Three weeks, in 200 words or less

Busy busy busy these past few weeks. D came down to LA and it was go time from the moment he got here (3AM Friday night) to the moment he left (Midnight Sunday). In between, we had shiner bock and fried turkey at Flo and Helen's, partied in a castle in Hollywood Hills, wandered through a fog-flooded Getty, and saw Nickel Creek at HOB on Sunset.

Thanksgiving was strange. Very strange. Home feels even less like home now. Seeing friends after months of being apart makes me realize how easy it is to lose touch. Had an awkard parting with D at the end of the weekend.

Now holiday season is in full swing. I'm hoping to make it out to Mammoth this weekend, but there's plenty to do here in LA if that plan falls through. The following weekend will be spent holiday party hopping; two parties, two contrasting outfits, two very different scenes. Should be a fun one.

And suddently it's November...

When did that happen? I forgot how nice California "winter" is, where anything below 50 is "SO cold". It's good to be back.

It's a little troubling when pictures crop up online which you have absolutely *no* recollection of having taken. Note to self: be more careful, especially when surrounded by strangers and without the luxury of having a close friend watching over you (man, I miss college sometimes...)

Things have been quiet since Halloween, but I'm gearing up for D's visit next weekend and the pre-thanksgiving kegger hosted by lovely Flo and Helen.

Heading up North for Thanksgiving, from Wednesday night through Monday morning. Drop me an email or give me a ring if you'll be around and want to meet up!

Rock it.

Two nights of Halloween down, spent at two very different places. On Friday Helen and I hit up a bar/club in Hermosa, and on Saturday Billy and I went to an underground party in downtown. Girls between the ages of 20 and 40 loved the Rainbow Brite costume, everyone else had no idea who I was.

Still yet to come: West Hollywood Carnaval, and maybe one last Halloween party next weekend.

Back to the bay

The weekend was over before I could blink. Flew in Friday evening, dropped some stuff off at my mom's place, and hopped on the train to SF.

D's birthday party was ridiculous. Good music, good drinks, and good company; what more could you want? My decision making definitely left something to be desired, but what's life without risk? Thumbs up to catching a ride on the back of a motorcycle to the afterparty (thanks, Kip!), but thumbs down to the sketchy guy who tried to lure me into a bathroom when the party was winding down. I was thoroughly impressed by D's biking skills- I was convinced there was a 100% chance we were going to bite it when he insisted on riding double on his mountain bike down hilly SF streets to get back to his apartment at the end of the night. He got us there safe and sound, though, dodging the sleeping homeless guys with astonishing ease. Impressive, especially considering the time of night (or morning, depending on how you count it) and our lack of sobriety.

Unsurprisingly, we didn't get to the bluegrass festival the next day until late afternoon. The musicians were incredible, and the weather was unbeatable. Things were going great until I attempted to head to Berkeley for dinner. Let me tell you, navigating public transit on a packed bus when semi-drunk and unsure of where you're going is not a good time. In the end it all worked out, even though I was an hour and a half late and inconvenienced the entire dinner group by having them pick me up at a farther away BART station so I wouldn't have to transfer trains. It was great to see Mo, Katie, and Justin, even if it was only for a little while.

I hauled myself out of bed early Sunday to get dim sum with my grandma in the Sunset District. It was good to see her, even if she was overly concerned about my lack of a boyfriend. "When I was your age, I already have *three* daughter..." Thanks, Grandma.

Hit up the bluegrass festival again on Sunday, and before I knew it it was time to catch the last train back to my mom's place. D insisted on driving me home, though, so we shared a leisurely dinner in SF before heading south. I felt pretty guilty about having him drive all the way to Palo Alto just to drive back to SF, but I enjoyed spending more time with him before I had to hop back down to LA.

Gotta keep the good times rolling and post a strong finish to the Best Year Ever: Next up is Decompression, followed by San Diego for a weekend and then it's my first LA Halloween. Down time? Who needs that...

Friends and more

Last night I ventured out to a Beach Burn in El Segundo organized by a group of local burners. I heard about it on tribe.net, a site I've been checking out since coming back from Burning Man. I didn't know anyone that was going, but I figured that since I didn't have any other plans for the night I had nothing to lose.

The people were welcoming, and it was nice to sit out on the beach and just chill for a while. There was an interesting array of characters that showed up, ranging from vegan raw food enthusiasts to drugged-out cougars in playa wear to middle aged techies.

I didn't have an instant connection with anyone, but it was good to get out and meet new people even though it put me a little out of my comfort zone.

I'm nervous and excited for the upcoming weekend adventure to SF. So many people to see, so little time. It'll be interesting to see how everything unfolds.

A life less ordinary

I just realized it's practically October. Where the hell did this year go?

I'm heading up to the Bay Area on the 5th for the weekend. Not sure if I'm forcing something that's not there or not worth it; my sister warns me that people can be completely different in real life compared to how they are on the Playa. I figure I have to go and see, though.

Goals for fall:
- Get finances in order
- Make friends outside of work
- Get out of South Bay more often and explore LA

Burning like a virgin

Words can't describe... but I'll try, anyway.

It was beautiful and overwhelming and tacky and obscene. I ended up not spending too much time with the boys I drove out with; They're my friends and all, but we were there to do different things. Luckily, I hooked up with a camp just down the street who were awesome and welcoming.

It was amazing to see the capacity that people have when they really invest themselves in something. Yes, the whole event did seem a little bit like Disneyland, and yes, there did seem to be a lot of vapid people just looking to party. Despite all that, I still loved it. At times it was all a little too much, but there were moments last weekend that I wouldn't trade the world for. I don't want to sound too unhinged-hippie-new-age-crazy, but there were points when I was completely content and relaxed, and simply myself. No pretense, no faking, no trying to be what others want. Just me. It was amazing.

A purple moon and rainbow fire. Incredible.

Since coming back, I've been reflecting a lot and thinking about where I am right now with relation to where I want to be. LA has suddenly lost it's shine, hopefully that's just a temporary over-dramatization, though. One thing's for sure, certain people I've met down here are not the type of people I need right now. It's not a matter of who is good and who is bad or who is right and who is wrong, it's a matter of who fits with what I need. Suddenly, I find myself missing the Bay Area like never before.

Before I left, I had planned on this being my only Burning Man trip- I would put in a ton of time and money this year, go, and then I would have "done" it. Now that I've been there, I'm already thinking and planning for next year. Only 357 days to go...

Burn, baby, burn

A half-finished blog entry has been sitting in my account for over a month now. When I first started it back in July, it was optimistic and upbeat, and since then it has slowly become more subdued. Summertime in LA has been fun and exciting, but tiring as well. At first the nightlife and drinking and beach and boys were more than I could have hoped for, but now reality is setting in and I think it's time for me to retreat from the scene for a bit to collect myself and my thoughts.

We're leaving tomorrow for Burning Man, which is going to be *awesome*. I've been wanting to go for the past 5 years, but in the past school has always conflicted. Our group is growing, and I'm a little worried about how prepared some of them will be, especially those who are deciding to come along at the last minute. I haven't had as much time to prepare as I would have liked, but I do have the essentials- water, food, tent, fuzzy clothes, and fuzzy bike. Off to the desert we go...

Oh, Craigslist

Last week I realized my roommate had stolen the spare credit card I keep in my room, and charged $540 worth of groceries, beer, and takeout to it. How do I know it was him? I never carry the card on me, so it's impossible I lost it randomly. I haven't charged anything to it in over 3 years, so it's impossible that anyone stole the info while I was purchasing something. With that logic, it is still possible that one of his friends or my friends could have stolen it from my room, but my smooth criminal roommate went so far as to order pizza and thai food delivery to the condo- the two restaurants were very nice about giving me the order info when I explained the situation.

I immediately went back to the condo to remove anything valuable from my room. I looked at apartments the next day, and signed a lease on a studio in Hermosa on Friday. At that point I still hadn't said anything to my roommate, figuring that it would be best to confront him once I had all of my things packed and ready to move out immediately.

I waited until Saturday to move and had a couple of the big, tattooed guys from work come over while I confronted my roommate and moved all my stuff out. Matt wrote me a post-dated check to reimburse me for the deposit and the rest of this month's rent; I expect that the account will be closed or the check will bounce by the time I can cash it, though. At this point, I don't really care- I'm just glad to be out of there.

In retrospect, I should have spotted his drug addiction a lot sooner- asking for part of my rent in cash, always blowing his nose and complaining about his "sinus problems", his erratic sleep schedule, the way he frequently looked really sweaty and disheveled- but before this whole episode the possibility never crossed my mind.

Although the whole situation was really stressful and upsetting, everything worked out really well in the end. My new place couldn't be better situated, and I'm much happier there than I was sharing the condo with Matt.

The first day of the rest of your life

A lot has happened in the past month. I've started some meaningful posts, but never got around to finishing any of them. Here's the cliffnotes version, which will be quicker for you to read and quicker for me to write (everyone wins!):

Graduation: Being back in Pittsburgh was fun, but strange. It was great to see everyone again (hopefully not for the last time!) but all the little things that had changed since I left back in December left me feeling a little out of the loop. Staying at Bloodshaw wasn't as awkward as I thought it would be, but I can only speak for myself. The weekend gave me a wicked hangover that lasted through Monday evening (seriously, I’m not exaggerating), most likely due to the combined effects of alcohol, sleep deprivation, and, um, other things.

Las Vegas: Spent a weekend in Vegas to celebrate Bulent's birthday, which was fun and depressing and expensive and exhausting. Spent the entire weekend either drinking, tanning, or sleeping. The group of about 16 people was made up of coworkers and colleages from work and the kickball team that a bunch of SpaceX people play on. It was my first time “doing” Vegas, my only previous stay was mid-week while driving from Pittsburgh to the Bay Area. I guess I did it right, considering that the first night ended in a shady strip club, the first morning was spent sick and sleeping until 1:30, and the second night ended in a suite at MGM with a canadian bacholor party. I definitely have a weakness for foreign accents ;)

FSAE West: Last weekend was FSAE west, which was held about an hour away from here. I went out to "recruit" for SpaceX and to see the CMU SAE boys. The weekend was alright; it was good to see the guys, and although I wasn’t exciting about recruiting in the beginning it was a good excuse for me to be more outgoing than normal and strike up conversations with people I would otherwise not talk to. Saturday night the guys wanted to go go-karting, which lead us to a small outdoor track that obviously wasn’t expecting a large group of 20-something year old car nuts who think they’re pro racecar drivers. They almost got kicked out; their first race was stopped short since they were all trying to run each other off the track and one guy crashed head first into a fencepost. I didn’t participate, but I did meet a local guy who seemed cool- he gave me his condolences for having to put with the sae guys, and his business card.

Work has been busy. I can’t believe I started over two months ago- the weeks have been passing so much faster than when I was a student or intern. Now summer’s in full swing, which means it’s time to get out and enjoy the sunny days and warm nights.

Lightning in a Bottle

The festival was unreal. It was great to see Melanie, and the atmosphere at the site was extra cool and really positive. I ran into Brad, which was a nice surprise, and also ended up talking with this guy who I later realized out was the realtor I met on New Year's in SF who claimed you could see aliens from his street. Our campsite was right infront of the workshop stage, which was an endless source of entertainment since we could watch all the classes ranging from yoga to belly dancing to monkey chanting. I had a great time, and now I'm motivated to seek out similar events and concerts to go to.

More photos are on picasaweb!

Don't blink

Life has been busy! Working long hours, taking advantage of the gym membership, trying to get some sun and sand inbetween.

This weekend: dirty hippies

Next weekend: yinzers

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone at CMU next week!

Relocating is hard

Flew LAX to SFO last night. Picked up Uhaul at 7AM. Packed Uhaul, had lunch with grandma, hit the road at 1:30PM for my second Palo Alto/Los Angeles drive in the past two weeks. Arrived in LA at 8:00, housemate was not home and my key broke off in the lock. Luckily, I was able to get the key fragment out of the doorknob, and I hadn't checked out of the hotel yet, so now I'm at the hotel waiting for my housemate to call me back so I can make plans to get into the condo tomorrow to unload the truck.

Boo to poor quality key material.

California, here we come

I drove down to LA last Thursday, to search for housing before starting work. So far I've visited 6 places, of which only 2 were places I would consider. I was hoping to live with girls, but there seems to be a gender imbalance on craigslist and most of the posts are made by guys. Luckily, work will pay for up to a month in a hotel while I search, so I'm in no huge rush to find a place right away but I do worry that the condo I'm currently considering will be taken by someone else if I wait too long.

The past few days have been relaxed, most of my time has been spent looking at housing and shopping and stocking up on groceries (my hotel room has a kitchen). I saw Helen and Flo on Thursday night, they're sharing a condo a block off the sand in Manhattan Beach. I'd like to find a place in that area, but rent prices are outrageous and parking is scarce.

My family's cat is 15 and we recently found he is blind- one detached retina, and one torn retina. My mom was planning on selling the townhouse this summer, but now she claims she can't move the cat anywhere since he's blind and won't know his way around the new house. She's already put down money for having carpets put in and storage space rented, which she's going to lose. A couple of days ago, she tried to convince her health care provider that the cat is her dependent and thus his blood thinner meds (cats are given the same meds as people) should be covered by her health care. My mom means well, even though she's crazy.

First day of work tomorrow. I'm nervous, excited, and anxious.

Barcelona (3/24 to 3/28)

Barcelona was a blast. I was hoping for beach weather, a possibility but not a given for late March. Unfortunately, it was too cold for the beach, but that didn’t keep me from enjoying the last stop on my trip.

The city is very cosmopolitan and had some amazing and unique architecture, the most notable being the works by Gaudi. The Casa Batllo was my favorite, a house that literally had no corners or edges in any room- all of the doors and walls and railings were organic curves that flowed from one element to the next. It was as if the walls and rooms were living things growing out of the ground.

I definitely made the most of the last few days of my trip. The nightlife was awesome, with tons of nightclubs and more than enough revelers to fill them on all nights of the week. I sampled a cross section of the bar scene, from pseudo-Irish bars, to multi-level clubs, to sleek lounge bars, meeting all sorts from all places- a hipster Swede who declared his love for me several times throughout the night, a group of 20-something Europeans that came to Barcelona for a language program in 2006 and never left, and some English soccer hooligans who hassled me for a good 15 minutes, much to my obvious dismay and the amusement of other English speakers within earshot (Me, angry: “No, all four of you MAY NOT have ‘a go’ at me at the same time!!” Him, slurring: “No, we can, one goes here, and one here….”). There was one unfortunate night when I drunkenly decided to ignore the 4AM lockout and wait until my hostel reopened at 7AM, disappointed when the club closed at just 4:30 and I had to kill two and a half hours before going home.

I ran into a slight mishap on my way back to the States, when my train out of Barcelona was cancelled due to a French rail workers’ strike. I had to catch a later, more expensive train, which then required me to catch a cab from the rail station to the airport in order to catch my flight. I caught my flight, luckily, and am now safely back home although 100€ poorer thanks to the French rail workers.

Lisbon (3/19 to 3/23)

Overall, I loved Portugal. I had some of the best seafood I´ve ever tasted (if only mussels were all that fresh, instead of the rubbery salt lumps served elsewhere), enjoyed the castles in Lisbon and Sintra, which were straight out of a fairy tale, and to top it off the neighborhood of Bairro Alto was full of hip boutique shops and tons of trendy bars.

The city is built on a bunch of tall steep hills, which have cute bee-yellow trans snaking up and down the narrow streets. The sidewalks and squares are a work of art, black and white stones set into the ground by hand to form patterns and designs. The church and monastery in Belem is unlike anything I´ve ever seen The cloister had beautiful intricate stone work with unique central figures topping each arch, and the church had a high stone ceiling with a spiderweb like design supported by slender tall columns that spread out at the top like trees.

The nightlife was something else, the clubs don´t open till 2 and party into the morning. I met 3 girls at Lux, the big nightclub on the waterfront, two sisters from New Zealand and their German friend. We stuck together for support against the aggressive and brutish men who tried to hook up with girls regardless of age difference and despite a lack of a common language to converse in. A couple of the charmers I met were an Algerian who knew almost no English and followed me until I escaped to the bathroom, and an Aussie who claimed to work for Goldman Sachs in London. He said he caught a train to Lisbon for the weekend without any luggage or place to stay, and called me a "Lying American, Just Like George Bush" when I refused to make out with him after talking to him for 5 minutes.

All in all, an enjoyable and memorable stop.

San Sebastián (3/16 to 3/18)

I stopped here to break up the long Paris-Lisbon train ride. The hostel which I stayed at was great, except for it´s proximity to the local church which rings it’s out of tune bells every half hour, day and night (luckily, I packed ear plugs for my trip).

The city is contained in a small area, but densely packed and lively at all hours. The bar snacks here are filling, cheap, and delicious, a dangerous combination if you’re trying to eat healthy while travelling. When I first arrived I was intimidated by the bar/restaurant scene, since I was unsure of how to order, whether to stand at the bar or sit at a table, and how to pay for the meal. Unlike restaurants in the states, you order drinks and food continuously and it’s on your honor to tell the wait staff what you owe at the end of the meal. Luckily, the bartenders and waiters are tolerant of ignorant tourists like myself and were helpful in directing me on the customs despite the language barrier (I only know a few Spanish phrases, and most people here don’t speak English).

The hostel was booked solid last night, due to a rowdy group of about 30 English visiting to celebrate a 30^th birthday. I can now say I’ve witnessed hard drug use, which they used excessively in the hostel’s common areas. The birthday boy claimed it was the last night he was going to use drugs, but I doubt his commitment to that claim based on the amount of his consumption last night.

I accidentally ordered a whole bottle of wine with my lunch (I thought that at 6 euros I would get a glass!), and ended up exceeding my expectations by polishing off almost 2/3´rds of it over the 3 course meal. Needless to say, I was quite tipsy by the time the bill arrived and I spent the afternoon walking it off, contemplating whether I can extend my trip another month- I am supposed to start work, and file my taxes, but I’m not sure when I’ll be in Europe again so the prospect of staying is quite attractive right now.

Paris (3/13 to 3/16)

Matt and I continued onto Paris to finish off his spring break. We hit almost all the big attractions- the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Arc De Triumph, Jardin de Tuileries, and the Centre Pompidou. We ate like there was no tomorrow, and planned to go out to some bars on the last night but I somehow managed to get food poisoning and spent the whole evening in bed. I always love visiting Paris, but it empties the wallet really quick so it’s probably a good thing we were only there for a few nights. Matt and I parted ways this morning, he headed back to Pittsburgh and I continued south to San Sebastian.

Amsterdam (3/9 to 3/13)

Met up with Matt and Justin in Europe’s Sin City. Matt wasted no time before visiting a coffee shop to purchase more weed than we were able to consume. During the day, we wandered the canals and visited the Van Gough Museum, which was particularly well organized and laid out. We also strolled through the Red Light District at night, entertained by the loud groups of drunken young guys and the over the top prostitutes in the windows. Although the Dutch aren’t known for their food, we managed to eat well and found a café that had apple pie that was to die for. The abundance of French fry stands was amusing, especially in the evenings when long lines of high tourists with bloodshot eyes would line up to get their munchies. It was nice to see some familiar faces, and to have conversations that got past the basic backpacker questions of where you’re from, where you’re going, and why you’re travelling.

Berlin (3/5 to 3/9)

Next I headed east to Berlin. My Hostel was in Mitte, a hip area of town with lots of restaurants and shops. I did a lot of sightseeing, the highlights being the Reichstag and the Checkpoint Charlie Museum. The Reichstag is a government building that has a classical stone exterior with a large modern glass dome added to the top. The dome has a spiril walkway along the interior that gives great views of the entire city. The blend of old and new architecture was interesting and really well implemented. The Checkpoint Charlie Museum had exhibits about the Cold War, in particular the different ways people tried to escape from East to West Berlin- through, over, or under the wall. The museum was pretty cramped and the English info posted wasn’t well translated or coherent all the time, but the stories about home made hot air balloons and people hiding in fuel tanks of cars (that were modified to run off of separate spare fuel tanks) was entertaining even though the whole subject is very depressing.

Düsseldorf (3/3 to 3/5)

The first Europe stop on my trip was to Düsseldorf to visit family from my dad’s side- Uncle Bill, Aunt Anya, and cousins Jack, 13, and Charlie, 6. Jack is now taller than me, and his English has improved a lot since I last saw him two years ago. He was very excited that >I knew a little bit about the new video game consoles, and spent most of my visit telling me about the PS3 he’ll get in two weeks which he pre-ordered 5 months ago. He has a countdown to the PS3 release next to his bed, and he has a list of all the games he wants and when he’ll have enough money saved up to buy each one. Charlie is full of energy and always singing or dancing around. His constant attempt to be the center of attention would be annoying, but he’s so charming no one seems to mind. Bill rented Snakes On A Plane, which was much more enjoyable than I thought it would be. It was nice to see the family, the boys change so much even over just a year or two.

I spoke too soon about managing to stay healthy in Thailand- right after I left I was hit with persistent stomach aches, cramps, and associated aliments that need not be mentioned in detail for about 6 days. It wasn’t bad enough to keep me bedridden, but annoying and uncomfortable nonetheless.

Bangkok & Chiang Mai (World Tour, stops 6 and 7)

Thailand has unbelievable shopping, food, and Buddhist temples but the heat, humidity, crowds, and traffic have worn me out.

In Bangkok, I went to the Chatuchak weekend market which was overwhelmingly big. There was everything and anything for sale: clothes, jewelry, tourist souvenirs, garden fountains, furniture, exotic pets- you name it and you could probably find it there. I really wanted a baby squirrel or hedgehog or bunny, but I doubt customs would like them as much as I did.

I visited Wat Pho, which had a 46m long reclining Buddha covered in gold leaf. I also went to Wat Phra Kaew and the Grand Palace, which was covered from top to bottom in small mirrored tiles in intricate designs. The huge buildings were all clustered closely together and it was almost too much color and detail to take in all at once.

Chiang Mai was not as crowded or touristy as Bangkok (but that's not saying much). I went on an organized day trip which included a visit to the elephant park, bamboo rafting, and a visit to a long-neck hill tribe. The elephants were the best part- we took rides on them, and saw a show where they paint and play the harmonica and drop kick soccer balls. I always worry about animals being exploited to bring in money, but the elephants were never chained up and seemed clean and well fed. The hill tribe women wind copper rod around their necks, which over the years causes their shoulders to drop and their necks to elongate. The guide said they started doing it a long time ago to prevent tigers from being able to attack their necks, but now they do it to bring in tourists. The tribes are illegally in Thailand (originally from Burma, I think?) and I wonder if it's good to encourage them to stay in Thailand illegally by giving them tourist money.

The street food vendors are amazing, and the $0.50 fresh mango smoothies are almost worth the risk of getting horribly sick from the ice.

It looks like I'll escape from here with all of my belongings and without getting sick- somewhat of an accomplishment when something like 30-50 % of visitors get traveler’s diarrhea here.

Auckland and Wellington (World Tour, Stops 4 & 5)

Auckland was so-so, a generic big city without much character. Partied with Cirque de Soleil roadies and some British Airways stewardesses in a backpacker bar which closely resembled a frat party. Met two nice but strange looking Chinese girls at the bar, and one of the roadies swore they were Thai she-men.

Wellington is awesome. The city has a young and hip feel, and a lot of cool modern artsy statues and indie theater and music. There's a cable car/funicular and a great interactive museum with exhibits about nature, wildlife, NZ culture, history, and art. It has a lot of similarities to Pittsburgh, come to think of it, except there's much better weather and no slums.

I met a software engineer from San Francisco at the museum. He was wearing a black t-shirt with the equation for calculating motorcycle horsepower written on it. He rented a motorcycle a month ago here and has been traveling all over the country on it- over 4,000 km. Needless to say, I'm jealous.

I'm meeting a lot of people, but it's the same conversation every time- where you're from, how long you're traveling for, where you've been/where you're going, what you do back home. It's sort of like college orientation, except you know you're probably not going to see any of these people ever again.

Byron Bay (World Tour, Stop 3)

I stayed at the Arts Factory Lodge, which is located right outside of the town on swampland. There were turkeys and 1.5 ft long lizards wandering the lodge, and everything was very outdoorsy and down to earth. A lot of the visitors were the dreadlocked shirtless barefoot types that carry their guitars around with them everywhere. There were campsites, bungalows, teepees, and normal dorms. One of the residents/lurkers was this crazy nature guy who always had his cockatoo on his shoulder and knew which plants to eat and which will kill you and which leaves are good to use when you run out of toilet paper. He also performed as a one man band and played the drums, guitar, and didgeridoo all at once.

Byron Bay seems to survive on selling hippie clothes, magic crystals, aura photos, and holistic medicine and yoga classes. I didn't partake in any of these activities except for a yoga class held on the beach which was actually well worth the $15. I also went sea kayaking to try and spot the dolphins that live in the bay, but we didn't see any :(

Most of the visitors were German or English, but I did meet one sort of depressing Irish guy who was very very drunk and told me he was 39 and asked if it was wrong for a man of his age to make love to a woman in her 20's. He then confessed he likes asian women because they have "small bottoms". He also claimed to have a PhD from UT Austin in Theoretical Physics. One of the other guys staying in his dorm told me that he downed 3 or 4 glasses of red wine in their room, and told everyone that he had to either drink like that or commit suicide.

Cairns (World Tour, Stop 2)

When I landed in Cairns there was a cyclone warning and it was grey skies and rainy. Not exactly ideal weather for a beach vacation. Luckily, the weather cleared up in about a day and it's been sunny skies for the rest of my stay.Went on a dive trip to the reef and saw sharks, fishes, and unbelivable coral; electric blue, bright pink, deep purple, in all colors, shapes, and sizes. The last dive site had an 80 lb rock cod that the divemasters feed, so it was quite domesticated and you could pet and cuddle with it. The visibility wasn't great because of the ealier storms but at least it wasn't raining.

Next stop: Byron Bay for yoga classes, beach lounging, and digeridoo lessons.

Sydney (World Tour, Stop 1)

I managed to burn myself badly within 12 hours of landing in Sydney. I went to the zoo and played with the kangaroos which roam around uncaged. I want to smuggle out some hopping mice to keep as pets (cutest things EVAR!!!).

Tomorrow I head to Cairns, where I'm staying at a party hostel. I'm going to book a day trip to go find nemo.

It's been nice travelling by myself, since that means I can go wherever I want whenever I want, but I"m sure I'll get lonely soon enough. My hostel has a lot of people, but most others are travelling in groups. The good budget traveler cooks their own meals, but it's hard when you're travelling alone since you can't really buy single serving portions of meat/veggies/food/etc. and I don't want to eat the same thing every night for a week.

I will probably be posting short updates every few days, since I have to get online to send my mom the "I'm not dead" email every now and then.

Au revoir

Final Itinerary:

Australia (2 weeks): Sydney, Cairns, Byron Bay
New Zealand (1 week): Auckland, Wellington
Thailand (1 week): Bangkok, Chiang Mai
Europe (4 weeks): Düsseldorf, Berlin, Amsterdam, Paris, San Sebastian, Lisbon, Barcelona

I have all the necessities packed; my backpack weighs 25 lbs. I will be posting here or to facebook or maybe sending out mass emails to let you guys know what trouble I manage to get myself into. I'm really excited/nervous, and my mom is still angry and doesn't want me to go.

I promise not to get into stranger's vans, even if they promise me candy.

Snow trip!

South Lake Tahoe, CA

I spent last weekend in Tahoe with Matt. I forgot my snowboard in Pittsburgh last month (dumb, I know), but it probably wouldn't have fit easily into my over-packed car anyway. Matt flew into Reno with his skis, my snowboard, and his stuff.

It was a great weekend, but now I'm stuck back at home which isn't so great. I leave on my grand adventure next Thursday. So far I've only planned 2 out of the 8 weeks.

I miss everyone back in Pittsburgh.

Killer pumpkins

Me and my sister, with pumpkins grown in our back yard

We planted pumpkins in our backyard one fall. I was probably around 4 at the time. My parents let me watch Little Shop of Horrors, which played out horribly since I didn't catch the humor and thought the man-eating plant was real. I can still remember some very vivid nightmares I had that fall where the pumpkin plant vines grow into my room and wrap around me while I sleep.

The perks of being a pack rat

My old room here has a mind boggling amount of stuff. Since my Mom is planning on moving in the next year, and since this is likely to be the last time I'll be staying at home for over a week, I'm going through the innumerable shoeboxes of trinkets, notes, pictures, and mementos that I have been hoarding since 4th grade, when we moved here.

This picture is what happened when my dad handed me his camera when I was six.

It's strange to look through the "important" boxes of items I deemed valuable. I'm throwing out things I thought I would find important (student council campaign fliers, hundreds of inane notes passed between classes), and I'm discovering things that I previously considered common which I now cherish. This postcard my dad sent me when I went to camp one summer, for example (Chow Fun was his cat, and my dad used two different colored pens):

Dear Caroline
Chow Fun and I really miss you- he asks about you every day just before he eats. I hope you are having a good time. Chow Fun hopes you come back soon to feed him.
MDC + CF

I guess you had to know him.

In other news, post-college life just got a lot scarier. It's sad when things can't work out how you wish they would.

New Year's Eve (posted only 1 week late)

Matt, Justin and I went to Sea of Dreams (www.seaofdreamsnye.com) up in San Francisco. The theme was "7 heavens", and we decided to fully participate and dress up. Luckily, I found something appropriate in the collection of my outrageous figure skating costumes.



Me and my (infamous) sister.






Haha. Bambi eyes.

I made lots of friends! This guy had a fuzzy cape, and a magic stick.

I spent most of the night dancing around and petting all the fuzzy costumes.

Highly memorable. I definitely want to go again next year!

Pittsburgh to Palo Alto Road Trip, in pictures:


The landscape was this exact scenery for two whole days of driving. The midwest is boring.


Matt forgot his sunglasses, so he borrowed a pair of mine.



I wish gas stations in CA had dinosaurs.





Something other than flat plains! Exciting!




Utah was empty. Seriously. I think we may have passed 2 gas stations while driving across the entire state. The plateaus and snow were pretty, though.


We made it to Las Vegas. Matt was excited, as shown by the above picture.


Back in California. Unfortunately, Central California looks a lot like the Midwest.



In conclusion, almost everything between the two coasts is excruciatingly boring. I'd suggest getting rid of all of it, except they probably grow a lot of food, and I like food.