Holiday cheer

It's been a while since I posted, lots going on. This is one way of putting off studying, which I'm out of practice for. Went to Colorado with Becky to meet her folks, which was fun but short. I only had a weekend but had a great time. I even played some blackjack in an Indian casino, which was the only hotel in town.

Went camping in November, again, but it was quite a different experience. We shared a campsite with a group of Polish friends singing pop songs all night and drinking loudly. Before and after that was pretty cool, though. Got to play some guitar and find a tick crawling up my leg for the first time in years. The lake was beautiful in the morning sun.

Last weekend, Becky and I drove up to Dallas to see Jim and Lyndon, and I even got to see Tobey for a little bit. We watched Beowulf in digital 3-D, which was cool. It wasn't the best weather for traveling, but we didn't have any real problems. I'm bringing her home to meet the rest of the family for Christmas, which will be at my folks' place this year. I can't wait for vacation.

It must be said, these are really odd carrots.

One tomato, cha-ching.

October sights

October is coming to an end, and I'm ready for a little Halloween reverie. I'll be going as a pirate, and Becky will be my gypsy queen. I hope the little kiddos of the neighborhood are ready for it. We'll be handing out candy and maybe offering the neighborhood a little surprise...muhuhahaha!

In other news, the garden that largely refused to produce now stubbornly refuses to die. We now have no less than three little green tomatoes, as well as a jalapeño. After a period of yellowing, the tomato vines have turned green again and continued to bloom. Above you'll see the one that ripened and went great on a couple sandwiches last week. Also, I'll put up a scaaary picture of our mutant carrots for everyone to chew on.

Garden's state

The summer's winding down and so is our garden. After months of anticipation and one false start, we now have one healthy tomato. We've also managed to grow half a dozen jalapeños and at least one more cucumber (for a total of three). I dug up a couple of the healthy carrot plants only to find they're still smaller than the sweet potatoes were. Still no sign of green peppers, the onions were gone mid-summer, and no basil either. We're still seeing a green bean here and there. But let me tell you, those jalapeños are good on a pizza.

ACL Fest again

Another ACL Fest has come and gone, and this one didn't disappoint. It was the first time Becky attended, and she was duly impressed by the crowds. Some highlights this year were Ghostland Observatory, Billy Joe Shaver, Regina Spektor, Reverend Horton Heat, and Butch Walker and the Let's Go Out Tonites. Bjork was strange, as expected, and the Killers and Blue October put on shows equal to their albums, but nothing surprising. We brought chairs, the first time I've done that, and didn't get there until 3-4pm Saturday and Sunday, but didn't miss many acts I wanted to see, and didn't suffer from exhaustion like I have in the past. Bob Dylan played some of his hits, although he didn't allow closeups on the Jumbo-trons. Still, I'm glad I got to see him. It wasn't too hot, and it didn't rain, so I was happy.

Lord of the Wheel of Time

I found out yesterday that over the weekend Robert Jordan (aka James Oliver Rigney, Jr.), possibly my favorite writer, passed away over the weekend. He was working on the final book of his Wheel of Time series, the 12th book. At least two of those books reached more than 1,000 pages, and none of the paperbacks is less than 700 pages.

This is sad news, not just for his family but for his millions of fans. I remember the first time one of his books debuted at number one on the New York Times best seller list, Entertainment Weekly got one of the character's names confused with her profession, and had to print a correction in the next issue, undoubtedly due to passionate reader response. I believe each subsequent book has also topped the list, but they haven't made any more mistakes reporting it. For all their popularity, his books have continued to feel like a well-kept secret among his fans.

Around the midpoint of the series, I read Jordan claimed to have written as many pages of notes on the world and characters of the series as he had published in the books themselves. It's my hope his estate will publish some or all of these when the series is completed, which it undoubtedly will be, either by a family member or another author (see: Frank Herbert's Dune). It's a good sign that Jordan reportedly told the entire story of the ending to his family before his death, so between that and his notes I hope for a truly great ending to the Wheel of Time, as the author intended.

It's true, as many online fans have griped, that the second half of the series has suffered from a decline in quality, of the pacing if not the writing, but Jordan's accomplishment in the first six books has earned him a rightful place in the ranks of the greatest fantasy and sci-fi writers of all time. And even if the later books don't live up to the promise of the first, there are still flashes of greatness woven throughout them, and he had set the bar awfully high anyway. The end of book six, Lord of Chaos, is simultaneously the most thrilling, horrifying, and heartbreaking I've ever read, complete with an edge of your seat final page that leaves me begging for more every time I re-read it.

Rest in peace, and thanks.

The big trip

The big news I've been putting off writing about is my trip to New York City a few weekends ago, which went off without a hitch. Aside from our flight back to Austin being delayed, and me not bringing the right shoes for all the walking we'd be doing, things couldn't have gone better.

I'd been wanting to see NYC for several years, even hoped I might get sent to a conference there for my previous job, but things kept coming up. When Becky told me her plans to go with her roommate, I asked to tag along and she agreed.

We stayed in what's usually an off-campus apartment for Juilliard students 64th St. When class is out for the summer, they rent them to tourists for cheap (one bedroom, one bath, pull out couch, TV, oven, fridge, microwave - $120/night). We got to check in early, so we had more time than expected to look around the first afternoon. We used it to walk Central Park for a few hours, then did some shopping at the corner store to stock the fridge with breakfast and sandwich stuff for the next four days, followed by Phantom of the Opera that night. Afterward, we walked to Times Square and had a couple Long Island iced teas before a cab ride back.

The next couple days are a blur of touring the streets, all kinds of notable buildings and landmarks, back to Times Square for more pictures and shopping. Friday it rained pretty consistently once we got to Little Italy in the afternoon, so we retired early that night only. Saturday was absolutely beautiful. On Sunday, we met some friends of Becky's for lunch and convo, and saw the oldest pub in the city, McSorley's. That night we went to the top of Rockefeller Center despite the cloudy conditions, and got ten minutes of clear weather for pictures. Even surrounded by clouds, the city was impressive from that vantage point. They had to kick us out to close.

Our last day was less eventful, simply because we'd run so hard to see everything since we got there. We went back to the library to see inside, since it was closed the first time we walked by it, and got some shots of the U.N. building and the rivers, then back to New Jersey for our flight home. We got in after 1am, and I had to work the next day. I took more than a hundred photos, supplemented by almost 400 of Becky's. Thanks, babe!

Sweet potato harvest.

Summertime

So it's been a while since I posted, but I've got some more coming this weekend. This afternoon I spent half an hour digging up half of our sweet potato plants. As you can see in the picture above, I was a little disappointed. Also, because I was wearing a jacket to save my arms and neck from the mosquitoes, by the time I was done I was totally soaked in sweat and had to relax in the a/c for a while to recover. Tonight we're doing burgers on the grill, and I'd hoped for sweet potato fries. Maybe next month.

Travel Diary - Day 35

Date: 7/5/97
Weather: sunny and warm
Place: L.A., Dallas, Chicago, Cincinnati

I got up and down for breakfast, but there had been some kind of mixup because they had put my meal last night on my room bill with the phone call and movie. I got it taken off at the front desk, then got the breakfast buffet and hoped they didn't screw up again and put that on my bill. When I got to Dallas, I found out my flight had been canceled to Cincinnati, and I could go to Chicago then down and be home sooner than wait for the next Dallas flight (to Cincinnati), so I did that. I had that choice from L.A. and should've taken it. When I got to Cincy, no one was there to meet me so I got my other bag. Then everybody showed up and I went home.

Travel Diary - Day 34

Date: 7/4/97 (again)
Weather: sunny and warm
Place: Papeete, L.A.

I got very little sleep both because of the meal times and the fact that we had less night due to traveling east (Author's note: we crossed the international date line, so I got to see July 4th twice). I've drank so much Coke lately I'm going to have to stop for a while. I had a glass of champagne on the plane, but the coffee counteracted it. Once again, I'm stuck in L.A., due to Air New Zealand's error in transfer times when booking me. Since it's their fault, the hotel room, which is at the Sheraton, is free, as are dinner and breakfast tomorrow. I had a New York sirloin. I've got a king size bed again, and this is a bit better than the Holiday Inn was last time, with a refrigerator and other things. I couldn't resist ordering a movie. I watched the fireworks from my window.

Travel Diary - Day 33

Date: 7/4/97
Weather: sunny, cool
Place: Auckland, Papeete

I was an early riser yet again this morning, and took the 9:30am tour of Auckland. It was a great day for it, but unfortunately it only lasted three hours. The afternoon tour was longer, but it didn't end until 3:00pm, and I had a 4:00pm shuttle to the airport. I got to the most visited building in the southern hemisphere, a museum housing art and war stuff, along with Maori cultural artifacts, and the largest crater in Auckland, which was covered in grass inside and out and used cows to mow it by grazing. I was lucky to be at the airport so early, since my flight was delayed three hours and I got a seat on another one.

Travel Diary - Day 32

Date: 7/3/97
Weather: cloudy and cool, some rain
Place: Taihape, Auckland


I got up and made it to the gas station where I would be picked up an hour early. This time the guy did not even pull in, he just stopped across the road and I dragged my bag over to him. It was a long day of driving up the eastern side, so it was nice to get some different scenery. We only stopped briefly for lunch, and it was raining at the time. It was dusk by the time we got to Auckland, and I decided I'd take a tour of the city tomorrow. I got a single room and a free beer card, so I went up to the bar on the top floor of the hostel. There was a pool competition for mixed couples, and on my second try I met a girl who agreed to play. She was from Colorado and had just flown in this morning. We played pool across the street instead.

Travel Diary - Day 31

Date: 7/2/97
Weather: cold and rainy
Place: Wellington, Taihape

I got up for my 7:30am bus and packed in the dark, then I got a cup of coffee at the cafe in the hostel. Unfortunately, I was not informed that today was one of the two days of the week that River Valley did not get a Kiwi bus. I was literally the only one there aside from the staff when my ride dropped me off. Since it was raining and I couldn't go horse trekking, I went sheep herding for an hour or more. I've never climbed hills so steep and pathless as I did then. The sheepdog was cool, and Jeff brought along his daughter. Luckily, I got a ride back into town and got a $12.00 hotel room in a bar/hostel. I went to bed early.

Travel Diary - Day 30

Date: 7/1/97
Weather: cloudy and cold
Place: Wellington

I saw Con Air last night before turning in early. I got up and had a candy bar for breakfast, then watched a little TV. I found a bunch of people from the bus in the kitchen, and we talked for a while. Everybody was doing their own thing, so I got lunch and started walking to a shopping mall. Before I got near it, I found a magazine store and spent almost five hours reading about news in entertainment and other stuff. I couldn't believe it when I saw how much time I'd spent in there. They started closing the place, so I got supper and went back to the hostel. We all watched videos and ER, then went to a bar for a final drink together.

Travel Diary - Day 29

Date: 6/30/97
Weather: partly sunny
Place: River Valley, Wellington

I had a cup of coffee and a couple of s'mores for breakfast, then took entirely too long getting my full-body wetsuit on for whitewater rafting. Once we got to the river, we carried the boats down to the banks and got a crash course in rafting. The water was unexpectedly deep, even in the narrowest places. The scenery we got to see convinced me that New Zealand is the most beautiful place on Earth, even without seeing the south island. Plus, river rafting was the only way to see it. It was otherwise inaccessible and untouched. We jumped off 9 and 10 meter high ledges into the freezing water and got stuck 90 feet after taking over (Author's note: The guide got out of the boat and let the newbies try to negotiate some rapids ourselves. We got wedged on a rock and the boat filled with water, so he had to make his way through the rapids to us just to get us unstuck). After a shower, we drove to Wellington with no stops.

Travel Diary - Day 28

Date: 6/29/97
Weather: partly cloudy
Place: Taupo, River Valley

I had a bit of the free breakfast at the hostel before we left this morning, which was unimpressive. On the way to River Valley, we stopped at a ski lodge for a hike. It was absolutely gorgeous scenery, with mountains on either side when we weren't in the forest walking along a creek. There was also a waterfall that was surrounded by ice where it entered the pool, which was a sacred Maori site. The lodge is tucked away in the middle of nowhere without a TV or radio, but it was charming. The showers and toilets are outdoors, and everyone sleeps in the same room in connected beds. I made s'mores after the $7.00 meal that didn't include a drink but tasted home cooked, and read and played cards.

Travel Diary - Day 27

Date: 6/28/97
Weather: sunny, cloudless
Place: Rotorua, Taupo

Today we went to a national park on the way out of town that contained thermal pools, boiling mud, and all kinds of sulfur deposits. It was the most ungodly place on earth, which they recognized by calling things the Devil's home, Devil's inkpots, and the like. It was very active today. We went to a geyser that erupted when given soap and the Huka Falls afterward. Once we put our stuff in the hostel, it was off to skydiving. In a way, I wish I hadn't taken as many pictures as I did on the way down because I would have paid more attention, but freefall was mindblowing. The whole experience was worth it. That night we went to the Holy Cow for dancing and drinks.

Travel Diary - Day 26

Date: 6/27/97
Weather: sunny and cool
Place: Waitomo, Rotorua

We stopped by a cafe/restaurant for breakfast this morning, where I had something resembling a donut. On the way to Rotorua, we stopped at a small racing course, where I wish I would have done it. The cars were cool and fast. Instead, I waited for the luge activity. We had to take a Skyrail to the place, and then we got two runs down part of the mountain and a chair lift back to the top afterwards. I did the beginner path once and then the advanced once. I forgot my camera and didn't take a single picture all day. Fortunately, one of the women on the bus is going to send me copies of the pictures at the Maori dinner that night (Author's note: she never did send them). It was a great meal and dance demonstration. The spa and pool at the backpackers place were both geothermically heated.

Travel Diary - Day 25

Date: 6/26/97
Weather: partly sunny, showers
Place: Auckland, Waitomo

I got up with my wakeup call and packed, then got another 20 minutes sleep. When I got up again, I made a cup of coffee and got a call that my ride was there. In my haste, I left my voucher on the bed and had to have the nice innkeeper fax a copy to the hostel where I met the bus to give to the driver, then send the original to the central office in town. I read a lot, before and after the bus broke down, and had Burger King for lunch. We reached Waitomo at 2:30pm, where we moved into the hostel and went black water rafting. I can never describe the beauty of that cave, or how cold the water was. I felt like I was witnessing the birth of galaxies represented by the glow worms. The showers scalded, and the rainforest walk afterward was great by candlelight.

Travel Diary - Day 24

Date: 6/25/97
Weather: cloudy and cool
Place: Melbourne, Auckland

I got a tad more sleep on last night's bus trip than I did on the first one, but I tried earlier, too. The bus had been stopped for some problem in the night, so we got to Melbourne an hour late. I was rushed the whole time I was a the College. I took a taxi to Carlton, switched clothes and packed, without even time for a shower. I had to pay sales tax on some duty free I had opened early, then rushed back to catch the bus to the airport. My two bags are full to bursting. The plane ride was fine, with a good meal but no movie. When I got to Auckland it was two hours later than Melbourne. I decided to splurge on a hotel room for the privacy and shower, since it will be a while before I see them again. I set up my Kiwi Experience pickup and read about what to expect until bed.

Travel Diary - Day 23

Date: 6/24/97
Weather: sunny and warm
Place: Sydney, border of Victoria

Pablo left at 8:00am today, but me and Alex slept in. We went to the Powerhouse Museum, which was really cool and very eclectic, from cars to space travel to fashion to beer. It featured mostly Australian people and developments, but it also had a mock front of the space shuttle. We got a bite to eat and took a bus out to Bondi beach, which was gorgeous. The walk from the bus stop to the beach via the cliff side was awesome and almost as full of life as the Nobbies at Phillip Island. We split to get back to the hostel were I picked up my bag and walked to the bus station. They showed some movie I'd never heard of.

Travel Diary - Day 22

Date: 6/23/97
Weather: sunny and warm
Place: Sydney

Today, me and Pablo split up with Alex and decided to meet at the hostel for tea. We took a train and then a bus out to the Olympic site, where I took the last of my pictures. It was still mostly under construction, so there wasn't as much to see as I would have liked. By the time we got back, it was too late to go to the beach, so Pablo went to get information for his dad's car dealership and I looked through a book store until we were supposed to meet Alex. The three of us got a family meal, then Pablo went to try and find the Mexican again and Alex and I went to see the 7:20pm showing of Swingers. We met Pablo again after and went to an Irish pub for drinks and good music. Pablo even sang. Back at the hostel, the pool and sauna were closed.

Travel Diary - Day 21

Date: 6/22/97
Weather: sunny and warm
Place: Sydney

We all had a good night's sleep, and felt much better after a shower this morning. We went back to the opera house by taking the Darling Harbour ferry after looking around there for a bit. I took way too many pictures of the opera house. Darling Harbour ruled, and there were Korean and Japanese dancers performing. Earlier, we had gone to the Sydney markets, where I bought a kilo of grapes. The lowest floor was like Vic markets, but on top there was a shopping mall. We also took the monorail around part of the city, and it was very cool and futuristic. We ate Chinese and then went for a couple drinks. We met some Mexicans and talked with them, then went to Kings Cross.

Travel Diary - Day 20

Date: 6/21/97
Weather: foggy, sunny and cool
Place: Sydney

It was extremely hard to get any sleep whatsoever on the bus, but I guess I managed about four hours worth. I watched the sun come up while Pablo slept, and it took a while to get into Sydney proper. We couldn't check into the hostel until noon, so we put our stuff in a $3.00 locker and roamed for a bit. Neither of us had taken our cameras out of our bags before locking them up, so I didn't get a photo of my first glimpse of the opera house. It was magnificent. The fog hadn't completely lifted, so it glowed in the sunlight. The harbour bridge is one of the largest I've ever seen. We met Alex, one of our roommates, when we checked in, and toured a little more together. I had dessert at Planet Hollywood, then met Pablo at the opera house for Madam Butterfly.

Travel Diary - Day 19

Date: 6/20/97
Weather: cold, cloudy
Place: Melbourne, border of New South Wales

I spent most of the day in a kind of daze, as several friends had already left, and I wouldn't see any of the others again in Australia except maybe Bonnie when I dropped by the college to pick up my stuff before flying out to New Zealand. I had also gone drinking with them as a farewell the night before, giving me a hangover. I bought some stuff duty-free for the first time and didn't realize they sealed it up. The room looked bare by 6:00pm, when we had tea, and I locked up the bulk of my stuff in my closet. It seemed to hit Tim harder than me when we said goodbye, but he was still traveling with most of our friends for another month. I didn't get to say goodbye to Romel. I met Pablo at the bus station, and we headed for Sydney.

Old man crab came out to die.

Workin' for the weekend

Last weekend, Becky and I took our first vacation together, out to Padre Island near Corpus Christi. Not South Padre, the spring break destination. This was camping on the beach, complete with wildlife, sand, and sun.

We were off to a late start, but traffic was light and we made it to a spot at the Malaquite site with plenty of time to set up camp before it was too dark to see well. Becky had bought two tarps, and we made good use of both, one over the picnic table's slat shelter and one as a rain-/windbreak facing the ocean. That one came down more than once over the course of the weekend, due to strong wind that was not in evidence the night we arrived. A ten-foot bed of washed up seaweed rotting on the shore meant the little gnats were ample, and with no breeze to blow them further up toward the Winnebagos in the parking lot a hundred yards away, we were slapping them away that first night.

Saturday began wet, but that didn't stop us from trying out our floaties in the rain. We both took a nap around noon, but when the sun finally did come out, we were so happy to see it we both went back out on the waves without sunscreen. Luckily, I didn't get too terribly burned, but I'm peeling now and got a light shade of red as a souvenir from the trip. A good shower at the campsite's facilities and we were ready for a few drinks, followed by bed (a very comfortable full-size air mattress).

Sunday began much like Saturday, but took a turn for the worst when I forgot I had the car keys in the pocket of my trunks and jumped in the ocean. We were stressed, and made a few disconcerting phone calls trying to work out how to get a spare from Austin, almost resigning ourselves to another day stuck out there (funny how much you want to leave when you find yourself without the means to do so), when, miracle of miracles, Becky found the keys washed up on the shore. I was napping at the time, but apparently she even did a dance of joy.

Earlier that day, the largest sand crab we saw all weekend crawled out of its hole and nestled in between our floaties, which were wedged between the windbreak and the ground, as we watched. We wondered what he might be up to, and it turned out he was seeking his final resting place. A couple hours later, he was dead, and we tossed him over one of the sand mounds. I told Becky, "One brave sand crab gave his life so that we could find our keys."

There were lots of little sand crabs everywhere on the beach, way more than I expected, and they were amazingly quick, always moving sideways and blending in with the sand almost perfectly. On our several walks over the weekend, we also encountered water crabs (one dead, one alive), a sea worm (very rare to find), and a couple shrimp-like crustaceans the size of insects.

We packed up just in time to avoid getting drenched by a huge thunderstorm just as the sun was setting. On the way back we watched Predator on the portable dvd player and split the driving duties. After a nice, long shower at home, we were in bed by 1:00am, exhausted. Well worth the trip.

Home theater

Is there anything sweeter to a semi-reformed geek's ears than hearing his girlfriend say, "Can we watch all the Star Wars movies sometime?" I think not.

I bought a projector the first week of December 2006 that was supposed to come with a free screen by rebate. We painted the wall for showing movies in the meantime. About a month ago, I got an email that they were finally processing my form, after I'd pretty much given up on it, and today the UPS guy brought it to the house. It's nearly the length of the wall, 100 inches, and I can't wait to put it up.

Garden growing

Smelling like a rose

I've recently been reminded of the truth of the fact that some of the most poignant memories are brought back to us through our sense of smell. We always had rose bushes around my childhood home, most of them red but one white one on the far side of the house, where it was rarely seen. When I did happen upon it in bloom, it was as fragrant as the others, but with a different smell.

At my current home, we have a white rose bush in the front that is similar, and another one that isn't. When the similar one bloomed about a month ago for the first time this year, I remembered that bush from my youth as I walked by and caught the scent. But even that wasn't as vivid a recollection as one I had in the garden last week. I put down some stakes for the tomato plants, and as I used twist ties from bread wrappers to secure the vines to the stakes, I caught a whiff of their scent and was immediately reminded of all those springs and summers in my father's garden, poking around and playing with the dog as I ran up and down the rows of tomatoes he had every year. It was a very fond memory, and striking in its immediacy.

This evening Phil pulled our first helping of beans off the vine, and the cucumbers and one green pepper plant are blooming now. We ate the beans fried lightly in butter with salt, and they were delicious. I think it's going to be worth all the hard work putting this garden in many times over by the time it's done producing for the summer, and I have a much better appreciation for the pleasures of eating from it fresh now that I've had my first taste. I can't wait for those tomatoes to show up, red and round.

Travel Diary - Day 18

Date: 4/3/97
Weather: sunny and cool
Place: Perth, Melbourne

I didn't bother setting my alarm, but I still woke up just after 9:00 am, giving me plenty of time to get to the airport. Unfortunately, the shuttle only ran less than once an hour, so I would barely make my 11:35 am flight. I went looking for public transportation in order to have a little time to spare, but by the time I caught a bus to the airport it was barely going to be sooner than the shuttle, according to the schedule. Either I read it wrong or we were very early, because I arrived at 10 minutes before 11:00 am. I talked to Mom on the phone, and the flight was smooth and comfortable. I read a magazine and listened to music most of the time. A $9.00 bus brought me within walking distance of Carlton, where I had 14 e-mail messages.

Travel Diary - Day 17

Date: 4/2/97
Weather: sunny and warm
Place: Perth, Rottnest Island

When I woke up a little before 8:00 am, I resolved to move to a different room to get away from the thieves, and I was paranoid enough to take my bag and everything in it with me to the island. The ferry wasn't as nice as the one in Cairns, but it was alright. Rottnest Island was beautiful with Mexican-like architecture, long sandy beaches, and all sizes of bays and inner salt lakes. The birds were fun to toy with, and the quokkas (small rat-like marsupials) were incredibly cute. I saw one under a house, and some along the road being fed. I took a a bus out to one of the bays, but when I decided to swim, I had to walk a ways to get back. The museum on shipwrecks around the island was great.

Travel Diary - Day 16

Date: 4/1/97
Weather: cloudy and cool
Place: Perth, Fremantle

The city tour I had today was very similar to the one I had in L.A., but it was cheaper and didn't last as long. I had already seen some of the city that was part of the Perth tour, but not too much, since I didn't stray far from my hostel the first couple of days. I took my bag with me, and on the lunch break I registered at the hostel most recommended by Lonely Planet. Fremantle was a bit smaller or quieter than I expected it to be, somehow, but the guide was very nice. Someone had stolen my pillow and sheets when I got back to the hostel, which boggled my mind. I got new ones, then went to a movie and a club until about 11:00pm. Someone had stolen my pillow again, so I stole someone else's.

Travel Diary - Day 15

Date: 3/31/97
Weather: cloudy and warm
Place: Perth, Indian Ocean

My first day of sightseeing Perth was rather truncated due to the fact that today is a public holiday. I finally found a couple of open tourist places and organized a tour of the city and Fremantle, its port, for tomorrow, as well as a trip to Rottnest Island, a popular vacation destination here. By then it was mid-afternoon, however, so I caught a bus to the beach for the last few hours of sunlight and paid way too much for a less than filling meal. It didn't take long to get a bus back to the city proper. The bathroom and showers of the hostel frightened me enough to switch hostels tomorrow, and I spent an hour or more wandering around the nightlife district before going to bed.

Travel Diary - Day 14

Date: 3/30/97
Weather: cloudy and rainy, sunny and warm
Place: Cairns, Perth

I woke up with only a slight hangover from last night, and got a bus to the airport in plenty of time for my flight. It poured on the way, but our takeoff was smooth if a bit long. Lunch on the plane was good, and our stop at Ayer's Rock was hot and buggy. I hate flies. I got a picture of the the rock from the steps of the plane, but couldn't see it from the terminal. Once in Perth, I had to wait a bit for a bus, and the hostel has ants, which doesn't thrill me at all, but the city is lovely and pleasant. It didn't really hit me that it is Easter Day until late afternoon. I went and saw The Devil's Own at a movie center at 9:30pm, then came back and went right to bed after writing.

Travel Diary - Day 13

Date: 3/29/97
Weather: cloudy, warm, sunny
Place: Great Barrier Reef, Cairns

I was up at 6:00 am again today, and on the first dive we saw two sharks, one of which was a little more than a meter and a half long. Dolphins swam in front of the boat for a while like they did yesterday when I got pictures. The only significant things we saw on the second dive were a lobster and a barracuda. We were hoping for a turtle, but it was okay, because the scenery was spectacular: huge coral walls covered with life. I could only snorkel while the rest of my group dived the last time, but I saw lots of blue clams. I met two girls from my group at the Wool Shed, and ran into Paul by coincidence, so I got to thank him.

Travel Diary - Day 12

Date: 3/28/97
Weather: sunny and warm, a bit of rain
Place: Great Barrier Reef

I was woken up at 6:00am by a knock on my door. We didn't go in at 5:30 am because of choppy weather. The reef is absolutely pristine. It is the most pure place I have yet seen. In the Grampian Mountains there were metal handrails and steps in some places, along with a a bit of litter, but not here. Our two dives in the morning finished our education and Paul certified us. He left the boat at 2:30pm without giving me my temporary certification because I was in my cabin resting. I saw my first shark today. It was incredible, at only 1 meter long. The night dive was a trip, too. I saw a crayfish with glowing red eyes at one point and another guy said he saw a shark's eyes. The divemasters joke about sharks a lot.

Travel Diary - Day 11

Date: 3/27/97
Weather: hot and sunny
Place: Cairns, Great Barrier Reef

When I showed up at 7:30 am today to take my test, the shop was closed. Luckily, they were just late. I got all but the last question done before we had to get on the boat to Fitzroy Island, then finished with 90% correct. The "beach" at Fitzroy was nothing but coral skeletons, impossible to walk on without shoes. After a boring hour there, we were off again to meet up with the catamaran we were to be staying on. It's large and stable, but with little privacy. The food is OK but nothing special. I led the first dive down, and it looked like I was following a chain into an abyss. Everything went right on the 2 dives today, and the boat rocked me to sleep at night.

Travel Diary - Day 10

Date: 3/26/97
Weather: sunny, hot, humid
Place: Cairns

My class started today in the pool, and early: 7:30 am. Things went well and I felt prepared thinking the test was today. However, we just had another learning session based on the book in the classroom after lunch. I didn't get supper and attended a class called Reef Teach to learn specifically about the animals and organisms that live out there. It was about 2 and a half hours long, and when it was over I was looking for something to do (besides studying for the test, of course). After failing to get into one club due to dress code, I went to Samuel's Backpacker bar and saloon, where I got a plate of spaghetti and a Coke for $3.50 with my hostel coupon. After I got back I studied a little, called home , and went to bed.

Travel Diary - Day 9

Date: 3/25/97
Weather: hot, sunny, and humid
Place: Cairns

After waiting half an hour for my bus, a guy working the desk of my hostel told me I got a message yesterday from Down Under Dive saying their program was postponed again. I had already changed my tickets for the first delay, so I canceled that program and booked at the hostel desk for the same program, only with Cairns Dive Center instead. I had originally gone with them anyway. The class started in 1/2 hour, so I got over there and spent 1/2 the day in a classroom learning dive theory and the other half in the pool with full scuba gear. That evening I went to a mall and ate American before going to The End of the World nightclub for a free XXXX beer, which I liked better than VB (Author's note: VB = Victoria Bitter).

Travel Diary - Day 8

Date: 3/24/97
Weather: hot and sunny
Place: Cairns

With nothing to do all day, I bought a Skyrail ticket which took me to 3 destinations by enclosed gondola over the rainforest canopy. It was pretty amazing stuff. There was a "save the rainforest by education" center at one stop, a short walkway through it at another, and the Barron Falls, which were running like they never had before, according to the guides, because of all the rain from the cyclone. It was spectacular, and the last stop was a small town in the middle of the rainforest, that I think could only be reached by Skyrail or train, called Kuranda. It existed solely for tourists, and I bought a crocodile foot. It came with a permit so I hope I can get it home.

Travel Diary - Day 7

Date: 3/23/97
Weather: hot and sunny, hot and cloudy
Place: Brisbane, Cairns

After a rancid breakfast at the hostel, which was mostly cold and almost made me sick, I took the complimentary bus to the transit center and the $6 one to the airport. I ate Hungry Jack's in the airport and an unexpected late lunch on the plane, so I skipped supper entirely. I had already eaten three meals. Hostel 89 is nice, if not as good as the last one. There were limbs in the pool when I got there, and it rained sporadically while we gathered around the outdoor TV for The Simpsons and Seinfeld, followed by Single White Female. I met an Air Force guy stationed in Guam who was supposed to be Reef diving yesterday. I found out my program had been pushed one day.

Travel Diary - Day 6

Date: 3/22/97
Weather: cloudy and cool, hot and muggy
Place: Melbourne, Brisbane

I got up at 5:01am in order to make the Skybus from Spencer St. Station at 6:00am, which in turn was to get me to my 7:05am flight to Cairns. There was no milk left so I didn't get any coffee at the college (Author's note: in Australia, "college" means dormitory). I began by walking but got a cab when I got to Lonsdale for fear I'd miss my bus. I got on the plane, which served breakfast, just fine, until we were called off at Brisbane, where we were told that Cyclone Justin was hitting the coast at Cairns and the airport was shut down. I found a great hostel in Brisbane near the South Park Gardens which had an even better Australian fauna exhibit than Melbourne Zoo. It cost $12 for a ticket that also included a butterfly house and a very relaxing boat ride. After about five hours, I ate my third Australian meat pie in three weeks, bought a postcard and left. The hostel showed Barb Wire that night.

Celebrate good times

Had a great weekend with Becky, once the car work was out of the way. We saw Esther's Follies with her roommate Friday night, with a stop at Coyote Ugly. Saturday she had a friend in town, and after playing miniature golf at Peter Pan's we headed downtown for a couple drinks at Fado's, then on to Nate's rocking birthday party, featuring a real cabaret. Sunday we went horseback riding, nothing exciting but at least diverting, and great weather for it. We came back to the house, had dinner, and watched some TV. A good time was had by all.

My hands remind me of my father's.

Getting dirty

There are times I think my judgment is already fading fast. Not that I've ever been King Solomon, but then I've never been Pee Wee Herman either. Today, I changed the oil in my car by myself for the first time in about eight years. At one point I was using my foot to drag the plastic oil pan toward me so I could try to wedge it under the car and catch the oil running down my arm. Not only did I get oil all over the floor of the garage, but also all over myself, my tools, and my car.

I realize I'm not much of a car guy. I can't even tell most cars apart on the road. But my dad made sure to teach me some simple car maintenance, like rotating tires and checking and changing the oil. He's a phenomenal mechanic, and has been since long before I was born. If it has an engine, he can make it run. Since I left Indiana, I've missed his expertise many times.

In case you're wondering, the order is:
1) run the car a few minutes so the oil is warm and runny
2) drain the reservoir
3) remove the filter
4) replace the filter after rubbing a little oil around the rubber seal
5) replace the bolt to seal the reservoir
6) pour the oil into the engine
7) run the car a few seconds
8) check the level
9) clean up the mess

Travel Diary - Day 5

Date: 2/20-21/97
Weather: partly cloudy, warm
Place: Honolulu, Auckland, Melbourne

I woke up on the plane shortly before dawn. They served breakfast, and I felt all right when we landed in Auckland. We sat and slept a little right in the airport, then got something to eat, resulting in my first New Zealand change. They accepted American money. On the plane to Melbourne, I had a glass of terrible red wine, then lunch with just Coke. We got in around 5:00pm and got our bags with no problem. I neglected to exchange money at the airport because we were looking for our ride. He picked us up and a Canadian girl named Stephanie. Later, we all went out since it was a Friday night (we had crossed the international dateline).

Travel Diary - Day 4

Date: 2/19/97
Weather: sunny
Place: Honolulu, Pacific Ocean

I got an entire night's sleep, which is more than I can say for my roommates. They got in about 3:00am, and were all asleep except Robin, who had a flight to Maui, when I got up and packed. I wore my swimsuit all day, with a shirt and my shoes. After discovering Haunama Bay doesn't open until noon on Wenesday's, I went to Waikiki for a while before trying to catch the bus there. I left my bags at the hostel and rented some snorkeling equipment from it to use at Haunama. The profusion of life there was incredible. The fish were thick and the coral unavoidable. I got some sunburn, then ate back at the hostel, before catching the bus to the airport. I met Kari and Susan there and fell asleep shortly after takeoff.

Travel Diary - Day 3

Date: 2/18/97
Weather: partly cloudy, sunny
Place: Honolulu

I was awakened by the garbage truck in the alley outside the hotel after only four hours of sleep. I got a shower and, after talking with Dad, finally got ahold of Kari and Susan. I found a hostel nearby and checked into it, leaving my large bag in the room I shared with four other guys. Kari, Susan, and I went to Pearl Harbor, and then to the mall, where I left them. Then, after deciding against the beach because it was too late, I went to Dockes with Robin, a 36-year-old from California, who was one of my roommates. We had roast beef and two Mai Tais each for supper, and I turned in at 10:00pm.

What goes around

I recently had my car in the shop, and when I left my key I didn't give them the keyless entry remote. I didn't notice until I got the car home, but when they gave me the key back there was a remote on the keychain for some other car. I decided, rather than thowing it in the trash, I would return it to the shop (an hour's drive each way in rush hour traffic, which would be the only time I could get there that they were open) so they could try to get it to the owner.

The next day, I didn't make it to the shop because I had other plans. That night, I also realized that I had forgotten a nice toolkit and jumper cables I always keep in my car and left them in the rental I was using when I turned it in at Enterprise the day before. I called and left a message at the branch asking if anyone had reported them.

The following morning, I got a phone call that my toolkit and jumper cables were in the office waiting for me. As that branch is right down the road from the shop, I could kill two birds with one stone and drop off the remote. I called the shop to let them know, drove up there, and handed it over. They didn't say they were missing it, so I doubt it had been reported, but they seemed happy to get it back.

Then I drove over to Enterprise and picked up my stuff, intact except for a missing can of fix-a-flat, which I won't miss. It was always rolling around in the trunk anyway. I was feeling good karma.

Travel Diary - Day 2

Date: 2/17/97
Weather: partly cloudy, sunny and warm, thunderstorms and hail
Place: L.A., Honolulu

I dreamed about seeing Dave (Author's note: my best friend freshman year at Purdue, he lived across the hall in the dorm and didn't come back sophomore year. For more, see here.) again. We were at some kind of wedding and I was happier to see him than he was to see me. He brought his girlfriend who I've never seen. I took a sightseeing tour of L.A. to wile away the hours: it was the best tour I've ever been on. The guide's name was Ray, and he was awesome, even though he brought us back an hour later than he was supposed to and got Mom so worried she cried. I managed to catch my flight this time, but there was no message for me at the airport from Kari or Susan (Author's note: on the flight I missed, I was supposed to be sitting next to them.) I'll try to catch them tomorrow. The hotel room I'm in tonight has three twin-size beds. The room is so empty, I'm lonely.

Sweet and low (temp)

We actually had a frozen Valentine's Day this year. I would have been happy with the 45-degrees they were predicting, compared to the arctic blasts we walked through from the car to the restaurant.

I must say I enjoy Thai food a lot, even though I don't eat it very often. We went to a cool place on Congress (though it would be more accurate to call it on the cross street, 7th, with no signs on Congress at all, so it took us ten minutes to find the place with just the address), and there was a live band playing, but not too long and not too loud. They also served one of the best chocolate cupcakes I have ever had.

Travel Diary - Day 1

February 17, 1997 - July 5, 1997
U.S. - Australia - New Zealand

Date: 2/16/97
Weather: cloudy, snow in Chicago
Place: Cincinnati, Chicago, L.A.

I was so worried about missing my flight to Hawaii because of the threat of American Airlines' pilots' strike, that I went and did it anyway. (Author's note: this pending strike was making the news every night at the time, but it was resolved, at least for the purposes of my trip, when President Clinton ordered the would-be strikers to work as a temporary measure.) It was almost a relief to finally have it resolved one way or the other. I must have subconsciously wanted to see L.A. I spent the night in a Holiday Inn where I got a discounted room with a "distressed passenger" coupon. I fell asleep a little after 10:00pm L.A. time. At least this way the flight gets broken up. I got a king-size bed, too.

Travel Diary - Introduction

To celebrate the ten year anniversary of my trip from the United States to Australia, New Zealand, and back, I've decided to publish the diary I kept during the time I was actually travelling, day by corresponding day for the next five months or so. We'll pretend I published the first few entries on their corresponding days ten years ago, although a huge snowstorm prevented that from actually happening as my diary was in the mail. I wrote something every day I was going somewhere far from Melbourne, where I went to school for a semester, or returning there. Hope you enjoy it.

Be mine

Valentine's Day is just around the corner, and for the first time since at least high school I have someone to spend it with. It has just so happened I don't think I've ever been seeing anyone come February 14th, but it's never really gotten me down, either. I'm well aware of the day's importance to the retail/gift/card industry, and just like Christmas, it can be a little distasteful if you get exposed to too much of the advertising, but I've never been one to shop for fun, so I rarely am. I'm looking forward to a night on the town, albeit probably a crowded one. We've been having a suprisingly cold and wet winter that started early, so I can only hope we get better than the 45-degree temperature they're currently predicting.

Moving violations

I got my first speeding ticket yesterday, 40 in a 30 (which is wrong, it was more like 35, but they must have been meeting quota because there were three cars and they nabbed another one right after me). My luck has finally run out.

This is the fifth time I've been stopped for speeding, and the first time I've actually been written a ticket. While I've received and paid multiple parking tickets, for some reason I hoped this day would never come.

The first two times I was stopped were during my senior year in high school. The first cop was nice, the second one was really angry but let me off anyway for some reason. He asked me who my parents were and I told him, but as far as I know I'd never seen the guy before. Maybe he knew of my father, since he's on the fire department in my hometown and has been for most of his life.

The third time I was pulled over, I was leaving my cousin's house in a hurry on my way home from college. He didn't live there anymore, and there was no real reason for me to drive by, but I had to pass through the town anyway, so I drove by it for old times' sake. It was dark, the house was empty, and I got a little creeped out, so I was going too fast, but I still got let off with a warning.

When I lived in Indiana, I was somewhat known for getting lost easily while driving. When I moved to Texas, I got a lot better for some reason, but one particular day, on my way home from work, I got lost in my own neighborhood and was so frustrated I was zooming around trying to find my way back and got nabbed. Again, just a verbal warning and a "Be more careful."

Well, this time in addition to the "Be more careful" I was handed a ticket. Luckily, it says I can avoid paying full price by taking a driving safety course, but it's almost as much as just paying the ticket. Still, it gets the moving violation "dismissed", which I guess would save me any raise in insurance premium, so it's probably worth it.

Let me know what you guys think of the new layout.

Putting it down

I finished reading Notes from Underground a couple days ago, and I can't really recommend this book to anyone. It was relentlessly depressing from beginning to end. I've actually read two other books from start to finish since I started it. I honestly knew nothing about it before I picked it up, and what I thought I knew was wrong. It's all about a Russian who hates himself and everyone else, told from his perspective as he tries to bring everyone around him down to his level and fails. If that sounds like a gripping read, go ahead and try it along with a couple anti-depressants. At least it's short, not that it helped me. If this had been a long book I would have abandoned it, which I almost never do.

In happier news, I have my first (used) laptop to play with. So old it can't run Windows XP! 128 megs of RAM! One USB port! CD-Rom only! Totally worth the asking price, which was "Get it out of here"!

Texas wildlife

I'd been living in Texas a couple of years when my friend Lyndon, a native Texan, first told me about the Texas barking spider. People outside of the state have generally never encountered or even heard of one. This rude critter has the habit of crawling around under the dinner table and making a sound suspiciously like that of a person passing gas. When I told my roommate Phil about this, he was skeptical, but every once in a while we have to chase one off to eat in peace.

Mexican food especially seems to bring them out, and in my time here we've come across some mighty fine Mexican dishes, like tacoritos, as well as everybody's favorites, from burritos to fajitas to tacos. A few months ago, I stopped eating much besides salads for weeks on end and managed to lose a couple belt notches. Coincidentally, we didn't hear a whole lot of barking in that time, but I have a feeling these spiders are seasonal. Hopefully, we've heard the last of them, but if they're anything like the sugar ants that still turn up around the drains occasionally, I wouldn't count on it.

Talking baseball

I've never been terribly good at sports, which is probably the reason I have so little interest in them. In fact, the last year I played baseball (7th grade, maybe?), I had a batting average of .000 posted for the world to see. I can still remember checking the sheet of paper tacked up on the wall of the clubhouse and thinking to myself, "This is my clue to quit," which I did.

I had a zero batting average that year because I got scared of the ball, but I hadn't always been. I started playing Pee Wee League ball as an outfielder, and like most of my peers, I got bored and didn't pay attention very well while standing alone as the sun went down, waiting for something to happen. But some way or another, I eventually became backup catcher, and I not only made some good plays, I also hit three home runs in my brief career. As I recall, two of them were in-field, and the third was over the fence, but it may have been the other way around. I also threw a runner out at second and got a slider out at home by holding onto the ball even after being laid out flat by him. Proud moments.

Seeing games was something else. I went to see the Cincinnati Reds play many times at the old Riverfront Stadium, which seemed a lot more impressive as a kid than it was shortly before they tore it down, when blocks of cement reportedly would fall from the ceiling of the parking garage to land on cars. I loved how bright it was at night inside the stadium, and there were people moving around constantly. Every once in a while you'd catch "the wave", and the fireworks were always suitably impressive.

One night my older brother took me, and he gave me some money to buy a souvenir plastic helmet. I doubt I was even thirteen at the time, and I got stopped by a small group of black kids, one of whom stole the money I was foolishly carrying in my hand for the world to see. What I remember vividly about the incident is, another of the kids, who were all about my age, asked me if I wanted him to get it back. Crying, I said yes, and he took off running after the thief. Of course, I never saw either one of them again, but I wonder if he really did try to get the money back for me.

More than once, the game ran late enough that my dad and I would get home after midnight. We would stop at Frisch's Big Boy on the way home, since they were the only place still open at that hour, and get some ice cream fudge cake with whipped cream and a cherry on top, their specialty. I haven't had that in years. Remembering those nights when I was taking poetry in college, I wrote this:

Ball Game

Dad took me to see the Reds play
a few times when I was 10.
In the old, faded yellow pickup
his breath was the acrid smell
of cigarettes, ends burning.

The Reds sometimes won, sometimes lost,
but it was always late when we left, and bright
with streetlights and the headlights of speeding cars.
We stopped at Frisch's on the way home
to eat a fourth meal: Big Boys with milkshakes.

Whenever we got home-two or three in the morning-
we made our way silently out of the darkened garage,
my mother and sister already fast asleep.
When I inevitably knocked over the trashcan
the cat arched its back into a crescent moon.

Open your ears

Have you ever had one of those experiences that turned your perception of the music you listen to on its head? I know I'm not alone because I've talked to others who, all of a sudden hear different messages in the music on the radio, or even old favorites. I think it comes from insight, when you suddenly see clearly where the writer/performer is coming from, whereas before you were just letting them lead you along.

What about mishearing lyrics? Some observant people have even written books on this subject, the first I encountered being Scuse Me While I Kiss This Guy. The cover shows Jimi Hendrix apparently forcing a smooch on a white man (the author?). While that may be rich for interpretation, it was pretty straightforward listing the correct lines compared to what somebody (not credited) had once believed them to be.

The most recent song that I got wrong on the most basic level is Hinder's "Lips of an Angel". In my office, we generally keep the volume on the radio low, which can make it hard to hear what's being sung. I had a hard time understanding lyrics under the best of circumstances when I was a kid, but I got better at it when I started writing myself. The first couple dozen times I heard this one, I thought it was about the infidelity of the woman the singer was with, but when I finally heard it at full volume, it turns out he's the one tempted to stray (by an ex-lover). I thought he was singing "Girl, it must be hard to be faithful/with the lips of an angel", but it's actually "But girl you make it hard to be faithful/With the lips of an angel".

It's funny, I actually had a hard time remembering what I originally thought he was saying, since once you get it right it makes so much more sense. Another common occurrence from my childhood, and one reason I couldn't write a book like that from my own "mondegreens". Hard to believe there's actually a word for them.