Dad and I at the Temple of Clouds The Temple of Clouds at Uxmal. It took me twice as long to get down as it did to climb up (thank you terrifying fear of heights), but it was completely worth it. You could see the entire site from up there, as well as some remarkably well preserved vision carvings.

* Put your music player on random.
* Post the first line from the first 32 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing the song.
* Let everyone guess what song and artist the lines come from.
* Bold the songs when someone guesses correctly.
* Looking them up on Google or any other search engine is CHEATING!
* Skip instrumentals, foreign language songs, songs where the title is the first line

(Extending some more of the lines to try to help guessing...)

1) I went walking down the boulevard…
2) I'm just a boy working in a record store/ Yes I moved to San Francisco just to see what I could see/ I am a loser geek, crazy with an evil streak...
3) If fear's what makes us decide our future journey/ I'm not along for the ride 'cause I'm still learning...
4) Forgive me you cut out again, it seems so easy just to blame the reception but there's something wrong and I don't know why...
5) It's five below in evidence.
6) One man, one door, one mission.
7) And your hands are really shaking something awful as you light your 27th cigarette...
8) Every point of view has another angle and every angle has its merit...
9) Satan, you know where I lie. Gently I go into that good night.
10) I see ya all the time...
11) I lose myself. I forget myself. Sometimes I fault myself./ All our lives get complicated./ Search for pleasures overrated...
12) I seem to recognize your face…
13) Well, I waited for too long. Just a knock at the door.
14) I’m a-gonna raise a fuss. I'm a-gonna raise a holler. Workin' all summer…
15) I reach within my isolation. I harbor it. I honor it. Say you're dyin' to see me closer. Of course you were. You had your choice.
16) I found out on a late night drive in my winter coat with my bloodshot eyes. And my feet ain't been no friend to me…
17) Is this the strange feeling of you working all the good?
18) Crazy how it feels tonight…
19) I ran from my house that cannot contain me…
20) Not about to try…
21) No, stay, I don’t care what you’ve said or done…
22) How good is he? How warm are his eyes?
23) I thought about sitting on the floor in second grade…
24) Well she said it’s cold outside and she hands me my raincoat.
25) Grace, I watched you sleeping, all worn out and dreaming.
26) I’m mixing up my box of magic stuff…
27) And I might be the man that desires you enough…
28) They told you your music could reach millions.
29) She always takes it with a heart of stone.
30) You’re not sure that you love me but you’re not sure enough to let me go.
31) Streets like a jungle, so call the police. Following the herd down to Greece. On holiday.
32) I was thinking that I might fly today…

Wow.... I have a lot more of two bands than I thought I did... :)

Alright! The flirting with boys and groaning over missing of the ex have both blown over. I wrote a couple bad poems, a couple good ones, taught myself a couple songs on guitar, and became a vegan. Officially ready to remake my life. Also started a hula-dancing class and a belly-dancing class on top of my five days a week at the gym. I will be fit if it kills me. :)

So, let's write peoples. I am so ready for some mayhem and creative destruction. As witnessed by my Flash Challenge... (http://twimble.wordpress.com/) Why do people keep expecting me to have not twisted responses to these things, I wonder? Hmm...

Yay for being back to creativity!!

Too bad it happened at two in the morning on a Thursday... *runs off to cackle to her cats*

It was an interesting independence day for me. I found myself thinking decidedly unpatriotic thoughts as I listened to the entire history of the original revolution which actually began eleven years before 1776 with the introduction of mandatory customs examinations on sugar imports into the colonies. Well. Not anti-American thoughts. Just 'oh, I can see why the British did that' thoughts. :)

Then we ate lots of delicious barbecue (from the Salt Lick, my favorite brisket joint of all time) before going to stand at the top of the golf course hill near our house to watch the proceedings in the valley around us. We could see clear out to Lake Union and Seattle, Renton, Medina, everywhere. Everywhere you looked the lights blossomed, on and on, out into the distance. As it grew darker and the clouds grew heavier, they reflected off the clouds and the water. It was... awesome. Beautiful. Spectacular. Never-ending.

And I thought... I bet Nature is very confused right now. For the past three days, she's been hitting the Northwest with funnel clouds, hail, sleet, rain, thunder and lightning. She gives us today free of it, and what do we do? We throw thunder and light right back at her. I hope she enjoys the irony and doesn't decide to douse us again. Heh.

By the way... has it occurred to anyone else that this many fireworks going off is basically just thumbing our noses at the C02 emissions? Just asking. :)

So I flew up to Washington today and as I was checking my bags, I noticed a machine to the side that said, I kid you not, "This Instant Travel Machine is Out of Order". It looked like one of those self check-in machines, but it was an INSTANT TRAVEL MACHINE! How cool is that? Too bad it wasn't working, I could have saved two hours of reading philosophy on the plane.

I just thought this was an important piece of news to share.

My friend Chase recently introduced me to wonderful and horrible addiction that is tumblr. Hast thou heard of this thing? It's one of the most user-friendly community blogging interfaces I've seen. Anyway. Just thought I'd give it a shout out to ya'll folks here. [tumblr.com] Here is my tumblr... in progress: [http://twimble.tumblr.com/]

Liz sent me this article about the feet that have been washing up on the shores of Vancouver Island, B.C. It was very creepy. And in actuality that there were even five washed up feet is still a mystery and a story unto itself. But the sixth foot turned out to be a hoax. Below are the links to the articles associated with this story. Just in case anyone was interested...

The 6th Foot story: http://www.boingboing.net/2008/06/18/6th-severed-foot-fou.html

The 6th Foot hoax: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008007931_foot20m.html

It occurs to me that while I have been updating my personal site for family and friends... I have not been keeping up with the re-updating here. So..... let’s play catch up. Speed catch up. Like speed dating, but not as fun and without the cleavage:

I went to Napa for the first time and visited Rombauer (sigh, how wonderful). Went to my Choate reunion back in May, which was lovely. My Aunt Carolyn finished her MBA -- hooray, Aunt Carolyn!! And my buddy Alison graduated from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts-- congratulations, Al! Then my parents and I went on a lovely little trip to San Diego where we fed rhinoceroses (rhinoceri?) and giraffes. For images, please see the Summer 2008 scrapbook. :)

Alright. I think that sums up the major events thus far.

Oh, I've been researching Wicca, randomly, for a plot that I have twisting around in my brain, so that's fun. Also trying to teach myself Japanese, Gaelic, and relearn French all at the same time.

PS Did I mention I was in Boston for the no-hitter against Kansas City? And the next night? Such great playing. Masterson's got an arm on him like nothing I've seen before.

Yay Giants. Cheer. Cheer.