The 4-1-0

Magical Mist

2009-04-15T19:34:00.003-04:00

Growing up in the midwest, I used to hate the spring. It was about 6 weeks of cold, wet, brown slop and a week of new growth that you can barely appreciate because it's just too icky. But since I moved out east, I have grown to LOVE the spring. I especially love days like today - cool, misty, rainy spring days where the grass and leaves have just turned bright green and the color is starting to pop and the gray sky just makes the green even greener. I don't know why, but I've always loved days like this...there's just something magical and cozy about the "gloomy" mist...It always makes me want to write...so I'm going to...and someday I will put up the pictures from Nora's birthday...

Back on the horse

2009-03-19T09:20:00.007-04:00

Thanks to a wonderful friend who gently reminded me how important writing is to one's well being (or at least THIS one's well being) and then of my failure to post ANYTHING after publicly vowing to post twice a week, I am back on the blog writing horse...thank you Brett...

SO, here I am, sleepy, behind in work and recently cleansed of my poo bath from earlier this morning (Nora's, not mine) and attempting to write something coherent.

I wanted to post a video of Nora anyway, so I'll just start out with this for my first real blog entry: I think my child is the coolest kid in the world.

I don't mean to say this in the competitive, my-kid-walked-and-talked-before-your-kid-and-will-make-it-into-the-best-ivy-league-school-because-of-all-the-mind-building-activities-games-and videos-I-do-obsessively-with-my-kid-in-the-hopes-that-she-will-spontaneously-be-multilingual-and-doing-advanced-calculus-by-the-time-she-is-3 way. Because, let's face it, while I do try to speak to her in Spanish as often as possible, I'm as guilty as the next of plopping Nora down in her 'pack-n-scream' to scream or in front of her pile of books or (gasp) even in front of the evil, evil TV with Baby Signing Time blasting out while I finish something.

Nor do I mean it in the blind, my-kid-is-the-most-beautiful-and-best-child-in-the-world-just-because-she-is-my-kid-and-I'd-say-this-even-if-she-had-18-eyeballs-plastered-all-over-her-body-and-smelled-like-doggie-doo-all-the-time way that parents tend to look at their children. I'm pretty sure I'll never be one of those parents who just always thinks her kids are beautiful, regardless. I mean, I always love whatever kids I have and I know they'll all be beautiful in their own way, but as mean as it sounds, I just can't fool myself into thinking something that isn't. Granted, I do think that Nora is adorable, most of the time. There are definitely moments where I look at Nora and think, "Oh dear, this is not one of your pretty moments."

But I guess what I mean is that I truly enjoy being around Nora - not because she is my offspring, but because she's just fun and creative and smart and has such a pleasant (again, most of the time) disposition. There was definitely a time, right around 3 months, that I did NOT enjoy her...but luckily that passed and as she's gotten older, she continues to amaze me with her flexibility, fearlessness, love of people and kindness. Thank you, Nick, for giving her many of those qualities...

Now, she certainly has a "Kristin-streak"...she's persistent, stubborn and strong-willed. She likes things her way. But I think that's ok, because unlike her mother, she truly seems to enjoy and crave being around other people and plays well with them, especially for an 11-month-old.

I guess what I'm saying is that I'm excited to see how she changes and grows and to see what kind of person she'll become. There's so much pressure on a parents to help her grow up in the "right" way, so it's nice when she starts out with good blocks with which to build.

So there're my thoughts for today...and I end this with a video of Nora and Mori - best friends - although, I can't understand how Mori puts up with the abuse!!

Nora videos

2009-03-15T20:47:00.005-04:00

Here are some more videos of Nora (because we're not nearly as interesting):

Our New Life

2009-03-02T12:58:00.004-05:00

So I'm pretty sure this is the first time that I've written on the blog since we moved out to Maryland 2.5 years ago...sad. Last week, Nick and I started the first week of our "new life," complete with a '14 weeks to looking good naked' plan and a brand new, scarily OCD schedule that would make my mother proud. Part of my spontaneous, ADHD soul shrieked itself into a sad, ordered death. But, if it means that I get the things done that I need to during the day/week and can have evenings and weekends free to play, then I suppose its worth it. *sigh*

Anyway, one of the items I have added in to my schedule is writing...I decided that since I've basically given up all types of writing save the really dull, dry scientific paper and grant application writing, part of my soul has shriveled up and gone into a starvation coma. So, to remedy the situation, I decided that I needed to start writing again...but like anything you stop doing for awhile, I'm way out of practice and writing does NOT come as easily as it once used to...you know, I have to use my electronic thesaurus to come up with synonyms for words like "sad," "mad," and "open." And since I have this horrible habit of not doing things that don't come easily to me, I need a kick in the pants to get me moving. So here I am. I have vowed to write at least 2 blog entries a week in an attempt to get myself writing and to provide a consistent place for people to stay current on our ever changing, constantly nomadic lives. Oh, and watch Nora grow up. :) As I find that I always discover more about myself when I'm writing, and that I certainly could use some introspection after the whirlwind past 3 years that have landed us in one of the most expensive, and certainly most politicized, areas of the country...Consider it my lent sacrifice...

So as I watch the snow fall (yay!) for probably the 4th time in the past 2.5 years, I offer you a warm welcome back into the lives of the Giulianis. :-)

It's been awhile

2008-10-15T21:03:00.005-04:00

Here's some videos:

2008-07-05T13:17:00.006-04:00

Here's some recent videos of Nora:

Nora Grace

2008-04-02T01:42:00.004-04:00

Baby-Phase I

2008-04-01T19:38:00.003-04:00

Here are some pics:

The experiment

2008-02-15T12:42:00.003-05:00

Well, it’s time to start using this page a little more.

A few weeks ago, I decided to assess the “astuteness” of my wife. Now, mind you, there was not much skullduggery involved; it’s not as if I decided to hide her keys or move the furniture slightly every time she left the room to pee. I simply decided that, every time I shaved, I would leave slightly more hair, thus gradually extending my sideburns. I was going to keep this going until she said something and finally, yesterday, burns almost inline with my jaw bone, she did.

“Have you been growing your sideburns out?”

Time for a trim.

-N

It's been awhile...

2007-12-25T17:01:00.000-05:00

and since a picture is worth a thousand words, here's a few.

Brazil (we went down to check out an organization for which Kristin will probably be doing work)

And here's a video of "The Miracle on 34th St." These people go crazy with the lights. Rumor even has it that the power company subsidizes them for Christmas.

Is 2007 over yet?

2007-11-01T06:27:00.000-04:00

So, originally, I was going to post happy stuff...I guess that will be next week.

My parents were out visiting us last weekend; we were having fun doing the "tourist thing" (which is kinda weird to do in one's hometown) when, while walking one block to our car (we were planning on taking a tour in DC), my dad started having shortness of breath and chest pain (I initially missed him mentioning the chest pain...it would have totally freaked me out). I also found out after the fact that my dad has been having shortness of breath, as well as some jaw pain (more on this later), for the last week to week and a half.

I'm sure some people have parents close in age to mine, and you realize that they are total idiots when it comes to their own obvious health problems. "Oh, I'm fine," and "He just needs to rest;" these comments that aren't too out of the ordinary for them. When his pain/panting subsided, knowing that I couldn't convince them differently, we continued on to Washington. While there my father was noticeably apprehensive about walking.
During our tour ("Monuments by Moonlight," which I would actually recommend), I snuck off and called my father-in-law. Unfortunately, he was unavailable at the time.
The next day, he returned my call. I explained to him what was going on and he said to get him to the hospital immediately, as it was likely that my dad either a). had had a small heart attack or b). was in imminent danger of one.
I told my parents, and neither of them were too keen on going straight to the hospital, so I put them on the phone with my father-in-law. Over the course of the conversation, I could see the color drain from my father's face and it was decided we were going to the ER.
We got there about 600 PM, checked in, and they promptly lost my dad's chart (NOT a good thing according to HIPAA laws). Thankfully, they found it...three hours later! He finally got to see a doctor at about 1100 PM and was admitted at about 600 AM.
While he didn't actually have a heart attack, he is apparently a ticking time bomb. So far, he has had a parade of doctors (26 was the last count, I believe) and nurses taking care of him. In addition to the heart murmur that I guess he's had since he was two, his risk factors include: his age, diet, weight, inactive lifestyle and diabetes. And just FYI: the jaw pain he was experiencing? Apparently that can be a sign of a "silent heart attack" in people with diabetes!!!
"So, is he ok? What's wrong with him?" Well, he as lucid and chatty as ever, but he does need surgery. As it turns out, he has something called Aortic Stenosis and needs his Aortic Valve replaced...in other words, open heart surgery. And he's having it this Friday. In Baltimore. Thankfully, his angiogram showed that he has almost no blockage in his arteries (the doctors originally thought he was showing signs of blockage, in which case they would also be performing a by-pass; due to little blockage, he doesn't need one).
So, mom and dad's little vacation is now turning into a rather long stay (possibly 2-3 weeks).
Oh, and the only funny thing about this whole situation is that, apparently, his surgeon, Dr. David Yuh, did the programming for the classic arcade game, "Space Invaders." For real. Check it out.

-N

Long Time, No Write

2007-10-01T09:12:00.000-04:00

Wow, I/we've been very busy lately. Kristin is back and in classes, I'm still working in DC (albeit even earlier! I now need to get up at 400 AM!!!) and have been really busy with my 2nd job...lots and lots of books to do.

I just wanted to say that we had a really fun weekend! It was my first Saturday off since I started here! We did all sorts of fun things:
Saw the last Orioles game of the season at Camden Yards.
Went to some bonsai lectures and walked around the town of New Hope, PA-a very cool town right on the Delaware River. Directly across the river is New Jersey (and yes, they DO tawlk like dat).
And finally, on Sunday, went to the Baltimore Book Festival. In addition to all of the books, we heard some live music and attended some lectures and cooking demonstrations. One of the lecturers was Tim Gunn, of Project Runway fame. We also happened to see him at the train station!

-N

Remembering

2007-09-11T09:06:00.000-04:00

Every year on September 11th, I take about 20 minutes out of my day to listen to a piece of music. It's not the prettiest piece of music ever written-in fact, many people might find it rather cacophonous. That being said, it is a very powerful work.

The piece is titled "On the Transmigration of Souls," by John Adams. If you're interested in hearing a bit of background about the piece, check out this link:
http://www.npr.org/programs/pt/features/adams_pulitzer.html

As I have recently found out (from the above link, in fact), Adams' "libretto" for the work was taken from posters, notes, etc posted around the Twin Towers site.

The work is very eerie and, for me, evokes strong feelings and vivid memories of the events of that day. Waking up to my roommate mumbling something about a plane crashing into a building in NYC; sitting in the crowded Hill-Kit (my dorm at the time) tv room watching the events unfold; not going to class the rest of the day...

I think the second most compelling work of art that I have seen/heard is Picasso's Guernica (which I had the privilege of seeing in person last summer).
http://homepage.mac.com/dmhart/WarArt/Picasso/Guernica/Guernica.JPG

I would recommend checking them both out; you can probably download the Adams piece on iTunes.

-N

(this is a duplicate entry from my Facebook page)

Lou Dobbs for President!

2007-09-08T18:19:00.000-04:00

NO WAY!!! I just want to say that I have the misfortune of listening to this guy, and his co- host, "Cruella Deville", as I call her (she actually looks much scarier on TV than she does in this photo), EVERY Saturday night as I'm ending my shift. I could produce this crap! Every week: "The illegal aliens are taking our jobs and, ultimately, leading the US into total annihilation." Every week! EVERY FREAKIN WEEK! I think he feels that this single issue is responsible for causing all of the problems in the US today. No health care? IT'S THE ILLEGALS (mostly Mexicans, according to Lou)! No jobs? IT'S THE ILLEGALS! No sex drive? IT'S THE ILLEGALS! Ok, maybe not that last one...

-N

Mayor Weirdo?

2007-08-29T08:33:00.000-04:00

Monday night, after turning in the 25th chapter in the Furry book, I decided to sit down and watch some tv (something I don't do very often anymore). Baltimore has its mayoral elections coming up (on September 11th, I believe), and Monday night MPT happened to be airing the Democratic Debate (I don't even know if there is a Republican running...I don't get it). The debate seemed more like a Saturday Night Live sketch rather than a political event.
I think there were about 7 or 8 candidates. Right off the bat, one of them decides to withdraw his bid for mayor to "throw all of his support and resources" into another candidate. The moderate then asks him to leave, but the man protested...he couldn't understand why...so, the moderate explained to him that being he had just withdrawn from the race, he was no longer important to the debate.
All but 2 of the mayoral hopefuls totally sucked; the other 2 just kinda sucked. One of the guys, standing in the last position stage left, kept garnering my attention; not because of his convincing extemporaneous musings, but because of his sheer strangeness.
He looked awkward; the bottom half of his jaw looked like the Good Lord had forgotten to include some clay when He was sculpting his face. He had unnatural looking, dyed brownish-black hair and a really bad comb-over.
He said the strangest things...he talked about having been a businessman in Mt. Vernon for many years, and something about having the "white vote." What does that even mean? Even if he did, only like 20% of Baltimore is white anyway...
Then it dawned on me: he was that guy who showed us the lame, rundown, busted up apartment in Mt. Vernon! That placed sucked! I couldn't believe that that guy was running for mayor! Who does he think he is, a movie star or an ex-wrestler?
The best part of the debate was at the end when each candidate had an opportunity to say some closing words. Michael, the weirdo, closed the event. He mumbled something incoherently strange and then held up a sign that had a link to his website (ala Wayne's World)...one problem: he didn't hold the sign high enough! The credits displaying his name covered the piece of paper!

-N

My book report

2007-08-28T11:56:00.000-04:00

My first few chapters as an audio book editor have proved to be very entertaining indeed...

I finished editing 3 chapters of a 26 chapter book yesterday (a total of about 75 minutes). I also got to see some of the mixing/mastering process, which I'm currently NOT doing, and is much more interesting.

"How was the book?" you might ask...I might respond: "Terrible! But very amusing." I don't think I should mention the title of the book (because I would not want to jeopardize any future business) but I will let you know the plot: The heroine of our story is a young, single, ultra-liberal woman trying to solve the murder of her friend. Not too out-of-the-ordinary, huh? Oh wait....
The guy who supposedly committed the murder is an ultra-conservative, married, middle-aged Republican congressional hopeful who just so happens to be a....duh duh duh...FURRY. Yes folks, a furry. He likes to dress up like a pink bear and, uh...we'll say, get freaky with other Care Bears-esque characters (CARE BEARS, STARE! or whatever they said). Oh, and he doesn't turn out to be the main villain.
Perhaps the most ludicrously hilarious part of the book is when the heroine, confronted by a gun-wielding furry in what I could only assume was a knock-off Snoopy costume, convinces her assailant to remove his mask and spill his guts about his plan. She is able to subdue her opponent, but only after some quick thinking: she tosses her cat at him, which lands on the furry's head, clawing at his face. He drops the gun, she retrieves it after an intense 2-sentence long struggle, and blows his head off.

I can't wait to hear more!

-N

Something I've been thinking about

2007-08-25T14:05:00.000-04:00

Don't all of you fellow "artsy" people out there think, like myself, that universal health care would be good for "us"? (Granted, health care, in some form, for everyone would be a good thing) Now I don't want to get into nationalized/socialized health care vs. privatized, market driven health care plans...that's a much, much longer and more difficult situation to address-I'm just taking a naive approach to this issue.
But think about this (fellow photographers, dancers, musicians, painters, etc.): why do you work at your current job? Do you really LOVE it (don't get me wrong, I LIKE my job, but I don't love it)? You may LOVE your's...and if you do, good for you. For most of us, it's just our day job-we then moonlight after hours as our true crime-fighting selves.
Many of us work our day jobs because we are provided benefits; without open enrollment, we (myself and Kristin included-as we found out the hard way last year) would not be eligible for health insurance. And, if we were, we'd have exclusions or, at the very least, need to pay through the nose for coverage. I think many of us would rather be snapping pictures, creating sculpture, making and writing music...
Just think: no more day jobs! Yeah, yeah, I may not be able to feed my future children, but hey, we all would be having a great time!

I'm getting addicted

2007-08-21T08:10:00.000-04:00

At first, I thought Facebook would be really lame...kinda a teenage fad thing. As it turns out, it's pretty cool. I was going to write more about it, but if you're interested, check it. out

Nick INC?...ESQ?

2007-08-15T09:04:00.000-04:00

Why, oh why, have I been so tired the last few days? Well, I haven't written in awhile, not for lack of things to write about...more for reasons of laziness.

So, I have had a "career crisis" lately; it's not that I am unhappy with where I work, I think it's more that I have FINALLY figured out what I need from a job to be happy: creative input/freedom, meaningful content (and it doesn't have to be 100% Mother Teresa kind of work, either) and, perhaps most importantly, this. One thing I've been seriously considering is law school. I've learned recently that, as a lawyer, you can find work at just about any business as well as law firms. I've even heard from several people that someone with a J.D. will be hired over someone with a M.B.A. Of course, I don't know how true this actually is, but I do know the president of my company is a lawyer, and, I think, has no background in broadcasting. I've got a lot of research to do, but I think I would want to practice Intellectual Property Law, specifically, law that pertains to musicians and artists. We'll see...I'll have a lot more to write about this as I learn more.
All that being said, I would still prefer to NOT go on to more schooling unless I absolutely need to. Enter co-worker, Chris. Last week, I was expressing my desire to "get more" out of my job, and my job to "get more" out of me. Chris, like most of my fellow (read:five) co-workers, does other work on the side. He, much like myself, comes from a recording background. In his spare time, he records, edits and masters audio books. He used to work for one of the biggest media companies out there (here's a clue: Ber_______n) and now, as big studios have been abandoned for smaller, individually based outfits, he works out of his home, occassionally "train-setting" to NYC. Fortunately for me, he thinks I'm good and what I do, and he has WAY more work than he can handle alone, so he's asked me to help out. We have lofty ambitions, but I also realize that this may totally tank. However, right now I have ZERO to lose. I'll be making extra money, getting new equipment, learning new skills and making connections...even tax benefits. I hope that this works out...The only down side is that I will be working at least an extra 20 hours per week, but I figure at least 10 of that can be done on the train! (which I'm ride daily anyway).

Nick INC? Yes, for now...Nick Esq? Perhaps...

-N

Tractor Parade

2007-08-04T11:54:00.000-04:00

Now, mind you, I'm still in Baltimore, but Kristin is visiting her family in Watertown. This is a picture of what was impeding their route this morning; she sent it tom me via her cellphone. Wow, we really do come from Hicksville!

-N

Not My Usual Day

2007-07-24T08:35:00.001-04:00

Last week was a very fun week. Kristin was visiting for a week (for those who don't know, she's interning in Minnesota and living with my parents...maybe I mentioned that in a previous blog) and we did a lot of fun things.
saw this
went here
ate here
started reading this
and attended this

as well as work on our "patio garden" and eat some good cheese/drink a VERY TASTY Belgian style ale from the Wine Source

Now, it's just me again...one is the loneliest number.

-N

This is bothering me

2007-07-14T16:31:00.000-04:00

I'm sure most of you have heard of Genarlow Wilson. If you haven't he's been serving something like a 10 year sentence for having consensual oral sex with a 15 year-old girl; he was 17. In Georgia, apparently that's a felony. Do I think he deserves 10 years, probably not. Maybe a good butt-kicking, but 10 years seems excessive.

That's not really the part that's bothering me; the oversight of some critical details by the media is what is. The reason that I'm writing a 2nd entry today is because I just saw another bit on CNN about this "poor, angelic" kid. I guess there was a rally today in Atlanta calling for "equal justice" and for him to be freed or his sentence reduced (WHICH OF COURSE I DON"T HAVE A PROBLEM WITH!!!!). The media makes this kid look like a card carrying member of the local MENSA-Saturday-morning-chess-club. They always seem to overlook the fact that this kid was at a hotel party getting drunk (accepted information) and stoned (speculative; no concrete evidence) with a bunch of other kids while engaging in orgies of all manners. To top it off, the fools video taped the whole thing. It sounds more like a Sturgis Rally rather than the game of "spin the bottle" the media makes it seem like.
I think Michel Martin has some great commentary on this and the Duke Lacrosse cases.
Should the kid be locked up for 10 years? No...but c'mon, he certainly isn't this.

-N

I'm done...

2007-07-14T11:10:00.000-04:00

I can't do it anymore...I just cannot hide my contempt for the President anymore. Being that I work in news, I hear about wire-tapping and "pardons" and executive privileges all day long. Sometimes it's hard to filter out all of the analysis and commentary, but I'd like to think I do a reasonable job of just listening to the President's comments. I've listened to many, many clips of the President in the past two weeks, so I've had a lot of exposure to his, and other's thoughts on his, positions. As I'm sitting here, I'm combing through clips of his latest press conference, and it's maddening. (Oh, the Chairman got me thinking it was time to write about this. I think he offers a good view, especially from the perspective of one who has become more skeptical of the Bush Administration...if I may characterize him as such). I have to be careful because I could spend MONTHS listening to old audio clips, so I'll highlight one of the many, many things that I think are problematic.
For those who don't know, Congress submitted a bill that requires "satisfactory" progress on 18 benchmarks to be made by September. First of all, I have problems with the word "satisfactory." Anyone who has ever been to school knows that "satisfactory" implies that you did just enough to get by. Take, for example, a pass/fail grading option. In order to pass, one needs to receive at least a "satisfactory" grade of a "C" or higher (the standard "C" range is from 70%-79% accuracy...or is it precision? whatever...). In most settings, not a lot is required of one to obtain a "satisfactory" level (OF COURSE I am not a fool and realize that there are plenty of objectives for which a satisfactory level is next to impossible to attain). I think that the people of Iraq, and our men and women in the service, deserve better than "satisfactory."

President Bush said on Thursday:
"Today my Administration has submitted to Congress an interim report, that requires us to assess, and I quote the, the bill, whether 'satisfactory progress towards meeting these benchmarks is, or is not being achieved.' Of the 18 benchmarks Congress asked us to measure, we can report that satisfactory progress is being made in 8 areas"

What!?? 8 out of 18? So far, that's about 44% accuracy-decidedly NOT satisfactory (which, as stated earlier, I don't believe to be a high enough standard to begin with). YES, I know that these are to be met by September, but go to the lower right corner of your desktop and double click the time; you'll open up a calendar. September is 7 weeks away!

Low standards, lack of implementation and disregard for public opinion are very problematic for the Bush White House. These factors, combined with statements made by the President that he will let the generals, not politicians, dictate the Iraq timetable-along with reinforcing how HE is the Commander-in-Chief and how HE has a feeling about Iraq, etc, etc, drive me insane.

So, I'm done. My name is Nick, and I don't like the President. There...it's out in the open. Don't judge me.

-N

Check this report out on the BBC

4th in the capital

2007-07-07T13:25:00.001-04:00

Well, the 4th turned out to be pretty interesting here in DC (other than having to work my usual 7-3 shift). After I was done working, I decided to go down to the Mall before going to a co-worker's house for a bar-b-que. I headed out, forgetting about the 6-pack of beer in my backpack. When I tried to pass through the checkpoint, I was handcuffed and made to stand in a "quarantine" area for minor violations (which so happened to be next to all of the porta-potties...in the sun...hundreds of thousands of people...) while they ran a background check on me. An hour-and-a-half later, one six-pack of beer shorter and one $250 ticket "richer," I left for the bar-b-que...Ok, so I made all of that up...nothing happened, but boy would that be a good story (I especially liked the "quarantine area by the crappers" part). What I really did was read the signs that said "no glass, no alcohol" and decided to not go anywhere near the mall.

The picnic was lots of fun; lots of good food, free beer, etc. Besides 1 other guy, I was the youngest one there by about 6 years. I met all sorts of interesting people: one worked for the DOJ, one for the State Department...one guy was even working for a firm that was building/trying to lobby for hydrogen fuel cells! This other guy, I forget what he does for a living, was an amateur bee-keeper (sweet!).

After the cookout (and sans beer), I walked back to the mall and caught the fireworks show. I would recommend that everyone see it at least once-it was spectacular! The Washington Monument and the Mall were an excellent backdrop for the show.

I'm a little "brain-drained" today so, that's it for now...

-N

Gettysburg

2007-07-04T08:55:00.002-04:00

Being that I am alone this summer, I have a lot of spare time on my hands (and one can only have so much fun playing with two generally non-responsive cats). I have decided to, with that spare time, hop in my car on my days off and just drive to a random destination. Monday, July 2nd, I went to Gettysburg.

First of all, the drive there was fantastic! I took several back country roads there (not the most direct route, but beautiful). I drove past farms, 2 vineyards and through many colonial-era towns. Of particular interest to my nerdy, horticultural side was the abundance of Day Lilies; in some areas, they were comparable to fields of dandelions back in Minnesota.

In the few hours I was in Gettysburg, I learned a lot about the Civil War. The first thing that surprised me was that the "Battle of Gettysburg" happened July 2-4, 1863. It was very sobering standing on the fields where thousands of men were losing their lives exactly 144 years before. I also saw homes where former military personnel lived and brick buildings still showing scars from bloody shootouts.

Perhaps the most unexpected feelings were those of shock...maybe even a little disgust. To the best of my knowledge, Gettysburg is NOT a Confederate town (it is just above the Mason Dixon Line, but there is a strong sense of "Southern Pride" there. I noticed several Confederate flags flying; one of particular note had "I'm not coming down" stitched across the bottom. Also, traveling around the battlefield, there were many, many Confederate flags and "First National Flag of the Confederacy" flags (I had never seen this last one before Monday).

Maybe I'm confused, but haven't the Confederate flags become signs of racism? I realize that some people reject this concept and say that it is just a symbol of "Southern Pride," but come on...The Civil War was fought mostly (I believe) because 11 "rogue" Southern states felt that they were entitled to keep, nay, own, slaves. Those flags are symbols of that army and thus that polluted ideology. I understand that people are proud of where they come from, but you don't see (normal) people in Germany flying Nazi flags? Japanese citizens flying the "Kamikaze" flags? (side note: I'm listening to Bush talk about the current war right now...it's funny how he turns everything that is supposed to honor our troops into a platform for the war. Anyway...)
The other striking thing was that I did not see ONE person of color the whole time I was there; not on the battle field, not in the town, not in the war relics shop...Again, who can blame them? I wouldn't want to go somewhere people still flew banners that reminded me of how my ancestors were treated as property.

I'll stop now. I just wanted to share some thoughts.
I feel a new interest in the Civil War brewing inside me. Maybe I'll make trips to other Civil War battlefields this summer.

N

Here's a kludged-together panoramic of part of the battlefield

Vacation pics

2007-07-03T11:38:00.001-04:00

Pics of the wedding, bar-b-que and yes, McGyver in a diaper. Sorry they're disorganized...

Loophole

2007-06-30T11:03:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I have my camera to upload pictures, but I grabbed the wrong stupid cable....

I couldn't believe this:
Last Sunday, I was over at some friends' house having dinner and one of them said: "Hey, do you want some beer?" I said sure, but remembered it was Sunday. I conveyed this along with the fact that you can't buy alcohol on Sundays to my thirsty friend. She looked at me with a devious grin on her face and said "I know a place."
As it turns out, there was a liquor store in Fells Point (an area of downtown Baltimore) whose owners decided to combine the idea of a bar (where, in fact, you can purchase alcohol on Sundays...you just can't get it to go) with a liquor store. Keep in mind, this was not a high-class place; the store itself had dirty linoleum floors, postered-up windows and a chaotically "organized" selection (the cool part was the walk-in cooler with the beer). The pièce de résistance of the whole store was the bar. If I remember correctly, it looked like someone kludged together some scrap wood and stuck a few stools beside it. Somehow this dilapidated, poor-excuse-for-a seventh-grade-shop-project allows the residents of Baltimore to do something few others have ever been able to do: pickup some hooch on your way home from church.

-N

My Good Deed

2007-06-23T12:52:00.000-04:00

I have a lot of things I could say about my vacation to MN/SD; I had a great time having lunch/dinner with friends, catching up with family, going to my brother-in-law's wedding...all of which I have pictures of. Hmmmm...where to start? I'll just pick a couple of things.

---Kahns. Nothing else needs to be said about this.
---Making Andalucian Gazpacho and Lentil salad for friends (I think they liked it...if not, at least they ate it).
---Spending an entire day working "with" my dad on "his" garden. I say "with" because over many hours, I don't think he managed to to do much of anything, other than talk about "Republican A-holes." I say "his" because if I hadn't started the seeds and moved them from where he planted them, there probably would only be dirt where there are now beautiful wildflowers.
---Dancing (sober, I might add) with my wife's younger cousins (11,14 and 17). The eldest, who I think is 17, does a pretty good "C-Walk". Nip Nip, wherever he is, would be proud.
---My parents putting a diaper on MacGyver, our 16 year-old Bichon Frise, because he would just pee wherever. Like he'd go outside, not pee, and then come back in the house and pee by the door. He's otherwise healthy, just incontinent. And in a diaper. Taped to him in order to cover his wee-wee. I'm sorry Gyvie...
---Last but not least, my good deed: On our way home from the wedding, Kristin, Monica (I'd link to her blog, but I don't have the address) and I stopped to eat at *DUN DUN DUN* McDonalds (by the by, is it McDonalds or McDonald's?). We were in a small town in western Minnesota...farmland-not lots of trees out there...very windy at times. It was mid afternoon, and there was about a 30 mph wind blowing. We pull up to the building and there stood this wee little old lady, hunched over and trying to walk to her car. The wind started gusting and this woman started wobbling...not like Weebles Wobble, mind you, more like "TIMMMMBBBEERRR!!!," wobble...I jump out of the car (after changing into my superman outfit), and ask the lady if she needs help. She mumbled something and I offered her my arm and walked her to her car. She said something about me being a gentleman and got into her car. It occurred to me as I was walking away that, if this woman could barely stand on her own, she probably shouldn't be driving (Kristin also pointed this out later). I guess all you need to get a license is a strong pair of trifocals and a good metal hip.

I'll have pics of the wedding and other stuff if I ever remember to upload them.

-N

Vacation!

2007-06-09T14:45:00.000-04:00

Most people leave Minnesota when they get the chance-I however, will be returning there for my vacation; I am looking forward to cooler temperatures, sleeping, mosquitoes and, of course, not working. On the 16th, my brother-in-law is getting married in South Dakota, so I'll get to see my in-laws for awhile as well.

I was looking at my ticket the other day, and I could not figure out what I was smoking when I decided to buy a ticket that left out of Dulles at 830 AM on a Sunday. As I think I've mentioned before, Dulles is in VA, about 1 hour and 15 min away from our home! Then it dawned on me that we were originally going to be living in DC, not Baltimore, by the end of the summer...I was glad to find out that I wasn't completely mental.

Anyway, if anyone is around and wants to have lunch/kick me in the crotch, give me a call.

-N

PS On second thought, don't call if you want to kick me in the crotch. That's what's called an abusive relationship. Seriously, what kind of friend are you?

Scombridae

2007-06-02T14:53:00.000-04:00

Now it's not a secret to anyone who knows me that I, in MOST cases, cannot understand why anyone would want to homeschool their children. Yes, these kids are, at least judging by the ones who I have met, always VERY smart and/or very musically gifted (a huge plus), but let's face it: most of them can hardly handle even the most modest of social situations. I believe that the social situations that children are exposed to in public, or private, schools-even the really bad ones-help them develop skills that in turn give them the skills to become (relatively)healthy adults.

It seems to me that many homeschoolers tend to be exceptionally talented in music, especially classical music. Coming from a musical background, particularly my classical recording background, I've been exposed to many of these virtuosic homeschoolers (it seems only logical that a parent of one of these kids would want them to stay inside and practice an instrument 6-8 hours a day...after all, outside they may have a run-in with a mass murderer....or the sun...or someone of a different religion...). I can spot one of these kids a mile away; pale skin, do-it-yourself haircut, robed in garments 2 grade levels either too small or too large from ca 1983 rural Wyoming...most noticeably though, I have yet to see one that is able to interact socially with anyone on a level that greater than that of a 5th grader.

I met one girl about 2 years ago who was an AMAZING pianist. She won a fairly prestigious competition and was interviewed afterwards. She was very shy while answering the questions; she giggled a lot and barely made eye contact with the interviewer.

Now enter Evan M. O'Dorney, the winner of this past week's Scripps Spelling Bee. Being that I work for a news organization, I heard an interview with this kid, awkwardly conducted by CNN's Kerin Chetry. As you can see, Evan has NO idea how to interact with her, no idea how to carry a conversation. It's almost like watching an episode of "The Office." Bless you for trying Kiran!

I'm not saying homeschooling is always bad, nor that it is impossible for a homeschooler to turn out normal...I guess I look at it kinda like growing a giant tomato: Sure, you get a very unique, prize winning tomato, and maybe that tomato will someday feed many starving people, but mostly, you just wind up with a really odd tomato.

-N

Departures

2007-05-28T09:42:00.002-04:00

Well, first of all, an apology. I did say that I would be posting some pictures of us moving our "pig" of a couch into our new apartment. Well, unfortunately, I still do not have internet at the apartment, so this will have to do...

Other than the recent departure of my web-surfing capabilities, I have also seen my wife and many friends leave for their summer internships. Kristin is in Minnesota, living with my family (ruh roh); some other friends are in such fabulous destinations such as Benin, Africa (in case you have NO idea where Benin is); Geneva, Switzerland; Kabul, Afghanistan; The Republic of Georgia; somewhere in Canada and here, Baltimore.

I am now trying to finish the insurmountable task of unpacking; I really need to remember to take off at least one full day after moving...I am also trying to teach the cats how to play checkers and run across the alley to the Wine Source to get me my libations/cheese. So far, no luck.

-N

It WILL fit

2007-05-19T13:41:00.000-04:00

I hope to have pictures of this process later...

So, we recently moved into our new apartment-a nice, much larger 2-bedroom unit in an area called Hampden. It's an old house, probably built in the '20s, that has had the basement and first floors converted into shops (a purse store and a yarn shop) and the 2nd floor converted into an apartment. We have a deck with a beautiful view (wink, wink) of the Wine Source's parking lot (an awesome shop that sells lots of wine, beer and spirits as well as gourmet meats and cheeses) a MUCH larger kitchen with a tin ceiling and exposed brick, a huge sun room, and 2 bedrooms. We really like the neighborhood because it tries really hard to be chic, but has just a few too many trashy people to get there. This means that it has cool shops, lots of unique places to eat and is relatively cheap, but once-in-awhile you have the rats chew through your garbage (turns out this is a problem in ALL cities) or have a drunk guy pass out on your steps (happened to some friends nearby).

Anyway...so we moved everything last Monday (thanks to everyone involved!) and managed to get everything in the house BUT our very overweight couch. We decided that we would go to Ikea and check out the futons (you see, our couch is a sleeper, which makes it very desirable) but we were very disappointed with what we could afford. So, 2 nights ago, we took a saw to the pig.

We cut it in 2 places and were able, with much pushing, shoving and paint-scraping, to get it into the sun room. Yesterday, I pieced the thing back together with some angled and flat brackets that I bought at Home Depot.

Now we just need to stitch the fabric back up! Victory!!!

-N

Update

2007-05-09T08:40:00.000-04:00

We got the pathology tests back for the baby last week. Thankfully, there were no genetic anomalies, which is a good thing because that means there's nothing empirically wrong with Kristin or myself. I guess we'll never know exactly what happened...

Oh, and the baby was a girl (both of us and my mother thought our first would be a girl)! It is possible for someone in my extended family to have a girl!

-N

Live on stage!

2007-04-18T09:38:00.000-04:00

This is a video of my friend Huseyin and myself playing at the Spring Tonic a few weeks ago. Huseyin is a Turkish Cypriot and the song is a protest song that was actually (and may still be) banned in Turkey.

-N

Some Pictures!

2007-04-15T22:42:00.000-04:00

Most of these are from the winter formal (yes, winter...I think it was in February). Some are more recent.

more to come soon

No matter how small…

2007-04-13T09:11:00.000-04:00

In case anyone reading has not heard, last week, Monday, April 2nd, my wife and I found out that our baby’s heart had stopped beating. This was especially shocking because we had been to the doctor at 10 weeks and heard the heartbeat loud and clear, something that is not always common that early in pregnancy.
The whole ordeal was very heartbreaking. At first, one thing that made it especially hard was seeing the baby on the ultrasound; we could see the feet, hands, spine, brain…everything was there and normal-just no heartbeat. The technician took fetal measurements, and everything was consistent with a 14-week gestational age. The whole process of delivering the baby was also extremely emotionally (and physically, for Kristin) taxing. I won’t get in to the particulars, but from the time she received the medication to the time “Rumpkin” (long, story…that’s what we had been calling him) was delivered, was about 14 hours.
ALL of the people at the hospital, especially the nurses, were some of the most fantastic people I have ever met. They not only provided exceptional physical care, but went above and beyond expectations trying to meet our emotional needs as well. They did a fantastic job taking care of us during an awful situation.
We are also very grateful for all of the help, support and words of kindness from all of our friends and family. Our friends out here have really floored both of us; we’ve only known many of these people for 6 months or so and we’ve had meals cooked/bought for us, gotten rides when we’ve needed them…it’s been nice to have people physically present to comfort and console us.
Both Kristin and I feel un-naturally aged from this experience-it has felt like a little piece of us has been taken away and we’ll never get it back. We also have dealt with, especially me, bouts of frustration and anger. Just before the miscarriage, we heard a story about a friend’s friend who didn’t know she was pregnant for 5 months, during which time she smoked and drank heavily. Thank goodness, her baby was fine. The thing that is frustrating is that we “did everything right,” and still lost our baby.
I am very glad that we chose to see the baby after it was born; it was a very cool to see this little person that we created. Something that I will never forget are the baby’s feet: you see, some people’s 2nd toe is longer than their big toe (Kristin’s feet are like this), for others, the 2nd toe is even with their big toe-this is true for me. Although Rumpkin’s feet were only about the size of a pebble, you could tell that his 2nd toe was even with his big toe…he had my feet! Kristin also says the baby had my hands, too. Holding him brought a sense of closure to the whole thing. (Oh, we refer to the baby as a “him” because, although you can’t tell conclusively at 14 weeks, the nurses and we thought he was a boy).
So, why the Dr. Seuss quote? Well, the whole quote goes: “A person’s a person, no matter how small.” This is one of my favorite Seuss quotes (from, I believe, “Horton Hears a Who!”). I saw this quote on a book on grieving handed to us by a nurse. They were the first words I saw, and I immediately started crying because there was something about that statement that really rang true in my mind; this little person had a big impact on our lives as well as those around us.
Thanks again to everyone for helping us through this.

-N

catching up

2007-03-24T12:51:00.000-04:00

whoa...it's been way to long. I'm going to do a brief catch-up, and then post some pics later.

First, a few weeks ago now, Kristin and I went to her Winter Gala event for school. It was a lot of fun! It was held at (what I would call) a pop-culture museum next to Camden Yard. The place had all sorts of cool TV, movie and comic book memorabilia. We also got a ton of free food and, to my amazement, an open bar. As I've said before, the only way to get nerdy graduate students to interact is by getting them wasted. Also, there were only about 200 people allowed onto the dance floor due to fire code regulations; it was hotter than hades in there anyway so we just ate, drank and mingled.

Second, a flew home for a weekend about 2 weeks ago now to attend my Goddaughter's dedication. Yes, that makes me a Godfather. The ceremony was very sweet and I had a great time at the reception afterwards. I also, to no avail, tried to burp her.

I spent all day yesterday wanting to peel my skin off with a fillet knife. As it turns out, I have a rather nasty allergic reaction to a slow release medication that I had been taking for a week (so that means it will be at least a week before all of the hives are gone). My arse looked pretty much like the dark side of the moon. I also found that benedryl (however it's spelled) really kicks that crap out of me, but steroids help combat that drowsiness...weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

Most importantly, we are going to be parents. Kristin is 13, maybe 14 weeks pregnant. We were trying, although we didn't think it would happen literally the first time. We heard the baby's heartbeat at 10 weeks, which was absolutely incredible...I almost fell out of my chair! Anyway, I think that this will require a new, separate blog (more to come on the later).

-N

2007-02-19T21:45:00.000-05:00

I just had to put this picture up...we got a good laugh out of it! She did it all herself!

RUN!

2007-02-09T07:50:00.000-05:00

Yesterday started off with more exercise than I was expected. I left the apartment a whole 2 minutes later than I usually do to walk to the bus stop. The closest bus stop enroute to the train station is one block down and one block over from our building. As I left our apartment and turned the corner, I looked down the street to see the bus turning the corner a whole 9 minutes earlier than it usually does! Keep in mind that the mathematics involved in my getting to work are very complicated; I am sure it could be considered a branch of astrophysics. If even one cog in my plan is slightly off-kilter, I'm sunk.

So I did the most logical thing I can think of at 5:38 in the morning and started running like I was wearing pants made from steak and there was a hungry, albeit slightly wounded, cheetah chasing after me. I made it around the corner and saw a woman getting off the bus, and one getting on; I thought: "I can make it!". I made it about 40 feet from the bus and was yelling and waving my arms and...watching the bus take off. Not just gradually though...no, no...he stomped on the gas. Another block and a half later I realized the bus driver was a fascist and I stopped running.

Now I had 10 minutes to get to Penn Station before my train left. I could have ran all the way there, but I decided first I would check my wallet to see if I had enough cash to take a cab. I looked: $4.75...pay dirt! That seemed like enough, so I hailed a cab and watched as the cost of my trip slowly approached the asymptote that was the amount of money in my pocket. "How much?" I asked the man. "$4.60," he said. I sheepishly hand over my awkward combination of bills and change, say "thank you" and run in to the train station.

For the first time ever, I did not sleep one wink of the 55 minute train ride in to DC. Maybe it was because the running had my adrenalin pumping...or maybe it was the guilt for only giving the cabbie a $0.15 tip.

-N

Lost in a crowd

2007-02-03T15:56:00.000-05:00

Wow, was that protest in DC last weekend? It seems a lot longer ago than that...
During my lunch break last week, I waded through a sea of people to reach the mall and the hoards attending the Iraq war protest. It was surreal, if nothing else. I went down 7th st. at about 300, well after the actual protest had ended. I've never seen so many people in my entire life; it really made me think about how awesome the March on Washington must have been.

I enjoy people watching. It's fun to watch others interact, listen to what they say-even just sitting back, blurring my vision and taking in the Impressionistic blur of movement and colors is soothing. Being there made me realize something: a lone person in a group of groups becomes cloaked in there own anonymity. I had no reason to be there; I wasn't protesting, or protesting the protest, I just wanted to see what it was like. I felt like a ghost bobbing between the people playing frisbee on the lawn and the people using their picket signs as a crutch to lean on. No one seemed to notice me because I was alone.

The unfortunate thing about the whole protest was the nature of most of the signs. Many of them accomplished nothing other than displaying the carriers' disdain for the president. Now, I don't agree with the war (I'm not even touching that right now), but does it really do any good to gather together united under a banner of "hatred?" I don't care much for the administration either, but I don't think anything is being accomplished by engaging in hatred. Hatred makes people kill other people (or bomb them), not liberate them.

-N

Please pay our teachers more

2007-01-25T08:44:00.000-05:00

So yesterday was a very long, irritating day...

I started off my day by getting up (yes, getting up) at 3:45 AM to get to Washington early. As it was the State of the Union the night before, we were anticipating a lot of stories. Of course, the 4:40 AM train was an hour late! I only got to work about 45 minutes early than usual. I figure if I'm going to get up that early, I better be able to get in early.

After work, on my way back to the train station, I was heckled for money by the same four people who usually harass me, but had the added joy of a new homeless man approaching me while I was positioned at the urinal. Now, I sort of have a problem with "stage fright" to begin with, but it doesn't help when there is a guy standing two feet behind you over your right shoulder telling you he needs money to get to New York. Awkward...

Recently on Wednesdays, Kristin and I have been tutoring some "disadvantaged" students from East Baltimore. Two weeks ago was our first session. We were told that there would probably be 0ne kid and 15 tutors; there were 15 kids and 7 tutors. This week, there were 17 kids and 5 tutors. Great.

As seems to be typical with young kids, the girls try and the boys just screw around. Last week, I had this 11 year old boy who seemed cooperative, bored, but cooperative. This week, he wasn't there so I asked another boy if he wanted to work with me-he shook his head no. After some time, because we were short staffed, I noticed he wasn't working with anyone so I asked if he had something to work on in the computer lab (the girl I was with was being studious and preparing for a debate tournament for this Saturday).

The kid was an absolute puke. He had nothing to work on. I tried to talk with him, asking simple questions like: "What grade are you in?" "What are you studying in school?" "What subjects do you like?" "Okay, why don't you like them?" Most of his answers were: "Nothin'."

I tried to get him to do some basic research on a historical figure, ANYONE. Everything would gravitate back to his stupid Myspace page. I thought, "next month is Black History Month, maybe I can get him to look into a historical African-American figure." I said to him (by the way, I don't know his name because I could not understand him when he mumbled it to me), "next month is Black History Month, can you do...." He interrupted: "Don't call it that!" The girl I was also working with turned to us and said: "That's what it is!" He said "But he don't need to say that; call it something else!" So basically, I'm not to talk about Black History Month because I'm white. Now that really pissed me off. It was bad enough that the kid had nothing to work on, nor did he want to be there, but I was acting as a TEACHER, not a tutor, trying to develop a freakin' lesson plan for this kid. His insubordination was due to my white skin. To top it off, he said that I was the reason that the other kid didn't come back. Boy was I glad when I got to go home. Long day+pukey kid=crabby Nick.

All of you teachers/future teachers out there: thank you. You guys need to be the ones making millions of dollars!

-N

My Golden Ticket

2007-01-06T15:00:00.000-05:00

This isn't very exciting, but I can't really remember what I was going to write about.

So, as some of you know, I commute into work. It usually take make a total of 1.5 hours to get into work, and the same to get home. Yeah, I know it seems like a lot, but 2 of those hours are usually spent sleeping on the MARC train. After getting to Union Station in DC, I walk to work (about 1 mile).

When one buys a month-long MARC pass one is able to use it on the MARC train (M-F) and just about all public transportation in Baltimore (24/7). The trick has been finding out what trains, if any, I could use it on during the weekends. It seems like the good people at the Amtrak ticketing station don't want you to know that you can use the passes on their weekend trains. I finally got it all figured out, but now I think I understand what the process of buying a kilo of heroin must be like...
As it turns out, my pass is also good on the Washington circulator buses (I found that out completely by accident yesterday)...sweet!

I'm sorry for this worthless post....

Any of you public radio listeners out their should listen to this

DC

2006-12-20T18:11:00.000-05:00

So far, I really like my new job. I work with an interesting mix of people: my immediate boss is only a few years older than I, one guy usually dresses in flannel and has a ponytail down to is butt, one guy is a clinical hypochondriac/germaphobe and the other guy always wears army fatigues and has an unhealthy obsession with guns. Other than that, I don't have any good work stories yet; just cool people and that I'm enjoying it.
I'm sick right now (stupid cold) so I want to keep it short but I had to write about this while I remember.

In case you've never been there, DC has a lot of homeless people. I've learned from Kristin (and others) that often times they have some sort of mental issue (for some, that's an understatement). Many of them tend to hang out in the same areas...I suppose that a certain concrete wall or patch of grass becomes something like their home. Now, keep in mind I'm NOT making fun of these people, but it is weird when you see things such as I have in the past week.

The two weirdest displays I've seen came in succession today as I was walking to the station from work. One guy was hunched over on the side of "Mass Ave" praying to a parking meter (seriously) and the other, a toothless old man, was skipping around the station shaking his empty coffee cup like a hip-hop artist pouring a bottle of Cristal onto the ground...all while blaring Christmas music from a boombox. Hey, 'tis the season.

-N

Madagascar or Mexican?

2006-12-11T18:43:00.000-05:00

I've been waiting to talk about this for some time, for no reason other than it's nerdy.

As some of you know, I have a strong interest in gardening, some might say I'm obsessed. Now, being that we live on the 10th floor of an apartment that I could only assume was built by the Minoans, our green space is non-existent. I have, however, done quite a bit of research and, using a combination of shade tolerant plants, a well-lit window, supplemental grow lighting, humidity trays and the heat from our blazing radiators, I've managed to create a fairly effective apartment greenhouse.

The highlight of our collection is the Vanilla Orchid I purchased off of eBay in September. Yes, I did say Vanilla Orchid. At this point, I would like to defer to the words of a friend who is far more gifted in prose than I:

"So hang on. You're going to grow a vanilla orchid and... extract the vanilla from it? Like, as in "why not try some of my ice cream, made with fresh vanilla from that delightful orchid by the settee"?"

Yes I am, and well said, BW. The process is very time consuming as the orchid will not produce flowers for another two years or so. The flowers only last one day and have to be hand-pollinated. Also, the curing process takes at least a few weeks (from my understanding).

Included in the "greenhouse" are (or should I say "is?" This is where my English fails me because I am about to make a list with multiple nouns, but it will begin with a singular one....help?) a gardenia, two different kinds of basil, some thyme (not doing so hot) and a cactus (which would probably grow in my oven if I were strapped for space)...

Here the specimens (the vanilla has doubled in size since I got it and the gardenia has a flower on it now):

Evil?

2006-12-04T12:51:00.001-05:00

Okay, so this is not my typical blog entry.

Lately, I've been very fascinated by the person of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Ever since I saw an interview with him and (I'm blanking on the anchor's name right now), I've been wanting to read more about him and his regime. What I'm trying to figure out is if he is either A). A mad scientist and a gifted politician whose people adore B). The devil C). A hack with good speech writers

So lately, in my spare time I've been looking up articles on him and just seeing what he has to say. IF nothing else, he is a gifted speaker. On that note, so was Hitler (I've been trying to locate some of his speeches as well to compare them, but I am afraid that the CIA will come knocking on my door soon).

I want to write more about this, but I need to get back to work...I would recommend anyone read his (Ahmadinejad's) blog. More specifically, his letter to the American people. There's an English option if you can't read Farsi.

-N

2006-12-04T12:51:00.000-05:00

The choice

2006-11-29T09:31:00.000-05:00

What would you do?

I have the very, very fortunate problem of choosing between 2 job offerings (I never, never thought that I would be saying that in my entire life!). Unfortunately, I need to make the decision by tomorrow or Friday.

As it turns out, each job's weakness is the other job's strength. For instance, the job in DC is a longer commute, the one here is very short. The job here doesn't look like I could move up much in, the DC job looks like it could have a lot more potential. The other problem is that I've been working here for about 5 weeks and know exactly what to expect from the job...in DC I know generally what to expect, but there is still a degree of uncertainty as to what the people are like and what the stresses are like.

The other unexpected thing is that I was offered more money than I expected here, and slightly less than I expected in DC (although still more on paper, but slightly less if one figures travel expenses). I think my next process will be to negotiate a slightly higher salary in DC, mostly because of travel expenses.

Anyway, I'm about 85% sure that I'll be taking the job in DC...I think it would be stupid for out future if I didn't...

wish me luck

-N

Problems

2006-11-27T21:31:00.000-05:00

Well, I seem to have an abundance of them lately. My largest personal one, concerning which job I should take (it's good news, but I hope to post about that tomorrow) seems to pale in comparison to what my cousin and his wife are going through...

They, and subsequently we, found out about a week ago that their 9-month old son, Drew (the youngest of two), has Bilateral Retinoblastoma: eye cancer. If you want to hear more about his condition, go to his blog.

I have been doing some reading on the subject and, apparently, it's very treatable. I just can't imagine the stress of having to make the decisions that they are making. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

-N

Still waiting

2006-11-20T14:12:00.000-05:00

and waiting...and waiting.
No news from either job prospect, but I am supposed to hear either today or tomorrow (I've heard that before...)
So, I'm on lunch right now. I usually eat my food within 10 minutes and, seeing that I have a full hour, wind up either sitting around and playing Tetris on my cellphone, or staring out at the city. The cafeteria here is on the 9th floor and has panoramic views of the city (there is also a deck, which no one seems to know about, that I frequent when the weather is nice). Most of the time during lunch I stare out the window (or over the railing), waiting for some great epiphany to hit me like an unsuspecting sparrow flying head-on into an all-but-invisible window. So far, nothing. Not even a sparrow (which, if I'm outside on the deck, is a good thing because the bird would fly into my eye).
Speaking of birds, I did watch/listen to what seemed to be a car chase the other week. There were a lot of police cars tearing down one of the major roads. After a few blocks, they split off and tried to flank the unrelenting purp. All of this was made easier, I'm sure, through the assistance of the "ghetto bird" (props to Tupac) flying cirlces around the East Baltimore neighborhood.
Other fascinating things to watch from the oberservation deck are the blue blinking lights that pepper every block of East Baltimore like nefarious blue Christmas lights. They are police cameras. One every block. Blinking all day long. I'm not sure if they stop much crime, but they sure do look neat from 90 ft in the air. They are also good signposts for letting you know when it's neccessary to roll up your windows as you're driving through the ghetto on your way to the store.

-N

What does it mean?

2006-11-15T12:02:00.001-05:00

So, two nights ago I had this very perplexing dream…
Kristin and I were camping in the Boundary Waters (which turned out to be my parents backyard) with our two cats (which, coincidentally, happened to be dogs). All of a sudden, a bear shows up. As I know from past experience, black bears (the kind that reside in the BWCA) are fairly easy to scare off. (This is where it starts to get weird) Having remembered this fact in my dream, I proceeded to reach either into or near (I’m a little hazy as to which actually occurred) my wife’s “back door” and pull out an air horn (you know, like they use at football games) and blast it right in the bear’s face. At first, the bear ran away. Soon however, he came back. Nothing scared him. Then, all of a sudden, the bear started speaking. He told me his name was “Snuggles” (or something ridiculous like that) and informed me that he was a "swamp bear" and posed no threat to us or the cats (dogs). He then showed me his teeth and explained that they needed to be long and sharp to chew the tough roots that made up a large part of his diet. Shortly afterwards, I woke up, having no idea where I was…

-N

I know how to fix voting problems!

2006-11-09T17:53:00.000-05:00

Three words:

Scales...Of...Justice. (like these)
The heaviest side wins (theoretically, the side with the highest turnout).

I know what you're all thinking: "But that will never work! What about the really fat people? What about the really skinny people?! Under-representation of certain socio-economic classes?!"

Here's how it will work (it's easy because we only have a "two party" system):

Republicans on one side, Democrats on the other. You see, all of the Republicans will be thin, likely due to their expensive gym memberships and personal trainers. To offset the handicap of their svelte builds, they will simply line their pockets with all of the gold (coincidentally one of the heaviest metals; see AU on the periodic table) that they have accumulated through hard work and tax cuts.

On the other side are the Democrats. Yes, there are some wealthy Democrats, but not many. Instead of lining their pockets with gold, they will be able to use packets of foodstamps, which they freely hand out. The real coup de grace for the Dems is the fat people. Being mostly poor, the Dems can't afford a personal chef....So, they eat fast food and get fat. Advantage: Dems.

Now, whilst these two mainstream parties piss and moan about who is cheating, the Independents will sweep in and kick the scales over, thus ending the two party gripe sessions that so often accompany elections. They will then assume office and proceed to lead the country in a more "peaceful" direction.
Hooray! It seems like the only thing Independent party is known for is drug decriminalization. Really folks, an ounce of marijuana!? (yup, it's the big bag). As if we weren't stupid enough-let's make everyone dumber. Coincidentally, this referendum was on the ballot in Arizona and Nevada...Nevada being the state with the strictest drug laws in the nation.

Politics are amusing. I tried to offend everyone with this post...don't take it too seriously.

-N

Keeping one from the other...

2006-10-31T17:01:00.000-05:00

So, my job situation has become even stranger as of late. Now I understand what it's like trying to date 2 girls at the same time.

Last Monday, on the way out of my current job, I thought: "I wonder where __PR is at in their selection process?" So, I checked my voicemail. On it, there just so happened to be a message from __PR saying that they wanted to have me come in for an interview. I nearly crapped my pants. So, last Tuesday I asked for Friday (of the same week) off for "personal reasons."

On Friday the two of us (we thought it would be fun to make a date out of it) packed our bags and headed off for DC. *Side note,* one of the big factors in whether or not I take the "better" job (if I'm offered it), is how long/difficult the commute on the train is. As it turns out, it almost painless! It runs on time or ahead of schedule (I guess this is different if there's bad weather) and it's only a 15 minute walk to __PR's building.

First of all, DC is a lot nicer than Baltimore. Granted, there are some nasty parts of DC, and we did see the obligatory crazy homless man yelling his grievances to anyone who passed by, but Baltimore couldn't hold a candle to DC. For one thing, the buildings that line the streets (many of them are 100+ years old), are kept up. There are many new condos being built and, oh yeah, there's actually some culture (musuems, performing arts, concerts, etc)!

So, the interview. As it would turn out, it was dreary and raining the entire day. However the weather was no indication as to how my interview would go; I thought it went really well. I met with two men, both would presumably be my boss(es). We had dthe usual interview chit-chat: why should we hire you? What are you good at? Etc, etc...I told them, they told me. It all went really smoothly. (now watch, I'll say all of this and they'll send me a letter saying I sucked) The job would not be something that I would want to do for 30+ years, but I would have my foot in the door. I was told that, due to the nature of the organization, that it would be possible to "help out" other departments. IF I get hired, I would get exposure to many different, world-class operations.

When I was done chatting, I got a brief tour of the building-all but the cafe. The offices, unlike many offices I've been in, actually have color(s) other than beige. In fact, in some areas it was kind of a Spanish/Tuscan color pallette.

After my tour I bid my last ajudicator farewell and Kristin and I had lunch at a Chinese restaraunt (in China Town!). Afterwards, because of the rain, we decided to tour one of the Smithsonians (Natural History) instead of the Mall. If you haven't seen any of the Smithsonians, I would reccommend all of them. We then grabbed a pint of Smithwicks and nibbled on some curried ladened "chips" (fries) and chicken wings at a local Irish pub. It turned out to be a really fun day.

Now it's just the waiting...the game of keeping one girl from finding out about the other. Right now, I need to not let my current "girlfriend" find out about the "girlfriend" that has better looking...benefits...

N

The best dinner ever

2006-10-23T12:13:00.000-04:00

Last week, amidst all of my running around for my new job, we were fortunate enough to attend a dinner and wine tasting event with my inlaws. I really think that this was the most fun I've ever had at a dinner before.
First of all, it was an absolutely beautiful evening; it was cool, sunny, no wind, no bugs. The leaves just started to change colors last week, so all of the trees are at their peak. The best thing about the dinner (other than the food and wine) was the early 20th century plantation that it was held at. I felt like we were at a place that was right out of an F. Scott Fitzgerald novel. The only thing that was weird was that 95% of the people there had gray hair. The most intersting looking person was an older woman, probably in her early 70s, who looked like an under-fed, dried apricot. Her alligator-like skin was a rust brown color (tanning bed) and she had bright white cirles around her eyes (I would assume from the sunglasses she would wear in the tanning booth).
The theme for the dinner was Sonoma vs. Napa.
Before dinner we had appetizers and 2 kinds of sparkling wine (one from Napa and one from Sonoma). This was fun because there were servers wandering around, each with a different type of before dinner snack.
Dinner was served in five different courses, each paired with two types of wine (again, one from Napa, one from Sonoma). Everything, from the scallop with vanilla truffle sauce to the gnocchi, was excellent. I lamented to Kristin about how I wish, even though I am a pretty decent cook, I could make dishes that were so superbly crafted.
Well, I am at work now, so I better go do something. Just thought I would make everyone hungry...

N

so much new stuff!

2006-10-22T14:59:00.000-04:00

Alright, I actually need to make at least three more posts over the next few days, hoepfully I'll have the time.
I'll start with the best (and probably least interesting) news. I got a job! Here's where it gets interesting...
So, I applied for this job at the University on October 1st. After almost two weeks of not hearing, I decided to apply for a temp position. On the temp company's web page, I read a description for a job that sounded vary similar to the job at the University.
On Wednesday, the 11th, I get a call from the temp agency requesting that I come in for an interview. In talking to "Lisa," I determined that the job they were advertising was, indeed, the same job as the one at the University. Yup, same description, same requirements, no benefits and pay that is $2.00-$4.00/hr less than the University's ad.
Two days later, on Friday, I went in for an interview. Here it was clarified that the temp job was actually different (and far more "watered-down") than the full-time position. I was also informed by the person conducting the interview (now my boss), that she never saw my resume that was submitted to the school. That being said, the interview went really well.
ONE HOUR LATER, I was called by "Lisa" while I was riding the bus home. She said that if I wanted the job, they would cancel the rest of their interviews and hire me. I said yes, but It was too loud to hear anything on the bus, so we decided I would discuss more when I gto home. At home, as I was talking to "Lisa," my cellphone rang. It was the school. I checked the my messages only to find out the Human Resources wanted to schedule an interview with me that next week. Great. Now what?
After a few calls, it was decided that I could do my HR interview on Monday. That went really well, and it sounded like they were going to hire me for the fulltime position. Alas, they did not. After working Tuesday-Friday last week, my boss decided that she, in order to be fair, needed to interview me again. (fine with me, it's just a little weird...) The funny thing is that I've been instructed to "act like we haven't met before." Alright. Whatever you say. I'll wear a pink tutu as long as you give me the freak'n job! That interview (hopefully the last) is on Tuesday.
So, busy week last week. And this story isn't even the half of it. I have to write about the job I have (big brother is watching you), talk about the most amazing dinner we had last week and talk more about the social and economic desparities in this city! (Ok, maybe no one will be interested in that last one). More to come later...

N

Tiger Woods has nothing on me!

2006-10-13T18:54:00.000-04:00

So, I'm pretty sure that everyone BUT me will find this extremely hillarious...
On Wednesday, I had "man-time" with Paul, a PhD student that Kristin and I have gotten to know. We both like to golf but don't have a ton of money so we decided to go to the driving range. This would be a good time to mention that I don't have my clubs out here either, so I had to trade-off with Paul.
On our way out I told him a story about how once I had watched another friend lob the head of his 4 iron about 100 yards while the ball only went 20. Mind you, I did not belabor the issue, nor did I belittle the friend whose club ment such an untimely and unfortunate demise, so this wasn't a karma thing. Little did I know....
Everything was going fine (I actually hit quite a few good shots!)-it was warm-ish, cloudy (but no rain), the deer were grazing about 325 yards out (knowing full well that very few shots, if any, would ever hurl their way)...I decided it was time to break out the big guns and start using his driver. Again, things were going well-some long shots, a lot of slices, a few that ricocheted off the awning directly above me. Then, it happened. I wound up, swung and, like always, looked up to see how far my ball went. I thought to myself: "Man, that felt really good." As I looked up, I thought: "My, that's an awfully strange looking pigeon." It all started to make sense. The club felt a little lighter than before...Pigeons weren't round. Or shiny. It dawned on me. Then, I exchange some words in French with myself (clearly, I've never done that before) and look over at Paul. He was laughing, although I'm not sure why. This was the worst moment of my life (well, it felt like it). I hardly know this guy and I've just broken his driver.
I am speechless. I don't recall ever breaking someone else's stuff. All of the color drains from my face and I just stand there, hoping to wake up from this bad dream. I don't.
My round was done. I went over to the old man working the counter, showed him my new graphite pointing stick and ask tell him the head is somewhere around the 100yd stake. He hopped in his armoured golf cart and retrieved my severed appendage.
Thankfully, nothing else went wrong. I later described this as the friend version of the worst date ever.

Lexington Market

2006-10-10T15:58:00.000-04:00

We've been wanting to check out the Lexington Market now since I started hearing about it 5 weeks ago. So, last Sunday we took the light rail there to see what it was all about. Here's a picture of the outside. If you'll notice, this is a computer enhanced image. The major thing missing: homeless people.
The ride in on the light rail starts off being very beautiful and interesting; fun buildings, nice shops, etc. Then, as you travel down Howard St., the buildings (beautiful, historic, turn-of-the century type buildings) become abandoned, boarded up, and more crappy-looking. It's ashame because it could be such a beautiful area. Other than the market, the only prominent shop in the area is a huge liquor store...go figure.
There were two homeless men in front of us as we walked up to the market entrance; one smelled like old cabbage, the other a barn (not the good barn smell, either). I may be painting a somewhat negative image of the place and I'm not trying to-that's just the way it was. There were a lot of people around shouting-we couldn't figure out if they were nuts, in pain or trying to sell something.
Our initial reason for going to Lexington Market was to partake in the Chocolate Festival. As it turns out, the Festival was only a few small tables selling fudge, chocolate cake and some other goodies along with a really bad, really loud funk band.
The market has some really good looking food, and good prices. However, it seemed as if most of the other stuff were miscellaneous animal nasty-parts. Turkey necks. Yum! Pigs feet. I'll have three! I think they sold everything but the, well, you know.
So, Lexington Market: interesting, yes, but probably don't need to go back for awhile.

-N

My new profession

2006-10-06T14:57:00.000-04:00

So, yesterday was a pretty cool day. After feeling really disillusioned about my current and future job prospects, I visited the Peabody to learn more about their MA in Audio Sciences. It seems like a really good prospect; small classes, lots of new technology, a constantly changing program and, most importantly, a solid integration of music into all of the techno babble. The only set back is $$...it would be very expensive for both of us to go to school at the same time. HOWEVER, there is actually a chance to get one of 2 assistantships (1 full, 1 half), which would be huge!
(or I could pursue the following)
Last night, we were watching TV and, after discussing my future career in audio design/recording, a tampon commercial came on (go figure). Kristin made a genius comment along the lines of: "Just think, someone is actually a tampon designer." Brilliant. After some more discussion, we decided that if my audio career doesn't work out, I can always fall-back on the seemingly lucrative career of feminine hygiene product design. I could really hold my head up high then!

-N

The special prize at the bottom of the box

2006-10-03T14:35:00.000-04:00

I mean, bus...I just got back from Target (an unusually long bus trip today-about 2.5 hours to get there, shop and get back). I spent a ridiculous amount of time waiting for the stupid bus today however, I can't really complain...the weather is absolutely beautiful! It's right about 80, sunny and just a nice breeze. It's turned out to be one of surreal, not quite fall, not quite winter days. I say surreal because it's very dry and the chlorophyll is just draining out of the leaves, giving everything from the trees to the lawns a very slight jaundice appearance; it's very dream-like.

So, now that this is essientially MY blog (being that I'm not in school and/or working yet) and I have really nothing new to write about, I'll make some reccomendations for everyone:

If you like honey like we do, check out this site: Really Raw Honey
This stuff is amazing! We've been buying it for about a year and a half and never get tired of it-we even eat it by the spoonful! It's a little expensive, but they ship it for free. I'd suggest getting the 5lb tub.

Learn how to make your own bread. It's been saving us a lot of money, tastes better and makes the house smell ever-so good. If you have the book, :"The Joy of Cooking" (not the other "The Joy of..." book) check out the Italian Saltless Loaf (I think that's the name). We ate a ton of this in Italy and it is different than bread here (obviously, there's not salt). However, this makes it especially good to cook with: use it in soups like a Ribollita ( this is a good start) or make a sandwich out of it. The good thing about the bread is that, because it has no salt, it takes on the flavor of things you put on it better (at least I think it does). That last sentence was sweet...

What have I just written? Am I going to get a corporate sponsorship for this? I'm hungry now.

-N

Job Hunting and Twins vs. O's

2006-09-25T15:29:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I haven't written for awhile because I've essentially done the exact same thing every day. I wake up, trip over one of the cats on the way to the bathroom, eat breakfast (in the kitchen, not the bathroom) and begin my quest looking for jobs. MAN IS IT FRUSTRATING!!! Not only is it boring and time-consuming, but I feel like I'm chasing my tail most of the time! I've sent about a dozen or so resumes out and, so far, no dice. I had one lead, a very encouraging one, but it turned out to be a dud. After four weeks of waiting, and speaking with someone advertising the job at a job fair, I find out the next day (again, after having applied four weeks earlier), that HR at this unnamed place has their heads in their butts. No communication at all...the job was filled weeks before...sorry for the inconvenience Mr. Nick...ha ha, no food for you....

Sorry, I'm done. It feels good to get that off my chest. I am (THANKFULLY!) doing a little work for Westmark via the internet (mostly graphic design) and I hope that I can at least get an interview at NPR (I just sent a resume out today for a position that opened only about 3 days ago). We'll see.

Kristin is very, very busy. She's at school almost all day, and then studies most of the evening. She has midterms (already!) this week so she's been even busier than usual.

On the lighter side, I actually did something on Saturday night: I went to the Twins vs. Orioles game. You see, there is a St. Olaf Alum group here that encompasses the Baltimore/DC/Arlington/etc that was going. I went, and had a fun time talking to people...I even watched the game a little. The funny thing about the event was that there were about 30 Oles there, and right in front of us (we sat in front of the Jumbo-tron) there were a bunch of Carleton Alums!! To top it off, I saw a fellow classmate (here's a hint for anyone playing along at home: he's a tuba player who now heads up a boy-band) who was sitting a couple sections over! What a random night!

Here's a picture of what I usually do on Sundays:

Recipe for Success

2006-09-07T10:10:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I've been meaning to write about this for almost a week now but I keep forgetting.
Last Friday, Kristin and I went to a party hosted by the School of Public Health. It was quite an interesting experience.
It was pouring rain (we got the very last bit of Ernesto last Friday and Saturday) when we left and it only managed to get worse as the night went on. The party was supposed to start at 530 and we, like any good midwesterners, thought it would be good to show up around 600 or 630 so we would not be the first ones there, standing arounding looking akwardly at anyone who came through the door (at this point I should also add that there was going to be free food). Well, we got there and it looked like the entire school of public health was already there and had devoured about 50 boxes of pizza--all that was left were a few cold, greasy, nasty chicken wings. This, of course, made me cranky because I was hungry and had been very much looking forward to pizza all day (luckily, more came later). First lesson: if there is a party and someone is offering free food to grad students, get there when the party starts because it will be gone in a matter of minutes.
What made this party different (other than the 2 man band playing a range of cover songs from Dave Matthews to Radio Head) was that the college provided beer and wine (WHAT!! Alcohol provided by a school!! We were shocked!) Of course, it wasn't like drinking a 1957 vintage Bordeaux and Sam Adams, but people will drink almost anything if they don't have to pay for it. I think that this was a good thing for the University to do; how else are you going to get a bunch of under-fed, under-paid, socially akward, nerdy graduate students to talk to each other? A little "liquid courage," of course. It was actually really funny. A couple of beers and some of them were dancing their butts off. That leads me to my second point: most grad students cannot dance; they are in public health, not the performing arts, for a reason...unless of course you consider being able to sway like a grove of cedars dancing....

Nick

A few pics of the place

2006-09-01T17:19:00.000-04:00

Well, we got our USB camera cable back, so here's a few pics of our place!

My first bus ride

2006-08-29T16:28:00.000-04:00

So, while everyone may not know it, we do not have a car out here. It's been interesting getting used to that, but so far I like it. First of all, insurance prices are ludicrous (I saw first hand as to why. Let's just say that there is the potential for a lot of broken mirrors and scraped paint) and second, there is no place to park. That being said, we either walk, bike or take public transportation. After biking only 7 miles one way to Target the other weekend in 95 degree heat, I wanted check out the bus.
Yesterday, Kristin started orientation, and I, having no work yet, decided to leave my groove in the couch and get some things at Target. One thing would be different this trip: I would take the bus.
The are a lot of buses that travel throughout the Baltimore metro, so it's not like you just walk to the corner and catch the one that says "to Target" on the front. After lots of research on the MTA website, I thought it reasonable to take the #3. So, I put my backpack on, grabbed $3.50 (full day pass) and walked until I found a bus stop. The signs are bright blue and you can't miss them. The one I found also had a #3 on it and, using the skills that I learned in school, cleverly deduced that this would be where my bus stopped. Well, after lots of waiting and crooked looks from the construction workers, I went up a few blocks to the next one. More waiting, no bus; what's the deal? I it stops and one spot at 10:50 and the next at 11:03, it should pass by here. To the next stop. Finally, it came.
I hopped on, asked the driver how much for the day pass, he barked "$3.50!" and then stomped on the gas like there was the biggest cochroach in the world sitting on it. Luckily, my ninja-like relfexes were prepared for such a take-off, and I wasn't sent flying for the foul pole, I mean, back of the bus. There were almost no seats open, so I had to sit right between two people.
Riding on that bus was a very good experience for a suburban white boy like me. There were only about 4 other white people on the bus, and all of them were old. Apparently, most white people are either to scared or, more likely, too proud to take the bus (although you would think that there was exactly one-third black, one-third white and one-third asian people riding if you saw the MTA commercials). I just think life would be easier if people didn't insist on driving everywhere...anyway.
I got to Target, picked up my stuff, and got back all in one piece-a much cooler, much less sweaty piece than if I had biked again. Now I just need to figure out the other 40 or so local lines!

I FIXED IT!!

2006-08-26T21:18:00.000-04:00

This will be a short one--for all you people who were trying to post comments on our blog, but couldn't without registering, I've fixed it so you can now comment WITHOUT signing up for another useless account that you will never use. :-) So comment away. We are lonely. And friendless...well, not quite friendless....more on that later. Enjoy your weekend and keep praying for cool weather...

Our new home...

2006-08-24T09:22:00.000-04:00

So, after about a month of not posting, here we go again! (I figure I have the time because I'm unemployed).

We have fully moved into our apartment on the 10th floor of an old building here in Baltimore (ca 1915). It's quite a cool building (although I definately do NOT mean that literally...there's no AC) and located next to a market, a couple of fast food places, at least one pub, etc. One neat feature is the "fire chute"-it's bacially a big slide that goes from the top of the building to the bottom in case there's a fire (everytime I walk past it I have to fight the urge to use it...maybe someday).

One thing that kinda sucks is that there is construction going on all around us; every morning at 645 we awake to saws, hammers and large machinery going to town on the on the new building to our north and demolishing the building to our east.

As I said before, I don't yet have a full-time job, although I still will be doing some work for Westmark (thank goodness!). I do have some prospects, but I don't want to get my hopes up yet. Because I don't work yet, I've decided to take up the very masculine activity of baking (huh?)!

That's all for now.

Nick

Home at last

2006-07-18T18:38:00.000-04:00

Well folks, we made it. After 14 hours of grueling travels, we arrived in the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport yesterday at 5:30pm. It is nice to be back but, as Nick says, it's amazing how the familiar can become foreign after being away for awhile. For example, as the plane was landing over Minneapolis, I kept thinking to myself...why are those cars driving on the wrong side of the road....

Anyway, we are posting to let you know that more photos and more blogs will be up in the next couple days. That way, for those of you who don't want to sit through our 712 photos and 5 hours of story telling from our trip can just say...."Hey, I read your blog," and we'll shut up. :-) We will be writing about the UK since I don't feel we did it any justice at all and now that we don't have to pay to use the computer, we'll have a plethora of exciting photos (hopefully with captions...we'll see how motivated I am), for you all to view.

So stayed tuned for further updates. Also, Nick and I decided we'll keep this blog for when we move to Maryland so on those gloomy Monday mornings when you want to procrastinate actually doing any work, you can waste a few minutes of your life to read about our thrilling and unpredictable lives. :-) (and we won't have to call our parents every other day to update them...)

More to come...

Right out of a fairytale....

2006-07-14T11:24:00.000-04:00

Well, after a long, long, long, long drive yesterday from Edinburgh, Scotland (I am starting to drend how sore my butt will be when we drive out to Maryland) we have landed in Hay-on-Wye, Wales.
I feel like I am walking around in a Dr. Seuss story--the town is known to have the largest number of used bookshops in, I believe, the world. It's a very small town and is right in the middle of rolling hills and farmland.
The "King" of Hay, Richard Booth(e) I think is his name, made a name for himself traveling around the country selling "books for burning" after his run-of-the-mill traveling used book sales venture didn't work out.
Anyway, not much time left...Kristin got her hair cut in Edinburgh the other day--it looks really good! We're off to London tomorrow and should squeeze in another post before we leave.

Here's a link for more pics: http://www1.snapfish.com/home/t_=53866009

...and six children later...

2006-07-10T10:50:00.000-04:00

So, our plans have changed once again...now before you freak out, mommy...NO, I am NOT pregnant. However, we have much more incentive now...

Anyway, after having our fair share of sheep, sheep poo and sleeping on the hard, cold, smelly ground, we decided to spend our last 2 nights lounging as king and queen (or at least lord and lady) of the Roundwood House, a beautiful 17th century mansion converted to a Bed and Breakfast. We visited the Irish National Stud, which was quite educational. There resides the world's most expensive prostitute...Indian Ridge, a 21 year old thoroughbred horse who commands a €75,000 stud fee (that's about $97,500). Anyway, we got in plenty of foal petting and garden looking.

Later that evening, after a good romp around the property with "Tony" and "Frank" (the names we gave the two dogs that followed us everywhere...their real names are Frodo and Sheridan, but we liked ours better...), we had an entertaining 5 course traditional Irish meal (homecooked by Rosemarie, the owner of the B&B) with Cindy and Jeannine, two country girls from Wisconsin (small world). Later that evening we sat down for a fireside chat (complete with tea and a peat fire) with the two very interesting women and Frank, Rosemarie's husband (we couldn't actually figure out what he did there except whatever Rosemarie told him to do!). Several hours, hundreds of photos of Cindy and Jeannine and a DVD video of Jeannine's horses at home doing shows later, we sat down in the kitchen for a very interesting chat with Rosemarie and Frank about Ireland, politics, the EU, Great Britain, and having 6 children. They have 6 and highly recommend it. In fact, they promised us that WHEN (they did not say IF) we have our 6 children, they will put us and our 6 mini nicks and kristins up for free for as long as we like....hmmmm....

Nicholas, your chariot

2006-07-04T11:36:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I was especially mad about missing our flight, but it worked outjust fine...
Like Kristin was saying, we are now in Ireland-more specifically, Achill island in extreme western Ireland, County Mayo. And, most importantly, we have a car....
Our car is a fine auto, about 7 feet long and sits 2 very comfortably (it's supposed to seat 4, and it would do so just fine). It's a manual (I must give thanks to my mentors, Zubin and Molly, for teaching how to drive one of these), and gets about 700km on a full tank of gas. blah blah...
I must freely admit, however much I don't want to, that I was scared out of my freakin' mind when I was first handed the keys and bid "safe travels" by the rental guy (i'll add more about this fiasco tomorrow).
The last two nights we have been camping, the first night at Rosses Point in County Sligo, and last night and tonight on Achill Island.
The drive here was very out-of-this-world...first of all, I'm driving on the wrong side of the road, on the wrong side of the car, through forests, mountains, bogs and small towns all while trying to read signs (they're in both English and Gaelic) and listening to the all Gaelic radio station (about hte only thing they get out here).
One very funny thing about this town: it seems that sheep vastly out-number people. First of all, they just roam wherever they feel like; people's houses, the roads....OUR CAMPSITE. There is POOP all over the place...in fact, I would say that the only thing here that out-numbers the sheep is the sheep poop...
This lead me to this conclusion: the sheep are communal. No one needs to mow, no one needs to fertilize...they have sheep! And whenever you need a sweater, maybe a little mutton, it's all right there for you. My new goal is to sneek up on a sheep and pet it.
It's also been quite an adjustment in weather--it was about 100 and sunny when we left Rome, here it's very windy, mostly cloudy, sometimes raining and only about 60.
We'll post more later, happy 4th of July back at home!

The curse of the pulpo strikes back...

2006-07-04T11:03:00.000-04:00

Okay, so we didn't actually have more pulpo (octopus), although there was a little store in Greve (a little town about 20km south of florence) that advertised itself as a server of octopus..., but I just decide that anything bad that happens (or anything stupid we do) is because of that darned pulpo.

So, we last left off in Florence, about to head out for the Tuscan countryside. After spending 4 hours debating over the intelligence of renting a "Sasha" (scrubs fans will know what I mean) we nixed the idea of renting a scooter (moped). We would fansifully envision ourselves, carefree, laughing, as we zoomed effortless around the Tusan countryside. Then we would see the probable reality of our mangled bodies being scraped off the crowded, zooming streets of Florence...so, after lamenting our inability to "live on the edge", we decided to randomly take a bus out to Greve. We were smart.

We met up with Francesca, a delightful director of a tourist office who set us up with a vineyard tour/wine tasting and a night in a bed and breakfast with Ada and Paolo.

So we headed back up to our campsite for our last night of camping in Italy, packed up our bags the next morning and spent the next 2 1/2 glorious days in the Chianti region. We had a "tour" of the tiny vineyard (who only produces 5000 bottles of wine each year and they ONLY sell their wine, olive oil and other goods at their farm), which took about 15 minutes and consisted of our Romanian tour guide (who continually apologized for not speaking perfectly in her THIRD language) giving us random, broken bits of info about the place. We sat down for an absolutely amazing lunch with the best olive oil I have ever had and then the real info began to pour out. It turns out that our guide understands Spanish, so I would ask questions in spanish and she would respond in Italian (and I could amazingly understand most of what she said)...we found out about what makes a good crop, good temperatures, what porportions of wines are mixed, how long they are fermented, how old a grape vine is, how long they produce grapes, etc etc etc. We felt good supporting this small, family business especially in the face of the GIANT vineyards that aparently monopolise the wine industry there...

We then spent uncountable hours in Le Cantine, an "enoteca"--wine store with over1500 different wines, olive oils, balsamic vinegars, etc. And came out with everyone's christmas, birthday, everything gifts for the next 20 years.

anyway, we decided to stay two nights there and risk the quick transport from there to Florence to Rome to Ciampino airport the next morning before 10:15am. So we arose at 4;30...had a delicious breakfast from Paolo (who served us food at 5am in his pajamas!), caught our bus at 5:45, arrived at 6:40 in florence and found that the train we though left at 7am, actually left at 6:40, so we waited around for the train that would arrive in Rome at 9:30, leaving us 50 minutes to get from the train station to Ciampino airport before they closed check-in....needless to say, the train was late and we spent the next 20 minutes running around trying to get to the airport (aparently NO TAXIS will take you there...), we found a bus that left at 10am and, thinking that since the airport was only 15km from the center, we would be fine. HA HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! 45 minutes later, we arrived at the airport (thank you nasty traffic of Rome), realized we missed our flight to belfast, had to wait in line for 20 minutes to get a new plane ticket, found out that it would cost nearly $600 to fly to befast that night or the next day, decided on a cheap flight to Newcastle, England (not knowing where Newcastle actually was...), took that flight, got to newcastle, spent an hour with a lovely lady there who helped us figure out that the cheapest way to ireland was another flight (thank goodness for discount carriers!) and booked a flight to Dublin for the next day...

in the end, we actually came out only slightly more expensive than had we made our flight to belfast, but lets just say that there were some very crabby nicks and kristins for about 24 hours....

anyway, i'm going to let nick type the next blog and update you all on ireland...

Pizza and the Pope

2006-06-27T06:13:00.000-04:00

Well, here we are, the last few days in Italy and we have yet to post something about our time here. I think this is due mainly to the fact that the laserbeam intensity sun has sapped us of all our will to do anything except stare blankly at the beautiful architecture with our mouths hanging slack as we welp pitifully for acqua...acqua....needless to say we have really enjoyed the architecture and art inside the many large, COOL churches. :)

So a short recap of our time here...we spent the first 3 days in Rome and managed to see the colusseum, the palatine, the roman forum and the pantheon. We also gazed awestruck at the sistine chapel and saw a 3,000 year old egyptian mummy(whom I have affectionally dubbed as Nick's girlfriend) in the Vatican Museum. We had the incredible priviledge to attend a Latin mass in St. Peter's Basilica--that was quite an experience. There was incense and a hauntingly beautiful choir that echoed amazingly in the vacuous space. To add the experience, as people were going up for communion, we heard a 'psst...kristin' behind us and saw our good friend Molly and her friend Melissa who are visiting in Rome also before MOlly enters a convent in August. We got to have some deliciously cheap pizza and red wine in a hole in the wall in Rome then ate gelato as we watched the Basilica disappear into the sunset...

sounds like a corny chick flick, no? :)

Anyway, our last day in Rome we spent UNDER the Basilica. We managed to score tickets (thanks to Molly letting us know about it) to the 'Scavi Tour' -- the excavations that are going on below the Basilica that revealed an ancient necropolis (amazingly well preserved) and what archeologists have decided is the original tomb of St. Peter and, what some surmise are his actual bones. Regardless, it was phenomenol...our guide, Vladimir, was great. He even let us cut in line at the end to see Pope John Paul II's tomb.

We are now in Tuscany...we are staying at a beautiful campsite outside of Fiesole (about 8km from the center of Florence). We have an amazing view of florence from where we eat dinner and, best of all, it's cheap! Camping in Italy is NOTHING like camping in the states...they have a full service restaurant with their own house wine (very good actually), a swimming pool, bungalows (although we are tenting it).

We wandered the streets of Florence yesterday and today--saw the Duomo and climbed all 493 stairs to the top of the cupola. We also saw David today. Amazing. That is all I can say. Nick and I kept expecting him to turn around and start talking to us. In fact, I am convinced he breathed a couple of times.

We are planning on simply tooling around the Tuscan countryside the next few days before heading out on Friday for Ireland. We'll try to hit up a vineyard. Here are the rest of our photos. Actually, this one may be better:
http://www1.snapfish.com/photolibrary/t_=53866009
Remember, email us if you have trouble getting into the site. Hope all of you are cooler back home and enjoying the summer there!

Just a quick one

2006-06-24T09:02:00.000-04:00

Sorry we haven't posted for awhile, but we've been very busy. This one will be short....
So, Tuesday (the 20th) we spent the evening in Switzerland and it was a very nice city (a lot like home, actually). We thought that we would be fine getting by in -geneva of a day without knowing any French, but boy were we wrong...We wound up finding the nearest English bookstore and buying French phrase books. We then sat in a park for 2 hours trying to learn as much french as possible.
The next day we went to Rome and found out that the subway closes at 21:00...so, we were stuck on a hot, hot stinky bus for about 1.5hrs.
We'll talk more about Rome later, but we are going to catch a train to Tuscany shortly. We'll post more later.

Nick & Kristin

Beauty and the Beast

2006-06-19T13:35:00.000-04:00

Well, here we are, our last day in Spain...we fly out tomorrow morning for Geneva, Switzerland (where we have yet to find a place to stay...I think it will be camping by Lake Geneva for us...places to stay there are ridiculously expensive!). We are in Malaga, the birthplace of Pablo Picasso...

Anyway, I´m not feeling very poetic right now, but I wanted to share a little bit about the Alhambra and our brief stay in Sevilla.

On Saturday morning, we arose, bright and early (7:00am...an ungodly hour in Spain). We wandered down the desolate streets, up the sharply graded hill to a ticket booth with sleepy people already lined up at least 50 deep...those sad saps who failed to reserve their tickets in advance. hahaha!! At promptly 8:30, the gates opened to a medieval paradise...we sauntered in (as some crazy tourists briskly brushed past us and sprinted down the walk) and made our way over to the Palacios Nazarios (i think i have that right). This is the coveted area to visit...the sultan´s private palace. It was, as my uncle Jack so rightly put it, one of the most beautiful places on earth. The intricate carvings, the amazing geometric architecture, the stunningly manicured gardens, the phenomenal use of water as decoration. It was a celebration of life, of faith, of Allah, of paradise. It was, as Nick likes to say, a wonderful, cleansing sorbet after the festival of death on friday night (a quick note...nick may not be a vegetarian, but I am finding it extremely hard to stomach meat now...the bullfight affected me much more than i realized--I am strong enough to admit that I actually cried--and if anyone would like to discuss my spiritual epiphanies when I return, i would be glad to gab your ear off). After the palace, we went on to the Generalife gardens...an enormous expanse of amazing beauty. Nick got plenty of ideas for our future backyard....

I could write novels (in fact I believe many novels have already been written) about our experience at the Alhambra, but i would start to sound redundant and you have more important things to do with your time.

After 8 hours (yes, that´s right, EIGHT HOURS) we finally peeled ourselves away and wandered back down the streets of Granada, plotting our overthrow of the Spanish government so that we, ourselves, could occupy the Alhambra.

Later that evening, Nick astutely spotted an unassuming poster advertising a Bonsai exhibition put on by La Asociacion de los Amigos de Bonsai de Granada. We found the small exhibition and wandered through the trees on display. On our way out, we asked if we could take a poster and Antonio stopped us and asked us where we were from. This prompted a 3o minute discussion (in spanish, mind you) on bonsai cultivation in spain and minnesota, our travels, the climate changes....you get the picture. Nick was in heaven. We got the email address of the association and left, elated.

Later that night we found a little tea shop that had live flamenco guitar music, had some crepes and hookah and went home, sad that we were leaving Granada.

I won´t bore you much more, but I wanted to share a little about Sevilla. Neither of us liked it at all...where as Granada was big, it retained the feel of a small town...it retained it´s identity. Sevilla had been overrun by the tourist industry. Every few meters we passed some tacky tourist shop where they were selling horrendously gross things (i cán´t post them online).

ON the plus side, we did get to go to a mass in the cavernous Cathedral and got to hear the amazing organ play. And we went to a breathtakingly fantastic flamenco presentation--a guitar player, a singer and two dancers. I was floored...apparently the lady dancer (carmen mesa) won an international flamenco competition...it has inspired me on a new career path...I will now be a flamenco dancer. forget grad school...On the whole, we were not sad to leave Sevilla the next day.

Well, i think that´s about all...if you want to see the most recent photos, click here. And post responses...we like to know people love us!!

Viva el toro

2006-06-17T10:39:00.000-04:00

As you will understand after reading this entry, there are no pictures for the bullfight, but there are some of the tour of the Alhambra that we took today (Kristin will probably talk about that later).

Well, last night we went to the Plaza de Toros to watch a bullfight. Neither Kristin or myself were "excited" to go because we kind of knew what to expect. As it turns out, we learned about something very valuable, life.

As we said before, there is this 6 day festival happening here in Granada-each night there is a bullfight with, I think, three Matadors (again, I appologize for any wrong spellings) and six bulls, two for each matador (interesting side note: matadors are now referred to as "torreros." Kristin tells me that matador means "killer.").

We sat in the cheap seats way up top in del sol (the sun). Suprisingly, the stadium was pretty full. Moreover, many of the spectators were women and children.

#Disclaimer: we are not pachoulli loving vegan hippies#

I won´get into all of the details, but it goes a little something like this: the matadores parade out and a bull is released, one at a time. For the first part of the match, the matador busies himself wtih "bull-dodging." Another thing to note here is that the audience will cheer the more the bull charges (or so we thought). This is what they then call a brave bull. However, anyone who knows anything about animals knows that the bull is probably just scared (the only time that it charges is when the matador comes at it quickly).
During the next phase, another man comes out on an amoured horse with blinders on. The matador lures the bull over to the man on the horse and then he stabs it behind the head with a big spear.
Next come the picadores (about 3 more guys) who stick 2 darts each into the bulls neck.
The final phase, and again, many details are being ommitted, is when the bull is killed. When it is done properly, a sword is stuck through the bulls neck were it pierces its heart. All in all, it takes about 30 seconds for the bull to die (which if you think about it, is probably the same amount of time it would take in a kosher or halal butcher shop). Kristin and I both felt horrible during this part, but what really got me was when the torreo patted the bull on the head (or saluted it...each one did something different) as it was dying.
If the match went well, the officiant awards the torreo the bull´s ear.
What do we make of all this? We agreed that the most disturbing part of the whole ordeal was how numb people were to the violence of it all-cheering and applauding every move. In fact, we found ourselves becoming numb towards the end of the night! Maybe, at some point, it is good for someone to learn about death, but I don´t think they should learn about it by killing for sport. (PS I´m not talking about hunting and we are not becoming vegitarians)
Is it right for 10 trained men to make a game out of the death of an animal? You can decide. I´m sure that many people disagree with us, and that´s perfectly ok.
We talked a lot afterwards about how this would impact us and we decided that we really need to be aware (when we eat meat) of how important the "sacrifice" of that animal was. Its life was taken in order to sustain ours.
(I would love to talk more about this, especially philosphically, but someone is waiting to use this computer. maybe i´ll post more later.)

We have decided that life is more valuable than death, especially if it is only for enjoyment.

Viva el toro.

I am a genius...and problems viewing our photo link...

2006-06-16T06:12:00.000-04:00

So it turns out that I am a genius. As we were leaving our room last night at around 8:30pm, we were swept up into a massive throng of parents toting around little spanish girls (and some not so little spanish girls as you can see...) dolled up in vibrant flamenco outfits. As we were ushered along, we suddenly found ourselves face to face with Jesus...or a giant float of Jesus and his disciples enjoying the Santa Cena (last supper) along with an entire processional of women and children wearing black, carrying candles, burning incense and, of course, a brass marching band. Not knowing exactly what was going on, but thrilled that we had caught this amazing event, we snapped pictures and followed the processional for awhile. The streets were lit up with what looked like garland and christmas lights. So we had sat down to eat, still puzzled and decided to ask our waitor exactly what was going on. His eyes ablaze, he excitedly spilled out all kinds of information about La Feria de Corpus Christi (some sort of fair for the cathedral...) and how they have a giant fairground and rides and flamenco dancing and drinking and laughing and happiness. He ripped out his order pad and frantically scribbled down instructions for taking the Bus Ferial to the fair site and how we can dance our problems away until 8am if we would like...he informed us that we MUST take a cup of the very special Granadan wine at the fair entrance ("!es riquissimo!!) so that we can enter the fair "muy contentos". After nearly 10 minutes of these instructions (we discovered the key to the Spaniards....ask them a question in Spanish and they never stop talking), he let us go and enjoy the fair. So Nick and I wandered around what was like the Minnesota State Fair times 10,000 and left around 1:30. I am sad to admit that many a 2 and 3 year old outlasted us last night...

Anyway, there are aparently 3 more days of this feria and there are bullfights each night and more flamenco events...so we´ll keep you all updated.

Also, if you have trouble viewing our links to that we posted to view our other photos, please email us and we´ll email you our username and password. (either kristinkwilde@yahoo.com or nick_giuliani@yahoo.com).

It´s Not Swearing Because I Don´t Know Spanish...

2006-06-15T07:44:00.000-04:00

First of all, sorry we haven´t posted in what´s all of sudden been a week. As it turns out, it was hard finding internet cafes in rural Spain.
That being said, we have had a lot of fun times, and a few not so fun ones, in the past week.
We left off last time in Santiago. After a fairly short (about 2 hrs) bus ride, we arrived in a small sea-side village called Laxe (pronounced Lashay). We stayed at this hotel that was run by this charming and very talkative man named Manolo. Enter "La Puta Madre." Now, for those of you not wishing to be shocked by what this means, don´t look it up. So we´re at the hotel visiting with Manolo (well, Kristin is) and we´re telling him that we´re there to do a 2 day walk. He gets a lot of people there doing walks and has each one write a little something in this book he has; every one of them makes sure to include "La Puta Madre" somewhere in their ramblings to express just how beautiful the scenery was.
In additon to chatting with Manolo, we experienced our first sampling of Pulpo (octopus). This stuff is not the most appetizing entre in the world and every restaraunt we went to in Gallacia there was an anxious server trying to push the stuff onto us. A similar ritual in the US would be the yearly dumping of zucchini from neighbor to neighbor (or even fruitcake from family to family). Kristin, insisting that we"musn´t say no" because it would be insulting, usually ordered some. I now loathe Pulpo.
We learned a valuable lesson on the walk: never try and walk 40km in two days with heavy packs. Our legs have never been so sore! That being said, we did see lots of beautiful beaches, moumtains, forrests and wildflowers.
At the end our first day (12km) we stayed at an old woman´s house in Camelle. The woman was 83 years old and was taking care of her husband (89) who had demension and couldn´t do anything for himself. That night, we ate at Maria´s (the old woman) daughter´s restaurant and had, you guessed it, more Pulpo. After our meal we were asked if we wanted some licquor or coffe. Kristin had a coffe and I decided to pass on both. Well, a few minutes later the woman came out with a bottle of homemade sugary, lemon booze, set two glasses on the table, and poured us some. Now of course, we can´t say no, so we had some. But she left the bottle...do we finish it? Do we leave it? We thought it best to ask. Kristin asked "to take?" because we weren´t sure if they wanted us to bring home with us. A minute later, we are one full bottle of "Limonsette" richer, and €7 poorer. Kind of a funny story, though.
The second day of our walk (27Km), it misted most of the time, but we trudged on...and on...and on...we wanted to die by the end (check out our pics of the scenary).
We made it to the next town, missed our bus, and had to take a cab for €60 back to Santiago to catch our overnight train to Avilla, just outside of Madrid, we called it our "stupid tax."
The overnight train was terribly uncomfortable, and we subsequently spent the next day sleeping.
Not much funny stuff happened the next few days, except that I managed to ordered "ear-flavored" fanta (oreja insterad of naranja) and refer to the top of our table as "enima" instead of ensima.
We did however, see the Prada and the Reia Sofia (pardon my spellings) in Madridd. For us, the only thing of interest at the Prada was the Piccasso exhibt (it was showing the influenece of Classical works on Picasso). There was also a Picasso exhibit at the Reia Sofia, which housed Guernica, perhaps his most famous work. I could go on and on about how cool this exhibit was, but I´ve already rambled enough. We will hoepfully be posting more frequently, as we are now in Granada, a college town. Take care.

Nick and Kristin

Santiago de Compostela--we´re in España!!

2006-06-09T11:32:00.000-04:00

Well hello to all of you who are bored enough to be checking our blog on a Friday afternoon...we survived the trip with only one stalker, whom we dubbed "no personal bubble boy" since he systematically destroyed our personal bubbles by being no more than a pinky´s length away from either of us all the way from Toronto til we managed to ditch him in the snaking corridors of Heathrow airport (we had to do some professional maneuvering to lose him though!).
after 27 hours of traveling (most of those hours were spent trying to sleep or staring blankly at the walls of whatever random airport we were in...) we finally arrived in the northwest part of spain--a city of about 100,000 called Santiago de Compostela. It´s claim to fame is that it supposedly hosts the remains of St. James, the apostle. It´s absolutely beautiful--nick and I kept wandering around thinking we were on a movie set. This is a picture from the balcony of our hotel room.

Last night we ventured out through the beautiful, narrow streets and discovered that, after he finished his stint on "Full House", John Stamos retired to Santiago where he is a waitor at a Tapas restaurant (not really...our waitor just looked exactly like his twin...). Oh, and it stays light here until 11pm...

I am trying to speak spanish, although this is complicated by two factors...1) Spanish in spain (castellano) sounds WAY different to me than the latin american version i am used to and...2) the official language of this region is Gallego...an odd mix of spanish and portugese (or so it sounds to me)...but we are floating by okay. So far I haven´t felt too stupid (the spaniards aren´t exactly the most outwardly friendly people in the world...although the taxi driver we had yesterday was great-i asked him one question and he didn´t stop talking the entire ride to the hotel!). Well, we are in the process of uploading some photos to snapfish. you can access them at:
http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=44222807/a=53866009_53866009/t_=53866009

I promise that our entries will become more interesting and (hopefully) witty and entertaining to read once we get over the "dumbs" of jet lag (my head feels like it´s captured in jello). In about an hour we´re off to the Costa da Morte (coast of death....just to scare our parents) for a few days of walking along the Atlantic Ocean...take care!

Testing, Testing

2006-06-05T19:15:00.000-04:00

Hello world! We have finally crawled out from under our rock and started a blog.