| Evidence of Kitty Naughtiness :P |
[Mar. 7th, 2007|10:24 pm] |
So, I got a MacBook for doing some web development testing in OSX. It came with this app called "Photo Booth", which I found useful today for getting evidence of what I have to deal with while trying to work. Freckles has recently decided that he needs to constantly be wrapped around my neck when I am here, whether I am sitting here working or walking into the kitchen... he is there.
( more evidence ) |
|
|
| Labor Day Weekend at The Red |
[Sep. 6th, 2006|04:47 pm] |
We drove down to The Red in Kentucky on my birthday for a weekend of climbing fun.
Well, kinda. I was sick the whole time and things didn't exactly turn out as planned, but I am still happy we went and now I know of a few new routes I want to get. And we even got there in time to get pizza at Miguel's before bed and we brought down some Erdinger (one of my favourite German beers) too ;D
I got a little banged up O,o Sexy legs, no? ;P
I was there with Anthony, Scott, and a new climbing partner we picked up in Ohio after chatting with on the Planet Rock forums, Jens. We packed all of our gear into Jens' Jetta wagon: tents, sleeping bags / pads, clothes, climbing gear, food, and even 2 guitars (one travel-sized ;)
It was the first time Scott climbed outside and he did awesome ;D (See picture to the left ;) He learned to lead climb the second day and will be getting his lead check at the gym Saturday.
There were other people from the climbing gym in Ann Arbor there and we climbed a bit with Bruce. Learned a bit about trad from Jens and he also taught me how to rappel. I followed him up on a couple trad climbs and he belayed me from the top and we rappelled down. I think it will be awhile before I try trad myself ;P
We climbed from Sept. 1st - Sept. 4th and went to Roadside, Left Flank, Bruise Brothers Wall, and Phantasia.
I definitely want to go back to Left Flank and Phantasia to try a few routes again. Got on my first 5.10s outside and I know I will be able to do them a lot better when I am feeling well.
I had an asthma attack during one of the climbs and the inhaler I was carrying up with me wasn't working. Luckily I brought a spare. Only problem was it was in my pack on the ground. I finished the climb anyway and I think it will be a really fun climb next time ;D
Anthony rested the third day after trying out 'Infectious', a 5.12b at Left Flank. You can see him at the beginning of the route to right ;P
Thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday ;D
I have some video from the trip that I still need to do something with and some more pictures on flickr at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/studlyspam/sets/72157594271154711/
( A couple more for those of you too lazy to click the link to flickr... ;P ) |
|
|
| Update: Dental Issues, New Friend & New Brother |
[Aug. 1st, 2006|11:41 am] |
| [ | Tags | | | climbing, connor, family, friends, frustrations, gaming, guitar hero, health & fitness, me, photo entry, ps2, silly | ] |
I got back from the dentist a little while ago and it seems I need a root canal in the front. I already tried asking my parents for fillings for my birthday (coming up at the end of the month), but I have been denied. *sigh*
At least I have an adorable baby cousin to play playstation games with! I guess he will be my little "brother" soon too. My parents are going to be adopting him. I guess someone will be calling me to ask if my parents were good parents. That should be interesting...
They came over for my Dad's 64th birthday the other day. It is kind of crazy when you think that my dad will be 80 when Connor (my baby cousin) graduates from high school. I showed Connor how to play some ps2 games ;P He is only 2-years old and not even talking yet, but he is really smart. I was taking pictures of him playing Taiko Drum Master and afterward he brought the drum over to me, handed me the drum sticks, and picked up my camera wanting to take pictures of me drumming. It was sooooo cute! So we showed him how to use my camera *G* I will put the pictures he took in a cut.
In other news, I have been hanging out with a new friend, Scott, a lot lately. We have been playing guitar together and singing. It is great ;D Also got him into climbing. The first time he went climbing he was already getting 5.8s and the second time he got up on a 5.10a. I think he will get it soon too!
Here are a few shots of my adorable soon-to-be-brother, Connor ;D
2-year old guitar hero! Good for learning colours ;D
( +9 ) |
|
|
| Photo Story: Fourth of July |
[Jul. 6th, 2006|01:07 pm] |
It was laundry day and it seems it was also the Fourth of July. Anthony and I didn't even realize it until he tried to go to work. If I had my cell phone on me and the batteries were not dead, Google Calendar would have also let me know, but alas my cell was in some random place and dead as usual. As I mentioned before, it was laundry day and sometimes I look very special on laundry day, especially when I haven't done laundry in a long time. So I figured since I already looked pretty silly, I should put on this strange head garment I found and humiliate myself by producing photographic evidence. I think the ear warmer thingy came from a giant Überraschungsei or something...
Notes: I have had this shirt since elementary school. I imagine it wasn't as short back then. The back features a picture of Mickey's Back and says "Mickey's Back!". It is pretty cheesy. The boxers with penguins on them were given to my ex and then stolen back. Yay, penguins!
( Continue... ) |
|
|
| ;P |
[Jul. 1st, 2006|08:52 pm] |
 |
|
|
| I am a Guitar Hero! |
[Jun. 30th, 2006|03:33 pm] |
I went climbing with ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) vol last night and ran into roscop and elisethestrange. I am feeling the results of the climbing today and it feels good. I climbed a 5.7, 5.8, and three 5.9s. Starting to get back to where I was climbing last year. I should have tried harder to keep it up during grad school.
Also, I decided to work my upper arm muscles a little while this morning by playing Guitar Hero on expert level behind my back. Yay! I rule! ;P
 |
|
|
| History of Computing Museum? |
[Jan. 15th, 2006|07:07 pm] |
Have I ever mentioned that I am a packrat? I have serious problems throwing stuff away, including several boxes of old hardware. While doing some cleaning today, I discovered a few items lying on my desk that made me question my odd packrat habits. I should probably just sell big boxes of hardware on eBay or something, because we know I am never going to make that beowulf cluster I once joked about. Anthony suggested maybe making a museum in my basement. There is room actually...
Some of the items found on my desk:
( +2, including the ultimate webcam! ) |
|
|
| Tag mit derralf (hey... your username makes this grammatically incorrect! ;) |
[Jan. 3rd, 2006|11:43 am] |
On the 3rd, my last day in Berlin, I hung out with derralf. I wanted to check out Zionskirche, but they were closed. How can a church be closed? Grrr. Then we headed over to Palast der Republik to say goodbye. I was a bit disappointed that no one had hung up papers on the fence protesting its destruction, but there was some graffiti on nearby information about the rebuilding of the Berliner Schloss. So that cheered me up a bit. derralf said it didn't really matter, because they are going to tear it down anyway... but I tend to disagree. I think it is a sad time, when no one stands up for what they believe in, even if they think they have no chance of reversing (in this case) the destruction, there is more at stake. Anyway, I am sad that they are destroying the Palast and building the Schloss, which Berlin really doesn't need. After that we went to the Neue Wache and then to Humboldt to pee ;P Then to Potsdamer Platz. I wanted to get some Ampelmännchen stuff and other gifts at Arkaden. Part of the Christmas market was still up there. They had also built a snow hill for sledding down, but unfortunately it was not free. Checked out Sony Center to see if they had any interesting lights. I do like that area, even if it is so... commercial. At least it is commercial and pretty? ;P A little bit later we met up with Alex and went to the movies in one of the most interesting movie theaters I have ever been in, Lichtblick-Kino. It was tiny, with 4 seats across and I am not sure how many rows, but not many. There was an old piano up front against the wall and the screen was about as big as one of those big flat TV's. In fact, I bet it was about the same size as the TV Devon's father has. Due to drinking beer, I had to use the bathroom at one point and the guy told me I had to go outside into the courtyard. It was... an experience ;P The movie we saw was a Swiss movie called Lücke im System. I would definitely see a movie there again. There was this neat alley nearby that I just had to go down with cool lighting and "art" on the walls.
I am cheating and putting the last thing first ;P Wish I had a better camera with me... but these are more for the memories anyway...
( Read more... ) |
|
|
| What about breakfast at Ralf's... |
[Jan. 2nd, 2006|11:30 am] |
So, on the 2nd I think, Alex, Michi, and I went to Ralf's place for Breakfast. And Ralf made me Dragon Ice Cream! Yay ;D
Alex, Me, Michi, and Ralf
( Read more... )
Another related note, I have now been to the Kulturbrauerei in Prenzlauer Berg multiple times over the last several years. For movies, grocery shopping, crêpes, and salsa dancing. And now I will remember what it is called ;P |
|
|
| A wish you all a good slide into the New Year *G* |
[Jan. 1st, 2006|02:31 pm] |
So New Year's... we hung out with a few friends at Alex's before going to watch the fireworks on derralf's roof. It was a lot of fun. The fireworks surrounded us and went on for hours. There isn't much I can really say to describe what it was like and I could not capture the evening in pictures, sorry ;P I was pleased with the way things turned out and it was great to be with people I really care about. I do have a couple pictures...
derralf and Thilo making funny faces at me. Thilo happens to be looking through a Slinky.
( Read more... ) |
|
|
| Fragments |
[Dec. 29th, 2005|02:29 pm] |
So... sometime in between 22C3 and New Year's, I apparently had ice cream at least twice, judging by my pictures. I am pretty sure we hung out with derralf and maybe watched a movie or two. I probably was trying to locate a go-board with Ralf and Alex at this time as well. Florian was sick when I visited him and I caught what he had and managed to give it to Alex as well (I am so generous). I am still sick actually. This is a really nasty cold. So...
Yum! I got to pick out the flavours too!
( Read more... ) |
|
|
| On the third day of Christmas... |
[Dec. 26th, 2005|07:33 pm] |
The third day of Christmas I spent with derralf. I brought him his presents and a baby snowman I built outside his place. We played guitar a bit and went for a walk to Mauerpark, where both children and punks with dogs were sledding. I like watching people at Mauerpark. I think I would hang out there a bit and do so if I lived in Berlin. Afterward, we went to where derralf works in Potsdam and to Schloss Sanssouci. Good times ;D
When we came back from our walk, the man was clearing his windshield. A shame, but I guess he couldn't drive with the snow on it ;P
( Read more... )
EDIT: I believe I lost a day now that I look at things again. I am so bad with time. I think the first day Ralf and I went for the walk to Mauerpark, then we baked cookies and hung out... and where it says "Afterward, we went to where ..." I really meant to say... the next day! ;P
And then we met up with Alex for dinner at an Indian place near derralf and Ralf left early to go to a party. But ummm... I know we all watched 2 movies bei Ralf at some point... I just cannot figure out when. Hmmm... |
|
|
| Christmas! |
[Dec. 23rd, 2005|06:13 pm] |
On the 23rd, I took a train from Koblenz to Köln... well, at least I was supposed to. Alex and I were supposed to meet up on the train, which was eventually headed for Berlin. But my bad luck kicked in again and my train was 15 minutes late, thus, I missed my connecting train. One of the guys working on the Train was nice though and let me use the train cell phone to call Alex ;P A woman I sat next to also wanted to buy me coffee. Anyway, Alex and I managed to meet up in Hamm, but we lost our reservations and had to sit on the ground the rest of the way to Berlin. It wasn't that bad, but I think it is a bunch of BS that they don't even give the money back for the reservations. Anyway, we arrived in Berlin alright and I met Alex's Mother and her cats ;D And I like all of them ;P Again, details already fuzzy. My memory is terrible. I remember that Alex's mother had prepared something to eat and I think we went out afterward to play billiards with derralf, if I don't have the dates confused. Was wonderful to see him again ;D
The next day was the first day of Christmas... Germans celebrate 3 days ;P Also, traditionally the Christ Child is supposed to come through the window on the evening of the 24th and leave the presents. When I told Anthony this, he asked if you could go to the mall and sit on the Christ Child's lap *G* Anyway, Alex and I decorated the Christmas tree. Later, Alex, his mother, and I had dinner together and exchanged gifts. Afterward some friends of his family came over and to my surprise, they also had a gift for me. We played Hexentanz and I was winning, but Alex and I had to leave to go meet some friends at the bar. Other than derralf, Alex, and Michi, I didn't really know anyone. I kind of knew Christian, because we hung out with him in Köln. Alex got wasted, I had a few, and the bill was way too high. This is why I drink Beer and not mixed Drinks ;P derralf also brought me presents ;P But he left earlier :/ I thought it was kinda weird to go to a bar on Christmas, but I guess it is tradition for Alex and his friends.
The second day of Christmas we went to eat with his Grandma, aunts, uncles, and cousins. I decided to have ice cream for my meal ;P Afterward we went to his Aunt and Uncle's for Coffee and to exchange gifts. Again, I was given presents to my surprise. At one point Alex and Stefan, his cousin, were talking loudly in my ears and his Aunt asked something I couldn't really hear. When I indicated I hadn't understood, she went to look for a dictionary ... O,o Was kinda weird. I do tend to be pretty quiet around new people, but I didn't think I was that quiet. Alex's mother mentioned that I spoke German fluently and one of the cousins said something like "probably better than we do". It was kinda funny. It was also fun to listen to the sometimes thick Berliner dialect ;P
Alex and I very messily shared this Überraschungseier Ice Cream after arriving at the train station in Berlin.
( Read more... ) |
|
|
| Much driving and Fussball |
[Dec. 20th, 2005|05:32 pm] |
On the 20th, I took a train from Bochum to Koblenz and met up with Florian there. After much difficulty figuring out how to get downtown and park, with an Autobahn sign before us bearing the name of small town called "Mayen", I decided, much to Florian's dismay, that it was destiny and that we had to go. Some of you may know that I participated in a short summer study abroad program there in 2001. We checked out the tiny Christmas market there and then wandered around the town. Many memories. And now this picture has to come... I think someone else here might appreciate it ;P
After that, we went to another little town, which I currently do not know the name of, but have written down somewhere, and had some good beer and conversation. Then we drove back to Florian's place in Trier.
The next day we drove to München. It was a lonnnnnnnnnng drive with a lot of traffic jams, but eventually we got there and saw Bayern München play against Hamburg SV in the new stadium. Bayern München finally shot a goal during overtime. It was an interesting experience. Afterward they gave us gingerbread hearts with the Bayern München logo on them, which I thought was pretty cool.
The next day we wandered around München. Again, checked out the Christmas Market, had Glühwein, and watched some people. It was too cold to stay very long though and so we spent many hours in a car again. Lots of conversations...
The new stadium in München (Munich)
( Read more... )
I also have two little video clips. One of Bayern München's goal and one of a strange, self-cleaning pay-toliet at a rest area. For 50 cents (Euro), you could use the toliet and it gave you a coupon for the same amount in case you wanted to buy something from the store. There was also this new age voice that talked to you the whole time about how it hoped that you enjoyed the experience ... |
|
|
| Arrival in Germany |
[Dec. 17th, 2005|04:55 pm] |
After spending 6 extra hours in a rather disgusting airport in Paris, due to the incompetence of Air France, who by the way believes shrimp to be vegetarian and has no qualms about yelling at their customers in French that they can eat around it, I arrived in Frankfurt. Of course, I had missed my train to Bochum by several hours, but I took the next available one and everything worked out. Luckily I had ended up chatting with a nice German guy in Paris, who was also stranded a few hours, and he let me call up Alex to let him know I had missed my flight. After a wonderful greeting from Alex, we took a Taxi back to his place where others were waiting... and we played DSA (Das Schwarze Auge - Paper & Pen RPG). I had already been traveling 24 hours and hadn't slept for even longer, but somehow I wasn't that tired. Another girl there played my Woodelf. She didn't seem to be capable of getting into the RPG and she seemed to have a death-wish as well. It was... somewhat amusing.
The details of the days that followed are already somewhat fuzzy, but I spent a few days in Bochum with Alex. We wandered around Bochum a bit, checked out the Christmas market there briefly, went to the Bergbau-Museum, and checked out the Uni. On the 19th, we went to the Christmas market in Köln, wandered around, and drank Glühwein ;P
I also went to an Internet café and found out that my roommate decided to move out while I was gone (well, actually I found out a couple days later, but I don't want to go into details). Truth be told, I am happy he did, even if I cannot really afford the rent on my own. I am not sure I want another roommate either. I don't really need stress while I am working on my Master's thesis. Although my first experience with roommates was alright, they were neat and polite, my last experience wasn't the best. And I don't really want that again or worse. Anyway, that kinda messed up my vacation a little bit, but I felt better after some nice German beer ;P
And now for a couple pics...
Bergbau-Museum
( +3 )
Oh yeah, also found out that I got all 4.0s ;P Hopefully I will complete my Master's with a nearly perfect GPA ;D |
|
|
| Muahhahahhaa... |
[Oct. 26th, 2005|12:25 pm] |
EDIT: To those who have mentioned that this isn't a very good picture of me, yes, I realize this. But my shirt still owns you! ;P |
|
|
| Forgot a pic ;D |
[Oct. 6th, 2005|02:31 am] |
And it is one of my favourites...
6. Sunsets at the beach again... but I forgot to mention before how it is remembering the people you watched them with that makes them so wonderful...
 |
|
|
| Therapeutic Picture Posting |
[Oct. 4th, 2005|09:32 pm] |
We now interrupt your regularly scheduled rant session, to show you some random pictures we did not have time to post and still really don't, but are going to do anyway for therapeutic reasons...
Random good things in life:
1. Warm sand in between your toes:
( +4 )
And now back to this paper for my pedagogic course... *sigh* |
|
|
lonely
