blogs are funny things.

I started an entry with something personal... no... it was personal to someone else but it effected me - I realized that's something I can't share with "anyone". I don't mean to say that you, reader, are just "anyone"... but you could be. I am. Anyway, weird day.

The first blog I ever read was of a very personal nature by a very depressed girl - it put me off the whole sharing online thing. My brother has had some blog problems as well.

The next blog I read a few years later had some great, funny writing, by an acquaintance. He then passed it on to a political blogger, also very good.

Now I use Shrook and get updates on multiple random blogs - mostly news and techy and politics.

I still don't know what this blog is yet - I think work and entertainment, and the occasional picture overflow from flickr.

Work. This week is the start megga planning, help emails to follow.

And for now, here is a tribute to the always working "L".

My Trapeze Teacher...

is going to Sri Lanka.

you can help him get there by giving money at this site. If you haven't given already this is your chance to know exactly where and what it does.


Anyway, had a good tumbling class and took a few good snaps.

14

I met someone tonight who has visited 18 countries.

I have traveled to 40 states... but only 14 countries... I will fix this in march - but I was bested. I accept this defeat.

14 hour work day. sleep.

Vikings

The Vikings beat the Packers. That's good.

I watched at Bar None - The official home of the vikings in NYC.

I work tomorrow bright and early in central park on Bonny Hero*, jolly good fun.

*names changed to protect the innocent... but is sounds quite the same, and premires this friday.

dawn

I have to start going to bed on time.

hey, look, flying rats... they're actally sort of pretty.

happy birthday Broker.

End of work.

I just got home.

it is 5:38 am

I chose this profession.

17 and one half hours of work.

got some amazing pictures, maybe if I'm dumb I'll stay up and post them.

I was dumb.

start of work

I am leaving for work in five minutes.

Today I am a PA.

I am guessing I will be home around 3 am.

Time me.

I remember when movies used to be magic.

HAS to be a movie

One of those news articles that is being made into a movie as we speak... read... write... whatever.

French art thief on trial again
-may sound boring, but stealing art is always fun... and there is more...
Stephane Breitwieser, 33, has admitted stealing 239 artworks - including priceless masterpieces in seven European countries in 1995-2001.
-nice work, good job, young.
Breitwieser scoured European museums, pilfering works which he hid in his rucksack or inside his coat, then simply walked out
-yeah, you read it right... now comes the drama
His mother, Mireille Stengel, is also on trial for having destroyed more than 200 works stolen by her son, who had stored them at her home... She admitted having cut up canvases "to punish her son," who she alleged had "terrorised" her.
-Cut up canvases... to punish her son... what???
mom "you didn't take out the garbage, you know I can't... why do you keep terrorising me?"
son "But I brought you a new gift, a painting."
mom "let me see it..." CUTS PAINTING IN PIECES "Now you have more garbage to take out."

great story - someone get on that.

ps crossfire is finally over!

F.I.G.s (what do you like in a girl?)

Here we go - theory time...

First Impression Girls

There are girls that I am magnetically / chemically attracted to within minutes - seconds - of meeting. These girls could ask me to do anything - Done.

I have found when someone asks me, "What do you look for in a girlfriend?" I will take the qualities of these F.I.G.s, find common trait, and say that's what I am looking for... there has been an exception or two (took longer), but that's because I didn't have a real person to person talk with her for a while. Things I have found in common between FIGs;
smart
motivated (does things)
confident
laughs at my dumb jokes (makes me want to tell jokes),
knows how to converse (asks the right questions, listens, talks)
pretty (yeah, yeah, I think everyone I like is pretty, eye of beholder thing)

Now for the rub.

They all have boyfriends. Really. Girls this great always have boyfriends - I think it helps the confidence thing. Again, there is the exception - just breaking up still counts, because it was probably a long term relationship and they are still hung up on some dude.

I guess I am looking for a really good one night stand. One that lasts forever - always fresh, always flirting, can always make my heart race. Maybe this is why I am still friends with my ex's.

Related note- one of my first FIGs from highschool is getting married. We haven't talked since graduation but her yearbook signing still kills me.

tuff.

It is already difficult to write everyday... maybe I have become boring.

Obsessed.

I have become obsessed with my photos. I think it is because it is my only creative outlet of late. I guess this means I will have to either buy a building soon, or a better camera... ok AND a better camera.

My Trapeze Teacher just purchased a cello. I may have to play it when he is gone, you know, to pick up chicks.

He isn't talking for three days... he got a number, just for carrying a cello... not talking, carrying.

I am totally amazed at the stories of survival coming from the Tsunami.
An Indonesian woman swept out to sea by the tsunami has been rescued by a tuna-fishing vessel after five days adrift.
and nice people
Sandra Bullock donates $1 mil for tsunami
and my favorite has to be
A 10-year-old British girl saved 100 other tourists... The beach was one of the few on the Thai island of Phuket where no-one was killed.

my beard keeps a growin'

Gilligan's Island

I spent the day playing with my pictures, I realized how easy it was to get people to view them. Just use the words - boobs, cleavage, tits, etc... and people will come a runnin'.

I have a few cool pictures but they were just schooled by some mammary glands. Maybe I'll produce some porn. Good money.

I missed the vikings game, they lost, but we are in the playoffs - which is good.

Apple's website is a very nice gesture.

'Fockers' sets two box office records. A little about my sense of humor. I like to be surprised - shocked even... usually with "words" and "thoughts" or even "wit"... on the other hand - a little slapstick can be funny - like Dodgeball. I think, what I have dubbed, "Gilligan's Island humor" is painful. The goofy guy is embarrassed or hurt through a series of misunderstandings and lies is not funny to me. I am one of the few people on the earth who did/does not like "meet the parents" or "Curb Your Enthusiasm". I think you can see them all acting in Curb... you can see them think "what if I say..." right before they talk. If everyone slowed down a second and explained why they were acting the way they were and listened to other people the show would not be funny. Irrational... I am fine being the only one who is truly annoyed by the entire genre (gilligan's island humor) of film and TV, please go back to your DVD "Curb" and we'll chat later... ok, I'll watch it with you.

Resolutions

1. try to write daily, blog or otherwise
2. have all of my friends become rich and/or famous... I don't want to meet rich and famous people, but I want my friends to become so. I want backstage passes and parties in amazing places.

yeah, good new year's eve. Lots o' good people, places, drinks.

see the pictures here.

There have been a few good parties - birthday, skating, and christmas.

Now I must recover.

I didn't say how much I have to write.

beach flip

beach flip
Originally uploaded by seanich.

I am slowly getting all of my pictures online, click on the flipping dude to see more.

minnesota is good, preparing for the 45 for xmas eve.

now I am going ice skating.

it was -28 with windchill today.

We're not in NYC anymore...

little, silly things I notice, like metro/subway/tube/L systems. I'm a big fan of public transportation. I mean, I love my car, really, but craming every type of person into a small space and transporting them for the same price. My favorite system is still Moscow. Beautiful and fast. Its major flaw is that it closes. As for London - people here are polite, I just don't think they know the rules. In New York there are PSA posters anouncing the virtues of walking on the right and not riding between or on the outside of cars. Here in London we don't let the people off of the trains before boarding, and we don't move to the center of the train. Unfortunate. what really made this stick out was when I waiting to board the train a woman exited and remarked, "Wow, they actually waited and let people get off first!" I was shocked that someone thought as I did - then I recognised the American accent. We may not have a good foriegn policy, but we know when we get something right.

Yesterday was the Theatre Museum followed by Transportation and National museums. They were amazing. Today was the Tower and Harrods - also very exciting.

Tomorrow I sit and get ready to be jet lagged all day. I hope I get good movies, the last nine hour flight had "Elf"- fun and "shark tale" - terrible, absolutely.

Few more africa thoughts...

*I would say over 50% of the billboards were of white people.
*All of their music/pop stars are from abroad.
*Music is regge or R&B - that's it. One or the other.
*In the city you do not see old girls/young women, they never swim.
* if you ask "have you ever seen snow" they respond with, "yes, on the TV"
*London and Africa have the <"> and <@> symbols in each other's place. I don't know what that means... but it is annoying.
*some of the obits are are titled "Promotion to a higher glory"
*Time is set from sunrise.
*At noon here in London the sun is as high as 45 minutes before sunset in Kenya.

Here comes family and snow, cheers.

Human Safari

It is cold here in London, I expected it, but all of my clothing is dirty and I have to layer it all. Ah well.

I really haven't touched on race much. I am white. So is my Sister. She is also a girl.She has been stared at consistantly for 3 months. I got it pretty solid for two weeks. Last night I was one of the 3 white men in the final dance club we (my sister's local friends) went to. The other men were much older and looked like they were looking for fun they could pay for. I don't think I've been called "darling" and "hotstuff" by strangers before... oh working girls.

Anyway, everywhere we went people would say, yell, shout, whisper, "Jambo" which means "hello, hi" and is used to say to forigners/whites. They use another word when talking to each other. There is even a "Jambo" song to lure the turists to purchase the local mass-produced kitch.

The first thing I noticed upon leaving the airport was the lack of people trying to "help" for a fee, people nearly begging to do things, show you things, take your money. Take your money. I have become incredibly wary of anyone aproaching me on the street. I keep my hands in my pockets walking through crouds. I usually don't even say "Hi" back.

More on social stuff later - ooo, they know so much more about world news than we do. The joys of BBC.

It is nice to stand out... occasionaly. It is also nice to blend in.

London is really expensive.

airports

don't have time, gotta rush to london.

something I've been noticing. on all of their chrsitmas stuff here they have snow...
frost...

why? was it snowing when jesus was born? in fact, it is summer here. snow?

halmark owns the world.

Happy B-day from East Africa.

Today is my Father's Birthday. I'm glad he was born... ok, I'm glad I was born too... but I have a great family, so there.

We didn't get a ride with the pretty german, but we did get to ride in the back of a Dulle (truck) for a couple of hours for a dollar. At one point this truck, which is a normal sized truck, had 31 people riding on/in it.

We are now at Nungwi on the northern most tip of Zanzibar which is an independent state within Tan-ZAN-ia. The vice president of Tanzania is the president of Zanzibar - go figure.

Our first half day was spent exploring the white sand beaches. Yesterday we spent most of the day boating through a storm to get to our SCUBA diving spot. it cleared up nicely and it was beautiful under water. I don't have PADI certification. I lied. I didn't die. I have scuba dove (dived) before and took a day course... that's enought to go 60 meters underwater with curent, right?

We are going again tomorrow.

Today was spent deciding whether or not Sister had malaria and then mountain biking for a few hours. A big money earner here is picking seaweed at low tide and selling it in the bigger city... I will always check any purchased seaweed to see where it is from from now on.

Most resort towns I have been to have a very sharp line between the "resort" and "world" here - not so much. I like it that way. there are more locals around and more local spots, it also keeps the prices down.

The morning was spent mountian biking on the beach and through the nearly unpassable roads.

Time for seafood.

Excuse me Mr/Ms food server?

We met a friend at the shop across the road from our hotel. It is a nice knick knack store with a few very nice original pieces. he invited us (ok, Sister) to eat dinner with him at an outdoor festival. Everything was caught or harvested that day, many locals and smart travelers. The Zanzibari spiced tea was excellent, as well as the sugar-cane juice, like everything there, made right infront of us.

One of the people we met was wearing a Boston Redsocks hat. I congratulated him, "Boston! Boston!" He didn't know I was talking to him. I touched his hat and told him that the "B" stood for Boston and that their baseball team were the world champions right now. he didn't care. Sister calmed me down by explaining that though they may not know what their clothing means, they know exactly where all of their food comes from.

"Excuse me Mr/Ms McDonalds/Sushi Place, where, exactly, does this food come from? ... No, I know probably out west/east, I mean what is the name of the person that raised/caught/ farmed it? ... Yeah, I don't know either... Who won the world series? ... yes they did, isn't that good/too bad."

We went to a bar with an "African Dance Party". They played re-mixes of Paul Simon and Elton John. We met a german girl who is going North today (as we were planing to do) in a real car. We may now try to hitch a ride.

Off to the beach.

Nee mee chill.

During the daily rain or two we were inside a church that used to be a slave trading facility. It had a crucifix that was made from the wood of the tree under which Dr. (David) Livingston's heart was planted.

The other rain we were on a side street where locals shoped, having a 7-up.

Markets here are amazing.

People don't hastle us as much. (there is a call to worship outside for the muslims right now - sunset) I think it is because they don't all know english. I enjoy this a lot more.

We saw some traditional African dance last night with a BBQ. I actually remember some of the steps from my classes at NTI.

As for the title of the post - in Niarobi there are Billboards which say "Nee Mee Chill" with happy teens showing a "peace" sign pointed at a 45 degree angle. It means "We will wait [for marrige to have sex]"

I promise I have some great pictures, check back in a week and I may place them everywhere. tah tah.

internet.

I just spent a long time writing a great entry. it didn't work. I am going to play in the sun now.

"... but I'll order it from Zanzibar!"

did you know that "Tanzania" was actually pronounced tan-ZAN-ya? Ididn't.

Every place we go is better than the last. Sister believes that she likes things with "Z". making Zanzibar cooler than Tanzinia cooler that Kenya. Try it at home - Zebra vs. Horse.

Beautiful plane ride from Niarobi to Dar es Salaam (Where is Salaam? DAR es Salaam). Nice ocean front city, good hostel. Bad national museum... it was very sad, I have pictures - but for an example - there was a model of the moon lander... it had scotch tape holding it together and the plastic piece that all the small pieces come in... well, they thought that was an intenna and it was part of the model. We had good Thai.

We used the travel book very well and new in advance that the ocean front would be a mess with people ready to scam us, knowing how much everything should cost was great. The Ferry to Zanzibar was very nice, we spent most of the time outside on the deck.Sister saw a dolphin, I saw a sea turtle.

We splurged on the hotel. It is worth it. Beach view, pool, resturant, AC, and some of the most amazing wood work I have ever seen.

Avacado prawn cocktail, lobster, all caught within the last couple days.

oh, we also have a TV, and flipping through the normal Bollywood and news there was a Simpsons Episode. It was when the Simpsons went to Africa. Weird. This was a Satelite Channel. Weird.

Now it is time to lounge. Hopefully I can get some pictures soon, this is a pretty fast internet connection

observations

suits. most men wear suits, or at least jackets. They don't fit. not like hand-me-downs - I thought that's what they were. nope. I passed a store and the maniquins in the window had mis-fitting suits. weird. big shoulder pads.

english. they all speak it. I just wasn't expecting that.

mutatu. they are 14 passenger vans to large busses. they all have themes. "rock and roll" "jesus", and many odd odd ones. I've heard they have a Minnesota Vikings one. Everyone is packed inside, there is a driver and someone who collects the cost (about 25 cents US) and they zig zag through trafic. They are confused why we in the states don't have mutatus. I say we have busses and subways. I ddon't explain that in the suburbs most everyone has a car.

Niarobi

Day 2.

no, sorry I'll start with day -1, I was on the plane a lot. For the 2nd leg (9 hours) I was in a middle seat.

Get to Niarobi, it's dark and warm.

We are staying in a very nice guest house 20 minutes from downtown. had some of the local beer.

Day 1, Safari.

lots of animals, pictures are better than words, so you'll have to wait. giraffes (twigga in Kiswahilli) Rihnos ostriges crocodiles and more. We then went to a resturant named "Carnivore". if you can imagine a meat, we ate it. really. if you are wondering, crocodile is a little fishy. We (by we I mean my sister and me) then wandered around the city.

oh, fruit. fruit is AMAZING. normally not a big fan of mango, but come on. then there are the "normal" fruits which are so much better it makes me sick. Pineapple, watermellon, bannanas. You may be saying "they are just fruits, and good already, how can they be any better?"
they can.

Day 2, Museum, Nairobi.

We found our way to the National Museum of Kenya. learned lot's of fun facts about the country. I'm not going to tell you any, but we did. A child on a field trip went out of his line to touch my skin.

oh, Coffee. Seriously. so good.

Went to a tourist trap. everyone loves us, until we leave without buying anything.

They don't have any love for Bush, but they like Americans. (I know this is a huge generalization, but it is from what I have experienced so far, maybe that will change.)

Now back to eat and tomorrow Tanzinia then Zanzibar then back to Kenya then London then MN.

no time to spell chek,

jamba. (that means "hello forigner" but I think it can mean goodbye too.)

"dark continent"

yes, I am off in a few hours.

I will spend 17 hours in the air, and then on top of that there is the whole passporty thing. I also forgot to get a visa. oops.

I promise to play more with my blog when I get to Minnesota and hang with the family for 8 or so days. Then I'll be back in NYC for the new year, weee.

The only bad things about this trip is not being able to give blood for a long time. The sacrifices I make...

Here's hoping no one gets mad at me and tries to shoot me.