I have been reading Iraqi blogs for the last couple hours. Blogs from both sides, soldiers and citizens. Hearing what they have to say about daily life and the decisions of our government. Their lives are basically shit. Both sides having to deal with the brutal deaths of their friends and family members. Both sides constantly living in uncertainty. Constantly having to worry about their own safety. Knowing that their lives could end at any second. No warning. Only hope and faith sustains them. It is amazing how similar the two sides are.

Who is to blame for this inhuman situation? George Bush is the easy choice, but it is much more complicated than that. Going to war with the "terrorists" in Afghanistan was the logical reaction to 9-11. If we find the people who attacked our country, we might avert more attacks. Iraq, however, was a completely different situation. Bush turned his attention to Iraq before he was finished in Afghanistan. The mission was never accomplished! He tried to find Bin Laden and failed. Then he stopped trying. Iraq was a diversion.

He went into Iraq expecting to find WMD. Expecting to "liberate" the people and create a model democracy. Expecting the Iraqis to receive him with open arms. It's never that easy. Saddam Hussein was a terrible dictator, but storming in with a huge army and taking over the county by force is the wrong way to win over the people. Hans Blix and the UN weapons inspectors did not find any weapons. Iraq was not an imminent threat. There was no reason to attack! The whole situation could have been averted if Bush had not given up the search for Bin Laden. In my lifetime, I have not seen a worse failure.

The Iraqis' first glimpse of democracy was guns, tanks, bombs and blood. How do you expect them to embrace democracy when this is their first impression? It was no different than what they saw under Sad am. Americans continue to be shot, bombed and beheaded because we are seen as invaders waging war on their religion and their lifestyle. Americans will never be safe in the Middle East until long after we have withdrawn our army. We are not fighting terrorists, we are creating them. Ideology can not be fought with an army, but that is exactly what we are trying to do. America spends more on our military than the next six countries combine. Yet we could not stop 9-11.

Our military is stretched thin, but the budget keeps expanding. It sickens me to think that a bullet purchased with my tax money is now embedded in some Iraqi's head. Innocent people are dying every day and our tax money is fueling it. How much longer is it going to last? Bush has no exit plan! We have no plan to withdraw our troops, even after the Iraqi elections.

We must fix the problems in our own country before taking on the role of world savior. Our schools are under funded, cancer, heart disease, and AIDS kill more people than terrorists ever could, our democracy is a sham (what happened to one man, one vote?), we are facing a huge energy crisis, the environment is falling apart, and we are severely neglecting our own borders. We must get out of Iraq and address our own problems.

Our first ad came out! It's very exciting, but we need to make some changes. The type in the body of the ad is a bit too small. Not too small for normal people; too small for old people. I never thought it would be such a pain to get all the ads in the papers. Each one wants a slightly different size or file format. Then, when you think everything is right, then send it back and say "we can't open the file" or "your ad is off by 1/8th of an inch." Very frustrating.

We haven't received any calls about the ad yet, but we're still hopeful considering it just came out a couple days ago. Plus, all of the marketing books say that people need to see the ad 3 times before responding.

We finally got our a/c fixed. Oh my god! It was terrible. Like sitting in an oven for four days. I didn't eat or sleep the entire time. Just sat around being miserable. It was actually cooler outside (85 degrees) than it was inside and opening windows didn't help. How can those people in Afghanistan and Africa and wherever else they don't have a/c stand it? I would just kill myself. I've never taken as many showers than I have this last week. You know it's bad when you can put an ice pack directly on your skin and still not be cool. I'm sure it sounds like I'm a whiny bastard. But you weren't here. You don't know how bad it was.

Happy Birthday Lindsey!

I have shot two rolls of film with my new Holga. Yesterday, I dropped them off in the drop box of a local photo lab. Today, I got a call from the lab. They said that the developing machine was broken, so I need to pick up my film. Instead of taking the rolls to a different lab, I bought some chemicals and developed them myself (something I haven't done in a while). It was fun! And the pictures came out nicely. Check them out here.

It is hot as hell in this house. Emily and I have been having air conditioning problems ever since we got back from evacuation. A repair man came out on Wednesday and tried to fix it. On Thursday it was obvious that it wasn't fixed. Another guy came out yesterday and found a freon leak. He couldn't pinpoint the leak, so a third guy had to come today. This guy found the leak, but it was in the coil. No easy fix. Our choices are to repair the coil ($700-$800) or replace the entire outside unit. That's probably what we are going to do, because it is terribly corroded and will need to be replaced soon anyway. It totally sucks. We haven't slept in days and we stick to everything we touch.

I honestly think Kerry won the debate. And not just because he can speak clearly and in complete sentences. George Bush has not come up with any new ideas since 9/11. He has been saying the same crap and making the same mistakes ever since! Can he really serve for 4 more years on the same platform? His administration has already done enough damage to the economy and our relationship with the rest of the world. I don't want to see how bad it could get.

In other news, Emily and I have finished placing ads in all of the local papers. They will begin arriving at people's homes in about a week, but we probably won't start seeing business from them for a few weeks. I've read that people must see our ad at least three times before they act.

Presidential debates start tomorrow. But can they really call it a debate? With all the preparations and rules, it's really more like alternating speeches. A real debate would 1. Include all the candidates (including 3rd parties) 2. Allow the candidates to address eachother 3. Eliminate all of the rules 4. Put the candidates on the spot.

I don't even want to watch this mockery of democracy. Here's what will happen: John Kerry will try to cement his "new" positions (you have probably all noticed how he has tried to differentiate himself in the last few weeks). George Bush will attempt to string together coherent sentences, but fail miserably. I already know who I'm voting for (Kerry - I'm just voting for him because I really don't want Bush to serve a second term).

Grrr. You know what's kind of annoying? Having no cable and no internet. You know what's really annoying? Having cable and internet, and getting snatched away, forcing you to stay on hold with the stupid company for hours. And the company, which we will call "Brighthome Networks", taunts you with the audio from the TV news while you are on hold. Then you're stuck sitting in front of the computer, because that's where the phone is, with nothing to do except write in your stupid blog. Then it gets worse; the "Brighthome Networks" representative tells you that there is no outage. It could just be a glitch in the system, so they can't help.

The third storm is over. We are hurricane veterans now. This one actually wasn't that bad. Again we were evacuated and went to my parent's house. Friday night Em and I joined my parents at temple, which was just as boring as ever. We sat around all day yesterday and came back to the beach tonight. The power stayed on at both houses and we only lost cable and phone for about 24 hours.

My Holga came! I've been having lots of fun shooting random stuff. I was hoping to take some pictures of the destruction, but there wasn't much where we live.

We took our boards off the windows right after Hurricane Francis, but left them on the balcony until two days ago. Big mistake. Two days ago, Hurricane Jeanne was predicted to go to the Carolinas. Suddenly the track changed, so we spent most of the day today getting sand bags and dragging the boards out of the garage and up the stairs.

I'm sick of hurricanes. I really am. They just need to stop. On top of everything, Em and I just spent over $200 re-stocking our fridge. We are going to take all the food and video equipment to my parents house to "hunker down". That's another thing. Those stupid news people and city leaders are always telling everyone to "hunker down" because the storm is "bearing down" on us. Is hunker even a word? What the hell does it mean? It sounds like the position you get in to take a dump.

Emily and I ordered two Panasonic DVD recorders from Jr.com for our business. One with a built in VHS deck, for small orders and one with a hard drive for large orders. The latter was suppose to be here two days ago. It wasn't. So I called the company and it turns out that the unit was discontinued three days ago. I think that if I hadn't called, I would have been waiting for it forever. We had to cancel the original order and purchase the newer version, which won't come until next week.

Yay! More hurricanes! The National Hurricane Center is saying that Hurricane Jeanne is coming. It already killed almost 2000 people in Haiti. I can't wait for it to come here!

Sprint must be the worst phone company ever. They are completely incompetent. A family of monkeys would do a better job. I have spent the last couple days trying to get a business phone line. Yes, days. It would have been easy if any other phone company provided service in the Longwood area. But unfortunately Sprint is the only company we could use. They won by default. Sprint was the first company I called, because my parents use them and the lines are already set up. I spent 3 hours being transferred from one person to the next. It was like a human game of "Hot Potato". I was given at least 5 different numbers to call and transferred to no less than 10 different people. No one could answer my questions or transfer me to someone who could. All I needed to do was set up the stupid business line! Eventually I spoke to a manager and thought I had it all figured out.

What I really wanted was a forwarding line, a phone line without a physical location, which forwards all the calls to a secondary number (my cell phone). This would allow us to keep the phone number consistent when we move. They said that Sprint does not offer this service. Today I called back to make sure everything was set up correctly. It wasn't. They gave me a residential line! I canceled the order and hung up. Surely SOME other company will provide business phone lines in the area. So, I did an internet search and called every small, no name company I found. No luck.

Emily suggested we sign up for a 1-800 number instead. She called MCI and got the info. Before making a decision, I called Sprint Yellow Pages to make sure we could get a free basic listing with a 1-800 number (all business lines get a free listing). After being transferred another 50 times and calling 5 more phone numbers, I found out that it was going to cost $25 a month for a basic listing, $40 for a bold listing and $200+ for a business card sized ad. Those charges, plus the 11 cent per call charge for the 1-800 number put us over budget. Sprint was our only hope. So, I called back and braced myself for the onslaught of new phone numbers and transfers. This time I got lucky. I reached Andy at the Central Florida Sprint location and got exactly what I wanted. He set me up with a forwarding line (Sprint actually does offer the service), an easy to remember number (407-681-4DVD), and got me into the Yellow Pages.

Saturday I went to Dexter's in Winter Park with my family to see Marc Schwartz's band play and to drop off some tapes to Jill. They were playing mostly cover songs of classic rock, and my grandmother loved it. She was up front next to the band singing and dancing, having a great time. It was hilarious! She came back to the table singing "I love rock and roll".

I went to the Surf Show with my mom and Emily yesterday. It was at the new convention center, which was absolutely enormous. The show kind of sucked this year; there were less vendors and a lot less buyers. My cousin Arthur, who owns a jewelry booth, said he would be lucky if he broke even. Even the skateboarding sucked. Usually they set up a half-pipe and bring in some of the top pro skaters; this year I was excited because they had both a half-pipe and a street course. I watched the street demo and the skaters were no better than you would see at the local park.

After the show we drove around Maitland, Altamonte and Longwood looking for apartments. The one in Sable Point is still at the top of our list. Can you beat 1000 sq ft for $690? We tried three different restaurants before finally finding one that was open. Why is everything closed on Sunday night? Whatever, we ate at Bonefish grill and it was pretty good.

We are in business! Our equipment arrived, we set it up, and started work on our first conversions. It is very exciting. Friends and relatives have given us some good feedback and ideas about the direction of the company. Videotaping the life stories of the elderly and creating DVDs for their families, was one of the best we've heard (thanks Jill).

I ordered a Holga camera. I stumbled across some online galleries of photos from the camera and I was amazed. Of course, you could get much better images from an expensive medium format camera, but I love the moody/dramatic shots that are possible with the Holga.

Our equipment is suppose to arrive at my parent's house today. Exciting! Hopefully it doesn't get stolen off the porch. Em and I are going to get our occupational license in a little while. I hate this endless string of paperwork. They certainly don't make it easy for you.

We opened our bank account last week, but we can't use it until we get the license. And we can't get the license any time soon; they are running late because of the storms. Not much else is really going on. I'll write more when there is...

I finally returned to the beach after a week long evacuation. The house is in good shape, except for a couple missing tiles under the roof. The rest of this area didn't fare so well. There are roofs missing, walls destroyed, power lines everywhere and signs smashed into buildings. Emily and I wanted to leave the boards up until after Hurricane Ivan, but the first night here we slept until noon, because the room was so dark. Yesterday we took off the boards.

We bought all the equipment for our new DVD business and set up the bank account! It ended up being less than $2000 for everything. We should be able to pay off Emily's loan without a problem. The apartment hunting has been going slowly. We went back to the Echelon apartments downtown and saw some places in College Park. The only requirement is that it's not a small crapper, like in DC.

I have spent the last few days at my parents house waiting out the storm. And it's been a long wait. Emily and I got here on Thursday. A mandatory evacuation was set for Friday in our area, but we had already spent most of the day preparing the house, so we decided to beat the traffic. The storm was scheduled for Saturday afternoon. Because it had slowed to a crawl, it didn't come until early Sunday morning. We spent most of the time playing cards, eating and being bored off our asses. The storm didn't seem that bad. It came in waves, with a band hitting every couple hours. It caused a lot of damage because it was over the state for so long. It stormed all day Sunday and half the day today. I have been trying to call the information lines in Volusia county for hours. Finally I got word from one of our neighbors that our building looks OK.

My grandmother has been stubborn about the whole thing. She didn't want to come over during the hurricane. Between bands yesterday, Emily and I went over there to check on her. She didn't have power or phone lines, and she still refused to come over. Finally we convinced her to go out to eat with us tonight. We had the now routine after hurricane meal at Too Jays, before Emily and I went to a movie. We saw "Paparazzi", which was just as stupid as it was entertaining. As we pulled into my parent's driveway, a huge black bear spotted the car and walked around the side of the house. Needless to say, Emily and I were terrified. I put on the brights and pulled up to the front of the driveway, to see if he was gone. He wasn't; he just stood on the side of the house licking his lips. I honked until my parents opened the garage and we both ran in

Yea! More hurricanes! I just love hurricanes. All the panic, worry and endlessly changing predictions. Yesterday, Emily and I spent four hours at my favorite place in the world, Home Depot! It was great, just sitting there waiting and waiting. I can't think of anything I would rather be doing. We were waiting for shipments of plywood to come in, so we can board up the windows. I wish we could have waited longer. A couple guys, who obviously don't know the meaning of fun, tried to cut in line three and a half hours after we got there. The people in line behind us informed Home Depot about the party poopers and, after a few tense moments, they were sent to the back of the line. I was jealous. Why couldn't they send me to the back? We purchased 5 boards, pulled our car around and waited while the guys loaded it on our car. An old man pulled up next to me and stopped directly on the foot of one of the guys. He stayed there for almost 30 seconds, while everyone yelled at him to reverse. Finally he did, and the guy limped off. Hope he's ok. Today, we are going to prepared the house and head back to Orlando. I can't wait for the storm to come knock out power, so we can live like cavemen. It's going to be great

I have spent the last couple days at local supermarkets trying to get people to answer my little survey questions. Danielle, our marketing consultant, said that we should make up a survey to see if our business is viable. So far, I've gotten a very positive response from the potential customers, but not from the supermarkets. Yesterday I was asking the store managers before giving the survey. Four out of five places said that I couldn't. Today I just stood in the parking lot until I got kicked out. Danielle said that at least 20% of the potential customers should say that the business is viable. After two days of surveying, about 90% have given a positive response. Good sign.

The other day I was driving down I4, headed for the Flea Market, because Lindsey wanted to do one last redneck thing before heading back to DC. We got off at the Lake Mary exit and I watched in horror as a white Lexus skidded off the road and flipped down the hill, before stopping in a ditch. Other cars seemed to ignore the accident. Maybe they didn't see it, or didn't believe what they were seeing. But, I speed over to the edge of the ditch, threw my phone to Emily to call 911 and ran over to the wrecked car. The passenger window was laying on the ground next to the car. I poked my head through the broken window, not knowing what to expect. There was a girl no older than 20 looking terribly afraid, but uninjured. She was shaking badly and looking disoriented. I asked her if she could move all of her limbs. She could. She tried to open the driver's side door and I tried the passenger door. Both were stuck. Lindsey approached the car and we both helped her out through the passenger window. She checked out the car and said, "my parents are going to kill me." We assured her that the car would be the least of their concerns.

Lindsey has been here for the last couple days. We have had fun, going to the beach and playing games, but Emily has been sick. She feels tired and achy all the time. I am trying to get her to go to the doctor, but she has too little energy to even find a doctor and she won't let me call. We started working on some more Excel spreadsheets, which mostly involve adding and predicting costs and profits. It's been hard, though, because we generally have no idea how much we will be spending. The biggest problem is figuring out how much to budget for advertising. Luckily we have a meeting with an advertising executive from SCORE on Thursday. That should help clear up much of the confusion.

Like my new menu? Flash is a pain in the ass. I spent hours trying to figure out how to change the links and get the buttons to work. Finally, when I got it all figured out, I had to change everything around so the movement would look right. And I had to remake all the buttons, so they would be consistent. I guess that's the price you pay for internet stardom. Last night my sister spent the night over here. She got in around 5 am and Turtle wouldn't stop whining. I let him go see her when she got here, but that wasn't enough. He just stood by the door scratching and crying. I had to take him downstairs because he was keeping us up.

Today Em and I went to my parent's house around 4. We wanted to stop at the Flea Market on the way, because she had never been to one, but it was raining and the traffic was so bad that we didn't have time. Emily and Lindsey went to Calmar before dinner (another place Em has never been). They were only suppose to be going there for a few things, but when they got there, Lindsey pulled out a huge list and went to town. Emily got annoyed because she was running around looking at shotguns and stuff instead of getting the things on the list.

We went to Seasons 52 for dinner. On the way there, mom was neurotically reading magazines. She recommends the magazines for my dad's waiting room at his office; when he brings them home, she feels compelled to read all of them. Apparently she has been falling behind on her reading, so now she is stressed out trying to catch up.

If it seems too good to be true, it probably is... I received a call from a company called Elite Marketing (or something like that). It started out with a recorded message, saying that I had been chosen to receive a free computer, digital camera, and cell phone. All I had to do to claim my prize was press one. Being the extreme skeptic that I am, I pressed one. A couple seconds later, the phone was answered by a man claiming to be a company representative. He told me that the only thing I needed to do to claim my prize was give him my bank account information, so he could charge me for tax and shipping. I asked him how the company could stay in business just giving away free products. What's the catch (besides having to give my bank account information)? He informed me that there really was no catch and said that the company was simply trying to give me free merchandise with nothing more to buy. At that point, my BS detector really went off. I told him that he was full of shit and hung up. He called back a few minutes later and cussed me out. I told him to get a real job; scamming people for a living is illegal and I feel sorry for both him and the people he was scamming. After a few more minutes of cussing, he hung up. I tried calling the police and the phone company where his line was registered (I looked it up online), but no one seemed to care. Oh well, I hope he gets caught soon.

Yesterday, Emily and I met with our Business consultant, Skip, from SCORE. He basically told us about everything our business plan lacks: a marketing plan, a carefully thought out break even point and various other business things we hadn't even considered. Our next meeting was with our accountant, Steve Cohn. He helped us immensely with basic accounting, business structure, licensing and tax issues. We flipped a coin to see who would be President and who would be Vice President / Treasurer. Emily won. And we thought of a name: Big Picture DVDs, Inc. Last night we played poker with my parents, sister, grandmother and Abe. I won.

Abe and my dad gave us a ton of suggestions and ideas. We should set our prices a bit high, maybe $25 per tape (instead of $25 per DVD, with as many tapes as would fit). A mall kiosk would be a good way to have a physical presence and attract customers, as well as reducing our marketing costs. The pick up / delivery idea would not work well, because we would spend most of our time on the road and ruin our cars. Finally, they gave me a long lecture on why I need a haircut. I should look more professional. People would not trust their tapes with a shaggy looking fool like me.

Today I had another meeting with the consultant, talking about more wacky business terms and local demographics. He arranged for us to meet with a marketing expert next Thursday. That should be very helpful. Em and I know the least about marketing, and according to Skip, we have a marketing driven business. The marketing person also teaches a class, and will sometimes use actual businesses for her class projects. Maybe she could use us!

Who wants to hear about the hurricane? Well I'm going to tell you anyway. After much debate, Emily and I stayed here (at the beach) during the storm. We had originally planned to go to my parent's house for dinner, but I decided that it would be better to stay (the storm was suppose to be worse in Orlando).

I tied a rope around the furniture on the balcony, to prepare for the storm. When the first band hit, the sky went black and the wind violently shook the house. Emily and I grabbed the dogs and ran downstairs. We came back up after about 15 minutes and watched the news as the storm came closer and closer. The cable went out about 30 minutes before the eye was suppose to hit. We relied on my dad for weather updates. When the eye wall hit, we huddled in the bathroom reading the marketing book. The sliding glass door in the bedroom buckled violently and felt like it was about to break. The screen door ripped off and wedged itself against the balcony. We had to open the sliding door and grab the screen door, to prevent it from breaking the window. The storm passed shortly after. The next day, we drove around the city and marveled at the destruction. Luckily the only thing we lost was cable TV.

Emily's new treadmill was delivered around 1 today. It's got lots of cool stuff like a fan, a CD player, an automatic ass kicker (to help keep you motivated). We haven't used it yet, but I bet we'll be running marathons before you know it. After that we went to an art supply store and bought a bunch of painting supplies. It was pretty expensive, but we got the last laugh. They sold us canvases for about $20 each, but after we're through with them, they'll be worth millions.

This afternoon, we read our marketing book for a while and took a quick nap (which was not the result of reading the book). I tried to get ah old of Skip to reschedule the meeting, because I don't want to wait another two weeks, but I had to leave a message. I hate leaving messages. I never know what to say. The machine beeps and that's it. No time to think or anything. You're on the spot and you have to say something without sounding stupid. I probably failed miserably.

Yesterday Emily and I flew my kite on the beach (after breaking up our fixed and variable costs, of course). We had to wait around all day because it started raining just as we were about to go out. Finally the rain stopped and it was great, but not windy enough, so the kite kept crashing. We had fun anyway. And we went in the water too, but Em got scared because little fish kept brushing by her feet.

Today I made an appointment with Skip at SCORE to go over the business plan. We couldn't get an appointment until August 26th, so I'm going to try to meet with him outside of the organization. We spent most of the day at the beach with the puppies reading the Guerilla Marketing book. Very informative and lots of fun!

Our little business plan is rolling right along. We went to my parent's house last night and found out about 50 million little business things we hadn't though of, like insurance and what type of corporation we want to have. My parents gave us a bunch of names and phone numbers to call and find out more info about the various little business quarks. At least now we have things to do next week: lots more research. Today we are going to the Mall at Millenia so Emily can buy some "big girl clothes", stuff she can wear to business meetings and the like.

Emily and I have decided that getting jobs is for Clides. Plus we can't seem to find any. So we are starting a DVD creation business. Millions of people have old home videos lying around that they haven't watched in years because they don't use their VHS decks anymore. If we had a service that made it easy for them to transfer their tapes to DVD, we could make a fortune. I'm not going to give away the details, but the plan is solid and we are deep in the research phase.

In other news, Abe came over last night and we all stayed up till 2:15 to watch the space launch. It was great, I listened to the live NASA radio transmissions leading up to the launch, then we all went out to the beach and saw the rocket liftoff. I haven't seen a live launch in years. Very exciting. But I still don't understand the point of all this space research. What have we gained from it: Velcro, Tempurpedic beds and Freeze Dried Ice Cream? Please e-mail me if you know some real benefits of space exploration.

Emily and I got a new puppy! Her name is Piggy and she is a Chihuahua-Shitzu mix (or so says the pet store). Check out the cute pictures.

I've been pretty relaxed for the last couple days. Not stressing out so bad about getting a job. Emily and I faxed out some resumes and sent some hard copies. If we can't find something soon, we're going to start doing what we really want to do: making an independent film. I have been working on a new script. I can't give away too much of the story; I'll just say that it's about a very late bloomer. We have been slowly piecing together the outline.

I've also been working on a way to play my music live without just hitting play on the sequencer. I chopped my best beats, leads, basses, etc, into loops and put them all in Ableton Live. That program rocks. Maybe I'll start playing some live shows.

I've finally finished my cover letters and resume. Emily started calling some production companies and the ones she spoke to want freelancers rather than full time employees. We have been so incredibly bored sitting around house. It's been so hard to just relax and do nothing. It's almost more stressful without responsibilities. We look for any excuse to get out.

At least I'm able to sleep again.

I thought that relaxing at the beach for a while would help calm all the stress of the last month, but it really hasn't. I've been here for almost a week and a half and I still do not feel calm. There is still so much to do! I've been working tirelessly on my resume and getting together information on local production companies. And it probably doesn't help that I have not been able to sleep. Even after I get a job, I'll have to find an apartment and move again. It's just one thing after another. When will it end?

Today we took it easy because it was Emily's birthday. We woke up late and took Turtle to get his nails clipped. They brought him back to us wearing a camouflage bandana and smelling like musk. The girl said that a guy this small needs all the help he could get. Much of the rest of the day was spent at pet stores and the local humane society, because Emily wants a dog for her birthday.

On the job front, we have compiled a 22 page list of local production companies, complete with contact info and company info. Some of them look crappy, others look good. We're going to start sending out resumes early next week. My parents have been hounding me to call this guy who is building a new production studio just south of Orlando. I finally called him today and found out that he won't be done with the construction for a few months. It sounds like a cool project though. Maybe we could work there when he's done.

Em and I spent all day working on our resumes. I didn't change mine that much, but somehow the Illustrator file got messed up, so Emily had to fix the design. Check it out in the "resume" section and tell me what you think. We were suppose to go into Orlando to look at a pug puppy, but by the time we were done with the resume stuff, the store was closed. Emily had a ton of problems with her design. She has a coffee stain on the resume to give it some flair, but it kept printing out green. It looks like a green tea stain instead of coffee. Oh well, it'll look good if she applies to any health conscious employers.

Abe said that he wants to start a rap group, so I made the music for a rap song. At least I think that it's a rap song. My last attempt turned out kind of crazy.

I have been very busy lately. The move went relatively smoothly. Surprisingly enough all of my stuff and all of Emily's stuff fit into an 8'x6' U-Haul. It was strange driving around pulling everything we own. Especially since there was so little of it. We spent the night just south of Savannah and completed the drive the next day.

Emily and I spent a day driving around downtown looking for apartments. We found a few that we liked. The Echilon at Uptown was the best. Then my dad convinced us that we should look for jobs before signing a lease. So, I spent a few hours looking up local production companies. Now I have 15 pages of listings and contact info. Hopefully we will not have trouble finding jobs.

The whole car issue has been resolved. Two months ago my parents bought another Toyota Camary (same year and model as mine) from my aunt and uncle. They bought the new Toyota hybrid and are still waiting for the shipment (the waiting list is 6 months long). I switched cars with my uncle, so that he would not be stuck without a car and so that I would not have to take the car my sister wrecked. The problem was that I already had the hitch installed on my old Camary. So, yesterday Emily and I went to the U-Haul store and waited 3 hours while they took the hitch off one car and installed it on the other. While we were there I spoke to the general manager about what type of trailer to take. Originally, I called U-Haul, described my car, and asked what was the largest trailer I could pull. They said the 8'x10'. When I went into the store to have the hitch installed, they said that I could take the 12'x6' (which is actually a much larger trailer). The general manager cleared things up. He said that I could pull the 12'x6', as long as it was empty. Emily immediately called to change our reservation.

We have spent the last few days packing. There are 13 full boxes in the basement, but our apartment looks the same as before we started packing. We are throwing out most of the remaining stuff.

Before leaving for Memphis, Emily asked if we could take my car. I had this strange feeling and said, "I don't want to take my car, because I think something will happen to it." So we drove to and from Memphis in her car without a problem (but we later found out that one of her tires was missing 2 of the 4 lug nuts). Yesterday I went out to my car and noticed that the back drivers side panel (behind the back wheel) was dented and scratched. I thought that someone must have hit my car and drove off. Upon closer inspection I noticed that the scratches were poorly painted over with a color that didn't match. It seems strange that someone would hit my car, then stop to paint it. I asked Lindsey if she knew anything about the dents and scratches, but she quickly said that she didn't. Her answer seemed a bit strange, so Emily called and asked her again. Lindsey continued to deny it, and continued to act strange.

Later, I picked her up so that she could borrow my car. Before I let her in, I had her walk around the side of the car and look at the damage. Again I asked her and again she denied it. Finally I said, "I'm not going to be mad, I just want the truth. "Fine," she said begrudgingly, "I'm sorry." (It was more of a "I'm sorry that I got caught") I told her that I was not upset about the car, but I was upset about her lying straight to my face.

The problem is still not resolved. She still claims to own half of my car, and still claims the right to use it whenever she wants. I have always been weary about lending it to her because she consistently brings it back late and filthy. "I MENT to clean it," she says, "I just had to go buy some medicine." It doesn't take 4 hours to buy medicine. And of course there is a big difference between MEAN and DO.

I've been in Memphis for the last couple days. Well actually I've been driving for the last couple days with a brief stop in Memphis. Emily, Kat and I left Friday night and returned Sunday night. It was 14 hours each way, so we were really only in Memphis for about 20 hours. We went for their dad's retirement / birthday party, which was held at their step-aunt's house. The party was very nice: live band, pool, good weather and catering from the best BBQ restaurant in the city. The drive was pretty uneventful, but very pretty. I expected to see much more rednecks and honky white trash stuff.

Cell phones are stupid. Well not really. They're stupid when they don't work and mine seem to never work. I had been having lots of problems with my Cingular phone. My reception sucked. I couldn't hear anyone and they couldn't hear me. The logical thing to do was to get a new phone. I have always heard that Verizon had the best service, my mom and sister were using them, so I switched. I have had the phone for 4 days now. It is a little better than the Cingular phone: everyone can hear me fine. The problem is that I can't hear them. Everyone sounds choppy and distorted. Plus the phonebook feature is retarded. When I try to find someone's name, I put in the first letter of their name, and it brings up everyone with that letter IN their name. For example, if I type in "E" for Emily, I get: Aaron Berger, Abe, Adam Langenbaum, Amanda Read, Beach, Beth, Bennison, Brett, Dave, Diane, Emily, Eric, Francesca, Home, Jamie... Because they all have the letter "E" in their name. Whoever invented this phone (Audiovox) should be shot. Luckily I have 15 days to exchange it.

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.

We took the metro to the Vatican and luckily didn't have anything stolen. Waited in a half mile long line for the Vatican museum. Bought a book in hopes of following a preset path through the museum, but we ended up getting lost and wandering around anyway. I couldn't help but feel like the museum was being a bit hypocritical; they had so much reverence for their own dead, but left Egyptian mummies sitting out for all to see. Overall, the museum was astounding. My favorite part was the Raphael rooms. The Sistine Chapel was ok too.

After that, we headed over to St. Peter's. The courtyard alone was worth the price of admission (which was actually free, but whatever). The church itself was bigger than anything you could imagine (it's the biggest in the world), ornately decorated (of course) and profoundly boring (just kidding!).

We ate dinner at Alfredo's: the original, where Alfredo sauce was invented. Guess what we ordered... It was as good as you imagine (but different than American Alfredo sauce). Thanks for the recommendation, Dave.

Woke up early to catch the flight to Rome. Got to the airport a couple minutes after 7am. Glanced down at the tickets and realized that the flight left at 7:05. Luckily the airport was about the size of a house. The pilot waited while we checked in our bags and boarded the plane.

Took a cab to the hotel and passed some of ancient Rome's most incredible sites. I grabbed Emily's leg in awe as we passed the Coliseum. Pictures do not even come close to doing it justice. Dropped off our bags at the hotel and walked to the Piazza De Poppolo (2 minutes from our hotel), a huge courtyard surrounded by statues, with an ancient Egyptian obelisk in the center. Ate lunch at a restaurant recommended by the hotel. Very good pasta. Took a nap.

Ventured past the Spanish Steps (which were unimpressive) to the Trevi Fountain. I can't even begin to describe this awe inspiring site, so I won't try. Here's a picture. Ate a crappy dinner at a restaurant that looked like Olive Garden goes to Disney. Had some wonderful gelato for dessert (from a different restaurant).

We've spent the last couple days just hanging out in Mykanos. The city is beautiful, but there is not much for us to do (we're not into the whole bar/club scene).

Took the high speed ferry from Santorini to Mykanos. The wind was blowing hard, which made the seas unbearably choppy. Within minutes of leaving port, the boat was thrown violently by 10 foot waves. The woman next to Shannon puked. Anyone who stood up was tossed across the deck. As we picked up speed, the boat literally flew out of the water. Crashed down hard. Three and a half hellish hours later we reached Mykanos.

Our hotel is located atop a large hill, with great views of the city, port and sea. Hora (the main city in Mykanos) is a maze of small crowded streets. Beautiful stone paths criss-cross between the buildings. Clothes stores, jewelry stores and Italian restaurants fill the streets. We spent the majority of the day recuperating from the boat ride and exploring.

Ate breakfast at a restaurant overlooking the Caldera (a huge cliff lined with hotels and restaurants above the water). I had a Greek omelet and Greek coffee, Shannon had a Greek salad, and Emily had bacon and eggs. After breakfast we wandered through the narrow streets of Fira. Emily and Shannon looked at jewelry, I drooled over some astounding chess sets that I regretfully did not buy.

At 1:30 we took a bus to Piressa, a beach on the south eastern part of the island. It was a windswept black sand beach bordered by cafes and a huge cliff. We spent a couple hours reading and hanging out under umbrellas (which we had to rent), before heading back to Fira.

Watched Olympic trials (or something) we couldn't really figure out what we were seeing - just a bunch of people jumping over stuff. I had my best meal of the trip (curry chicken) at a restaurant near the Caldera.

Finding the bus to the horseback riding place was a challenge. Every person we asked told us to wait in a different place. The travel agency told us to look for a big white bus. Eventually someone pulled up in a small dark gray BMW and took us to the stables. The guide was a nice old Greek cowboy. He played American hard rock. We rode the horses along dirt paths and down a black sand beach. Shannon and Emily's horses did not get along; both horses tried to charge down the beach. After arriving back at the stable, he took us to a local bakery where we ate some amazing pastries.

Took a nap at the hotel after dropping off our laundry. Woke up and watched American movies in our room; it was too cold to go back out.

We woke up and caught the Superfast boat to Santorini. I met a Canadian guy on the boat, who had also just graduated, and talked to him the whole time because my seat was not near Emily and Shannon.

Fira, the main city in Santorini, is situated atop a huge cliff overlooking the sea. You could fall off, if you don't walk carefully. The main square is bustling with activity, packed with restaurants and shops. We're staying about half a kilometer from the center of the city. Our suite overlooks the water on the other side of the island.

Ate dinner at an expensive restaurant on the side of the cliff overlooking the Caldera. We watched the sun set over the mountains when we were finished eating. Definitely the most beautiful place we've been so far.

Visiting the archaeological museum was the major event of the day. Imagine room after room of old clay pots, interspersed with a variety of figurines, knives, and gold jewelry. Upstairs contained frescoes from the Palace of Knostros. After the museum we stopped by some kitchy jewelry stores filled with reproductions from the museum.

Today we visited the palace of Knosis. As we entered, we were approached about buying a guided tour. We paid the woman 5 euros each and were directed to join a tour group which had just begun. The leader of this group questioned us about where we had come from. She went off to find out if we had actually paid. We were left wondering if we had just been scammed. It turned out that we had paid the right person and we were admitted to the tour.

The palace was impressive, but seemed like a forgery. The person who had discovered it had rebuilt as much as he could, using the ruins as a guide. Who knows how accurate it was. Regardless, it was interesting. We saw the oldest throne in Europe and the site of the first court. Most of the frescoes were reproductions, the originals are in the archaeological museum, which we will visit tomorrow.

Came back to the hotel. Took a nap. Spent some time at the internet cafe looking for bed and breakfasts in Rome. Ate at Lukulos, a fancy Italian restaurant, which Emily said was her favorite yet.

After dinner we were sitting at an internet cafe drinking cappuccino. Suddenly we heard a large group of people screaming, chanting and marching toward us. They blocked off the intersection directly across from us and began lighting off fireworks. They climbed onto cars and sang in unison. I guess their soccer team won.

We tried to eat breakfast at the hotel restaurant, but they were being really slow, so we went to one of the stands and had some decent food. Stopped by the archaeological museum and saw lots of old pots. Met a cute little mangy dog outside the museum that crawled onto my lap and licked my face. I wanted to keep him. Caught the bus to Iraklion. Nice bus with TVs and all, but the windy roads through the mountain forced us to stop so that people could get out and puke.

Iraklion looked like a hell hole when we first pulled up. A cab took us through these dirty alleys on the way to the hotel, but it ended up being a diamond in the ruff. Marble staircases, fancy dining room, etc. The streets here are like a maze. We weaved our way to a restaurant recommended by the hotel and had one of the best meals yet. The shopping district has about as many cafes as people; and there are a ton of people.

The weather has been great. Cool in the shade, warm in the sun. We have spent hours just sitting outside a cafe, drinking frappes and watching the people.

Went back to the travel agent. Got boat tickets to Santarini and Mykanos, and plane tickets from Mykanos to Rome. I'm very happy about the plane tickets, because a flight will eliminate two whole travel days.

I hand washed my clothes in the sink, dried them on the balcony and ate at the hotel restaurant before driving to Vai with Shannon's friend's wife. We read in the guide book that Vai was the best beach around, and they weren't kidding. The place was beautiful, but a bit crowded, despite being in the middle of nowhere. It looked like one of those desert islands that people in movies always wash up on.

Sula (Shannon's friend's wife) drove us through Pelecostro, a strange quaint little town of 1500 people in the exact center of nowhere. She said it gets a little boring living there. I would kill myself. She showed us the house where she was born. That's right, house not hospital. There is no hospital.

It turns out that every one of the 30 restaurants, along the beach of Sitia, has exactly the same menu. It's like they have one enormous kitchen which makes the food for all of them. At least the menu is big and we don't have to walk around searching for food like in Athens. Tonight Shannon ordered the rabbit. I wouldn't try it because rabbits are too cute (they remind me of Turtle). Emily and Shannon made fun of me.

Finding a hotel in Mykanos was a pain in the ass. It turns out that there is some big holiday on May 27th or 28th. All the rooms are booked. We eventually found a room, but we're paying much more than expected. Oh well. It's at a luxury resort.

The breakfasts everywhere in Greece are the same: bread, swiss cheese, coffee and a variety of strange sesame seed covered pastries. After breakfast we wandered into a few clothes stores and an internet cafe. Emily and I felt dizzy, so we decided to eat again before returning to the hotel.

Travel agents in Greece are driving us crazy! Each one tells us a different thing. One says, "There is no boat to Iraklion, only a bus." The next says, "There is no bus to Iraklion, only a boat."

We walked up the hill to an old Venetian fort. It was locked, so we could only see the outside. Thick stone with little holes to shoot from and a stair step roof, like an old castle. Back at the hotel, we watched BBC news for a bit (they wouldn't shut up about Sonja Ghandi) and played cards. I read my new Tom Robbins book on the balcony overlooking the water. Later: Ate cake from a local bakery. Stopped by the 'trendy' bar and played more cards. A wonderfully relaxing day.

We laughed for literally 20 minutes after seeing our sleeping compartment on the boat. Yeah, it was that small. Us and our suitcases barely fit. It is smaller than my parent's closet. Most of our time was spent in the lounge. Emily tried hard and won her battle against sea sickness. Dinner was horrific. We opted for the first class dinner instead of self serve. Big mistake. Emily and Shannon got Greek salad. I got spaghetti. We ate bread.

We got to Sitia around noon and spent most of the day wondering around this amazing little town. It is so beautiful. Just like a post card. Plus, there are about 30 restaurant in a row next to the beach. My kind of place!

Finding the hotel was quite an experience. We got a cab ride from a guy who spent 20 years in the US. He took us to the Krystal Hotel, owned by his friend. They gave us a great rate (30 euros a night) but we ended up staying at the Itanos Hotel, because it was much nicer and only a bit more expensive. After checking in, we walked around and stumbled across a funny little park with a crazy spinning ride. Shannon and I decided that the ride would cure our sea legs. Boy were we wrong. It ended up just making us more dizzy. So we tried spinning the other way, but that didn't work either.

We had a great lunch at the hotel's restaurant (on the beach). Walked around some more and played with the town's wild dogs. Like Athens, the dogs are everywhere! And they're all very friendly. This female yellow lab followed us around for a while. We tried to feed her strawberries, but she wasn't into it. Instead she clawed through a fishing net looking for food. I wanted to let her sleep in our hotel room, but I was out voted.

So, This is the third day in athens. The city is beautiful, but a bit dirty. We have seen all the sights worth seeing and spent most of our time hunting for food. The people here seem to only eat these things that look like bagels, but with much larger holes and no toppings. Finding coffee on the other hand is no problem. There is about as many cafes here as there are fast food restaurants in America. I got no problem with it. The coffee is great. Actuall come to think of it, they don't really serve coffee. Just Frapes (or however the hell you spell it), which are Nescafe, sugar, water, and milk. Very tasty. Today we leave for Crete. We are taking a 13 hour boat ride there. Luckly we have a sleeping compartment. We booked a luxurious hotel in Setia (or however you spell it) for only 63 euros a night ($90 or so).

I finally graduated from college. Of course, I have been done with my classes since December, but since there is no December commencement, I had to wait until yesterday. The graduation itself was boring as crap. I fell asleep. Woke up just before they called my name and staggered across the stage. Oh, and I graduated with honors. That's right, honors. I didn't even know it until I went to pick up my regalia and my name was on the list for the funny gold thing honors students wear. It was a welcomed surprise.

I made reservations for my whole family to eat lunch after the ceremony at this place called Thyme Square Cafe. My mom drove past it a day earlier and demanded that I change the reservations because the place looked "dumpy". Needless to say, getting a reservation for 15 people on Mother's Day in Washington DC is impossible. I stuck by my choice and the place ended up being perfect. It was moderately priced, yet upscale and it had enough food for all the picky kosher and atkins people in my family.

Today I went shopping with my mom, sister and girlfriend. I hate shopping. They spent the whole day insisting that I needed to buy more stuff. I have plenty of clothes. I have never had to walk around naked. After much instance I ended up getting one shirt, one jacket and one messenger type bag.

This afternoon, Emily and I spent a couple hours calling moving companies. What a freaking hassle. They all seem like they are out to overcharge us and steal all of our crap. Around 5:00 my mom came over and told us that her friend's brother owns or works for a moving company. Problem solved. They are going to come over later this week and give us an estimate (hopefully).

We went out to dinner at Mie N' Yu. It was wonderful, as always. That place has got to be the best restaurant in DC. For dessert I had "coffee and donuts", which was ladyfingers drenched in Kahlua and covered with a chocolate mousse type stuff. I ate so much that it gave me a huge sugar rush.

After that Emily and I went to CVS. I bought some Kodak Max film, but had to return it after my dad said it was crappy. Now all I want to do is sit around playing 007. I'm too fat to do anything else.

Emily and I live in a very ritzy neighborhood. Oil Barons, Diplomats, and Embassies line our block. We rent from the grand-daughter of the Reynolds Tobacco fortune. Criminals usually avoid our neighborhood, because of the abundance of personal security guards, but not tonight.

I was taking Turtle for a walk around midnight. Emily needed some money to buy more tickets to graduation, so I agreed to walk to her ATM (about 1/2 mile) and get it. On the way back, I saw a large pickup truck parked in front of a fire hydrant. The hydrant was gushing water into the street. Two men stood staring at the fountain. Turtle was afraid of the noise, so I walked to the other side of the street. The men spotted me and crossed the street. I sped up. They sped up. I took a left down the nearest alley and started running. They followed. Turtle could barely keep up (his legs are very small you know), so I picked him up by the leash and ran. The men kept coming. I took a left into someone's driveway and hid behind a trash can. They ran past. Turtle almost barked, but I covered his mouth. I silently ran out of the driveway and further down the street. Thankfully, I made it home without seeing them again.

It was so weird. That kind of stuff usually doesn't happen in this area. Oh well. I guess that's life in DC.

Yesterday I went into work all pissed off, because Friday I had rushed through all the jobs, so we wouldn't have anything to do Saturday and I wouldn't have to come in. But my boss said I had to come in anyway. It was lame. We just sat around watching stupid movies from the DC indy film fest.

After work I went to the screening for the film I've been working on with Emily and Mac. Ours was definitely one of the best. After the screening Emily and I took a nap and were woken up by Dave around 6:30. The three of us went to this great restaurant called Listrani's. They just made fun of my "boring" blog the whole time and said that I should just write about my day and stuff like that. Well screw them. I don't want to write about that stuff. I mean, who cares about my day.

Anyway, after that, Dave and I played the Laura Croft PS2 game for a while. That game is maddening. All you do is try to figure out how to get out of whatever room you are in at the time.

Dave left around 3:30 and I spent the rest of the night playing with this music program called Live. I figure out some really cool stuff you could do with it, like sequence audio loops in the timeline.

This morgining I got to sleep in for the first time in what seems like months. It was great. Then Emily and I spent hours on campus playing with DVD Studio Pro 2. I had to poop real bad, but the bathroom smelled so bad that I couldn't even breath. So, I had to yell at Emily to hurry up and go home.

Emily, Mac, Shannon and I spent all weekend working on the film. We were in the editing room until 4am on Friday night; Saturday from 11am till 5pm; and most of the day Sunday. After editing on Saturday we took some hilarious pictures for the film. You can check them out in the photo section.

I gave my 2 weeks notice for work. It was amazing. The LA move seems much more concrete. I can't wait. DC is boring and it has crappy weather.

Dear people who think my blog is boring,

You're stupid. If it's so boring, why do you read it? Ha! I got you there. Maybe if you had a blog of your own and it wasn't boring, I would listen to you. Until then shut up.

Being done with school is wonderful. Emily has been very stressed out about all the work she has to do before the end of the semester. Just hearing about everything she has to do reminds me of everything I no longer have to worry about. Tests. Homework. Due dates. Studying. Showing up to class with clothes on.

It has finally warmed up in DC. Today I actually sweated for the first time in about 6 months. Emily and I brought Turtle to the dog park yesterday and today. We walked through the river, played fetch, ran around and had a great time. Now Turtle is worn out. Sleeping on my lap.

Time for some more quotes from our illustrious president:

"The vast majority of our imports come from outside the country."

"If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure."

"One word sums up probably the responsibility of any Governor, and that one  word is 'to be prepared'."

"I have made good judgments in the past. I have made good judgments in the future."

"The future will be better tomorrow."

"We're going to have the best educated American people in the world."

"We have a firm commitment to NATO, we are a part of NATO. We have a firm commitment to Europe. We are a part of Europe."

"A low voter turnout is an indication of fewer people going to the polls."

"We are ready for any unforeseen event that may or may not occur."

"For NASA, space is still a high priority."

"Quite frankly, teachers are the only profession that teach our children."

"It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it."

"It's time for the human race to enter the solar system."
- George W. Bush

I have come to the conclusion that the subservient chicken website is fake. First of all, he can't possibly be there 24 hours a day. Second of all, his position on camera seems to jump slightly just before he does anything. Now that that's settled we can all stop feeling bad about leaving him with nothing to do.

The weather around here has been terrible the last few days. Turtle gets really depressed because he can't go out and play. When I think about it, that might not be such a bad thing. He seems to instinctively know when it's a nice day out and he will whine by the door until you let him out. I need to move somewhere with really great weather. Maybe LA.

Hello all. Let me tell you about the ridiculous events of last weekend:

Emily and Mac had a film project to shoot. They had been planking for weeks and around this time last week everything seemed under control. Then things started to happen. First the actors that were suppose to play the guy and girl dropped out. Emily got her best friend Shannon to play the girl and Shannon's boyfriend to play the guy. Mid week Emily got a call saying that the camera she had reserved was broken. Luckily, since she had requested it so far in advance, the professor let her use his super 16mm camera (much nicer than the original camera).

Then came the shoot. I took off work early to help out, arriving at Mac's apartment around 6:30. We waited a couple hours for the male lead to show up. Every time we called he was "on his way". Eventually we just decided to cast Christian, one of the crew members. The Friday night shoot went well. As did the Saturday shoot.

Saturday night as Christian was leaving, Emily told him not to ride his motorcycle. Of course he rode it anyway and got into an accident (which wasn't his fault). He went to the hospital and there was no way he was going to finish the shoot. Saturday night we stayed up most of the night re-writing the script. We decided to do a mock investigative report, using the footage from Friday and Saturday as reenactments. Overall I think the project will turn out very well. Maybe even better than it would have without the problems.

Is this blog boring? My girlfriend and my sister seem to think so. Well who cares what they think. I'll write about whatever I want and you can't stop me. Just because I write about some stupid bastard who was thrust into the role of president more than I write about myself does not mean that my blog is any less valid.

Let's talk about religious holidays for a minute. Celebrating the important events of my ancestors has never made any sense to me. Why take time out of my busy schedule to carry on some ridiculous traditions? Why waste my life remembering the events of someone else's?

You know what I like? Puppies. Cause they are cute.

This is a short poem made up entirely of actual quotations from George W. Bush. They have been arranged, only for aesthetic purposes, by Washington Post writer, Richard Thompson.

MAKE THE PIE HIGHER
I think we all agree, the past is over.
This is still a dangerous world.
It's a world of madmen and uncertainty
And potential mental losses.

Rarely is the question asked
Is our children learning?
Will the highways of the Internet
Become more few?

How many hands have I shaked?
They misunderestimate me.
I am a pitbull on the pantleg of opportunity.

I know that the human being
And the fish can coexist.
Families is where our nation finds hope,
Where our wings take dream.

Put food on your family!
Knock down the tollbooth!
Vulcanize society!
Make the pie higher!
Make the pie higher!

(Pass this on. Help cure mad Cowboy disease in the next election.)

Working a normal job sucks. I've only been out of college and working full time for a few months, but let me tell you, it's no good. The monotonous routine. The lack of free time. Small paychecks. Unrewarding wasted hours spent doing the same boring crap. No good. I need a way out. A change of pace. A new beginning.

I've always felt like I was not meant to work a typical job. Now I know for sure.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind = brilliant, brilliant, and more brilliant.

Emily got us the American Idol PS2 game. I'll have to admit, it's very addictive.

Ever wonder how much the war in Iraq actually cost?

Lets talk about this whole hunt for Ben Laden thing. First of all, Al Queda is not this carefully structured and unquestioningly led group of people with flawless communication, like the media/government wants us to think. It is a bunch of sandy bastards with a common hatred for western culture. Capturing the so called "leader" will not stop the ideology or the attacks. The only thing that will stop the attacks is to find out what they are upset about (western imperialism?) and come to an understanding.

The capture of Ben Laden is more about politics than a genuine interest in what's best for the American people. The war in Iraq has done nothing but waste billions of dollars, alienate our allies, and kill a bunch of people.

On an unrelated note... I saw The Passion of Christ last night and it was pretty good; but I felt like Mel Gibson was telling a story to a group of people who had heard it a thousand times before, and I walked into the room halfway through without ever hearing the story. Maybe I would have liked it better if I had read the new testament more closely.

And it was not anti-semitic.

I know I have been writing about Bush a lot lately. I don't want to turn this blog into a political forum, so here's a link.

Lately I have been rewriting my feature length script called Suggestibility. The first time I wrote it, I had a lot of trouble and the story ended up being only 83 pages long (which is short for a feature length script). This time, instead of trying to write on the computer, I have been using a spiral notebook and it is coming along very nicely. I have already written 50 pages. It will probably end up being around 110 pages and the story will be more cohesive.

In a final note: War = Terrorism
That leads me to my next concern. Why does the government think that guns and bombs are going to solve our problem with terrorists? Ideology and personal beliefs drive people to commit these acts. Last time I checked, you can't destroy an ideology with force. If we really want to solve this issue, we must discover the root of the problem (American Imperialism perhaps?).

Today at work we were dubbing the latest Bush for president ads. One was the typical "George Bush is a strong leader" and the other was an attack ad against Kerry. Just before we started the dubs, we got a call from the campaign headquarters saying that the first ad must be changed. The problem was that it showed an Army tank. The person calling said that she would be fired if the tank was not removed. I didn't understand why it was such a big deal; the ad also showed fighter jets and soldiers. Oh well. We got rid of the stupid tank.

By the way... people at the Bush headquarters are insane, and not just because of who they are working for. They are constantly calling and freaking out about something. Whether it be the content of the commercials they sent us, or the fact that their tapes say urine under the label (I'll tell that story another time).

Speaking of George Bush... Lets talk about this big controversy about him using 9-11 imagery in his ads. I think it's disrespectful, despite the fact that he has based his entire presidency on this one event. Sure, 9-11 was an important day in our history, but come on, get over it already.

It strange how no one mentions the fact that the majority of the hijackers were from Saudi Arabia, but we decided to attack Iraq. Why not Saudi Arabia? Oh yeah, because Bush is friends with the Saudis and we get most of our oil from them. Sure, Saddam Hussein was bad, and maybe he was financing terrorists, but I bet the terrorist got the majority of their money elsewhere.

That leads me to my next concern. Why does the government think that guns and bombs are going to solve our problem with terrorists? Ideology and personal beliefs drive people to commit these acts. Last time I checked, you can't destroy an ideology with force. If we really want to solve this issue, we must discover the root of the problem (American Imperialism perhaps?).

Tonight I went to see the Triplets of Belleville at the new E st cinema. What a great theater going experience. The movie was wonderful and the theater was luxurious, despite the high ticket prices.

The weather in DC is cold once again. Stupid Canook air. I don't understand why anyone would want to live so far north. It's like living in the freezer for half your life.

So, at Video Labs we have been dubbing the new Bush for President commercials. Most of them are the typical "George Bush should be reelected because he was a strong leader after 9-11" (failing to mention, of course, that 9-11 was the biggest government failure in history). However, one ad really stuck out. It was basically a smear campaign against Kerry, saying he was running a smear campaign against Bush. I guess they realized how bad of a contradiction the commercial was; now we have to redo the dubs without that ad. Ha Ha.


BTW... Turtle has been taking antibiotics and is feeling much better.

I'm so sad. My poor dog is sick. He has been throwing up, refusing to eat and acting ill. Emily took him to the vet today and they said he had an upper respiratory infection. I feel so bad for him. They gave him some antibiotics and some eye drops (for his goopy eyes). I hope he feels better soon. I can't stand to see him this way

I think that every industry should have an awards show:

"And the award for best McDonalds drive through attendant goes to..."

YEARS BEST HEADLINES

Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Expert Says
Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers
Iraqi Head Seeks Arms
Prostitutes Appeal to Pope
Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over
Teacher Strikes Idle Kids
Miners Refuse to Work after Death
Juvenile Court to Try Shooting Defendant
War Dims Hope for Peace
If Strike Isn't Settled Quickly, It May Last Awhile
Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures
Enfield (London) Couple Slain; Police Suspect Homicide
Red Tape Holds Up New Bridges
Man Struck By Lightning Faces Battery Charge
Astronaut Takes Blame for Gas in Spacecraft
Kids Make Nutritious Snacks
Chef Throws His Heart into Helping Feed Needy
Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half
Hospitals are Sued by 7 Foot Doctors

And the winner is....
Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead

I am usually not very interested in reality shows, but this show stands far above the rest. You are missing out big time, if you haven't been watcing.

Censorship in this country is getting out of control. Clear Channel Communications just suspended Howard Stern's radio show (news article). I don't understand these people. Their priorities are completely backwards. For example, they don't think twice about depictions of violence, but the minute someone says something about sex, it is a huge scandal. I still don't understand why the Janet Jackson thing was such a big deal. Men's nipples are shown on TV all of the time. Is there something wrong with a woman's nipple? They look exactly the same to me...

Additionally, why would a visual display of extreme violence (The Passion of the Christ) be considered spiritual and an auditory depiction of naked women be considered obscene?

Here are some surprising statistics for everyone to ponder: The United States of America, probably the most uptight country (about sex) in the industrialized world, has the highest teenage pregnancy rate. It's strange when you think about it. The proponents of censorship assume that if children are never exposed to sex, they will never have sex. The facts prove them wrong.

This country will never improve, never become the morally advanced nation, which so many people are hoping for, without a more rational view of sexuality. The human body is not repulsive. Closed minded leaders, who try to suppress the thoughts of the public, will drive this country into the ground.

Oh no. Ralph Nader is running again. Come on man, stick to writing books and making speeches. No one wants to repeat the national embarrassment that was the 2000 election. The fact that Bush won was embarrassing enough.

I brought Turtle to the dog park today. The weather was beautiful (for the first time in months) and a ton of people were there. This big Mastiff kept wanting to play with Turtle, but Turtle was too afraid. The Mastiff realized that his large size was intimidating, so he laid down next to Turtle to be smaller. It was very cute, but Turtle was more interested in playing with the dog's owners. Soon all of the big dogs at the park noticed my funny little dog and crowded around him. Turtle was afraid, but I didn't rescue him because I want him to get use to the big dogs.

After socializing for a while, I took him for a walk down the trail. He had a great time jumping over the logs and running next to the river. I hope the weather stays this nice so we can come back soon.

Emily is so wonderfull... One thing in particular I love about her is her ability to cook absurdly good food. I have been working the noon to 8:30 pm shift, and I rarely have time for a meal (our lunch break is only 30 minutes). I often come home to find a delectable array of scrumptious sustenance. Today in particular. When I arrived home I was greeted by chicken, topped with creamy Italian dressing, and served over a bed of rice. Muy Bueno!

I know that this topic will not interest some of you (Dave), but I'm going to talk about it anyway. This is my blog, I can talk about whatever I want (right mom?). I saw a 'Primetime' interview with Mel Gibson about The Passion of the Christ. There has been a lot of controversy about whether or not the movie is anti-semetic. The jews may have been the ones who originally brought Jesus to the Romans, but it was the Romans who actually killed him.

This is why I have officially begun a national campaign to banish all Italians from this glorious, god-fearing country. John Ashcroft was the first to join. He said, "while we're at it, we should banish everyone except rich, white, conservative christians!" I quickly calmed him down and explained that his idea might be counterproductive.

On a different, and completely unrelated note, let me give you a recap of the last couple days in my life. Yesterday I spent all day in the yearly company meeting. We spent 8 hours trying to figure out the greatest problems we face, and the most viable solutions. I felt like the meeting would bring about some real changes. Today everything was back to normal, the meeting may as well have never happened.

I use old country expressions that express the homespun wisdom acquired by rural people over years of drinkin' contaminated groundwater, such as: 'Don't light a match 'til you know which end of the dog is barkin.'


-dave barry

Emily and I have a problem... We are sick of eating all of the foods we normally eat. So, we end up having peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and spaghetti every day

You know when someone, who you never really knew in the first place and haven't spoken to in a long time, IMs you? (No, I'm not talking about you Marshal, but it was nice hearing from you and thanks for the html coding help.) What do you say to them? It happened to me yesterday and it kinda pissed me off. This guy who I met one time (and he was rude to me) IMed me yesterday and started asking how I've been and what I've been up to. I didn't even know what to say. I gave him the brief summary of my experiences from the last year. He kept asking me these pointless questions, so I started to get really annoyed. I tried to ignore him, but he persisted: asking about someone I met maybe once. I stopped messing around and told him to go away. He obviously could not take the hint; the mindless banter continued. So, I blocked his screen name and tried to go about my business.

About half an hour later I hear a knock on my door. That's right, it was him. I opened the door wide enough to ask what the hell he was doing. He told me that he just wanted to stop by and say hi. I told him that I was busy, and closed the door. He stood there knocking on the door for almost a hour before I called the cops. About twenty minutes later, the knocking stopped. I'm glad he's gone, but I hope he didn't get arrested.

I don't understand why so many people are upset about gay marriages. Who cares? I think it's great! Gay people should be allowed to live a happy married life just like straight people. And it pisses me off when anyone gives the excuse that gays shouldn't be allowed to get married because it breaks the sanctity of marriage. It's a lame excuse. You know what really breaks the sanctity of marriage? The fact that half of all marriages end in divorce. If you're going to get married, make sure you choose the right person and stick with your decisio

First, I must apologize to all of my adoring fans. I have been too busy finding a web host and setting up my site in this new location to write in my blog. I decided to go with Newbiesite.com. So far so good.


I have been working at video labs for just over a week. I like it much better now than I did the first day. Today the whole company was almost shut down indefinitely, because the most important computer in the building crashed. They have the Video Commander running on an ancient computer; probably the oldest one in the building (yeah, put the most important system on a piece of crap computer, great idea). There is no back up for the program or anything on the hard drive. Luckily we were able to fix it.


I'm on a new schedule: noon to 8:30. It's cool because I have time to do things before work, but it sucks because I get home after the Simpsons. I always have to speed on the way home because I miss Emily and Turtle.

I should not have been so hard on video labs the other day. The job is actually pretty cool. Plus, some of the people there know I have a blog.

I started my new job at video lab today and I have been debating whether or not to talk shit about it in my blog. On one hand, anyone at work who searches for my name in google will come up with this page, on the other hand, who cares? Anyway, my day mainly consisted of moving and counting boxes of tapes. Occasionally I would get to QC some videos or load dubbing machines. Basically it was a boring waste of time. Well it wasn't that bad, I get paid to be there (not that the pay was so great). There were good parts, the people seem nice and the experience will be beneficial later in my career.


I don't understand how the majority of the human race can stand by and watch as their live is wasted at some menial job. Given, many people have no choice (no skills or a profound need for money), but those with a sufficient mental capacity and financial situation need to seriously examine how they choose to spend a third of their life.