Major Update!

Hey everyone!  I just wanted to let you know that I set up Wordpress on my site today and I imported all of this blog.  From now on, I’ll be updating my blog on my site, http://www.creepyed.com!

So please check it out and I’ll see you there!

8/15/09

It’s back to school time…on tv, in stores, at work.  There’s this Wal-Mart commercial that features parents moving their children into a dorm room.  Somehow, they have completely out-fitted the dorm room with stuff from Wal-Mart.  This made me think of two things.

1. Dorm rooms don’t actually look like that.  Things never stay clean, neat, and organized.  Dorm room lies.
2. Dorm rooms are awful to live in.  You have to put your bedroom, living room, and office all in a small space.  I’m so happy that last year I got to live in a house!  I was able to have my desk, living space, and bed in different rooms!  It’s so nice to spread out amongst rooms, to which my former roommates can attest.  I love my condo because I have a room for my bed, my wardrobe (seriously, my closet is like a room!), TV and living space, and my desk/office.  Oh and a kitchen!  I have a kitchen and dorm rooms don’t have kitchens.  Main point here: dorm rooms are icky because you have to cram three/four rooms into one!

It’s so odd to not be going back to school, especially when it’s everywhere!  I think I’m glad to finished with my undergraduate degree and in the real world.  Although, it’s true that the grass is always greener on the other side!  Now I want to be able to make my own schedule again so I can do my work between the hours of noon and 3 am.  Of course when I was in school all I wanted was to work during the day and come home at night to my fabulous extra-curricular activities, many of which I have yet to establish.  Now the only choice I have left is graduate school, which will consist of the worst of both worlds.  Someday I will be ready for it, but not quite!

8/9/09, cont’d

I forgot to mention, I just saw this post at Lifehacker about How to Work a Crowd. It’s an Ignite Talk, which means it’s awesome. OK, really it means that the speaker talks about something he/she is passionate about. He/she has 5 minutes and is limited to 20 PowerPoint slides which advance every 15 seconds. These talks are the coolest thing! I watched one about Legos that someone recommended to me. Anyway, check out this video because it has some awesome tips!

8/9/09

I LOVE salsa. Absolutely love it! Had you asked me earlier in the day, I might have said I love salsa. Notice the difference? The first one is all caps. I know, I know, I’m subtle. Let’s talk about my salsa life for a post. On Thursday, I went to La Rumba in downtown Denver. It was super fun! It was my first time out dancing in Denver and I met some nice people and some great dancers. I had heard about a place called Fusion for Friday, but when I looked it up online, I couldn’t find it! The only description I could find was Downtown Denver, which didn’t exactly help me out. I looked up some other places to go on Friday and I went to Opal Restaurant and Blue Ice. Both were supremely lame. I was wholly unimpressed. On Saturday night, I returned to La Rumba because I heard there was a live band on Saturdays. Unfortunately, Saturdays are not like Thursdays. Again, I was salsa disappointed. On Thursday, I had heard from more than one person that the place to be on Sunday night was a club on the north side called DNote. So, tonight I went and checked it out. It was amazing and so much fun! I should be in bed or taking a shower so I can get into bed, but my night was so awesome that I had to share it with you, loyal reader! I saw a couple of people that I saw on Thursday and I really like those people! Plus, it made me feel like I have friends, here, in Denver. Isn’t that exciting?!? One is a man I met on Thursday, who DJs part-time and he introduced me to a dancer who introduced me to another fun dancer tonight! I’m salsa networking, this is fabulous!! And I met a woman who just moved here too! Although she moved from Salt Lake, not quite as far as Indiana, but still, super, right?

I just needed to express how happy I am that tonight was a good night and that I saw people I know which gave me warm fuzzies. *Sigh*

8/8/09

This week was my first three day weekend. It has been great! Thursday night I went out salsa dancing at La Rumba. *Sigh* I love to dance! So far, Denver has a pretty good scene.

Today was the Aflac Iron Girl 5K. I got up early and went for a 3.1 mile run. And I ran the whole thing, which was my goal! Any sort of training was derailed be traveling and conferences, so I wasn’t sure if I would last 3.1 miles at all. But it was really fun (ok, maybe not at mile marker 2.3) and if you get a chance to do an Iron Girl event, I would highly recommend it! I’ll post pictures of all the stuff I got from it soon. I got to meet up with Karen again. I met Karen at the Pre-Race Clinic on Thursday evening at the Boulder Running Company in Littleton. As it turns out, she does triathlons. I would love to do a triathlon (you know, one of those life dreams), which I told her, and it looks I might start training for one! Although I don’t which one, but that can determined later. Apparently there’s talk of Iron Girl doing a tri in Denver, so that would be pretty cool.

This afternoon, I went to see Julie & Julia. It was quite fun! Of course, after watching that, I’m even more aware that my kitchen is in complete disarray and that I haven’t cooked anything in months. The closest I’ve come to cooking something is boiling raviolis and steaming frozen peas. I guess I just don’t understand how people have full-time jobs and then come home and cook an elaborate meal. Perhaps they are super-organized, which I am not. Who knows?

As an after thought, I’m experimenting with tags, so please be patient while I figure it out since it’s not really easy in Live Writer. I wonder when it will come out of Beta…

Update: 8/1/09

This should be a nice update of everything that’s been going on.  Well, perhaps not as thorough as it could be, but maybe a nice overview.  I think this post might be lengthy; I thought about separating this post into multiple posts, but decided not to!  I have, at least, tried to break it up into sections.
Colorado Perceptions
Fun times here in Colorado.  It’s been rainy, which apparently isn’t normal.  I love rain, so that’s alright, plus the temperatures have been quite enjoyable.  Right now, I live in Lakewood and I work in Boulder.  This means I drive about 50 minutes to and from work.  In my 50 minutes on the road, I’ve noticed that there are a lot of bikers!  Driving home in Boulder yesterday, I saw 11 bikers and 7 mountain bikers on trails.  I obviously need to step up my biking game.  And by step up, I mean, put air in my back tire.  And I think I need to fix the chain, something’s off.
Roads are different here.  Or at least road signs are.  The signs for state roads and interstates are much more helpful here than IN.  The signs tell you which lane you need to be in for each direction, dead useful.  It might be the fact that I’m driving almost two hours a day, but everything seems farther away here.  I haven’t had much time to explore downtown, where I assume things are much closer.  This is my first weekend here, and I’ve decided to wile it away by unpacking and taking advantage of the Gap and Banana Republic Friends and Family discount.  Can you really ever have enough business casual clothes, especially when that’s what you wear to work?  Exactly, I think not!
You, loyal reader (one of the four), may have followed my Twitter/Facebook updates and therefore, you are aware that I live close to a neighborhood of ranchettes.  Seriously, they’re like little castles, just down the street.  With horses!  And a zillion-car garages. That’s about all I’ve done as far as neighborhood exploration.  I suppose I also know where a SuperTarget and Panera are too.
Conferences
The past month I’ve spent quite a bit of time at conferences, which I love!  I love meeting people and attempting to follow-up with them.  Most recently, I went to the BlogHer Conference in Chicago and the Microsoft Worldwide Partner’s Conference (WPC) in New Orleans.  Going to both of these conferences makes me realize that I just don’t have enough time.  At WPC, I worked with Microsoft Students 2 Business, which provides training to students in Microsoft technologies.  I wish I had time to do the training, since a lot of it is stuff I want to know.  Really, I wish I had taken advantage of MS2B while I was still a student.
When I went to BlogHer I met lots of amazing women!  It quite enlightening for me.  Ever since interviewing Elisa Camahort Page, one of the co-founders of BlogHer, for Ed & Ashley’s 5 Minute Show for being awarded the 2008 Anita Borg Social Impact Award at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, I’ve been very supportive of it!  Going to the conference was great!  Although it did make me realize that I am sorely lacking in my own blogging department.  It also made me wonder if I want to do some different things with my blog.  Maybe do a couple of travel posts, since that’s one of my true loves, and maybe some food posts on the topic of cooking for one when you lack general culinary skills.  Of course, those would still be along with my personal posts, which I know have you sitting on the edge of your chair.  Feel free to share any thoughts you have about this with me.  Perhaps after I get into more of a life-rhythm and unpacked, I can start writing on a more regular basis, which I think would be nice.
My Laptop
Briefly, let’s discuss my laptop.  It’s a Dell piece of shit.  I thoroughly dislike it right now.  It has heated up to flesh-burning temperatures.  I need a new machine and I need one very soon.  I have no space left on my hard drive and I don’t have much space on my external hard drive.  This means I can’t do anything for the show and I don’t have some of the video that I need for the show, which is very upsetting.  Anyway, any thoughts on what I should do as far as a new machine?  Should I go with a desktop option and get a netbook for portability or get a powerful laptop?  I kind of like the idea of a netbook, but at the same time (the Palm Pre commercials with the girl from the Disney channel move Step-Sister from Planet Weird creeps me out) would I be shuffling all of my stuff between two machines and how would I feel about that?  Right then.

7/28/09

Today was my second day of work.  I’m being kicked out of Panera, so I’ll write something soon.  I just some sort of documentation that I’m working!!!  Crazy!!!

7/11/09

I’m in Phoenix at the airport Marriott Courtyard.  I’m flying to New Orleans on Monday and I’m in Phoenix until then.  As it turns out, I’m still going to be moving to Denver.  I’m quite happy about this since I really like my condo.  I think I’ll be happiest in Denver.  It’s green, there are mountains, seasons…I like seasons.

Not much has happened since Thursday.  I had to return the rental car and change hotels from the Hilton to a Marriott (reward points and such).  Surprisingly, that took up much of my day on Friday.  I was able to pick up a delicious pesto pizza at Oregano’s in Tempe.  I also went out dancing on Friday.  I was going to take the bus, but the guy at the front counter said that he would take me in one of the vans!  It was so nice of him!  I was pretty excited to be able to go out dancing after not going out for a long time.  And it was so much fun!!  Of course, it’s a lot hotter here than in Indiana and there is no such thing as too many fans!!

Today I’m lounging around and getting prepped for all of the things I have coming up mainly, New Orleans and dealing with moving my things from Austin to Denver.

I feel much better, things seem very finalized!

7/1/09-7/5/09

Heads up, this post is a long story.  There is no way to shorten it, be forewarned.  Also, it would make a great coming-of-age movie or at least an episode of a situational comedy.

The past few days I’ve been attempting to move to Denver, CO, specifically Lakewood.  I packed all my stuff, well, mostly all of it.  I left on Saturday for Washington D.C. for the Global Education Competiveness Summit (GECS).  I left a list with my parents and Deb & Greg of the things that still had to packed and what was going on the truck and what was going in the car.  On Monday, while I was in DC, everything was loaded onto the truck.  And when I say everything, I mean all of my worldly possessions…which according to the movers, is a very small shipment.

GECS went really well.  I also got to go to a little bit of NECC and I got to run into Dave Berque, woo hoo!  After disembarking in Indianapolis on Wednesday afternoon, I had two voicemails.  They were both from Kenny, the truck driver who has all of my stuff on his truck.  He was calling to let me know that he would be delivering my household goods on Friday, July 3rd, in the morning.  Thankfully, I had made previous arrangements with the owners of the condo so I wouldn’t have to be there to let the movers in.  I would call the husband’s cell phone, and either he or his personal assistant, would answer.  I would let them know when my shipment was arriving and they would send someone to the condo to open the door for the movers.  Naturally the first thing I did after getting these messages was to call the landlord to let him know of the developments in moving plans.  He didn’t answer, so I left an informative voicemail.

After I picked up my luggage, Kendra picked me up from the airport and we went to grab lunch while we chatted and waited for my dad to arrive at 4 to take me back to West Lafayette.  Kendra gave me this adorable picture frame with the funniest pictures of us in it!!  Once my dad and I got back to West Lafayette, we quickly packed up the car and started out for Chicago.  Mom, Deb, and Greg had already left since they didn’t need to pack up a car.  When Dad and I stopped at a rest stop, my request, I receive a phone call from Arizona.  I actually missed the call, but was able to promptly call back.  As it turns out, the original opportunity for my job in Denver has disappeared, but there are immediate openings in Goodyear, AZ about 10 miles west of Phoenix.  Of course, this came as quite a shock to me!  I was quickly reassured that should I want to stay in Denver, there are most definitely projects that I could be a part of.  The manager in Goodyear came across my resume and wanted to chat with me to see if I would be open to opportunities in Arizona.  We set up a time on Thursday to chat during the afternoon.

My original plan for Wednesday was not this exciting.  I had planned to see Kendra, go to Chicago and get there early enough to meet up with Adrie and Danny for dinner, and then leave for St. Louis in the early afternoon on either Thursday or Friday.  After discussing the moving situation with the extended family (Mom, Dad, Deb, and Greg) we thought it would be best if I leave on Friday morning since someone would be at the condo to let in the movers and that way we could all go out to dinner with Adrie and Danny on Thursday night.  Good plan.

Thursday rolls around and I realized that all my Harry Potter books are packed on the truck and I finished the third one, again, on Wednesday night.  Boo.  In other Thursday news, I called my landlord again and left another voicemail.  I thought this was odd, but he probably just didn’t have time to call me back and since all the information was in the voicemail, there wasn’t a compelling reason to call me back (other than I asked him to).  Thursday turned out to be a beautiful day.  We went shopping at Lucky Jeans.  Deb and Greg are usually here for the 4th weekend and Lucky is always having a sale, the two go together quite well.  We had a nice lunch, did some shopping (and goofing around, MangoBunnies FTW!) at The North Face, and went out to dinner.  Deb and Greg also bought me a house-warming gift of a silicone hot mitt, which can double as a ferociously cute puppet (especially effective when you have more than one and they can “interact”!!)  Lucky for you, the reader, there are photos marking the previously mentioned significant events (minus the Lucky sale).  But don’t stop reading, there’s more after the photos!!

   Thursday came to an end, as days are known to do, and suddenly it was Friday.  I had planned on perhaps seeing Adrie in the morning and then leaving for Denver, although I was at the time unsure if that would be my final location.  Friday morning, I receive a call from Kenny.  There is no one at the condo and there is no answer to the cell phone I’ve been told to call.  This is bad.  I’m in Chicago.  My worldly possessions are in Lakewood, CO.  No one is going to open the condo.  We start this disaster with a multitude of options.

1.  Find storage in Denver.  Put my stuff in the newly found storage and I’ll get it when I get to Denver.

2.  Have Kenny stay in Denver until I can arrive the next afternoon.

OK, there are only two options, but at least it’s more than one.  We start researching the first option.  Since it’s Friday, July 3rd, which is a holiday, no storage facilities are open in Denver.  That was fun.  We move onto option 2.  I prepare to leave when I find out that Kenny has to be in Austin on Monday to load a truck.  Oh wait, just kidding, make that Sunday so he can pack the house.  New option comes into play:

3.  Have my stuff stay on the truck as is goes to Austin where Kenny will drop it off at a storage facility, to be found on Monday when things are open.

During this time, I’ve been on the phone with the owner of the moving company I hired in West Lafayette.  When I asked him, after making him aware of the entire situation, whether he recommended option 2 or 3, he responded by telling me that the best option would be to have someone open the condo in Lakewood.  After spending several minutes attempting to explain to him that having someone open the condo wasn’t an option, I decided that perhaps “or” questions were too difficult for him.  I decided to change the question to a “yes or no” question so as not to inflict any(more) cranial damage.

Q: Can Kenny stay in Denver until tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon when I can be there to unlock the condo?
A: Uh…well…he’s supposed to be in Austin on Sunday to start packing up a house.  If he doesn’t leave until Saturday evening, he won’t get there in time.
Q: Should I have my things continue onto to Austin and have Kenny drop them off at a storage facility?
A: Uh…well…you’ll have to pay more to change the destination of your shipment.
In my head: Really?  You think so?  No way!
Q: So…you would recommend that I leave my stuff on the truck and store it in Austin.
A: Uh…well…you could do that, but it would cost you extra to change the destination.  You should really have someone come open the condo.
*wishing that banging phone against table would cause physical pain to party on the other end*

The decision is made that my shipment will travel to Austin.  This means I need to find a storage facility for my stuff!  Kenny was able to give us two numbers of United Moving places in Austin.  Surprisingly, one was open!  This was a great break!  Except that storing something there for a month would cost $1500!!!  Apparently this place was set up for long-term storage.  But, the man I spoke with gave me a recommendation for Bulldog Storage, who, again surprisingly, was open!  I could rent a storage container for $99 and pay month-to-month.  This was great!  I have a place to put my stuff!  Wait, I need to sign something?  In person?  I can’t fax or email you the paperwork?  You have to have someone in person sign the contract?

Bulldog: So when are you planning to be in Austin?
Me: I’m not.
Bulldog: Do you know anyone in Austin that can sign for you?
Me: I don’t know anyone in Austin.
Bulldog: Well…
Me: I’ll talk to you later. (Hang up)

Good feeling gone.  I need storage again.  At this point, I’m getting a little stressed.  I may even have had a small breakdown.  Thankfully the extended family was there to help!  Greg has a cousin in Baltimore.  Greg’s cousin’s wife has family in Austin.  Bruce, some of the Austin family, specialized in fixing up foreclosed homes and selling them.  Greg starts a phone tree and pretty soon we’re hearing from Bruce, who is in Chicago boarding a plane for Philadelphia.  Bruce currently has 12 places that could serve as storage areas!  This is finally good news!  Bruce calls back with an address, which I forward on to the important people and everything seems to be going catastrophically well.

Friday continued with a visit to REI and dropping Deb and Greg off at the airport.  We drove home, watched some Psych and Monk and went to bed.  The rest of the weekend has been uneventful.  Here’s a recap of the current standings

• My stuff is on a truck in Austin
• It’s going to be stored in one of Bruce’s (aka Hero of the Month) garages
• My moving bill will be very expensive
• Although originally moving to Denver, I might be moving to Goodyear, AZ
• Right now, I’m in West Lafayette

This has been a very stressful past few days and I sure would love it if things could calm down!!!

6/27/09

I’m Washington DC, staying at a Marriott, yay!  I have speech notes and as a representative of Team MangoBunnies, I’ll want to confer with Ashley and Malisa before giving my speech to make sure that I’m not saying any untruths.

I had a nightmare morning, but everything seemed to pan out near the end of the day, which was really great.  I don’t know if all of my things are packed.  I left a list at home of everything that needs to go, so I’m hoping everything gets packed!  The movers are coming on Monday at 8:30 and I’m not going to be there.  They say my things will arrive between July 2nd and July 12th.  Kind of a big range.  I may not be leaving until 2nd or 3rd, it all depends on my Chicago plans.  Thankfully my landfamily is really understanding!  They rock!

Worked a lot on the speech tonight and I think it went really well.  Tomorrow is going to be a big day of practicing and perfecting and reciting the speech over the phone for several people.  If only I had a decent web cam (nudge, nudge hehe)!!

6/26/09

Apparently I’m really stressed about moving.  This is understandable since packing is pretty stressful and I have to have everything packed by tomorrow even though the movers are coming on Monday.  I know I’m stressed because I had a really weird dream last night!  And I’m much more likely to have weird dreams when I’m stressed.

It started with me packing (I don’t really like when dreams mimic life, I’m already living packing, I don’t want to dream about it!) and then suddenly I was on a boat!  I was telling someone about what I had been doing, packing, when they told me that I had also spent a week as a camp counselor at a camp for grade school kids.  I had no recollection of this.  This person continued to tell me that for the entire I was supposed to push a wheelbarrow around, which I did.  Then I was suddenly at this camp, which turned out to be on the street, more of in the middle of the street, that my high school is on.  There’s a big hill and all these kids were on their bikes going down the hill and they insisted that I keep up…while pushing my wheelbarrow.  At the bottom of the hill, which is in front of the football practice field, my wheelbarrow and I were suddenly a part of my old marching band.  I was evidently with the pit section, somewhere in the middle.  I remember passing the color guard, coming to a stop, and realizing our line was awful!  Of course, I was marching with a wheelbarrow.  At that point I think I woke up because Ashley and Scott were having a conversation on Twitter about eggs, so my phone was going off quite a bit.  It’s really good that I woke up, since returning to high school is not on my To Do List.

On a different note, I could also be stressed because I need to write a 15 minute speech about my informal education.  I’m going to Washington DC on Saturday night for the Global Education Competitiveness Summit.  Here’s an article about it.  I’ll be there until the first of July.  On the 1st, I plan on heading to Chicago with the family and leaving for Denver on Thursday.  Of course this could go extremely badly since my stuff is set to arrive sometime between July 2nd and July 12th.  Knowing my luck, it will arrive while I’m in the middle of driving with no chance to get to Denver in the next 12 hours.  Oh well, it’ll be an adventure!

6/19/09

WOOT!  I have a condo and it’s beautiful!  I signed the lease on Wednesday night.  My landlord, well more of “landfamily,” is great!  The husband is a part-time CFO of a software company that does some work with Lockheed, so he knows a lot of people that work there.  He said he would do some introductions.  The wife is absolutely adorable, she loves to dance and I’m quite sure she makes her husband do yoga with her!

I’m so happy that so far everything has worked out.  When I was coming out to Denver, I had chosen two apartment complexes to visit, but I really wanted to rent a condo.  There would be a mix of owners and renters and the neighborhood would probably be kept in better shape and it would probably be quieter!  Plus, the general idea would be that a leasing office for a condo would be nicer to deal with than one at a large apartment complex.  In a beautiful twist, I’m renting from a private owner, which is possibly the best case!

I can’t wait to move out here, buy furniture, kitchen stuff, a huge TV, other stuff I want to own!  Anyway, here are loads of pictures of my condo, I though a virtual tour was in order!

6/16/09

This morning was Mary Frances’ funeral.  It was in the same church as her mother’s funeral in 2002.  This is truly just so painful for me and the rest of the family.

I’ve decided I’d like my funeral to have lots and lots of flowers and I’d like it to be outside or in a home.  Churches aren’t my thing, nor is a service.

I really just can’t believe this.  It’s still such a shock.

On a less depressing note, I’m currently in Denver.  We left St. Paul this afternoon.  Last night I got to hang out with Loopster (Elissa)!  It was so much fun and I’m so happy I was able to do that.  We stayed at a Marriott Residence Inn and it was amazing!  It was like we rented a Town House for the night!  I had the upstairs which had a bedroom, desk, and bathroom and my parents had the downstairs with had their room, plus the living room and kitchen.  Thank goodness Mom travels a lot and always stays at Marriott.

Today I looked at one apartment complex, Westlake Greens Apartments.  I really like the larger 1 bed 1 bath apartment.  Tomorrow morning I’m going to Cottonwood Creek Apartments to look there as well.

6/11/09

Today was fabulous!  This morning I had movers come for quote for all my stuff.  Although I’ve moved my stuff in the past…ok, when say “I’ve moved my stuff” I really mean that my dad & Kenny and Brandon & Cody moved my stuff, well the big stuff.  Back to my original idea, I’ve moved my stuff several times, with much help, and I thought “Wouldn’t it be fabulous if I could pay someone else to move my stuff?”  Thankfully, Dad had the same thought and he called Allied Movers to come over to look at my stuff.  Greg, from Allied Movers, came over this morning to take inventory of my stuff and he said he would email me a quote.  I got an email later today and it looks like movers are in my moving budget!!  YAY!!

Next, I went to Pizzazz to see Monica.  I’ve been seeing Monica since I was 12!  I always love catching up with her.  Luckily for me, this catching up time came with a mani… A lovely summer color, that came with a fabulous combo. Enter the pedi! Yes, that’s my sandal tan from the Grand Canyon.  I’m very proud of my sandal tan.  This is as tan as I’ve been in about…5 years.  Seriously.

When I got back, I did some more packing and condensing and I came across one of my favorite things to have on my walls! I just adore Susan Kline’s work (the two outside ones)!  I unfortunately missed Art Around the Fountain this year, so I didn’t get to see her this year and I didn’t get to add to my Susan Kline collection!

Other happy things that happened today, like my Nike running hat arrived!  Now I don’t have to wear my Wheaties hat when I run (ok, lightly jog) which means that my Wheaties hat doesn’t have to get all sweaty and stay all sweaty for hours afterwards.  This means more hat hours for me! And to make my day even better I had wonderful phone calls with Adrie and Elissa!  Talk about the perfect day!  Congrats to anyone who even made it this far in the post!

6/9/09

Today was very exciting.  I set up the garage so that I could go through all of my stuff!

I know it looks like a lot of stuff…and that’s because it is!  Plus I have things in my room that I’ll have to deal with at some point as well!  I have my tables set up so I can go through all my boxes.  After the tables are all my sorting piles: Keep, Throw Away, and Give Away.  I got about two boxes sorted through today.  Not exactly productive, but I did other things too!  I biked to PEFCU and deposited two checks!  I guess I also had to move quite a bit of stuff to even set up my “sorting station.”  And then we all went to dinner at Dave and Nancy’s house!

Nancy is the cousin of the head of my mom’s department at Purdue.  The house is amazing!  They live off of River Rd., have an intense driveway, and gorgeous views.  Looking out the window, it was hard to believe that West Lafayette was just a 5 minute drive away.

Currently I’m making plans with one of my high school friends for lunch on Saturday (yay!) and I’m trying to make an appointment with a financial advisor to help me sort through retirement/insurance/real world issues.  I’m completely overwhelmed!

Back from…not writing

Tons of stuff has happened since I last wrote something!  Ashley, Malisa, and I went to Boston to compete in the Imagine Cup and we got First Runners Up!!  We’re so excited!  We took the cash ($4000 to be split equally between all team members) and I got the check in the mail the other day, which was awesome!

I graduated from DePauw, which was pretty sweet.  I wasn’t at commencement because my parents gave me this awesome graduation present of a 16-day rafting trip down the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon.  It was breath-taking!  Camping for 16 days is a little much for me, but it was still really fun.  I took pictures and I put them up on Flickr, if you want to, you can check them out here!

The same day that Dad and I got back, Mom was leaving for the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state.  We got to chat briefly about the flooding that happened in the basement!  Fortunately, Mom was able to take care of (mostly) everything!

A couple days after getting back, my parents both went to Washington D.C. for an ADA Conference.  Deb and Greg are there too and they’ll be coming back tonight!  I’m not sure how long Deb and Greg will be here, but the guest room is ready for them!  I’ll be driving to the airport tonight to pick everyone up.

This weekend has been really fun!  Ashley came from Fort Wayne for the weekend and Malisa came up from Danville.  We had a great day yesterday!  Ashley and I went for a short bike ride in the morning and then we went to check out the Palm Pre on the Sprint network.  Let me tell you, the Palm Pre is awesome!  It works with Google Apps so well!  The calendar is so powerful, you can actually see all of your Google calendars and add events to them, instead of just adding the events to the default calendar.  Anyway, I’m a huge fan, as I’m sure you can tell!  I’m seriously thinking about switching over to Sprint to get the Pre.  I’m moving to Denver and my parents are kicking my off of the family plan (unfortunately, as they should be!), so I’m going to have to get my own plan and my own phone.

Since I’m moving to Denver, my parents have been letting me use the garage as storage space, which is super understanding of them since that means the Prius has to parked outside.  Thankfully it’s only for a month!  Plus, because there was no car in the garage, Mom was able to put a lot of stuff in there to make sure it didn’t get wet with all the torrential rains!  I’ll post a picture of the garage soon, it’s pretty intense.  I haven’t done any packing because I’m so intimidated by all the stuff…and there’s not space to do anything!

Wrapping up, I’m hoping that I can start posting a more regular basis, I just have to make the time!

Team MangoBunnies and the Imagine Cup

Every year, Microsoft sponsors a technology competition for students called the Imagine Cup.  Participants are asked to solve some of the world's toughest problems with technology.  This year's theme is the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.

Two of my friends, Ashley Myers and Malisa Vongksul, and I decided to enter the Software Design competition.  We've advanced to the U.S. Finals!  Team MangoBunnies, that's our team name, is the first all-female team to advance to the U.S. Finals.  We're so excited to compete in Cambridge, MA.  In the U.S., 125 schools entered and only 15 advanced to the final!

For our project, we're addressing the Millennium Goal of Combating HIV/AIDS.  We're using mobile technology to create an alarm to remind patients to take their medication.  Our project is called CAMRA which stands for Computer-Assisted Medication Regimen Adherence.

This year, Microsoft is having a People's Choice Award.  Everyone can vote on projects for the award.  Team MangoBunnies would love your support!  Voting is open until April 30th at 11:59 PST and you can vote once per day!  To vote:

1. Go to the site: http://icuspeopleschoice.com
2. Download Silverlight.  It's a very light application with a 10-second install.
3. Vote for Team MangoBunnies!  The thumbnail is a little blurry, so it's a picture of three women, two in black shirts and one bright blue!
4. Tell all your friends!

We've also been featured in a blog post!  Check it out here!  If you'd like to keep up with news about the Imagine Cup, it looks like the Virtual Pressroom will be kept updated.

 

Team MangoBunnies (Malisa, Ashley, and me) thank you for your support!!

I Love Handwriting

I’ve been thinking about this post for awhile.  A couple weeks ago, I was updating my Senior Project Proposal.  I didn’t have a printer handy, so I actually wrote out the bullet points of what I wanted to change.  I looked at it, edited it, and then wrote out the finished product.  I loved doing that!  I realized that I loved seeing my own handwriting.  No one else writes exactly like me.

That’s why handwritten notes are so special.  They are unique and they have the writer’s signature all over it!  I’ve been writing things by hand much more frequently lately.  For several reasons really, but one of them is that I spend a lot of time at a computer and it’s nice to remember what my handwriting looks like.  Plus, I think it’s fun to match up someone’s handwriting with their personality.  I’ve done it with most of my close friends, and it’s kind of funny how I connect them and their handwriting!

Handwriting has this special quality that makes it so personable and I think that’s been lost with the advent of computers, email, and text messages.  The personality that comes through handwriting is so unique.

Things I Informally Collect

I am not a collector.  But there are some things I tend to enjoy and therefore I try to obtain them slightly more often than everything else.  This is a pretty short list, but I thought people might want to know.  And when I say “people,” I mean my roommates.  And when I say “might want to know,” I mean remind them.

1. Rubber Ducks
2. T-shirts with umbrellas on them
3. Anything from Victoria’s Secret (but I think this one may change soon)

That’s all.  Yes, I do casually collect these things.  I was going to “seriously collect,” but I don’t really seriously collect anything!

Have a great day!

Crowds

I’m a senior.  Not that this means something special, but it does send a clear time designation for how long I’ve been on the DePauw campus.  I think for the first three years of my DePauw career, I was hanging out with the wrong people!  I would say quite a few people have passed in and out my life since I first arrived at DePauw.

Maybe it’s because I’m a senior so I’ve had three years to grow and “find myself,” but I’ve really enjoyed the conversations I’ve been having with people lately.  Previously, I didn’t have these great conversations.  I’m not sure if if was because I wasn’t ready or the group I was with wasn’t conducive to those types of conversations and in fact it may have a been a little of both.  I don’t think I was aware that there are students on this campus who have really important things to say.

Lately, I’ve been trying to be more involved on campus and in doing so, I’ve come in contact with lots of students who are very smart, articulate, and opinionated.  I just regret that I didn’t figure out this subset existed until second semester my senior year!!

Milk and Twitter

I think my title is misleading.  It sort of looks like I screwed up “milk and cookies” by substituting Twitter.  Food is actually not the subject of this post.

Last night I saw Milk.  Sean Penn won an Oscar for Best Actor in Milk.  Milk is about the later life of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to public office and a gay activist.  Milk is a beautiful movie that tells a tragic story in the most uplifting way.  While I was watching it, I hurt.  My very core was in pain.  The idea that we must categorize people and put them in labeled boxes and then proceed to deny them certain rights disgusted me.

I was feeling pretty off after the movie.  I think it was a tragedy-stricken mood to think that people are still struggling for rights that I think are basic, and as such I take for granted.  It just seems like such a big job, taking on society.  So I left the movie feeling like something must be done, but I had no idea what could be done or where to even start!  *Side note: My favorite movies are the ones that drive me to take action outside of the theater*  With this lost feeling of wanting to do something, I sent a Tweet saying I’d seen Milk and I just don’t know what to do next.  Caitlin replied to me saying I should get involved with United DePauw and a great way to start would be speaker on Thursday evening.

I’m going to go see Annie Sprinkle tomorrow night.  It’s not going to change the world, but it’s going to show support, give me another perspective, and I’ll be involved.

Main ideas:
1.  I really liked Milk and I recommend it.
2.  I love that I have friends that can help me and give me relevant information.

More work, Less sleep

Things have vastly improved since the last time I wrote a post.  I’m back home in Greencastle and feeling much less stressed about some things.  I’m feeling much less stressed about my senior project.  I talked to Dave (my CS hero) about it and he was really helpful and was able to give me a few places to start.  This was really what I was looking for and I think his guidance will be extremely beneficial.

I’m still stressed about the Imagine Cup and I’m not sure how to un-stress about that other than to just do what I need to!  I seem to have this procrastinating problem though, which is just awful.  I’m hoping that I can get some writing done tomorrow and then do editing later this week.  Now that I’ve set a “public deadline” (who really reads this anyway other than my roommates?), I’m hoping I’ll be more apt to truly follow through.

I should be stressed about my Hispanic Literature class, but unfortunately, I’m not.  This is very bad.  I’ve managed to miss class three Mondays in a row.  Once again, very bad.  I need to meet with someone tomorrow to get notes and try to do a write up to save my grade in this class!

I also need to do some thinking about the intellectual engagement in ITAP.  And some debugging on isleptthroughclass.com.  And make some phone calls.  I’m going to check my schedule and hope it’s not too busy tomorrow!!

Trip to St. Louis

This weekend, I’m in St. Louis.  Kendra know some people here, including Abby, her best friend.  We’re staying with some salsa people and we’re going out dancing Friday, Saturday, and Sunday!  Last night we went to Fitz’s for dinner.  I didn’t put it together that it was Fitz’s root beer until we were at the restaurant.  And then it all became very clear, St. Louis, Fitz’s root beer, of course!  Fitz’s is my favorite root beer and I knew perfectly well it’s made in St. Louis!  Once I put these two facts together, I was so excited!

*Side Note: I’m quite sure that most families don’t do this, but mine does.  The reason I’m positive that Fitz’s is my favorite root beer is because my family and I do blind taste tests for various kinds of foods and beverages.  We did a blind taste test of root beer and I like Fitz’s.  We’ve also done popcorn, Orville Redenbacher won that taste test.

Anyway, after dinner at Fitz’s (where I also got a 12-pack of root beer!), we went out dancing!  That was followed by lots of sleep!  Today I was supposed to be much more productive, but instead I’m writing a blog post.  Maybe tomorrow then.

*Photos from Tony Eng of decadance photography

Facebook, Invader Zim Style

Once upon a time, I really liked Facebook.  Facebook was new, it was pretty cool and everyone was on it!  Or at least everyone who “mattered.”  Facebook was the gateway to virtual popularity since you could friend anyone who went to the same school without seeming really creepy (MySpace anyone?).

When Facebook was at its best, it had just added the photo capability.  It was great; you could upload photos, look at friends’ photos, comment on them, write on their walls and message your friends.  That was perfect.  It did everything I needed it to do; I had a place to stay in touch with people and put up my photos.

Then Facebook introduced this weird thing called applications.  At first, it was kind of amusing; “Hey look, someone threw a cow at me! I can high-five them back!”  Or I could send my friends fake alcohol; obviously the epitome of cool.  Now there are way too many applications and most of them serve no purpose or serve the purpose of advertising for businesses.  Neither of these reasons are why I’m on Facebook.  Now I’m on Facebook because I can keep in touch with people.  I don’t have time browse through profiles or monitor my applications.

Here is what I equate Facebook to: Invader Zim.  Normally Invader Zim is an alien of average size, this is the representation of the “before” Facebook:

In one episode of Invader Zim, Dark Harvest, Zim decides that to be more human he needs organs, lots of organs.  Zim starts collecting organs from fellow classmates, unbeknownst to the classmates, of course!  Zim become this over-sized, bloated alien mass, much how I feel Facebook has become.

So…that was my Facebook rant.

The Problem with Quitting

Quitting an activity has always been very hard for me.  It’s always an agonizing decision.

I remember when I came to DePauw and I wanted to continue playing my French horn and swim.  This was an impossibility as both practices occurred at the same time and missing one for the other wasn’t something my coach or director was fond or supportive of.  I loved playing my French horn and I was decent at it (of course not after a summer of not playing, but before that).  Maybe I felt like I had played my horn too long and I needed to focus my energy on a different hobby, I’m not sure, but I decided to stop playing my horn and quit band.  This was an awful decision.  I remember telling the director of my decision and practically breaking down in tears because I had been playing an instrument for so long.  Of course, little did I know that I should have kept playing my horn because I loathed swimming for DePauw, but I guess it’s one of those things you (really, I) learn.

When I quit something, the decision is always so hard and it usually involves tears at some point during the process.  Even when the organization is so wrong for me that other people are completely aware of it, I still don’t want to quit!  I get this awful feeling of failure and ask myself “Why couldn’t I make this work?” and “Why did this fail?”  This is even when something is so obviously not working well with my life.  I guess I feel some sort of twisted loyalty to an organization.  Sometimes I just have to learn to let things go, particularly when it will improve my life.

Semester Goals

As my last semester at DePauw, I’ve sent some semester goals for myself.  When I refer to myself, I actually mean Shela and me.  These goals are rather informal, but we’ve been trying really hard to do things pertaining to these goals.

Goal #1: Be more social

There are lots of people that Ashley and I know and we would like to spend more time with them.  We’ve started having people over for dinner a lot.  So far, it’s been really enjoyable.  We get to share a meal with someone we like and talk about what’s going on.  Plus it encourages us to cook more than just mac and cheese, which we adore!

Goal #2: Have intellectual discussions

This goal sounds really dorky and we both realize that, but it fits us as people and it’s a great goal because we get to do so much with it!  We’re both in a women’s studies class and we’ve enjoyed the discussions that have sparked out of this.  Interestingly enough, these intellectual discussions outside of the classroom is an issue DePauw’s president is attempting to address.  Shlea and I feel we have been doing a great job of being intellectually engaged outside the classroom.  It’s great to have a friend that to discuss things with in such an open environment.  We both know there is no judgment and we’re able to share differing view points without anyone leaping at our throats or talking down to us.  I feel these discussions have taken our friendship beyond a social aspect to a level that shows our friendship will last beyond college years.  I think that’s a pretty good outcome.

Overall, I think we’ve done quite well in trying to reach the semester goals so far.  I regret not being a senior sooner so I could have figured out these goals earlier!

Mom & Dad: Stuff at SYD

This post is for Mom and Dad because I know they will be going through Sydney Duty-Free on their way to the international terminal.  If you are feeling particularly generous or tired and unable to control your actions, I’ll really take either situation, here a few things you can pick up en route.

Swatch watch-I really wanted a watch for Christmas, but instead I got a trip to Australia.  Talk about getting the shaft.  BUT, if you still want to get me a watch, I found a really great one by Swatch in the duty-free store.  It has paisley leaves on each side of the very thin watch face and sparkly things bordering the leaves.  It’s a great looking watch.  Feel free to call me if you need more descriptive details of where the Swatch display is in Duty-Free, but I’m sure a sales associate would be more than happy to help you find it!

Billabong shirt-Just outside of the Duty-Free shop to the left is a surf shop full of surf brand clothes.  On the table are some really cute shirts that say things like “Australia”.  My favorite is the one that has a hibiscus on it and says (in a nice rainbow gradient):
Billa
bong
Australia

I’m sure you’ll know it when you see it, but if you can’t find it on the t-shirt table, the shirts that say “Australia” in neon colors are pretty cool as is just about any other shirt on that table.

Just so you know or needed something to do during your layover in the Sydney airport that I know you both are so fond of.  OK, love you both, see you soon!

Leaving Perth

If you know me, then please ask for this story in person because it’s more detailed and funnier with hand gestures and half-acting on my part.

All of us, Deb, Greg, Mom, Dad, and I, went to the airport on Friday so that I could catch my plane to Sydney and start the long journey back to West Lafayette.  The family and I walk in while Deb and Greg find a parking place.  We tried to self-check me in, but that didn’t work and we were told to go to one of the counters.

We’re at the counter and the guy behind the counter looks up my itinerary and it turns out I was 24 hours late for my flight!!  I was so embarrassed and mortified!  I was also terrified to look at my mother for fear her angry eyes would sear through my face.

We made our way to the Qantas sales desk where everything was perfectly rectified!  And it didn’t cost anything!  Qantas is my new favorite airline.  They even still serve you meals in the air and the wine and beer is free.  Favorite airline.

This was, as you may have guessed, a rather traumatic experience for me, since it was so blatantly obvious that I dropped the ball off a cliff.  Mom was kind enough to take care of the change in schedule for my shuttle from Chicago and for someone to pick me up from the Purdue Airport at the new time.  While Mom was doing this, I was sitting in the kitchen with Dad.  Here’s how our conversation went:

Me: I sure hope Mom still loves me at the end of all of this.
Dad: Yeah, me too.
Me: WHAT?!?

In the end, I think Deb and Greg got to me, subconsciously, with all of their talk of staying an extra day and calling Qantas to get my flight changed.  I just forgot to call Qantas and tell them.  Fortunately for me, I was able to cajole my way into two extra days in Australia with my parents!

Driving in Australia!

After being in Perth for about two weeks I had successfully done several things:

1. Take the bus, train, or combination to Perth and Fremantle
2. Arrive at destinations without making too much of a fool of myself
3. Cross the street without being run over or close to it

At this point I was able to work up the courage to get behind the wheel of a car!  This entire action was only made possible by existence and ownership by Greg of a TomTom navigation device.  If it were not for the calming female voice telling to “Bear left” I probably would have stayed on one road because I was so busy saying “left-hand side of the road” over and over to myself.  Eventually it got a lot easier to drive around, but I never drove without TomTom.  You can think of it as my driving security blanket.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t program TomTom to tell me to stay on the left-hand side of the road.  That would be real technology…or at least real helpful.

Little Creatures Brewery

I didn’t mention going to Little Creatures Brewery on the Fremantle Must Do page because I felt it was so much fun that it deserved it’s own page.  OK, that’s a lie.  I didn’t write it down on the original list, but I do feel it’s worth a special mention since it’s a brewery and it was uber-fun!

Deb decided we should go to Little Creatures on my last day in WA since it’s a popular brewery.  What a fun decision!  The guy who was helping us was so much fun and he told us so much about all the different beers.  We tried all six types of beers that they brewed on site.  My favorites were the bright ale and the cider.  Deb was above and beyond nice and she bought me a Little Creatures Brewery shirt!

Overall really good experience, even though I can’t remember most of what our “beer guide” said.  I obviously should have videotaped that.

Things You Must Do: Canberra

I went to Canberra with Deb so that I could meet up with my parents.  My mom and Deb were going to a conference at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), which is also where we stayed in dormitory accommodations.  We had two days in Canberra to explore the city.  Unfortunately for my dad, Qantas had a major disconnect and left his suitcase in San Francisco.  Like the smart packer he is, he had packed extra necessities in his carry-on!  We had to wait to two days to get his suitcase which didn’t arrive until we at the airport ready to go back to Perth!

National Portrait Gallery-The National Portrait Gallery was really fun!  I loved the portraits because they portray real people so you feel like can connect with this piece of art.  The gallery had a free audio tour on an iPod Touch, which I definitely took advantage of!  It had interviews with various artists and portrait subjects and it really added a lot of depth to those selected portraits.  Unfortunately I can’t remember that many names since I was inundated with them, but my favorite portrait was of a professor.  There was an interview with him on the tour that talked about the process of the creating the portrait.  The part that I really liked was that he said he always wears a white shirt.  He held up a collage of pictures from his life and he points out that in every one, he’s wearing a white shirt!

City Center-Being an avid shopper, I find it necessary to check out the malls in any given city.  Although Greg doesn’t think City Center is very good, I could have gotten lost!  I swear, it spans for blocks and blocks, in several directions!  This was where I walked into David Lawrence and fell in love with the red dress.  When we first went in, I didn’t try it on.  It was the only thing I saw all day that I really wanted to try on, so we went back later.  (The picture was taken on my phone, so I apologize for the poor quality.)

Things You Must Do: Fremantle

Fremantle

Fremantle Market-The market is amazing!  There is so much variety in the shops, you probably should go more than one day.  There are tourist shops, antique shops, honey stalls, and homemade bath & body product stalls.  If you go to the market, be sure to check out the stall for Stunned Emu Designs.  Wendy Binks, the creative force behind Stunned Emu Designs, has functional art that is colorful and whimsical!  Also, you’ll want to go to the very back to look at the fresh produce!  Several stalls have samples of fruit, so you can decide which mangoes from where taste the best.  The smells alone are enough to make you walk away with enough fruit to feed an army!  I took bunches of pictures of the produce section since it was so darn colorful and intoxicating!  Check them out on Flickr!

High Street-High Street has a great pedestrian mall that turns into a real street.  The mall is relaxing with book stores and clothing shops and ice cream vendors.  There are tables and benches in the middle to take a break and just enjoy the weather!  After the pedestrian mall are more shops and some art galleries.  There are several framing shops which double as art galleries.  There is also a very lovely and upscale indigenous art gallery.  The works are breath-taking and the curator is really willing to talk about different piece, tell you about the artist, and what each piece represents.  You can also check out the Record Finder for some great albums.  At the end of High Street is the Round House.  I, of course, documented this in pictures that are on Flickr (surprise)!

Amano-There are at least two gelato shops in Fremantle that are very close to each other.  I, personally, like Amano the best. Rottnest-Although Rottnest isn’t in Fremantle, you can catch a ferry to Rotto in Fremantle or Perth.  GO TO ROTTO!  It’s so much fun!  There are no cars on Rotto, so you bike or walk everywhere.  Buses are allowed for tour purposes and there is a free bus that goes to different points on the island.  I took lots of photos on the Island Discovery Tour and I even flew to Rotto with Brenton!!

Things You Must Do: Perth

I’ve just returned from my month long trip to Australia.  It was wonderful!  I would say without a doubt it was the best holiday I’ve ever had.  It was in between semesters, so I didn’t have homework to worry about.  And I wasn’t working and I had no deadlines during January.  Since I had already completed all of the required Winter Terms, I was free to relax and not write learning journals or a travel journal or a response to anything!  I spent most of my time in Australia in Perth and Fremantle.  I fly to Canberra for a couple days to meet up with my parents, and then we flew back to Perth.

This is my list of things that you really should do if you’re ever in Perth or Fremantle.  If you go to one, you might as well go to the other since it’s a 45-minute train ride away and it might even be faster by bus!

*Looking at what I’ve written so far, I’m going to split up the posts by city so you aren’t bombarded with a huge post!*

Perth

Kings Park-If you are in Perth, go to Kings Park.  No ifs, ands, or buts, you just have to go!  It’s absolutely gorgeous.  The views of the city are amazing!  It’s a great place for picnics or to go and read.  There are trails all over, so you can go for a walk, run, push bike, the possibilities are endless.  There are also outdoor movies at Kings Park, so you can pack an eski and go see a movie.  I truly wish I had spent more time at Kings Park.  There’s also a great neighborhood around the park, especially if you want to see some beautiful apartments and condos.

Hay St. & Murray St.-This is targeted at the shopper.  Hay St. Mall and Murray St. Mall are great pedestrian malls.  Between these two streets you get Forrest Chase, a big outdoor mall, and places like London Court, a historic alley of shops.  You can truly satisfy every type of shopper between these two streets.  Whether you’re looking for tourist-y gifts, clothes, electronics, jewelry, Target, or rugby gear, they’ve got you covered.  Oh and body-piercing and tattoo parlors as well, just in case you’re looking for that.

Perth Mint-OK, I’ll admit it, I didn’t actually go to the Perth Mint.  I really wanted to though!  I was going to go with my dad, but we just didn’t make it there.  It was my fault since I was looking for a specific shop, which had moved without telling anyone.  I heard that it was a great experience and it’s really cool!  Based on the good reviews I’ve heard, I would definitely check this out!  Remember, do as I say, not as I do.  Seriously.

Cultural Center: Northbridge-The Cultural Center in Northbridge is really nice.  It’s a nice open area with water features, a nice plaza, and nice places to sit.  Along with these fabulous items, you can also find the Art Gallery of Western Australia, the Western Australia Museum, and the State Library.  The plaza is a great place for large, outdoor art or museum exhibits.  For those of you who watch my YouTube videos, you probably remember the outdoor Earth Above.  This exhibit was really neat; it was a collection of aerial photos from ALL over the world taken over a series of years.  If you want to see some of the pictures, check out the YouTube video!

Miami Bakehouse-If you’re in Perth, check out the Miami Bakehouse.  It’s on Canning Highway in the Palmyra/Melville area.  You can catch the 106 bus from downtown and you’ll pass right by Miami Bakehouse.  It’s really close to Deb and Greg’s house, so I would stop there before going home.  Their Vanilla Slice is award-winning and with very good reason: it’s DELICIOUS!  I highly recommend trying one.  Of course, everything that I tried at Miami Bakehouse was really good!

Salsa Dancing-I dance salsa and I always like to check out the salsa scene in other cities.  So, if you dance too, then you’re in luck!  On Tuesdays you can go to The Mustang and on Thursdays you can head over to The Deen.  Both of these bars are in Northbridge and they’re only a couple blocks away from each other.  At The Deen there’s another little room with a great floor, even though it’s a little slick, if it gets too crowded on the main floor.

Al Dente-If you like Italian food, you’ll love Al Dente!  Once again, just off of Canning Highway in Palmyra, Al Dente has delectable food!  Sergio, the owner, is great and really fun!  It’s a casual restaurant that can also accommodate larger parties.  There’s a small corkage fee if you’d like to bring your own wine, which we did all three times we went!

Australian-isms I like

Brekky : breakfast

Holiday : vacation

Knackered : tired (in actuality probably European, but someone here said it…of course she’s from Ireland, oh well)

Marge : Margarine

Biscuit/Bikie : cookie

Have a go

Stubby Holder : beer cozy

Eski : cooler

Let’s make a move/ Let’s boogie : let’s get going

Avo : afternoon

Sieve-head : absent minded

Push bike : bike

Travel Day

Today I’ll be headed to Canberra.  The plane leaves at 14:00 (2 pm for whoever doesn’t know how a 24-hour clock works).  Since Deb was going to have a very busy day at work doing enrollments, she wasn’t going to have time to pick me up at home.  So, I went to work with her!  I’m in her office right now after exploring the campus just a little bit. I had brekky at an on-campus cafe very close to Deb’s building.  Above is one of the views from inside.  It’s an extremely beautiful day, so a short walk seemed very much in order.  While walking to the bookstore, I noticed a fabulous plumeria tree and proceeded to take some pictures.  The thing I love about warm places is the flowers! I made it to the bookstore, perused the selection, found a lovely book on the history of shoes, and decided Australia has much better day planners than the States.  I’ve loved every single planner I’ve looked at with the exception of two.  One because it only showed four days at a time, which is very difficult to work with and I can’t remember the reason I didn’t like the other one.
Anyway, we have a 40 minute stop at the Adelaide airport, so that should be exciting and I’ll be in Canberra, the capital city, around 21:10 (once again, for those who can’t figure out the 24-hour clock, that’s 9:10 pm).

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I’m currently in Adelaide.  I’m sitting in the Qantas Club.  Deb lives large and she can have guests!  It turns out you can pay a membership fee for the club and it is well worth it!  Food, wireless, drinks, printers, showers, great chairs.  It’s pretty sweet.  I feel so…famous and chic!
I’m also uploading photos to Flickr, so check those out here.
I also got a stuffed animal Koala.  It needs a name.  Help me out here.

Fremantle City Walk

As I type, I am uploading a batch of photos to Flickr documenting some of my City Walk of Fremantle. I thought I’d give a short description here as well.

Snug gave me a ride into Fremantle yesterday so I was able to walk around for a bit and sweat a lot. Yesterday and today have been extremely hot with temperatures reaching 40C, that’s about 104F. The first stop I made was to get some ice cream! Gelato is very popular in Fremantle and I’m certainly not complaining!

I wandered around the Cappuccino Strip for a bit, aptly named since there are so many cafes and coffee shops. There are also restaurants and ale houses to be found there as well. Then I moved on to the High Street Mall (see left), a nice pedestrian mall with lots of cute shops.


After that I kept going down High St. and I stumbled across this record store, The Record Finder. This shop has the feel of a classic music store. LPs lined the walls! After browsing through some of the selection, it became apparent that they have a pretty good collection, consisting of (thankfully) more than just Barbara Streisand and Christmas albums. The jazz section looks really good, so that will make for some fun exploring. I also love current artists on LP, so I might push for a couple of those as well.

Then I walked along the beach, took some pictures of said beach, and headed back to the bus stop. I caught the 106, Esplande Station via Canning Highway, and headed home. On my way home I stopped at Miami Bakehouse (see below), which is delicious! I’ve truly enjoyed their Vanilla Slice which has vanilla frosting on top of a pastry layer and then custard. I love custard!

Yesterday evening I went out salsa dancing at the Deen. Around midnight the DJ starts playing a lot of reggaeton, which is not my favorite and it’s difficult to dance salsa to. So, Marcus and I went to the Moon Cafe and had dessert. It’s become a nice tradition to have dessert there after dancing and it made for a calm wind down to very busy day!

Whiteman Park

Today I went to Whiteman Park with Sniggle and her boyfriend Michael.  Whiteman Park has a great Wildlife Center that has lots of Australian animals.  This is the sign you see when you enter the park.  Yes, that is a sign warning of kangaroos, buffaloes, and bobtails.

At Whiteman Park, we started with a Farm Show.  This was tons of fun and we got to see a sheep being sheared, learning how to crack a whip and the physics (?) behind it, and we got to see LAMBS!!  I loved seeing the lambs because it’s one of those words that has a silent B and like many people know, I love words that have silent B’s.  I was just making a nice list in my head. 

Anyway, I did love seeing the lambs, but I had a huge problem with them.  I thought there were really cute, but at the same time I know they are very delicious.  It was quite a conundrum until the guide told me that the lambs are for merino wool only and they won’t be eaten.  So I could pet them and think they are adorable and get all attached and want to take one home!

After the Farm Show we headed over to the Wombat and Friends Show.  This was extremely informative and very exciting!  I guess I always forget the the male bird is always flashier than the female.  Wombats are often orphaned because their mothers die by getting run over.  Wombats can run up to 40 kilometers per hour which is very surprising since their legs are about as long as a dauschaund’s.  An emu, which has much longer legs, can run as fast as 50 kilometers per hour.  Obviously, the wombat is keeping up!  Isn’t this wombat the cutest thing you’ve ever seen??  That’s Sniggles with me, by the way. Moving on with cool things that have happened to me today, I also got to pet a wallaby. And when I say wallaby, I mean a full on “Rock’s Modern Life” wallaby.  Except the cow I got to pet wasn’t near the wallaby and I don’t think they were friends. Wallabies are very adorable and we got to pet one that was a baby!  He was an orphan and he sat in the volunteer’s lap as he would have in his mothers pouch.  Wallabies are smaller than kangaroos, but are very similar.  Once again, wallaby = very cute.  I also got to pet kangaroos!!  All the animals were really soft, it gave me warm fuzzies!

 

Did I mention I milked a cow too?

 

 

I took lots of pictures, so check them out on Flickr!

Things get ugly on Ice

I’m uploading videos to YouTube and the advertisement on the side is something about “Click to see the effects of Ice.”  There are arrows for ageing, sores, and teeth.  I’m, of course, looking at this very confused since I had no idea ice could do that to you!  I though it was for cooling drinks and reducing swelling!  Then at the end of the advertisement there was a website, amphets.com.au.  Oh, now I get it: Ice is a street name for some drug.  Whew.  And I happily continue on with my life, thankful that I have no idea what any street names for drugs are!

Lovely, no?

My what big teeth you have

The other day, I suppose it was Day Six, we went to the beach and had a bbq with Chris and her family.  Chris is on the right in this picture, she’s in a school uniform, Deb is a mad scientist!  Anyway, we’re getting out of the car at the beach and unloading things from the trunk and Chris looks at me says, “You have such white teeth!”  What a compliment!  Truly one of the best!  I guess she used to be a dentist, so that makes sense.  I was quite pleased with myself (and my teeth)!!

The bbq was really fun.  There is a public bbq so we had to wait in line to use it.  The people before us had some young women using it who had no idea what they were doing and just couldn’t press the button at the right time to keep the surface warm enough to do any grilling.  It was very frustrating for our hungry party!  Thankfully, when we were using it, we knew exactly what we were doing.  Of course when I say we, I mean Greg and Simon, Chris’s husband.  They bonded with the guys next to them by offering them some homebrew ginger beer.  It was really quite cute!