San Francisco!

Amy and I got super-cheap tickets to San Francisco on Virgin America back in August (I think). I had never really been to California, except for a brief drive through the desert about 10 years ago.


So, yay! California! Palm trees and bikinis and sun!

Except, apparently that is only Southern California, and only certain times of the year is it nice in San Fran. I had checked the weather before we left, so the three days of rain and bitter cold shouldn't really have surprised me, but they did. And I didn't pack very well. We ended up with two days of sun at least, which was a nice way to end the trip. On to the photos.

Here is a picture of the inside of the airplane. I only put this up to show the cool pink/purple lighting. Really.




Being cold all the time makes me tired.




Adam (our wonderful host who let us crash at his apartment for three nights), me, Amy, and her sister Gina who came down from Redding to hang out:





Scharffen Berger Chooooocooooolate Factory tour! Here's a machine grinding nibs. Mmmm. Nibs.


Those are tubes, tubes full of chocolate! overhead.




Our last two nights we moved to a hostel. Besides being surrounded on all sides by strip clubs and porn shops (and having the most miserable mattress I've ever slept on), the Green Tortoise was pretty rockin. Siobhan (from Ireland, on her first few nights of a year of traveling ) was also staying in our room and became our third partner in crime for the next couple of days.


This picture is blurry. I know.




Me, looking like a huge nerd in the bike helmet Amy made me wear, and the Golden Gate Bridge:


Alcatraz! (we didn't go) :



Bridge, Me, Amy:



:(


Bridge pictures:

Our new Canadian skateboarding friends at the hostel:



Chinatown!
Best lunch ever at Lucky Creation, a vegetarian restaurant in Chinatown:



Riding the cable car up:



A video of the cable car:

January in DC...

...is pretty miserable. In my old age the winters have become much harsher and harder to deal with. Another miserable thing is what is happening to my neighborhood:

Bye bye affordable housing, hello overpriced condos. I give my apartment complex 5 years.



I like it when the water in the plant pots overflows but doesn't quite flow over.


Kelsey (and my parents) came to visit! We went to Gravelly Point Park next to the airport to watch the planes go over. Kelsey likes airplanes when they are in the sky and appear bird-sized, not so much when they are 100 ft overhead



Super Furry Patriotic Dog?



I'm going to San Francisco Thursday; I cannot pass up a super super cheap plane ticket. I'm going to take lots of pictures. And maybe share them with you.

I'm Back

Hi.

I got a new camera. It seems like I do that every few posts.

I promise I'm going to try extra hard to post so that people might actually start reading again.

Here is a picture of some baby cilantro sprouts:



Here is a picture of some baby cacti. We like to grow things at work:



Here is my roommate and her devil eyes in the midst of a mess she created:


I didn't promise my posts would be good.

Horsey Island, VA

aka Assateague Island

Camping trip, back in the first weekend of August.
We bought lots of food at farm stands during the long, hot, all-around bad drive.
The funny part is that everything in this picture (except for the produce) is still in my trunk, 2 months later. The bread isn't even moldy yet.


There were horses all over. They liked port-a-potties.


Awww, baaaaaby horse. Or pony, whatever.


Diana is an experienced camper. She brought a knife. So smart.



Way back in the day (60+ years ago? I can't remember exactly) some brilliant man thought cutting big strips into the marsh would get rid of mosquitoes. He was wrong, but the cuts never went away.

Pretty pretty salt meadow grass:



Hello, deer.


Hello, beach.

Wild ponies grazing off yonder in the marsh.






Pony on the road. See ya.



I haven't really taken any pictures of myself recently, and I won't be taking any in the near future do to my recurring lack of a camera. Here's one on a night out with Jo, except she isn't in it. Just me and her boyfriend, Adam.
That's all.

I've Almost Given Up

on posting and buying a camera.

So, here are some pictures. Yay.
My unbreakable camera got stolen. Of course.

Here is a Golden Lion Tamarind at the National Zoo. They don't live in enclosures in the summer, they just hang out in the trees.



Here I am with Pat and "Harry Potter" on the night Book 7 came out. Yes, I am okay with my dorkiness:


Alison and Gustavo had their American wedding in Michigan. Ju is huge :



The Bahia/Michiganders:


It is impossible to say "no" to this animal:



That's all for now. I have pictures of camping on Assateague Island and a couple of other adventures to post when I get some spare time (of which there will be more now that September is over). Also, this post is boring. Sorry.

You don't ever update blah blah blah....

Yes, I do update. I am updating right now.


Caitlin visited back in the beginning of June.
Part of my kickball team. We finally got shirts.



Squishy face. This is a good, good, picture.


So serious. Tim and Amy.


Did I mention this was the flipcup finals? And though they may at time encourage heavy drinking...


these boys do have a tender side.


Hard at work with my lovely coworkers (minus Cindy) in our awesome new t-shirts.

Our text book really is that interesting.

And we really do work hard. rly.


We work together, we go out together... me, Erin, Diana, and some random brasileiros at a brazilian party in DC.



We also go on weekend trips together. I guess we like each other. We went floating down the Shenandoah in tubes. For almost 5 hours. It was fun. Afterwards we found our super-secluded and super rustic campsite. The toilet was a wooden box, but I didn't even see it until the next morning. Here I was experimenting with the "night" setting on my camera, minus a tripod. it didn't turn out great. Me: "You guys, just don't move for a second. Don't move, don't move...... don't moooove. One more secoonnnd. Ok." "Adam. You moved your head."
"Okay Cindy, just don't move for onnne minute."


"Okay Cindy, just stay there for a second again. Don't move. Your hand isn't burning. It will be worth it. This is going to be a sweet picture."

It's okay. Not that sweet.


"Fine, I 'll just use the flash."


Raar. Erin Monster.


Campsite in the morning.

I <3 moss.


Heck yes! I ran into this on the mall (Fourth of July preparations) while heading to the Botanic Gardens to check out....


The corpse flower! A brief summary: it only blooms every couple of years, and only for 24-48 hours (here it's already closing, I missed the real blooming). It smells, strongly, of dead mammal (and apparently looks like it too on the inside) in order to attract its pollinators, beetles and flies. Yum. Also, it's huge. Like 6 feet.




Fireworks on the mall for the fourth. Exploding monument.


Pretty.



Three Washington Monuments. oops.

Visiting Friends, Kickball, and BVIs

It's been a busy month, and I've been slacking on the posts, so this one is extra-long for your perusing pleasure.

Amy and I preparing for a night of salsaing. Flossing is very important.


Watching Cindy in the Washington Chorus at the Kennedy Center. Our seats kinda sucked.


Meet me at The Mall. Kickball is goin down.


Post-kickball, at the bar for the real competition- flipcup.


Flipcup, oh yeah.
Yay, Dovas visited! He's so happy.


I'm tough. Watch out.


Me, Jo, and Amy out for Jo's 25th. I'm wearing part of a sombrero. And look like I need a nap.


And then out for Erin's birthday. Erin isn't in this picture. But Allison is! She visited for a few days. Allison, Royston, Cindy, Amy.

Allison and I doing the best dance ever.
Ever.
"The Robber"
Allison and Spencer.

Allison and Jumbo Slice.


The next night, Me and Jumbo Slice. And JP.

I went to go visit Kara while she was in the British Virgin Islands. We were on Jost Van Dyke. This is our plywood cabin at Ivan's Stress-Free Bar and Campground.

A view of Ivan's from the water.


Underwater camera! Fishies! They blend in, look closely.


After my first day sunburn, I spent most of my time hanging out under this tree. Not a bad place to hang out.


The bar at Ivan's.



Tidal wave!
Or not.

Hello fishy friend.


One of the campsites, this one belonged to the Scots.


A crab trying to hide from me.


Jost.

My new island friend.



I look awesome from underwater.






Bye bye Jost Van Dyke.


And, last but not least, Me, Michelle, and Karla at Karla's law school graduation dinner in Baltimore. I don't know what I'm looking at, and I swear I don't have a lazy eye. At least not one that bad.

March 'n Stuff

Yes, Alison, it is about time for an update.

First, and most exciting, I bought a new camera.
I have learned that maybe, just maybe, I am a little tough on my cameras(2 in 2 years?), and maybe I should accept that fact. Thus, I bought myself an Olympus Stylus 770 sw... I can drop it 5 feet onto concrete, I can take it 33 feet underwater, into temperatures of 14 degrees Farenheit, AND, it can be sat on by heavy dudes. 220 lbs. of pressure, or something to that effect.
Pretty. Mine will be blue when it arrives in the next few days.


Hey, guess where I went?

Yes, home to Michigan. I think the following were taken at the end of February.

Guess where I am going this coming weekend? I can't help it, tickets are so cheap and Kelsey misses me.

Allison (not Alison with one L) and I at the lovely 8 Ball Saloon

Allison and Kelsey and I tried to go to the dog park, but it was closed.

We played anyway.


Don't mess with that dog.


Oh, and I turned 25. Yay. :


Seany came to visit the weekend before St. Patrick's.

I guess he loves his friends in DC.



We went to Shamrockfest. It was fun, except when Sean tried to fight a girl.


And Adam visited this past weekend:


We saw many of the important sights in DC, including:



C-3PO


Seinfeld's Puffy Shirt


A giant gold thumb

And that one monument




And some cherry trees.

Virgin Islands

I've never really had any desire to visit the Virgin Islands. They just seem so... touristy. Island, beach, resorts, blah, blah. You can get that anywhere, with maybe even some "culture" added into the mix. Then Kara moved there, and I moved to D.C., and a warm tropical island (with a free place to stay) wasn't seeming like a bad vacation choice.
Amy (aka my hetero life parner) and I headed down there in the end of January. We slept and went to the beach and went out. That's all. And it was nice. And very different than I had expected (less resorts, less fat, obnoxious tourists).

Nevermind, there were plenty of those.


Ow, ow! My wifey and I


My favorite sister




Amy's calves



Kara said there was a trail through the rocks to get to the smaller, secluded beaches. There wasn't. Amy wimped out, but Kara and slipped and slid our way over the rocks till we got there.


Rocks like these.


Or we walked through the water when possible.



Kara's driveway.



We also went out.


And tried to find... men?



Islanders are hot.


Wasn't that guy in Pirates of the Caribbean?


Sunrise off of Kara's balcony.


Bye bye islands. I'll be back soon.

I Am So Photogenic

I used to think that this was the best picture of me ever taken:




But I now know that this is, by far, the best picture of me. Ever.

My Title

I still don't have internet in my house, which explains why I haven't been keeping up with my posts. Oh, and the 60-70 hour work weeks. Those are over for the moment.

Also, I broke my camera (again). It wasn't my fault! Some dude sat on it at a bar. Some dude that looks exactly like that guy behind me:


It took me awhile to figure out what had happened, because my screen now looks like bad modern art. But, it still takes pictures! I took about 35 pictures that looked like the following, while trying to figure out what was up:
So, since I've last posted there was a trip back to Ann Arbor where I:

played with my puppy


drank good beers with good friends


drank more good beers with more good friends while avoiding cigarette smoke


hung out with my photogenic family

and took corny pictures with them (pajama pants and a cashmere sweater)


let Monica laugh at me after she sprayed lime juice in my eye


got a serenade of Mark's original compositions


and uhhh, drank some water.

Also, Caitlin and Kathleen came to visit for New Years! It was pretty darn fun.

This is us an one of our NYE friends. He gave us rides and stuff.


This is a jumbo slice. It may not be the best pizza ever, but it's big. Really big. Jumbo. And that is good enough.

Amy made lots of friends that night.

And, hm, so did Caitlin.


Even though he/she looks like a devil, this is the cutest squirrel I have ever seen. It's almost white, even though you can't tell. He/she lives by the Vietnam Memorial.


Oops! Don't forget my lcd screen is broken! (and I have no viewfinder; apparently cameras don't need them anymore. Apparently muscley guys who shave their arms don't sit on peoples cameras often enough to have a need for viewfinders)

A beautiful day in Washington D.C.

I'm really working on getting internet soon, or at least breaking into one of the secured networks.

Some Stuff

I've been busy. Really, really busy. I wanted to take pictures of all the neato things here in D.C., but I haven't seen or done any of them. I probably won't have time to do them until February. Instead you get the usual pictures of my dog, and me at the bar.

This is Kelsey sleeping. She slept on my lap almost the entire 9 hour drive from New York to Michigan:


This is Will and me and Karina and Tobias and Karla. Some of my bestest high school friends:


Karina and Jacob:

As promised, here are pictures of me at the bar. This looks like the 8 ball. It didn't smell so bad this particular night:

Caitlin and Adam- this is one of the few pictures from this night I feel comfortable posting in a public place:

Caitlin and Jamal turning the 8 ball into a dance party... kind of.



The glass war that took place under my bed.
Mirror vs. Cup.
Mirror won.


Tito was in D.C. for a few days! Que Saudades! A little bit of Salvador! Crazy hair! Yay! I look super pale but I swear it's just the camera!

Sandra, Tito, Me. This one didn't turn out so well:


Awww.... One real Baiana and two wannabes:

Thanksgiving Day

I'm in Hamilton, New York right to visit my father's side of the family for Thanksgiving.


Kara came back from the Virgin Islands to visit:


All the females on this side of the family:


A close-up on some of the beauteous ladies:


Thanksgiving is fun!



Kelsey getting manhandled:


My 9 year old cousin is an amazing artist. It's worth zooming in on this photo to see the portrait she's drawing:


Dinner, minus turkey:



Dinner:


And the best part of the previous photo, in case you didn't catch it:

Kelsey, waiting for the turkey to fall on the ground:


Some of the pies:

This is what happens when you have a "Who Can Gain the Most Weight In One Day?" competition:

My Last Michigan Post

I have finally gotten around to putting up some pictures from October, my last month in Ann Arbor. On a scale of 1-10 I'd give October an 8.

Before we get to the more debaucherous pictures, here is some pretty ivy growing on a wall:

In reverse chronological order, we start off at the Zingerman's Halloween party. This is Allison, Jack, and I (with Jamal in the background). Jack was a pirate.


Jamal was not dressed up. Lame.


Some of us lined up for the costume contest:


Me and Paul and his girlfriend:


This is a bad picture, but good costumes. Stewie!


I love this picture. Monica was not happy about waiting to get into the Blind Pig.


Inside, uber-hipster party, but at least everyone was dressed up:


Okay, so I was NOT drooling, I just didn't realize that my straw was leaking all over my shirt:


Gumby and Gumby!


Some other night, at the Heidelberg with Zing people, drinking boots of beer:



My going-away dinner at Cherry Blossom, delicious Japanese food. Allison eating sushi:


Julia, Caitlin, me, Allison:


Caitlin was so hungry that she was drinking soy sauce:


Sean was so disgusting he was eating raw meat, raw meat that he was supposed to be cooking at the table:


Caitlin and I at Circus:


Hot:
Hotter:

A visit to the Apple Orchard

Sean and I went to the apple orchard back in September (I think).

Inside, sorting apples:

Seany dodging the terrifying bees to try and rescue the cider and donuts:


Best. Donuts. EVER.


Apple trees!

Stopping by the Great Lakes Rabbit Sanctuary to check out the Open House (I forced Sean) and the arrival of hundreds of rabbits from another state:


More (and more exciting) pics soon...