Yes, Erin, I did go to Dublin - this past weekend, in fact - and an update is coming soon. Sufficient to say, I had a great time, and basically recreated Erin & Jody's summer in Dublin in miniature over the weekend. Fantasticness.
Have a good weekend, everyone!
= :)
Mar 31, 2006
Mar 30, 2006
Red Letter Day
Yesterday, I got to sleep in late, I went to go see Sigur Ros (band from Iceland), who were amazing, and I cooked my first real risotto, which was pretty damn tasty. All in all, a great day, if I say so myself.
= :)
= :)
My New Flat
Ok, it's not so "new" anymore...I've been living there since mid-January. Just thought I'd add a quick note or two about it, though.
First of all, it's clean, which is fantastic and incredibly underrated. It's so clean, it even got the rare Josephine Patrone seal of approval - hooray! I went back to my old flat last weekend and it's completely filthy. It's actually WORSE than when I was forced out in January. I have no idea how human beings live there happily. Yaay for getting out while I still could.
Second of all, my flatmates are a lot of fun. Their names are Lia, Gabrielle (Bibi), and Rafael, and they're all from Brazil, which basically translates to a lot of shouting (excited, not angry), a lot of tasty food, and people over practically every other night. It makes the flat really lively, which is nice. Still working on the whole understanding Portuguese thing, though. (My flatmates speak great English - their friends, not so much).
Lastly, it's cozy, which is also wonderful. It's pretty tiny, but my bedroom's big enough and the kitchen is well-equipped and has a gas stove - yaay! (If you know me at all, you'll understand how happy a clean, well-appointed kitchen can make me.)
So that's about it. A fairly boring post, but no more complaining about how I never post messages anymore. That means you, Nic.
And Erin.
And Barb.
= :)
First of all, it's clean, which is fantastic and incredibly underrated. It's so clean, it even got the rare Josephine Patrone seal of approval - hooray! I went back to my old flat last weekend and it's completely filthy. It's actually WORSE than when I was forced out in January. I have no idea how human beings live there happily. Yaay for getting out while I still could.
Second of all, my flatmates are a lot of fun. Their names are Lia, Gabrielle (Bibi), and Rafael, and they're all from Brazil, which basically translates to a lot of shouting (excited, not angry), a lot of tasty food, and people over practically every other night. It makes the flat really lively, which is nice. Still working on the whole understanding Portuguese thing, though. (My flatmates speak great English - their friends, not so much).
Lastly, it's cozy, which is also wonderful. It's pretty tiny, but my bedroom's big enough and the kitchen is well-equipped and has a gas stove - yaay! (If you know me at all, you'll understand how happy a clean, well-appointed kitchen can make me.)
So that's about it. A fairly boring post, but no more complaining about how I never post messages anymore. That means you, Nic.
And Erin.
And Barb.
= :)
Mar 20, 2006
More sadness...
I am surrounded by death.
My condensating window - damn you, poorly insulated flat! - created a giant puddle on my windowsill, which my cell phone was unfortunately sitting in the middle of when I woke up Sunday morning. Boo.
My phone is now completely unresponsive, leaving me with absolutely no means of contacting anyone. Not like I'd even know their numbers, even if I tried.
Ah, the trials of my life!
= :(
My condensating window - damn you, poorly insulated flat! - created a giant puddle on my windowsill, which my cell phone was unfortunately sitting in the middle of when I woke up Sunday morning. Boo.
My phone is now completely unresponsive, leaving me with absolutely no means of contacting anyone. Not like I'd even know their numbers, even if I tried.
Ah, the trials of my life!
= :(
Mar 16, 2006
Sick, Sick, Sick
I am sick of being sick. I've had an awful cold for over a week now, and it shows no sign of disappearing. As does winter, for that matter. We were teased with a couple 50 degree days, but now it's back to the dreary 30-40 degree weather. I might just give up going to grad school and emigrate to Brazil at this point. Grr.
= :(
= :(
Mar 15, 2006
Sadness
My Ipod is totally dead. The battery holds a charge for an hour or so, tops. New battery = £30 and the possibility of killing it more. Replacement Ipod = £70. Anne = poor. And sad. And musicless. I have lost my transportable groove. Mourn with me.
= :(
= :(
Mar 10, 2006
Spain pics!
You've read the entries - now you can see the pictures. Check them out, in all their majesty...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=u54fr1b.6kv30ogn&x=1&y=plvfzv
= :)
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=u54fr1b.6kv30ogn&x=1&y=plvfzv
= :)
Mar 9, 2006
Seville - Somewhat crunchy as well
continuing from part 1 - see below...
After relying on good old Let’s Go for our trip to Seville, we got degamed yet again. Apparently the researcher for the city hadn’t actually done much research, since they neglected to mention that the city had not one but two train stations, the second of which we arrived at. Luckily, Venu’s Spanish saved the day again, and we were able to get to our guesthouse.
Our guesthouse. Relying on LG again (silly, silly people), we decided on Pension Vergara, singled out with the coveted “thumbpick” (the best rating an establishment can earn) for its “elegant rooms…with lace bedspreads.” If your ideal hotel values frilly pink sheets before hot water and a bed longer than 4 feet, than Pension Vergara is definitely for you. It also didn’t really have heat, which was great. Whenever we returned to our room, we would huddle around the portable heater for warmth. In short, Pension Vergara = crunchy.
Sadly, Venu’s language skills couldn’t actually save us from missing out on one of the two only big attractions in Seville. We were planning on seeing the ( ), with its Moorish architecture and supposedly magnificent gardens. However, someone at LG Spain (damn you, cursed book!), decided that a closing time of 15:00 must mean 5pm. Degamed again.
So we wandered in the rain and saw the cathedral, which is the third largest in the world (after St. Peter’s in Rome and St. Paul’s in London) and pretty impressive. It’s free on Sundays, but I decided to overcompensate for not having learned a single thing about the Alhambra by getting a 3-euro audio guide. Big mistake. Those things are heavy, unwieldy, and most importantly, mind-numbingly boring. But the climb up the tower compensated a bit for that degaming – the sun came out for the only 5 minutes of the day to reveal the city…which was generally unimpressive, but still pretty cool looking from up in the air. We also caught a glimpse of the castle we were shut out of.
We wandered the city, only to find that almost every single store was closed. I mean, I know this is a Catholic country, but COME ON. At least we managed to stake out the 4 (count ‘em, 4) Zaras within a two block radius. Fantastic.
More rainy wandering led us to Seville’s bullring. Now, I’m sure this city is gorgeous in the sun, but grey rain doesn’t really suit it. We ducked into the bullring to mainly attempt to get shelter from the rain, and managed to catch a free tour. Now, I’m sure Seville’s natives hate the winter as much as the tourists do. How do I know this? Because our tour guide looked uniformly bored/uncomfortable the entire time. I’m sure an audio guide would have more emotion. And she resented us for having to give the tour in both Spanish and English, even though there were only 6 people on the tour, including us. Now, Venu and I were going to battle our way through the Spanish tour, but some Italian tourists insisted they wanted English. Fine. But then they completely sold us out, listening only to the Spanish one and making us look like the dumb Americans. Thanks, Italian people.
Monday morning dawned sunny and (fairly) warm, and we made the most of it by spending time inside the city center’s many Zaras. I bought sooo many clothes. And spent very little money. I love A) good exchange rates B) January sales. Venu, on the other hand, wasn’t really happy with the one small men’s store in the center – so unhappy that he practically jumped out of the airport bus when he saw a huge men’s Zara out in the suburbs. We finally arrived at the airport, frantically stuffed our twelve million Zara bags into Venu’s duffel bag, grabbed one last Coke Light (So good. Not at ALL like Diet Coke. Yummy.) for the road, and each got an “Adios” from the flight attendant on our way to the plane (the British woman ahead of us got a “Goodbye”). Score. And….goodbye, Spain.
And despite the largely negative tone of this email, I had the greatest time on this vacation. Sure, the weather was freezing and wet. Sure, we got absolutely no sleep. Sure, we missed half the attractions. But Venu and I are such good travel buddies, none of it mattered. We laughed it all off, drowned our sorrows in Zara, and good times were had by all. So, to recap, the highlights. Crunchy, “your card is damage,” “el palacio de los gatos,” degamed, frilly pink bedspreads, “Bueno Dia!!” and our best friend, Zara.
Basically, Spain is awesome.
= :)
(co-authored by Venu)
Glossary (in case you missed it the first time):
“crunchy” – Unsuitable, not up to standard. Synonyms: ghetto, sketchy, bootleg, wack.
“degamed” – a derivative of the acronym “GAME.” To be "degamed", therefore, is either 1) to attempt to gain a benefit and be rejected or, worse yet, 2) to be rejected or disadvantaged at random, purely due to bad luck. Synonyms: to get screwed over, to be played
After relying on good old Let’s Go for our trip to Seville, we got degamed yet again. Apparently the researcher for the city hadn’t actually done much research, since they neglected to mention that the city had not one but two train stations, the second of which we arrived at. Luckily, Venu’s Spanish saved the day again, and we were able to get to our guesthouse.
Our guesthouse. Relying on LG again (silly, silly people), we decided on Pension Vergara, singled out with the coveted “thumbpick” (the best rating an establishment can earn) for its “elegant rooms…with lace bedspreads.” If your ideal hotel values frilly pink sheets before hot water and a bed longer than 4 feet, than Pension Vergara is definitely for you. It also didn’t really have heat, which was great. Whenever we returned to our room, we would huddle around the portable heater for warmth. In short, Pension Vergara = crunchy.
Sadly, Venu’s language skills couldn’t actually save us from missing out on one of the two only big attractions in Seville. We were planning on seeing the ( ), with its Moorish architecture and supposedly magnificent gardens. However, someone at LG Spain (damn you, cursed book!), decided that a closing time of 15:00 must mean 5pm. Degamed again.
So we wandered in the rain and saw the cathedral, which is the third largest in the world (after St. Peter’s in Rome and St. Paul’s in London) and pretty impressive. It’s free on Sundays, but I decided to overcompensate for not having learned a single thing about the Alhambra by getting a 3-euro audio guide. Big mistake. Those things are heavy, unwieldy, and most importantly, mind-numbingly boring. But the climb up the tower compensated a bit for that degaming – the sun came out for the only 5 minutes of the day to reveal the city…which was generally unimpressive, but still pretty cool looking from up in the air. We also caught a glimpse of the castle we were shut out of.
We wandered the city, only to find that almost every single store was closed. I mean, I know this is a Catholic country, but COME ON. At least we managed to stake out the 4 (count ‘em, 4) Zaras within a two block radius. Fantastic.
More rainy wandering led us to Seville’s bullring. Now, I’m sure this city is gorgeous in the sun, but grey rain doesn’t really suit it. We ducked into the bullring to mainly attempt to get shelter from the rain, and managed to catch a free tour. Now, I’m sure Seville’s natives hate the winter as much as the tourists do. How do I know this? Because our tour guide looked uniformly bored/uncomfortable the entire time. I’m sure an audio guide would have more emotion. And she resented us for having to give the tour in both Spanish and English, even though there were only 6 people on the tour, including us. Now, Venu and I were going to battle our way through the Spanish tour, but some Italian tourists insisted they wanted English. Fine. But then they completely sold us out, listening only to the Spanish one and making us look like the dumb Americans. Thanks, Italian people.
Monday morning dawned sunny and (fairly) warm, and we made the most of it by spending time inside the city center’s many Zaras. I bought sooo many clothes. And spent very little money. I love A) good exchange rates B) January sales. Venu, on the other hand, wasn’t really happy with the one small men’s store in the center – so unhappy that he practically jumped out of the airport bus when he saw a huge men’s Zara out in the suburbs. We finally arrived at the airport, frantically stuffed our twelve million Zara bags into Venu’s duffel bag, grabbed one last Coke Light (So good. Not at ALL like Diet Coke. Yummy.) for the road, and each got an “Adios” from the flight attendant on our way to the plane (the British woman ahead of us got a “Goodbye”). Score. And….goodbye, Spain.
And despite the largely negative tone of this email, I had the greatest time on this vacation. Sure, the weather was freezing and wet. Sure, we got absolutely no sleep. Sure, we missed half the attractions. But Venu and I are such good travel buddies, none of it mattered. We laughed it all off, drowned our sorrows in Zara, and good times were had by all. So, to recap, the highlights. Crunchy, “your card is damage,” “el palacio de los gatos,” degamed, frilly pink bedspreads, “Bueno Dia!!” and our best friend, Zara.
Basically, Spain is awesome.
= :)
(co-authored by Venu)
Glossary (in case you missed it the first time):
“crunchy” – Unsuitable, not up to standard. Synonyms: ghetto, sketchy, bootleg, wack.
“degamed” – a derivative of the acronym “GAME.” To be "degamed", therefore, is either 1) to attempt to gain a benefit and be rejected or, worse yet, 2) to be rejected or disadvantaged at random, purely due to bad luck. Synonyms: to get screwed over, to be played
Mar 8, 2006
Terry Jones is funnier than me...
...which is why I'm posting his article from The Guardian. Enjoy.
= :)
God: I've lost faith in Blair
All the signs are that the Almighty is unhappy about efforts to implicate Him in the attack on Iraq
Terry Jones
Wednesday March 8, 2006
The Guardian
A high-level leak has revealed that God is "furious" at Tony Blair's attempts to implicate him in the bombing of Iraq. Sources close to the archangel Gabriel report him as describing the Almighty as "hopping mad ... with sanctimonious yet unscrupulous politicians claiming He would condone their bestial activities when He has no way of going public Himself, owing to the MMW agreement" (a reference to the long-established Moving in Mysterious Ways concordat).
Mr Blair went public about God on Michael Parkinson's TV show. "If you have faith about these things," he said, "then you realise that judgment is made by other people. If you believe in God, it's made by God as well." As is customary with Mr Blair's statements, it's rather hard to tease out what he is actually saying; but the gist is clearly that if God didn't actually tell him to bomb Iraq, then the Almighty would certainly agree it was the right thing to do.
"If Tony Blair thinks his friendship with George W Bush is worth rubbing out a couple of hundred thousand Iraqi men, women and children, then that's something he can talk over with me later," said God. "But when he starts publicly claiming that's the way I do the arithmetic too, it's time I put my foot down!" It is well known that God has a very big foot.
A source says Gabriel has spent days trying to dissuade the Almighty from loosing a plague of toads upon the Blair family. Gabriel reminded God that Cherie and the children had nothing to do with Tony's decisions. God's response, it is reliably reported, was: "Blair says the Iraqis are lucky to have got bombed, so how can he complain if his family gets a few toads in the bath?"
The archangel is said to be ticked off with God's ability to provide glib answers without even thinking.
What has particularly incensed the Almighty is that Mr Blair made the claim on the Parkinson show. "If he'd done it on Richard and Judy I could have forgiven a lot," He is reported to have said.
The archangel reported that the Almighty has become increasingly irritated with the vogue for politicians to claim that He is behind their policies - especially if these involve killing large numbers of humans. According to Gabriel, God spake these words: "That George W Bush once had the nerve to say: 'God told me to go end the tyranny in Iraq, and I did.' Well, let me tell you I did no such thing! If I'd wanted to get rid of Saddam Hussein, I could have given him pneumonia. I didn't need the president of the United States to send in hundreds of heavy bombers and thousands of missiles to destroy Iraq - even though I appreciate that Halliburton needed to fill its order books."
"How do Bush and Blair think it makes me look to all those parents who have lost sons and daughters in this grubby business? Don't they know that the Muslims they're taking out worship the same Me that they do? It's a public relations disaster that ought to set Christianity back hundreds of years. Though knowing the fundamentalists, it'll probably have the reverse effect."
The archangel further revealed that he had been advised by no less a person than Alastair Campbell to warn God to keep out of politics. "But it's hard to get God to do anything He doesn't want to," sighed the archangel. "It's all to do with what He calls 'free will', though a lot of us have a problem working that one out, since He's omnipotent and omniscient."
God, the archangel says, is also disturbed by Mr Blair's remark that while religious beliefs might colour his politics, "it's best not to take it too far".
"How would he like it if I went round claiming that he gave me his full backing when I sent the tsunami last year?"
· Terry Jones is a film director, actor and Python
= :)
God: I've lost faith in Blair
All the signs are that the Almighty is unhappy about efforts to implicate Him in the attack on Iraq
Terry Jones
Wednesday March 8, 2006
The Guardian
A high-level leak has revealed that God is "furious" at Tony Blair's attempts to implicate him in the bombing of Iraq. Sources close to the archangel Gabriel report him as describing the Almighty as "hopping mad ... with sanctimonious yet unscrupulous politicians claiming He would condone their bestial activities when He has no way of going public Himself, owing to the MMW agreement" (a reference to the long-established Moving in Mysterious Ways concordat).
Mr Blair went public about God on Michael Parkinson's TV show. "If you have faith about these things," he said, "then you realise that judgment is made by other people. If you believe in God, it's made by God as well." As is customary with Mr Blair's statements, it's rather hard to tease out what he is actually saying; but the gist is clearly that if God didn't actually tell him to bomb Iraq, then the Almighty would certainly agree it was the right thing to do.
"If Tony Blair thinks his friendship with George W Bush is worth rubbing out a couple of hundred thousand Iraqi men, women and children, then that's something he can talk over with me later," said God. "But when he starts publicly claiming that's the way I do the arithmetic too, it's time I put my foot down!" It is well known that God has a very big foot.
A source says Gabriel has spent days trying to dissuade the Almighty from loosing a plague of toads upon the Blair family. Gabriel reminded God that Cherie and the children had nothing to do with Tony's decisions. God's response, it is reliably reported, was: "Blair says the Iraqis are lucky to have got bombed, so how can he complain if his family gets a few toads in the bath?"
The archangel is said to be ticked off with God's ability to provide glib answers without even thinking.
What has particularly incensed the Almighty is that Mr Blair made the claim on the Parkinson show. "If he'd done it on Richard and Judy I could have forgiven a lot," He is reported to have said.
The archangel reported that the Almighty has become increasingly irritated with the vogue for politicians to claim that He is behind their policies - especially if these involve killing large numbers of humans. According to Gabriel, God spake these words: "That George W Bush once had the nerve to say: 'God told me to go end the tyranny in Iraq, and I did.' Well, let me tell you I did no such thing! If I'd wanted to get rid of Saddam Hussein, I could have given him pneumonia. I didn't need the president of the United States to send in hundreds of heavy bombers and thousands of missiles to destroy Iraq - even though I appreciate that Halliburton needed to fill its order books."
"How do Bush and Blair think it makes me look to all those parents who have lost sons and daughters in this grubby business? Don't they know that the Muslims they're taking out worship the same Me that they do? It's a public relations disaster that ought to set Christianity back hundreds of years. Though knowing the fundamentalists, it'll probably have the reverse effect."
The archangel further revealed that he had been advised by no less a person than Alastair Campbell to warn God to keep out of politics. "But it's hard to get God to do anything He doesn't want to," sighed the archangel. "It's all to do with what He calls 'free will', though a lot of us have a problem working that one out, since He's omnipotent and omniscient."
God, the archangel says, is also disturbed by Mr Blair's remark that while religious beliefs might colour his politics, "it's best not to take it too far".
"How would he like it if I went round claiming that he gave me his full backing when I sent the tsunami last year?"
· Terry Jones is a film director, actor and Python
Mar 7, 2006
Spain, Part I: Grenada - cute or crunchy?
So a couple weeks ago, my friend Venu and I took a trip to Grenada and Seville in Spain. We had such a great time that we decided to share it with everyone else. Apologies for the length…skip down if you’d like!
After a relatively uneventful flight on crunchy (see glossary) budget airline Ryan Air, we landed in Grenada. Yaay, Spain! Yaay, 6 degrees Celsius! Well, I guess that’s all we could expect for a trip during January – taken for the express purpose of some serious January sale shopping away from the rabid London crowds…and some sightseeing, of course.
When we got off the bus from the airport, the first thing we decided to do was get some money out of the ATM. When Venu gave it a try, it let him request the amount of money he wanted, only to reply, “Your card is damage.” Uh oh. I suggested we try across the street instead, where Venu frantically withdrew the rest of his account before the other machine could start embezzling from him. First 5 minutes in Grenada and already degamed (see glossary).
Our hotel was actually pretty nice – they gave us a room with a balcony, which was an absolutely useless amenity in the middle of January, but whatever. We wandered around the city that night, which didn’t actually take too long, because Grenada’s city center is tiny. Also, Spanish people must have the most amazing stamina in the world. They leave the house to go OUT at 11 or 12. Crazy, crazy, partying Spaniards.
Despite our late night out on the town, we made sure to get up super-early the next morning after numerous warnings about gigantic lines at the Alhambra. We thought, hmm, it’s January and freezing and not quite the high season for tourists, but my co-worker, the guidebook, and the guy who works at the hotel can’t ALL be wrong. Right?
We tried to wake ourselves up at the local coffeehouse, which was also not coincidentally the only thing open at 7:30 in the morning. This is where we started to notice the completely busted Spanish pronunciation. Like using “bueno dia” for “Buenos dios,” and “adio” for “adios.” And so on. This was also the beginning of my café con leche addiction. I had one or two more that day, and at least one per day the rest of the trip. And I don’t even LIKE coffee. That stuff was good. Mmmmm. (what, did you think we’d get through a whole entry without me mentioning anything remotely food-related? Come on.)
So we take the bus ride up to the Alhambra (IN THE DARK. It was still dark. That’s how disgustingly early we were), only to arrive at the ticket office to find that there was no gigantic line. In fact, there was no line at all. I think it was us, about 5 other tourists, and some stray cats (more on that later). And maybe 2 more people came up the hill in the 20 minutes before the office opened. Degamed again.
So we get into the Alhambra and start wandering the grounds. First we go into the Palace of Charles V (this bizarrely incongruous Renaissance-style building with a circular courtyard), and since we’re not scheduled to enter the other palace just yet, decide to take a better look from the second level, where Venu promptly got attached by a crunchy swarm of birds that were nesting on top of the columns. We moved onto the next palace, which was gorgeous. However, the Spanish seem unconcerned about explaining things, as there were absolutely no labels or plaques anywhere in the palace. Those audio guides are always useless…except for today, I suppose. Degamed. Boo. The Alhambra also has an abnormal amount of stray cats, prompting us to rename it El Palacio de los Gatos.
When we finished with the Alhambra, it was only 1pm or something because we had gotten up so ridiculously early, so we decided to spend the rest of the day shopping. (the real purpose of this trip – let’s be honest). After climbing to the top of the windy little old Moorish neighborhood to see a view of the Alhambra, we were degamed yet again, as the gorgeous and huge mountains behind them were completely hidden by clouds. Sob. I think that seeing the mountains was actually Venu’s only goal for Grenada. Double degamed. And the bus in the morning that said it was headed to the train station? Not actually going to the station. Degamed, degamed, and degamed.
Stay tuned for Part II, in which our heroes head to Seville, and are most likely get degamed. Again.
= :)
(co-authored by Venu)
Glossary:
“crunchy” – Unsuitable, not up to standard. Synonyms: ghetto, sketchy, bootleg, wack.
“degamed” – a derivative of the acronym “GAME,” commonly used by business consultants. “GAME” stands for Goal, Audience, Message, _Expression and serves to remind consultants of what to think about when attempting to convince a client of something. To be "degamed", therefore, is either 1) to attempt to gain a benefit and be rejected or, worse yet, 2) to be rejected or disadvantaged at random, purely due to bad luck. Synonyms: to get screwed over, to be played
After a relatively uneventful flight on crunchy (see glossary) budget airline Ryan Air, we landed in Grenada. Yaay, Spain! Yaay, 6 degrees Celsius! Well, I guess that’s all we could expect for a trip during January – taken for the express purpose of some serious January sale shopping away from the rabid London crowds…and some sightseeing, of course.
When we got off the bus from the airport, the first thing we decided to do was get some money out of the ATM. When Venu gave it a try, it let him request the amount of money he wanted, only to reply, “Your card is damage.” Uh oh. I suggested we try across the street instead, where Venu frantically withdrew the rest of his account before the other machine could start embezzling from him. First 5 minutes in Grenada and already degamed (see glossary).
Our hotel was actually pretty nice – they gave us a room with a balcony, which was an absolutely useless amenity in the middle of January, but whatever. We wandered around the city that night, which didn’t actually take too long, because Grenada’s city center is tiny. Also, Spanish people must have the most amazing stamina in the world. They leave the house to go OUT at 11 or 12. Crazy, crazy, partying Spaniards.
Despite our late night out on the town, we made sure to get up super-early the next morning after numerous warnings about gigantic lines at the Alhambra. We thought, hmm, it’s January and freezing and not quite the high season for tourists, but my co-worker, the guidebook, and the guy who works at the hotel can’t ALL be wrong. Right?
We tried to wake ourselves up at the local coffeehouse, which was also not coincidentally the only thing open at 7:30 in the morning. This is where we started to notice the completely busted Spanish pronunciation. Like using “bueno dia” for “Buenos dios,” and “adio” for “adios.” And so on. This was also the beginning of my café con leche addiction. I had one or two more that day, and at least one per day the rest of the trip. And I don’t even LIKE coffee. That stuff was good. Mmmmm. (what, did you think we’d get through a whole entry without me mentioning anything remotely food-related? Come on.)
So we take the bus ride up to the Alhambra (IN THE DARK. It was still dark. That’s how disgustingly early we were), only to arrive at the ticket office to find that there was no gigantic line. In fact, there was no line at all. I think it was us, about 5 other tourists, and some stray cats (more on that later). And maybe 2 more people came up the hill in the 20 minutes before the office opened. Degamed again.
So we get into the Alhambra and start wandering the grounds. First we go into the Palace of Charles V (this bizarrely incongruous Renaissance-style building with a circular courtyard), and since we’re not scheduled to enter the other palace just yet, decide to take a better look from the second level, where Venu promptly got attached by a crunchy swarm of birds that were nesting on top of the columns. We moved onto the next palace, which was gorgeous. However, the Spanish seem unconcerned about explaining things, as there were absolutely no labels or plaques anywhere in the palace. Those audio guides are always useless…except for today, I suppose. Degamed. Boo. The Alhambra also has an abnormal amount of stray cats, prompting us to rename it El Palacio de los Gatos.
When we finished with the Alhambra, it was only 1pm or something because we had gotten up so ridiculously early, so we decided to spend the rest of the day shopping. (the real purpose of this trip – let’s be honest). After climbing to the top of the windy little old Moorish neighborhood to see a view of the Alhambra, we were degamed yet again, as the gorgeous and huge mountains behind them were completely hidden by clouds. Sob. I think that seeing the mountains was actually Venu’s only goal for Grenada. Double degamed. And the bus in the morning that said it was headed to the train station? Not actually going to the station. Degamed, degamed, and degamed.
Stay tuned for Part II, in which our heroes head to Seville, and are most likely get degamed. Again.
= :)
(co-authored by Venu)
Glossary:
“crunchy” – Unsuitable, not up to standard. Synonyms: ghetto, sketchy, bootleg, wack.
“degamed” – a derivative of the acronym “GAME,” commonly used by business consultants. “GAME” stands for Goal, Audience, Message, _Expression and serves to remind consultants of what to think about when attempting to convince a client of something. To be "degamed", therefore, is either 1) to attempt to gain a benefit and be rejected or, worse yet, 2) to be rejected or disadvantaged at random, purely due to bad luck. Synonyms: to get screwed over, to be played
Longest Post EVER...No, I really mean it.
Hey everyone...I'm about to post my blog from Spain. I might actually divide it into a couple parts, in order to make it more readable. And more fun, like a serial. That, and I have nothing else to say...at least for now. Oh, except that the Noisettes are super-fantastic. If you can, go see them - they're going to the States for a bit later this month. I have a giant girl-crush on the lead singer. She rocks my world.
www.thenoisettes.com
Go. Click on it. You know you want to.
Spain forthcoming....
= :)
www.thenoisettes.com
Go. Click on it. You know you want to.
Spain forthcoming....
= :)
Mar 3, 2006
Parents and London - Worlds Collide!
So my parents came to stay last week, which was lovely, despite the title of this post. Not quite ready with the update yet, though, so here are some pics my dad took. Please ignore the last few ugly ones of me.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=17oliurz.7q0ce4vj&x=0&y=262v85
= :)
P.S. Nic requests that everyone ignore him in the pictures, too. :P
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=17oliurz.7q0ce4vj&x=0&y=262v85
= :)
P.S. Nic requests that everyone ignore him in the pictures, too. :P
Mar 1, 2006
Pancake Day!
Yesterday (the day we normally would call Mardi Gras) was Pancake Day here in the UK, and I had some exceptionally tasty pancakes. This should become an American tradition, too. Along with the beads and the flashing and the rampant drunkenness. That is all.
= :)
= :)
Hipster or Emo Kid? You Decide.
So I know I've been pretty lax with the updating lately. I have a trip to Spain to recap, as well as the week my parents were here. But for now, I'm just going to entertain everyone with stories of my concert-going exploits.
A couple weeks ago I went to see Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, the latest hipster-of-the-month band to come out of New York. They actually surprised me and lived up to the hype, though - they were fantastic in concert. The supporting act wasn't bad, either - and had the completely entertaining name of "Dr. Dog." Awesome. I also finally figured out where all the hipsters in London were hiding - it seems like they came out en masse for this show. And more importantly, they decorated the stage with balloons. And I got one after the concert. Yippee.
Last night I indulged in a guilty (guilty, guilty) pleasure and went to go see Death Cab for Cutie. Great show - I didn't think they would be so good in concert - but some points for contemplation. A. I was probably the oldest person at the concert. B. I found myself in a minority for not having messy-looking yet meticulously styled black-dyed hair. C. I did not look like: 1. Seth Cohen or 2. My sister's ex-boyfriend (jerkface). And yet, I still enjoyed the show. More specifically, I enjoyed the show but received even greater joy from watching the skinny, pale teenage boys around me shake their fists in the air, nod their heads meaningfully in time with the music, and sing their little hearts out. Especially the three in front of me who kept shouting lyrics to one another, jumping up and down, and hugging. I don't think little girls at an N'Sync concert could have been more excited.
So yeah, those are my concerts. Judge as you may, but I still have Sigur Ros, the Noisettes, 65 Days of Static, and We Are Scientists later this month. Eclecticism. Gotta love it.
= :)
A couple weeks ago I went to see Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, the latest hipster-of-the-month band to come out of New York. They actually surprised me and lived up to the hype, though - they were fantastic in concert. The supporting act wasn't bad, either - and had the completely entertaining name of "Dr. Dog." Awesome. I also finally figured out where all the hipsters in London were hiding - it seems like they came out en masse for this show. And more importantly, they decorated the stage with balloons. And I got one after the concert. Yippee.
Last night I indulged in a guilty (guilty, guilty) pleasure and went to go see Death Cab for Cutie. Great show - I didn't think they would be so good in concert - but some points for contemplation. A. I was probably the oldest person at the concert. B. I found myself in a minority for not having messy-looking yet meticulously styled black-dyed hair. C. I did not look like: 1. Seth Cohen or 2. My sister's ex-boyfriend (jerkface). And yet, I still enjoyed the show. More specifically, I enjoyed the show but received even greater joy from watching the skinny, pale teenage boys around me shake their fists in the air, nod their heads meaningfully in time with the music, and sing their little hearts out. Especially the three in front of me who kept shouting lyrics to one another, jumping up and down, and hugging. I don't think little girls at an N'Sync concert could have been more excited.
So yeah, those are my concerts. Judge as you may, but I still have Sigur Ros, the Noisettes, 65 Days of Static, and We Are Scientists later this month. Eclecticism. Gotta love it.
= :)
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