New Kitten!

Last night I picked up my new little kitten. She (I think its a she) is so cute :) Haven't come up with a name for her yet though.



It's like having a baby in the house. She cries when she's hungry and when she wants to be picked up. I tried keeping her in my bed last night, but she wiggles around too much. This morning she peed on me, so I had to lock her in the panty (don't want her peeing on the carpet). But it was so sad, she was crying and pawing at the door when I left. Not used to being on her own I guess.

Cedar Point

Cedar Point was awesome. Hit most of the big coasters. Out of the ones that we tried, here are my top 5 favorite ones:

1. Magnum - doesn't have the same heart-in-your-throat-hold-on-and-hope-you-dont-die drops that the Millenium Force had, but it had all the speed and tunnels and turns.

2. Raptor - a great feet-dangly coaster, lots of turns and twists, the wind in you face is great. Its only downfall was that it kind of rattles your head a little too much on the last turn.

3. Gemini - a coaster with two trains going at the same time on parallel tracks. Nothing too extreme, but a lot of fun.

4. Mantis - a standup coaster that twists you around and upside down.

5. Millenium Force - great aside from that first drop, its just a little too high and steep for me. Maybe I just need to try it again, afterall, it was the first one we hit. Talk about starting big :)

Another fun thing to do is to take the little train around the park. Its nice and relaxing after being dropped, flipped, turned, twisted, and drenched. It was so peaceful and nice that we stayed on for two loops.

Badgers and LOTR

Original Bagders

Today I discovered a LOTR version. Both are pretty dumb, but amusing.

Chicago

We spent Saturday wandering about Chicago. Particularly strange was the large globe-like thing that was in the park, or as Abi called it, a giant red blood cell. Rather bizarre looking.

Mackinac Pictures

Mackinac Bridge; The ferry leaving the harbor.


Arch Rock; My roomie standing in a meadow; Me on one of the many trails.


A view of the main street; So many bicycles!

Mackinac Island

Saturday my roomie and I got up before the crack of dawn (4:30 am), hopped into the car and headed north. I love driving so early in the morning, you feel like you're the only one up. About halfway there we got to watch the sunrise which was pretty, but kind of a pain cuz we were travelling east at the time. Arrived in St. Ignace around 9 am, bought our tickets, and boarded the ferry. When we reached the island, one of the first things we saw was a GFS truck backed up to a horse-drawn trailer. Now that is a strange sight.

Since it was still early and relatively we decided to lose ourselves in the park. We followed the trails as best as we could, but they were too windy and confusing. So we simply followed whatever trails we happened upon and enjoyed the fresh air and sunshine. Walking through the park was certainly a contrast to the downtown area of the island. It was so quiet and peaceful. With the exception of a few other walkers, the odd horse and rider, and an occasional bicyclist, it felt like we were all alone. It was rather nice.

After covering a major chunk of the island on foot we stopped at a little picnic area to eat our lunch. From there we walked back to the downtown and wandered in and out of the various shops. And of course we stopped to watch them making fudge. We bought a sample box, and broke into it while waiting for the next ferry to come and take us back to the mainland.

Back in St. Ignace we wandered through a bookstore, then stopped for a bite of dinner at a 50s style diner. The strange thing was, the diner had no tourists, it was all locals, even though it was right across the street from all the ferries.

A great, though very tiring day. I have pictures to share, but I need to download them still.

Dreams

I had a very strange dream last night/this morning. I was in some sort of US government organization that was looking for a treasurer. They were taking nominations, and there were some people who were interested in the position. But there was a catch. The job would be in England. Most people weren't too happy about that, but I thought, hey, sounds great! So I got my name on the list. I remember it saying something about my not having any advanced mathematics, but that I would be a quick learner. Unfortunately I woke up before I found out if I would be moving to England or not.

Beach Day

Yesterday was a great beach day. After church we grabbed a bite of lunch then headed off to the Grand Haven beach. Unfortunately everyone else had also decided that it was a great beach day. All you could see was a sea of bodies, and there was no parking to be found. So, plan B. We changed our minds and went to a local park, much fewer people, a less crowded beach, and best of all, available parking! So we settled down on the sand with our towels, sunscreen and reading material to enjoy the afternoon sun. Watched a mother bury her son in the sand, kids building sandcastles, couples walking hand in hand along the shore, and one family digging a big hole to bury their father in. Upon returning home, we picked up some noodle soup after a bit of grocery shopping, and headed home to watch Minority Report. What a life :)


Samara and I at the beach.

Why Computers Sometimes Crash! by Dr. Seuss

If a packet hits a pocket on a socket on a port
And the bus is interrupted at a very last resort
And the access of the memory makes your floppy disk abort
Then the socket packet pocket has an error to report.

If your cursor finds a menu item followed by a dash
And the double-clicking icon puts your window in the trash
And your data is corrupted cause the index doesn't hash
Then your situation's hopeless, and your system's gonna crash!

If the label on the cable on the table at your house
Says the network is connected to the button on your mouse
But your packets want to tunnel unto another protocol
That's repeatedly rejected by the printer down the hall,
And your screen is all distorted by the side effects of gauss
So your icons in the window are as wavy as a souse
Then you may as well reboot and go out with a bang
'Cuz sure as I'm a poet, the sucker's gonna hang!

When the copy of your floppy's getting sloppy in the disk
And the macrocode instructions cause unnecessary risk
Then you'll have to flash the memory and you'll want to RAM your ROM.
Quickly turn off the computer and be sure to tell your Mom!

Testing hello.com

Abi, Me, DC, and Sarah in Sevilla. Tom is in the background.

Chocolat

I watched Chocolat last night, great movie, and now I feel strangely inspired to open a choclaterie of my own. Too bad I don't know anything about making chocolates. Maybe I should learn, that and brush up my french. Then I can pack up and move to a little town somewhere in the french countryside. I just love the little town that the movie is set in. Apparently, the town they used had a total population of 250, just the right size :)

Song of the Day

I've been listening to a new CD today, Maroon 5, Songs about Jane. My roomie bought it and lent it to me, I really like it. I think I need to make a "backup" of this one :)

Song of the day is "Through With You".

Can you see me
Floating above your head
As you lay in bed
Thinking about everything
That you did not do
Cause saying "I love you"
Has nothing to do with meaning it

And I don't trust you
Cause every time you're here
Your intentions are unclear
I spend every hour waiting for a phone call
That I know will never come
I used to think that you were the one
Now I'm sick of thinking anything at all

You ain't ever coming back to me
That's not how things were supposed to be
You take my hand just give it back
No other lover has ever done that

Do you remember
The way we used to melt
Do you remember how it felt
When I touched you, oh
Cause I remember very well
And how long has it been
Since someone you let in
Has given what I gave to you

And at night when you sleep
Do you dream I would be there
Just for a minute or two do you?

You ain't ever coming back to me
That's not how things were supposed to be
You take my hand just give it back
o other lover has ever done that

Heartache heartache I just have so much
A simple love with a complex touch
There is nothing you can say or do
I called to let you know I'm through with you.

Pride and Prejudice

I spent an excellent 5 hours last night watching the BBC production of Pride and Prejudice. I've been meaning to buy it for awhile now, and finally did. I think I've seen the movie about six times, but still do not tire of watching the dynamics between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. Good food, good friends, good movie, Mr. Darcy, what better way to spend an evening...

The Lady and the Unicorn

Just finished reading The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier, another book about a piece of artwork (same author as Girl with a Pearl Earring). My roomie had borrowed it from the library, so I was reading it on the way to and from Chicago. This book is about a set of six medieval tapestries that are now housed in the Cluny musuem in Paris. We got to see them when we visited the musuem at Cluny, so reading about them was very interesting. I really like how Chevalier takes what we know about a piece of art and then weaves a story around it. For anyone who liked Girl with a Pearl Earring, I would recommend this book.

Weekend

Had a great long weekend, in spite of the weather. Friday I stayed home to clean up my room and the apartment. I had to clear my room for my new furniture :) I got a new bed, dresser, night stand delivered on Saturday morning. So now after 4 years of sleeping on a mattress on the floor, I finally have a real bed!

Saturday, after the guys arranged my furniture I headed south to Mike and Sandi's for the day. We went out in the boat, swam for awhile then had a fish fry and fireworks. It rained for a bit, but otherwise the weather was great.

Sunday, bummed around at home. Didn't feel like going out in the rain to watch more fireworks, so stayed home and watched Independance Day, and Cold Mountain.

Monday, went down to Chicago, ate an excellent lunch at Big Bowl, walked around, shopped, had some good coffee at Moonstruck, went to the Sears tower, zero visibility, stayed on the ground, wandered around Chinatown, came back to GR.

Happy Canada Day!

Some links for your reading pleasure:
Some History of the day.
History of the flag.
The national anthem

Beach

Yesterday afternoon my roomie and I drove out to the Grand Haven beach. It was a beautiful sunny day, nice beach weather. The water was frigid so we just stayed on the sand soaking in the sun. Spent my time reading reading and working on my tan (har har, like that will work). My 'tan' is just my skin getting a bit more pink. After it got cold, we walked along the pier past all the people fishing and walking their dogs. Now I can actually say that I've been to Lake Michigan :)

Paris Photos

I've started to upload some of my trip pictures. Here is what I have so far, more to come: Paris Photos.

Stepford Wives

Watched Stepford Wives last night. It was kind of interesting, completely cheesy, but a fun movie. All the wives were like extreme Martha Stewart's, immaculate houses, always cooking and cleaning and waiting on their husbands and children hand and foot. At one point Nicole Kidman's character bakes about 5,000 cupcakes because she is trying to get into the whole 'Stepford thing'. Another great one is the book club. The woman read a book about decorating for the holidays and the entire discussion is centered around how you can use pinecones in your decorations. Completely ridiculous :)

Europe

Back in Grand Rapids again. Just spent two weeks roaming about France and Spain. Spain was nice, but I absolutely loved France. Now I'm torn, I thought Florence would be a nice place to live, but now I think that I would prefer Paris, or maybe someplace in the French countryside. We didn't spend any time in the country, but what I saw from the train was absolutely gorgeous. I just loved the little towns nestled into the rolling hills. Plus it would be the perfect opportunity to work on my french, not to mention the cute french guys ;) The ones in Spain aren't bad either, but its a lot more difficult to talk to them (not knowing Spanish).

But now its back to reality and the regular grind. *sigh* Vacations are never long enough.