Every few months I decide to go for a run. That night was last night. I should by some kind of silly running outfit, but it happens so infrequently that I don't ever think of it. So, I laced up my running shoes (Converse All stars), put the leash on Turtle and went. We did a lap around the neighborhood and came home (Turtle was tired). Every time this happens, I tell myself that I am going to do it more often, but of course I never do.

There is a new song in the music section for your listening pleasure.

I got back from LA yesterday morning. The trip ended up being very stressful and very tiring. We mostly concentrated on the Silverlake and West Hollywood areas and we had trouble finding many apartments which met our criteria (2 bed, 2 bath, with a washer/dryer in the unit). Additionally, we are having trouble with the movers. I have heard so many horror stories about moving companies jacking up the prices either right before you leave, or after they have your stuff on the moving truck. We decided to use United for our move, thinking that a big company would not be prone to such behavior. We were wrong. They sent the contract for us to sign, along with an estimate $200 higher than the original. The money was not a big deal when compared to the total cost of the move, but it was a big deal on principle. I called the company and asked about the fee; they said that it was for insurance. I said that we had our own insurance, and that they should drop the fee. They kept the fee, saying that it was actually for packing and unpacking. So which is it? I had Emily call and they told her that the price hike was for gas and an insurance surcharge. So now we were getting upset. And consequently, the moving company was getting upset with us. All I wanted was to know costs up front, not the day I sign the papers. More about this later though.

Today Emily and I spent some time at the dog park. The cops had to come ruin all the fun though. They sneak into the park and ticket anyone without their dog on a leash. Everyone knows that Battery park is the place to let your dog run free and play. They have to come ruin it. The minute they show up, everyone grabs their dogs and try to act nonchalant. Of course Turtle thinks that when I chase him, its a game and he runs away. I literally had to dive to catch him. Kat, Emily's sister, showed up later and we all went out to Guapos for a hearty serving of Mexican food.

After dinner, Emily and I went to see Fahrenheit 911 with the Riegers. The movie was pretty much what I expected: footage of Bush acting like himself (stupid) and a concise history of the criminal actions of the government before and during the Iraqi war. It seemed like a conspiracy theory gone wild, albeit a very convincing one. Everyone should see the movie. Especially Republicans, come on, don't be scared.

The first apartment we saw was attrocious. You had to walk through the first bedroom to reach the second, like a New York railroad apartment. From the second bedroom, you could walk out one door, through the apartment building's hallway and into another door, to reach the kitchen and living room. The manager gloated about the cleanliness of the bathroom, which was anything but clean. We spent some time driving around Silverlake looking for other apartments, before our next appointment. The apartment we saw was a cute two story town house. It had two bathrooms, but the second one was very small. Overall we liked the place, but the owner was a dick. Endless questions and a pessimistic attitude. Before lunch, we drove around looking for "For Rent" signs and found ten more apartments. At lunch I made calls and eliminated eight of them for one reason or another. We spent four hours more driving around Silverlake and Los Feliz. I think we saw every street in each community. We came back to the hotel around 5 pm and relaxed for a bit. Emily and I went out to eat at the House of Pies and Shannon went to see her friend's boyfriend's band.

Em and I woke up at 5 am, got ready, picked up Lindsey and went to the airport. We arrived much sooner than expected (therer was not much traffic) and got in line for check-in. Soon after we got in line, a huge tour group of high school kids showed up and got in line behind us. Shannon was still not there. She had the tickets, so when we got to the front of the line, we had to let people go in front of us. Shannon showed up at the last minute, just before we let the tour group go ahead.

The flight was painless, but Turtle was unhappy being cooped up in the bag. We arrived at 11 am and waited in a very long line to get a rental car. Well, I didn't wait. I just sat outside with Turtle watching the bags. Shannon and Emily rented a Dodge Neon and we drove to the Magic Castle Hotel (which doesn't look anything like the pictures). After dropping off our bags, we headed for a nice upscale restaurant, Jack in the Box. Em ordered a hamburger for Turtle, but they didn't give it to us. She ended up giving him half of her burger.

We drove around for about 4 hours looking for apartments. Saw five places from our internet list, but had trouble getting ahold of the owners to give us a tour. All of the places we looked at were in the Silverlake area. I was amazed at how different each area looked. Hollywood was very urban, Silverlake and Los Feliz (just east of Hollywood) seemed hip and comfortable.

I hate bad haircuts. I really do. Today I went to the barber at school, who usually does a really good job. Obviously today was an off day. He gave me just about the worst haircut possible. It looks like someone put a bowl on my head and cut around in a circle. It's worse than the soccer player haircut I got a couple months ago. It would almost be better just to cut it all off and join the military. Well, maybe not. But it's close. And the worse part is that I will have to go to LA on Monday and interview for apartments. No one is going to take me seriously with the bowl cut!

Em and I spend most of the day yesterday staring at our computers trying to find an apartment. It's hard to find one that meets all of our criteria. So, if you have an apartment in Silverlake, Los Angeles, that is two bedrooms, two bathrooms with a washer and a dryer, please let me know. Oh, and it can't be too expensive.

Last night Dave, Shannon, Emily and I went out to eat at Skewers, a middle eastern restaurant. Shannon got chased around the parking garage and yelled at by some old woman who thought she was trying to hit some pedestrians (which, of course, she wasn't). The food was OK, but we are looking forward to dinner tonight at Listrani's (fettuccini alfredo and cyanosis, um!).

Em and I spent most of the day today trying to find out how much portable washer/dryers cost. If we have to use a common laundry room, we will never do our laundry and always smell bad, preventing us from getting jobs, which will get us kicked out of the apartment for not paying rent and we will wind up homeless on the street begging for change and praying that some kind-hearted person will wash our clothes for the love of God!

This morning Emily and I took Turtle to the vet for a checkup. I cowered in fear outside the treatment room as they gave him a heart worm shot. He, of course, didn't flinch. Yes, it's true, I worry about the dog more than I worry about myself. He had his one year birthday the other day. Emily took him to the dog bakery and got him some treats.

Yesterday Em and I spent all day acting like a good old married couple. We cooked lentil soup and banana pudding. This afternoon we were bored (we have nothing to do until the LA trip) so we went to Georgetown. She bough me a couple T-shirts and bought herself some lipstick. It was too hot to stay out too long, so we came home. We're going to take Turtle to the park in ten minutes. Then maybe hit up the restaurant where Mac works for dinner. Maybe not. She says the food sucks

I got back into town a couple days ago. Our last stop was London. It was nice to be back in an English speaking country. I haven't really done much since getting back. Emily and I went food shopping yesterday. Played with Turtle a lot. Went to sleep early. Today is Emily's step dad's birthday. We are meeting her family at the new airplane museum at Dulles.

We got into Paris yesterday, but didn't do much more than eat and wander around. Today we ordered breakfast in bed. They only brought us two coffees. After a great deal of language problems, we finally got our food. Emily and I went to the Louvre; Shannon stayed home because she wasn't feeling well (she has already seen it). We mainly concentrated on the paintings, because the museum is too big to see more than one section. Emily took some art history classes and studied many of the paintings, so she was my personal tour guide. We spent a couple hours lost in the museum before heading back to the hotel.

Shannon was feeling better, so we all walked to the train station to buy tickets to London. We ate dinner at a restaurant recommended by the hotel. The entrance was in the back corner of a dark alley. It was all black, with a small "r" over the door. We walked into an all black room with a nondescript elevator. We were sure we were in the wrong place, but took the elevator anyway. It took us up 8 floors and opened into an ultra-modern restaurant. The atmosphere was great, the food was not.

From the restaurant we walked to the Eiffel tower. Got there at 11:30 and found out that the elevator to the top closes at 11. We hung out underneath for a while and took pictures. It turns out that the fields around the tower are a huge hangout for French kids. There were hundreds of them sitting around getting drunk. The police drove past, but didn't seem to care.

I've heard from so many people that the French are rude. So far we have experienced exactly the opposite! The people in Nice have been so nice (no pun intended). We spent most of the day wandering around the city. Going to the beach, sitting at cafes, and of course eating. We had dinner at this stylish restaurant with an Asian flair. The waiter had to read and translate the menu for us, because we forgot our translation book.?I had very good food and I finally got some Sake!

Our warm welcome has not been limited to restaurants. Everywhere we go, people talk to us for no reason. Not that we understand anything they're saying, of course.

We spent most of the day on the train between Venice and Nice. A big fat guy sat next to Emily and kept farting in her general direction. I used the bathroom at the Milan station and I think it flushed right onto the station floor, because on my way out I saw a sign that said not to use the bathroom while the train was stopped.

The train arrived in Nice at 4pm. We immediately booked tickets for Paris and got ripped off by the cab driver on the way to the hotel (use the meter!!). After dinner I went out looking for Sake, because the book I'm reading (Memoirs for a Geisha) keeps talking about it. The 200 asian restaurants around our hotel were all closed, so I'll have to try again tomorrow.

There are no cars in Venice. With good reason, I guess. Boats are the only way to get around, or maybe you could swim, but I'm pretty sure you'd get sick and die. The water is blue green. Not like that pretty blue green you see in advertisements for the Mediterranean. More of a murky Tidy-flush toilet water type color. We took a water taxi to San Marco's plaza in Southern Venice. The whole place is dedicated as an open air museum. At one end is St. Marc's church. I've never seen a denser collection of statues, then the one lining the top of the building. Inside, the ceiling extends for what seems like miles; ending in massive gold mosaic covered domes. Saint Marc's grave is in the center. A side room holds the "treasure chest", a large collection of glass and gold containers holding human bones, teeth, skulls and even a shrunken hand or two. We

Most of the day was spent on the train between Rome and Venice. We arrived at 4pm and walked to the hotel. Apparently even the $2000 a night hotels will not pick you up at the station. The city is much smaller than I imagined. Most of it could fit within 2 square miles, and there is no where like it on Earth. After checking in to our room, we walked around exploring, eating pastries and looking at the Venetian masks. We ate dinner at a restaurant on the water. The city definitely does not smell as bad as I was led to believe.

After breakfast at the hotel, we took a taxi to the Coliseum. The line was long, but we eventually got in. I was amazed by the history, architecture and splendor that I imagine it once had. Now it seems old and worn out. It was used as a quarry after it's heyday. All the marble was stripped. I can't understand why anyone would have done that.

From there we took a cab to the Pantheon. I'm pretty sure the driver took us in circles around the block, before finally arriving. Oh well, it was only 5 euros. The Pantheon is the oldest church in Rome, with an enormous domed roof that architects sill can not replicate. Raphael was buried there (and still is).

After lunch I followed Emily and Shannon around as they went shopping. They were looking for Italian shoes and clothes from Miss Sixty, but found neither. We ate dinner at a restaurant in the shopping district. I had quite possibly the best pesto sauce ever. I got more gellato after dinner, but was too full to finish.