TJ: The Adventures Continue

Matt and Helen's Wedding

2007-05-18T12:53:00.000-04:00

Hello again everyone! Being the lazy blogger that I am, even when the marriage of one of my best friends happens, and I see tons of old friends and just have a great time, it still takes me two weeks to get it up on said blog. Well wait no longer!

I'm happy to report that the wedding ceremony between Matt Reimert and Helen Taylor (no last name change) on May 5th 2007 went off spectacularly. The weather at the Adamson House in Malibu, CA was perfect and it's safe to say a good time was had by all. For those of who want more details read on.

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So the weekend started early with Sandi and I flying into LAX Thursday night after work. We got there early, but the pilot took a wrong turn on the tarmac so we ended up getting to the gate at our normal arrival time anyways. Not such a big deal, except the bachelor party was already going on without me. This year I was to be on the other side of the aisle as best man instead of the more unique gentleman of honor. So as soon as we touched down Theresa and Alicia whisked me to the restaurant where James, Obi, Dan, Derek, and of course Matt were finishing up dinner at El Compadre. Not to be outdone, Sandi and the two afore mentioned ladies went out on the town as well, running into Helen and her crew in the process. Apparently there were drinks a plenty and even some bull-riding. Ow Ow! But back to the story.

After finishing off everyone's plates and downing a flaming margarita we called the limo and headed over to the Upright Citizen's Brigade for a little BYO comedy (we're not strip club kinda guys). The show was appropriately about relationships, and with the guys playing the girls' parts it was all kinds of fun with hairy chests in low-cut tops. We finished up the night by closing down El Carmen, where apparently I was so gone they made me sign the check twice (apparently an X just won't do it anymore).

Friday saw all the boys hungover except me (what can I say it's my mutant power). After a quick stop to pick up the tuxes James, Dan, Alicia, Sandi and I all went to Jame's local climbing gym to sweat out the night before. Another limo ride and a few hits of caffeine later we arrived at the rehearsal and our first views of the Adamson House. Now owned by the state, it's a last remnant of a much larger estate, showcasing amazing tile work in many different styles. Plus it's right on the beach so there were surfers and pelicans galore sharing in the moment. Let me tell you it was good to see the Pacific again.

Straight on the heels of rehearsal came the rehearsal dinner at Michael's, with what else, more cocktails. Dinner was excellent, and I got my first speech out of the way without too much trouble or forethought. We ended the night in a wine bar with the rest of the crew who wasn't at dinner. Stuffed, exhausted, and a little tipsy night two came to an end.

Saturday, the big day! What else do you do on your wedding day when it doesn't start until 5pm? See Spider-Man 3 at 9am of course! The Hamsters and significant others saw the entertaining, yet ultimately disappointing 3rd installment of the web-crawler's movie career and then headed over for a California treat: In and Out. Three things I discovered at In and Out this time around: 1) I can no longer eat a double-double and feel fine afterwards, 2) Animal style fries DO exist and are not for the feint of heart, 3) It's just as delicious as I remember. From there it was a short walk over to the Mann Chinese and some walk of fame star-gazing. Not wanting to rush ourselves we headed back for some lounging by the pool before Matt and I headed over to ground zero.

Getting Obi and Derek into their suits (they were tan suits not tuxes) was a bit amusing as cuff links and ties were a bit of a mystery, but in the end we managed. Matt was fine, a bit nervous about the vows, but in the end he did great (left hand Matt, left hand!), and before you knew it the ceremony was over and it was time for more cocktails. Yahoo! Pictures were easy and then we all made a grand entrance, which was kind of weird, but whatever. Sandi and I sat with Dan, Alicia, a couple from Italy Helen knew, and Nicole, one of the bride's maids. Dinner was served family style with the main course on serving plates set in the middle of the table, which I thought was pretty neat. My favorite part about the food was the cake. It was not your typical wedding cake, but 4 different kinds of cupcakes set out for you take at your leisure. Genius and delicious! Bravo Matt and Helen for really putting your personalities into this wedding.

The last of my duties as best man was the speech. I didn't really prepare anything besides a few points in my head, but in the end it all came out just right. I counted it as a success as I got the laugh, the awwww, and managed to keep it under 3 minutes. The rest of the night we rocked out to the live covers delivered to us in hilarious and talented tones by Tim Fagan. If he's ever in your area I highly suggest you check him out.

The next morning we brunched at Theresa and James' place with Dan and Alicia, and still managed to make it to the airport despite multiple accidents and a major freeway change being closed (our freeway change!). It was awesome, the security led us this crazy back way and when we cam out we were at the front of the line! All we had to say was, "Our plane is boarding!" and that was it.

All in all it was an incredible weekend of catching up and having fun. However, instead of feeling happy and energized when I got home, I was pretty bummed the first few days. To tell you the truth, that weekend made me realize just how much I missed those guys. All I can do is try to make that happen here, and this trip just reaffirmed how important that was to me. Still, I can't wait for the next wedding: Derek and Erica in '08 baby!

You learn something new every day

2007-04-05T18:01:00.000-04:00

Besides expanding my online presence to FaceBook, I've also been dragged into MySpace. While trawling around for people I know/knew this afternoon I found out that apparently my family's name was the inspiration for a sub-par Dutch rock band. SWEET!

Spring is here!

2007-03-28T10:54:00.000-04:00

Hey all, last time I posted I was in freezing Boston, investigating one of many possible new futures. Now Spring is here and so is the future: Sandi and I have decided to stay in Maryland for at least the next 3-5yrs so Sandi can do her PhD at UMD and I can continue working at TNC. It's nice to know after so much uncertainty where we'll be and even nicer to get on with our lives. Which begs the question what have I been up to?

Well on the active side of things we've been climbing a lot (upped it to 3 times a week), and what's more is we've managed to drag along a lot of our friends with us, making climbing buddies of at least a few of them. Now with Spring here it's time for the next step in Sandi's climbing education: the feel of REAL ROCKS outdoors. Probably won't go for a couple months still, but I'm really looking forward to getting back on some granite and testing my skills outside. On our non-climbing nights we've been taking ballroom dance classes, specifically fox trot, tango and swing. We had our last class last night, and even though I felt like I learned a lot I still feel like there's so much left that I could learn. Does that mean more dance classes in the future? We'll see. Main thing is we both had fun. So climbing and dance, huh? Where's his old stand-by of Ultimate Frisbee you may ask? Well I played sporadically during the winter, but somehow I managed to miss the boat for Spring league; which is a shame because it really is SO nice out. I may find some pick-up here and there, but for now it looks as if I'm relegated to the sidelines to cheer for Sandi's women's team. Not a bad job if you ask me.

As for the rest of it, not too much to report. Work's going well, been busier and getting more responsibility which is good. My champion pick for March Madness, the hometown Hoyas, keep finding a way to win. Thinking about refinishing some furniture now that the weather's better and we can work outside. Stuff like that. So yeah, life's pretty good. I'd love to hear what everyone else has been up to, so leave me your comments or post me an email, plus now you can also find me on Facebook, so really you've got no excuse.

Oh and one more thing, MICHAEL PHELPS ROCKS (sorry Ian Thorpe)!

Boston

2007-01-29T10:24:00.000-05:00

Hello again! As promised it's Boston trip telling time (check out the pics here). Sandi and I traveled to the historical city a couple weeks ago to check out a couple of her PhD prospects and just get an overall feel for the city. I won't bore you with ALL the details, but the trip went something like this.

Day 1
An evening flight put us into our Boston suburban digs (a cute little place with noisy heating called the Beacon Inn) just in time for a late dinner in the neighborhood. After poking around a bit we found what ended up to be this great little pub called the Publick House that specialized in artesian Belgian beers and gourmet pub food. Having never visited Boston before I had this image of a town full of pubs where blue and white color mixed simply as Bostonians. So far I wasn't being proved wrong.

Day 2
Just in case I hadn't covered this Boston is COLD in the winter. We woke up to a clear crisp day in the 20's. With plenty of layers on (it takes a lot longer to get dressed in Boston!) we ventured out in to the cold in search of a more substantial breakfast. Neither one of us knew, but apparently the suburb we stayed in (Brookline) has a very large Jewish population. So of course we made out way down to the local kosher bakery for some fresh bagels. Our tummies satisfied we hopped on the T (Boston's subway) into downtown Boston.
We walked through Boston Commons (decided to skip the Cheers tourist trap) and headed over to the main shops around downtown including Faneuil Hall and Qunicy Markets (we had to shop to stay warm!). After that underwhelming experience we made our way over to Little Italy in the North End. I guess it was the weather or the fact that it was a Thursday, but the streets were surprisingly quiet. We weaved up and down Salem and Hawthorne Streets, but there wasn't much to see besides a weird alley of saints portraits and lots of little food stores. So we headed for warmer pastures and ducked into the famous Old North Church where Paul Revere hung the 2 lanterns to warn the revolutionaries the British were coming by sea. Full of patriotism but empty of belly we headed over to Boston's best pizza just down the road for lunch. Delicious!
Dreading what the cold would do to us while our blood was busy digesting instead of keeping our toes warm we high-tailed it over to the Boston aquarium for crazy jellies and live feedings in the main tank. Keeping with the nerdy/warm/aquatic theme we strapped on some sweet 3D goggles and went next door for an IMAX presentation of Deep Sea 3D! It was awesome.
By this time it was getting late and we had a show to make! Earlier in the day we both timidly admitted it might be cool to see the Blue Man Group. So we got cheap tickets and went over to Boston's theater district to see the show. On the way we stopped for drinks and appetizers at a Boston institution: Legal Seafoods. The show exceeded expectations and was just a crazy ride of images and percussion. I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't been.

Day 3
Tired from our full day before we took our time making our way down to the "official" reason for the trip: checking out Tufts. Unfortunately nobody could meet us (conflict of interest with applications being reviewed) so we just poked around for awhile. Seemed okay as far as we could tell, so we'll just to see what they say! Unsurprisingly that left us cold and hungry so we headed over to Chinatown (right next door) for some dim sum.
The rest of the day we spent up near MIT and Harvard. We went to the MIT museum which had some awesome nerdness, including robots, holograms, moving sculptures, and DNA made out of Legos. Then we spent a couple hours in a really nice used bookstore before having dinner at a local microbrewery just off Harvard Square. Full and tired we called it a night.

Day 4
Our last day in Boston was a bit of a mish-mash of all those things we hadn't managed to squeeze in the first few days. We started with more window shopping along Newbury St. and stopped by Trinity Church for some picture taking. Not wanting to miss out on more drinking we made the trek out to the Sam Adams Brewery for a free tour with what else, free tastings (1st step of beer tasting, cut a hole in the box). We ended our trip on a local tip with some excellent out of the way fish and chips and with the origins of a Boston invention: the Boston cream pie.

All in all a great trip and a great city that I'd definitely visit again.

Ski Weekend

2007-01-28T23:31:00.000-05:00

So this is a week late, but hey I'm just getting back into this blogging thing! Last weekend, Sandi, Ali, Jamie and my boss Carmen headed out to western Maryland for some time on the sweet icy slopes of our local mountain resort: WISP. The plan was to work on MLK Day, but instead take Friday off and thus avoid the crowds and higher prices a holiday weekend can bring. Unfortunately I ended up working Friday too, but that was going to be ok as the plan was now to meet Jamie and Carmen up at Jamie's brother Jason's (as I would find out later) sweet cabin and then ski all day Saturday. Foiled again! Turns out Ali's phone was taken by a nine year old boy in serious need of an attitude adjustment. No he was not a street urchin like you see in movies about the great depression, this was her babysitting gig for the night. Ouch. Yet another reason I must populate the world with my kids who'll kick ass. Either that or some very well trained attack dogs. Needless to say we didn't end up in the cabin that night, and all we had to show for it was some lewd text messages from a 9 year old.
Saturday saw a new day dawn, and waking up only 2 hours late (ugh!) we made it to the slopes in a little under 3 hours. After changing in the car (not an easy feat with so many layers involved), an easy lunch, and the necessary rentals out of the way we were right on time for a one o'clock start. We had a full half day of skiing into snow machine blow and cold winds, so when the sun set we were ready to call it quits.
The rest of our time at Jason's house (calling a beautiful 3 story affair built with your own two hands over 3 years a cabin just won't do) ended up great. Jason, his wife Cindy, their 18month old daughter August, and their 93lb. female Rhodesian Ridgeback River joined us for a night of food and conversation (thanks again guys!). Always a good time, and it's amazing what a glass of wine and a soak in the hot tub will do for your aches and pains. Good thing too as Ali and Sandi had to get out and push me (I was driving) up the snow covered driveway the next day. Way to go ladies! All that work and what did we find when we finally got home to "civilization"? They hadn't even plowed the roads! Way to go College Park.

Next time: Beers, Below Freezing, and why Boston is way cooler than College Park... literally.

Comeback kid?

2007-01-05T10:23:00.000-05:00

So as the few of you who still read this may have noticed I haven't posted for awhile. Honestly with Sandi in my life I have an outlet for all those things I wish to tell at the end of the day, so the need for blogging has waned within me. I realize that although my needs may be satisfied, you my loyal readers and causal blog surfers, are left in the dark about all my trials, adventures, and just general goings on. Oh there have been plenty of stories I could rehash for you here, but this entry isn't about digging up the past, it's about the future. It's a new year, an arbitrary human invention yes, but still it reeks of new beginnings, new chances, and vast horizons of the hopeful unknown. No I'm not going to bore you with resolutions (which really could be summed up as "be more awesome"), this entry is merely to let you know I'm done just absorbing your stories and reveling in your adventures; I'm ready and committed to contribute something of my own. So enjoy, oh and tell your friends!

Yosemite Wedding Pics

2006-05-22T12:23:00.000-04:00

The pictures of our trip to Yosemite for James and Theresa's wedding are up, but I can't be bothered labeling them, so if you have a question just post it in the comments section below and I'll get to it when I'm in Nebraska for an all team meeting this week. Bleh.

Belgrade

2006-05-15T20:56:00.000-04:00

So I said I'd post about Belgrade, but honestly it wasn't anything spectacular. Mostly a business trip we had meetings with conservation experts to pump them for information on the current state of Europe, which isn't good. We ate meat, wrapped in meat, stuffed with meat and bad wine for 4 days. The people were cool and it was my first time in Europe (for free!), so it wasn't a total loss, but not some place I'd go back to by choice.

Lasting image of the trip: half-bombed buildings near the US Embassy left over from the recently deceased Milosevec.

Belgrade Pics

2006-05-02T13:53:00.000-04:00

Check out the pictures from my first business trip and my first trip to Europe in Sunny Belgrade! Stories to come soon...

James and Theresa Peters

2006-04-27T06:18:00.000-04:00

So I'm in Belgrade (that's in Serbia before you ask, and there'll be more on that later), but I spent Friday through Monday in Yosemite for Theresa and James' wedding. For any of you who don't know them Theresa and I have been friends since high school and James was my college housemate, so I was somewhat responsible for the happy occasion we attended. Unfortunately, I haven't been to a wedding in years, but I've never been to one so close to my heart. I was Theresa's Gentleman (maid) of honor, so I got to mind her train and pass her tissues, totally sweet. Sandi got to come as well which was great because I finally got to introduce her to all of my friends. She was amazing of course and everybody loved her. I won't bore you with all the details of the four days, but a few highlights will do. The ceremony was in the park at the chapel in the valley that faces Yosemite Falls (amazing!). The reception was the classiest I'd ever seen and the food was a magnificent 4 course affair. We danced all night and then spent the next day in the park with my parents doing little walks and shopping. My favorite part though was dinner the last night with Sandi, Theresa and James, my parents, and Theresa's mom Vicky. We just chatted and ate the night away, some real quality time with great family and friends. I was said to see it end because it was fabulous to see everyone again and have some time off, but I had to return home so I could leave for work in Belgrade. But I'll tell you about that tomorrow...

Ben Folds Live

2006-04-07T10:26:00.000-04:00

Saw Ben Folds last night at the University of Maryland for $10. Sweet! It was kind of a "sit and listen" show, but great all the same. The jam breaks were my favorite (it's incredible what he can do on that piano), and he really rocked Army. Check out the rest of the set list below.

Give Judy My Notice
Bastard
Gone
Missing the War
Jesusland
All You Can Eat
Annie Waits
You To Thank
Trusted
Still Fighting It
Bitches Ain't Shit
Brick
Don't Change Your Plans
Lullabye
The Last Polka
Kate
The Luckiest
The Secret Life of Morgan Davis
Army
Stan
Narcolepsy
Landed
Zak and Sara
Rockin' the Suburbs
Not the Same
----------------------
Encore:
There's Always Someone Cooler than You
One Angry Dwarf...

Strawphibian

2006-04-04T09:53:00.000-04:00

A little science humor and some great photoshopping for April Fools (only a few days late).

The wrist saga continues

2006-04-03T19:10:00.000-04:00

Finally some good news about the wrist. Apparently I have incredible healing powers (maybe the screw they put in is adamantium...) because all my doctor kept saying was, "It's only been 6 weeks, you shouldn't be this healed, but you are, but you shouldn't be," etc. So that's great news! I'm now in a removable splint (until early May) which means I can finally wash my left arm. It truly is glorious. Unfortunately every good piece of news comes with some bad. I was playing Ultimate a couple weekends ago (yes, playing the sport that gave me a cast) and I managed through some super-human feat of stupidity to break my thumb in my cast. To illustrate the difficulty of this I've included a picture below of the type of cast I had (a thumb spica for those of you that care). Obviously there's not much thumb exposed to break, but I managed all the same. Needless to say I won't be playing Ultimate for quite some time...

You're kidding!

2006-03-28T12:24:00.000-05:00

Oh man, even MC Hammer's entered the blogosphere. For all your Hammer needs catch up with the master of Hammertime at http://mchammer.blogspot.com/.

Peace!

The car's in the shop today. Now ask me why...

2006-03-17T16:27:00.000-05:00

So we get back to the car last night and what do we find? Both of the passenger's side tires are slashed and the entire driver's side is keyed from the hood to the trunk...twice. Who does that? Seriously! So what should have been a short drive home turned into 3 hours. First we had to wait for the cops so they could take a report in hopes that the insurance company will pay for it. Then we had to get it towed to Saturn so they could fix it today because we're leaving for New Jersey early tomorrow. While waiting for AAA (who took forever, of course) we're talking to the insurance company and we find out we have to go pick up the police report when its ready and fax it to them. Kind of a hassle, but not too big a deal right? Wrong! In order to get the report we have to pay the cops $5. "TJ," you might say, "stop being so cheap, they protect and serve... blah blah blah," and I would agree with you. However! We can't pay them in cash, nor by credit card, or even with a check, it MUST be done with a money order. You heard right, we have to go to the bank and get a $5 money order so we can get a police report to get the insurance company to pay for the $108 a-piece tires we had to replace. And all because some punk thought it'd be funny to pick on a light blue Saturn from New Jersey. Sheesh.

More on the Wrist

2006-03-03T17:22:00.000-05:00

So for those of you following the Wrist Saga I've got good news and bad news. Bad news is I have to have my cast on for all of March. Good news is the x-rays show that we're on a good healing track, and everything points to a full recovery.

5 other random wrist notes:
1. My cast is now "Duke blue" and fiberglass, far superior to heavy plaster.
2. My surgeon looks like a short McDreamy (Grey's Anatomy watchers), so I've taken to calling him McShorty. This is made even funnier by the fact that his intern, who is always with him, is really really tall. Any other takes on this hilarious duo are welcome.
3. My surgeon actually used this exact phrase when referring to a piece of bone that had already begun healing in my wrist, "I didn't have the balls to cut it." Is he awesome or what?!
4. During the cast change I scratched my arm for at least 15min straight.
5. I will be attempting to play Ultimate Frisbee in the next week.

Eat Chili!

2006-02-23T16:12:00.000-05:00

In honor of National Chili Day today I will be doing my patriotic duty by consuming chili, and I suggest you do the same! Coincidentally it's also Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day, but I think I'll just stick to chili.

For more fun and wacky holidays go check out this site: http://www.brownielocks.com/month2.html

Surgery's over

2006-02-19T19:33:00.000-05:00

So I've had the wrist surgery, and although the first night was a world of pain I haven't taken a pain pill since then. To keep with the "pain" theme I'm happy to report the whole process was actually quite painless. The nurses were very personable and accommodating, and the sedative combined with the local anesthetic was just the one-two punch I needed to knock me out through the whole nasty surgery business. Waking up was odd and disorienting, kind of like the morning after a big night of drinking, only without the headache. Sandi took care of me though in a manner not unlike curing a hangover: head pets, pain pills and pizza. She's so good to me! That was Friday night and two days later I'm pretty much back to where I was 4 weeks before the surgery. From here I get checked out in 2 weeks and get a cast upgrade from plaster to fiberglass. Sweet. Then I've got another 2-4 weeks in that cast before rehab. Thanks to all the well-wishers, and I'll keep you posted as I know more.

Random notes of awesomeness:
1. I saved 33% on my groceries today, perhaps the most ever on a normal shopping trip.
2. If you haven't watched Hustle yet (AMC, Saturday nights at 10pm) you've probably been out actually doing something on your Saturday night, so good for you. But if by chance you find yourself in front of a TV instead of in a club I highly recommend checking it out. Think Ocean's 11 in an hour done in British accents. Very cool.

Wrist Update

2006-01-27T16:44:00.000-05:00

So it's surgery for sure. The bone is broken in such a way that it won't heal correctly on its own. I was scheduled for the operation (an out-patient procedure) this coming Monday, but I felt like I was being muscled into it. So I've delayed it until I'm sure I'm making the best decision medically and financially by having THIS surgery at THIS hospital. After it's done I'll be casted for 4-6 weeks, then splinted for 2-4 weeks, after which I'll undergo a bit of physical therapy to get everything working properly. Which means, if I've done the math right, I should be set for summer league Ultimate!

7x7

2006-01-24T12:42:00.000-05:00

Apparently I've been memed (?) by Mick (thanks a lot) in a sort of BLOG equivalent to those mass email surveys. And since I'm tired of reading about fish I thought I'd give it a go. Enjoy!

1. Seven things to do before I die
1) Learn to SCUBA Dive. 2) Learn to fly. 3) Learn to sail. 4) Visit all 7 continents (that pretty much covers all traveling). 5) Get married and start a family of my very own. 6) Get laser eye surgery. 7) Have a job I love where I learn and I am challenged (and preferably I am in charge).

2. Seven things I cannot do
1) Not play hard (I have the broken wrist to prove it). 2) Speak another language. 3) Handle small things. 4) Whistle loud enough for anyone further than 3 feet away to hear. 5) Decide whether or not I want to get my PhD. 6) Understand why the cat hangs her fuzzy little butt over the edge and poops just outside her litter box. 7) Math puzzles.

3. Seven things that attract me to [Washington DC]
1) A girl named Sandi I met in Brisbane, Australia. 2) Employment (finally). 3) The multitude of things to do and see. 4) A girl named Sandi who attends the University of Maryland. 5) The Metro. 6) The feeling of power, prestige and history when I walk around. 7) My girlfriend, Sandi.

4. Seven things I say most often
1) Hey. 2) Babe/Baby. 3) What do you want for dinner? 4) Fish. 5) Fair enough. 6) No worries. 7) Cheers.

5. Seven books (or series) that I love
1) Dune series. 2) Harry Potter series. 3) Shannara series. 4) Calvin and Hobbes (a bit of a stretch, but it could technically be considered a series). 5) The Odyssey. 6) The Count of Monte Cristo. 7) The Lorax.

6. Seven movies that I watch over and over again (or would if I had the time)
1) Indiana Jones (excluding The Temple of Doom). 2) James Bond (pretty much any of them... is that cheating?). 3) Animated Disney movies from my childhood (so I'm a cheater, so what?). 4) Grosse Pointe Blank. 5) The Rocketeer. 6) Boondock Saints. 7) Scent of a Woman.

7. Seven people I want to join in, too.
1) Dan. 2) Matthew. 3) Sean. 4) Brandon. 5) Charla. 6) Martin. 7) Ob.

Way to go San Diego

2006-01-24T10:33:00.000-05:00

This story about San Diego's own I-805 made it into The Express, the free Metro paper in DC. No wonder they think we're crazy in California!

Today's Fun Fact

2006-01-23T12:05:00.000-05:00

Since late in the 1800's, the sardines found on supermarket shelves have not been the real sardines from the genus Sardinops, but Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus). Cats still like them no matter what they're called!

Fact from "Canada's Aquatic Environments"

Lily and the fish

2006-01-17T23:26:00.000-05:00

Standing guard

Trying to bite through the tank

That didn't work, let's try and go over...

Mmm, delicious fish water!

Time to just look

And now they're one big happy family. Yay!

Triple Grrr

2006-01-14T14:29:00.000-05:00

This will be a short post as I am restricted to typing with only one hand. Why? Because I broke my left wrist playing ultimate last Thursday, that's why. Besides this being painful and annoyingly inconvenient it also may be financially hurtful as I am currently without health insurance. Dumb, yes, but I thought I could manage to stay healthy until I secured a job with health benefits. Apparently not. Oh well, no sense whining about it. Read up on the injury and found a public hospital that should be able to treat me without too much cost (I hope), so things could definitely be worse. A big thanks to all those who provided advice. More as it comes.

Two for One

2006-01-12T14:00:00.000-05:00

So I had two blog-worthy experiences lately. They are as follows:

1) Last weekend I had dinner at the CIA (that's Culinary Institute of America) with Sandi, her parents (Deb and Al), her sister (Steph), and her sister's husband (Jeff). It's North of NYC (that's New York City - get a rope!) and a cooking school (obviously) that also runs a few gourmet restaurants on campus. We attended the French establishment and had an indulgent evening of fine dining a la undergrads. I won't bother you with being snooty and listing the dishes we had and the wine we selected, but lets just say it was really really good.

AND

2) Along with all the other stuff we hauled, we also brought home an excess fish tank from Sandi's parents' place last weekend, and the other day we filled it with 3 goldfish, a ghost shrimp and a snail (the snail and the ghost shrimp have already formed an alliance against the goldfish). This madcap idea came about as somewhat of a morbid joke of which the punchline is Lily eats the fish. Well we'd NEVER let that happen, but needless to say she's quite mad for these fish. Lots of pawing at the tank, some intent staring, the occasional paw dipping in the water, and even some biting the tank's corners! My description doesn't really do it justice, but we did take pictures, so look for those in the near future.

That's all for now!

Standard Chrismukkah Post

2006-01-05T12:25:00.000-05:00

So I'm back at work after a great Chrismukkah vacation in California and New Jersey. Sandi met the fam in Shingletown for her first Christmas ever. She fit in wonderfully and before I knew it the teasing was coming from 4 instead of 3. There were movies and games and sewing and eating and sliding down the hall in our socks. Unfortunately it rained the whole time, but at least it was warmer than the East Coast. All in all a relaxing and enjoyable holiday at home with the Heibel clan.

The 31st saw us winging our way back to New Jersey (bumped up to 1st class, thank you very much). That is of course New Year's Eve (my LEAST favorite holiday), and while our respective parents were out partying we were an old couple: PJ's on the couch with Dick Clark and asleep on said couch before one. Make fun if you will, but it was fine with me. Before we came back the Kirsch's had a big Chanukkah dinner and I was right in the thick of it making potato pancakes and playing dradle. A fitting end, I thought, to the Chrismukkah season.

Much news

2005-12-12T10:53:00.000-05:00

So even though a lot of things have been going on lately I've been pretty lazy about the blogging thing. So big news first then highlights of the last month.

BIG NEWS: Sandi and I are back together! Very exciting and completely wonderful. Details are unnecessary, but yeah I'm really really happy. :-D

Highlights:
-Thanksgiving up at Sandi's parents' house in NJ was a blast. Her parents are wonderful people, fun and extremely generous, and I felt right at home. We cooked for days, saw Harry Potter 4 (best of the movies so far), had dinner for 14 (a small affair for the Kirsch's), saw a play in NYC and went out for dinner on Sandi's birthday, woke up late, lounged in our PJ's and just generally got taken care of. It was like being a kid again, but this time I was old enough to appreciate it.
-Last weekend. Had Mexican dinner with a friend from Oz (Tegan) who was in town for the week. We spent the afternoon in the Mall and headed up the Washington Monument and checked out the Air and Space Museum. Sunday I played in an all day charity Frisbee tournament that donated books to kids for Christmas. Muddy and cold but heaps of fun.
-This week was lots of eating out. Monday Ali locked her keys in the car with the motor running so I treated for Chinese food. Tuesday was Ali's birthday and we went to the same Mexican place I did with Tegan. Her parents treated this time and the Margaritas flowed freely. :-D Thursday Sandi and I went out with Tegan and a friend of hers for Ethiopian food. A new experience for me and I quite enjoyed it. I recommend it if you've got a bigger group as it's a very communal type of dining.
-This weekend started early with a self-proclaimed snow day on Friday. Can't remember what we did, but I'm sure it was better than work. Saturday we laid around all day and Sunday we took a walk around Georgetown (very pretty) and succeeded in not buying anything besides a few used books.

So yeah that more or less catches you up on what's been going on. Work's fine and much the same, although things have been more interesting as of late. The weather's turning colder and I whine, but it's nothing I can't handle. And finally the Christmas shopping's done so I can sit back and enjoy the holidays. Sandi and I leave for my parent's house in a week and a half. Can't wait!

More as it comes...

Speaking from experience...

2005-11-13T00:43:00.000-05:00

Coldplay might possibly be the best: dressed casual cool - walking home alone - down the middle of a deserted street - on a cold fall night - music ever.

I'm honestly surprised my head didn't explode

2005-11-08T11:40:00.000-05:00

Contrary to my hopes Frisbee was not good this weekend. Okay some of it was good, but on the whole it was extremely frustrating. Yes I got to run around, something I haven't had the chance to do in about a week and a half (not counting last weekend's hour and a half lost walk through the ghetto), but damnit if I didn't want to kill every single member of my team at least once. Putting aside the discs that hit them in the chest/face/hands only to be dropped and the countless throw-aways due to wind or a complete lack of skill... putting those aside it was the stupidity that upset me most. Sure they're beginners and good under pressure decision-making comes with experience, but damnit if I didn't try to get some type of structure on the field. The problem was it worked maybe a quarter to a third of the time. During that time everyone did their jobs and did them well. We picked their defense apart, walking the disc up the field and scored easily. How's that a problem you ask? Well if they had just sucked completely I might have written the day off and just screwed around. But nooooooo! They showed just enough promise for me to stay invested in what ultimately (no pun intended) turned out to be a very lost cause. All I got out of it were sore muscles, a hoarse voice, and what I can only describe as a nearly exploding head. Gah! All I can say is thank goodness for ladies' laps and head rubs.

Climbing with Jay on Wednesday. Going to take it slow and do my best to have fun and not embarrass myself. Let you know how it goes.

Horn tooting

2005-11-01T10:27:00.000-05:00

This came in our weekly TNC employee newsletter. Yay us!

The "Philanthropy 400" - published each year by the Chronicle of Philanthropy newspaper - was released last week. It lists the nation's top 400 charities, ranked by the amount of money they receive from private donations. The Nature Conservancy ranked #18 on the list, with $436,409,918 in private support. For environmental charities, we ranked #1.

Pretty cool eh? Everything else is going well. Went to an impromptu Halloweenen party last night with garbage taped all over myself on a white bag. What was I? White trash of course! The rest of the week holds a possible trip to a climbing gym I've been wanting to check out plus a full day of Frisbee on Sunday in the first installment of the Rec League Tourney. Should be good.

I think I like it here

2005-10-21T15:15:00.000-04:00

So week two of work is coming to a close. Definitely got more of a handle on what I'm doing, at least in the near future, and actually ended up getting quite a bit done this week. My boss is great and hopefully I can end up turning this gig into something more permanent.

In other news I spent the week checking out different ultimate pickup games all over the DC area. Getting quite comfortable with the local public transportation system (which is super clean by the way), so that's a plus. The games were okay, but they're all terminating next week thanks to the onset of winter and the time change. Looks like my disc slinging will be restricted to weekends unless some nearby indoor league starts up.

That's it for now, I'll leave you with a parting picture of where I'll be playing Frisbee this weekend. I'm in the ellipse between the Washington Monument and the White House. How cool is that?!

New Job

2005-10-11T18:02:00.000-04:00

So the first day of my new job is over. Really chill. After the normal orientation business I got some stuff from Carmen (she's my boss form Spain) to read so I could get acquainted with the project. I tried not to fall asleep and was mostly successful. The Freshwater Habitat Assessment Team (HAT - oh how I love office acronyms) is really small, I make the 5th, at least in this office. It'll take me a few weeks to get my head around what we're doing here, but even so I get to be part of a conference call on Thursday to talk about indicators. Never been part of an office conference call before, could be cool. It is very much an office though, I've got a cubicle and everything. Maybe I'll hang some Dilbert comics later in the week. Maybe not. In related news I'm gonna try to work nearly 9 hour days M-Th and have every Friday off to 1) Cut down on my $7 a day metro fare, and 2) Have three day freaking weekends every week! Booyah! That's it really. Still not sure exactly what I'll be doing, but at least I'm getting paid in the meantime. And with that it's time to make the hour and 20min trip home to College Park.

Random pic courtesy of Grace

2005-10-05T09:12:00.000-04:00

Mark your calendars! Apparently I'm internationally celebrated as part of some sort of ancient heathen tomato rite this Friday. Who knew?

Three Things...

2005-09-30T15:14:00.000-04:00

1) Rejoice! There's a new BLOG in town for all you frisbee freaks. Current members and alumni of the UQ Ultimate Lovers (my team in Australia) have put together a BLOG for all things frisbee. The hope is that it will keep us Lovers together and provide a productive forum for frisbee-realted debates. So go on, check it out! http://ultimatelovers.blogspot.com/

2) Color Quiz (thanks Obi). So I'm not much for online quizes but this one was spookily accurate (and super easy). Take it for yourself and see, I think you might be surprised... http://www.colorquiz.com/

3) Thanks to you my loyal readers I've just crossed the 2000 mark on my web counter. As long as you keep reading I'll keep writing. Just make sure and post once in awhile, I love to hear your comments.

Get excited people!

2005-09-26T14:05:00.000-04:00

That's right the impossible has happened, TJ has a job. It's a 6 month internship with The Nature Conservancy in Washington DC working in the realm of aquatic environments. I'm very excited about the position as it actually looks interesting, and hopefully being inside a respectable organization like The Nature Conservancy (in DC no less) will afford me the chance to make some good contacts for the next big thing.

I fly out from Redding this Sunday (the 2nd) and will be looking for housing and just generally getting settled into the area next week. My official start date is the 10th of October (10/10 a good omen for someone who's favorite number is 10) and the internship will end no later than the 31st of March next year. Granted it's not the ideal job with such a short time frame, no benefits, and a salary of about half what I should be making, but it's a foot in the door and that's huge.

Right, enough socializing I've got logistics to work out. More soon!

Not mine, but worth an entry

2005-09-25T18:17:00.000-04:00

This is a story from my friend Adam in Australia that was too good not to share. Enjoy!

Ok so the story begins........

Last Friday I went to the A League soccer game between Queensland Roar (what a stupid name) and Sydney Football Club at Lang Park. I went with a mate of mine from uni and a bunch of his mates. As the match went on I had that growing urge to run across the field. I expressed this opinion to those I was sitting with along with the observation that there was a distinct lack of police presence. After a little banter we left the idea there. At the end of the game we stood from our seats cheered the players and prepared to exit the ground when a complete stranger somehow mentions to my mate.

Stranger "Yeah I was going to pay my mate forty bucks to run across the field."

My mate "Hey my mate will do it."

Me "You got the forty?"

The stranger opened his wallet and removed two crisp twenty dollar note. I grabbed them stuffed them in my pocket and gave my bag to my mate with a "Here take this". Walking down to the now deserted seats behind the goals I could see only two security guards at the far corners of the field. One was definitely suss the other too far away. As I waited for the two to be looking away all I could think of was the others thinking I wasn't going to do anything.

I jumped the first fence.

After a quick run and jump I was streaming onto the main field. In no time the crowd became aware of my presence along with the pursuing members of the constabulary, two of them or so I was later told. At the 10 yard box I had the shirt off (apart of the agreement was to perform soccer style celebrations such as the shirt over the head antics) and was gesticulating in a manner not unlike the spinning rotor of a helicopter. Around and around with nothing but the sound of 23000 other fans. By the time I reached halfway it was fever pitch, I spread my arms parallel to my torso and in the well recognized aero plane zoom zoom a zooma zoom zoom style. I waggled my wings and headed for the welcoming arms of my appreciative public. I cleared the first four rows of seats before the blur out of the corner of my eye materialized into anything more threatening. With the large number of people exiting the ground I called to them "get out of the way get out of the way!" and with the gift of Moses they parted. Bounding up the steps three at a time I got to the tunnel that leads to the exits...so close to freedom, only to be confronted by two oncoming security men. Dodging one would lead me into the arms of the other. I surrendered...well after they caught me.

It does go one though. After my unconditional surrender we moved out into the main walkway and I was handed off to an elderly lady with no radio who was standing NEXT TO the five open exits. I stood next to her and we waited for whoever was supposed to come and copy down my name. We waited and waited. So close to total freedom and anonymity amongst the rest of the crowd I said outright to her "Look I'm going to run, you know that don't you." "No no don't run it will be ok all they'll do is write your name down." "Nahhh look I'm going to run, will you get in trouble if I do?" "No no just stay, it will be fine". After this brief ta-tar-tate someone from out of the crowd walked up to her asking direction to the Paddo Tavern. My chance had come, I grabbed it with both hands and literally ran.

And so my story ends.

Fin.

Thanks Addy! Anybody else with crazy stories please send 'em so I can live vicariously though you while I grind away at the job market up here in Shingletown. Please!!!

Pics from the detail-less trip

2005-09-24T19:23:00.000-04:00

Camping on the cross-country roadtrip with Dan in Wyoming.

We used beer bottles as tent pegs (my idea!)

Starting the bedroom remodel at Dan's house in Ann Arbor, MI.

Here we are half-way through. What a mess!

Of course in the end it was worth it, and now he's even got the place rented out. Dan the landlord, I just can't get used to it.

No pics from Maryland, but here's the New York City skyline on our way out to Ellis Island.

Last stop on the picture tour is perhaps America's most iconic image, and a real pleasure in person, the good old Statue of Liberty.

Back to Blogging

2005-09-20T19:34:00.000-04:00

Hello again everyone! So it's been over a month since I've posted and well, gee, a lots happened since then. There was the road trip with Dan across most of the country to Michigan. Then there was helping Dan get his new house (yes he's a homeowner, scary!) in order before he started his masters at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. After that it was a quick flight to Maryland where I stayed with Sandi for the better part of two weeks. Had great fun seeing her after all this time and even managed to squeeze in visits to my grandparents and her parents while were at it. Booyah! A 5 hour Chinese bus ride saw me to NYC and brunch with my old friend Adele. Then I got to stay with my little bro Matthew for a few days and wreak havoc on the little town of White Plains. Hooshaw! Now I'm back in Redding (again) and applying for jobs in the DC area. Had an interview with The Nature Conservancy today that went well, but won't know for sure until next week. And that pretty much gets you all up to speed. The rest is just details. From now on I'll try and be better about the whole posting thing so the drama and hilarity of TJ's Adventures comes through in crisp detail to you, my loyal readers. Until then!

Random Smiles

2005-08-15T11:56:00.000-04:00

Okay this is a pretty random post, but it made me smile and I hope it does the same for you, although I'm well aware it's probably one of those "you had to be there" things.

So I'm checking my email this morning around 9am and what wanders up outside the window but a doe (a deer, a female deer, sorry couldn't resist). This isn't an uncommon occurrence up here in Shingletown, but I still pause and watch every time. She grazes for a bit then sticks her head up and is looking around while her tail and ears flick. Those big dark eyes and the cute playful way her ears and tail flick make me smile and then what does she do? She sneezes! I always found this very amusing for some reason when my dog would do it, but a deer? It was most unexpected and made me laugh. She honestly looked a little embarrassed about it and wandered off to leave me with the image of her lady-like deer sneeze and a chuckle every time I think about it. hehehe.

That's it! Here's a pic I managed to snap before she wandered off. Enjoy!

Cali Coast Road Trip

2005-08-10T16:27:00.000-04:00

Greetings from Shingletown! That's right I'm back in the USA and up at the Parent's Place in the woods. As I've been a little lazy about posting recently and seeing how I've done a lot since I've been back I'll just summarize.

I flew in the 24th of last month and spent one night in LA with Matt and Helen (thanks again guys). Next day Kim came up and took me down to San Diego where I spent the week seeing old friends and having a great time. On the 31st Kim and I left on our California Coast Roadtrip. Catch the pics here.

Day 1 one we saw my little sis Suzanne in Santa Barbara, made a few stops along the 101 and after about an hour of searching finally found a great campsite in Montana de Oro near Los Osos. Fireless, not for lack of trying, we turned in early and got up early the next morning. Took a great hike along the beach cliffs and did some tidepool exploring before falling asleep while reading on a beach. After lunch we did a peak ascent before heading a little ways up the coast to Morro Bay to find our next campsite. A much easier task than the night before we treated ourselves with a fish restaurant dinner on the water and got a fire started thanks to some singing Christians. The next day we found our best campsite at Kirk Creek Campground just off the 1 in the Central Coast. We bypassed the Disneyland-like Hearst Castle and opted for a hike and a river swim up in Big Sur. Even though we ended up next to more singing Christians I reckon that was our best night.

In contrast the next day we did almost nothing besides drive. We tried to get to some hot springs, but luckily Dan informed us it was a private Zen Buddhist Resort before we drove the hour long dirt road to get there. That night we stayed in Monterey with Dan, went to the Aquarium, then sushi (I got hungry looking at all those fish!), followed by a quiet beer out (Dan's first in his home town). San Francisco the following day saw us doing the touristy stuff with Kim's friend Brenda, including a parking ticket for not making my wheels touch when parking on a hill. Ugh. Fortunately it was a sunny day (a rarity in summer for SF) with great company, so my spirits were lifted. Italian dinner in San Mateo with Kim's friends who were nice enough to let us stay rounded out a cosmopolitan day.

Point Reyes National Seashore was the destination for the second to last day and we took our time getting there, stopping at a fruit stand and falling asleep reading on yet another beach. Winding roads made the drive fun, although slow. Our campsite luck held out even though we had to stay in the group campground which had a total of 4 fire pits and 7 picnic tables. Feeling a little ridiculous we got out and took a nice long hike down to Arch Rock on the stunning Point Reyes Coast. We finished the day driving out to the foggiest spot on the west coast so Kim could see her first lighthouse. Unfortunately the stairs to it were closed, but we had come too far to be rejected, so we hopped the fence and saw it anyways!

The last day was hot and a huge disappointment as I found out Napa Valley (CA wine country) is extremely snobby. However it was good to see my parents and have a home cooked meal. Since then I've been getting all my ducks in a row, taking care of all those things I've been putting off, like unpacking. Feels nice to be able to sit down and take a breath, but it won't last too long. Dan's picking me up in a couple weeks to take him to his new home at the University of Michigan, and from there I'm headed to the East Coast to visit even more people.

Keep checking and I'll keep you posted!
Cheers.

TJ: The Adventures Continue

2005-07-17T21:37:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone! As I will be leaving the land down under very shortly I thought it prudent to update the old BLOG's URL to the more encompassing: http://tjsadventures.blogspot.com/. It will still be filled with all my adventures, trials and triumphs so stay tuned!

To all my Australian friends and acquaintances I'd like to thank you for a great year and a half. I will always cherish the time I spent down under. To all my friends and family in America clear off your couches and stock your fridges because I'll be seeing you soon!

Cheers.
TJ

Straddie Madness

2005-07-11T03:03:00.000-04:00

So I'm back from Straddie after 11 days of drinking, hilarity and madness. Apparently there was a course on as well, but I couldn't really tell considering we went out drinking 5 of the 10 nights! Although I was officially "the tutor" for the intensive "Coastal Zone Management Course" I wore many hats (did I mention I have the coolest hat ever?!) throughout the ordeal. I was entertainment officer, drinking buddy, frisbee coach, massage man, IT guy (with magic fingers, or was that massage man?), general consoler, and yes I even answered a question or two along the way. All the stories and characters would take too long to describe so I won't even try. I'll let the PICTURES do that for me. What I will say is that it was amazing; one of those trips where everyone gets close and where nobody wants to go home at the end. It did well to leave me with a smile on my face as my last big trip in Australia. From here its just tying up loose ends before I head home the 24th. Thanks to all my Straddie kids and for all you Americans watch out because I'm a-coming!

Trip Pictures

2005-06-27T09:07:00.000-04:00

Thanks to a bit of packing procrastination the pics from my Sydney Trip are already up. Check em out HERE.

A Manly Walk

2005-06-27T08:40:00.000-04:00

Today was my last day in Sydney and I got in that nature walking I'd intended on yesterday. Took the ferry to one of the North Shore suburbs called Manly so I could see famous Sydney Harbor and get off the beaten path. The town itself was the classic beach community, lots of cafes and shops set along wide streets more suited for walking than cars, and none of it much interest without the sun beating down on half dressed, young, attractive females. Which was fine as I intended to check out the cold rainy Sydney Harbor National Park by foot.

Things started out fine with a little point loop lookout but quickly turned south from there. Now before I continue let me just tell you that this is one of those stories that has no punch line. Nothing crazy happens in the end to make you gasp or start laughing. Just wanted to make that clear as I've been reading some funny travel stories lately and if a few of them had given me this sort of information at the beginning of their tales I think I would've enjoyed them a lot more.

Anyways I quickly lose the trail with only a bit of an impression of where I'm headed. Not to be deterred I plunge ahead, picking my way through the brush and abruptly coming to cliff edges more than once. At one point I come to a wall that seems to have no other purpose besides getting in my way. Of course I follow it to the wrong end and am left staring down 50m to a thundering ocean. Retreating to avoid anything tragic I proceed to climb the beast in a sort of, "You wanna get in my way? Fine! See what happens fool." really lame white boy smack-talk kinda way. Still one of the day's highlights. Finally I make it to the main lookout after skirting the hate scrawled water treatment plant fence for nearly a kilometer, only to have my view ruined by a bunch of loud-mouthed redneck American kids. Americans! Sheesh.

After that just hung out and enjoyed the scenery back at the wharf until it was time to catch my flight. Not terribly exciting I know but it was quite a pleasant and relaxing way to end my weekend in Australia's iconic city.

A day of indulgence

2005-06-26T08:47:00.000-04:00

So today I went up to the Blue Mountains, a 2hr train ride outside of Sydney central. The plan was a day of hiking and seeing the natural wonders, but it wasn't meant to be. I saw nothing of the Blue Mtns besides some glimpses on the ride up. When I got to Katoomba, the town with the main sights, it was raining and foggy with low visibility off the supposedly scenic cliffs. So what could I do? Shop of course! There was a hattery in town and so I stopped there first. For those of you who don't know I love hats. However I don't just buy hats to have hats. Rather I love hats like I love dancing: classic styles are best. This hattery helped me fulfill a nearly lifelong dream and I am now the proud owner of what I can best describe as THE Indiana Jones hat. It's an open crown which means I am responsible for shaping the crown, pinch and brim, something that men back in the day were quite proud to do. Frankly I'm a bit nervous about the whole endeavor, but I feel like I'm up to the challenge. After that I felt the rest of the day was just a bonus, I mean it's not every day you fulfill a lifelong dream!

I had a beautiful lunch in the classic Australian style in the form of a boutique steak sandwich and wedges. After that I perused a couple old used book shops for about an hour or two and came out with a Douglas Adams product in hand. I then proceeded to finish off the day with a bottle of local red (quite good in fact) in a restaurant with a couple of guys playing classical guitar. The food was superb, myself opting for the pumpkin soup, the grilled field mushrooms and a glass of port and sticky date pudding for dessert. I chatted with a friend of one of the guitarists about my travels, more specifically relating to wine, plus the other random pleasantries that come with speaking to a stranger. All in all an excellent day. Not what I was expecting, but excellent nonetheless.

The Symphony

2005-06-25T06:56:00.000-04:00

So my first day in Sydney is over (even though it's only 9pm) leaving me tired and satisfied. The highlights were: fly in early (raining), walk through Hyde Park and Royal Botanic Gardens (very cool), see Government House (castle-esque), see harbor Bridge, see Opera House (thought it'd be bigger and whiter), see the Symphony in the Opera House, walk some more with drink stops along the way until too tired and turned in. Not very descriptive but I wanted to leave plenty of attention for the Symphony.

The Symphony was by far the best thing of the day, but first let em explain why I went in the first place. 1) Going to a show in the Opera House was high on my "Australia To Do List," 2) Plays at the Opera House are in these little dinky theatres, whereas the Symphony was in the much more impressive Concert Hall, 3) I've never been to one before and wanted to see what all the fuss was about. The show I saw was entitled "Heroes and Lovers" with 2 pieces by Beethoven and 2 pieces by Prokofiev. Let me first say that regardless of everything else I go on about I did enjoy it. But...

First I have to admit that I felt like this experience was a bit over my head. Having no real musical background and only listening to classical as background study music I definitely could have used a guide like when I started wine tasting. Unfortunately were no smoking hot 20-something Symphony buffs around for me to flirt with so I was on my own. I get the feeling the subtleties of wine and symphony appreciation are quite similar with your appropriate senses becoming more attuned to what's good and what you like the more you take in.

Some general points before I get into my impressions of the pieces themselves. Live music is always better and classical is no exception. Watching the musicians is incredible, especially because they're all in time. There were very few horns which I was surprised about, with almost all the sound coming from stringed instruments played with bows (violins were the stars for sure). It was really fun for me to try and pick out when a new instrument would come in or start to dominate the piece. Where the horns were very full they were like cudgels compared to the violins. The sound these musicians could produce with a bow and strings were so rich and complex it was very much like a good red.

Luckily I didn't go in blind to all this. Shelling out the ridiculous program price was well worth it as it provided some insight as to why these pieces were written, giving me a background against which to place each piece and hopefully tuning my brain to that frequency of appreciation (trickier than I'd hoped). In addition to that I realized about 30seconds in that this wasn't just music. It was an attempt to capture expressions of emotion through the medium of music. The fact that human emotions are so complicated that they need an entire symphony to translate them is astounding to me. I'm not talking a pop song that gets you teary-eyed, I'm talking about a genuine expression of say the pain felt over seeing your country being slowly destroyed before your eyes. That complexity was perhaps my favorite aspect of the whole experience.

The first piece I recognized form my Beethoven CD and was quite pleased with myself for that. It was lively and short and I thought I was off to a good start. The second piece had a lot of piano in it, which i love, but it went on FOREVER. I admit I dozed off quite a bit in that one, not because of boredom, but rather a combination of tiredness (went to bed at 130am and got up at 530am this morning) and the piece's lengthy repetitiveness. I wouldn't have felt so bad except for everyone clapped for a long time after that one. Oh well. I rallied with a coke during intermission and thoroughly enjoyed the next piece. It was playful and fast, almost humorous, definitely my favorite of the afternoon.

Side note here. So the entire theater was almost completely filled with pensioners or people who were guests of pensioners. I was in the very last row, but the theater actually felt quite intimate despite its size, and I was happy I hadn't spent the extra dough on a "better" seat. That was a side not on a side note... Anyways these two old guys in my row started talking during the third piece and this was NOT tolerated. Everyone around was shushing them, and either they didn't care or didn't hear (both classic of old people) because they kept on going. These two old ladies got fed up and actually stood up, walked over and told them to be quiet. I thought for a second there was going to a senior citizen brawl at the symphony! Almost.

The last piece was from a ballet and because it was written for a story it reminded me of modern movie scores. It had more instruments but I much preferred the subtle strings to the loud horns. The last odd thing was the way the applause worked. We'd clap when the conductor would come out (he was also really fun to watch as it looked like he was teasing out the music from these people almost like a puppet master moves his strings) and he'd get these two guys next to him (I think they were the star violinist and viola-ist) to stand up before everyone else. He'd leave directly after the piece and we'd keep clapping before he came back almost immediately for another bow. This would continue until we decided to stop clapping. I wondered if these guys judge their performances on how many times they come back out time after time for applause. But now I'm getting knit-picky.

I really did enjoy the whole experience. The Opera House did not disappoint and my list fixation was satisfied. The symphony is officially on my list of things I'd like to do more often. Horseback riding and skeet shooting are on there too, just to give you a quick cross-section. Tomorrow is hiking (another one of those "do more often" things) in the Blue Mountains, but now it's time for bed. Night!

The night the universe hated me

2005-06-24T06:37:00.000-04:00

So I'm on my way out of my office after a productive day of organizing my two upcoming trips (Sydney and Straddie) and the elevator's taking forever to get up to the top floor. I'm cutting it kinda close with the bus, but eventually it arrives and I hop in. Upon pushing the button for the bottom floor the doors close but nothing happens. What's worse is I can't get out! That's right I'm in a hurry for the bus and I got stuck in the elevator. I even pushed the emergency intercom, but the doors opened just as I was getting a confused response. The end? NO! I got stuck again! Only after I got out and back in (the other elevator was like, "Dude I'm not coming up there, you've already got an elevator.") did the lift oblige me with doing its job and taking me down. I proceed to run for the bus only to see it pull away. This in turn means I've now missed my connecting bus and must take the train home. Not so bad except I'd cleared out my office that day so my backpack was super-heavy. Ugh. The next bus comes and I get to the train station just missing the one I was hoping to get, meaning I've got to catch the NEXT one. But wait, there's more! That train never comes. It keeps getting pushed back until the connecting bus I was supposed to take is back. In the end it took me over an hour to get home (usually takes 20-30min). What's worse is I was starving and had already booked tickets to go to Batman (which is freaking awesome BTW), but it took me so long to get home I didn't have any time to make anything. Thinking we'd catch the bus into the city Grace and I wait... and wait until the thing is almost 10min late. Then we decide to go back and call a taxi, at which time the bus speeds past us. The taxi takes forever to get there and it's some SILVER cab which apparently gives them the right to overcharge us. Finally we get to the movies and run to the bakery for a quick nibble before we head in. My old standby, the pizza slice, is of course stale. To top it all off they couldn't find our internet ticket booking, so by the time they let us in we had some seats all the way on the edge of the huge IMAX screen. I only have one word for all this: RIDICULOUS! Hopefully I can outrun this crap in Sydney...

I'M DONE!

2005-06-22T23:02:00.000-04:00

That's right ladies and gents my masters degree is (unofficially) complete. I handed in my paper at the beginning of the week and just yesterday I gave my seminar. I was very happy with both and I think I should end up with good marks overall. This weekend I'm headed down to Sydney for a bit of sight-seeing and R&R before I head to Straddie to tutor an intensive 10day course on coastal management. Not really slowing down, but still it does feel good to be done. Gotta catch a flight in 6 hrs so its bedtime for me. More after this weekend!

Kind of exciting huh?

2005-06-16T23:55:00.000-04:00

SEMINAR: Wednesday 23rd June 2005: 12.00pm
Goddard Building (# 8), room 388

Assessing environmental indicators, a case study: Monitoring the impacts of reef walking on Heron Island reef flat, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, Australia.

Thomas John Heibel
Conservation Biology Program
Centre for Marine Studies

ABSTRACT

Anthropogenic environmental impacts are not restricted to unprotected ecosystems. Tourism is a very real impact that multi-use reserve planners and managers must simultaneously restrict and permit in order to both conserve biodiversity and allow for sustainable use. Monitoring programs are useful tools in assessing if such management efforts are proving successful and if not providing the information to improve them. Monitoring programs use a range of environmental indicators to assess various aspects of ecosystem health sensitive to different impacts of concern. Unfortunately, choosing appropriate indicators is often difficult, especially in marine systems. This study attempted to assess the appropriateness of two common coral reef health indicators (percent coral cover and number of coral breakage events) in order to effectively detect the impacts of a common and widely accessible reef-based tourist activity: reef walking. Indicator variables were tested for differences between a high and a low use study site to account for natural variation already present in the ecosystem. Those variables demonstrating significant differences between sites were examined further using Principal Component Analyses (PCA) in an attempt to discover which indicator or combination of indicators explained the most amount of variation between use categories. Finally, all potential indicators were given a score based on an evaluation matrix. This matrix was designed to cater to the wants and needs of reserve managers designing monitoring programs in order to support their selections for the most appropriate environmental indicators.

Rambling Review

2005-06-10T21:30:00.000-04:00

So a bunch of us saw Mr. and Mrs. Smith last night and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was funny, sexy, action-packed (I'd put in the True Lies genre) and I highly recommend it for a fun night at the movies. Pitt and Jolie make a great on-screen couple and deliver the cheeky dialogue (the movie's most outstanding characteristic) with an ease that makes me wish I could be half as cool as they seem. One thing I didn't expect however was that Doug Liman was the director. Mr. and Mrs Smith is a far cry from his earlier pieces like Swingers and Go (which also happen to be a couple of my favorite movies), but little did I know he also did The Bourne Identity. The biggest surprise however was his directorial control over the entire first season of one of my new favorite shows and guilty little pleasures: The O.C. In fact my show's favorite character Seth Cohen played by Adam Brody is in Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and I thought his wit and charm transferred very nicely to the big screen. All in all a great night. If Batman Begins lives up to my (somewhat higher) expectations just as well I'll be a very happy man. Here's hoping.

Mexican Night Numero Dos

2005-06-09T21:07:00.000-04:00

So we had the second installment of Mexican night over at Flower's house the other day. This time we managed to show up on time and the food was coordinated better so we didn't have to pack half of it into the fridge. No margaritas this time which was a mixed blessing. On the one hand bad (no margaritas, need I say more?) and on the other hand good because the American girls weren't nearly as loud. You could actually hear yourself think! The highlight was definitely Boston's deep fried ice cream. It's no Cali but for the time being it'll have to do. Enjoy the few pics we got below. Hasta luego.

Boston and Flower doing the deep fried ice cream.

Me and Liz.

Flower giving Lexi and Boston a piggy-back. Somehow Boston was the one who got hurt, but hey Flower's a climber, need I say more?

They really can market anything

2005-06-08T19:35:00.000-04:00

So we were watching the OC the other night and an ad for Loreal's new "Happyderm" lotion with "pyto-dorphines" came on. I'm not making this up. Check the link out HERE and make sure you have your sound on. Hilarity.

Crazy dolphins!

2005-06-07T21:34:00.000-04:00

Maybe they would rule the world if they had opposable thumbs. Who knows?! Thanks to Sean for the story and Atom for the comedy.

They can smell fear!

2005-06-07T02:04:00.000-04:00

I never really believed that old myth told about various native peoples across the globe that they could "smell fear"... until today. This week at UQ is study week, so as I was walking towards the library to return a book I was too intimidated to read at the moment (Paradise Lost for those who care) the anticipation of worried faces pouring over useless chapters in text books got me a bit excited. Sadistic? Maybe, but with my thesis due soon I don't have much sympathy for the "stress" of undergrad exams. Even though the campus looked deserted as I crossed the Great Court my expectations were not to be denied. Sure enough there they were: the girl who hadn't bothered to get out of her PJ's since the weekend, the guy asleep on his textbook nearly drowning in his own drool, and the overstimulated coffee addict who could never hope to understand the concept that sometimes less is more. What I didn't expect was the smell. At first I thought it might just be unwashed bodies, too involved with studying to bother with personal hygiene, but that wasn't quite it. As I walked through to the return desk the smell became more complex than simple BO. As I dropped by book in the slot and turned around I took in the whole room of worried undergrads and the realization hit me: FEAR. Pure anxiety over a semester of sloppily done assignments, missed lectures and worrying over what could possibly be on this horrible exam. Having experienced it first hand let me tell you, fear stinks! Still, I feel privileged; a bit like Rousseau's "noble savage." Who knows, maybe being in the university system the last 6 odd years has me a "native" of sorts. In that case I take it as my duty to say to all those Columbus undergrads out there, "Don't worry too much, you'll get through it just fine, but for pete's sake don't forget to take a shower!"

Pony Up

2005-06-05T19:54:00.000-04:00

Me and Dan looking sharp at the races on Saturday.

The plan is working! Dan and I have been getting work done AND having fun. Amazing stuff. Friday we met some friends out at Southbank for a bit of Salsa dancing. The set up is a bit odd as there's just a DJ on a street corner in front of a bike shop and everyone just dances right there. I'd stopped and watched with Sandi before but she was always too intimidated to dance with me. Well this time I was either more convincing or the girls were tipsy because I got to dance! Those of you who know me can vouch for the fact that I'm not a clubbing type-a-guy, but when it comes to some real dancing I'm such a sucker.

Saturday was even better as we spent the day at the races. A great lover of the ponies I was really excited to see what Australia had to offer. For one the horses run clockwise instead of counter-clockwise (that threw me off all day), and two it's a much bigger event. Unlike the races I've been to at Del Mar everyone in Australia gets all done up and of course drinks heavily. Check out the pics HERE. It was awesome, suits, ties, wild dresses and even crazier hats. One of our mates even got top 10 in the fashion show. He celebrated by liberating some champagne from the VIP tent and scoring us free beer with the Kiwi barman. As for the betting? Well lets just say I won on a whopping $3.50 on the last race and leave the rest in the past.

Sunday saw me getting back to work and trying to fight off a cold. Last week I got an official due date for my thesis: June 24th (see the countdown at the bottom of the page). What's more is I have to give a 45min seminar on my project the day before. It's gonna be a busy next few weeks!

Beer Ultimate

2005-06-01T21:58:00.000-04:00

My final season of UQ Ultimate has drawn to a close. Having not paid my fees this semester I was not allowed to compete on any of the teams in the finals and so was consigned to the 3 v. 4 consolation match, or as I like to call it the 'chump-ionship.' Although the competition wasn't as good this did mean I was playing one-handed all game while using my other hand for drinking that finest of Australian beverages: Beer! We won no problem and spent the rest of the time heckling the finals match. Dan's team won with him scoring 3 of the last 4 points. He's one hot Fish.

It's probably a good thing Ultimate is over (at least Wednesdays) as I recently learned the final mark for my project can be handed in no later than July 1st. After one day of stressing out I've buckled down and am supremely confident I will finish in time. After that I've got the month of July to enjoy my 24th birthday and all the continent of Australia has to offer. See you all state-side the 24th of July!

Weekend of Note

2005-05-24T21:30:00.000-04:00

So I finally got off my rear-end and did something for a change this weekend. Friday night was the much anticipated and not too disappointing Star Wars Episode III. I won't burden you with my nerdy knitpickings because on the whole I thought it was quite good. Saturday saw me playing ultimate (no surprise there) in a hat tournament that lasted most of the day. A lay-out D and some sweet endzone hammers made the day worth it, even though we ended in a 3-way tie for last. That night the Ghetto-fabulous Graffiti Pub-crawl which yours truly organized went off without a hitch. We hit 4 pubs in total and the Graffiti portion of the night (I got fabric pens so everyone could write on each other) was a big hit. I went home after Arsenal triumphed over Man. U. in the FA Cup Final, winning in penalty kicks. Most of Sunday was spent recovering on the couch until Sara came and picked me up to go lawn bowling. After a few missed turns we got there and it was everything we hoped it would be: the sun, the old people and the drunk Australians. We bowled for about 2 hours and then got bored so we headed home. The guys we bowled with were hilarious though and reminded me a lot of my mates from NZ. That night I was supposed to have dinner with my old flatmates but they cancelled due to heavy work loads. Having the house to myself (Grace was home in Byron and Dan and Jill were in the US) I tried to get people over but met with the same response: too much work. In defiance of the masses I ordered pizza and watched movies, content with my full weekend.

Heron Island Pics

2005-05-13T23:11:00.000-04:00

Pics are up! See them here: "Research"

My Masters study site.

Nationals Pics

2005-05-10T22:50:00.000-04:00

Nationals Pics are up so go and check 'em out: Nationals 2005.

Queensland Ultimate!

Random Evening

2005-05-10T22:31:00.000-04:00

So yesterday night I filled in for a friend on his ping-pong team. That's right, his ping-pong team. A little odd and out of the blue yes, but it was a lot of fun. There's 3 people on a team and so each person plays a singles match against each of the 3 people on the other team. Matches are best of 5, games to 11. Looking around I noticed a bit of an over 50 theme and felt pretty confident. That changed quickly. The spins and little dinky shots killed me and I went down in straight games twice, losing the 3rd match in heart-breaking fashion in game 5. We also had two doubles matches, both of which we lost. Oh well, there's always next week. That's right, it looks like I'll be going back for the next few weeks as the player I was filling in for dislocated his thumb playing touch rugby, not ping-pong.

In a related story I will definitely be taking the bus next week. I borrowed my flatmate's bike and met up with another player along the way as he was biking too. Well it's been quite awhile since I've been on a bike (this time last year on Rottnest Island actually) and let me tell you this was far from a pleasant experience. It was a cheap full suspension bike so the shocks were too springy, plus the tires weren't pumped enough, causing me to bounce with every peddle. What's worse is the chain popped off and got wedged in between the frame. We had to knock on some guys door and he was nice enough to let us borrow a hammer and a screwdriver to get it out. After that the damn thing protested loudly every time I tried to downshift up a hill and the chain popped off twice more. Ugh! Even though I might be in running shape I'm definitely not in biking shape. Muscles are sore I didn't even know I had and my butt is bruised like nobody's business. So like I said I am definitely taking the bus next week.

Now if the rain will just hold off for today I can redeem myself in a game I know I can play: Ultimate!

Egret Island

2005-05-07T21:09:00.000-04:00

Did you know that the herons of Heron Island aren't actually herons at all? No, no. They're actually clever egrets that disguise themselves as herons. For some reason I feel like this naming debacle sums up my second and hopefully final trip to Heron Island.

So Dan and I have been on Heron since Monday afternoon. Having taken the 10hr bus ride from Brisbane to Gladstone (not pretty let me tell you) we were pretty tired the first day so we just hung out on the beach. Since I was planning on acquiring ALL my data for my final project in this one trip such laziness could not be afforded for the rest of the week. Turns out we didn't have much of a choice. Needing to sample at low tide I discovered there was only one low tide a day this week. Bummer. What's more is upon arriving I was informed I needed a permit to do my research. I had already been assured this was not the case, but it turns out we were both wrong.

A thing I've discovered about Australians is that as laid back as they are they love their bureaucracy. What I actually needed was a letter of authorisation form a specially appointed UQ staff member written under a memorandum of understanding between the University and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. Well needless to say I didn't have that either, so what did I do? Well naturally I called Ron, and what a shock he wasn't available. So Tuesday was spent spinning my wheels trying to get set up and calling Ron every half hour. Finally he called back and said he could sort it out (which was good enough for the station). Relieved but still requiring some help with my methodology I tired to talk to him but he refused to speak to me. My own supervisor! That topped off an already ruined day so the only thing left to do was play pool and have a beer over at the resort.

The rest of our time here (between playing rummy, watching movies, reading books, drinking and playing pool) Dan and I sampled corals out on the reef flat (the letter never came by the way), and I reckon I got enough data to write up a good report (we'll see what Ron says if I can ever find him). We also tried snorkelling around a bit and although we saw some cool stuff (turtles, sharks, rays and heaps of fish and corals) it was a bit rough and pretty low vis because of the 30 knot winds!

Some of you at his point might be asking yourselves, "How can he be complaining? He spent the last week on a tropical island in the Great Barrier Reef!" True, you can't really beat this office, but I guess I was expecting a little more. For one my last trip here was amazing and so it naturally gets compared. But more importantly this is my last big project to finish off my masters before I get out of school, possibly forever! I was just hoping it would have gone a little smoother. That's all. Anyways, I gotta hop a boat back over to the mainland so I can catch that 10hr bus back to Brisbane. Hoowah! See you back in river city.

Nationals 2005

2005-04-28T22:59:00.000-04:00

Hello, hello! I'm back from the Australian Ultimate Frisbee Nationals tournament in Perth a little sorer than when I left, but a lot happier. The tourney was a 4 day event that saw the Moreton Bay Buggers (that's our team) come in 5th out of 14. Although we were really hoping to make the semis I think everyone agreed it was a successful and more importantly a really enjoyable few days.

We had 9 games overall, three Day 1, two Day 2, three Day 3 and one Day 4. The tournament started well for us going undefeated Day 1 including a 5 point deficit comeback against the Perth-based team. Even I had a layout block my first point on. I never layout on D! Maybe it was the incredibly spongey fields or the high level of competition, not sure. Whatever it was it was awesome. After several more layouts (all on offense) and a team dinner that night we came out on Day 2 ready for the tougher teams having made it to the top pool. We went down to Southside from Sydney by 2 points in a hotly contested game with some very questionable fouls. Still we felt good about our performance, needing to only correct some careless errors. Unfortunately we crumbled that afternoon against Deathstar, and to make it worse I only got to play the first half as my contact popped out after a shoulder was lowered into my face. So frustrating!

We tried to re-group at the tournament sponsored dinner that evening, but the next day saw us making the same mistakes against Fakulti, another Sydney based team. By our last top pool game against the Victorian team, Chilly (the eventual winners of the tourney), we decided to take it easy, and even though the score didn't reflect it in the end we played quite well that game. After an easy win against Tasmania in which I threw a sweet cross-field hammer to score we all got dolled up for the tourney party. The Queensland women went all out as usual leading a mass exodus to another pub after the first pub closed. I went home later than some, earlier than others, but definitely had a good time.

The last day of the tournament both the Brisbane men's and women's teams played the Perth men's and women's teams for 5th place. There was talk of one giant mixed game, but it wasn't meant to be. We came out victorious again, and even though our women lost they still won spirit for the weekend, so good on ya ladies! After a boring women's final we heckled Chilly almost to the point of throwing the game in the men's final against Fakulti. Winning by only one point they broke 4 years of bad luck, finally winning Nationals.

Most of the Queenslanders capped off the weekend by taking over an unsuspecting Asian restaurant for dinner and riding the red-eye back to Brisbane unwashed, still smelling of feet and heckle-juice. I on the other hand took the leisurely way back, leaving at noon the following day and getting into Brisbane about dinner time.

On the whole I'd have to say I'm pleased with my overall performance having made a lot more good plays than bad ones, but there's always things you can do to get better. Luckily our advanced league (MAL) starts next week, so hopefully my level of play will continue to rise.

In related news I won't be there for the start of MAL as Dan and I will be conducting research for my project up on Heron Island all next week. Exciting! I hope to get all my sampling done for my entire project in this one attempt so everyone wish me luck!

PS: Pics of Nationals and Heron will be up just as soon as I get them.

Mexican Night

2005-04-18T22:15:00.000-04:00

So last night we saw the fruition of plans that had seeds back in the arrival lounge of Brisbane's International Airport. Dan met these two girls there who go to school in his home town of Monterey (also in the new movie Sahara) and they all agreed a night of Mexican food would be necessary for us Californians to survive our time here in the Mexican food desert known as Australia. The two of us arrived to find ourselves the only males present in a sea of young, loud American college girls. I haven't been around Americans in awhile and man can we talk. I've gotten used to the more soft spoken, laid back Australians and halfway through the feast (it was so a feast) I found myself leaning back from the table it was so overwhelming. Still, some awesome Mexican food, a few margaritas, and some great stories made the night just what I needed after a long yet productive day at the office. Just to give you an impression of how much we ate I woke up this morning and I was still full. I'm definitely gonna need a few weeks before we attempt that again!

An actual weekend

2005-04-17T18:31:00.000-04:00

Hey all I had myself an actual weekend this... weekend. Instead of just hanging out in the house and playing Risk (don't ask) like last weekend I got off my behind and went out. Dan and I checked out this "new" pub on Friday night. We stayed for one drink and got out of there as soon as we could. The place was one of those office spots where everyone just tries to be hip and fails miserably. It screamed poser right down to the ultra modern circular furniture. Later that night we met Jill and Grace at the movies to go see Sahara which was great! It was a good old fashioned adventure/action flick. I'd say Dirk Pitt was the American James Bond. Rough instead of refined and a bit crazy instead of collected. Awesome sound track too. Saturday Dan and I sat down and got some good work done on my project. Today I should be meeting with Ron about it, but we'll see. Also went out to a house-warming party for some American girls that was so much fun. Tonight we're doing Mexican food with them so should be sweet. Sunday more work was done and of course there was Ultimate played. Nationals is this coming weekend and I'm starting to get excited. That's about it for now. Let you know how Mexican in Australia goes tomorrow.

Apologies

2005-04-11T22:36:00.000-04:00

Sorry it took so long but the Easter Break blow-by-blow is now complete. I do realize it reads a bit dull but it's definitely worth a skim, at least to understand the pictures. That's right, pictures from the trip are now up and captioned so check them out here: Victoria. I've also captioned the Byron Bay trip as well so make sure and check those out too. Last on the apology list is the photo of the week. For whatever reason the program that posts those pics hasn't been working lately so I haven't been able to post any random pics on the site. It really bums me out to see just text on my page so I'll keep trying and see what I can do.

This week's been pretty dull with nothing much but work and crappy weather (muggy rain, boo!) to fill it. Tomorrow I've got a meeting with Ron to see if what I've been doing for the past week and a half will actually prove helpful. Here's hoping!

Day 8: April 3rd: Home

2005-04-10T20:57:00.000-04:00

We awoke on a gloomy morning to find the Pope had passed overnight. Not the best way to start a day, but I was happy to see the end of the whole spectacle in sight. Packing done the night before we had a lazy breakfast before Teresa and Jim were gracious enough to drive us to the airport. Thanks guys! We were standing in Crate House (hasn't really caught on) 2pm and I did laundry the rest of the afternoon. We finished off our break with a BBQ at our neighbors house which was excellent considering we had NO food. Looking back I'd have to say all in all it was the best Easter Break I've had in recent memory. Thanks to all those who made it possible!

Day 7: April 2nd

2005-04-10T20:50:00.000-04:00

The last full day of the trip we were suffering of travel fatigue. First we toured the Queen Victoria Markets which included everything from fresh fruit and veggies to fine meats and cheeses and the tackiest tourist crap imaginable. After almost being run over by a baby stroller and elbowed by more than a few little old ladies we decided to take it easy and did more walking around the city with Teresa and her boyfriend Jim. In the end we walked along the river until we got tried and stopped at a pub for a drink in the sun. The day was by no means a waste because I finally felt like I got a feel for the city and I found at its heart was eating and shopping. Not a bad lifestyle, not bad at all.

Day 6: April 1st

2005-04-10T20:42:00.000-04:00

First business for the morning was to get our little Getz back home. I was sad to see him go. Teresa took the day off work to play tour guide which really helped, otherwise we would've just wandered aimlessly or at least got lost in the public transport.

We toured the city a bit, walked along the river and then decided to head up the Rialto Towers (tallest office building in the southern hemisphere). Lucky for us it was a clear clear day and we could see the whole city, bay and surrounding mountains. Awesome! After that we scooted on down to Saint Kilda in one of Melbourne's famous trams. Had lunch right on the beach in this trendy yet tasty veggie restaurant and then walked the main drag to work it off. More temptations waited for us there with the numerous cake shops just teasing you every few meters. After walking all day we took it easy that night and stayed in. We made dinner which was nice for a change, watched movies and of course drank more wine.

Day 5: March 31st

2005-04-10T20:29:00.000-04:00

Having arrived in Melbourne a day earlier than planned we still had the car and Teresa had to work, so we went for a day trip North. We started with the with the Dandenong Ranges but that was a bust. A very confusingly laid out national park it passed through suburban neighborhoods and had very poor access. Leaving us frustrated we said screw it, time for more wine tasting. Luckily the Yarra Valley was only a short drive away.

A popular day trip for the Melbourne populous Yarra Valley was much more polished than Gippsland and reminded me of my experience in Margaret River last year. We had every intention of not buying anything that day and were doing quite well until, you guessed it, the final winery. Now the last winery of the day is often very good because by that time you're a bit drunky, but Dan hadn't really been tasting much that day and he agreed at its excellence. Between the two of us we ended up with 8 bottles for the whole trip. Not bad considering.

That night we met up with Teresa and went out to dinner on Lygon St. where we got hussled into an Italian place with offers of a free bottle of wine. Not bad right? Unfortunately by this time our palates were too... refined and Dan and I only managed a few sips before pushing it aside in defeat. However the night was saved with more wine, a bit of cheese and great conversation.

Day 4: March 30th

2005-04-07T23:00:00.000-04:00

The next morning we went back down into the Prom (as the locals call it) and did a nice little hike up to another lookout. This time instead of looking South into the ocean we were looking North into the bay the Prom makes. The tide was out so mostly mudflats in the view but still quite breathtaking. The hike itself was actually the more enjoyable part of the morning with coastal scrub and easy breezes it was almost like being home.

Satisfied with our tour of the Prom we headed North into Gippsland which of course was wine country. That day we managed to hit 4 wineries before lunch and 1 after. 4 in the morning was too much and we vowed not to do more than 3 in a row without somebody taking a break. Lucky for us they were all pretty close together on unpaved backroads. One of the best wineries of the whole trip was the first one we hit that day. We actually got to talk to the winemaker this time and he was another character. Very particular about his wines (all organic) we tasted whites no younger than 1999, which for a white is almost unheard of. Dan got one of those (a semillion) and I got a beautiful fortified 1991 muscat. Oh man I can't wait to drink that. The rest of the wineries were okay, it was the people that made them enjoyable.

As evening approached we found the wineries closed and ourselves kinda in the middle of nowhere. So we stopped and did what else but throw the Frisbee for half an hour, mulling over what we should do. In the end we called Teresa and told her we'd be in Melbourne a day early. A little shocked but not one to be thrown for a loop Teresa said no worries. The drive into Melbourne was quite interesting actually, all their bridges on the way in are lit in different neon colored lights. Plus we found a radio station that played Strong Bad and Better Than Ezra. Crazy.

We got in about dinner time and Teresa took us out for Japanese and more wine. Surprised? I didn't think so. We crashed out after more wine back at her place, but I didn't sleep very well without grass under me. Funny how your body adjusts so quickly.

Day 3: March 29th

2005-04-07T03:09:00.000-04:00

Obliging Dan with a later start than 6am we meandered down the Bass Hwy which also runs along Victoria's southern coast and, for what it's worth, I thought was much prettier than the Ocean Road. We stopped at more beaches and lookouts, throwing the Frisbee as much as possible. I was even feeling so good about it all that I laid out at one beach. Mistake. I had sand down my jeans the rest of the day. Gross.

Later in the afternoon we arrived at the day's destination: Wilson's Promontory National Park. We threw at the most beautiful beaches of the trip and the last, bringing the trip total to a respectable 9. We also had the... interesting opportunity of watching a controlled burn that unfortunately got out of control. There was a helicopter and everything. It was quite dramatic. Luckily it didn't ruin the view for our sunset hike that left us on top of Mt. Oberon. Even though we didn't get a sunset it was the most spectacular view I've seen since arriving here in Australia (followed closely by Kakadu NP).

That night we camped outside the park in a little town called Foster that had the most peculiar pub. Looking like any small town pub from the outside, inside it was freshly renovated, complete with nicely dressed staff and doilied saucers. Still, even with that much effort the place couldn't escape it's small town yokel roots. We laughed over a couple beers and some painfully long games of pool before turning in for another night in the tent.

Day 2: March 28th

2005-04-05T02:21:00.000-04:00

I always sleep like crap my first night of a trip and this was no exception. Woke up at 3 and had to pee but didn't drag myself out of bed until after 6. After that there was no turning back so I showered (it was awesome, every campsite we went to had hot showers) and started taking the tent down...while Dan was still in it. Too tired to put up much of a fight he got up a little later and we had breakie.

Unfortunately the light wasn't any better than the day before so we continued along the Ocean Road and stopped at a few more scenic lookouts before getting over the whole thing and heading back to the main hwy. This was where our rally driving really started to manifest itself since we had the road all to ourselves. The little Getz tried to keep up, but we pushed him pretty hard. Fun for us at least.

On the west side of Port Bay (the main bay of Melbourne) we stopped at 3 wineries, our first but certainly not our last of the trip. The first one was super average and the only thing it had going for it in my book was that it was purple themed. The second one was tiny and only had 3 wines. The guy was a complete yokel but he was great: we tasted in his kitchen and got a $10 tasty but light shiraz off him. In the last one we talked to the wife of the wine-maker and she was quite mad...in a good way. A total character she talked to us for what felt like over an hour about everything under the sun. She is the first and probably last person who will ever tell me the American accent is beautiful. Although after a comment like that I figured her wine must be pretty good, so when she knocked $2 off the price we got another $10 bottle, although this one was a light and sweet white blend.

Passing by Geelong again we decided to bypass the long drive up and around Port Bay and took a ferry across instead. The kings of timing we were one of the last cars to fit on the short yet expensive ferry. The ride got us clear of the gloomy weather and left us in Sorrento on the southern tip of Mornington Peninsula. Still packed with Easter Monday crowds (they sometimes even get Easter Tuesday!) we headed up the coast and did what else but hit more wineries.

We sampled 3 of Mornington's wineries. The first place was another very small winery with great wine and a talkative wife but no standouts. The second place was packed (although apparently it was a slow day) and they had a great little spritzy breakfast wine but it was too expensive for what it was. The last one of the day found us on a marathon tasting (we had at least 10) although with that many nothing really jumped out at us. On the plus side it had stunning views and it was then and there (later confirmed by similar wineries) that I will be holding my wedding at a winery like that. Call me a girl or whatever you like, but this one had a restaurant that could've catered, plus the view (I've always wanted to have mine outside) and let's not forget the wine. Now if I could just find a girl... ;-)

Running out of daylight we hauled our tails down to Phillip Island to see the little blue penguin parade. Although extremely commercialized (people were sitting there under gift shop blankets eating movie popcorn) the little guys were awfully cute. It was the time of year in which they molt so they fatten themselves up and spend a few weeks on shore without food. That meant we saw some real fatties and they were quite hilarious. The penguins come up the beach in groups called "rafts" but the fat ones couldn't keep up. They kept falling over because they were so fat! Comedy. One guy looked so distressed after he got left by his raft that he just stayed in the same spot until the next raft came along. Poor guy. The best part was after they crossed the beach and were up in the dunes. You could get a lot closer to them, but we still weren't allowed to take pictures. Boo!

With the timing working out so well all day Dan had to concede that getting up so early was in fact necessary...as long as we didn't have to do it again tomorrow. I told him I'd see what I could do.

Day 1: March 27th: Departure

2005-04-04T02:17:00.000-04:00

Up until 2am that morning unpacking and repacking from our Byron Bay trip we had to get up for our 7am flight at 5am. So early! On the plus side we were in to Avalon (50min outside Melbourne) by 9am. Not having booked a car I hoped for the best when we landed and strangely received it. No hassle and no charge for a one-way hire or for being under 25, Dan and I were out of the airport and driving South in our little Hyundai Getz by 9:30am. Half an hour later we were in the township of Geelong (pronounced Ja-long) eating breakfast in the sun at a little cafe where we started the planning we should have done weeks ago. Luckily I had worked out a rough itinerary, so we at least had a direction when we hit the ground. What was it? Why, the Great Ocean Road of course!

Unfortunately logistics started catching up with us rather quickly as rural Victoria has no good radio stations to speak of and we only brought one CD on accident. Too bad our car wouldn't play half the songs! Ugh. Not to be deterred we made a beeline for the coast and started our sight-seeing at Danger Point. Not even close to living up to its name it still marked our first glimpse of the Southern Ocean. Deciding we'd have better luck at more scenic Belles Beach we made our way down the road only to discover there was a surf competition on (with no swell mind you) that was going to charge us $11 each just to get on the beach. "Intolerable!" we proclaimed, and went to a local beach instead. It was here we set a trip precedent of throwing the Frisbee at every beach we stopped at, only allowing ourselves to move on once we had each thrown a successful hammer. Windy and a bit ghetto we threw for about five minutes and moved on.

Finally we found ourselves at the entrance to the Great Ocean Road, marked as such by a large wooden arch. For the most part I didn't find the Great Ocean Road particularly "Great." It was a lot like driving along Hwy 1 in northern California: small beach towns, winding roads, slow drivers, and cold windy beaches. Don't get me wrong it was pretty and all, but a much more apt name would be, "Road to the 12 Apostles." The main attraction on the Ocean Road (I now refuse to put the "Great" in front of it), the 12 Apostles were definitely impressive, but just like the NorCal coast an afternoon fog and drizzle blew in and pretty much ruined our picture-taking light. Not used to the cold and discouraged by the bad light after the long drive we gave up and camped at the next beach town: Port Campbell.

Port Campbell was a one pub town, hence their ability to charge us $6 a pint for crap beer. Still, the atmosphere was amusing, the pub meals were huge and lucky for us port is a rarely ordered beverage (they poured us gynormous glasses of the stuff). We settled down for the night in our tent fairly satisfied with the day's progress and hopeful for some better light for the rest of the Ocean Road in the morning.

Back to the Grind

2005-04-03T19:45:00.000-04:00

After an incredible week in Victoria over mid-semester break this morning found me back in the office at 8am. Of course all morning I've been doing nothing but playing catch up, so no real work has yet to be done, but it'll definitely start...as soon as I get a muffin. I realize I haven't posted anything on my trip with Dan to Victoria yet and I do apologize, but it couldn't be helped. Still I'd like to tell you all about it, but, so as not to overwhlem you, I've decided to chronicle the trip in daily increments over this entire week. So keep an eye out for trip updates and pictures every day this week!

UPDATE: Dave Matthews Band Byron Bay Setlist is now up (see below)

Trouble in Paradise

2005-03-26T06:58:00.000-05:00

Storm clouds in Brisbane. Can you believe it's been raining here lately?! I even had to put on a sweatshirt the other night. The nerve!

Blues and Beaches in Byron Bay

2005-03-26T05:23:00.000-05:00

I'm writing to you in between unpacking from my last couple days in Byron Bay and packing for my upcoming week in Melbourne. After a hectic Thursday morning in which I accomplished little and a mad dash to catch the bus I found myself on the way to Byron alone. Dan and Grace ended up on the bus that left 45min later, but somehow they still managed to get there before me. Ugh. No worries though. Grace lives in Byron (a coastal lifestyle town on the QLD/NSW border) and her Dad let us stay in their cottage out back. Sweet digs complete with mini kitchen our own bathroom and two single beds.

After a scrumptious vegetarian meal that nevertheless left me wanting for more Dan and I headed out to the Byron Bay Blues and Roots festival. A 5 day event with grounds set up reminiscent of a county fair (I got ice cream topped waffles to satisfy my tummy) the festival boasted such names as: Jack Johnson, REM, Violent Femmes, The Whitlams, Sarah McLachlan, Cake, the Cat Empire and George Clinton and the Parliament Funkadelic. Dan and I however saw none of these acts as we only managed to get tickets for opening night. We were fine with that though considering DAVE MATTHEWS BAND was headlining! Neither of us previously had the pleasure of seeing Dave live and although it was a concert I'd been anticipating for the last 6 years it didn't disappoint. They played for nearly three hours and I fell into bed that night completely exhausted. Here's the set list:

Grey Street
What Would You Say
One Sweet World
#41
Granny
Jimi Thing
Hello Again
Satellite
Warehouse
American Baby
Everyday
So Much To Say
Too Much
Crush
Rhyme & Reason
Ants Marching

Encore:
Two Step
Watchtower

Friday and Saturday Grace showed us around town and took us to the beach. Much less crowded and more pleasing to the eye than the Gold Coast the three of us had a lot of fun playing in the waves, eating gelato and just strolling the streets. The Bay itself reminded me a lot of Kaikoura in New Zealand with the mountains close to the coast and the water that incredible bright teal. The one big difference? It was warm! We won't be so lucky in Melbourne tomorrow, but hey, I'm sure we can have just as much fun.

Talk to you soon and be sure to check out the Byron Bay pictures in "My Photos."

Freakin' Finally!

2005-03-21T23:16:00.000-05:00

My project is on its way. Met with Ron today and got myself a very do-able to do list as well as a desk in the CMS department where I can do it all from. Hot Dog! We also had an excellent chat about my lit review and after a bit more editing it will be sent up to GBRMPA (they manage the Great Barrier Reef) in an effort to start a dialogue with them concerning my project. The project itself has evolved a bit and instead of assessing the success of the park's re-zoning at a particular site, now we'll be trying to tease out through monitoring how to measure environmental impacts that might indicate a zoning plan's effectiveness, using the GBRMP as a case study. That sentence will have made sense to some of you more than others, but regardless of what I'll be doing I still get to go back to Heron to do it, so that will most assuredly rock. To top it all off on the way out I got to meet the head of NOAA and ask him why attending a foriegn university should preclude me from applying for those fellowships I was so excited about back in January. He was dumfounded (his best guess being a money thing) and actually said that it was B.S. suggesting I appeal. It's too late now and I never put in an initial application, but it's still satisfying, although a bit frusterating, to know I was right all along.

On a completely unrelated note I'm curious to know wether any of you have ever seen a potato puss, because I most definitely have! Last night I was making veggie bake, a simple yet delectable dinner that gets rid of all those veggies in the fridge on the border of edible (post me for the recipe), and I went in the cupboard looking for the potatoes only to find they'd gone bad. They had sores that were squishy and upon touch would ooze foul smelling potato juices. Aren't potatoes suppossed to last a long time? Even if they go bad shouldn't they grow eyes and not make a mess of themselves all over my cabinet? Seriously! Unfortunately, it being past 6pm, all the grocery stores were closed, so I did the next best thing and triaged. A few poor potato souls were beyond help so I left them to die before burying them in the trash can, but for those not so badly infected I used good old 12th century medicine and just cut out the bad bits. Then I boiled 'em and the baked 'em, and everything turned out as good as ever. Now I wasn't going to tell Dan any of this (he was still at class while I was cooking), but I had a few beers to cope with the sheer horror of pussing potatoes, and well they loosened my tongue. On a positive note neither of us have presented any symptoms of food poisoning as of yet, and assuming we make it through the next 36 hours everything should be a-okay.

On that note I think it's time for lunch. Bon appetite!

New Policy

2005-03-21T21:46:00.000-05:00

From now on I'll be posting a random "Picture of the Week" for your enjoyment. This one was from our time at Matt's house. I was hiding from the mosquitoes. They're vicious!

Turn that frown...

2005-03-20T21:41:00.000-05:00

So yeah it's been a little while since my last post. This past week was a bit funny as I attempted many things, but none of them really came to fruition. First my project, the real reason I'm actually here. Did lots of calling and emailing but to no avail. Got pretty frustrating, still I didn't take it laying down. I decided to go and find what I needed on my own. Discovered very quickly that there was a lot of information, only it was either too general or too specific. More frustration ensued with my supervisor's lack of availability. Supposedly meeting with him tomorrow, so I'll let you know how it goes. Dan put it all into perspective yesterday by asking me two questions: 1) How much did you pay for this semester? and 2) What has UQ done so far to earn that? The answers were: 1) A lot, and 2) Hardly anything. It had the desired effect and I've redoubled my efforts. Should have something to show for it before we leave for break in a few days.

In the social scene there was Frisbee and Drinking. Monday league made me want to scream and yell (I did in fact, but only in an effort to direct). Being thrown back with people that can hardly throw or catch after Regionals took more than a few deep breaths for me to deal. I just had to remember I was in their cleats at one point and it took the time and patience of more experienced players to get me where I am today. That said I got to play with those more experienced players on Wednesday night and that was oh so much more fun.

The following night was St. Patty's and although it wasn't huge we did have a good time chatting and throwing back a fair few Guinness (cheers Johnny). To tell you the truth I held back expecting a much bigger night in the comfort of my own home for our house-warming party on the 18th. How'd that go? 3 people came. WTF?! Extremely disappointing, but hey we made the best of it with Scrubs, Tequila and Egyptian Rat-Screw. Dan and I let off some steam the following morning with a round of frolf. Dan lost a disc and I was 17 over, so needless to say not our best showing. The day was salvaged with some free food and drinks at the QUDA AGM where we had the privilege of electing Sandra as our new president. Some quality conversation with some quality folks made me forget our house-warming woes. Then yesterday I skipped out on Matt's offer of more free food and drinks on the coast to try and get some work done. What did I accomplish you ask? Well...we now have freshly baked cookies and a loaf of banana bread. On the upside Dan and I finally have an official Easter break destination: Melbourne.

Tonight I'm skipping ultimate and we're trip planning for our week away. As I discovered last week Monday's for teaching not playing hard and I fear my frustrations would only increase if I went. Still, don't want any of you worrying, I'm in good spirits and re-committed to my project. If all goes well tomorrow I'll have an action list and a desk. Here's hoping.

Ouch!

2005-03-13T04:24:00.000-05:00

A stripe where my sunscreened hands couldn't reach a few weeks ago. Dan's back got sunburned too and we blame it on the fact that there were no cute girls there to put it on. Come on ladies you're slacking!

Regionals

2005-03-13T04:01:00.000-05:00

I spent the past two days out in the hot Queensland sun playing some excellent Ultimate at Queensland's Regionals tournament. Playing for the Buggers with Dan we took the tournament in fairly convincing fashion, winning all our games by at least 10 points; which isn't to say we didn't have to play hard, we just played smart.

Saturday we had two games and Sunday we had three. I got plenty of playing time and plenty of disc time, scoring and assisting on quite a few points. I felt strong, although not completely back in shape, which means there's still a lot to do before Nationals next month.

We all went out for a few beers last night and Dan and I convinced our housemate Grace (lovely but shy Australian girl) to come along. For any of you who've had the privilege of hanging out with Frisbee folks you know we can be quite overwhelming at times. Still, everyone was cool and for once the conversation didn't completely revolve around Frisbee. Dan and I were particularly pleased she had a good time as we've kind of installed ourselves as the helpful big brothers of the house. I'll let you know how that works out.

Make sure and look for pics of the house (yes that's right, they're finally here!) and Regionals tomorrow. Chx.

O where, O where have the hotties gone?

2005-03-11T20:19:00.000-05:00

Firstly Dan and I had a very BLOG-worthy days the other day, but I was too concerned about posting on the conference that I forgot to tell you about it. So it started with Dan waking up late for his 8am and spilling his entire kilo of coffee all over the floor. I turned my potential bike over in the kitchen and broke off the corner of our glass table and later found out the bike wasn't even worth fixing. When we finally got out of the house I managed to not see the bus until it was too late and it just drove right by so Dan ended up an hour and 20min late for his class. Then I stepped in tuna-curried vomit waiting for another bus I didn't need to take because my supervisor postponed our meeting (again) until Monday. We decided to go let off some steam and throw, but of course it rained, and on the way back walking by a low tree a bat flew out and HIT ME IN THE HEAD! That just about topped it off. But we made dinner (curry actually), drank wine, made cookies, and reminisced over high school rock. Ended up being a good day after all.

Yesterday I vocalized to Dan what I'd been noticing for the last week or so: there aren't nearly as many hot girls around as when we first showed up. We had a few theories on this (changing weather, O-week shipments, our eyes getting used to the humidity), but none of which seemed satisfactory or changed the fact that attractive women were once again a rarity. Last night we went to the brewery tour which hilarious beer propaganda. Did you know that beer is responsible for civilization?! The Sumerians actually improved the brweing process by building cities. Afterwards we went out and my inklings were once again confirmed. Forced to go to the meat market pub, since 5 years over the drinking age apparently isn't enough without a passport, we spent the night being judgmental. NO HOT WOMEN! I just don't get it, they were all over and now they're all gone. Intolerable. I guess I'll just have to take out my frustrations on Regionals the next few days. Chx.

My Room!

2005-03-10T19:13:00.000-05:00

This Week (Mick)

2005-03-10T17:07:00.000-05:00

So I've been delivered a third party smack in the head from a friend (you're back on the links list Mick, happy now?!) and been told I should post more. I guess I'm still a slave to the old mass email regime and haven't truly taken advantage of the freedom that is Blogging, although I maintain dial-up has something to do with it. Still it's a two-way street people, you've got to keep visiting!

Anyways what's been going on this week? Well firstly I have to apologize for not posting those house pics yet, but I blame Dan for that. I'll try and do it next week when I have my desk. That's right TJ's been promised (although yet to be delivered) a desk in the new CMS (Center for Marine Studies) building. Super score! Meeting with Ron (my supervisor who will now be referred to by his name "Ron," which is not unreasonable considering how much shorter it is than "my supervisor") this arvo (Australian slang for afternoon) to talk about desks and projects and hopefully even some funding. He let me tag along the last couple days to a joint Italian/Australian conference down in the city concerning both countries' Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). Some interesting topics were raised and it gave me a better idea of the difficulties of international cooperation (the elbow rubbing and free food weren't bad either). The conference was held in this beautiful old sandstone building preserved among all these sky-scrapers in downtown Brisbane (check out "Italian Job" in "My Photos" for some pics). Both nights when we broke for the day we'd have drinks and then dinner together (all on the University's tab of course). First night was great with grilled garlic prawns for an appetizer and lamb for dinner with bottomless wine all night! Second night was pretty cool too as we took a cruise down the river in a giant paddle wheel boat. If this is anything what it's really like being a grad student I might just have to put off work for a little longer and do a PhD...

If that wasn't enough the weekend's starting early as Dan, Sara and I are going on the local XXXX (Four X) brewery tour this arvo. After that it's Regionals for Ultimate with a tourney running Saturday and Sunday. Should be heaps of fun! Tell you all about soon. Promise.

Crate House

2005-03-07T02:11:00.000-05:00

Hey all! The first week of school has come and gone, but I hardly noticed. The only school related things I did were administrative or preliminary, so hopefully this week will be more fruitful on that front. However, my days were not wasted.

The new house is up and running! This past weekend we rented a ute and went garage saling all over Brisbane. I was up around 5:30am, and we were at our first garage by 7. We spent about 10 hours driving around and securing deals, but it was well worth it. After mulitple runs to the Kmarts and Targets of Australia followed by a midnight raid of UQ's milk crate stashes (hence the name, which is subject to change without notice) we got the entire house outfitted or around $500 . Split 4 ways that's not too bad. Pics of our wicked new set up will be posted tomorrow, but for a sneak peak check out "Dan's Blog" in the "Links" to the right (as you can see I'm particularly proud of our most prominent wall hanging).

Now that my base of operations is outfitted I feel like I'm ready to tackle Australia for the second time. My project proposal is in and I'm just waiting on my supervisor to help me really nail it down. My lit review was marked last week and I received a high 6 (out of 7), so I was very pleased with that. Many thanks to Mom and Dad for their hospitality and for understanding my odd hours and constant mess while I was writing that. Tomorrow and Wednesday I'll be attending a conference downtown with my supervisor concerning the Italian government's marine protected areas system. Should be interesting.

In Frisbee news our team won the MAL (Men's Advanced League) final last Thursday. My fitness is still low, but much to my delight it is returning. This week is more nationals training, and we might even get some disc golf in on Saturday. Gotta run to Monday League. More soon.

Get Excited!

2005-02-24T06:31:00.000-05:00

This week has really come together. First and foremost we got a house and we'll be moving in next week. Hurrah! It's very student, but it belonged to a Frisbee player before us so you know it'll be just fine. Now all we have to do is furnish the place. Could actually be kinda fun.

In other more serious news the literature review is now officially done and instead of just feeling relieved I'm actually really happy with it. My supervisor liked it a lot, so that was a big relief, and I'll have my mark by Monday. He also liked my idea for my final semester project which will be taking up all my school-related time for my last 6 months here in Oz. It looks as if I'll be going back to Heron Island for my "research" (see "My Pictures" if you've forgotten how beautiful a place it is). I'm uber-excited about it, but we'll see how long that lasts. ;-)

To cap off these awesome few days I had my first real game of ultimate tonight in more than 3 months. Although I could only run a point or two at a time I was very happy to see my skills hadn't atrophied along with my endurance. I'm sure I'll be sore tomorrow but it was SO good to be back in the game again.

More to write about after the weekend...

Back in the land down under

2005-02-20T20:41:00.000-05:00

Hello from the Oz everyone! Let me catch you up on all my happenings from my first week back.

The flight over was pretty unremarkable, but I did talk to an adventurous retired couple that was going to New Zealand. I gave them advice on where to go and they told me all about their recent adventures in South Africa. It looks like it's next on the travelling list. I don't know, me and the southern hemisphere just seem to mesh. Anyways, got into the hostel around noon and was super energized. So I went to campus and visited some friends before crashing out at about 5.

Next day my friend Dan arrived and I managed to secure us a spot at an Aussie mate's place (Matty) until we found a house. Dan and I tagged along to the UQ ultimate disc meeting and I got to introduce him to the crew. By the end Dan and I found ourselves running the O-week ultimate booth (they totally took advantage of our jet-lag, of well). Since then our days have been spent looking for houses which has been hot, exhausting work. Funnily enough it actually looks like we're going to take a Frisbee person's old place, only bummer is we'll have to furnish it ourselves. Will be nice to have a roof over our heads though.

This past weekend we went to the domestic cricket final (ooooo, aaaahhh) here in Brisbane. In the spirit of experiencing Australian culture to the fullest we spent the day (about 8 hours) drinking beer in the sun and “watching” the cricket (See pic below). It was an excellent lazy Sunday. We did make ourselves feel better in the afternoon by strapping on our cleats and going out for a throw. I can’t tell you how good it felt to run around with a disc again.

Besides hanging out with Matty and Dan and running school and house related errands that's been about it really. I’m glad to be back, and even though it’s looking like this will be the busiest semester of my life I’m excited about it.

But I've jabbered on long enough. Let me know how you’ve been and what you’ve been up to. Would be great to hear from you all. I promise to keep the updates coming as much as possible. ~CHX.

At the cricket.

And the peasants rejoiced

2005-02-09T05:42:00.000-05:00

I'm done! The lit review is done! It's 35 pages and rounds out with a pretty weak conclusion but it's done...for now. Sent it off to a friend for a little constructive criticism, but I think I'm gonna let it sit until I get back to Oz this time next week. Can't wait! For my last few days at home I'll be updating my parents' music collection, making my Frisbee golf course more permanent than just some duct tape on trees, and finally doing some fun reading for a change. The next time you see one of these I'll down under once again. Hope you're all are doing well. Cheers!

Procrastination

2005-02-01T03:36:00.000-05:00

Hey all thought I'd take this time in the wee hours of the morning to jot down a quick update (check out the pic below). I'm up in Nor-Cal for the next couple weeks trying madly to finish my lit review before I have to go back to Oz. It's looking...hopeful. At least I get a couple days down in LA to party it up before I head back (oh shucks!). Can't wait for ultimate! Wish me luck.

It's me!

2005-01-31T15:39:00.000-05:00

Here's what I look like these days, for all of you who'd forgotten (like you could!). So what's the verdict, clean-shaven or goatee?

It's been awhile

2005-01-15T00:56:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone! It certainly has been awhile so I thought I'd take a minute, sit down and do an update. I've been stateside since December 2nd and so far it's been great, but my vacation is quickly coming to a close. I started my time back down in So-Cal seeing old friends and enjoying what they like to call "winter" (80 degrees!). What is it about old friends that's such a comfort? Well whatever it is it was just what I needed. After that short stopover it was up to the Rent's house for Christmas. For the first couple weeks that constituted catching up on fun books I'd been wanting to read (the "Dark Tower" series by Stephen King is excellent), making a frisbee golf course among our 5 acres of pine forest (cheers Dan), and playing all manner of games (thanks to Trivial Pursuit I now know that Hitler did in fact have 2 testicles). Finally it was family time and strangely (wonderfully even) we all agreed that this was the best holiday in recent memory. Check out the "My Photos" link to see all our family fun.

Currently I'm with my little bro in the big smoke, White Plains, which for those of you who don't know is just outside New York City. We've had some good times here. In the City we did Times Square for New Year's Eve (long but worth the bragging rights), went sight-seeing with Sandi and Crew (it's always better with someone who's done it before, thanks ladies), and had lunch with an old friend (corporate lackey now yes, but she's still awesome). Check out the New York City sights by clicking on "My Photos."

Unfortunately all our time here wasn't so glamorous. To be honest we mostly just hung out, hit the bars a few nights and watched an exorbitant amount of cartoons (X-Men could very well be the greatest cartoon ever, but I will take other opinions on the subject, wrong as they might be). That said it was time with my brother and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I head back to Shingletown tomorrow which means working on my thesis and (gasp!) applying for jobs to pay off my ever-growing student loans with. Who knows, I might even end up liking the working world. Thank goodness I'm not there yet.

Until my next adventure then!

Here we go then!

2004-09-23T02:24:00.000-04:00

From the general positive response it looks like we're going to be posting instead of e-mailing from now on. Just remember to check the site regularly, and of course you can still e-mail me if you like!

Things have been kinda slow here in Brisbane lately. Next week should be good though since I'll be on a field course in the rainforest. Our class is spending all week down there studying all aspects of rainforest ecology, so look for stories and pics when I get back!

In other news our ultimate frisbee team (The Ultimate Lovers) are preparing for mixed nationals next month down in Newcastle (NSW North of Sydney). Should be fun.

See you soon!

My first post

2004-09-13T01:24:00.000-04:00

Hey guys. Not sure if this will catch on or not, just thought it might be a good way to consolidate all my web holdings. All depends on you! Hopefully I get a reply. Cheers.