven't met any of them yet, but the first one to arrive will be Dave, a former Peace Corps Volunteer in Africa, who described himself in one word as "bling" and listed his only group house living experience as a brothel in Madagascar. Here's the craigslist ad that brought 30 people to an open house, all of whom filled out the questionnaire indicating they wanted to live with us in our awesome pad. Let's hope Rich posts with info about the rest of the roomies. Or perhaps they'll post themselves?!? For the curious, we're staggering the exodus: Nick leaves 8/19, Laura 9/30, and I'm out 10/15.

Rich, with good intentions, also posted a City Paper ad. Because Craigslist is self-publishing and constantly updated we got immediate responses. The City Paper takes its sweet time in comparision. It goes on the web on Tuesday of a given week, and then in print on Thursday, Since this Tuesday, 1822 has been inundated with phone calls asking about the room. YES, that's right Rich put our telephone number in the ad instead of an email address as we had done on Craigslist. Now our answering machine is no longer accepting messages because we have too many on there. This pisses me off. However, everyone will be happy to know that Rich has lead the fight against Roses's Republicans and what seemed like a permanent infestation is now a gleaming porcelain counter of sterility. For this I am grateful.

If you can't get enough blogs in your life, then check out DCist. I've linked to a post where they explore those Masonic buildings where no one ever goes in and no one ever comes out. And I find another DC blog,why.i.hate.dc, to be pretty entertaining. And I know why he hates DC. He lives in Virginia.

Sweet Jebus

2004-08-30T14:34:00.000-04:00

Sweet Jebus Graffiti, originally uploaded by gruntzooki.

This photo was taken in Toronto by author and blogger Cory Doctorow. He publishes his photos on Flickr, a unique photo sharing website. On Flickr, you can 'tag' your photos so that they can be grouped and viewed outside of traditional albums. For instance, Cory tagged this photo 'graffiti' and 'toronto.' Visitors to Flickr can see all photos tagged as 'graffiti' or 'paris' or 'blue.' Moreover, you can check out my Flickr photos and see all my photos of 'nick' or 'europe' OR you can see my latest album.

I'm thinking of making it my primary photo site, but Amanda hates it so far. I've got to work on her.

Guess who else has a blog?

2004-08-25T23:37:00.000-04:00

Quentin Tarantino, a Bad Motherfucker, answers fan mail on Blogger.

My favorite entry:

I fucking despise CGI. If I wanted that shit in movies I wouldn't be watching movies -- videogames are fun because they're interactive, at least. Movies packed with CGI is just lame. Ain't no fucking fun watching cheap-ass Hobbits jumping about in front of lava.

He's just like us! sort of

Monkeys Monkeys Monkeys

2004-08-23T01:52:00.000-04:00

uhoh
Originally uploaded by nhmarvelle.

A professional photographer turned her lens on primates for some extraordinary pictures

Nick loves lawn jockeys

2004-08-22T23:45:00.000-04:00

Nick loves lawn jockeys
Originally uploaded by nhmarvelle.

Pics from Valeria's housewarming party are up on the site. Hope you enjoy them as much as Nick enjoyed his little friend.

Gone to Carolina

2004-08-19T15:34:00.000-04:00

We've posted pictures of our new apartment on the photo site.

We're almost done setting everything up and it looks great. Amanda has already begun her orientation and is enjoying herself. I'm just counting the days until I get back to Chapel Hill.

You're on Target

2004-08-15T23:08:00.000-04:00

If you're down with free stuff, and who isn't, check this out! 25 free digital prints from Target. What's the catch? You have to use it by August 22.

yo pass the shnitzel

2004-08-12T16:29:00.000-04:00

These are house shots mainly I took them for Laura to see how little stuff she should bring. This is only of the main room there are also 2 bedrooms a bath. In the backyard is my prized orange tree.

The other shots are from Bodega Bay which is just beautiful and there are some shots from Monterey.

If you're lucky you might even catch Caitlin in one shot lookin all snazzy!

http://public.fotki.com/NateMarvelle/old_albums/dovs/norcal/

insert witty title here

2004-08-08T23:14:00.000-04:00

Pictures from the Greatest Day Ever i.e. Sepi's birthday are up on my photo site (to the right, to the right, (not) to the left, to the left, now SLIDE). I'll let others post about that. Too much scotch for me to remember.

Also new on the photo site are a few pics from our voyage to Va-va-va-Virginia this weekend. Shenadoah is pretty wonderful. Nick, Amanda, and I took a kayak trip down the river with a family friend of mine. We were un-molested by obese sunburned tubers. Always something to be thankful for.

Afterwards, we attended a party thrown by Kevin Kraditor, one of Nick's co-workers that many of you have met. Kevin and his wife are converting a hotel that was built in the 1800s that has been used as an apartment building for 50 years into a bed and breakfast. The demolition of much of the building begins today so they threw a party to mark the occasion. Their bed and breakfast, Hopkins' Ordinary, will feature much of the original architecture and historic purposes. Their professional kitchen will use local ingredients almost exclusively and on occasion will host cooking classes, wine tastings, etc. Sounds pretty cool. I'm hoping to go back after they finish the renovation next June.

Amanda and I had drinks with Ethan last night. He has returned safely from his trip and he did make it to Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories of Canada. He said is was the scariest place he'd ever been. He has photos somewhere on the web, when I get the link I'll post it.

You know you're in Norway when . . .

2004-08-08T17:57:00.000-04:00

An email from Alex Klose who isn't blogging yet but would be dynamite at it:

Subject: You Know You're in Norway when . . .

....everybody's naked!!!

I hate to perpetuate stereotypes, but today presented a moment too perfect not to share with you all. The summer in southern Norway has been cold and rainy, until now. With temperatures finally high enough to enjoy being outdoors for long periods of time most Oslo folk have taken to sunbathing in parks throughout the city, quite a natural phenomenon. Today, however, I discovered an even more natural phenomenon as I was walking in the woods north of the city.

Coming to the edge of a small lake, Walden Pond sized, I saw several sunbathers on the opposite shore and after a few seconds noticed their nakedness. OK, I thought, perhaps just a bunch of hippies communing with the sun god - might as well be Vermont. But as I scanned the shoreline I discovered more and more naked people, and recognized at once what a decidedly un-American scene I had just stumbled upon.

To my right a family was picnicking on the rocks, the father and his teenage son just hanging out and talking together, sharing a sandwich. This would never happen in the US of A. To most American teenagers family outings and parental chats are tiresome enough, that they be conducted in the nude is simply unfathomable.

Trying to mask my incredulity I turned to my left only to find a man standing stark naked by the water as if he were waiting for the bus. This aimless standing seems to be a fairly common Norwegian practice, and what's so strange to me is that they seem so ill at ease, as if they're unable to decide on some pressing question. Anyway, this particular man kept turning in circles as if unsure of whether to sit down or walk to another spot. He chose neither of these options in the full hour I was at the lake, but his mobile phone did ring and he dutifully answered. I'll never forget the image of this naked man and his mobile; the brawny Scandinavian heeding at once the call of the natural and the material. Could make a great sculpture some day, Michelangelo's Sven.

I guess this behavior is only logical given the drastic light changes in these northern climes, but I think it'll take many more dark winters before I develop a taste for extreme sunbathing. In the meantime, I've finished my seven month stint as The Manny and have now begun "working" in a kindergarten, playing guitar and singing Norwegian children's songs to sixteen boisterous toddlers.

To those now gathered at EVF, enjoy the brook and please send me updates of relevant meetings, etc.

Love to all,
Alexander

Waste of Time

2004-08-05T11:43:00.000-04:00

But a fun waste of time.

This pic is from one of Worth1000.com's photoshop contests, If Modern Celebrities Were the Subjects of Modern Art.

I know it's North Carolina . . .

2004-08-03T14:59:00.000-04:00

So I'm back in DC after leaving Amanda up to her ears in boxes and just purchased items. I can't wait to get back to NC!! Our apartment is big with lots of windows. It has more closets than we know what to do with. We have a small deck that looks out to a small shady stretch that separates us from the road. Our cable is on, the internet is humming, and the new washer and dryer are sparkling in the closet. No phone. We're going wireless. Now I just have to get a cell phone.

We went to Walmart THREE TIMES!! It was only fun on our third trip when we printed out some of our digital pictures on 8x10 photo paper that we later framed in those silver frames that used to be on the 1822 dining room wall. The Walmart employees were admiring our pics as we printed and cut them. And when the Indian woman cashier took a look at my photo of Buda castle, she exclaimed 'Awwweesome!"

I'll be heading back in two weeks at which point I'll take pictures for a 360 view of TT04, Archstone Poplar Place. (All the buildings are labeled with double letters, AA, SS, TT. TT is kind of embarassing, but as Amanda said, at least its not PP).

Our experience with U-Haul is worth mentioning though. Tips to remember: 1) Ask to have your U-Haul a day before your plan on loading it. 2) Don't use U-Haul.

Amanda reserved our truck starting Friday. U-Haul said they'd call on Thursday night. They called and said they didn't know where our truck was going to be but that they'd call back in the morning. No call. Amanda waited all day on hold, calling various offices, getting the run-a-round, until they told us to pick up our truck at 3 pm. And that was JUST the beginning.

Our truck was at 26 K St, NE. The employees were definitely more interested in taking personal calls on their cell phones and walking around in wife-beaters than they were in helping us. It made me think that even in our service-based economy filled with so many choices you can still find yourself held hostage by a poorly run business who've got what you need at the right price.

We got our truck after a while and drove ready to start our journey. I pulled next to a huge parking spot in front 1822 and prepared to parallel park. What a ridiculous idea. U-Hauls go backward but only with the windows down shouting commands to and from various assistants wearing orange vest and waving orange lights.

Once I found a way to pull straight in, we stopped the engine at which point a deluge of fluid came pouring out from the underside of the engine. Not a good sign. I called U-Haul, they us to bring it back. Of course when we stopped the engine this time there was no waterfall of fluid to show the U-Haulers. Probably just overfilled the coolant tank, they said and sent us on our way. At a stop-light on the way home, a pedestrian crosses in front of us, looks wildly at our truck, and then signals and exclaims as we roll down the window that there is fluid pouring from our engine. Guess they REALLY overfilled it. As we turn around to head back to U-Haul, the temperature gauge rises into the red and the 'Check Engine' light comes on.

Back at U-Haul, we ask for another truck. Another truck they don't have as they are already overbooked this weekend. All those trucks in the lot need to repaired. U-Haul calls its mechanic, who replaces the thermostat, and says we're all fixed. We idle the truck in the lot for 20 minutes to be sure and another hour lost, we head back to 1822.

Another stoplight, another pedestrian looking suspiciously at our truck, Amanda jumps out and again fluid is coming out of our engine. An unbroken streak of fluid wets the pavement, marking our path up the block. Waterfall when we stop the truck in front of 1822. What a NIGHTMARE! By now its 8pm, five hours after we first picked up the truck.

With some expert advice from Amanda's father, we decide that if something is wrong with the radiator, it probably can be fixed without a tow. So we decide to call 1-800 roadside, order a mechanic for the morning, and pack the truck.

Next morning, mechanic doesn't call at 7:30am as promised. So we call. It'll be an hour. Hour later, another call. Just got the request, it'll be another hour. Mechanic arrives and after much investigating and repeated insistence on our part that there is something wrong, he says there's nothing wrong. Of course, the fluid that was alarming pedestrians doesn't pour forth in the presence of the mechanic.

So we head to Amanda's to pack her stuff and the truck runs fine. And when we get on the road six hours later than we had planned on leaving, the truck drives like a dream.

Amanda's family met us at our apartment and helped us unload pretty quickly. A HUGE relief. And, I have to give some love to Dave and Laura who tried to help us pack but were thwarted by the U-Haulers.

Oh, and then as I dropping the U-Haul off the next day. I found a $50 bill in the lot.

you knew it was just a matter of time

2004-08-02T20:04:00.000-04:00

The Subservient President

Some fun commands to try (FYI - sometimes you may need to retype for it to register):

"Find Osama"
"Drink a beer"
"Dance"
"Balance the Budget"
"Cut Taxes"
"John Kerry"

(via fark.com)

I know it's California...

2004-07-30T18:29:00.000-04:00

but DRIVE damnit. The people here they don't drive they float. They la-le-dah their way over the road. Now i'm not one to get in agressive driving mode but I am so sick of people not DRIVING. Seriously I can't explain it any better.

PS I'm really quite happy and everything is going super well!

Leave Ricky alone

2004-07-29T18:55:00.000-04:00

*warning sports content ahead*

I am so sick and tired of the bad press Ricky Williams has been getting due to his decision to retire. Ricky Williams has always been one of my favorite RBs in the NFL and to me he has just raised a notch. He decided to quit because he no longer had the desire to play. What's better for the Dolphins a young new guy on the feild desperate to make a name or a uninterested Williams? You know what finally a ritch person doing what I would. He's going to Asia, going to see the world, he's smokin doobie with Lenny Kravitz. I like this guy. You know what Ricky wants to do with himself now? Finish school, maybe teach first graders. But we hate him because he left his stupid NFL team right before camp???? Who cares. The dude has enough money to finally be able to do what he wants. I hope I get to meet this cat someday. Pat him on the back say hell man...you're an inspiration. You make me want to be ritch.

and you thought you'd gotten rid of me

2004-07-23T18:09:00.000-04:00

i'm alive. the program is doing well, it's almost over. the weather here is something fierce. i think it's it's own creature, affecting the way that everyone behaves. that's what i'll blame my episode of shouting expletives at a bunch of 15 year olds on.
other than that i'm kickin' it cincinnati style. going to the best bread shop in the world on a daily basis, visiting the coolest fabric shop that i've ever found and buying cd's at my favorite record shop. those are the things that i'll miss when i come home to our little district. i won't miss the dealers on the corner offering to sell me heroine EACH time i pass them. and i pass them a lot 'cause i live on their street. i also won't miss the old lady who muttered as she passed me yesterday "ooooh you ugly." i'll kick her geriatric ass.
rose's visit was fun, she got to meet some of my cincinnati staple people. we also got soaked in a great rain storm.
ya'll have to stop eating sushi now so that you're ready for my sushi kereoke (spelling? give me a break, i'm a designer, i don't have to spell, that's what copy editors are for) birthday on the 6th. oohhh yeah.

Plays and Plogs

2004-07-21T17:10:00.000-04:00

Amanda spent her last full week in DC busy busy. Now, she's vacationing with her family at Myrtle Beach so I'll recount the happenings. We had a big and very sentimental Chinese dinner at 1822 on Thursday. The menu included Oyster Beef, Hoisin Chicken, Watercress Soup, Kao Shan Green Beans, Sesame Spinach, Hunan Eggplant and Asparagus with Oyster Sauce. Thanks to all the cooks and attendees.

One of my favorite stories told was the origin of the phrase "Consolidate and Garnish." Back in the early days of 1822 things were a little quieter. Nick and I were interested in making new friends (read: desperate). Whenever we met someone cool, we would "Consolidate" meaning we would meet their friends, introduce them to our friends, sort of bring them into our circle and push ourselves into theirs. And "Garnish" meaning we would do our best to become better friends with them which often took the form of inviting them for Chinese dinners. Explaining what the phrase meant doesn't do it justice. Rather, it was an expression of our optimistic outlook about the people we were meeting. And the results have been some of the best friends and best experiences of my life.

On Saturday, Amanda and I attended the Contemporary American Theater Festival in Shepherdstown, WV. My mother went last year and encouraged us to tag-a-long this time. When we planned it we didn't know that it would fall on Amanda's last weekend in DC (aside from the last days of July when we'll be driving a UHaul around for our move to Chapel Hill). In fact, she drove straight from West Virginia (okay, its just across the Potomac) to Myrtle Beach.

Shepherdstown is the home of Shepherd College which may explain why it has a cute little downtown littered with creative restaurants and expensive art and furnishing stores. Certainly, the theater festival brings the right kind of clientele. It was nothing short of an invasion of theater-going city folk. I bet the town population increased by half during the festival.

We stayed in a Bavarian themed hotel complex where the waitresses at breakfast wore outfits you'd expect at a Oktoberfest. I didn't get it. We were in West Virginia!

We saw three plays: Rounding Third, Homeland Security, and Flag Day (listed from my favorite to the one I wish I had been able to walk out of). My general impression was that these plays weren't ready for the big time. Some of the writing was strong but most of it was full of shortcuts, and forced developments. The authors chose to rely on cliched plot twists rather than allowing the very talented actors to convey the subtlety and complexity that the themes were due.

And if you've been reading this whole time wondering what a plog is, then thankfully you've reached my answer. Amazon.com now treats its customers to their own p-ersonalized b-log, or plog when they visit. Its mostly a plug for the products they think you'll be interested in based on your past behavior. Well, somtimes they make funny suggestions like the I received that's pictured below (Click to enlarge and see the joke).

(Note: I've taken the liberty to make a few minor edits to others' posts. My changes have been almost exclusively dealing with links. For example, I added a link to the review of Scott and Saskia's play in Rose's last post. Casey sent it out via email so credit is due to her. So I'll edit from time to time but never anything substantial. )

2004-07-21T17:06:00.000-04:00

Click to Enlarge
Posted by Hello

Updates and Reviews

2004-07-21T11:01:00.000-04:00

Hey all!

Casey, thanks for sending out that wonderful review of the play. It made my day! Rock on S&S...

Columbus continues to be challenging and extremely fun. We have just moved into our new office just north of campus. actually having a large space with desks, chairs and internet is making our jobs a hell of a lot easier. It just amazes me now that we were doing all the things that we were without an office.

It is a bitch of a day out....very hot and humid....DC like. I am moving a ton of "new" furniture into our new office, which is very, very exciting...except for the moving part and the hot part and the fact that we live on the 2nd floor. ARG.

We are still plugging along with contacts and registrations. Well over 15,000 contacts in Columbus and about 1000 new registrations. Folks at Board of Elections are becoming good friends. While the hours suck I still really love the job and especially the people that I am working with. There is so much energy here especially after Kerry picked Edwards. I almost feel like there is nothing stopping us now!

Other exciting news: we are putting together some free concerts right before the voter registration deadline. Some big names have been thrown out including White Stripes, U2 and Snoop? We are also teaming up with Ani's "Vote Damnit" tour...too funny. Somehow I am in charge of all of this, but I have no idea what I am doing, so this should be very interesting. The cool thing is that there are SO many groups out there that want to work in a battle ground states and since Ohio is on everyone's radar screen as the biggest of battleground states, I think that we could pull off something very cool. More to come later....

Been to visit folks in ASP-land twice and to Cinnci to see Sepi for "the best day off ever" other than that I am working my ass off and trying to have fun in the middle.

There are rumors going around about a "Labor Day gathering" (who would start these?). Is anyone going to be around? I think that I might try to make it home for a stretch. Email me and let me know what people are doing.

Miss DC, miss summer in DC and miss you all in DC. Love ya!

Zipping along.

2004-07-20T17:55:00.000-04:00

It began as a brainchild of a few Cambridge, MA entrepaneurs - park rentable cars around the city that can be instantly reserved by Joe Anybody on an hourly basis. Throw in gas and insurance for one lump sum and spice the mix up with some of the more fun rides to roll off of the assembly lines around the world et voila!! These days Zipcar is used by individuals and businesses alike who live and operate in the East coast's biggest cities - Boston, New York and Washington. (Aside: What has two thumbs and loves Zipcar? Me.)

Add to that list, Chapel Hill, NC?!? My NCAA loyalties aside, don't you think that a company offering this type of service would be better suited by expanding to locations where most of their target clientelle don't already have their own cars on/near campus?

To be fair, they are rolling the service out slowly - only 4 cars currently available. I haven't heard if the city's newest additions are going to take advantage, but at the very least they should be able to enjoy the option of taking a spin every now and again in a new VW Beetle for only $5 an hour.

also also...

Architect Frank Gehry among next season's Simpsons guest voices
Playing with bamboo at NYC's PS1
Liquid Stone at the National Building Museum in DC: a-mazing
(all via Archinect)

B.L.T.s

2004-07-15T15:18:00.001-04:00

The Ali G show starts its second season on Sunday. I'll definitely watch after reading this NYTimes interview with the comic behind the show, Sacha Baron Cohen.

Truth be told, I love it when intelligent people make fun of the rich, powerful and/or bigoted. That's how I get my kicks.

Tease yourself with some of the videos on his website.

If you don't get HBO, you might remember Ali G from Madonna's 'Music' video. God, that song was awful.

That subliminal kid...

2004-07-14T13:38:00.000-04:00

check out this new DJ Spooky review...

http://popmatters.com/music/reviews/d/djspooky-celestialmechanix.shtml

Nader

2004-07-13T16:09:00.000-04:00

My mother still can't believe I voted for Nader in 2000. Al Gore won Maryland comfortably and I hoped that Nader would get enough votes for third-party funding.

Well, my first vote in North Carolina will be for Kerry. And it's not just because of the hole Howard Dean ripped in Nader here

Also, a satirical blog interviews him here

Rock N Roll

2004-07-13T14:19:00.000-04:00

Two shows at the 9:30 club:

Tues, July 20
The Hives
$16

A Swedish punk rock quintet with a strange mythology: they claim to have been pre-fabricated by a producer a la the Spice Girls.
Listen to their latest single here.

Mon, July 26
The Bad Plus
$15
Rock n Roll Jazz. They covered 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' on their first album, and Black Sabbath's 'Iron Man' on their second. A little harder edge than Brad Mehldau with all the virtuosity.

Who's in?? First person to respond for each show gets their first two drinks on me. To be announced at the show. Seriously.

BONUS: For everyone who enjoys a good political cartoon, go here

Living in DC

2004-07-12T11:16:00.000-04:00

DC is beautiful. From the wooded streets and large yards of Northwest, down into Rock Creek Park's vast rough and tumble, and onto the National Mall filled to the brim with inspiring monuments, and unparalleled museums. We spent Friday evening enjoying free music in the National Gallery of Art's sculpture garden. They do a great job with this weekly summertime event. Families, hipsters, interns, et al can relocate happy hour, playtime, and dinner to the green grass shaded by pieces of contemporary sculpture. If you didn't bring your own wine and cheese, you can buy a flagon of sangria and a sandwich from the cafe. Much of the space here in DC is taken over by tourists, but this event seems exclusively local.

What I like most about this event is the feeling I get from living in DC. By living, I guess I mean enjoying and using public space with others in the community. The Parisiens plop down with blankets and picnic baskets all over the banks of the Seine and stay there with candles and sing a-longs late into the night. My experience in NYC is that there is too little public space so you end up in Central Park throwing your frisbee over the heads of a thousand other people (But you probably have free Wifi in the same spot!).

Of course, much of DC is fraught with poverty and decay. But I'm all nostalgic right now.

This is Jeopardy!

2004-07-08T13:43:00.000-04:00

As of yesterday super contestant Ken Jennings continues to make television history! On Wednesday, July 7th Ken scored a one day total of $40,000. He's now won 26 games and $868,960... The question is now will he make it to a million?

This 30-year-old software engineer from Salt Lake City is beating the previous record holder, Tom Walsh, by a margin of over $700,000. This has been made possible by a change in rules this season. Previously, a champion could only win 5 times before their term was ended ... now contestants can win indefinitely!

Ken has been on the show so often that Trebek is running out of one-liners to introduce him and one evening, the bewildered host opened the show with, "Welcome to the Alex and Ken show."

One columnist even said:

"Watching Ken Jennings play is like witnessing any great athlete in top form: He's the Michael Jordan of trivia, the Seabiscuit of geekdom. Note his systematic habit of moving down the categories vertically, one by one, rather than skipping around the board. His nearly preternatural ability to land on the hidden Daily Doubles. His obscure betting tactics, which, as near as I can divine, are inspired by an obsessive-compulsive need to end each day's winnings with a round figure. His habit of adding some thematic je ne sais quoi to his answers (which, this being Jeopardy!, are of course phrased as questions.) If the topic is a foreign country, he'll answer in that country's accent, and in answer to one clue about hip-hop music, the ultra-white Ken memorably responded, "What is rap, yo?" Like a hot-dogging ball player insisting on his special end-zone touchdown dance, Jennings will no doubt take heat from some viewers for these stylistic quirks, but what the hell? It's show business, of a sort, and KenJen's antics have once again made Jeopardy!—which I hadn't watched regularly since matching wits with my Dad in high school—required viewing."

So who's up for Jeopardy tonight?

A history of Jeopardy.

When you think of garbage, think of Akeem

2004-07-07T17:16:00.000-04:00

These links made me think of you 1822ers.

Pin the Tail on the Donkey
If you ever get the urge to egg a Bush supporter's house, no need wait until they put a sign in their lawn. Open Fundrace.org's neighbor search, type in a zipcode (20010 in for us here at 1822), and booyah, up pops your potential targets. John Butters, on Kenyon St, has dropped $2000 in Dubya's coffers.

I was perturbed when my name didn't show up but then I read the fine print: "All calculations are based on records filed with the FEC of contributions by all individuals totalling more than $200 to a single campaign between January 1, 2003 and April 30, 2004."

And check out their city maps which zoom into maps and show the precise location of donations.

Some day Dov and Laura will have a vineyard . . .
For our western travelers, The Fodor's Blog posted a nice list of wineries near San Francisco.

I've never been a big fan of wine but the wine tour has some appeal to me. You can make several stops in a day. I wish you could do several beer brewery tours in a day. Maybe in California! Several stops means several rounds of free drinks which means you can get drunk. That appeals to me. I also have some familial nostalgia for wine tours. My parents took a wine tour with their housemates on X-mas Eve from SF when they were in their twenties (a pretty good anecdote to illustrate my parents religious beliefs). According to legend, all of the winery employees were pissed off because they were working the holiday. So they exacted revenge by offering free bottles of their best wines to my parents' party. Drunkeness ensued. Joan ended up passed out underneath a glorious Northern California Redwood for the group picture. Everyone was piled into one of those gi-normous Cadillacs with a hot red paint job and big obnoxious shark fins (at least in my mind's eye).

But did they eat 100 hot dogs?
Slate Magazine, a wonderful e-magazine for just about anything, has review of the best hot-dogs titled, Frankly Speaking - Which hot dogs are the tastiest?. The Jews do pretty well, but they're not the chosen ones. The veggie options do poorly. Still waiting for the corndog taste-test.

Its so close yet so far
This is not a joke. In an effort to stop the rampant sex between older men and young girls, Virginia has begun an ad campaign with the catch-phrases "Isn't She A Little Young?" and "Sex With A Minor, Don't Go There" appearing on posters, coasters, and napkins. The problem sounds bad: "219 births among 13 and 14 years old girls from men over 18 in 1999 and 2000."
Adrants has a poster.

If money didn't rule
I thought the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance laws would really change how things were done in politics. Alas, it seems there will always be loopholes. One idea I've seen bouncing around is full public financing with no private donations. It's being tried in Arizona and Maine and we need to find out how well its working. Another idea, posed on Marketplace (link to audio), is to have all private donations go through a blind trust. That way the candidate doesn't really know who's signing the checks. Preserves free speech but loosens the grip on politicians. Maybe.

Would you let me just finish
Dubya gave an interview where the Irish reporter was described as having "overstepped the bounds of politeness." You can read about it and get the video or audio on Boing Boing

The Fourth

2004-07-07T10:09:00.000-04:00

Amanda and I had a fantastic time this past weekend. We flew up to Amherst for a gorgeous weekend on the Connecticut River with some of my college friends. My old roomie, Orin, has a great house with a big deck, badmitton court, small dock, and SKI BOAT.

There was a nice sandy beach a short boat ride away where we lounged during the day and shot fireworks off at night:

We tubed, Amanda waterskied (I'm chicken, bawk!), Amanda placed second with her partner in the doubles badmitton tournament, I played ultimate and frisbee golf. We saw a woman windsurfing in her pool!

Highlight of the weekend had to be the bonfire on the beach:

More pictures on my photo site and my friend Mike's site.

Architecture Corner with Cobbler

2004-07-01T16:14:00.000-04:00

Good day and a happy July to all! Well, this is the first in what hopes to be a semi-regular series of posts I'll author dealing with design, culture and the people involved in it. That, and sometimes its just fun to talk about some feel-good stories that involve the places that we all know & care about.

As I anxiously await the groundbreaking of my first big project in the city...

(mid-August, fingers crossed)

...I came across this in today's Wash/Pst: Blueprint of a Life (free registration required)

Every now and again, good news about good people somehow finds itself buried deep down under all the bad, but attention grabbing, news. This piece, about NYC architect J. Max Bond Jr. is truly inspirational.

Picture this: student is told he'll never be an architect because of his skin color, practices over 30 years and becomes fellow of the American Institute of Architects, then is chosen among all the nation's designers to mentor and co-design what is arguably one of our nation's most important memorials: The World Trade Center Memorial.

One of our nation's many patriots in my humble opinion, and with that, a happy 4th of July to one and all.

The Moodie Marathon

2004-06-29T11:58:00.000-04:00

Coming to you live after a trip out to the midwest, dontcha knooe...a trip filled with lots of outdoor sports, from a marathon to polar bear dipping. My marathon in Duluth Minnesota was a big success (in my eyes at least) considering I didn't die and I didn't poop my pants. Horray! I also was really pysched with my final time - I was shooting for a 4 and 1/2 hour marathon and I ended up with a 4:08 finish. I guess all that early morning saturday training really paid off. But what also was a big energy boost was wearing my 'Run Against Bush' t-shirt during the race. My Peace Corps friend, Amy, who I ran with, was also sporting the shirt and we got many a cheers that helped us avoid collapsing. (We got a few disgruntled stares and clapping hiatuses too, but at least no one tried to trip us this time.)
Right after the big 'M', four Peace Corps friends and I headed up to the middle of now where (aka. Boundary Waters National Park) for 3 days of canoeing, camping, and - don't forget - portaging (for anyone needing clarification on what that means: you canoe between several lakes, but in between, you have the pleasure of carrying all your stuff, including your canoe, on your back, down these little narrow trails, across streams, through mud, and down steep inclines. Joy.) Yes, we were flipping insane for doing it directly after the race - standing up was enough of a challenge for me the day after the marathon, let alone carrying a 40 lb. canoe on my shoulders. But, at the end of the day, it probably helped me get over my obsurd post-race pain. The canoeing was wonderful though, soreness complaints aside. Chilling with loons and foxes in the middle of the wilderness is never a bad thing (and watching Chris fall into the water was amusing too). Attempting to put up a bear proof bag in a tree is always good fun too...but I digress...
Following that leg of my trip, I headed east to upper Wisconsin for a family reunion, filled with golf, jumping in freezing lakes when it was 50 degrees out, and lovely cheesy family fun. Two thumbs up for the money I made in the family golf tournement! Watch out Tiger...
Anyways, I'll save you guys more details of my escapades. Just wanted to throw out a quick update and give you guys my new address in Baltimore. I start classes at Hopkins on july 7th, so I'm moving up there come the 2nd. Bring on the public health!!!
Here's the address:
Claire Moodie
1530 East Baltimore St.
Baltimore, MD 21231
My cell phone will stay the same: (202)550-8138.
Love and a bear-proof bag (that is not in the least rodent-proof)-

New Digs 2

2004-06-28T14:42:00.000-04:00

I also have found a place...pretty expensive
but...
backyard...with grass...and orange tree

2 bedrooms, fireplace, close to this amazing park, palm tree in front yard
(name this song quote..."I just wanna see some paaaaalm trees." Winner gets free weekned stay in the new place...loosers do too)

also have a job...gotta go do it

New Digs

2004-06-28T12:09:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that Nathan and I had a successful weekend and we are now proud lease holders of a two bedroom, two bath apartment for an outrageously low price (I guess that is what you gain when you give up urban living.)

This place is amazing! A fireplace, lots of closets, walking distance to a grocery store (nothing can live up to the best way), bike path on the road to downtown carrboro (our new town located directly west of Chapel Hill), close to the bus stop (we can see it from our window) and only 2 miles from school so if I miss the bus I can bike. The complex has a pool, fitness center and tennis courts for Nate.

Watch out Chapel Hill-- here we come!

Friday July 9th

2004-06-28T11:56:00.000-04:00

Hello all! I have a proposal: as the weekend of July 9, 10, and 11 is my last full weekend in DC, I thought it might be nice if we all met up for a little jazz, cheese, and wine at the sculpture garden on July 9th and then maybe afterward we could head to the brickskeller for one last drink. What does everyone think?

July 9 The Grandsons, roots and swing

"Washington, DC - An eclectic mix of jazz from swing and blues harmonica to Brazilian can be heard in the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden every Friday evening from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m., June 4 through September 3. Top local and regional artists perform in front of the Pavilion Café, next to the grand fountain and reflecting pool. Visitors can enjoy cool jazz during warm summer evenings while enjoying a snack and beverage inside or outside."

Pump it up!

2004-06-28T11:49:00.000-04:00

Check out what this judge has going on in his courtroom: here

When we do the numbers . . .

2004-06-23T11:40:00.000-04:00

This is a picture of David Brown of NPR's Marketplace

Isn't that awesome?

His bio reads:

A true Renaissance man, Marketplace host David Brown is a motorcycle-loving, history-reading, Southern-born gentleman who believes that Alexis de Tocqueville’s "Democracy in America" should be required reading for all citizens. An enigmatic and multifaceted individual, he would love to have had the opportunity to interview T.E. Lawrence, and believes that journalists have the honor and heavy responsibility of writing the first draft of history . . .

Among Brown's many colorful stories from his years living abroad for "The Christian Science Monitor," his favorite is the time he met Sir Denis Thatcher, aka Mr. Margaret Thatcher, in the streets of London. "I had just been thrown out of the Iranian National Oil Company's headquarters twice, while trying to gain access for an interview. When I walked a few streets away, I noticed a familiar-looking man in a bowler hat coming my way and returning my gaze suspiciously." Brown believed that he was being tailed due to his overzealous attempts to gain access to the oil company execs and decided to turn the tables on his pursuer. "I waited until the man passed me and then began to tail him." He was led on a wild goose chase that concluded at a dead-end. The man in the bowler hat turned around and Brown heard the click of gun safeties being released all around him. It was then that he realized the familiar-looking man was none other than Sir Denis Thatcher, and convincingly talked his way out of the situation by asking Sir Thatcher for an interview, which he politely declined.

I found his bio and photo as I was searching for a story that I only caught the end of this morning. NPR has much of its programming available for download and listen via Realplayer including Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Marketplace. Other radio online: local WAMU shows, and This American Life which is Amanda's favorite and features a recent story on Davy Rothbart, creator of Found magazine.

MORE LATER

Doo Dah this

2004-06-21T18:46:00.000-04:00

Thi sis how I am spending my 4th of July....check out the rules at the bottom...hysterical!

This is such a crazy place...I am falling in love each day?!?

Link

new update

2004-06-21T12:25:00.000-04:00

check my blog people

Free Stuff Frustration!

2004-06-20T21:02:00.000-04:00

I just spent my week at the Endocrine Society's Conference in New Orleans and I am looking back at how my time was spent...

Tuesday: Waking up -at an ungodly hour (4:00) - to get on a plane so we can get here and enjoy the day... which consisted of a hellishly hot and humid afternoon searching for Dutch vs. Deutch soccer... but alas no where to be found in this southern city which is focused on drinking and well I haven't quiet figured out what else.

Wednesday: Presenting my poster on work that I only did a part of ... I was asked many questions I could not answer... so I appeased my depression by roaming the booths for free stuff. I was met with disappointment because mainly my bag is full of crazy color pens from drug companies. Although a few booths had cool stuff like a mouse pad with a picture of me and my co-workers with two poor girls dressed up as LDL and HDL (they depicted this with a green costume and a yellow one -- who would have guessed). I made my way through the Fit for Life where I got my cholesterol checked, my Resting Metabolism, and some other general health tests. The evening was spent in a wild and crazy way-- more details later.

Thursday: I honestly have no idea what I did because I have no cool gadgets to show for it... I spent a while at the relaxation booth getting a foot massage and a back massage. The rest of the day I spent roaming looking for cool things to bring home in downtown New Orleans-- no success.

Friday:
Actually did what I was supposed to be doing here and listened to presentations (mainly my two bosses-- but hey, I learned something).

Heading home on Saturday

Cool Columbus?

2004-06-20T11:59:00.000-04:00

Granted it has only been less than a week, but I think that I can confidently say (brace yourself) Columbus is a really cool place! Granted I am getting paid to go to every cool event in town: festivals, clubs, bars, parks etc...and talk to cool like minded people, so maybe my time is a little bias, but regardless I am really enjoying this town.

I found a sweet place to live (no 1822) which is completely furnished and has cable. The highlight is our 70 something landlord, Don or Donnie as I hope to call him before long, who is seriously the cutest man alive. He has taken Raia, my roomie, and I under his wing and keeps us abreast to all that is happening in town. He is even hooking us up with free NY Times daily...we are getting along great!

The neighborhood is promising with local bar, Oldfield's, stumbling distance from home and Pop's serving up Soul Food a few more blocks down. We are in the middle of Short North and youngish area close to the OSU campus just north of downtown. I am missing my bike, but hope to get that up here soon.

Job stuff is interesting. We have some staff issues: many chiefs no indians that I hope that we can deal with tonight during our staff meeting. No office or real structure yet, but we kicked off our community campaign (vs campus campaign which will start when school comes back) and have already contacted 500+ people most of which are Kerry supporters and registered 80 new Dem voters. We are hiring and recruiting more people this week for volunteer shifts etc...

I am looking forward to going to the OAR/Dave Matthews Band this week and then Comfest, which is this HUGE progressive/hippie festival in downtown. I heard that last year about half the women went topless. Next weekend is also Pride weekend, so we'll all be there as well....like I said lots of cool stuff happening.

I'll keep the updates coming!
Missing you all...

New Address:
1980 N 4th Street Apt 2B
Columbus, OH 43201 (not totally sure about the zip)

Mom and Pop don't even have children!

2004-06-16T16:02:00.000-04:00

Last night, I asked myself a tough question about take-out, the kind that haunts a solo biker riding through the city in drizzling rain.

I used to be opposed to eating at Chipotle because it's owned by McDonald's, a bad corporation which makes you fat.

In the last six months, though, I've been eating at Chipotle quite often. No fat jokes, please.

I have claimed the Widow Kroc's $200 million donation to NPR as my salvation - the end of my Chipotle boycott. I convinced myself that it was OK to buy their burrito's if the widow to the founder of McDonald's was capable of so much good. I wasn’t waiting for an excuse to eat there, but it certainly seems like it given my logic.

Since then, I have become quite fond of Chipotle. I like the taste and size of their burritos; I like the speed and convenience of their businesses.

But as I rode past the awkward boys in ties and the chattering girls that loudly signalled the D.C. summer intern influx, I rejected (for the moment) my moral Kroc calculations.

I thought of the days when I ate at the Well-Dressed Burrito, or the Burrito Cart (w/ pics).

And I thought of Astor Place, a Mediteranean take-out joint on Columbia Rd. in Adams Morgan. Sepi took me there for the first time a month ago. Its been there as long as I have lived in DC but I had never noticed it. Good falafel, chicken kabobs, salads, and Orange Mango Nantucket Nectar. It seems to be run by a Middle-Eastern family who congregate in the evenings from grandmother to grandson. And I feel good about giving them my business.

So I choose Astor. And I was dissapointed.

It was crowded when I walked in and as the cashier rang-up the couple in front of me, the cash-register refused to cooperate. So they tried to resuscitate it while juggling the line of customers and plenty of orders coming in on the phone. I waited anxiously for my falafel sandwich and spinach pie hoping to get home asap to watch the Dutch vs. the Deutsch. The sandwich was good, the spinach pie was not. Chipotle would have been quicker. And Mom and Pop were nowhere to be seen. Just a few lazy guys in the back who took their sweet time making my sandwich.

And then today, my co-worker told me that a nutrition magazine she receives gave poor ratings to Chipotle, who had intially refused to produce nutrition information for their food. So the magazine sent burritos off to the lab. And a major finding: the tortillas were high in lard** making the entire meal quite unhealthly.

And so the moral compass swings again.

**UPDATE: I wasn't able to find the nutrition article on Chipotle until today. Its linked here and above. There is no mention of lard but the tortillas are still a huge source of calories. So many that a Barbacoa burrito with cheese, sour cream, and guac has as many calories and grams of saturated fat as a Quarter Pounder w/ cheese, large fries, and large Coke. EGADS! And the vegetarian is almost as bad! They also rate Baja Fresh and some West Coast chains. This news has basically rocked my little world. And it begs the question: WHERE CAN I EAT?

So I was sitting in a bar in downtown hell...

2004-06-16T11:14:00.000-04:00

Well Jacksonville Tenn to be exact. At a resturant called "Barley's" to watch the game. I'm talking to this nice Scottish lad about the fun we both had at Bonnaroo (Tenn. is still crawling with hippies from it) when this older gentelman (60ish) sits on the other side of me. Well dude seems friendly enough so we chat. His son was going to be in Baltimore so we talk about old Charm City. Then after a pause in which I ingested more of my dollar draft, old guy puts his arm around me smiles a rotten teeth grin and says:
"so what are you looking for tonight"
"watch the game and drink beer."
"noooooo" he slithers back "what are you REALLY looking for."
I remove his arm from my shoulder and tell him I am good right here.
"But I know this town I could show you around."
"I am staying here."
Then swing my chair back to Scottish dude who tells me how last week he wasn't wearing saftey goggles and had some steel fly in it and he is going to loose his eye. I would have moved but my spot was prime. Then old dude turns to his other side and chats up some brits. Pistons win I stumble across the street to my motel 8 (we'll leave the light on) watch some food TV (holla Ritch) and go to bed.

I'm going to Memphis for some BBQ!

i'm updating my blog soon with details on Bonnnnnnarooooooooooooooo

Woooot!!

2004-06-16T00:26:00.000-04:00

Can we please get a moment of silence for my Detroit Pistons?

I know that most of y'all couldn't care less about the NBA Finals...and in most years, I would be in that same camp. However, this is a Michigan boy talking, and the Bad Boys redux proved not only the Vegas odds-makers, but most analysts painfully wrong and rightfully claimed the trophy in a first-ever middle 3 home game sweep.

Also of note: Bill Davidson, the team's owner, now holds 3 simultaneous professional sports championships -- a feat never before accomplished.

WNBA (Detoit Shock)
NHL (Tampa Bay Lightning)
and NBA (Detroit Pistons)

I'd say this would qualify as a few good investments.

DC Love

2004-06-15T10:54:00.000-04:00

From Boing Boing:

Paul Miller, aka DJ Spooky, has a new book, Rhythm Science, that comes with an accompanying CD.

The book's website says:

Taking the Dj's mix as template, he describes how the artist, navigating the innumerable ways to arrange the mix of cultural ideas and objects that bombard us, uses technology and art to create something new and expressive and endlessly variable.

This dude is WAAAY beyond me. But his music rocks.

houston we have a problem

2004-06-14T18:00:00.000-04:00

let's go back to the beginning...after many delays {damned window} i set off for
o-h-i-o. i hit torrential downpour from pittsburg to cleveland, but i landed at granny's just fine, filled myself up with homemade chicken soup, with...added lard, and god bless her, tofu paprikash. oh those czechloslovakian grandmothers. the trip to cleveland culminated in an evening line dancing party on lake erie, then a quick load of laundry which caused my granny to cry and call me a gypsy because i don't iron and fold my cloths right away. i don't iron ever.
i made it down to cincinnati through scary midwest winds and hail. i got my friends jennifer and matt's 1100sqf loft apartment in downtown cincinnati for which they pay less than $800 a month. AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. i'll show pictures when i get a chance, it's tight. we made a fantastic grilled chicken and veggie dinner with tons o'wine. then i went to the gillian welsch concert, one of the best that i've ever been to in my life. she and david rollins are amazing. casey, they were playing our rags song, so i called you to let you hear it. that's what that garbled crap was from me.
the concert was my first face to face with edmund since we broke up. it was tense and awkward, with him sullen and me annoyed with everything he did. just like when we were dating. no, really it was fine.
at this point, thing went down hill.
i am still in cincinnati, not houston. i went to the airport with my standby ticket, and after being personally searched twice, having my knitting scissors throw away,{why god why?} nearly pooing myself to discover that only comair flights go to houston, {i HATE small aeroplanes} i wasn't able to get onto a flight. i had a meltdown at the airport at this point, tears, tears and more tears. who thought i'd ever cry over texas? not me. then i walked 12 blocks through the ghetto in the 94 degrees swelter with all my bags, 'cause jennifer and matt were out for the day and i was too pissy and willing to martyr myself to call anyone else.
as it turns out, it's a good thing i couldn't get to tx, because shortly after i arrived at the penthouse, my program director called to tell me that my project manager quit the day before and could i help them with client meetings, selling advertisements, and finding a place to hold classes? poop stain. on the upside, i meet with bryan, one of my teaching assistants, and it was love at first sight. slouchy jeans, maroon button down and a black tie, shiny black shoes and a nervous habit of drumming his fingers against his pencil. he is, of course, gay and on the cover of the cincinnati enquirer marching in the gay pride parade. all 200 people who showed up for it. ahh cincinnati. things are looking like a great summer is on the way.
jennifer and matt are trying to set me up with someone named clifton. i would reject him on name basis, but who am i to pick on a fella's name?
i miss y'all more than i miss spices, and that's saying something

McRecommendation

2004-06-14T16:47:00.000-04:00

Thursday night Nathan and I went and saw "Super Size Me". (Read more about the movie on imdb.com click here & read rave reviews on rottentomatoes.com click here). And I have to say that it was a fantastic movie! Morgan Spurlock, the director/producer/star is sensational! By eating McDonald's every meal, every day, for a whole month, he embarks on the most perilous journey of his life. Not only is he McFunny and McInsightful about his McMeals, but he also investigates many different aspects of our fat-fast-food culture that were McScary and McMind-blowing.

By trying to be a "typical American", Spurlock goes on the limited walking/no working-out plan as well. He is only allowed to walk approx. 3,000 steps/day. This means that he has to take a cab to work in New York-- completely unheard of.

So not only did this movie make me feel sick to my stomach and reinforce my view about the fast food industry, but it got me thinking: "How many steps do I take a day compared to the "average" American?"

This morning I strapped on my pedometer (a small devise no bigger than an 1882 roach) and got walking. I actually have only walked the minimal amount today that is required for my job. Usually I walk to work, but it looked like it was going to rain and I felt lazy.

And as of 3:30 today I walked 5515 steps!

How far is a step anyways?
The average person's stride length is approximately 2.5 feet long. That means it takes just over 2000 steps to walk one mile, and 10,000 steps is close to 5 miles.

How many steps did you walk today?

I pumped my fists in the air

2004-06-14T15:32:00.000-04:00

Ok, so Our Blog's Stats might be a little creepy for some of you. The thought that we can see who (to some degree of specificity) has been here and when is a little Big Brother-ish, I admit.

But, who wouldn't trade their intrinsic human right to freedom, their shield from the panopticon, for a brief moment of delight?

Please go to Our Blog's Stats and look for a visitor on the 13th of June at 7:47. Its easily spotted by the flag of a certain African nation. And please note its (disappointingly, incorrect) syntax.

Alas, when I chose our free provider of web statistics I didn't ask if it possessed encyclopedic knowledge of world geography.

The Circumstances of Pomp

2004-06-14T14:20:00.000-04:00

Cobbler neglected to mention that my speech ate goats. Well he actually said, "It seems too generic and filled with the type of things everyone else would say." After he made that comment I realized that he was right, but I didn't have time to change it. It took me more time than I think I will admit to anyone to write the bad speech.

One would think that getting up in front of a class everyday would numb you to any uncertainties about a giving a 5 minute speech to about a hundred people. The answer sadly is no. I got up there and read my speech I thought I was going to piss myself. My impression was that the speech sucked, it got a laugh and I was probably shaking in front of everyone.

According to a coworker (who possibly was just being nice): I appeared self-possessed and the speech was good.

I frankly still agree with Cobbler. Why do we call him Cobbler anyway? Why not Mroczkowski? or Mrocz? (which is pronounced Mrotch I believe) or Crotch? Why not Nick and we can call Nick La Porta by just La Porta or my personal favorite Nicky!!

pomp + circumstance

2004-06-14T08:36:00.000-04:00

After listening to the first couple of lines of Rich's draft speech for his school's graduation proceedings yesterday, I was reminded of Jon Stewart's hilarious commencement address to the kids at William & Mary this year. Highly recommended reading, as it makes for a humorous start to one's week.

In an unrelated note, since when is 3 minutes of stoppage time enough to score two goals in a Euro Cup match?!

Our Blog's Stats

2004-06-11T16:09:00.000-04:00

Notice the link to the right to Our Blog's Stats?

Well, it takes you to a page where you can see who has be coming to our page, how many times, where they came from (on the www and in the world), and more.

Its pretty cool to look through especially in the last 20 minutes because we've had visitors from the U.K., France, and Canada. Once you're on the page click on 'Visitor' on the left hand side under STATISTICS to see our foreign friends.

Most of the 'Visitors' are just us. But, it will be interesting to see what draws other people to the blog. So far, I think people are getting here because Blogger posts a list of the most recently updated blogs. But I think that my Euro 2004 post might have drawn people in as well. Guess I better make room on Sunday for some unexpected guests. I'll have to polish up my French.

Euro 2004

2004-06-11T15:32:00.000-04:00

Europe's version of the World Cup begins on Saturday.

We've ordered all the games at 1822 so come by and bring a flag.

The schedule is here. You might have to tell ESPN what area of the world you're in to get to the page. Tell them "The Gambia"

A few highlights:

ENGLAND vs. FRANCE, Sunday 2:45pm
DENMARK vs. ITALY, Monday
GERMANY vs. NETHERLANDS, Tuesday

UPDATE: It appears as though BBC will be broadcasting all the games which means the sportscasters will know what they're talking about, and they'll have funny British accents.

The O's Game

2004-06-10T18:10:00.000-04:00

And they won! Two other pictures on my photo site.

So the homophobes want to poll, eh?

2004-06-10T00:57:00.000-04:00

--Scott sent out an email a while back directing us to a religious right website conducting a poll on gay marriage. I took great pleasure in registering my opinion and seeing that a strong majority felt the same way (60% for gay marriage, and 8% for civil unions). It was a major embarassment to the American Family Association, as this Wired article reports.

So I jumped at the chance to do it again, here.

This time they ask, "Does America need a TV network pushing the homosexual agenda?"

--I am just about fed up with the everyone attacking the freedom of speech. If people want to watch country music videos all day, that's their right, I'm just not going to watch or let my kids/dogs/fish watch. Just as the religious right ought not to protest the creation of a gay TV channel. I suppose they would argue that there is something obscene about it in order to get around that whole freedom thing.

And while we're on the subject, d'ya know "Nipple-gate" legislation passed in the House and stalled (hopefully, forever) in the Senate regulates indecency on TV including violence.

I think there is some connection between the amount of violence on TV, in video games, in movies but I don't think its the job of the government to tell me what is okay to watch. And conservatives agree with me. The National Review published a piece by a father telling the FCC to leave the parenting to him.

While all parents face this same dilemma of figuring out what to let their children watch, the choice my wife and I make for our child may not be the same choice the couple across the street makes for their kids. But that's the nature of life in a free society. It's filled with tough choices, especially when it comes to raising kids.

There is another alternative, of course. Our government could decide for us which shows are best for our children, or perhaps just determine which hours of the day certain shows could be aired in an attempt to shield our children's eyes and ears from them. While there are some who would welcome such a move, I would hope that there are still some other parents like me out there who aren't comfortable with the idea of calling in Uncle Sam to play the role of surrogate parent. When government acts to restrict what our children can see or hear, those restrictions bind the rest of us as well, including the millions of Americans who have no children at all.

Even if lawmakers have the best interests of children in mind, I take great offense at the notion that government officials must do this job for me and every other American family. Censorship on an individual/parental level is a fundamental part of being a good parent. But censorship at a governmental level is an entirely different matter because it means a small handful of individuals get to decide what the whole nation is permitted to see, hear or think.

Of course just because one conservative agrees doesn't mean that Bush won't go ahead anyway and tell me exactly what I can and cannot do. Andrew Sullivan wrote a great piece called the Nanny-in-Chief, about the Bush Administration's ideas about freedom:

The people of Afghanistan and Iraq now enjoy liberties unimaginable only a few years ago. But there's a strange exception to this Bush doctrine: it ends when you reach America's shores. Within the United States, the Bush administration has shown an unusually hostile attitude toward the exercize of personal freedom. When your individual choices conflict with what the Bush people think is good for you, they've been only too happy to intervene. The government, Bush clearly believes, has a right to be involved in many personal decisions individuals make - punishing some, encouraging others, nudging and prodding the public to live the good life as the president understands it. The nanny-state, much loved by Democrats, is now thriving under Republicans.

Won't somebody please think of the children?!?

joining my first blog

2004-06-09T23:33:00.000-04:00

Nathan had to coach me through this for at least 10 to 15 minutes before I was able to join this damn blog. It better be worth it.

Hey I can edit this after I post it!!!!

Fast food

2004-06-09T17:33:00.000-04:00

New way to drive through
He's naked at Bojangles
You want fries with that?

By the way... does anyone want to see "Super Size Me?"

Contemporary Art

2004-06-09T17:18:00.000-04:00

Who says that we are not producing great art any more?

C'bus here I come....

2004-06-09T13:30:00.000-04:00

Got the call yesterday...I AM GOING TO COLUMBUS aka normal, USA. I will be living and working with 3 other 21st Dem organizers and with our state director, Evan (think surfer dude that dresses like a NYC hipster with Jeff O's personality...very cool guy). We are meeting in The 'Bus Tuesday and I think I am heading up there Monday.

I would like to officially invite all of you for a rockin' Halloween/Get Bush the Fuck Out of Office party in B'bus October 29th-Nov 2nd. Party will include costumes, drinks, food, T-shirts and a full exploitation of your free labor to help us during our final "get out the vote" (GOTV) push. Make your plans now cause lord knows that I am going to need your help!

I will be around 1822 tomorrow night and hoping to go out Saturday night with you all. Call me if you are interested in seeing Scott's play with me this weekend. Hope to see you all before I leave!!

yomamaDC

2004-06-09T10:27:00.000-04:00

Miscellaneous thoughts on the occasion of my first-ever blog entry.

What's the deal with the word blog? Does it mean that we can just shorten all compound words by starting at the end of the first half? Imagine recounting weekend escapades in a world full of castrated compound words:

"Last 'kend' I got SO drunk. I spent like an hour in the 'throom' waiting to 'wup,' then I watched the 'nrise.' When I woke up the next afternoon, not only did I have a killer 'gover,' but I had missed 'kfast' at Don Jaime's."

Scary, huh?

I ain't saying do away with the word, but please, please, think twice before you truncate.

I leave you with a Haiku.

Reagan was alive
when my preschool class wrote him -
I thought he was god.

How To Blog: Step by Step

2004-06-09T10:06:00.000-04:00

Step 1 -- To join this blog, you need to be invited to join. The invitation comes as an email from Blogger Invites. I've done that with pretty much everyone but if you haven't received an email or need another one, let me know.

**If you have already joined, go to blogger.com enter your username and password in the upper right-hand corner and skip to step 4**

Step 2 -- To join, copy and paste the link provided in the email into your browser. If you don't have a Blogger.com account, click on 'Create an Account' at the bottom of the page. Choose a username, password, etc. Accept the 'Terms of Service'. Click 'Continue'. You are now at the 'Dashboard' where you can blog it up!

Step 4 -- Click the green + sign under 'New Post'. Give your post a title, write what you want, and click the orange 'Publish Post' button when you are done.

If you want to see how its going to look before you post, click 'Preview' on the upper right corner of the text box. And click 'Hide Preview' to go back.

If you want to create a link, there are good instructions here. But I'll give it a shot, too.

If you want to create a link on a Windows PC, highlight a word with your cursor and click on the icon on the tool bar above the test box that looks like a little Earth with a piece of chain below it (its to the right of the Italics symbol, I).

If you want to create a link on a Mac, go to this page and read the part that says "If this link button doesn't appear in your browser, or isn't working for some reason, you can type in the link by hand:" Its not hard.

If you want to post pictures or jpgs of anything, go here. Windows users can add a little IM program called Hello that will send pics. Mac users need to be able to post their pictures on the web (you can use me photo site, just ask) and then refer to them.

Goodbye Dov and Happy Birthday Saskia

2004-06-09T10:00:00.000-04:00

Rose and Dov have written and it is good

2004-06-09T09:16:00.001-04:00

--I think Rose meant to post this yesterday, but it ended up as a comment here, which no will see. So I'm putting it up top.

"Just want to say *again* for the record that I am NOT mafia! Speaking of mafia, though, is Thursday night still good for everyone for a meal at 1822--perhaps with mafia afterwards? Looks like I might be around Saturday night as well....

21st Dems training was incredible and I am feeling really jazzed about Ohio. I get my placement this week! In the mean time it is all catching up and packing up!

Talk to you a'll soon!

Peace, Rose"

--Before he left, Dov created a travel blog (also permanently on the right side-bar). Its a family-safe place he can post from the road, but hopefully he'll still write here. He's got a post up from Nashville.

UPDATE: It looks like Dov and I were online at the same time linking to his blog. See below.

my travels

2004-06-09T09:16:00.000-04:00

http://dovtravels.blogspot.com/

Fucking Cicadas and other random treats

2004-06-08T11:49:00.000-04:00

Perhaps cicada madness has passed us by. But people are still angry. One person spewed invective at our million friends in an open letter on craiglist. Hipsters across the country enjoyed it and it now resides on the Best of Craigslist.

Did anyone else hear about Cinci's subway system on NPR yesterday (Go here and scroll)? They built it and never used it and now they give tours. If you want to take the tour, the waiting list is 2,000 people long. Sepi, please post with some great things about the 'Nati cause as of now, this is pretty much all I know.

The other NPR story I heard yesterday was 'Colorado Bulldozer Rampage' about a man who welded himself into a customized armor-plated Caterpillar dozer and destroyed the former mayor's home, town hall, a newspaper office and four other buildings in a small town before killing himself. They had opposed him in a zoning dispute. Tragic, I know, but there is something distinctively American about protesting in a bulldozer. UPDATE video here.

. . . speaking of traffic disruptions on the Mall. Ronald Reagan's casket will arrive in DC on Wednesday evening and they'll be closing off Constitution Ave from 17th to the Capitol. Sounds like my pick-up ultimate game might be interupted by snipers, K-9 units, and Reaganauts. Can't be too much worse than the usual fare on the Ellipse where the military puts on a show for the tourists complete with an army cover band (their Sugar Ray songs are particularly brutal) for an opening act, the 2 minute 'we always win' version of USA's history with the firing of cannons to illustrate the high points, and the always rousing, let's name all the states and their nicknames while we wave flags.

alcohalic fruit

2004-06-05T16:17:00.000-04:00

i'd like to thank all of you who encouraged me to have sangria last eveing. wait, did i say thank??? at 6 a.m. when my alarm went off and i rolled out of futon to the sight and sound of pouring rain competing with my brain ache on the morn of the breast cancer walk, i thought to myself, " i have made better choices." but really it was an awsome morning. the rain helped cool all us off on our walk and it was really gratifing to see so many people {republicans included} spending a morning together raising money for such a worthy cause. it was even more awsome to see my friend roshi {with all her hair grown back} walking with her sister, who is also a survior, in honor of their mother. so thanks to all of you contributed to my last minute entrance, and to those of you who gave me large glasses of water last night. you know who you are.

Who's Mafia?

2004-06-05T10:21:00.000-04:00

Posted by Hello

2004-06-05T10:20:00.001-04:00

Posted by Hello

2004-06-05T10:20:00.000-04:00

Posted by Hello

Cicada Haiku

2004-06-03T15:13:00.000-04:00

Some folks will eat them
They'll say they don't taste too bad
Take their word for it.

-Thom Wakeman

2004-06-02T16:32:00.000-04:00

"Just tell her you used to be president . . . and if she asks, you served two terms."
Posted by Hello

I can't take the credit for this joke or picture. I saw it on Wonkette

More pics

2004-06-02T12:02:00.000-04:00

Oh and there were some pictures from our trip to H20 with Nick's college buddy and the PIZZAMART thereafter.
Posted by Hello

Rose's Going Away Party

2004-06-02T11:58:00.000-04:00

The link to my pictures is listed on the right permanently.
Posted by Hello

there

2004-06-01T19:19:00.000-04:00

early morning alley sound wakes me
and I still consumed in haze
check to see if she is sleeping but also
there

Are you a clinically practicing PA??

2004-06-01T09:51:00.000-04:00

6:51 WST and I been up for 2 hours. and almost every PA thinks the stuffed "dancing card" we have affectionately dubbed "Lola" "is" an "Indian." People are honestly talking about this issue at this very moment right in front of me.....and they're just the temps. At least the AC doesn't work.....her name was Lola......she was a show girl.........