Friday, May 28, 2010

Vacation

Last weekend I went to Ocean City, and this Monday I head off for Costa Rica - thus the lapse in posting, which will only be continued.

Ocean City was quite fun and relaxing. It was a cruiser weekend so there were lots of classic cars there. I picked up my car Wednesday, thinking I could just park at work and it would be easier than picking it up Thursday night. Well I couldn't park at work and had an awful time of finding a place to park. I did eventually though and picked up Jeff after work and drove to Melfa.

Friday we met my parents for lunch at the Harborside Bar and Grill, which they like. It was really good. They have a lot of seafood and the mahi mahi sandwich was awesome.


The view from Harborside

Then we went to the condo after some light shopping. We stayed at Somerset and 2nd and the condo was huge. It was 3 bedrooms and had a large common area, and 2 balconies. It was fun to watch people on the boardwalk. We didn't do anything noteworthy that afternoon, and later we had dinner at Shenanigan's. After that Jeff and I went to the arcades with my brother. We played a lot of skee ball. I was the champion, with this rockin' score:


forgive the blurriness.

We got some sweet prizes like 4 hacky sacks, 2 mini frisbees, a power squirt (aka squirt gun), and a magical fortune-telling fish.

The next day we went to the Sunset Grille for lunch and Atlantic Stand for dinner. In between we did some shopping and walked around and stuff like that.

Junk fries and a grilled cheese from the Atlantic Stand

The following day was pretty foggy. Jeff and I searched for bagels and found an okay place somewhere and misread the sign, thinking half a dozen were $4.99 but really that was for donuts. So we got too many bagels, I guess, but that was okay. Anyway we went to check out the car show which was cool but we didn't go in the parking lot because they were charging $10 for admission.


Still got some sweet shots though...

Then we went back to Harborside and this time I got nachos. And an Orange Crush, their signature cocktail. Which is rather strong. So we went back to the condo and played the game Red Dead Redemption for Xbox which is really great. My brother and Kristen left that evening and my parents and Jeff and I went to Tony's Pizza for dinner because it was pretty much the only place open at 9 on a Sunday.


Mounted police running down the beach - lucky.

The next morning we went to Bagels and Buns for breakfast (amazing bagels) and then headed home, stopping in Salisbury and at the Prime Outlets in - get this - Queenstown, MD. Jeff snagged a hat, hiking shoes, and pants, while I found... nothing. Oh well. Good trip!

And, like I mentioned, Monday it's Costa Rica! Stay tuned for updates on that trip.


Tuesday, May 18, 2010

It's really over

(Day 12 of the month of themed blogging is a whatever you feel like day)

Sunday morning I went down to Williamsburg to attend the Classics graduation ceremony. I wasn't going to participate, just watch and catch up with friends and professors. My mom and brother happened to be bringing my grandmother a TV so I got to see them and we went to lunch at Firehouse Subs, which is pretty good. Not long after it was time to drive onto campus to go to the ceremony at the Campus Center.

I got the program and noticed I was on the list of degree recipients! I should have written a paragraph and walked across the stage like everybody else.... oh well. I sat in front of Callie and got to talk a little bit of Doctor Who with her. Got to see people like Lauren, Maggie, Natasha, Lena, and Meg, and some other people I sort of know. What was mind boggling was there were classics majors there I didn't know! Out of 19 graduating students, there were at least 2 I'd never seen before. Crazy! Talking to profs was cool too.

After that I was just going to go home but was able to get up with Zach and went and hung out with him while he packed. Trevor was there for a bit too. Eventually I headed home after saying bye to my grandmother, and got gas at Wawa and dinner at Taco Bell.

But what this whole thing really drove home was the fact that college is really over. Sure, it's been over since mid-December for me, but the people in my year were still in school that whole time and I could visit and it was like a semester away, sort of; at least that's how it felt. But now that they've all graduated it really feels like I'm done. And I miss it. Mostly, the people. And the abundance of free time, and the proximity and availability of friends and all that. I didn't feel like I missed Williamsburg per se, or being in classes, but just the whole experience of being in college. It's a chapter of my life that has ended, and that's weird. Sure, high school ended but then there was just more school. Now, most likely, school is over. Even if I go to grad school one day it'll be different.

I'm a little bit sad. I'm a bit in mourning, you could say. I will miss my college friends - will any of us keep in touch? These are really good friends, great people, many of whom I've known for 4 years of my life or longer. Isn't it strange that suddenly, many of us will drift apart and possibly never see each other again? It seemed bad enough for the people I'd bonded with in one semester in New Zealand were gone from my life, but now I have to face up to that with even closer friends... but I've kept in touch with some people from New Zealand, so I'm confident that I can keep in touch with some people from college.

The other night I had a dream about riding and realized I miss that part of my life, too. I want horses to be part of me again. I think it was part of this feeling like I'm letting things go, and I just don't want to. If I try hard enough, I probably don't have to. I'm planning on riding in Costa Rica at least once. And I'll Skype with at least one person this summer. That's my goal.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Day 11 — A photo of me taken recently



This is me at Busch Gardens in the fall with a Guira Cuckoo cuddling on my shoulder. Such a sweet bird!

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Day 10 — A photo of me taken over ten years ago

This one had to be early too, since I'm going down to Williamsburg for graduation tomorrow. Here you go:



This was with my cat Sassy, who despised me, possibly, it would seem, with good reason...

Friday, May 14, 2010

Day 09 — A photo I took

Okay, this time, I'm doing this early, because I have to work tomorrow and probably will not do much after work. So here is a photo I took.


Sure, I have photos I consider better quality, but I just really like this one, for its bizarre factor. Also, it looks like the guy is posing for me. I'm pretty sure he wasn't, though... he had the chicken pointed at the Hollywood sign.


Day 08 — A photo that makes me angry/sad

For this I've chosen a photo that makes me sad. And it's a montage from a Doctor Who episode. Relevant dialogue quoted below.


The Doctor: Here you are, living a life day after day. The one adventure I can never have.
Rose: Am I ever going to see you again?
The Doctor: You can’t.
Rose: What are you going to do?
The Doctor: I’ve got the TARDIS. Same old life. Last of the Time Lords.
Rose: On your own? I… I love you.
The Doctor: Quite right too. And I suppose… if it’s my last chance to say it… Rose Tyler… [disappears]

I cried when watching this.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Day 7: A photo that makes me happy

I know, I know. These are really long days, or something. Day 6 was 'whatever tickles your fancy,' so that was my Firefly review. Here goes the next one!

When Jeff and I were long distance, I had to come up with quick ways of getting happy, because sometimes having your boyfriend thousands of miles away just bums you out. Since I'd rather not venture into the area of mood-altering drugs, I needed something else. Luckily, someone introduced me to Cute Overload, which delivers adorable photos regularly.



Just try to scowl at that sloth. I dare you.

The only thing I don't like about Cute Overload is the captions. Very occasionally, they'll have a witty reference that I like. But, for the most part, they are kind of annoying. So, luckily for you, dear reader, I have just yesterday found a new site, which has pictures that are just as cute, and doesn't have the obnoxious captions! That site is ZooBorns, which chronicles baby animals born at zoos.


Foxy!


Even godless killing machines can be adorable!

So, the moral of the story is that cute things make me happy. It's great to find websites that never fail to make you smile!

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Review: Firefly

Year: 2002
Starring: Nathan Fillion, Summer Glau, Alan Tudyk, Jewel Staite, Morena Baccarin, Gina Torres, Adam Baldwin, Sean Maher, Ron Glass
Created by: Joss Whedon



Firefly is one of those shows that got canceled too early and, like many of those (the good ones at least), has sort of a cult following. From my point of view, it well deserves that following. It was a great show, and it's really a shame that it didn't even run a full season (just 10 episodes). I am really glad a followup movie was made, at least.

So why, exactly, is it so good? Well, for one, it's a sci-fi western. How cool is that? If you've seen the video for Muse's "Knights of Cydonia" you sort of know what that's like. This is the most believable scifi I've seen - basically, technology has advanced enough in the future to allow space travel, and since Earth was all used up, people moved on to a new solar system. There are no aliens, just some people that were driven crazy and turned into creepy killing machines. There's some laser technology in guns, but only the central planets have the best tech, while the outworlds are backwaters with little sophistication and often beyond reach of the Alliance law.

Anyway, so our heroes are the crew of a transport ship that takes miscellaneous jobs, mostly on the outworlds. Captain Malcolm Reynolds (Fillion) was a sergeant in the big war for the Independents, and so he has attracted a crew that mostly eschew Alliance control. The crew includes a pilot, Wash (Tudyk), his wife who fought with Mal in the war, second-in-command Zoe (Torres), a Companion (basically a courtesan) who rents out one of the shuttles, Inara (Baccarin), the tough guy, Jayne (Baldwin), and the mechanic, Kaylee (Staite). In the pilot episode they pick up a Shepherd (pastor), Book (Glass), and a doctor (Maher) who has taken his sister (Glau) out of an Alliance camp where they've been doing things to her brain.

The characters are done really well; they all seem real and have interesting relationships, and develop as the show goes on. Everyone is either likeable or amusing, or both. The show is thrilling, engaging, funny, and just generally delightful. It's quick to watch but, if you're like me, you'll wish it just kept on going.

Basically, I loved it, and on a few different levels. It was entertaining but also just a great story, and there was action and romance and humor... oh I just can't say enough!

Now, go forth and watch! You won't be disappointed, I feel. It's on Netflix streaming now.

Grade: A+!