September

I had a nice, quick trip to Baltimore. Saturday, my train was actually on time! This good luck I've been having has been amazing and a little scary (just because I'm not used to it). It was a long but not too exhausting day.

Sunday, I watched the first half of the Virginia Tech game at Paula and Harvey's before the wedding. Eytan picked me up and watched the last few minutes of the second quarter with me. I'm curious about how conference games will work in the ACC next year.

The wedding was great! Brian and Rebecca really got lucky with the weather. It was cloudy but wasn't too warm or too humid. It was fun seeing some familiar faces (Laura, Jason, Dave, Dan...) and meeting some new people (Kim, Theresa...). And it was great hanging out with the usual crew (Jeff, Jon, Michelle, Eytan...) in Rachel's room at the mansion after the wedding.

Monday I rode home with Jon, Michelle, and Steven. Even with the rain and a little beach traffic, the ride still took well under 4 hours.

It was raining yesterday, so once again, Jon and Michelle didn't get to see any tennis. They didn't even bother going out to the stadium. They just did some shopping for a few hours while I hung out here with Steven. And it was so cold while they were here. Jon borrowed the same jacket of mine that he borrowed on Memorial Day weekend. I think they think that New York is always cold and rainy. And sometimes I think they're not really wrong.

I got the pictures from my road trip; I'll be putting them up here at some point soon. But first I have more important things to do: unpack, laundry, and finish the details for my SE Asia trip. And I'm also hoping to seriously organise my apartment this month.

Classes start tomorrow- they shouldn't be too bad.

Classes started yesterday, and this is going to be the easiest semester yet. If all classes were like this, I would enjoy school much more. I'll have a lot of reading but NO PAPERS!!! Social Psychology will really be a ton of reading (and he lectures on his own material rather than the book, so it's double the information), but I'll get through it. Before leaving yesterday, I had the thought that Duane (the guy who taught the production class) might be teaching the stage management class, and sure enough, he is. So that should be a laid back class. And we will have to be involved on the production, but hopefully it will be like last time and we won't have to be there for every performance.

Today I'm going to Liberty Travel to book my flight to Hanoi that way. Rather than do this myself (and possibly wind up doing something wrong), I figured going to a travel agency will make my trip look more legitimate and hopefully will make the travel go more smoothly. Hopefully they can help me with the visa as well.

Harvey and Paula are coming up tonight. We're going to Los Dos Molinos tonight, and tomorrow Harvey and I managed to get tickets to the sold out Yankees/Red Sox game! So, two games at home for me this year, and both involve the Sox- love it! And Sunday night I'm thinking about going to see "Hair" (the movie) in the park, but knowing me, when it comes time to leave, I'll decide staying home sounds like the better option.

Yesterday was fun! First, Harvey and I went to the Yankees game where we watched them get shut out by the Red Sox! We had great seats (next to the press box, just to the right of home plate), and it was a fun game to watch (especially for me). It was a bit like deja vu since the last time I was there, it was against the Sox with Clemens and Wakefield pitching (they both pitched yesterday). The Sox's batting stats are quite impressive. Then I went to dinner with Paula and Harvey at L'Absinthe. While we were there, were talking about Artisanal, and the woman at the table next to us asked me how I liked their cheese compared to the cheese plate I just had there. I didn't know how to answer since her husband seemed to be friends with many of the people working at L'Absinthe, but I eventually told her that I thought Artisanal's cheese was a notch better. She was thrilled to hear that as her husband sold their cheese at their cheese cave (not the restaurant). Once I knew the whole story, I told her I was happy they opened the cheese cave, since I didn't love their restaurant- she agreed. After dinner, I came home and played some trivia with Andy- that was fun. One question even let me know about an interesting-sounding exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum of Art.

Today is a good, productive day. I resolved the Bank of America credit card security issue (they had a charge from a diner that entered the wrong expiration date and that caused Bank of America to put a hold on my card). I'm mostly unpacked and laundried from my trip. I'm trying to book my flight from Bangkok to Hanoi, but the travel agency's computers are down, so I can't book the trip I reserved quite yet. And I've started organising the road trip photos that I want to put up here.

I like Eric's new album- there's some seriously good songwriting on there.

Here's a great example of how rules are made based on the stupidest person in society (it's the rules for Rumsey Playfield in Central Park):

Whoever recently moved into the apartment above me is very loud and has a dog that barks constantly. They run back and forth a lot, and every time they do that, the dog starts barking for long stretches of time. Not fun! At least it's not a little yappy dog- they're the most irritating. This dog has a deep bark. I wish I could be like Charlotte last night on Sex and the City (which wasn't a very good episode)- she learned how to block out all the New York noise around her. My ears (brain) just won't do that.

Anyway, after 50 steps, I finally mailed out my Vietnam visa application. First, I went and booked my flight from Bangkok to Hanoi. Then I went and got passport photos. Then I went to Hunter to print out the application. Then I went to the post office to get a money order. Then I went to Mailboxes Etc to Fed-Ex the application. Okay, so that was only 5 steps, but they were all over the place. Still, each step went smoothly, so I'm not complaining.

Classes were enjoyable tonight. I love the actual class part of school; I just hate all the work outside the classes. But again, I'm not complaining about school this semester- NO PAPERS!

I decided to volunteer to help with auditions this Thursday since I have the time and I thought it might be fun to watch an audition. This semester they're doing 2 one-act Thornton Wilder plays. I'm sort of looking forward to working on this one and wish I had the time to put in serious hours to get the last work-on-the-show-theatre-requirement out of the way (I'm hoping I can work on next spring's show).

I have a busy week ahead of me. Tomorrow I'm going to see "Moving Out". Wednesday Paula and Harvey are coming back up here since Harvey's giving a lecture, so Paula and I will hang out that evening (I forgot to show her pictures from my road trip last weekend, so we can do that Wednesday). Thursday is the audition, followed by classes, and then I'm going to see "Omnium Gatherum" after classes.

I want to get a ticket to Spalding Gray's new monologue ("Life Interrupted [work in progress]")for when I get back from Bangkok (it will be interesting to see how it evolved from the story he told us 2 years ago before "Swimming to Cambodia").

Yep, it's fall- lots of new things springing up (culture wakes up as nature goes to sleep)- although not as much as in recent years. Actually, that's not true- there are plenty of new things, just not as many interesting new things. Now that I've seen the list of upcoming movies through December, I can now say that this year's selection of movies sucked! I wonder which ones will be nominated for awards? And other than 2-3 shows, there isn't much theatre that I want to see in the next few months.

I've been in the mood to watch offbeat movies recently. Think I'll walk over to TLA after the show Thursday night.

Yesterday was both productive and fun. The only thing that didn't get done yesterday was buying a raincoat. I've tried almost everywhere (going to try Burlington Coat Factory this weekend, and if they don't have anything, I'm afraid I'll have to give up). I literally went to 15 places yesterday and the only raincoats I found were at Bloomingdales and were between $400-$900 (no way am I paying anywhere near that much). I don't know how the average person shops there. I see all kinds of people in that store and most don't look like they can afford it. I guess that's what credit cards are for, but why would they want to spend that much on something they really can't afford? Anyway, all the other stores either didn't have any coats at all or only had winter coats. Where does one buy a raincoat in this city? I guess I can keep doing the hat and jacket thing but a raincoat seems so much more convenient.

"Moving Out" was not bad. In fact, some of it was quite good. My main problem was the understudy for the role of Brenda- Laurie Kanyok was irritating to watch and was the weakest dancer on the stage. I really enjoyed the ensemble (especially Aliane Baquerot, Alexander Brady, and Karine Plantadit-Bageot) and John Seyla (especially during "Captain Jack"). My seat in the second row was great for watching technique and facial expressions (and interacting with some of them at various times) but it was difficult to follow all the movement. The seat was eye level with the bottom of the stage, so when they went back and forth across the stage or there was movement on the entire stage, you couldn't see it all. I've never thought of myself as a Billy Joel fan and didn't think I really liked most of his music, but hearing the songs last night made me want to hear more. I liked the majority of them (although I could have been enjoying them more since I was enjoying the choreography)- especially "Pressure", "Angry Young Man", "Big Shot", "Movin' Out", "Captain Jack", "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant", "James", and "Goodnight Saigon". Wade Preston was quite talented but I barely paid attention to him or the band unless there wasn't anyone onstage. I'm curious if I would have done the same thing with Michael Cavanaugh performing or if he makes himself more noticeable. I kind of liked the unobtrusiveness of the visible band. Anyway, I'm glad I went.

For the past 2 nights/mornings, Terry has been in my dream. I really don't appreciate that.

Today I did some work and made phone calls to customer service (all local companies, so it wasn't as irritating). It's already bad, but is dealing with customer service getting worse? I feel like I have to call about problems even more than I have been over the last few years. And I've been thinking about switching my cellular service to Verizon since they're really dominating the city? I've had problems with that company even though I've never had an account with them. Maybe I should just stick to Sprint for a little longer.

The honking symphony woke me up and has continued all morning. Can't wait to see if my soundproofing idea works.

I ran into a marble wall a few months ago and my knee was fine the next day. Yesterday morning, I tapped my knee into a door and it was in fairly bad shape yesterday and today it's still bothering me. I'm assuming it will be better by tomorrow.

Yesterday was long but nice. I helped with auditions before classes. Duane asked me again if I could be an ASM for this production- wish I could.

After classes, I went to see "Omnium Gatherum". I was sort of not looking forward to it, especially seeing it on September 11th, but I'm glad I did. The majority of it was hilarious and had some great dialogue (I'm interested in learning more about the playwright, Theresa Rebeck- she had so many interesting points and used her characters extremely well). The end had just the right amount of intensity. There were a couple of things that didn't make sense (I won't write about it here so I don't give away anything to anyone planning on seeing it), but I'll let that go. And I'm glad I saw it last night since I think it had more of an impact seeing it on the 11th.

After the show, I walked over to TLA and got 3 movies ("Capricious Summer", "Smiles of a Summer Night", and "Alice").

Oh, and before the show, I went to a new crepe place on 3rd. I do love a lot about the Village and need to keep reminding myself to go down there more often. I'll go on Monday after classes to return the videos and have a bite to eat before heading up to Burlington Coat Factory (love that they're open until 10:00).

Part of last night's dream: I was on a plane, talking to Paula on the air-phone before take-off. I told her that even though I didn't pay for a good seat, it looked like I was sitting in first class. She asked how my room was, and I told her I didn't have a room- it was just a normal seat, so I decided that I must not be in first class. Then the connection was breaking up, so I told her I'd talk to her later. Shortly before take-off, the flight attendent told us that those in the first 4 rows would be going to a separate place. Our seats started rolling down the aisle and out the plane- I didn't have time to take my stuff with me. We stopped outside near something that was a cross between a pool and a sea. I had to swim across to ask the flight attendent if I could go get my stuff (I thought that I at least needed my eyedrops- don't know why that was a priority). I was wondering what the point of carry-on bags were if we couldn't have them during the flight (even though this flight was the strangest flight I've ever seen). Then later the flight attendent was our group leader (we were still by the pool), and she was in a nasty mood. I'm not sure if we were still on the "flight" or not. That's all I remember.

Today I finished organising all the pictures organised from my road trip- now I just need to put them up on this site. I might start on that tomorrow, and I might not.

This coming Friday, I should be getting my visa for Vietnam. I still haven't gotten very far on seeing what I can do with my time off in Thailand- I should do that tomorrow too.

Jeff's leaving soon for his trip to South America. It would have been interesting if he had picked SE Asia (that was one of his choices)- we could have been there at the same time- oh well. I hope he has a great time on his trip, and I look forward to hearing about it when I see him in December.

Lovely weather we're having again this week- gloomy, drizzle, downpours... I don't mind tonight though- tonight I'm staying in.

It's been a productive and relaxing weekend. I've worked and watched movies. Ran errands and read a lot. This evening I'll do some reading for school on the UWS and then stop by Todd's (if he ever calls me back- if not, I'll just read here and then watch SATC and I'm sort of interested in checking out their new show- Carnivale).

I think I'll have to go down to Baltimore the weekend after next (and next weekend I'll be working at the Four Seasons), which means I'd better get ahead on school stuff this week so I can use the rest of the time for work and getting ready for SE Asia. So, I have a lot that needs to get done, but my brain feels quiet today. I feel relaxed. Things will get done eventually.

Todd called around 6:00, so I went over there and hung out with him and his friend Gus for a little while. I forgot to bring my books with me- so much for getting started on my reading this weekend. Oh well, I'll just have to spend more time reading this week.

I really enjoyed going out tonight (except for a little subway issue). The streets were quiet (Todd lives on CPW, so it was really quiet up there), I didn't see an enormous amount of chain stores, and the weather was nice (cool and breezy).

Just checked out the car rental contract from my road trip and learned that I drove 7081 miles. Thought it was a little more than that- guess not.

Last night's dream: I was with a bunch of people outside, and the sky looked cool, so I ran into a field to take pictures. It started as a sunset but then turned into some sort of strange fireworks. There was a freeway next to the field, and somehow I could actually see one guy in a car going by. I smiled and waved at him, and continued taking pictures. Then I was back in the house where I was staying, and one of the residents of the house needed some film, so I offered to go get it for him. Then I realised the household was trying to brainwash some of us, so I decided to act casual until I got beyond the door and then bolted down the street. Jennifer Dale was also coming out of the house, so I dragged her with me to save her, telling her that she needed to hurry, and I pointed ahead, "This way to an education!!!" They chased after us, but we eventually lost them. Then later I was walking up a hill to go to some kind of strange party, and I recognised the guy who was walking in front of me. He looked a bit like Brad from 9th grade, but also kind of looked like Joel and Todd. He turned around, but I didn't say anything to him since I wasn't sure who he was. He said, "Hey, aren't you going to say hi to the guy you flirted with on the freeway the other day?" I couldn't believe this was the same guy from the field that I saw when taking pictures (how was I able to see someone in a car going 60 mph?). We introduced ourselves, but then we went into the house where the party was and lost track of each other. Later as the evening was winding down, I saw him dancing the last dance with a tiny Puerto Rican girl, but he pushed her away and went to take out his contacts (he had a HUGE bottle of something that was like saline except it looked more like something you'd clean your floor with). Rebecca was at the party, and she knew this guy from TV- he had some kind of children's program on Sunday nights at 8:00 where he and a friend played 2 frogs. His character was named McHale. Somehow, I was able to see a picture of the TV show. Then I woke up.

Yesterday I spent some time IMing Andy, and we got into a conversation about my difficulty with long term committments. I spent the next hour thinking about this issue (of not really having done anything very long term in my life), and for now, came to the conclusion that I don't see the point of forcing myself to be something I'm not. 80% of the time, I'm happy with my current pattern in life. Every time I try to think about something long term, I'm not happy with it (or only happy with the idea for a short time). Why do I keep forcing myself to think differently? Maybe my life just isn't meant to work the way the majority of people's lives work. Not everyone fits into the middle of the bell curve- some people have to be on either end. Now maybe at some point there will be some big event that will cause me to think differently, but until that happens, I think I'm much more comfortable living my life in the present and very near future. I'm just not good at seeing future possibilities. I can think about them, but I don't have much of a reaction one way or another. I've never been the dreamer type, and when I realised this fairly recently, I tried to make myself have a dream just to see what it would be like. I didn't get very far. I even tried to take out all reality to see if I could dream the way a child would (I never had dreams when I was a child either). It just didn't work. Maybe I'm just too practical to understand how to have a dream. And when I think of future possibilities that sound good and make sense, after 6 months or a year the idea doesn't feel right anymore and I'll try thinking about something else. When talking to other people about the lack of long term relationships in my life, most people say, "Well, you just haven't met the right person yet," and I'd be more likely to believe that if I also just haven't found the right job, the right city, the right hobby... Part of me still hopes that one day, an idea will be so right that it will work for the long term, but part of me thinks that maybe, for me, ideas are only really right for me for a shorter period of time than they are for most people. Maybe I did find the right person, right job, right city, etc for that particular period of time. Will I continue to live like this for my entire life? Who knows? For now, I'll just continue to take things as they come- it's worked well so far.

The rest of yesterday was busy. After classes, I went to Burlington Coat Factory and actually found a raincoat (and for only $30). It's a little warm, but I'll deal with it- better than carrying around a hat or umbrella. Then I walked down to the Village to return the videos and picked up "Being There" (hopefully I'll have time to watch it tonight and return it tomorrow). Then I went to a little cafe and got a good start on reading my stage management book (and yesterday morning, I almost finished reading the assigned chapters for psych- wish he would assign all the chapters now so I could get ahead on the reading).

Lots going on in the work world, but I can't really elabourate about that here. I'll just say that things are certainly not dull (and not in a bad way- just a lot of things happening at once).

There has been a ridiculous amount of traffic in my "neighbourhood" today.

Long work day today- lots of different things going on. I also got caught up on bills- finally.

I got my Vietnam visa today!!!!! Now I just have to hope for 2 things: I don't have any trouble in the various airports (I know, that's asking for a lot) and it doesn't rain the entire time I'm on the boat. And I wrote yesterday that I'm not good at dreaming- well, I have a little one for this trip: that it will be clear the night that I'm on the boat, and I'll be able to see stars. I know it's their rainy season, but there might be a chance of a clear sky one night, right? Or how about a partially clear sky so I can at least see some stars. I got to see the handle of the big dipper and Mars when the sky cleared for 5 minutes at Brian and Rebecca's wedding, and that was nice, but I'd still appreciate seeing a few more (especially in a rural area).

I got my tickets for the MTC season- 1st row mezzanine- hope the mezzanine at the Biltmore isn't like the American Airlines Theatre.

A possibly analogy: I am to short stories as most people are to novels.

Today feels like a Friday.

Today will be another long day. Soon, I'm meeting Paula for breakfast (I guess technically it's lunch) at Norma's- we need to go over some things, and Norma's is the perfect (and tastiest) place to do that. Then after classes, it's a repeat of Monday (minus the raincoat buying)- return video and find a place to read a good portion of the stage management book.

Friday and Saturday will be long days too, over at the Four Seasons.

Cable modem issues today- I love that I have a wireless backup.

I've been meaning to mention, I heard back last month from the guy involved with Future Circus, and I'll be getting a copy of their recording soon! Can't wait!!

It's been a busy and interesting few days.

Thursday, I had lunch with Paula, went to classes, went down to the Village to return video and have dinner while reading stage management book, met Harvey for a drink, and then watched the last few minutes of the Tech game. Hard rain that night!

Friday morning I got a call asking if Maxine and Abby as well could come stay with me since Neil was coming up anyway and they had no power. I said, "of course" and then went over to the Four Seasons for a long day of one ridiculous computer problem after another. We didn't get to do any actual work until 6:00 PM. I don't know why their company has more than their share of technical issues- they really do- I don't understand it. Then I went home to wait for Neil, Maxine, and Abby to arrive.

Saturday was much better. I even got to run the virtual part of the day- that was fun. Saturday night, Paula, Harvey, Maureen, and her daughter, Elise, and I went to Trattoria dell Arte for dinner.

Sunday, the previous group plus Neil, Maxine, and Abby went to Norma's for breakfast. It was fine until the conversation turned to nasty things, which I did not appreciate. Then I half-watched the Patriots/Jets game (Go Patriots) while doing a few (but not enough) productive things. That evening, Neil, Maxine, Abby, and I went to the Boat Basin Cafe (won't go there again). The traffic there and back was HORRIBLE!!! I found out later that there was a fire on the west side causing problems and with all the people arriving for the U.N. stuff, that was causing problems as well (we saw the police pulling over vehicles on my corner on the way back); plus there were several streets fairs and the Broadway Flea Market that closed roads and made the traffic even worse.

Neil, Maxine, and Abby left today. Their power went back on at 3:00 AM, so they didn't have to go home to a powerless house. Paula and Harvey are not as lucky. Their power is still out and will continue to be out for the rest of the week (maybe longer). Since they have well water (and therefore will be without water as well as electricity), they'll be staying with Steve and Lori (who are without part of a basement after a tree came through it, but they still have a guest room upstairs).

Rebecca called tonight and told me her father's house has tree damage as well. What a mess. This country has had many extremes in the past few years (terrorists, snipers, blackouts, major summer & winter storms...).

Now I have to finish packing and organising (which is taking longer than usual since I have all the things to do that I put off over the weekend- although, I am putting off non-urgent things for this weekend weekend).

After some train delays (overhead powerline out in Deleware, flooding in Maryland with only one track open), I made it to Maryland. Busy day yesteray, busy day today, wish I could stay longer tomorrow to finish up, but with missing 3 classes in a row because of Bangkok, I just can't miss another stage management class.

Neil bought a PT Cruiser last week but waited until after the storm to go pick it up to avoid a tree falling on it. Well, he went to pick it up, and the dealership had put it in a garage so it would be safe from the storm, and it got stolen from there. What are the odds? So, now he has to wait until they find another one for him. At least he still has his old car until then.

Took me a while to fall asleep last night since there was a loud motor running outside my room for most of the night (it sounded like a truck, but why would a truck leave the engine running all night?). Maybe tonight will be more quiet.

Home again (till Wednesday, anyway).

The rest of my time in MD was fine. I watched the 2nd episode of Carnivale, and it's getting more interesting (and of course I appreciated the few Red Sox mentions). Even though I don't like all of the story, many of the images and scenes are amazing to watch. And some of the story is intriguing, so that'll keep me watching (just have to remember to tape it for the weeks I'll be in Bangkok).

Speaking of Bangkok, I have a lot to do before I leave. Today, I'll take care of things around here, tomorrow I'll run errands (and probably get together with Marcell while I'm out), and Sunday-Tuesday I'll do last minute things and pack.

And in other Thailand-related news, I'm 90% sure I'll be going to Lopburi on my day off in Thailand. It's 3 hours each way, but I'll enjoy seeing the landscape and architecture on the journey (and I'll bring my school stuff so I can study) and seeing monkeys outside a zoo is so worth it (even if it is a bit touristy).

So yes, my road trip pictures are up, and so are some random pictures and a few Bloomberg Tower construction pictures.

Tech had a good game today. Not surprising, but it's always nice to see them win- especially when they win by a lot (even though the margin of victory doesn't matter now in terms of BCS rankings).

Marcell and I are meeting tomorrow, so I'll wait to run my errands before meeting up with her. Today has been spent taking care of things around here (mail, email, work...). And I'm being good and not going to the They Might Be Giants show tomorrow night and instead will spend a relaxing evening at home after running all over the city. My trip is going to be exhausting, and it's better to get some rest beforehand so there's less of a chance of getting sick there.

Two mornings ago, I woke up, went back to sleep, and before waking up again had a dream that I was working at Camp Debut but came into the session 2 weeks late because I was travelling. I was running around trying to find out where everything was and Neil saw me. He said I shouldn't have gone away if I was going to have this much trouble afterwards, but I told him Gail said it was okay. But I was nervous about getting settled in. Then I was at the pool and a group of us had to jump off the diving board and swim across the pool. Not too difficult, right? Well, I couldn't remember how to dive, so I sat on the board and pushed my way off. Then I had trouble swimming across the pool- the water was moving upstream and I was heading downstream and there were several people swimming upstream and they were in my way. I figured I would fail the test and not be allowed to work. Then I woke up. This morning, I woke up, went back to sleep, and this time before waking up again had the typical I'm-in-a-performance-and-things-are-going-wrong dream. This time I was having make-up issues. It was 10 minutes before call and I forgot to put on my make-up. I ran into the dressing room, put on the foundation, and realised the stuff I used made my face look white. I decided to give my character a goth look and put on a lot of dark eye make-up. Then I had trouble making it backstage and into the wings. Then I woke up. For once I think I can interpret my dreams. I'm slightly worried about not being prepared for my tests when I return from Bangkok and that's coming out in my dreams. But these 2 dreams were had after I already woke up and went back to sleep, so maybe that's why they can be interpreted. Maybe my dreams are more about everyday life when part of me is conscious when they start. I like my unconscious, surreal/adventure dreams better.

I just checked my flight info and learned that it's a 14 hour flight to Tokyo and then a 6.5 hour flight from there to Bangkok. What I wish for more than seeing stars in Vietnam is to have a comfortable seat assignment on my flights.

2003 really is the year of the blackout (I'm surprised I haven't heard anyone else use this term yet). We've had the northeast power outage, then the hurricaine-caused power outage, now the blackout in Italy, and let's not forget some of the media focusing on the Bush administration blackouts (all that black ink getting rid of certain information in their reports).

Speaking of Bush, I saw a guy on the street today wearing a Bush mask, Freddy Krueger gloves with blood on them, and he carried a beach ball with the globe on it. I usually don't pay attention to people like this, but this guy was actually pretty captivating. A few blocks later, I saw a "Free Palestine" protest. It was a day of people speaking out in the city.

A few days ago, I was thinking about how little I know about US vice presidents and how I should remedy that. Then last night, I was playing Trivial Pursuit with Andy and got a question about vice presidents which I didn't know. So last night I looked at the list of all the vice presidents and realised why I know so little about most of them. They are not people that one normally hears about. Does anyone remember learning about George Dallas in an American History class? He was the VP when Polk was president. Or how about William Wheeler? He was VP when Rutheford B. Hayes was president. And I leanred something else. I did not know that there were so many periods of time that this country was without a VP.

Today was productive. I managed to get almost everything I'll need for my trip (there are few things I couldn't find that I'll have to get tomorrow), located everything I already had that I'll need to bring with me, took care of some work, and coloured my hair. I also met Marcell for tea (and I got to hear again how brave I was for travelling alone).

Yesterday, I decided to procrastinate a bit and do something unproductive. I updated the list< of movies I saw in 2002 (maybe I'll do 2003 tonight) and the list of shows I saw in 2002 (maybe I'll do the list for 2003 tonight as well- it's a short one).

I really didn't like much of this week's episode of Carnivale, but I still want to keep watching to see where it's going.

The other day, I realised that the Amtrak Acela trains announcement bells are the same notes as the intro to Depeche Mode's "I Want You Now" (except the train bells are loud and obnoxious).

Very busy day- school stuff and trip stuff (too busy to go into the boring details).

Last night, I updated more of my lists last night- I'll have to add this year's lists when I get back. I don't know why I like this mindless activity so much.

I got an ocular migraine yesterday while doing the props list for the Wilder acts. Fortunately, it only lasted about 30 minutes.

I had a happy thing in my mail last night. The Future Circus tape!!! It was just as cool as I remember it! Just wish I had a better tape player. One day when I have time, I could transfer it to CD.

They started doing some kind of work on my street at 1:00 AM. I figured that would cause noisy traffic, but to my surprise, there was actually less honking! Can that happen every time please?

Today felt like a blur, but I'm all packed and (almost) ready to go (still have a few little things to do in the morning). In a few days, I'll have to think of another country to add to my top-5-countries-I-want-to-visit list to replace Thailand.

I'm listening to George Carlin's "Airline Announcements" right now. Not a smart thing to listen to the day before getting on a plane- now all the annoying things will be magnified. But it's too funny to turn off. "'We now begin our final approach.' Final, is not a good word to be using on an aircraft." "'Please observe the no smoking sign until well inside the terminal.' It's physically impossible to OBSERVE the no smoking sign from just outside the aircraft let alone well inside the terminal."

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