Author: Julia

I should be asleep

The subject line pretty much says it all. I should be. But I’ve been neglecting my ever-faithful blog and I feel like rambling for a few minutes. Who cares if I have a Statistics test tomorrow.

I haven’t been updating lately both because I’ve been busy and because I just haven’t felt like I’ve got much of interest to say. So don’t expect this post to be interesting.

My busy-ness has a lot to do with my current enrollment at HACC (Harrisburg Area Community College for those of you not in the Harrisburg area), but not as much as it should. I was expecting that I’d at least have a little bit of trouble juggling 12 credits and my normal life, and while I have been neglecting some aspects of my normal life, I’m also rather underwhelmed by my classes. Of course no community college is really going to be a bastion of education, and I hate to sound like a snob, but I’m pretty appalled at the caliber of the courses I’m taking. The professors are not top notch, to say the least, but the bigger problem is the complete apathy of most of the students. I hear a lot of jokes about HACC being the 13th grade, but I was unprepared for how true it is. Two of my professors are pretty clear that they know better than to ask us to do any work and the other two seem to expect that we won’t but ask us to anyway. I have, at least once in every class, felt pressure to be stupid in a way I haven’t experienced since I left Red Land seven years ago. Meanwhile, the students all have that glazed over look that makes me wonder if anyone in the class is alive or if HACC has brought in a number of cadavers to make their enrollment numbers look better.

I hear a lot of good things about HACC. I am not questioning the integrity of the people who have related them to me. I guess the key is taking classes online or in the evenings when it’s a more adult crowd. Somewhere along the line I must have accidentally become an adult — I don’t know how I’m going to survive another semester of high school.

Anyway…The rest of my time recently has been spent hanging out with Kevin or working on a new site for The Circle School. Both are infinitely more fun than being at HACC, and I’m really excited about the CSS stuff I’m learning from Kevin for application on TCS’s site. I hope to eventually implement some of it here, too.

On a completely unrelated note, my mom keeps talking about this John Kerry quote that she loves, and while I’m nearly as underwhelmed by him as I am by HACC, I do like the quote.

“… not pray that God is on our side, … pray that we are on God’s side.”

Good night.

Wrath of God?

Florida’s Desperation Growing After Storm (washingtonpost.com)

Things like this make me understand the South a little bit better.

In Amarillo, TX, I saw a storm that came on so suddenly and with such fury that I thought I’d probably believe in a vengeful God if I lived there, too — there was nothing to do but pray as hail pelted the car and the water level in the streets rose to six inches in five minutes.

If I were in Florida now, as it gets slammed over and over, to the point that Dunkin’ Donuts trucks are being commandeered, I’d probably feel a need to believe there was a reason for that, too.

It’s all well and good to explain the scientific reasons storms develop, but science doesn’t do any good while it’s happening. Even if praying doesn’t actually do any physical good, well, you know what they say — any shelter in a storm.

Fireworks & Gmail

I’ve been such a slacker. Excuses: burn out after the trip, home very infrequently so internet access is scarce, taking classes full time stifles my brain, etc., etc. Two quick things:

1. Went to see the fireworks last night in Harrisburg. Pyrotechnic display itself was pretty good, even worthy of our quest to be considered a real city. The music accompanying the fireworks, though, seemed to be of a “Places I’d Rather Be” theme. Each song highlighted a different US city or region. IE, “New York State of Mind,” “Country Roads,” “Viva Las Vegas,” etc. I’m sure this was meant to be patriotic, creating a portrait of our entire beautiful and diverse country, but instead it just kind of felt like we didn’t have anything closer to home worth celebrating. It’s time to start acting like a big dog, even though that might, in some cases, seem even sillier.

2. I have 6 gmail invitations and can’t think of a single person to give one to. This makes me feel like I don’t have any friends. If you’d like one, or would even take one from me just to make me feel better, email me and I’ll hooketh you up.

Pictures galore

Okay! I’ve reorganized all the pictures (sans those from yesterday and today) and uploaded them.

Seattle
Washington State
Oregon/Northern Cali
Bay Area
Winchester House
Nevada
SoCal
Tijuana
Arizona

I’ve been doing a little bit of writing while on the road but none of it is really ready to be posted. Next on my list of things to do is create a central page for all the pictures and words, but it’ll be a couple of days. Maybe even after I get home.

I’m writing right now from a little coffeehouse in Oklahoma City called Uncommon Grounds. I like this city, but it might just be that I like the coffeehouse. Battery dying, must go…

Moore & more from the road

First the boring stuff:

Article from The Daily Star encouraging a national dialogue before we create any new departments or cabinet posts or take any other related action. Nothing blazingly new, but makes some interesting points. I take it forgranted that we should have this kind of dialogue, but it’s become obvious that not the entire population feels the same way. I’m glad this author is calling for one in a largely non-partisan way. Thanks again to Kristin Dailey for the link.

‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ has been banned in Kuwait. This isn’t too suprising considering the film’s slant, but is yet another illustration of the danger of that angle. A working relationship with the Middle East is important and perpetuating the idea that involvement with Arab governments is tantamount to condoning terrorism will get us nowhere in the long run, even if it gets Bush out of office in November.

But on to the fun stuff!

I’m writing from the floor of the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Literally, from the floor. LinuxWorld is happening here and while Kevin geeks out at a PGP key signing event, I’m using the free wireless to upload some pictures. The battery on my laptop was dead, though, so I had to find an outlet. This puts me in a hallway, back against the wall, watching the Linuxites as they trickle to their Birds of a Feather meetings. Fascinating, truly.

Anyway, I don’t have all the pictures ready to go, but since I don’t know how long I’ll get to sit here (or how long my legs will tolerate it), I’m uploading what I do have ready now. It’s a bit of Seattle, but mostly scenery as we travelled through Washington State. We took a ferry from Edmonds to Kingston, then followed 101 west and south to Oregon. I’ll have Oregon and California pictures up sometime in the near future.

http://www.sunsetchaser.net/pictures/wash20040730/

Enjoy!

Blogging from Seattle

Seattle, Day 1

Above is a link to the pictures I took yesterday.  If you click on a picture you’ll find exciting descriptions providing a depth not present in the brief captions.   Below, you’ll find discussion of things I didn’t take pictures of.  Whee!

I arrived in Seattle at 2:30 AM Monday night/Tuesday morning, so sleeping was top on my list of things to do.  Tuesday, morning, though, Kevin and I started off with a 1 PM breakfast at Piroshki On Broadway, a very cute Russian bakery/restaurant.  I had never heard of piroshkies, but loved the warm and savory beef & cheese pastry served by a thick Slavic woman with a thick Russian accent.  From there we made a requisite stop at Starbucks and sat outside until scared off by the stench of other patrons and local street-dwellers.

Later in the day we headed down to Pioneer Square to take the Underground Tour Kevin had heard about.  For $10 each we spent 90 minutes learning about the history of Seattle and walking through the underground sidewalks and buildings buried when they redistributed the cliffs to level the land in the late 19th century.  Our tour guide, Gael (pronounced Gayle), was sharp and funny (though trying much too hard) and clearly enjoyed her job.  While my preference is to see that kind of thing without the non-stop narration of a guide, it was a good time, and educational too.

When we parked to take the tour, I noticed that we were right in front of a place called Cow Chip Cookies.  Maria James had recommended Cow Chips to me, but I’d never have remembered to seek them out had Kevin not parked where he did.  I’m glad she’d mentioned them, though, and that we happened upon the small store, as they were as delectable as promised.  Along with eating warm, soft, chocolatey cookies, we also learned from the woman behind the counter that they don’t have Tootsie Rolls in Australia.

It had been overcast during my entire previous visit to Seattle back in May, so although I’d heard people talk about Mt Rainier I had no firsthand proof of its existence and, to be quite honest, was beginning to believe that it was just a giant myth designed to separate the posers from the true Seattlites.  Since the weather on this visit has been beautiful, though a bit hazy, it seemed time to dispel my misconceptions, so we headed south on I-5 to get a bit closer.  It turns out that this mountain does exist and is as impressive as it is purported to be.  Even now, in late July, its peak is shrouded in snow, hovering so far above the horizon it could easily be mistaken for clouds.

After driving through Seattle’s rush hour we were getting hungry, so we headed back to Capitol Hill to the Wing Dome.  Kevin loves the wings there, believing them to be the best anywhere, so I was excited.  Unfortunately, I was disappointed.  The owner apparently conducted focus groups to create her recipe prior to introducing Seattlites to the idea of hot wings in 1994.  The focus group, though, must have had flawed taste as the result, while good, resembles traditional buffalo wings only in that it is chicken wings covered with sauce.  The sauce tastes nothing like our East Coast wings and, frankly, would not be capable of sating my cravings.  The blue cheese provided was sub-par as well, as if they’d simply taken grocery store salad dressing and poured into a small plastic cup.  Kokomos is still the best.

To finish off a very full day, we then walked to Kincora to meet Lydi.  A laid back “Irish pub” place with a neighborhood feel, but overwhelmingly loud and swelteringly hot.  After a few drinks, we relocated to Bad Juju where they had a fish tank in the wall…fifteen feet up.  Vastly different from Kincora, Bad Juju was of the dark and deliberately cool atmosphere.  Had it been crowded I imagine the patrons would have been annoyingly trendy for my taste, but as we were nearly the only ones there I enjoyed it.

I’ll be in Seattle until Friday morning, at which time Kevin and I will hit the road for the following two weeks.  I hope to be blogging throughout, so stay tuned!

The Daily Star – Politics – ‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ misses mark on conspiracies

The Daily Star – Politics – ‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ misses mark on conspiracies

I’ve been slacking on this, but thanks again to Kristin Dailey for providing another perspective.  ‘Fahrenheit’ hadn’t been released anywhere in the Middle East at the time thsi article was published but has since begun its slow creep around the world.  I look forward to hearing more about other reactions to it.  So far it seems like everyone believes there was a conspiracy — but no one can agree on why or what it was.