Me, now.

This is who I am becoming.

Religion 101

This looks like a good book. I know I could use reading it.
Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know - And Doesn't

In other news, I went to a Big Easy Rollergirls bout this past weekend. Good stuff.

Rib Update

Speaking of nice photos of Mobile scenes, the sign below is a good one.


(And notice the shining rays of God's approval)

Mobile in the NYT

Well I'll be. Mobile is in the Times today!
You Can Call It the Little Easy
How strange is that? It mentions Oakleigh, which is right next-door to where I live now.
Nice photos, too.

Back to Cali

So I'm California for a few days to recuperate from my recent struggles and help Cheryn move back to New Orleans. Things here in Santa Monica are glorious, as usual. I've been hanging out with several old friends, eating and drinking well, and breathing in the fragrant foliage and ocean air. One particular treat was yesterday, Esha and I went to Cafe Bolivar, a coffee shop/cafe I hadn't been to in almost 4 years, and right away this girl that works there came up to me and said "Hey, where've you been?" and "You got a haircut" as if I'd just been in here a month ago. Everybody was so nice and asking about me, and remembered my love for arepas. The nice girl, Norine, even encouraged me to come back in and they'd get me in the kitchen and teach me to make my own arepas, which I just did. I'm at the cafe enjoying them now! Another fun thing yesterday, Esha and I drove up the PCH to Paradise Cove. Neat place.

Here I am at the beach Thursday evening.


Here I am with the arepas I just made.

Chickenz in tha hood

Exciting news! There are chickens in my neighborhood! I was just on a walk with Foster when, about two blocks away, I came upon a house with a beautiful Barred Rock hen in the yard! When we approached, it scooted into some nearby bushes, where I spied several more hens! Brown and white ones too. There were at least 5 in all, maybe more. And it was a pretty nice house, too. So there is some precedent for keeping sweet chickens in this nice old neighborhood. I will be paying closer attention to that yard.

MacBook & Foster

So I'm spending my days studying for the impending exam. The new computer got here last week, and it is amazing. Incredible technology. One thing it has is the built-in camera, allowing me to have video chats using iChat. If anyone out there has a webcam, my AIM id is boatloadofpigs. I've never been much for instant messaging, but doing it via audio/video is neat!

Also, I have a study buddy with me right now. Foster is here! He is a wonderful gentleman, as ever. He mainly just hangs out while I study, but from time to time we go on walks. A few nights ago I took him to his first Mardi Gras parade. Here is an image of how we're spending our days lately...

Tip of the Day

Don't snorkel in Oregon.

Tip of the Day

Always be careful not to take the wrong bus.

Live from Mobile

I can hear the Mardi Gras parade from my couch right now. Conde Cavaliers, first of the season.

Update

Greetings. It's been a busy and unsettled few weeks, but I'm able to post now. The biggest news is that I just moved to Mobile. Found a great little house in the Oakleigh Historic Garden District, a few blocks from Parks. Yes, after years of following Dan around the country, I felt it was time to make a change. Parks is my new beacon. I left DC last week, got here last Friday, and I'm now basically settled. Come visit.

Painfully, I still don't have my computer back, which made it hard to wrap up my affairs in DC - subletting the apt., etc - but I made do by using other people's computers. The bad news is that it's now been 4 weeks since I had my computer, but the great news is that Apple told me last week that they're replacing my broken iBook with a new MacBook! Amazing! The iBook was still waiting on a part, and they didn't want to make me wait indefinitely, so they're sending me a new one! And it's a huge leap over the old one, so I'm about to jump out of my pants I'm so excited!
Another bit of pleasant computer news is that as of today my DSL service is operational, I've got the wireless going, and I remembered my old Dell laptop still works for simple things, so for the first time in a month, I can sit on the couch and be online. It's a huge relief. But I do need my Mac, with all my data & stuff, before I'm back at full strength.

So there are the headlines. More tales & details will be along in time.

Still no computer

Well it's been a week and my computer is still in the shop. It's very frustrating. I've still been able to get online every day, at the Apple Store, or the Cleveland Park library, or a friend's house, but it's not the same.

In other news, the Saints play tonight. Go Saints!

Holy S**t!!!

It's here!!! It's really real!!! Introduced today: the iPhone! This thing is unbelievable! Normally things don't quite live up to the rumors, but this thing meets and exceeds them. Phone, ipod, movies, web browsing, email, camera, wifi/cellular/bluetooth, widgets, light/proximity/orientation sensors, and more! It's everything in one. At $499/$599, it seems expensive at first glance, but look at the whole picture. It's not just a phone or ipod, it's in the Treo/Blackberry class (and at the top of it). It's a mini-computer, running Mac OS X. With shocking new touch-screen technology. Yes, I'M CRAZED!!!!

Sad Day

Once again, I'm reporting in from an Apple Store (Arlington, VA), but this time, I'm not here for leisure. I'm here for a crisis.
Last night my computer started acting funny, freezing on me. I'd never seen anything like it before, having had a year and 5 months of flawless performance. The freezing was intermittent, so I was able to go online and schedule an appointment with the Genius Bar (in-person tech support) for this afternoon. When I woke up this morning, the computer worked fine for awhile and I thought I might have nothing to show them at my appointment. Alas, right before I came over here, it started acting up again. I was able to surf around enough beforehand to find out that it was a recurring kernal panic. Got here to the Apple Store, they confirmed the "KP," troubleshot it, and determined that I'm having logic board failure. Not good. Computer needs to be sent off for repair. Booooooooooo! And I still had never really backed up in my life, and I've been meaning to, so I just bought a LaCie 250gb drive. They're transferring my data now, and the iBook will be sent to repair tomorrow.



Lisa says it should be back in 4-6 days. Let's hope all goes well. In the meantime, obviously, my access will be less frequent. Luckily I can plug the external drive into a friend's computer to get at my stuff if I need to. That's all for now.

Hearst Tower

Here's another scene from New York a couple of weeks ago. You may know that I've become an architecture buff. Here I am checking out the new Hearst Tower, by Norman Foster. It's built atop Hearst's original pre-Depression headquarters. Neat.

Live from the Apple Store, Fifth Avenue

Now this is getting ridiculous, isn't it?

Hey, look who was at this computer before me:

Live from the Apple Store, Soho

Greetings from New York. Trevor and I are here at the Apple Store in Soho. It is glorious, as usual. We've had a good day... running in the park with John S., browsing and carousing downtown. Later, Trevor will get his freak on.

Today in Washington

John appears before the Court, argues that Houston's should put the Flying Chicken Platter back on the menu rather than having it off-menu.

Another Halloween Shot

Saluting the Major...

Halloween Party

What were you for Halloween? I was a guy who's stuck in the 80's. I chose this because I wasn't sure if I was even going out, and all this costume took was 5 minutes of delving in my closet and sticking up my hair. A couple of people thought I was Max Headroom, which occurred to me as I was getting dressed, but I was not Max Headroom because I didn't want to have to be in character all night. Nonetheless, my look was well-received, especially for something with so little effort involved. I'm glad I still keep weird garb. The event was a party that my friend Molly took me to, and the best part is that it was only a block from home.

Here I am suited up:


K-Fed was also at the party. He had four babies pinned to himself. Two white, two black.


In other news: Yes, I am in Washington, DC. I moved here a few weeks ago and have been busy getting the apartment in order and starting the job search. I also dashed down to Alabama last weekend to see Stephanie and Foster in Montgomery and run some errands in Mobile. It's not a bad commute.