More photos!
I finally downloaded some of the photos that I've been taking these past couple of weeks.
I've got a collection of images from one rocking night here. I particularly like this one of Robin and me.

Here are more Spike photos. Check out this one of Robin and Spike. Here is one of Matt and Spike, and finally, one of Sandy and Spike (check out the blur of Spike, no longer pleased about being held).

Finally, here is the Afghan feast, and here is a shot of, Petra, the aforementioned office dog.

Time Killer
I'm sitting here posting while waiting for my older brother to prepare dumpling ingredients so I can help him wrap about 2,000 of them. There will be a focus group to sample them tonight.

It was a whirlwind, crazy weekend. The second to last one before I leave DC (you will be privy the countdown until I leave, lucky you). Friday was spent sipping schooners at the Fish Market in good company. The night continued after that, but I fell aside right before the 5 a.m. soccer game in front of the Masonic Temple. I totally wish that I could have been there to photograph some of that, especially when I checked out the soccer ball that was used for the game which was seriously halfway flat. Awesome. Many more photos were taken of the Spike, who was finally very freaked out by the commotion, some of which will be posted for everyone's enjoyment.

Saturday involved Vietnamese food in the lighted outside patio of Little Viet Garden, s'mores at Cosi, and drinks on the patio of the Galaxy Hut. A true Clarendon/Courthouse experience, actually. It was the first time Clarence had tried s'mores, so that was kind of exciting. Grace and I had gone back to hang at my place after GH, and went through some old letters, which are nothing short of priceless. Stay tuned for some of them.

Today was a visit to the zoo, preceded by French food in Woodley Park. The coffee was so very yummy. And now I await the preparation for the dumpling focus group. I am hard pressed to describe how flawless the weather is today, after rain yesterday. 75 and sunny and tonight will be in the 50s. I will for sure miss this life here...excuse my sentiment (I'm falling prey to it lately in a big way).

You know, I was talking to someone about how hilarious it would be if after all of these good-byes, and parties, and celebrations, and get-togethers, etc, I announced that I wasn't leaving after all, and that I was still going to be around, nothing changed. I think that I would be lynched, if only for my sentimentality alone.

Don't put us in your ads, Bush
The Iraqi soccer team isn't too hot to the idea of being used to shill for the Bush campaign in their ads.

Check out this warm and fuzzy item:

Midfielder Ahmed Manajid even said if he wasn't playing soccer at the Olympics, he would be home in Fallujuah trying to kill American soldiers.

Hot!

(via tmn)

The Countdown Continues...
Six more days of work, including today! I've officially moved out of my window-side workspace and now and sitting at the front desk in our office, very receptionist-like. It feels so temporary! I blinked a little at leaving the workspace that I occupied over over a year now, but after about half a second, I was over it.

Hilarious, even if this is a little late
I stumbled over someone's blog entry about how NBC provided crap coverage of the opening Olympic ceremonies. I particularly liked this part:

I ask myself how much more can NBC suck and the answer is none more, NBC could not possibly suck none more.

Ha!
(via kottke.org)

Overload
Last night we met to get Afghan food from the best restaurant in the DC Metro area. We went to town--I took a photo of the spread which will be posted at a later time. I also helped myself to the carafe of red wine that was in front of me. I had a great time at dinner but woke up this morning feeling as if I had cement poured on me at some point in the night. And now someone is chipping at it. Pure pain.

For Des and James in particular:
Daily Reasons to Dispatch Bush, from McSweeneys
This is a site you could send a lot of time on. Lots and lots. Link here! (via hissyfit)

Look forward to these
Last night, Robin and Matt each posed for photos holding Spike like a baby. Matt should start charging for this, who wouldn't want a photo of them holding a giant cat, a precious angel of furry rotund grouchiness? Anyway, when I'm able to download those bad boys, you can definitely look forward to them.

This reminds me junior year in college: Christie had this friend who wore this leather jacket which at one point he had left in our room. Christie, Des, and I had a photo session after that, each posing with this jacket, too cool for school, collars flipped up. I have no clue what happened to that guy, but I love that his jacket will forever have its place in history.

Cross-country photo
Check out this cool site: some guy took a cross-country trip and took photos every 25 miles. You can check it out here.

Inappropriate!
You've got to check out these pimp and ho costumes for your kids. Wtf, dude?
(via tmn)

Oh my god
James recounts a science project that he did as "a 14-year old with a mullet." Priceless.

That reminds me of stories that I gleaned from Emily when we were living together. Emily was starting her first year as an eighth grade teacher in Richmond Public Schools, and she was generous with tales of her students. A few of my favorites:

1. On the first test she gave, Emily showed me some of the things that she got handed back. One of the questions she put together was an essay, something like: "Explain three unique things about the Paleolithic era."

One answer was:
Don't catch an attitude, but I forget.

Another was, nothing but a little drawing of a snail. Emily just put down a big question mark beside it.

2. Students had to make posters representing different African countries. One student wanted to communicate that their particular country had a lot of gold, so they wrote a large "Bling-Bling" on the corner of the poster. Awesome.

3. Once her teacher book was stolen, and she quickly figured out who had taken it, since their answer to the essay question was:

Answers may vary.

Scenes from the Mall
Last night I went to Screen on the Green with Bronwyn. It's one of those deals where they screen movies on the Mall and people come and camp out on blankets with drinks and dinners. We got there around 8 for a movie that started at 8:45, and the place was already packed. People come prepared! The people beside us spread out a blanket the size of Rhode Island and set up a cheese tray, a pitcher with some strong alchoholic product, and a various sitting implements. Bronwyn took care of us, by bringing a big blanket AND pineapple coconut sorbet made with Splenda. That was fricking awesome.

We watched "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," which I had never seen before, but enjoyed immensely. It was a beautiful cool night, and the Capitol dome was lit up right behind the screen, and it was goddamn something else. I'm glad that I finally did it before leaving DC.

Also, there was some weird Rocky-Horror type behavior that occurred. During the opening credits, when the HBO song played, a lot of people got up and danced wildly, flailing their arms. I would say about a fifth of the crowd did this--regulars, I'm sure. Anyone aware of what the meaning behind this dance is? The woman sitting beside us (behind the cheese tray people) was all cranky and yelled "Sit Down!," which cracked me up.

Anyway, if you're in DC, Go! Just bring some bug spray and a jacket since it got a bit nippy out.

Mondays
First of all, let me note that I have only TEN more workdays left. TEN! Insane. Prepare for the countdown.

Second of all, it was a fabulously fun weekend as Anne recounted in her blog today. It was so good to have Robin back in town and he was a good sport when I dragged him out on Saturday night, deeming him the DD without consulting him first. I suspect that I was at my most charming loud self on Saturday, so I apologize to anyone reading this who was unlucky enough to sit beside me. I was klassing those joints up, but I had a blast while doing so.

I celebrate his entire catalogue
Interviews with the cast of Office Space five years later (can you believe that it's been five fricking years already? Jeez). (via tmn)

Robin has just arrived and is washing up, while Matt and I are watching the Karate Kid. It's sooooo awesome, it hurts.

New Spike Pictures!
Check out the one of me and my baby.
You can view more from the album here.

The Washington Post Magazine did an article this week on the woman behind the Washingtonienne blog--the one that went into detail on her escapades with the big enchiladas of DC (mmm--enchiladas). I suspect from her photos that she's half-Asian, btw. I still haven't read the infamous blog. Is it still up? If so, anyone know where I can find it?

Did everyone watch the opening ceremonies of the Olympics? I watched the whole thing with friends that include loyal readers of this blog, and I was quite impressed with the whole thing (minus Couric and Costas commentary). That Bjork number with the ocean spreading out was especially cool. I think they managed to make it interesting, artful, and classy. Quite a feat, but maybe that's why it cost so much money.

Friday's Oh My Gah Article
I stumbled onto this link from another site. Apparently there was a 480 pound woman in Florida who hadn't gotten off of her couch in SIX years. She passed and they had to come and take her away, but it was difficult because HER SKIN HAD BECOME GRAFTED ONTO THE COUCH. OH MY GOD.

What I'm doing today
Thanks to Anne, who informed me of, and sent the link to, this NPR series on a their correspondent's travelogues on the Silk Road route in China. What a gorgeous time killer.

Family Homecoming
My parents are finally returning from their Alaska trip tomorrow. I commented to Anne the other day that they must have no cell phone reception or phone connections where they are, because otherwise my mom would have called us about three times per night. I haven't heard a peep from them since last Sunday. Erik has been stuck at home for the past few days and I don't think has emerged from his room 95% of the time. I wonder if he's starting to atrophy.

Anyway, the nuclear family unit will be complete because Robin is also coming into town tomorrow and is staying for over a week. I'm really glad to be able to see him before I take off for newer pastures. We're going to arrange a focus group night where he tries out his dumpling recipe for us--I think that he's particularly interested in hearing what my mom has to say about it, but I will enjoy the activity nonetheless.

There were two accidents on Georgetown Pike this morning, but luckily for me, they were both in the opposite direction. The stretch of Gtown Pike where these occured is one lane each way, so traffic was completely blocked up going in the opposite direction. There also didn't seem to be any action on the parts of the policemen to let both directions of traffic have turns getting by, so my direction just kept on going.

Forget SBD...
...I should have gone with the My Pet Fat diet. You can buy your own pet fat in 1 ounce, 1 pounds, and five pound forms. Dude, that's some expensive fat! Overpriced, in my humble opinion. I am totally fascinated by the products, though, and can you imagine toting one of those things around with you?

My officemate is a queen
My cube neighbor, Lucinda, just gave me a going-away present. The best kind: a video game Boggle! I can play while commuting! Her mom works for Tiger Toys, so gets all of this neat stuff. So far she's given everyone Lord of the Ring pewter figurines and I got a Homer's head rubiks cube.

Ahhh, so that explains it
Have no idea why you find that person so dern appealing? It might be the name. Apparently, names do have an effect on how sexy we consider someone. It all has to do with where your vowels are in your name and how masculine or feminine that sounds or some such thing.

Perfors said front vowels are often perceived as "smaller" than back vowels, so the difference could be a sign that women are seeking men that are sensitive or gentle, traits usually perceived as feminine.

But men who might be thinking of taking more feminine names to become sexier should be careful not to go too far: men with women's names were rated least sexy of all.

(via tmn)

Thanks, Chaz
I wanted to leave a shout-out to Charles, who's now across the country in San Francisco. Ever since we became friends all of those years ago, Charles has faithfully clipped articles that may be of interest to me and sends them regularly. It's a very grandfather kinda thing to do. I think he must clean out his magazines and newspapers every few months. Yesterday I received a large manila envelope filled with interviews with Zach Braff about his movie, "Garden State," (which intrigues me, although I don't know about Zach's wings that he's rocking these days). When I was in China, I would get regular articles on various music groups, films that we had discussed, and best of all: fortunes from fortune cookies that had "Learn Chinese" phrases on the back...to assist me while over there. It's not just me, either: Bill informs me that he also gets shipments of articles, the last one concerning Julia Stiles.

How does he survive?
So yesterday, the plan was for my little brother to leave his friend's place in DC, take the metro to meet me in Alexandria after I get off from work, and then we could leave together to go to Great Falls. When I had dropped him off in DC a couple of days before, I had checked with him specifically to make sure that he had enough money on him for the metro. Yes, yes, yes, he did. Was his phone charged? Yes, yes, yes it was.

So yesterday, I'm waiting at home when I hear someone yell for me outside. It was Erik. Of course his phone had run out of batteries. But, could he call me from the metro station using a 35 cent payphone? No, because he had no money left. In fact, he had to borrow money from his friends for the metro ride over to my place, and that still wasn't enough so he had to BEG for money from passersby in the metro. That's right, he panhandled. I asked him how many people he asked, and apparently he had to ask a lot. It was only someone "old" who ended up giving him a couple of quarters for him to get out of the station. Actually, that wasn't enough either, so that same person saw him haplessly standing inside the station still and asked him if he was still short, and he had to sheepishly admit that he was and then accept a bit more money. For a $3.00 fare.

So how did he manage to spend the $10 that he had on him when he left our house? He and his friends went to Steak and Egg right before he got onto the metro. So, even if he couldn't get home, at least he was well-fed.

I'm so proud
As Suzi posted on her blog, an article that she wrote on the Taipei Zoo for the American Chamber of Commerce is now online. Ms. Y always has a way with words, as this article proves.

I, for one, am also hoping that the Taipei Zoo gets some giant pandas soon (because everyone should have giant pandas in their lives). I am also intrigued by the snacks sold in their refreshment stands:

Visitor Sue Tsai from Ohio bemoaned the absence of the polar bears found in most U.S. zoos. That may be the case, but also unlike zoos in the United States, the Taipei Zoo does not have incredibly inflated prices at its snack stands. Pearl milk tea costs NT$25, a hot dog NT$20, and a bowl of fishball soup only NT$25.

Cuddle Parties in New York Cost Money
This is too much.

An introduction to cuddling ensues, first by hugging three people. People then get in a circle on their hands and knees, rub shoulders and moo like cows. After a bit of swaying, everyone falls to their side, which puts them into an easy cuddling position.

"Mooing like cows"? Awesome.

(via tmn)

The Lure of the Private Sector
I just came back from meeting Clarence, Grace, and Jonathan for lunch. Clarence took us to dine in his law office's cafeteria/fancy-subsidized-eating-joint. It was bright, sunlight-filled, sleek and modern with a quality selection of dining options. I chose the Southwestern burger which the guy behind the counter sculpted perfectly so that the grilled peppers and onions were just so. It was awesome. The entire floor is encased with glass and we sat right up against the window so we were pressed up against the scenery of DC. This was another world from the non-profit kitchenette that we have. We were joking about how I would steal Clarence's ID so I could get back in: I would just need to take a sharpie and color in some long hair on his head. Easy. Now I'm in slight food coma, though.

Koko's Teeth Hurt
Koko the monkey called for a dentist and had her own dental team right away:

Twelve specialists -- a Stanford cardiologist, three anesthesiologists, three dentists, an ear and throat specialist, two veterinarians, a gastroenterologist and a gynecologist -- volunteered to help.

Here is the absolute best part, though:

Her teacher, Francine Patterson, was at her side when the anesthesiologist prepared to put her under in the morning, and apparently Koko asked to meet her specialists.
They crowded around her, and Koko, who plays favorites, asked one woman wearing red to come closer. The woman handed her a business card, which Koko promptly ate. (via tmn)

Teen-sitting
I spent this absolutely breathtaking weekend at my parents' place, since they are off on another Alaska jaunt and my 15-year old brother is my charge for the next seven days. It's actually been surprisingly peaceful and easy on my wallet as well, since my social opportunities are much inhibited. The nice thing, as well, is that I've been driving my mom's car for the past couple of days. I love my Honda Civic, but she has a Honda Civic Hybrid, which is zippy and fun to drive and handles the winding roads of Great Falls like a pro. I've spent hours in the car and have only used a quarter tank of gas. I love it! Plus, driving back and forth from my place in Alexandria is a treat since it's mostly on the GW Parkway, which has got to offer up some of the most stunning scenery in DC. It almost brings me to tears. Now, I'm annoyed, though. I seem to have misplaced the cord to my camera, and it's a thorn in my goddamn side. I have no idea where it could be, and it's going to bug me for the rest of the evening...and there goes the Zen feeling that I developed over the weekend.

The Other Barney
Okay, so I want Bush out of the White House next year, but I can't help but love his terrier, Barney. Do you know that he has his own page on whitehouse.gov? It's got photos every day and information, and it's rather hilarious. I so want a dog. It hurts me.

Stories from the DNC
Several people from our office attended the DNC since they lobby on behalf of our non-profit organization. One of the women, J, was responsible for helping people with disabilities traverse the various areas of the Fleet Center, and spent much of her time pushing people in wheelchairs (she pushed Maya Angelou!) and standing guard at various elevators, requesting that able-bodied people take the stairs or the escalators and leave the elevators for the use of people with disabilities. Very glamorous stuff. She reported on who were the famous people who were gracious about this and who were pain-in-the-ass divas. Ask me later about who were the pain-in-the-ass divas, but suffice it to say that there was only ONE gracious person that she mentioned, and that was Jim Lehrer. The rest of them J mentioned (a politician, a news anchor, and a popular music group) got all huffy and refused to remove themselves from the elevator. J said that it seemed that these divas assumed that she was a Fleet Center staffperson, and therefore ignant and they pulled the: "You have NO idea who I am" thing on her, and she had to smile sweetly back and say, "Oh, but I do..."

Actually, J also mentioned that the most gracious people about this, the people who never complained over having to leave the elevator area to find the stairs or escalators, were the Fleet Center workers. All of us began talking about how nice that was, and let the warm fuzzies infuse us, when one guy in the room was like: "hey, but they were probably getting overtime! Why rush to punch their timecards?" So cynical, but probably true.

Charlie Daniels, Master of the silver tongue
Yahoo News did a piece on how Charlie Daniels angered the Arab community with his song, "It Ain't No Rag, It's a Flag."

You can see where this one's going.

Some of the song:

"This ain't no rag, it's a flag and we don't wear it on our heads. It's a symbol of the land where the good guys live. Are you listening to what I said?"

Charlie Daniels is all puzzled over the big hub-bub over it.

"It's not anti-Arab or anti-anything," he said Wednesday by phone from Tennessee, where he lives. "The only thing it's `anti' is the people who bombed us on 9/11. I have people who say you're putting down people who wear turbans. I'm not."

He's like that character in "A Mighty Wind": wha- happened??

The Guardian's Blog Section
So it appears that The Guardian online has a regular blog section featured. The cool thing as well is that it allowed people to offer up their blogs for perusal, so if you've got a kicking one, send it their way. It seems like a fun section to regularly check out, though.

Starting Early
This 14-year old who was writing Bush threatening emails from a public library got busted and as penance has to write a research paper. He's from Roanoke. Hmmm--reminds me of some other Roanoke people I know. Maybe there's something in the water. (via the ob)

YUM
I finally caught up with Melissa last night over dinner and we went and had Mediterranean food at Skewers in Dupont. We both ordered their salads, and I had a lamb in mine along with grapes and feta and it was painfully delicious, y'all. It's what I was thinking about when I woke up this morning as well. I know, it's pathetic how much I love the food, but what can I say? I love it. Anyway, it's been at least a couple of months since I was able to hang out with Ms. Melissa, so it was great to spend time with her over the good food and pleasing Skewers decor.

Already Missing Spike
I went home and took more pictures of Spike with my digital camera. It's turning into a problem--all I want to do is photograph him. I'm already fearing the future withdrawal from this obstinate feline. He's such a good companion in laziness and I like chatting with him in the morning after Matt's left and the apartment is empty.

We have a morning routine: he comes in my room and meows loudly and raucously, I say: "SPIKE! What are you doing?!" in mock anger and he looks back at me and open and closes his mouth (a la a cud-chewing cow) in that way he does when he's contented. I then go over to him and cover his head with kisses before we both get up and go to the bathroom--me to do my morning ablutions and he to haul himself on top of the bathroom sink to hang around the faucet. Sometimes I need to lift him up there since he has trouble moving his weight to that level. Out of the shower I come and then dribble him with droplets that he tries to catch like he's been parched for years and then we both head to the kitchen where I make coffee and breakfast and he squats outside to eat his food. It's very comforting to both of us.

I think back to two years ago when I moved in and Spike was wary of me to say the least. He was sit outside my room and stare in with wide, alarmed eyes, wondering what in the hell this person was doing and when was she going to get out of his house. At that time, he didn't like if anyone beside Matt even touched him, but now through my sheer will, I've made him become somewhat of a cuddle monster. I scoop him up like a twenty pound bag of flour and sit with him on the couch, him locked in my arms while I nuzzle and coo at him. He purrs! And doesn't bite for at least five minutes! This is real progress, people.

Anyway, this is all to say that I will be inconsolable when I realize that Spike is not a regular part of my life anymore.

After fooling around McSweeney's, I stumbled across the link to 826NYC, the affiliated non-profit tutoring center. It's an offshoot of the 826 Valencia in SF, and is just starting up. The fabulous Joan (introduced to me by equally fabulous Suzi) mentioned that she was involved in it when we last saw her in NY, but she was so modest that she didn't explain quite how much. Girlfriend is the Director of Development and on the Board of Directors! Anyway, support Joan's work and also a great cause and visit the site.

Of particular interest to you China people
McSweeney's has a section called DISPATCHES FROM ROY KESEY, AN AMERICAN GUY MARRIED TO A PERUVIAN DIPLOMAT LIVING IN CHINA. Pick a dispatch here. I particulary like the one titled "If the Market Near My House were a Baseball Game and You Were a Fan."

I started Tom Perrotta's Little Children yesterday on the way home, and I haven't been able to put it down since. I find his writing accessible, funny, and his characters are likable. I had read Joe College by him before, but have yet to pick up Election, but I think that I will now.

Another thing, they ordered some candy for us to have on our floor (since on the main floor, they have a regular candy basket). I can usually stay away from the boring hard candy, but there is also a little tub of tootsie rolls, my undoing. I can't get enough of sweet chewy candy. Caramels? Forget it, I'm helpless in their wake. And there is something particularly appealing about the artificial, almost cheap, quality of the Tootsie Roll. Now that I regularly check the carbohydrates per serving (I'm not proud of this), I eyeballed the info on the tootsie roll container. 33 carbohydrates for only SIX tootsie rolls. That's just wrong, dude. I could eat six tootsie rolls in one mouthful. If I had my way, I wouldn't be sated until I had about thirty...at least.

FAT Cat
Oh man. I took some pictures of Spike, while he was sitting on the couch. Erik and I have been looking at the pictures together and cracking up. There are two shots: one with a flash, and one without. My mom walked over and looked at the picture of him and shouted:
"Kristin! He's so fat! What did you do?!"

KRISTIN'S (SECOND &) THIRD GRADE DIARY (Part 2)
2/2/85
Dear Diary,
Today I went to Katie's Birthday Party. We got a treat after the party. I got finger stickers, a snoopy pencil, and a beautiful pin that looks like this.
(Inserted drawing of a pointy pin that looks like some kind of family crest)
It looks so lovely and I think it has real jewels. And I love it with all my heart. I just love it.
Love, Kristin

2/2/85
Dear Diary,
Today I stayed home from school because I had a swollen eye. And I went to Po-Po's and Co-Co's house.
Love, Kristin

2/9/85
Dear Diary,
Today I had Meredith over. And I had a hoagie from Good Guys. And I'm sleeping over at Po-Po's and Co-Co's.
Love, Kristin

2/10/85
Dear Diary,
Today in the morning I had doughnuts. And Katie asked me to roller skate with her and we saw Khalilah.
Love, Kristin

KRISTIN'S THIRD GRADE DIARY (Part 1)
As I mentioned below, I found my third grade diary again today. I wish to heavens that I could scan the pages and post them to this website so you can see the "art" and the writing, but my descriptions of the entries will hopefully suffice.

Open the hard cover My Melody Cover to a yellow page.
On this, I have written in pencil

TOP SECRET!!!!
Don't look (eyes drawn into the 'o's here)
Don't look
(Some buxom ladies with pearls and high heels have been drawn in here)

PRIVATE! Don't look!

Turn the page Kristin.

Kristin Only Permission And Friends.

On the first page, I had taped in a photo of myself and two of my friends at that time: Maria and Katie. Maria was Swedish and we would get together and dance to Irene Cara records at her house. Katie was a small British redhead who I actually managed to visit one time a year later when we were passing through London on our way to Pakistan.

12/5/84
Dear Diary,
Today I was so bored until I got you a friend his name is qoala (sic) so if you hug him it will make his day. So please be nice to him. O.K.?
Love, Kristin

12/6/84
Dear Diary,
Today I used the computer it's really fun. I love it. I'll show you a picture of the computer video game gay (sic) when he's mad.
Love, Kristin

(drawing of a small stick man with a cone hat tapping his foot included)

12/7/84
Dear Diary,
I loved today it was really fun. I can't wait till tomorrow really I sordof miss Robin because I don't have any company.
Love, Kristin

12/9/84
Dear Diary,
Today I went to my brother's soccer awards. It gave you snacks. My brother got a trofey. I'm kind of jealouse, The place was so noisy I almost got a headache.
Love, Kristin

12/11/84
Dear Diary,
Sorry I didn't write in you last night. I was too tired and busy. Well today it was great nothing hard was at school. I'm glad.
Love, Kristin

12/21/84
Dear Diary,
Today I had didn't guitar because on thursday I went to see Doon. And at school we didn't do any spelling or English.
Love, Kristin

12/22/84
Dear Diary,
Today at school was really boring and school seemed to never end. I couldn't wait till the holidays.
Love, Kristin

12/24/84
Dear Diary,
Today I can't wait till Christmas tomorrow. I just can see it now all the presents I would like. And my new bike.
Love, Kristin

[As a sidenote, this is the pink bike that I ran downstairs to find my older brother riding on shouting "Look at my new bike, Kristin!" prompting me to burst into tears and run back upstairs.]

(Two stars have been drawn beside this entry)
12/26/84
Dear Diary,
Today I realized that I really like Brian. And I always thought I hated him. I went on a bike ride today with my brother.
Love, Kristin

12/27/84
Dear Diary,
Today I really think my presents are getting boring. And whats the fun if your presents are getting boring. And I can't invite Andrea.
Love, Kristin

12/28/84
Dear Diary,
I think that being home alone with noone to play with is ridickulous and I really hate it.
Love, Kristin

12/29/84
Dear Diary,
Today it's extra borin. I really have nothing to do. And I don't want to read Books. And I can't watch T.V.
Love, Kristin

12/30/84
Dear Diary,
Today I'm glad that it's almost the end of the year. Because that there's a new year coming up.
Love, Kristin

(four stars have been drawn in)

12/31/84
Dear Diary,
Today I really looking forward to seeing Brian. And really looking forward to seeing Andrea and Michael.
Love, Kristin

1/1/85
Dear Diary,
I'm glad it's New Years Day. I love to see the fire crackers and I always have a good feeling in my heart.
Love, Kristin

1/2/84
Dear Diary,
I hate todau. I really do. It's school But I like it too. I had a party. It had six kids at least. I really had fun.
Love, Kristin

1/3/85
Dear Diary,
Today was great! I never thought it would be like this. PE wasn't so bad and guitar was OK. And Math was Alright.
Love, Kristin

1/4/85
Dear Diary,
I going to tell you about Andrea and Micheal. She'll tell you what happened on the next page.
Love, Kristin

1/4/85
Dear Kristin's Diary,
Pleased to meat you! As you know I like Michael a lot. In fact I love him a lot.
Love, Andrea

(Andrea drew a diagram: two stick figures, one male, one female looking at one another with huge smiles. A thought cloud over the girl's head reads "I (heart) U")

1/22/85
Dear Diary,
Today at school we did english. And I had guitar today And at home my mother said she might have a heart attack. And I'm (Next Page) really scared because my father is on a business trip. But I have my grandparents and my uncle.
Love, Kristin

1/27/85
Dear Diary,
Today I went to Maria's house. And we had a lot of arguements. But we still had fun. And besides now I hate Brian.
Love, Kristin

Cleaning out my Sanrio products
I started today to clean out from under my bed. I have a month till I have to move out of my room and I am such a packrat (I always feel guilty and wasteful tossing stuff...I need to get over that), and am going to try to do it piecemeal so I don't suffer in the last week or so. The problem is that I get so distracted by everything I shove under there. I spent a full hour going through old pictures of mine to figure out which ones I want to tote along with me. That was quite a trip, actually. I had to call Anne to comment over how gobsmacked I was by looking through some of these photos from three or four years ago. I can finally really tell the difference from the weight loss, whereas for the last few months it's been so gradual that I can't really tell in myself from the mirror. wowsers.

Anyway, the good news is that I found two things that I had misplaced and had missed. They are as follows:

1.) A bootleg Hello Kitty pencil box that Suzi had gotten for me in Beijing. The Chinglish that's on there is as follows:

He that thatches his

house with turds

shall have more teachers

than reachers.

How fricking awesome is that?

2.) My third grade diary. It's has My Melody on the cover, skipping rope (My Melody is a Sanrio character, a bunny with a pink hood, for those who aren't in the know). There is a latch for a lock, which I lost along the way, thank God. Actually, Robin and I had stumbled over this a few years ago and it made the rounds, but then it disappeared for a couple of years. Diary entries will be posted in this blog, stay tuned.

Dyno-mite
Oh my God. I went with Annie tonight to see "Napolean Dynamite." This movie...I can't even describe how perfect and deadpan it is. I loved every second of it, and can't wait till it comes out on DVD so I can purchase it and watch it over and over. HIGHLY recommended.

I raved about the website Other People's Stories before, and this particular one on poker, and sweatpants and sweet, sweet guitar riffs rips me up.

A segment:

“So this guy shows up at Tim’s house.” Brad starts telling the tale of one such encounter. “First thing he says is ‘Hey man you got any sweats?’ Very first thing. Walks in the door, demands sweat pants. Actually, if I remember correctly, it was ‘Hey man you got any fuckin’ sweats?’”

Yeah, so I absolutely refuse to cave in to my Id and not follow through. I'm going to finish typing out these China travelogues if it kills me.

July 6, 2004
My mom and I had a heated discussion this day over what the date was. Being on vacation, as you all know, you lose track of the days--everything revolves around meal times and departure times, as it should be. Last night on the boat, everyone attended the Victoria Rose Fashion Show (!) in which all of the crew put on Chinese fashions through the times and dance and such. At this point, I think I've lost most of my irony, since I was clapping with delight along with everyone else. I even went and sat in the front row, y'all.

July 7, 2004 (The Gorgeous Gorges)
We hit (well, not literally) the first of the three gorges today: the Xiling Gorge. It was unbelievably lovely: it was sunny and the weather was hot, and everyone piled out onto the front desk of the boat, occasionally being blasted by the ridiculously loud horn (it was hilariously jarring). We sailed through the city of Yichang and also visited the site of the Three Gorges Dam, which is what promises to be the world's largest dam, ready in 2009. Much of the day was spent passing through various shiplocks as well, which was an interesting, rather cloistered experience in itself. Anyway, the Xiling Gorge is known to be the most treacherous of all of the gorges, and the most difficult to traverse.

July 8, 2004
Today we sailed through the lots and lots and lots of gorges. We sailed through the last two gorges: the Wu Gorge (the most serene, apparently) and the Qutang Gorge, which is known for its seclusion. We also took a day trip to get on a boat to wind through the Lesser Three Gorges, a whole area off of the main, muddy Yangtze, I believe, that will get swallowed up by the impending raising of the water. The Lesser Three Gorges was one of my favorite parts of this entire trip. The water was this creamy greenish color, absolutely stunning compared to the yellow Yangtze, and the gorge walls were tall and craggy. There were tracker paths carved into walls, and there were "hanging coffins" high up on the gorge walls -- bodies buried there hundreds of years ago. So much of what's there will be under water, someone on our trip commented that it would be an interesting scuba diving expedition in a few decades. Like the lost city of Atlantis or something. There were tons of fishing boats along the way, the the lower hills were dotted with little farmsteads that will be history soon. 1.3 million people will have to relocate because of the dam, since the waters will rise 175 meters.

Happy Last Day of Work, James!
I hope that this doesn't mean the end of your commited blogging.

Great Author and Provocateur
I saw a link in the The Morning News this morning about this new book by Nicholson Baker about two men who talk at length about assasinating GW. This book, Checkpoint, is apparently something else. The CS Monitor describes it as making Michael Moore's F9/11 look tame in comparison.

I was actually planning on doing an entry on Nicholson Baker beforehand, because I had read a book of his over vacation with which I fell head over heels in love. His book, The Everlasting Story of Nory, about a nine year old girl who moves with her family from California to England is one of the most winning books I've come across in a long time. Nory is a curious, imaginative, well-intentioned heroine that is far from precious and I loved that a middle-aged dude had written the book (I promise, it's not pervy either). Anyway, I checked out Vox from the library (the article cited that Clinton got into trouble because Monica had given him a copy--apparently, it's "erotic"), but I'll be sure to look at Checkpoint as well.

In the meantime, run, don't walk, to get a copy of his Nory book.

Sunshine of my cube space
There's a woman named Donna in our office who has an assistance dog named Petra. Petra is a sweet, doe-eyed yellow lab who is a cupcake of a sweetie, tail always wagging. As soon as Petra is "off-duty" (or out of her harness) she's free to wander around as she pleases and has quickly become the office dog. People will come in and find Petra's toys nestled in various parts of their offices. Last year she was always toting around a blue turtle, but now she seems to favor a squeaky plush pumpkin. Because there is reconstruction in other parts of the office, Donna has been relocated into the cube next to mine, so that means that I get to hang out with Petra all the time. I can't even tell you how awesome it is to have a big yellow lab poke in to say hello throughout the day or to step over a big snoring lump on the floor. As soon as you open the door to come in, Petra busts out to meet you, pumpkin in mouth--it is good for the soul. I need to take a picture soon so I can share.

Kara-OK
Last night for Annie's birthday we hit the lovely Rock It Grill in Oldtown. We planted ourselves at one of their sticky tables and hung in there for the night, in wait for the karaoke kings and queens. Please note: the bar is set high during the week nights at the Rock It. Of course there were a few dudes who came in a big group, and hit the stage to caterwaul "You've Lost that Loving Feeling," and fancied themselves charming. No. The real stars of the night are the people who take their karaoke SERIOUS (pronounced: "srrrrss").

There was one guy, one of our favorites, who had a great baritone voice and sang the hell out of country songs. He was big and black and Annie dubbed him "Toby Keith." Throughout the night we would ask eachother: "Where's Toby Keith?" because we liked him so much, and then we would spot him, and all would be well.

Another dude called himself "Mandingo" (yeah, I don't know) and he killed on "Georgia on My Mind." Dude sounded exactly like Ray Charles. Awesome.

The third guy (there was a LOT of men who went up on stage for some reason) had come by himself and was this well-coiffed young guy. He clutched the mike stand and sang like his life was ending--he started with Lisa Loeb's "Stay," and didn't even watch the teleprompter. He even talked up the crowd, it was awesome.

The best thing about all of these guys and others like them was that as SOON as they were done with their number, they would make a beeline for the playlist and sign themselves up for another one. Annie quipped that they should just sing while standing at the playlist to make it more efficient.

I am not the type to sing karaoke, but I love that people do--there's something vulnerable about the weeknight crowd at least. They put a part of themselves out there and I respect that. The good thing about the Rock It crowd, as well, although most look like they stepped in from the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, is that they're universally supportive, if not appreciative of everyone's efforts. Just note, if you're going up there, avoid the Righteous Brothers, because I'll be the one booing you.

Are You Kidding Me?
Target is selling a Kaballah red string for $26. That looks like an easily home-made dealie. That just got me thinking: everyone I know is getting Kaballah red string for their future holiday gifts. (via lotsofco)

Give Smoove Just One More Chance.
I love Smoove B, and I know that you do too.

Live from Boston
Oh man, Salon's featuring Neal Pollack's blogging from the Dem Convention. Hi-larious.
Here's a sample that tickled me:

July 27
Hello, Mr. and Mrs. America, and All the Ships at Sea!Some impressions from the press room: Janeane Garofalo is shorter than I expected, but also taller, and she drinks orange juice. NPR reporters spend a lot of time looking very seriously at their computer screens, typing, typing. Those are all the celebrities I saw. People, please stop criticizing my convention coverage. I'm doing the best I can, given my inexperience, lack of sources, and complete misunderstanding of how the political process works. After security removed me from the hall, I got invited to a party thrown by the Oklahoma delegation, but they disinvited me just because I happened to mention that I think political conventions are "a great place to score some cooze." Meanwhile, why isn't Michael Moore getting more attention?

(Warning: You may need a subscription to Salon to read it, but maybe not.)

Tired Today
I woke up this morning muddled and sleepy and wanting to head back into deep slumber, but I tried to shake it off and shambled into work. I look like I just woke up: my outfit sucks, my hair looks unbrushed, I didn't have time to put on anything on my face besides lotion, and I'm carting around these bags under my puffy eyes. MMM, lovely, right? Seriously, I can't even tell you how much my outfit sucks. I'm wearing this dress from the Gap Outlet that looks like it's circa 1993, and a white button down shirt that shrunk in length along the way so it looks like a matador's jacket. Jesus.

Oh man
Lisa's blog entries today made me laugh out loud at my desk. Holy crap.

Are you conflicted over the emo boy? I certainly am! (via tmn)

Now this I can respect
Republicans and Democrats snipe at eachother by releasing goofy pictures taken of the candidates. Hot.

Derrieres in Motion
Jonathan was cracking me up this morning. I sent him the link to the photos from the wedding, and about this photo, I got the following email:

From : Jonathan
Sent : Tuesday, July 27, 2004 4:07 PM
To : Kristin
Subject : Re: Photos from the wedding

I took a look at the photos through your blog. Very cool. For
some reason, in the photo of you and I, my face looks very
shiny. I guess I was sweating. Also, in the photo of Clarence
and I, my ass looks unusually big. For the record, I DO NOT
have a big ass.

I wrote back:

J, your email about not having a big ass cracked me up. I need to check out that picture again of you and Clarence, but I totally didn't notice any big asses!

And in turn, received:

From : Jonathan
Sent : Tuesday, July 27, 2004 4:38 PM
To : Kristin
Subject : Re: Photos from the wedding

Thanks for being so nice, but the photo makes it appear my
ass could knock over small children.

I don't think that I need to report that Jonathan does not have a big ass in the least. He is quite a slender man, and there are no child-bearing hips or big asses attached to him.

You do your thing
Anne wrote in her blog today about an interesting NPR piece and mentioned this Montgomery Gentry video that we saw on CMT this weekend (we lay there for a couple of hours on Friday afternoon taking in country music videos--it was awesome) that was PRICELESS. You must try to catch this video if you can (same title as this post, I believe): it involves strapping a deer to a truck and driving through the city, smirking at the cityfolk, crosses, flags, and taking baseball bats to drug dealers. Awesome stuff. We were dying.

Photos are up!
Photos from the Sullivan/Martin wedding are up online! I've separated it into two albums--photos from Friday (rehearsal and after) and then photos from the day and night of the ceremony and the reception. Although I was obnoxious about taking photos, I'm glad to have them--these past few years have passed without me taking enough pictures to remember them and I feel regret over that.

I took more group shots than a sorority formal, y'all.

Here's a shot after the wedding of the Ladies, and then here are the Ladies with the Bride at the Alumni House.

Here is the F.O.G. Reunion shot (this is one of many).

Anne, Christie and myself at dinner (which was cut woefully short for me), which is a frame-worthy one, as is this one of Christie and me.

I love this dancing shot. Yes, I believe that Anne's beloved "Pour Some Sugar on Me" was playing. I also like this shot of Clarence and Jonathan shaking it like a Polaroid picture.

And then there were a slew of shots taken at Paul's, before AND after I spilled cheap beer all over Jenny (sorry, Jenny). Among the many: Anne and Stefan; the lervly bridesmaids; Grace and Zack harkening back to those Scott stories; James, Nathalie, and Jenny; Bryan, Anne, and Jean-Paul; and finally, I love this one of Des, James, and Grace at the end of the night.

Good times, good times.

 

Another visit to the doctor
Another $100 spent
Another shot taken
Another appointment made
Another piece of my soul being crushed.
Okay, that's a bit excessive, but I always loathe going to the doctor. I'm always creeped out by the people in the waiting room of this particular doctor's office as well. Today, I was eyeballed by a middle-aged dude wearing cut off jean shorts (red flag #1) and black socks with velcro sandals (red flag #2).

Happy Birthday, Daddi-o!
I still need to get you a present. My poor dad--freshman year I gave to him for Christmas the free William and Mary shirt distributed to all incoming freshman (some of you will remember which one I'm talking about). Klassy, I know. Dad loved it, though, and he wore it all the time. That is one fine father figure to one classless daughter.

Mrs. and Mrs.
Bryan and Des's wedding was a fantastic success! Desiree looked stunning in her gown and Bryan looked dapper in his tux, and it was a moving and intimate ceremony in the Wren Chapel. Embarassingly, I had never been inside it in all of my years at W&M, but I was glad to see it for this occasion. Anne and I got down to Williamsburg on Friday, and the festivities began with rehearsal and dinner and the cocktail hour at the Bed and Breakfast that was nearby.

What was particularly great about the wedding was that all of my favorite people from college gathered for it. Christie and Stefan came from Conneticut, Grace came from New York, Zack and Jenny from mid-move; it was also the first time that the entirety of the FOG gathered since...graduation? Jeebus. I took lots and lots of pictures and perpetrated my camera and flash on the night, so I'll post those tomorrow night when I'll be able to download them.

I am also happy to report that my poem recitation was not the superfastrecitation that I feared. I breathed in and out and tried to enunciate and read slowly. The one snafu was that my shoes were particularly loud on the way out and the clack-clack-clack was made worse when I decided to trot back to my pew seat to get the noise over with. If that was the worst of it, though, I don't have anything to complain about.

Bryan described the cake to me beforehand, btw, and I am happy to report that the carrot cake that I tried was awesome. So was the dancing (they played "Bizarre Love Triangle"!), and the crab dip, and the Hospitality House soaps that smelled like lilies, and the reception site on the patio of the alumni house.

Anne and I decided to prolong the weekend of fun, and stopped in Richmond on the way back to have lunch with Bill at the Baker's Crust. It was fabulous, as expected, but may I just say the the signage and roads into Richmond from 64 are completely whack. I was cursing up a bluestorm over the idiocy of it all.

Anyway, thanks to Des and Bry--now married--for the great weekend and I hope that they're enjoying their much-deserved honeymoon. I'm a bit sleepy right now, and could use an early night, but I'm a not a little sad that this event has passed. Now I just need to pressure some other friends to start looking into getting married so I can look forward to another great party.

I have a new favorite animal: The Wombat! I flipped past a show on Animal Planet last night where it featured a woman raising an orphan wombat, and I about stroked out.

Williamsburg Wedding
This is the grand weekend of the wedding of Des and Bryan, the celebration that we've all been waiting for. I'm breathlessly looking forward to this because:
1.) Des is one of my closest and dearest friends, ever since those green days when we lived across the hall from eachother in Brown.
2.) Bryan has turned into one of my dearest friends.
3.) Together, they're great.
4.) Most of my friends from college will be there as well, so it will be a reunion of many sorts.
5.) I hear that the food and drink will be nothing sort of amazing at the reception.
6.) It's always fun to return to Williamsburg, and its various watering holes and eateries (because it is all about that).

Anne and I head down tomorrow to get started on the fun. I'm bringing my new digital camera to document everything, so expect links to photos when I get back!

Fat Cats
I feel like corpulent kitties have been popping up in my life lately--well, more than usual. James featured them on his website today, Bill emailed a digital picture of his roommate's roundish feline, and Robin sent me an email titled the same as this blog entry, asking me if I had seen "Anger Management" (I haven't yet, but I understand that there is an obese cat involved who wears outfits, so I'm in). This is all a good thing.

Fourth of July, 2004 (On the Yangtze)
On this day, we were boat-bound for the entire day. The way the cruise deals with this is by scheduling lots and lots of sessions which passengers can attend for their edification. My mom was a major joiner and went to every session, save for "Chinese 101" (although I told her that she should have attended and kicked the ass of everyone else there). The best part is that she forced Erik to attend all the sessions as well, from the session about fresh water pearls to the session on the Three Gorges. Erik was predictably sullen about being forced to go, and every time he dared to voice protest, my mom would bark at him: "Erik! Learn something!"  I loved that.
 
One the shticks that Erik used on our trip was acting like he thought that we were in Japan. This slayed me every time. There was a map of China during the session on the Three Gorges Dam, and Erik talked about how he should have raised his hand and said: "I thought that Japan was an island?" At one point, my mom ordered Erik to write my dad an email (using the very undependable wireless Internet service). The email that he wrote is as follows:

From : 
Erik

Sent : 
Sunday, July 4, 2004 11:27 AM

To : 
Dad

Subject : 
you may not know me, but i'm your son


hello father dearest, i'm on this boat. and we're sailing down this river. and the boat's floor is prettywarped.  but other than that, japan is really cool.  we visited the yangzhe mountain  (or something to that effect)  THERE'S HBO IN OUR ROOMS! I SPENT THE BETTER PART OF LAST NIGHT WATCHING "DIVINE SECRETS  OF THE YAYA SISTER HOOD."  it was awesome. i cried a little in the end, feeling more in touch with my feminine side.  how virginia?  cicadas still comin? i hear it's the fourth of july. how's that goin for ya?  seen those lakers?  kristin got a pirated copy of fareighneasdkjfeight 9/11 if you want to see that.  and we all chipped in for a souvenir for you.  IT'S AN IOU!!                                                                                      with love i'd like to end this email a haiku. and my signature...
 
im going to count
syllables in the last line
1 2 3 4 5                                                                                 Love, erik

Perhaps things had become dire, but Erik was cracking my shite up throughout the trip.
 
During the session on fresh water pearls, the presenter had cracked open an oyster and let the resident kids go to town in prying out the pearls of its meaty flesh. The fact that this was a recently living creature along with the slimy scenes of the insides being hacked totally made me want to toss my cookies. Blech.

Another Jack/Mom Joke
Jack: Mommy, Mommy? How far is it to America?
Mom: Shut up, kid, and keep swimming.

The Other Jack
I must take a moment to discuss the other Jack on the trip. I've already mentioned one of the Jacks, our table captain who charmed us with his shy smiles and his performance skillz.

The other Jack was a four year old tow-headed Australian with an upturned nose who captivated every single person on the boat, guest and crew member alike. I am hard pressed to describe how very adorable this child was. Now, there were two families with small kids on the boat, and they were all good, bright, neat, friendly kids but Jack was the friendliest, never-met-a-stranger child there. Also, since his family was stationed in Beijing, he spoke a little Chinese, and was a favorite among the crew members. He would wander around the boat and whoever was there would snatch him up and adore him as was appropriate. I fell under his spell as well when he was my Mah-jong "partner" and would peek over the shoulder or another player to try to check out their tiles.
 
Plus, he told good jokes. One that he and his mom did together: (Jack has one foot planted down, and spins around in a circle)
Jack: Mommy, Mommy! I can't stop spinning!
Mom: Shut up, kid, or I'll nail your other foot to the floor!
They had a whole variety of these dark little numbers that apparently went over like lead balloons with their Chinese friends.
 
My favorite joke that Jack told me was this:
Q: What do you get when you pour hot water down a rabbit hole?
A: Hot cross bunnies!
 
How great is that? Check out this photo, though. This kid is way too damn cute.
 

Congratulations to both Clarence and Jonathan--both of their plays got accepted in a five minute play contest! Both plays will be read this coming Sunday near Dupont Circle.

Too Much Cuteness....Can't Process
James has a picture of the world's smallest cat on his blog. It hurts me.

Boat Food
I need to add something about the copious amounts of food on the boat. I had heard before that they feed you on cruise type things, and they weren't lying. There were breakfast buffets, lunch buffets, and large fancy dinners. I managed to stick to SBD for the trip (unbelievable), but I missed out on lots and lots of pumpkin cakes and apple pies and breads, and dumplings and I was very, very sad.

In true style of me, I will report on my favorite foods. For breakfast, I loved their sauteed cabbage, and their cheese omelettes weren't bad either. For lunch, their chicken curry kicked ass, and their sweet and sour pork rocked (okay, non-SBD, but I gotta live!). And for dinner, I guess their various kinds of sauteed spinach? I'm blanking on dinner dishes, to be honest. They tended to be of the fancier variety, whereas I dig more simple Chinese food.

The kitchen crew honored the resident Murkins by making a cake for the Fourth of July, and the each table got a birthday cake to honor the July birthdays. Funnily enough, Erik's birthday was the only July birthday at our table, but by the dessert time, he had slunk away to go to bed, so we celebrated without him and mom blew out his candles. Here's a photo that Ray took of Peter receiving his cake (Peter and his wife were Americans who live in Lahore now--very nice people).

Because my family's group was so big, we got our own table. Here's a dinner photo of our group posing on the last night. Our table captain was this very tall, handsome young guy whose English name is Jack. He was also apparently the go-to man when it came to boat entertainment. He was the main guy in every show that they put on (more about the shows later).  [All RY photos]

More and more and more photos
One of the guys from da cruise, this neat man from Hong Kong, Ray, sent everyone links to the photos that he took (almost 1,000). He turned into the boat's unofficial photographer and he had a fancy camera and skillz, so his photos are something else. I'll use some for future posts, but to catch up, here are a selection of his pictures:

Here's a shot of the cablecar at Huang Shan. And here's the view from it.

Here, and here, and here are more pictures of Huang Shan.

Ray also took some shots of the Chinese countryside. And you can see some here, here, here, and here.

I didn't take any pictures of Wuhan, the city of bridges. Here is one of Wuhan at night. Here's another, and one more here.

There was a shot of the shopping street that we visited in Wuhan. Some sights included the Asian looking Colonel Sanders. Here is a local chilling for the night on the shopping street. And finally, for those who are interested, there are indeed Pizza Huts in Wuhan (they're fancy places to go, actually, and kind of pricey).
 

Evening of July 3, 2004 (Wuhan)
That night we were in Wuhan and went to their shopping street, chock full of clothing stores and bright lights. There was some colonization in Wuhan, so there were some European style buildings in the area, but nothing like Shanghai or Qingdao. Two things to note about that city:
 
1. It appeared that a lot of the city residents took advantage of Wuhan's location on the Yangtze River and went for swims. I saw lots and lots of people walking along the street, soaking wet, swimsuits on, and toting inner tubes and the like. They looked as if they were walking through a water park or something. Dudes would walk around shirtless. Who knows the level of dirt and other less tasty stuff in the Yangtze, but I appreciated the Wuhan-ers having some fun.
 
2. Our guide told us that before AC became more common, a lot of Wuhan people would set up beds and living spaces on the sidewalks below their apartments, since cool pavemented outside was preferable to their hot boxes of apartments. I love that imagery. Even if it's less common now, as we walked along the shopping street, people had hauled out a variety of chairs (deck chairs, arm chairs, stools) and had plopped down for the night to enjoy the night temperatures. That's some cheap entertainment.
 

July 3, 2004 (Huang Shan)
This was the big excursion to Huang Shan, or Yellow Mountain, in Anhui Province. Clarence told me before I had left that this was one of his favorite places to have seen in China, so I was pretty excited. The mountain was a three hour bus ride from where the boat docked, so we breakfasted (I love that as a verb) at 5:15 a.m. and then got on the bus at 6. This was another painless ride, and the ride through the countryside was pretty breathtaking: verdant fields of rice patties and ponds filled with lotus flowers and water buffalo trundling along...all with the mountains in the background. I mean, really: that's just ridiculously pretty, it leaves you helpless in its wake.
 
We were in one of those huge air-conditioned tourist buses with these enormous side mirrors that popped out in front like little antenna. Since we were pretty much the largest vehicle bumping along the pot-hole filled road, our driver was pretty liberal with his honking in order to notify people that we were coming. I would say that he honked every 20 seconds out of 60. Some of reasons that he honked:
 
1. Vehicles in his way, going slower than he liked...which was every other vehicle.
2. Vehicles backing out of whatever alcove they were nestled in.
3. Bulldozers parked in the middle of the road for no apparent reason.
4. A man squatting in the middle of the road for no apparent reason.
5. Cows.
 
We finally arrived at Huang Shan at about 9, and then took a steamed up cable car to the top of the mountain (many people walk up, but the Victoria Cruiseline didn't fool themselves in thinking that this was a hard-grit bunch), and then were free to wander up and down the paths of Huang Shan for a couple of hours. It was rainy and misty and foggy that morning that we were there, so we didn't have a whole lot of visibility, and still the place was pretty amazing. Steep paths, deep crevices, knotty trees poking out of the green scrub of the rock--it was like a dreamland. Steve commented, after looking at a picture, that it looked "scary / dreamy / psychedelic" and he was about right on target there. Here is a shot from the mountain, and also here, here, here, and here. It was seriously pouring by the end of our time there. The Cruise people outfitted us with these surprisingly hardy umbrellas, but I was completely soaked through by the time we got to lunch.
 
One more thing: the paths on the mountain were often steep and copious and many people needed to take a breather every once in awhile. My mom, though, who has been loyally doing her Denise Austin exercises every morning at the crack of dawn, was like a little ant, tirelessly scrambling over each and every crevice. So, while I give my mom a hard time for her blind devotion to Denise Austin (whose soft crooning voice I find a bit creepy), I was impressed by the results of all of her work.
 
After a lunch where I needed to wring myself out before I got to the table, we headed back down in the cablecar for the bus to get back to the boat. Once we got onto level ground, it had stopped raining and the weather cleared up a little. I took a quick shot of what the mountains looked like with a bit of the mist. There were some stunning views as our bus climbed up and down those mountain hills, but it was impossible to get a good shot.
 
All in all, a thoroughly good visit, and one that I'm glad to have made.
 

July 2, 2004 (Nanjing)
Our cruise (I always feel ridiculous saying referring to "our cruise," but I honestly can't think of a good substitute) was set up so it was nine days, and went from Shanghai to Chongqing, along the Yangtze River. Most days we would dock and have an excursion. Very Love Boat. On this day, we docked in Nanjing and went to the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial in the morning (314 steps, very hot), and then a "Qing Bazaar" in the afternoon. I had been in Nanjing in 2000 with Suzi, Brett and Kim and we had gone to this memorial and the Museum of Japanese War Atrocities (or something like that in title--very uplifting stuff, as you can imagine, and not at all timid in its horrificness).
 
The "Qing Bazaar" must be cruise-speak for "shopping center," since that was what it was. I did manage to purchase the pirated DVD of "Fareinheit 9/11" for 10 yuan (about $1.20), but then we saw it somewhere else for 5 yuan (60 cents). My mom got that stuck in her craw for awhile that we paid twice as much as we could have--the Mahan family is on a constant quest to obtain The Best Deal Possible. I just popped in "F9/11" when I got back home, and it was indeed filmed in a theater where you're party to coughs, laughs, and bathroom breaks, but it's still watchable. Later on in the trip, I got "Lost in Translation," and that copy is pretty right-on.

I love you, China Eastern Ticket taker.
 
June 30 & July 1, 2004(LAX to Shanghai)
We spent most of June 30 at the airport. We arrived at LAX at 11 a.m. all set for our flight that left at 1:10 to discover that it was actually leaving at five. $10 meal vouchers to make up for the delay, though! I was assuaged since I'm easily bought. To kill time, Erik, Alex (my fabulous cousin who is a month younger than Erik and was the sugar to his salt), Jenny (the niece of a family friend who traveled with us and my buddy on the trip), and I played cards with duty-free M&Ms are currency. When life gives you lemons...
 
We were traveling on the world famous China Eastern Airlines, and I was bucking up for a long cramped excursion--a sweet 12.5 hours. As my mom handed our bundle of three boarding passes to the ticket agent when we were about the board, he informed her that "our seats had to be changed." Vague, but he couldn't give us more information, but he assured us that these seats were better. Our seats before were all the way in the back of the plane. As we stepped away from him, though, he threw out "You're SO going to love me for this."
 
We checked out the new tickets and BUSINESS CLASS, BABY! My mom, my aunt and I sat up there, and it was awesome. There was so much room in front of my seat that I had to unbuckle my belt and get up to get the stuff from the seat pocket in front of me. I could fully recline my seat to about a 160 degree angle. I had my own personal TV screen that I could pull out of the seat arm rest and watch as many movies and TV shows and play as many games as I wanted. They had prosciutto was an appetizer. The seat next to me was empty so I had my entire island to myself. The bathroom was ALWAYS empty and spotless. I went to bathroom about nineteen times in order to take advantage. The boys were still in economy, and my aunt smuggled our Haagen-Daaz ice cream cups and fancy chocolates back to them. At one point, Alex came up to see his mom and check it out and he got promptly kicked out by the flight attendant since no classless economy peons are allowed beyond the velvet curtain.
 
July 1st was a complete wash, since we arrived at Shanghai Pudong airport at 10:30 at night. I popped off of the plane relatively refreshed since I had managed several hours of sleep in my Chair O' Luxury, and we met up with the rest of our group who were looking a bit more bedraggled. Erik and Alex looked as if they had been were run over by cars.  
 
The plan was to meet up with a rep from our travel service who would drive us to meet our boat, which had moved away from Shanghai by the time we arrived. We were all thinking that the trip would be a couple of hours but we were quickly disabused of that notion, as the trip would in fact be four hours. Sweeeet. It was a pretty smooth ride, though, and around 2:30 a.m., we pulled into a dimly lit dock in some city which I can't recall, and hauled our suitcases onto the Victoria Rose, the smallest of the ships on the Victoria Cruise line.
 
My mom and I were bunk mates and we found our cabin to be a sweet little nook, outfitted with two twin beds (no honeymoon suite, this one), a tiny bathroom and shower, a closet and a TV that showed Chinese music videos and HBO Asia, all with a window that looked out onto the water.  Here's a shot of part of the room.