In the last year...

Sorry, I just have to remind myself what all has happened in the last year. Maybe you were there for some of it, maybe you just wish you were.

- I went on three ASB trips (Bronx, Moody Forest, Nashville). Amazing, let me tell you.
- Saw 15 Spring Trips successfully complete their fundraising
- Lead the site facilitators for 3 fall trips and 7 Winter trips, and selected SFs for spring
- Completed a successful internship with Kimberly Clark IT, meeting some of the coolest guys around.
- Started research with the Social Computing group in the CS department
- Got the best grades I've gotten in a long time
- Got the worst grade I've ever gotten
- Interviewd in Seattle twice
- Submitted a paper to a conference
- Had friends from home (and England) come visit at school
- Dressed as a zombie
- Fell in love with Kentucky even more
- Rock climbed twice a week all summer
- Went camping for the first time in a long time
- Turned 21
- Toured a Bourbon distillery
- Discovered microbreweries
- Enjoyed live comedy
- Went white water rafting
- Hung out with my step brother for the first time
- Explored the bars in Lexington

and SO MUCH MORE. But for now its time to go get ready to party tonight...

So I'm ending the year sinking some money into fixing my laptop (new harddrive, lost some stuff, and a new fan), which is unfortunate. I'm starting off 2007 with a trip to Spain, hooray!

Some things never change

At A La Lucie for our Christmas Present dinner. The guy waving in the background is apparently the vice mayor of Lexington. One of my friend's aunts owns the restaurant. The same restaurant that I went to for the first time on my 16th birthday when Kiernan took me to prom. That was a long time ago. Saw some people there I definitely went to middle school with - I think I'm hard to recognize, what with the 10 inches of hair gone, 30 pounds heavier, 3 inches taller, no glasses, no braces, and all. I guess some things do change.


But others don't.
This picture is from summer after Freshman year, in an attempt to continue our "Walmart pictures" - Senior Year of high school we took a family portrait at Walmart and vowed to do the same every year. Due to time constraints, its come down to a picture at dinner, or wherever, but it has happened pretty reliably every year.

Some other things that never change: Wine (or sangria) at Rachel's, tea at Alixas, Ale 8 at Ben's. Surprisingly, we played no poker at Ben's this year. I like Lexington a lot - its classy (but not at all) and Southern (but not really), and very much my home.

Cool Design Books

So clearly, when I get a $30 Amazon Gift Certificate I end up with about $300 of stuff I want. Clearly.

At any rate, I stumbled across these design books that seem really cool. This is more of a list of "books to track down at the library" than anything else, but if you're in to design, sustainability, or things of that nature, you might want to check them out too. (I geeked out after reading "Design of Everyday Things" by Don Norman, if you're wondering how this started).

Stranger than Fiction

I saw Stranger than Fiction yesterday. Maybe its just that the soundtrack was almost entirely by Spoon, but I think I have a new favorite movie. But go see it, make your own judgment. Don't take my word for it, or get your expectations up. I have weird taste in movies, after all. My family should have gotten the unlimited blockbuster rentals for the two weeks everyone was going to be home.

I've been watching Beauty and the Geek, the TBS reality series where they started off with 8 geeks and 8 beautiful women. Its actually a really cool show, because its not a dating show. The guys learn some social skills, pop culture, and interior decorating, and the girls learn about politics and computers. It is really interesting to see the girls learn that the guys might not be the most eye catching and might not be comfortable around the girls but they are some of the sweetest, most caring guys that treat girls well. I'm amused because I definitely know guys that are like every single one of the guys on the show. Its interesting to see who is playing for money and who is playing for experience, and you can definitely see people learning. I have to say I'm actually sad to see the people get kicked off because they don't get to learn from everyone else.


I'm also very excited for the movie Freedom Writers to come out. I need to read the book. Over spring break I will be in San Fransisco working with Streetside Stories. I'm a little bit excited.

Home

I don't think just sitting has ever been this awesome. I need to make myself wake up early enough that I can actually get out shopping before it gets crazy.

I realized this is the last time that everyone is going to be home at the same time without copious amounts of planning. That's a bit scary - even the people that "stayed" in Lexington might not be here the next time I come back. And who knows when that is going to be.

Movies I've seen recently -
Happy Feet Very very cute fluffy dancing penguins.
Eragon - Probably not worth your time if you've read the book. Read the book. 104 minutes is NOT an epic.
Undead - Its weird, but just see it. Zombies, that's really all you need to know, isn't it?
Freeway - Reese Witherspoon in a very... odd... adaptation of Little Red Riding Hood. I didn't see the whole thing, only caught the end of it. Interesting.

Movies I need to see -
Beerfest Did this movie even go to theaters?
A Scanner Darkly Maybe I should watch Waking Life again, while I'm at it. And Before Sunrise, Before Sunset.
Little Miss Sunshine
Borat (?)
Cite des enfants perdus - I've wanted to see this one for a while


I've recently become obsessed with Regina Spektor. On the car ride home, while deciding I needed to listen to music I didn't know that I'd put on my mp3 player so I would learn it. Hooray.

Random Memories

I remember this time Freshman year attempting to study and having a big snowball fight outside. Because there was snow on the ground. Global Warming, bah.

I remember going to the Bronx with ASB winter break last year, and going to the Improv comedy club, after this guy sold us tickets for like $3 each. It turns out he was one of the guys doing improv, and in fact was the stand up comedian for the night, and was hilarious, and cute. Lee Markam, if he ever becomes famous. At any rate, somehow my ASB group, the comedian, and a bunch of French guys left Improv seperately and all ended up at McDonalds. Very surreal.

I remember this time sophomore year where I refused to study because I enjoyed spending time with people and was freaking out about going to France. And watched people smack the crap out of each other with foam swords outside the dining hall.

I don't remember what I was doing this time last year. I have a terrible memory.

I miss my boys from this summer.

Edit: Oh, and "Finals are just one week" is a pretty sweet mix. If I could find the playlist, I would put it here.

For now, you'll have to live with the playlist from my Nashville trip:
1. Italy - Lynn Obrien
2. Inside and Out - Feist
3. Here it goes again - Ok Go
4. What Katie Did - The Libertines
5. Billy Liar - The Decemberists
6. Small Stakes - Spoon
7. I'm a ghost - Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
8. Talk to Me, Dance with Me - Hot Hot Heat
9. I bet you look good on the dance floor - Arctic Monkeys
10. Hymn for the Cigarettes - Hefner
11. Heavy - Lorenzo Goetz
12. Step Into My Office, Baby - Belle and Sebastian
13. We will become Silhouettes - Postal Service
14. Put us back together right - Headlights
15. Carolina - Elsinore
16. Snails - The Format
17. Living Life - Ben Kweller
18. If you come home - Wandering sons

There's too much funny on the internet

Too. Much. Funny. For. Finals. Week.

Random musings while attempting to get things done

I'm not even going to pretend to be a serious person anymore.

I was so random at the benefit concert. It was fun and I miss being hyper now and then.

I don't like wearing glasses because when I blow into my tea it steams my glasses.

For the sake of all of our grades, Facebook should shut down the week before finals through the end of finals. Honestly.

I'd get so much more done if I needed a corporate sponsorship to take a nap/hit snooze. (Really, where do I come up with these things?)

From a discussion a while ago, do you think a female centered harem would be a more successful social endeavor than a male one? I think so. I also think it'd be fun to have a harem of guys. Anyone want to volunteer?

Which has led me to thinking about how society has changed over the last 50 years. Women are allowed into the work force, and into positions of power. So many of my female friends are going to go great places in their lives and have huge impacts on the world and society. That's not to say my guy friends won't, but what would it have been like if the girls had been held back from education or certain fields of study or certain careers? I almost think I know more guys willing to be house husbands than I do girls willing to be house wives. I think it will be very interesting over the next few decades to see what happens in politics and in the corporate world.

Current music obsession of the moment: Nelli Mckay. If only I had her music outside of Pandora.

Clearly, if you are going to be awake 20 hours a day you need to function on a meal plan of 4 meals a day.

Peanut butter and honey sandwiches since Monday : 4.

Edit, 5 minutes later: I laughed for about 5 minutes straight when I read this xkcd.

I have a new found obsession with chili powder and cinnamon. Mixed together. In chili (aka midnight Pot O Beans). And in cocoa. If, at any point this week or next, you want spicy cocoa (or mocha), or a raspberry mocha, come on over.

If you can't afford to waste time, do NOT check out these links:
ESP game, Peekaboom

Home Stretch

I can't believe no one on the ASB board had heard the word wonky before. I mean, they all freaked out when I said it and made sure it went in the minutes. As in "Yeah, after a week and a half group dynamics get all wonky." Because its true. You know, in summer camp or travelling internationally together, after a week and a half, things get all weird. People start dating and breaking up left and right because you just spend that much time together.

Seeds of Peace is a really really cool program. Its basically a summer camp where they put teenagers from regions of conflict in contact with each other and basically do normal summer camp-y things together.

Thanks to Megan, she also sent me a link to this International Volunteering Conference. It sounds really cool - deadlines are December 11 so if you're interested, get it done now.

I just found out/realized that I do not have class on Friday. This means that if I survive through 8:30pm Thursday I am done until finals. Which of course start Monday at 8am.

I <3 xkcd.

A collection of randomness

So... I got splashed by a bus today. I suppose I deserved it, as it wouldn't have happened if I didn't skip my first class this morning. I just didn't feel like going. At any rate, it was cold - painfully cold. And I sulked all through class because I was wet. But I have a pretty humorous sketch in my notes, much like all of the sketches Joey does during class. Right before that my foot started to hurt right as I left the house... my foot was fine before I stepped out of the door, but right now I'm limping around pretty badly. No idea what I did. But hey, maybe an excuse to buy new shoes.

No one under fifty needs more than one basket. Baskets are a sign being old.

Its cool to read about Rachael in the DI. And (hopefully) to see our concert pull together. Its been well advertised, for sure.

"Ow" "Andrew, did you burn yourself?" "No." "Are you lying?" "Yes".

"One for me... one for charity" Hooray for baking cookies! And having time to cook. In retrospect, I should have kept a couple of cookies here, as I'm craving them now.

If anyone is interested in a classy cocktail party in Lexington for New Years, let me know. Or I might be in Urbana, we'll see.

I crave Sesame Tofu from Mandarin Wok. This is bad news. But oh so tasty.

I am ready for this semester to be over. For real. But I have a lot to take care of before then.

Hmm...

Tuesday of finals week there shall be a bucket outing. Either to see Happy Feet, Stranger than Fiction, or something else. Probably mid-afternoon. Mmmm popcorn.