Yesterday I hung out with Emily, ate at First Watch and ran errands. At 7:00 pm I went to Abe's house and we drove to Gainesville to celebrate his little brother's 21st birthday. Within minutes of entering the city, we were racing a huge diesel F250 truck which was jacked up on monster truck tires. Ridiculous. Got to Steve's house and met up with him, Nate and Charlie. We waited for Heather and her boyfriend to arrive, before heading downtown. First stop was Harry's, a New Orleans themed seafood restaurant. Ate a crab burger and had the first round of drinks. We then went to a half goth, half karaoke bar to have more drinks and play pool. I was on a team with Nate and we miraculously won both games (it might have had something to do with Nate cheating). Then to another bar for more drinking. I ran into a girl I have known since Kindergarden. Weird. Our final stop was the Salty Dog, Abe's favorite Gainesville bar. It was located in an unmarked door at the back of an unmarked alley and it was no more than 8' wide and 75' long. Like a big hallway. The place was packed and everyone was squeezed together. After drinking a few more pitchers, we headed out. Steve stopped to play a song with a homeless man using his saliva covered harmonica. I tried to hook Abe up with a girl who was watching Steve play. Her name was Rachel, so he used some lame line like "In the Bible we were married". Returned to Steve's house, played poker, ate chicken wings and passed out on the couch. The next morning, Abe didn't remember anything after the Salty Dog. He was wondering why his stomach hurt, his hands were greasy and his wallet was empty.

Went on a jog with Emily and the puppies this morning. Came back and made my new favorite breakfast (after seeing V is for Vendetta) eggs in a basket. Went to the fruit and vegetable market on 434 and stocked up on all kinds of good food. Came back home and met Sharon, one of the other lab teachers from Full Sail. She is going to do the demonstration part of my HD lecture. We went over what we are going to talk about and other preparations for our class, which starts next week.

Woke up, made French Press coffee and watched the news in bed, like I do every morning. Emily and I met Tonya and her daughter at First Watch for breakfast. Went from there to the Winter Park Art Festival. Most of the paintings and sculptures were good, but the photography really caught my interest. I spoke to some of the photographers and found out that most of them already had or were in the process of switching to all digital.

Took a nap with Emily and the pups this afternoon. Ate dinner at a small Mexican restaurant that wasn't very good. Saw "V is for Vendetta", which was cool.

Check out Turtle's Dracula Impression!

Picked up John at 10:30 and drove to an apartment complex near Full Sail. The 35mm department had an incredible amount of gear set up. Things we could only dream of at AU. A huge generator, video assist cart, an entire sound department, craft services, two Arri 435 cameras, etc. Even with all of that equipment they were still making obvious mistakes. They shot the scene once, then backed the camera up and put on a longer lens, which basically gave them the same shot again.

I dropped off John after the shoot and med it to Kung Fu just in time for the lesson. Worked on a new sparring form.

Yesterday I went to the beach with my friend Rick. The weather was perfect - warm sun, cool breeze - but the water was still a bit cold. We played football and hung out, before heading to Shroomers. For those of you who don't know, Shroomers is a Daytona Beach pizzeria with great food and a shady location. As we were pulling up, I told Rick about the area. Sure enough, the minute we parked there was a drug deal going on right in front of us. Oh well, the food is worth it.

In January I got a ticket for one of my tail lights being out. The cop said I had 30 days to fix it and go to a police station to prove it was fixed. Of course, I procrastinated and didn't get it done in time, so today I went to pay the fine. I parked next to the downtown courthouse, waited in line for an hour and a half, paid my ticket, went out to the car and found a parking ticket on my windshield!

I've heard a number of requests for a photo of Emily in her new suit. So, here you go! For the record, she feels like a member of the Young Republicans when she wears it.

Here are some photos I just got around to scanning. Some of them are from the power plant. Some are from when Emily, John and I built our fence and others are just random.

Spent the weekend in DC. Emily and I flew up on Thursday and got picked up by her mom. Tom cooked us a nice dinner of chicken, broccoli and potatoes. After dinner Em and I went to see her friend Rachel, who had just moved into a new condo. Her house was filled with boxes and art work. I asked to see some paintings and got the grand tour. She owns sketches by Degas and Picaso, as well as numerous paintings by her (great?) grandfather Arthur Davies. We slept at Emily's parents house and got a good night sleep for the first time in a while, because we didn't have to share the bed with dogs.

Woke up late on Friday, got some coffee at Emily's favorite coffee shop and went shopping. Emily picked up some new shoes at DSW for the Bat Mitzvah, then we stopped at Ethan Allan (where Rachel works) to look at dining room sets for Emily's mom. After leaving Ethan Allan, we decided to eat at Lebanese Taverna, one of Emily's favorite restaurants. Unfortunately we missed the exit and went into Georgetown instead. Ate at one of our favorite restaurants, Me and You. The food was good, as always, but there was a hair in my sandwich. We walked around Georgetown for a bit and noticed a building right in the middle of the shopping district that neither of us had ever seen. We have probably passed it many times, but right there on M street was the oldest house in DC! Took a quick tour before heading back to Virginia. Ate dinner at Sweetwater Tavern and had some good micro-brewed beer.

Woke up at 8:00 on Saturday (not an easy task) and hung out around Baltimore. Cafe Hon had some great chipped beef, but they didn't start serving lunch until 4 pm! Made it back to DC at 3 pm, in time for Lindsey and Emily to spend way too much time at Anthropology. Ate dinner at the Marriott with the out of town Bat Mitzvah guests, better food than I expected, but I didn't know hardly anyone there. Hung out with Lindsey and her new boy-toy (not boyfriend) Kyle.

Got an incredible kink in my back from sleeping on Lindsey's uncomfortable couch-bed. Spent Sunday morning with Lindsey, Diane, Kyle, and Emily at the American City Diner. Good food, as always. Went back to Lindsey apartment in time to get ready. The Bat Mitzvah was nice; it was held in a Sephardic temple, which looked Moroccan. It started with a short service. Carroll was nervous but made up for it by acting cute. The party was held downstairs in the temple's ballroom. They had a typical band and served Chinese food. We were able to stay a bit longer by changing our return flight. It was nice to see all of the cousins and relatives, and the trip was a success.