11.08.06
Posted in Fun Stuff, Moving on... at 9:57 pm by Lawrie
Europe was…many things. It was good. It was different. It was tiring. It was beautiful. It made me want to learn French, German, Greek, and Spanish. It’s ridiculous and awe-inspiring that there are buildings hundreds or thousands of years old still standing. We saw what we went to see, although we didn’t see anything for long enough. (Except perhaps the view from the Eiffel Tower. Somehow, seeing Paris from the Tower isn’t the same as seeing Paris with the Tower in it.) I took more pictures this trip than I think I ever have on a trip before, and yet I still feel like I didn’t take enough. I look through my pictures, and I can’t believe that I was just there a few weeks ago. It feels kind of like a dream, in some ways. I know I should write more about it before I lose it all. I know there is plenty more to write about. I just don’t seem to have the mental energy to process what we did, what we saw. I think the thing that struck me the most was just the people. There’s a lot of people out there, many more than I see in my every day life. I haven’t made put any of my pictures in a presentable format yet, but here is one to get you started. (Yes, we found the church from my painting.)
But the thing is, I’m supposed to be moving soon. Like this weekend (although that probably really means next week…). I haven’t even bought a bed yet. Or attempted to pack. Or really started beliving that I am moving. It’s not far, mind you. Same town (same job, sigh), just my own space (well, including a roommate). I think I’m looking forward to it. I think it will be good. I just don’t know how it’s all going to happen. And I’m trying so hard not to think about it that it’s kind of hard to think about anything else.
And now it’s November. The leaves seem to have changed while I was gone, and suddenly fall has arrived. Thanksgiving is two weeks away, and then Advent and Christmas, my favorites of the seasons, arrive. I’m really looking forward to Christmas this year, and I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because I actually have a little bit of time to think about it (or I will, once I’m moved). Maybe it’s because we’re having a lot of people over (for our family, anyway). Maybe it’s because Christmas always gives me (or reminds me of) hope. Whatever it is, I can’t wait.
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10.02.06
Posted in Fun Stuff at 9:30 pm by Lawrie
I’ve used Webshots as the source for pictures for my desktop background for years. They have lots of free pictures that you can download, so every so often I’ll visit the site and download some new ones. Many of the pictures from this site are quite beautiful, but one in particular kept catching my attention. It took me a while to realize that every time I saw it, I thought, “Oh, that place looks awesome.” Something about the clean white-washed walls of the buildings stacked on a hill leading down to the bright blue of the ocean captured my imagination. I found out it was a picture of some island in Greece named Santorini. I kept seeing it in pictures online (and even in a movie or two), and that served only to feed my imagination more. Did you know there was a place where they painted all their walls white, and the domes of their churches bright blue?
I shared my fascination with this place with my friend, Evelyn, who I knew would at least appreciate the beauty of the photographs (not to mention the blue paint). I think somehow she understood how I felt, because when I left MIT last year to move back home, she gave me what is probably my favorite present ever. She painted me a scene from a photograph of Santorini she had found online. On the back, in typical Evelyn fashion, she had written, “Don’t forget to go!” I’m sure when I saw that I said something like, “I’ll go someday.” But practically speaking, a trip to Santorini felt like it was pretty much in the same category as a trip to the North Pole - technically possible, but highly, highly improbable.
And yet, here I am, less than three weeks away from the beginning of a trip that will take me there. After a few days in Paris to take in the sights, Evelyn and I will board a plane for Athens and then a ferry to Santorini. I’m not really sure what to expect, or what we’ll even do there (besides trying to find the church in Evelyn’s picture). I think what I’m really hoping for is a taste of the magic that has been hinted at in all of the pictures I’ve seen but that can never be fully captured by them.
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07.04.06
Posted in Fun Stuff at 11:42 pm by Lawrie
Here’s what we had for dessert today:
A strawberry cream tart, made by yours truly (with help from my mom).
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02.02.06
Posted in Fun Stuff at 10:59 pm by Lawrie
When I was growing up, we had an Apple IIe computer. (Actually, we still do. It’s sitting in my closet at this very moment. And it still works) I loved it. I used it to write the little reports you have to write in elementary school, like about a president (James K. Polk) or a planet (Neptune). I also used it to write my very first short story. (It involved a boy who wanted a dog. And then got one.) But my most favorite thing ever was playing games on it. And my most favorite game was Rocky’s Boots. Oh, man. I spent hours and hours playing this game.
What is Rocky’s Boots, you ask?
It was a game designed to teach kids about logic gates and circuits. You learned about AND, OR, and NOT gates. It even taught you about timing and flipflops. Of course, I didn’t realize it was teaching me about these things until I started learning about logic gates in college. In the game, you have to build a circuit that will kick out certain shapes based on a particular rule. (Okay, that probably doesn’t make too much sense. There’s a better description of it at everything2.) If you kicked all the right shapes and didn’t kick any of the wrong shapes, Rocky the Raccoon would appear and do a dance for you.
Hmm…perhaps a picture would help:
Don’t you just love the giant pixels? And how can you go wrong with a dancing raccoon?
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12.09.05
Posted in Fun Stuff at 7:45 pm by Lawrie
What’s better than animated bunnies re-enacting great movies in thirty seconds?
Nothing, of course. Check it out.
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