Something Else in the World

luck of the Irish

2012-03-17T11:11:00.001-07:00

Happy St. Patrick's day everyone!
I thought maybe I would post some interesting "I bet you didn't know" facts about today but then to a certain extent I kind of feel like St. Patrick's day is just one of those holidays that has lost its true meaning in the spirit of marketing and commercialism. So here's to local bars and novelty stores. May your sales be prosperous.
(If you're still interested in that history lesson though check out the History.com's page on today)
Since I decided against that though, here are some of my favorite green things (in no particular order):

1. Vegetables. Not that I particularly disliked them when I was a kid, but it feels weird now saying that vegetables are one of my favorite green things...but hey, I can't help it that a bowl of peas with a little bit of butter and salt makes me happy. Not to mention they have been known to cause spontaneous humming.

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Don't forget the Green Beans!

2. Anything in Kelly Green. Especially this dress, I've been a little bit obsessed with it since Atonement came out.

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3. Green flavored gummy bears (especially Haribo)

4. Greenpeace, green energy...global warming is real. That's a cause I'm willing to back

5. This song, and frankly the entire musical

6. Kermit the Frog. (even if Beaker is my favorite.)
But seriously, who doesn't love the muppets?

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7. Moss graffiti. Such a cool new trend that I definitely need to try sometime. Click here for a recipe

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8. The girly side in me definitely loves emeralds. Look how sparkly!

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9. inchworms. Nothing more needs to be said.

10. turtles.

Drink responsibly and have a good St. Patrick's day!

unicorn farts 105

2012-03-16T16:40:00.000-07:00

Hello Friday, what a welcome surprise.
So this week's unicorn farts starts with a story. A few years ago I went to see Nada Surf at DC's 9:30 Club and lucky for me Delta Spirit was the opener. Needless to say I was hooked. A few years later, they had their own headlining tour and I was there, front and center. I almost snagged a hug from the very drunk lead singer Matt Vasquez as he made his way through the crowd ensuring us that he would make this the best damn concert we had ever been to.
It definitely was.
So here you go, one of my favorites.

Listen to their new album here!
And you can check out their tour dates here, I would definitely try and catch a show.

Unicorn Farts 104

2012-03-09T09:00:00.000-08:00

It's Friday!

Herman is coming out to play (for anyone just tuning in that's the unicorn's name. Fitting isin't it?)

Anyways, this week I'm featuring Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes. If you've never heard of them, it is a tragedy. Fear not though, that's what I'm here for. Aside from their great music, Jade and Alexander seem like pretty cool people too.

I mean look at how cute they are!

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And you gotta love Jade's style.

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So here it is, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes.

And if you have time/like this, check out another great song, Home

Hump Day

2012-03-07T17:54:00.000-08:00

Almost there.
The end of this horrible week is somewhere in the near horizon...in less than 24 hours until I can finally sit back...relax...and then get started on all the work I neglected to do while doing all the other work I had to do.
At least I have going to Disney World to look forward to!
Spring break here I come. (not to mention the return of hopefully good blog posts)
Anyways, about now I have food on the mind considering I have not had a real meal since Sunday and have been living on saltines, apples, and cheerios for the past few days, so I could really go for right about now:
Healthy and super delicious banana chocolate "ice cream"

guacamole recipe I have been meaning to try

buffalo chicken nachos that look DELICIOUS right about now

crockpot chicken tortilla soup

barbacoa beef (reminds me of chipotle)

black bean and corn salad (which might be good with the barbacoa beef)

Pico de gallo chicken quesadilla

Obviously I'm in a mexican mood. (And chocolate and bananas, because when is chocolate and bananas NOT good?)

I also think it is worth noting that while I am sitting here writing this, my fellow techies are contemplating how to freeze a bat, but without killing it....ok?

Sometimes

2012-03-06T22:15:00.002-08:00

Sometimes I fail. At this current moment, I'm failing at my blog. I mean the point is to provide you with something interesting, to provide you with something else to get away from the hustle and bustle of every day...but the hustle and bustle of my every day is catching up with me. Especially this week. But I'm not here to drag you down with me, so considering my lack of inspiration due to my lack of ability to even figure out what work I have to do, I guess I'll just tell you the something else I did today to break away for just a minute.
I went to a book sale.
Maybe that makes me kind of a dork for actually being really excited about that, but I mean come on! Paperbacks for 50 cents, hard covers for $1, to quote Charlie Sheen, winning!!
And win I did.
Among the treasures I picked up was a book on contemporary philosophy published in 1954, an equally old book on dream interpretation, a single volume from a collection of short stories that almost fits in the palm of my hand, and a collection of Edgar Allan Poe's short stories. (picture to come at a more decent hour)
Who needs the Kindle when you can release that old book smell as you turn the thin pages of a well used book?

So if you are looking for something to take away from reading this, here it is:

read a book.

Egg on my Face

2012-03-05T21:51:00.001-08:00

Egg on my face.
I tell you to read my blog...and then I don't post for a day and a few hours. In my defense, I had a midterm portfolio for drawing due yesterday, an exam in Biopsychology, and a formal essay rough draft due Wednesday. On top of that, it's tech week. This is my attempt to try and convey the emotion I am feeling from that. If you haven't noticed already, I'm not particularly good at capturing emotions on camera.

(Also for the girls, gingham and paisley? Good or bad pattern mix?)

So please forgive my lack of posts and I promise to be back as soon as possible. In the mean time enjoy this horrendous picture of a rainbow puking a rainbow.

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wtf...

Hey you, check out my blog!

2012-03-03T16:31:00.000-08:00

I'm just a baby blogger.
As you can see from the simple, discombobulated layout of my blog, I have a lot to learn.
Speaking of, can someone please teach me javascript? (or whatever the word is for computer language that can make my blog pretty)
The problem is, I'm shy. I'm too scared to say to the world of people that I know, "hey! check out my blog sometime!" I guess I just have problems tooting my own horn so to speak. So instead, I hope that some stranger will stumble upon it instead. Of course, that rarely happens, so more often than not I find myself sitting at my computer moping about the fact that I only have 2 readers (not that I don't love both of you.)
Is it at all sad that I just want someone who I couldn't call up on the phone or walk up a flight of stairs to personally thank for reading my blog, to read my blog?
Maybe I'm not writing about the right thing...
Or maybe just not the right people are stumbling upon it....
So here's my proposal:
If you are out there reading this first of all please say hi! You can tweet at me @somethingselses (because apparently something else and 80 different versions of it are already taken), or you can comment right here on this blog. If you're wondering what to comment, you can tell me something else you want me to write about, or something you want to hear or see more of (because sometimes my brain is tired from all this college stuff) or whatever your heart desires. Or I'll make it even easier, just check the box that says more please right under each post.

please?

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(I figured I would pull out all the stops on this one so yeah, it's a sad puppy because my puppy dog face is just not as good. That is my best attempt at a visibly sad face, inspired by the copious amounts of biopsychology I should be studying now. Just be glad I didn't put this commercial instead)

Lastly, if you like what you're reading, tell someone! Because there's only so much I can say before I start sounding really vain...

This time for REAL lastly,

Follow @somethingselses
Tweet #SEITW

Unicorn Farts 103

2012-03-02T09:00:00.000-08:00

I have a friend named Dan. I'm not gonna brag but he's a pretty cool guy. So this Friday's unicorn fart goes out to him. And considering this is for him, I'm going to share with you something he likes. Of course I happen to like it too, otherwise I wouldn't be sharing it with you.

So this is Scroobius Pip. Enjoy

Q&A

2012-03-01T19:13:00.001-08:00

Feeling particularly uninspired today, I went on stumble upon to try and find something to blog about.
This is what I found.
I guess some of them are pretty cheesy, but they really do get you thinking. So I decided to pick one and maybe write a little bit about it.
I chose this one:
"What the world needs now is ___________"
For me, the answer is something else.
For me, that's also what this blog is about.
I don't want to get too philosophical because really, what can a 19 year old college student say about the state of the world?
So here's my spiel.
I think the world needs something other than songs about sex on the radio, I think the world needs something other than reality shows about cupcakes and housewives, I think the world needs something that is original, I think the world needs something to make it see people as something other than fitting a category, I think the world needs something other than chasing the highest paying career, I think the world needs something to look forward to, I think the world needs something that doesn't mean anything, and because of that can mean everything, I think the world needs to do something for the sake of doing it, I think the world needs something that makes it smile, I think the world needs something to save it, I think the world needs to learn to love something that isn't new an improved, I think the world needs to learn to love something that is old and used, I think the world needs something pure to believe in, I think the world needs something to trust, I think the world needs something other than puppies and babies to make them laugh, I think the world needs something new to see, I think the world needs something new to do, I think the world needs something to make it stop judging, I think the world needs something to make it all sink in, I think the world needs something other than prescriptions to solve its problems, I think the world needs to just listen to something, and not talk back, I think the world needs to stop needing something (ironic), I think the world needs something to inspire it, I think the world needs something original.
I think I need to stop my spiel now.

The Story of the Handstand

2012-02-29T21:38:00.002-08:00

that So it's leap day. Up until this year, I didn't really think that much of it. But with all this media frenzy (meaning the leap day episodes of 30 Rock and Modern Family) I have realized that leap day is kind of a big deal. It's an entire extra day of your life that you only get every 4 years!
And I've been wasting it.
Case in point, today I did exactly what I do every Wednesday:
1. Class
2. Lunch
3. Class
4. Gym
5. Class
6. Dinner
7. Attempted to watch Jeopardy...(long story short, my TV insisted that ABC had to be both channels 8 and 13 therefore not allowing me to watch)
8. Facebook, Pinterest, Email, more Pinterest...aka procrastinated
And now here I am, still not doing my homework, and sill following the same old boring routine.
Considering it's 11:30 I didn't have much time though to do a special leap day activity. So I decided to try and do a handstand.
It's nothing crazy, but it's not something I do every day. Frankly, it's not something I've ever done (except maybe underwater, but that doesn't count.)
So this is the story of the handstand:
It started out slow. First I tried to do that yoga pose I have a hard time with every week that is more of a half handstand which looks a little bit like this:
Of course this is a poor picture, and a poor example of the pose but you get the idea.
After doing that a few times, mainly to get this picture, I decided to move up to the big leagues.
Hand-stand-land.
After giving myself a mini pep talk I put my hands on the ground, kicked my legs over and...
back down they came.
So I tried again, and again, and again, and again until i fell, narrowly missing my head ending up in a weird, contorted, heap on the floor, and then I tried again until the clock struck midnight, and leap day was over. I was determined to do it, and with the 2 minutes left I tried my hardest to kick my legs over. Unfortunately gravity won this battle.
I never did touch that door with my feet, but I got over that fear of taking that first step. I embraced the total loss of control just for that second when my feet were in limbo, and for me, that was a leap (sorry, the holidays bring out the sentimental cheesy side in me.)
I guess there's always next time. Although, now that I've taken this leap (I can't stop!), maybe I shouldn't wait 4 more years to try again.
Who knows.

The Ins and Outs

2012-02-25T13:42:00.000-08:00

Hipster. Not.

Unicorn Farts 102

2012-02-24T13:14:00.005-08:00

It's Friday!

so if you have been keeping up with these posts, first off thanks for sticking through. Second, that means you get another chance to take a peek into what I consider good music. Apparently, I'm not very up to date with my music as someone pointed out to me, my itunes is stocked with pretty much zero new albums...but I say who doesn't like vintage./? Besides, there's nothing wrong with knowing what I like and frankly not being the biggest fan of some of the things that pass for music today. I'm not making any claims that the music industry has gone to crap because there is still good stuff coming out. You just have to find the right artists. But this is not a critique of the music industry. I have no authority to say anything about that. But to level with everyone, I will admit to having quite a good time singing along with this in the car.

Everyone has their guilty pleasures, mine just happens to be mindless pop. (I am not endorsing this as good music. Just...fun)

Anyways, so in honor of "updating" my music taste I decided to take a look at some of the Grammy winners from this year since Herman's farts are Grammy worthy after all. So here is Grammy winning Bon Iver (winner for best new artist)

Oh and by the way Grammys, Bon Iver's been around since 2008. But it's about time you noticed.

A List of 10

2012-02-22T14:22:00.008-08:00

So this week and last week were simply absurd. It all started last Friday with the stomach flu, and ended this morning with my British Literature midterm. Somewhere in between, I had tests out the wazoo, and an internship application due, but it's all over now.

Thank. Goodnes.

Since I'm sure no one wants to hear about my stomach flu, or my tests, here are some things that have gotten me through this past week and a half

1. Drawing Class

Sure it's a 9AM, but 3 hours of uninterrupted studio time that I have to spend drawing...no complaints here.

2. getting mail

no email can compare to getting a paper letter in the mail. Even more when you get a package in the mail and it's christmas all over again.

3.Pinterest!

procrastinate ALL the homework and pin ALL the things

check out my boards or some my someone elses!

4. STRIPES!

Too bad I only own one of these things :(

5.Froot Loops

Artificial fruit flavoring, sugar, loops, reliving childhood, what more can you ask for?

6. Zooey Deschanel and new episodes of New Girl

I am kind of sort of obsessed with Zooey.

I mean look at her! Who wouldn't love that face, those big eyes, that quirk.

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7. Spotify

soundtrack of the spring production Adding Machine stuck in my head+budget of a college student=quietly humming to myself EVERYWHERE

soundtrack of spring production Adding Machine stuck in my head+Spotify= successfully embarrassing myself as I belt in my room. (lies I'm a great singer)

8. finding someone with the same music taste as you

9. MASSIVE snowflakes

because it's happening right now

10. the people who asked me why I wasn't blogging.

This is for you

This

2012-02-12T20:42:00.000-08:00

Today I walked back to my dorm after a particularly rough day and found this outside my door. I don't feel that there are any other words necessary for this.

Unicorn Farts 101

2012-02-10T15:15:00.003-08:00

I don't like poop jokes. Let's be real, who actually enjoys talking about feces? (If you do, my apologizes for this generalization.)

However, upon the request of one of my favorite people on this planet, my cousin and godmother Carla Taylor, I will have more farting animals. So say hello to this unicorn.

A few things about this unicorn:

1. Its name is Herman

2. Herman hates pop music and glitter. He likes to live outside the box

3. His hair is pink to give it the illusion of being magical (because the horn just wasn't enough.)

4.Herman's anus has the magical power of making fan-fucking-tastic music, aka this unicorn's farts are grammy worthy

So from now on, on Fridays, this unicorn will grace us with a fart.

This week, it goes a little something like this...

Sure this might be "older" but just like the honey badger, Herman don't give a shit (no pun intended.) It's still great music.

Fresh Perspectives

2012-02-09T17:40:00.000-08:00

I'm not just a kid.

For starters, I'm 19 years old which makes me one year older than all the other legal adults, but that's not the point. The point is, I have a lot to me. So far I've shown you a little bit of my artistic side (more of that to come), and obviously my humorous side (just kidding), but now I would like to introduce you to the writer in me.

She says, "how do you do?"

(She is a little bit more formal. And she wears glasses.)

Anyways, since my short story is still a work in progress, I thought I would try something new out in the mean time. A sort of mixed media project. And all I need is a picture and my imagination.

So here it goes, enjoy!

(photo by me)

This is it. The first game of the season. Four years of football camp, four seasons of high school varsity, a scholarship, and I'm finally here. College football. In a few hours the stadium will be full of screaming fans, the field full of screaming coaches and players, but all I'll hear is my adrenaline amplified heartbeat echoing off the cavernous inside of my helmet.

I remember my dad's voice as he stood with me in this same spot on the first day of preseason, "You did it son. Now get out there and make me proud," he said as he thumped his open hand on my back.

I walk onto the field past the ten yard line, the twenty...the numbers begin to blur as I run down the field now, my cleats slamming on the turf, my hands slicing through the icy fall air faster and faster until I reach up and feel the rough leather pressed between my palms. I cradle the ball under my arm and keep running. All I see is the span green of the turf in front of me, the white stripes marking how far I've gone, my heart keeps rhythm with my feet.

Bu-bum, bu-bum, bu-bum...BUM.

My chest caves in around the players helmet as he slams into me. My head flies forward and my feet slip out from under me. The green of the turf quickly changes to blue sky as my body flies backwards, my head ricocheting off the rubbery turf until I settle into the ground.

"FIRST DOWN!"

oh hello!

2012-02-09T11:13:00.000-08:00

Blog cat is kind of shy.

Debut #2

2012-02-08T20:26:00.000-08:00

Blogosphere,

My apologies. I feel that it's pretty self explanatory what I am apologizing for, but in case you don't know, I'm apologizing for the fact I haven't blogged in about...well who's really counting. Here is my excuse:

(This is an interpretive rendering of what my life currently looks like)

(here it is in color)

The point is, I am busy. I'm a college student with way too much on her plate and not enough time for herself. So I decided to take more than the hour and a half of yoga every Friday to myself, and restart my blog.

So this is my first post.

hehe, it's a whale fart.

(Don't ask about the logistics, it just works.)

Travel Journal Day 5

2011-08-14T18:30:00.000-07:00

My friends are back in town! (well a few still aren't, but its a pretty good group back that are here)

So in celebration, we decided to have a French picnic in front of the Washington Monument (ala Eiffel Tower) complete with our tradition of kite flying.

In all of our planning though, the one thing no one thought to do was check the weather.

So of course as we are driving downtown, a HUGE ray of lightning breaks the sky open in front of us. We look at each other and decide to head to the art studio at school where we always used to spend our afternoons instead.

We decided it could be equally as French as the Washington Monument, we would just pretend we were in the catacombs in Paris! Not to mention the studio is in the shadow of the National Cathedral, which could be DC's Notre Dame, and the teacher to whom the studio belongs to is in France as I write.

After a toast to friends and new beginnings

(yeah, we're original)

we pigged out on our impressive spread.

By the time we had finished our picnic, the rain had seemed to clear out and the wind had picked up so we decided to head downtown again for some kite flying.

Of course by the time we got downtown and started flying the kites, the sky began to look like this...

and then it began to pour shortly there after.

So I danced.

My clothes were completely soaked, my face was dripping and the rain was coming down heavy around me but I just threw my hands up and ran, and spun around, and jumped, and twirled and everything else.

Why not?

Soaking wet, I returned to my friends who had taken refuge in front of the monument and were completely dry. But I enjoyed every minute of my time in the rain so I didn't envy them.

Unfortunately, most of my friends had to leave soon after.

Fortunately, I was able to spend the rest of the day, and night, with my friend who had just come back into town from Ireland.

Oh! Before I forget, here's the story of the meteor shower.

3:45 AM- I wake up. I notice that my parents are not awake. So it's just me to watch the show.

4:00 AM-I make myself a cup of tea and sit on my porch, eagerly looking for meteors.

4:15 AM- I come back inside and do a little research on the computer.

Here is what I learned: the full moon makes the sky too bright to see most of the meteors.

4:20 AM- Damn it I woke up this early and I WILL see a meteor.

4:25 AM- Is that a meteor? Nope...I'm just seeing spots.

4:38 AM-fuck it.

And that's all for today!

Travel Journal Day 4

2011-08-12T18:37:00.000-07:00

After visiting cities all week, I decided that it was time to take a break and take a step back and venture into nature.

First stop was the Botanical Gardens. Smack dab in the middle of downtown and I never even knew it was there! Of course, my severe pollen allergies and my fear of bees have created an instinctual aversion to anything flower related so this is somewhat excusable. But after 5 years of allergy shots, I figured I could risk it.

I was a little bit jumpy at first seeing as there was a constant humming of some insect or another around me, and I did not want to relive the one encounter I had with a bee that did not end well for either of us. But, I stuck it out and was rewarded with this picture!

Satisfied, I hightailed it inside to this.

Now I know what Elizabeth Taylor must have felt like on the set of Suddenly Last Summer in Sebastian's garden. All that was missing was a Venus Fly Trap.

The tall, overbearing trees and gargantuan leaves completely enclosed me,

yet everything felt so open with the sunlight streaming through the branches.

It was a strange feeling.

There was also this aspect of strange...

I wonder who came up with that one.

Very funny.

But I have to say, it made for a pretty picture.

And so did these.

Faced with my fears again, I headed into the desert climate room. I was surrounded by cacti.

Concentrated on not falling, I VERY carefully made my way on the narrow path to the other side of the room. You would think it would be a slightly wider path with all the cacti and their threatening needles. I guess it is a slightly irrational fear, but it doesn't affect my day to day life... so I just deal.

Again I was rewarded for my bravery with this picture:

Now it was off to the National Arboretum.

Apparently, the only exhibit to see there at this time of year is the Bonsai tree exhibit.

I say this with no disappointment though because Bonsais are really something else. Some of the trees have been in training for over 400 years! It really is an art form.

I especially like the ones that look like little forests

But all I could think about then were fairies.

It also made me want to train a Bonsai tree. I will add that to my list of things to do.

As I made my way back to my car I stopped at a Koi pond. Replete with Koi of every size and color it was quite a sight. I even got to see two kiss! But my camera wasn't fast enough to catch it. That wasn't the real attraction though. As I was taking pictures of the Koi, someone decided to toss in some food to them. I was ill prepared for what ensued.

Complete and utter chaos.

If you've never seen Koi feeding, here is a video I found that pretty accurately demonstrates what I saw. The Koi went completely crazy! The bigger ones were getting on top of the smaller ones, thrashing outside of the water, splashing water everywhere, just completely insane. If you ever get the opportunity to feed Koi I would definitely do it.

But that's all for today. Now I'm off for an early night to prepare for an early rise. Apparently there's a meteor shower at 4 AM. Another thing I will soon be able to check off my to do list.

Check out my Tumblr for more pictures from today!

Travel Journal Day 3

2011-08-11T20:34:00.000-07:00

Today's journey did not do the real Spain justice.

I guess DC is just too structured. Everyone is always rushing somewhere, the buildings are all straight with sharp corners, the sidewalks are empty and the streets are filled with rows of cars...It is complete opposite of what I remember Spain to be. I remember the streets were filled with people who walked all around me but never seemed to have anywhere to be. There were performers around every corner, and you could always hear music from somewhere, even in the silence. Even the architecture reflected my perception of the city as relaxed. The buildings curved, each one flowing into the next one, colored glass in the windows breaking up the harsh rays of the sun. Everything just seemed so arbitrary, carefree and better.

Of course this all seems too idyllic to be true.

Yet another reason why I need to visit Spain again.

Despite the chasm between the two cities, I decided to attempt to visit Spain in DC. But as I had suspected, there wasn't much to see. So I headed for the first sight of Spain, the New York avenue sculpture project. Inspired by Spain's very own Antonio Gaudi, Niki de Saint Phalle created these mosaic statues as part of an outdoor exhibit from the National Museum of Women in the Arts. It, of course, reminds me of Park Güell, one of my favorite places on this earth.

My favorites.

They are truly amazing.

After a leisurely walk around the median, I found myself a little bit inspired. Of course I was inspired by the mosaic aspect, but I also found myself realizing that I should embody the carefree spirit that I attributed to Spain. Why not dance in the middle of the street? These statues sure look like they are having a great time! Sometimes I just get a little bit lost in everything I forget to take a moment for myself.

Cheesy, yes. But who cares.

With a little more spring in my step, I decided to head to the National Museum of the American Indian, the only place with wave like architecture that I could think of in DC.

As much as I can't appreciate the inside of this museum, the outside is quite something.

Seeing as I couldn't come up with anything else that would do Spain justice, I decided to head to the art store. After all, Spain doesn't have a plethora of museums for nothing. Since I didn't have much time before my dinner reservation, I decide to keep it simple.

Inspired by Joan Miro this is my work in progress

It still needs a little color

But I had to make my dinner reservation so I headed off to Old Town Alexandria to La Tasca for some Tapas and Flamenco show!

The food was delicious, the dancing was beautiful, what more can I say? Unfortunately, I don't have much to show either.

Low light and moving subjects do not a good picture make. So here is the one half decent picture that I managed to snap.

(Of course, there are more pictures from today on my Tumblr so please check them out!)

I guess Spain is more about the culture and not so much about the sights. Maybe I was just looking in the wrong place all along. Maybe I can bring Spain to DC, or rather to my every day life...

This is getting a little too cheesy for me.

Travel Journal Day 2

2011-08-10T16:12:00.000-07:00

My mom always tells me to expect nothing and I'll never be disappointed. After my adventures yesterday, this is a mantra I probably should have adopted.

Then again, I rarely listen to my mother; and so I went into day 2 of my travels with high hopes.

I was not disappointed.

Not only did everything I had planned exist, but I even got a friend to come along with me!

We started off our Italian viaggio (aka journey) with a "gondola" ride.

Ok, so it was paddle boats in the Tidal Basin.

Sure, you have to do the paddling instead of having an Italian man in a striped shirt serenade you as he takes you through venice; but frankly I find that being serenaded is just plain awkward, and when I visited Venice (for real), our gondolier had a rather large hole in his pants, in a rather unfortunate spot. The paddle boats proved to be a suitable substitute though as we leisurely paddled around for a while, talking and being serenaded by the sounds of mid day traffic.

All geographical impossibilities set aside, after a leisurely walk across an unidentified bridge, we ended up in Rome at the Pantheon. Here in DC though, we call it the Jefferson Memorial.

Seeing as neither my friend nor I are Thomas Jefferson enthusiasts, we took a few pictures, basked in the glory of the cross breeze, and promptly made our way back to metro for our next stop.

Back downtown, we had somehow managed to make our way back to Venice. We headed for Piazza San Marco, or DC's version- Freedom Plaza.

Unfortunately, there were no pigeons.

However, we were quickly distracted from theme when we discovered that the seemingly arbitrary lines were actually a partial map of L'Enfant's original plans for the downtown area of DC. Since the best, complete view of it is from above, and I'm rather short, I snagged this from google maps.

It all looks significantly more confusing from an aerial view.

Hungry from all the walking, we began our search for one of the plentiful Italian restaurants. But short on cash, we had to settle for pizza from A Slice of Italy Pizzeria in the food court. The only Italian thing about it was the name and the oregano sprinkled on the pizza.

But it was good, and cheap, so I wasn't going to complain.

Our day was winding down as we headed to Georgetown for our 2 final stops. In spirit of the Murano Glass factory, we took a water taxi (drove in the rain) and stopped in the Maurine Littleton Gallery.

I was blown away (no pun intended)

After spending a gorgeous hour in the gallery, we finally stopped in Georgetown Tobacco to see the Venetian Carnival masks. We were not allowed to take pictures. But that didn't stop us from eagerly peering through the glass cases at the wide variety of intricately detailed masks, wishing we had the funds to buy one.

And so our trip was finished. Satisfied with the success, we said our goodbyes and headed home.

I can only hope the rest of my travels are as wonderful as today.

For more pictures, please visit my Tumblr

Ciao!

Travel Journal Day 1

2011-08-09T17:22:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day of my theoretical travels!

I decided my first stop would be Egypt. Pyramids, mummies, crowded outdoor bazaars, hookah...what's not to like?

Things got off to a shaky start

My first stop was the D.C Farmer's Market, which promised to be as close as I could get to the atmosphere of an Egyptian bazaar. However, upon arrival this is what I found...

Notice anything wrong with this picture?

This is not quite the hectic market I was expecting. That was until I discovered it is CLOSED on Mondays.

Deciding that I would not let this get my spirits down, I continued my trek onto my next destination, Khan el Khalili. Not quite the famous Cairo bazaar, but rather a more low key hookah shop. So I hop on the bus and follow my map down 7th st...

then back up 7th st...

and then back down one more time just to confirm the fact that...IT WASN'T THERE.

My spirits began to slightly d

But not enough to send me home.

Next stop was the Egyptian mummies exhibit museum of natural history.

At least it was there.

Or rather part of it was there. As I soon came to discover, it was only a PREVIEW of the exhibit. This consisted of 2 small glass cases in a dimly lit back hallway. There was a mummy, a sarcophagus, some amulets and a refresher course in some 6th grade history, including this fun fact:

(I guess those new boots were worth the splurge.)

After a quick stop in the mammal hall in hopes of finding a Camel (I didn't) I decided to stop by the Freer and Sackler galleries since they were advertising ancient Iranian pottery. It's no Egypt, but I figured it was close enough to theme.

After a morning of disappointments, my luck had finally turned around. It turns out that Charles Lang Freer had traveled to Egypt to expand his personal art collection, which is on display in the Freer gallery!

Isn't it beautiful?

Of course I still had to see the ancient Iranian pottery.

Turns out they were very inspired by birds. Combining birds and pottery, this is definitely something I will be looking more into.

It was time to head to the Cairo Condominiums. This was more for the name than the sight itself,

but it was quite a sight.

It had gargoyles, carved elephant heads on the window frames, this arch entry, and intricate carvings. I was captivated. Which made it even harder when I discovered the architectural travesty that had occurred. Apparently when a building is deemed a historical landmark, only the facade is really protected, leaving the rest of the building in danger of this:

so sad.

But better this than no Cairo.

By this point I was starting to get a little hungry. As tempting as

the sign at Trio was,

I decided I would hold out for some good Shawarma.

So I began my journey to Columbia Heights, home of DC's Shawarma King. After missing my first transfer point, I decided to ride until the next one instead of backtracking. Turns out this was a good decision, and I ended up meeting the sweetest Peruvian woman who had just moved to DC. We had a nice conversation as she walked with me to the restaurant since she knew her way around the neighborhood better than me. She sent me off with a kiss on the cheek and well wishes for my future. I wish I had at least gotten her name.

But now, it was Shawarma time.

YUM

Tired, tan, and full of Shawarma, I began my 5 mile walk home. Sure I could have taken the bus, but why not explore a little more? Turns out there wasn't much to see, but I did pass enough time until I was meeting my friend for hookah.

(He's still working on his smoke tricks.)

And so my day came to a close. It wasn't quite the worldly adventure I had hoped for, but it was only the first try. Maybe I'll have better luck next time.

For more (and better) pictures check out my Tumblr !

The Beginning

2011-08-05T17:50:00.000-07:00

I've been bored.

So far, my summer has consisted of the following:

In a weak effort to defend myself, most of my friends are out of town.

But now that summer is quickly coming to a close, I have decided I need to stop being so pathetic. Just because my friends are out of town, why I can't enjoy a day (or night) on the town by myself?

So I sat and thought about what I should do.

...

for a

very

long

time.

And then it hit me.

"If the mountain will not come to Mohammed...

then Mohammed will go to the mountain."

Of course my thoughts did not consist of any of those words. In fact, my idea is quite the opposite. It is better phrased like this:

"If I can not go to any of the places I want to visit...

then the places I want to visit will come to me"

huh?

Here's the gist of it:

For the next few weeks, I will be theoretically traveling "around the world" by visiting what I have deemed DC's version of the various countries, cities and regions I have wanted to visit (or revisit.)

Tomorrow marks the beginning of my travels!

I'll send you a postcard.