Canadian hay is happy hay

Went on a whirlwind drive through the Northeast a few weeks ago, this picture was taken on Day 1, somewhere in Ontario, literally on the side of the road. We eventually passed a lot of these and a few chip trucks. That's right, trucks dedicated to serving fresh fries. I think my only regret from the whole experience is that we were never able to actually buy anything from one of those trucks!

Ben

Just wanted to share a quick photo of Teddy and Ben. My parents rented a cabin on Camelback a couple of weekends ago, so this was the boys at the playground :)

Nice

Stopped at a red light and made the mistake of looking under the guardrail next to me. Yes, those are all cigarettes. Gross.

How Long is the Pell Bridge?

12 Long Weeks

For those of you who don't know, this is the Pell Bridge which separates the lovely seaside town of Newport and it's Naval Base from the rest of the world. This picture was taken from the Newport Hyatt at a nice bayside restaurant where I was boozing it up in civvies and not from the more familiar angle visible from the Physical Training Field at the Naval Base. That view was normally seen at 5am in the morning while doing Push Ups or Sit Ups and being yelled at. It's a well known point of longing and a symbol for the outside world for all the candidates so it's only fitting that my first post after graduation is of that bridge now that I'm on the other side.

And I shall call him....MiniPepper!

I cut into a red bell pepper to find... another pepper! Mutant pepper!

5.12.10

This was taken last year on May 14th from the window of an SUV as we made our way up a mountain road in Sichuan. Children's Hope International was working out a funding thing with a mining company there, which offered to take us to the site of one of their buildings, which had been devastated the year before. I got to tag along.

This kind of imagery is often known as "ruin porn." I feel a little bit like an asshole posting a couple of them up today, but they're also some of the most beautiful scenes I saw during my visit. I mean... awful, but captivating.

Honey, I shrunk my hand

Is that one big berry or one iiiiiiiitty bitty hand?

Climate change, eh?

I can't take credit for this picture as it was sent to me this weekend by a friend also living in the southwest. But yes, that is snow on the flowering tree.

Shotguns

View from my friend's brother's front porch in New Orleans.

Isn't it beautiful? I want to steal his house.

We were in town for the APA conference last weekend.

It was awesome! But now end-of-the-semester work is even more terrifying.

You know me well enough to know what state I'm in.

Eat sushi, Defend the galaxy

This was an internet ad in my sidebar while I was reading an online article about healthcare. Needless to say, I felt that this was a lot more relevant to my life than the BS in the article that I was reading.

Oh, yeah, and they ARE real: http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/japanfan/c50f/?cpg=cj

Thank God for spell check

In the rush to prepare this document for a group presentation last Friday, I was still able to be thoroughly amused by this. I'd added an extra space in between all the letters in the heading, and Word was comprehensive enough to be like:
C... ok, that's correct
O... no problems there
N... yeah
N... oh! no, that is misspelled.

Baton of Eat

Note the serrated edge on the fork.

poutine!

some of the best fries i've had in my life.

didn't hurt that they'd also been tossed in duck fat.

at the grange in ann arbor, the night before spring break!

i was very much sleep deprived.

Expectations

Had to do two posts in a row cuz the cartoon from this weeks CSMonitor was too awesome to pass up.

Kina!

I received my preorder of Kina Grannis's new album this week, which is a pretty solid album and I encourage everybody to take a listen.

Her sound is general pop indy singer/songwriter type of music but it has a great deal of depth not often found in a lot of music. It can be a little too cutesy for me at times ("Mr. Sun" or "The Goldfish Song") but sometimes it really works for me too ("Together"). But where she really shines is the uniqueness of her voice and simple but haunting melodies ("Stay Just A Little", "Delicate"). "Stay Just a Little" has joined Alexi Murdoch's "Breathe" as one song that I can listen to on repeat for hours without losing anything. Also of note is the song "Back to Us" which has happy spring pop song written all over it.

(For those that don't know or don't remember, no Corey has not become random fan of female indy guitarists. Kina is one of my good friend's sisters so that's how I found out about her music. But she really is worth a listen. There's a lot of talent there.)

You can buy on iTunes and Amazon if you're curious. Or preview some songs or order a hard copy at kinagrannis.com

Helm

It's a toasty 37 degrees outside now, but not too long ago, we had water freezing out there.

This is from last month sometime. I don't know exactly whose it is, but it had clearly been chained to our porch for some time.

Fat & Sassy

Do youuuuuuuuuuuu!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

These boots are made for walking...

Darla stepped on a piece of glass this week during a walk with the dog walker and required an emergency vet visit that night. Paw injuries are the worst injury for a dog because it's impossible to keep a dog off its feet to let the pad heal properly. These boots and socks are the resulting purchase to try to help her foot heal and make sure that this doesn't happen again. Poor thing!

11:45 Live Chat

Wow. Was there really no other way to phrase this? Houston Chronicle: a beacon of eloquence in a sea of crude language....

(click image to enlarge)

For Drew

Thought I'd post these pictures here at the request of Drew. Next to running, this is my favorite past-time in SF. Sorry it took so long to post these!



Name of the route



Climbing Sloppy

Spare Time

Boredom has turned me on to a career in art. I'm rather proud of this:

It is made from a paperclip, packing tape and eight rubber bands of varying gauges. I call it "Wheel of Eternity and Office Supplies." Look for my next installation: "Cup of Fury or Pencil Holder" at a museum near you.

Doppleganger?

My roommates girlfriend found this guy in Cosmo and is convinced this is me. Consensus?

Half full

I must have left this on the mantle when I was cleaning last weekend. Evaporation has taken its toll, but it's just a little more full than empty.

Let's go R... Blue (dammit)

I did actually make that mistake at least once during this game.

Pictured are Michigan players on the ice with Ferris State. Before I went to this game, people kept saying, "Cool. But Ferris State is good," as a way of mitigating any disappointment I might have felt going all the way down to Yost to see them lose. We got there a bit late, but just in time to watch two of our players get sent to the box... which turned out to be pretty sweet because they never scored on us. Granted, we also managed to not score any freebies after they pulled their goalie at the end of the 2-0 game, but whatever.

As for the fan culture, nothing beats Cornell. I think every one of our cheers is better than their versions. Also, I am sick of the UM fight song. The band's repertoire's pretty unexpansive. The only thing is Michigan fans dance, and it looks like fun.

All in all, a good game. I'm definitely going to at least one more!

New Glasses

After six years, Corey finally got a new pair of glasses. The old ones were still surprisingly functionally in their own snap together before wearing way.

The Old Glasses with wire hangers and lens to pop in and out at will.

New, much classier glasses.

My Next Home?

I may have a chance to work in the UK for 3 months this year. Have my fingers crossed.

Candyland?

There was a hard freeze (15-20 F) in Houston this weekend and people were trying to salvage their plant-life. These reminded me of lollipops!

Shrimp + Grits = ...

Sorry I don't have anyone named Ben in my picture tonight... hate to be the one to break that trend.

You're looking at two of my apartment-mates, Kyle and Lauren, assembling our first meal together in ages. Shrimp, grits, spinach, and a barbecue sauce. It was so fine.

Greetings from PA

So, this picture is 1. a way for me to brag about my cute kid! 2. a stand in for something I saw and laughed at but didn't have a camera...we actually got over a foot of snow here, and driving out of our complex that day (after they FINALLY cleared our parking lot...) we saw a bunch of traffic cones at the side of the intersection. Or rather, the top 4 inches or so of them, sticking out of the snow, as if they were the little baby ones and the snow was at ground level. You probably had to be there, but I figured I needed a virgin post, and this was better than nothing...

Since Nobody Wants to Guess

I went to the Mathisens for a rocking New Years of video games, reading, movies, and very interesting conversation in which I learned that the Pope cannot currently crown a Holy Roman Emperor and that absolution does not come from tackling the Supreme Pontiff. This is the best picture I've taken with my new camera and is, of course, Ben Mathisen. I also have a good blackmail picture of his one year old self throwing a mini tantrum that I will save in case needed.

Law Studying: A Study of Studying Law

This is my first post ever.

Anyone want to guess where I went for New Years? No Cheating.

My absolute favorite movie

I love, love, love this film. The humor, the music (both the score and soundtrack), the writing, the story, the beginning, the ending... heck the middle is great too.

Booty Shakin'

Did I tell y'all I joined a salsa team last year?