Adventures with Kate, part four

It was Tuesday, August 10, and Kate and I were in St. Augustine, America's oldest city. The guy we were staying with lent us a couple of bikes for the day so we could get around by ourselves. I hadn't ridden a bike in a while, but it was like riding a bike. They were both mountain bikes, and even though I thought I would have a problem with them (I've always preferred single-speed bikes), I didn't really.

Our first stop was the lighthouse, a short ride away. This would be our second visit to a lighthouse; we had visited the Hillsboro Inlet lighthouse in January. I couldn't help but compare the two lighthouses. Most notably, the Hillsboro lighthouse is only open to visitors a few days per year, while the St. Augustine lighthouse is only not open to visitors a few days per year. The former is still owned and operated by the US Coast Guard, while the latter is not.

The St. Augustine lighthouse is also more impressive overall. It's taller, and it has that classic conical lighthouse shape. We spent a while at the top of the lighthouse even though there were a lot of other people there. It was a nice day, and the breeze was strong but refreshing. After going back down, we checked out the adjacent museum and, of course, signed the guestbook.

Kate had wanted to go to the beach, so the next stop on our bicycle journey was Anastasia State Park. At the park, we ate some overpriced hamburgers and then went to the beach. It was a very wide beach with shallow water. After briefly going into the water, we decided to lie in the sun. I had grabbed a couple of towels from for us our host's bathroom (with his permission, of course), and I unraveled mine to find that half of it was labeled "FACE" and the other half was labeled "BUTT." Kate thought it was hilarious.

If there's one thing I hate, it's putting on sunscreen. It's greasy and smelly and makes a mess. So I didn't put on any sunscreen, and neither did Kate. Instead, we just lay. After a while, we were incredibly sunburned, and we decided to go back to our host's to relax. But a short stay turned into a long one, and by the time we went out on our bikes again it was getting dark.

I wanted to take Kate to see the scenic campus of Flagler College, so that's where we went. We spent a lot of time taking photos of the buildings (especially Kate, with her new camera) and then just talking. We were tired, having had a long couple of days. And it was pretty quiet, with only the occasional horse and buggy going by with an annoying tour guide and some family inside.

After a while, I thought we should head back; I didn't want to be out too late. At our host's place, Kate and I had some frozen dinners that we had bought at the grocery store. Not long after, we laid our sore, sunburned selves down to sleep.

Read about The Origins of 10 Nicknames. (Via The Presurfer)

Really interesting: Top 10 Codes You Aren't Meant To Know. I'll never think of stores the same way again. (Via J-Walk Blog)

Adventures with Kate, part three

On the morning of Monday, August 9, Andy drove Kate and me to the Greyhound station. Kate and I would be taking a bus to St. Augustine; while we were there, Andy would be going to Albany and staying there for a couple of weeks. Since Kate and Andy wouldn't see each other again, their goodbyes were especially poignant.

Kate was a seasoned Greyhound pro by this time, but I had never ridden with them before. In fact, I would venture to guess that not many people have. Besides that it's inconvenient for a majority of Americans (i.e., the ones who have cars), I think there's a sort of stigma attached to bus travel in this country. I was about to find out whether there was any reason for that.

Our bus pulled up, and we made our way on. The bus seemed decent enough—there was a good amount of leg room—but we changed seats to get away from some people who were talking. (There are no assigned seats, but you can't sit in the very front. I don't even know why they have the seats there if you can't sit in them, but that turned out to be the rule in every Greyhound bus that I rode on. Maybe someone can enlighten me.)

The bus set off for Jacksonville, where we would have a brief layover. I had only made the trip from Gainesville to Jacksonville once, so it wasn't really familiar to me. You pass by Gainesville's cute little airport, and then for most of the trip you're traveling through small towns in the middle (or, to be fair, probably closer to the edge) of nowhere. You also pass by the Florida State Prison.

It was near here that I happened to notice the bus driver talking on his cell phone. We were driving through a small city—I guess it was Starke—but that was no excuse for his behavior. Still, I was feeling more non-confrontational than concerned. I decided to complain to Greyhound later, but even then I forgot. I think Kate did it. The driver talked for about ten minutes, and when he wasn't talking, he was singing. Why don't more people ride Greyhound??

To pass the time and try to ignore the merry bus driver, I continued reading Of Human Bondage, which I was eager to finish by the end of Kate's visit so we could talk about it. Kate was busy taking pictures with the new camera that I had bought for her. It was a Pentax K-x, a DSLR, and I agreed to give it to her as a gift to help offset the cost of her flying all the way here from Russia. She's a photography nut just like me, although she's more serious about it than I am. I don't see myself wanting an SLR anytime soon.

It wasn't long before we reached the Greyhound station in the metropolis of Jacksonville. It was a relatively large building with a number of "gates" that different buses could pull up to. (These were nothing more than a row of numbered doors, each of which corresponded to a bus-sized parking space outside.) We didn't have long to wait, and in the meantime a poster imploring runaways to call a particular hotline for help tickled my fancy. Stigma, stigma, stigma.

Next, we hopped on the bus heading for St. Augustine. We were going to be late meeting with our host. Kate had made sleeping arrangements for us via the CouchSurfing hospitality network, and our host had volunteered to pick us up at the Greyhound station in St. Augustine. When we arrived, he and his roommate were waiting for us in their vehicle. They took us to a restaurant for a late lunch.

The restaurant was located on the water, but the water wasn't the ocean. It was a marshy, tidal sort of thing with crabs and pink birds running around, and there was a marina nearby with lots of boats. The restaurant also had a pen with a couple of baby alligators in it, and Kate and I checked them out after lunch. Then we wandered around and checked out the boats. Our hosts gladly followed us around.

Then, they took us back to their place. They lived close to the historic part of Saint Augustine, near the possibly famous Bridge of Lions. Actually, the bridge seemed to be going extensive renovations, and the lion statues had been placed in storage. So for the moment it was the Bridge of No Lions.

Later, Kate and I started to explore historic downtown St. Augustine. Kate needed a certain filter for her lens, so our first stop was a camera store that our host had looked up for us. The place turned out to be pretty sketchalicious, selling nothing but the incongruous combination of electronics and beauty supplies. There were cameras and makeup everywhere. The guy at the store had the filter she needed, and he wanted an arm and a leg for it, but Kate managed to talk him down to a more reasonable price.

With Kate's camera safe from the harmful rays of the sun, we were free to meander around some more. We made our way to Castillo de San Marcos, the historic fort that was built by the Spanish. We didn't have much time to spend there before it closed, but I was determined to make every minute count. I had only been to the fort once before, and it had been undergoing renovations, so I didn't get to see much of it. This time, we were free to walk around the courtyard and the various rooms that opened up into it. We spent a long time sitting in the old chapel. Soon after, the fort closed, and we had to leave.

From there, we walked down historic St. George St. (Saint George Street, that is), which I find charming, even if it is touristy. As Kate was taking tons of pictures of the oldest wooden schoolhouse in the United States, a disheveled-looking man started giving me unsolicited ideas for cheap dates, one of which involved watching some owls somewhere. I couldn't help but stay and listen since Kate was busy taking photos. Little did I know that by this point she was just snapping unflattering pictures of me torturing myself to listen to this guy.

It was getting dark, and we called for a ride to get picked up. Our host took us to a store where Kate could buy some clothes; she hadn't packed a lot because she had been counting on buying stuff in the US. She didn't find anything she wanted at either of two stores, so our next stop was the grocery store to pick up some food for dinner (and, in our host's case, for future meals).

Back at home—the place felt like home since we had our own room—we prepared dinner. Well, really, the host and Kate did most of the work. Kate cut up the chicken, the host made a sauce and got a salad together, and I was eventually tasked with helping to make some couscous. Our dinner consisted of the sauce on top of the chicken on top of the couscous with the salad on the side. And man, was it good, especially after such a big day. The conversation was good too. It turned out that the host had also been a student at UF a number of years ago, and we had even taken one of the same classes with the same professor.

By this time, it was getting to be late, so we went to bed. We would have another big day in store for us.

Here's how fraudsters make fake credit cards. (Via The Consumerist)

This video is fun (if a little annoying) to watch, but the subject matter is interesting: The surprising truth about what motivates us. (Via Lifehacker)

Adventures with Kate, part two

Kate, Andy, and I got off to a slow start on Sunday, August 8. It was already the afternoon when we decided to go tubing. For those of you who don't know, tubing is a popular pastime in the Gainesville area. Basically, you get yourself an inner tube; go to one of the slow, meandering rivers out in the country; and enjoy the ride.

If it sounds pretty dang halcyon (according to Google, no one has ever said that on the Internet), like the way you would imagine the young boys of yesteryear going down for a swim at the watering hole, it's not really like that. People tend to go tubing down the Ichetucknee River at Ichetucknee Springs State Park, which may or may not be pretty crowded. And a whole cottage industry of tube rental companies has sprung up around the park so that you can stop at some little place on the side of the road, get a tube for $5, and, when you're done, leave it at the park for Jimbo 'n' pals to pick up when you're done. Not a bad setup.

The park contains several entrances to the river—on-ramps, if you will—that determine the length of time you'll spend floating downstream (there being a single place for all tubers to get out). By the time we were all ready to go, only the entrance that was furthest downstream was still open, so our journey down the river would only last about an hour.

Aside: Do you know what makes rivers flow? Rivers are formed when water comes out of a hole in the ground—this is the source of the river—and then, thanks to gravity, all this water flows toward lower ground (downstream), like when water flows down the driveway when your dad is washing the car. The ground gets lower and lower till it reaches sea level, and, voila: the water enters the ocean. Fast rivers come from mountains and stuff because they're high up, and slow, meandering rivers are found in flatter places. This is all extremely obvious, but most of it no one ever told me outright, and it only really hit me when I was in maybe high school. Because, you know, I don't often sit around, thinking about rivers and stuff.

The drive to Ichetucknee Springs State Park was longer than I remembered, and we were even concerned about making it to the last river entrance on time. I realized that we'd be driving right by my parents' new house. Kate and I had been planning to spend a few days there, so I decided to call the 'rents and ask if the three of us could have dinner there on the way back from the river. Of course, they said it was fine.

We stopped at a place for some tubes. One of the good ol' boys noted that I was wearing a Beatles shirt and said I looked like I could be one of them Beatles; he added that he just seen one of their movies the other day, great movie, the one where John Lennon has the ring stuck on his finger and the crazy Indian cult is after him tryin' to kill him and all. Great band, they were.

There weren't too many people at the park, and the three of us made our way to the entrance farthest downstream. I was the only one who had actually gone tubing before, so Kate and Andy probably didn't know that getting in was the hardest part. We were standing a metal platform just above water level. The water was moving along pretty quickly, so it wouldn't be too easy to lay down your tube and get yourself in. Andy went first. He slipped on the platform and fell into his tube. Kate got into hers awkwardly. I got into mine like a pro, but the water was really cold, so I wasn't extremely pleased either.

Since the water was moving so swiftly, Andy hung on to a nearby tree branch to wait for me and Kate. After we all got together, he managed to help Kate reposition herself on the tube so that she would be more comfortable. And then we felt free to float along, enjoy the natural scenery, and relax.

In fact, you can't spend too much time relaxing because you have to watch where you're going. The river might not take you around turns so easily, and you can find yourself running into the edge where there are sticks and spider webs and who knows what. It helps a great deal to be able to steer yourself by rowing with your hands, even if it looks silly. So it was out of necessity that Andy and Kate picked up on the art and science of being a human rowboat.

After a while, we reached the end of the river. Well, not really, but we reached the point where we had to get off. The river was roped off and there was another platform off to the side where you had to go and get out. We left our tubes at the designated area and took a tram back to the section of the park where we had started. The trams came every few minutes, but they would be fairly full. Andy had the misfortune of sitting next to a chipper scout leader who was making jokes with everyone around him. Luckily, the ride didn't last very long (although I'm sure for Andy it did).

Andy and Kate wanted to swim in the springs from which the river sprung, so we drove to the upstream part of the park. It was closed to tubing at this point, but the springs—halcyon swimming holes, if you will—would still be open for a while. I had never been to this part of the park, so it was new for me too. There were a few springs. The nearest one was filled with people, and Andy and Kate decided to swim for a minute or two before getting out. I didn't go in because the water was too cold.

But Andy and Kate insisted that I swim, so we decided to go to the spring that was farther away. It was about a ten-minute walk through a wooded path, and only a few other people were there. We went into the water. It was extremely cold, and I swam around frantically, perhaps all the more frantically because I was still wearing my shoes. After a minute or two, I started to get used to it, but I still wanted out. So I got out, and I was afraid that I would be freezing since I didn't have a towel. Surprisingly, I was just fine. I guess it was because there was no wind. It was always windy in South Florida, and I always dreaded getting out of the pool.

We dried off and headed toward my parents' (and I guess also my) new house. I told Andy where to turn, but he missed the turn because he couldn't see the driveway for the trees. Seriously, the entrance is pretty discreet. The mailbox by the side of the road is pretty much the only indication that anyone lives there. But Andy turned around and made his way down the dirt driveway that looks like it could be long but is actually pretty short. And then, standing amid the trees, the new house came into view.

I had only been there once, when my parents were still checking out the place. Now the place already looked like home even though they had just moved in. (The fact that we had most of the same furniture helped quite a bit.) I checked out my room, which had a new bed and was filled with boxes, most of which I didn't have to pack (but I would have if I had had the time, honest). I felt at home pretty quickly. Andy and Kate chatted it up with my parents and grandmother.

Mindful of Andy's vegetarianism, my parents made spaghetti for dinner, and everyone was pleased with how it came out. After dinner, we watched a little football on TV, it being the start of the preseason and all. But it was getting late, and we were all tired, so we decided to go back to the apartment.

But before we did that, we stopped at the Ben & Jerry's on Archer Road to get a little ice cream. Andy had almost finished his ice cream before Kate decided what she wanted, and if you don't know them, then you won't be able to tell who I'm taking a jab at by mentioning that fact. After our dessert, Kate and Andy played a card game; apparently they just have decks of cards lying around for you to hang out and play. After that, we went home. Kate and I had a big day in store for us.

The Mohammed Image Archive is a collection of images of Mohammed, spanning the entire history of Islam, by Muslims and non-Muslims alike. (Via Atheist Revolution)

Have you ever heard the claim that the MMR vaccine causes autism? Here, in comic book form, is the story of the scientist whose bogus study set off a wave of fear, uncertainty, and doubt that has yet to die down. (Via waxy.org)

Adventures with Kate, part one

The only thing I got for my birthday—besides money—came unexpectedly in the mail the day before. I had no idea what could be in the box or who it could be from. I opened it, and inside was a book: Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham. A note came with the book: "Happy birthday, Jordon! Kisses, Kate."

I felt terrible. The day before that, I had told her that I wanted us to be just friends. And since she would be coming to visit in less than a month, I didn't know how she was going to feel about me. I really wasn't sure whether we would have a good time at all. It was bad timing on my part, but is there ever a right time for that?

I started to read the book. It was a really large book, and I was worried that I wouldn't finish it before she got here. But I read a little bit every day on the bus to and from class. At first I wasn't sure how interested I would be in it, since it seemed to be just some guy's life story. But it got more interesting, and I started chugging along.

Kate flew in to Miami on August 1 and spent the week making her way up through Florida. During that time, we texted each other with details of what we had been up to, and she told me how much she missed me. I was sorry. I missed her too. It hurts me to even think about what I said to her and how she must have felt.

I still hadn't gotten close to finishing the book on Saturday, August 7, when Andy and I went to the Greyhound bus station to pick up Kate. This was where I had last seen her over six months ago. We (or, at least, I) had gotten emotional because I didn't know when we would see each other again.

The bus arrived late, so I killed some time by reading the book. Finally, Kate's bus arrived. She stepped off the bus, and Andy and I greeted her in Esperanto, the language we usually used with her. Soon she asked if we could switch to English, so English it was.

Before she arrived, she had asked us to take her out to lunch somewhere, and she wanted it to be a surprise. Andy and I had decided on Merlion, the quiet Singaporean restaurant where he had taken me after our abortive attempt to watch a Fourth of July firework show. It was quiet there indeed, but as we slowly worked away at our dishes, the place got more and more crowded—too crowded for the staff to handle.

It was a graduation day, and a number of people had decided to make Merlion the place to celebrate. Each of us tried the others' dishes. With her dish, Kate got the "communist soup" (meat, potatoes, and not much else). Our waitress was busy with who knows how many tables, but eventually, she gave us the check.

It was already getting late, but Kate said that she wanted to go to the Kanapaha Botanical Gardens, so Andy dropped us off there and went home to take a nap. I had never been to the gardens before, so it was new for me too. The weather was getting terrible by this time, and it looked like it was going to start pouring rain any second. But we decided to set out and wander on (and sometimes off) the path, admiring the various plants all around.

Toward the end of our visit, not long before Andy was going to come back and pick us up, Kate asked if I was going to hold her hand. I did, and I felt more comfortable, like everything was right with the world again. We walked to a small gazebo and watched a fake waterfall for a little while. Then we headed back to the front of the park, where Andy was waiting to pick us up.

We got back to the apartment, where Andy had written (and I had helped sign) a greeting to Kate in Russian. She got a big kick out of it. Later, Kate and I watched Kurt Cobain About a Son on her computer. Soon after, it was night. It was a wonderful night.

And now, the links:

Icons of the Web is a huge graphic showing the favicons for a few hundred thousand of the most popular sites on the Internet. The size of each site's icon is proportional to the site's popularity. Yes, theworldofstuff.com is there—it's one of the smallest icons, but it's there.

The BBC talks to some guys who make cheesy knock-offs of popular movies.

Yes? What? Yes?

Kate is back home, but I haven't made it to my apartment yet. In the meantime, here's a skit I wrote when I was in the sixth grade. As I recall, my friends and I actually acted it out for a class. According to the script, which is dated March 17, 2001, Brian played the narrator, Mark played Brian, Sean played Yes, Nick played What, and I played You. Abbott and Costello were duly credited.

Narrator: It was a dark, gloomy, bright, sunny day at the McFlooglebooglesnoogle house. Two people named What and Yes walked up to the door and rang the doorbell. Brian McFlooglebooglesnoogle opened the door.
Brian McFlooglebooglesnoogle: Yes?
Yes: What?
What: Yes?
Yes: What?
What: Yes?
Brian: You guys are confusing me. What do you want?
What: Want what?
Brian (to himself): Yes, you're nuts.
Yes: Pardon?
What (to Brian): Don't worry, he's always like this.
Brian: Like what?
What: He's not like me at all! We're two different people.
Brian: Yes, you are.
Yes: I'm what?
(You walks up to the door and listens in.)
What: You're not me, you're you!
You: He isn't me!
(pause)
Brian (to You): Who are you?
You: Yes.
Yes: What?
What: Yes?
Yes: Yes?
What: You are Yes.
You: Once and for all, I'm not Yes! (looks at Yes) I'm You!
Yes: I'm yes, no?
Brian: What?
What: Yes?
Yes: What?
Brian: Will you stop that!
You: Stop what?
What: I'm not doing anything!
(pause)
You: I'm getting confused.
Brian: Who's getting confused?
Yes: Hey, leave Who out of this. He's a nice guy.
Brian: Who's Who?
What: I'm What (points to Yes), this is Yes (points to You), and this is You.
Brian: I'm right here.
Yes: We know. You's over there.
What: Yes he is.
Yes: I know he is!
(pause)
Brian (to Yes): What's your name?
Yes: No, Yes.
Brian: What?
What: Yes?
Yes: What?
What: I don't know!
(pause)
Brian: Okay, okay, let's start over. What did you want to say?
What: Want to say what?
You: You wanted to say yourself?
Yes: I'm baffled. (to What) Are you baffled?
You: I'm You, and my name isn't Baffled!
Brian (to himself): But your name is baffling.
(pause)
What: Where were we?
Yes: I don't know.
You: What about him?
What: Me about him what?
Brian: Stop it!
You: Stop what?
What: But I'm not doing anything!
(pause)
Brian: Alright already! The man's name standing on the left is...?
Yes: What.
Brian: His name.
Yes: What.
Brian: The man's name!
Yes: What.
Brian: The fellow standing next to you!
Yes: What.
Brian: You call him what?
You: Yes, and so does Yes.
Yes: What?
What: Yes?
(pause)
Brian: Now, stop that. Who's there on the right?
You: Which right?
Brian: My right.
You: That would be my left, right?
Brian: Right. What's his name?
What: Yes.
Brian (points to Yes): No, his name is Yes! So what's your name?
What: Yesiree.
You (to Brian): His name is What!
Brian: Apparently, it's Yesiree.
You: No, What!
Brian: I don't follow.
What: He lives down the block.
(pause)
Brian: That fellow in the back, what's his name?
Yes: I told you (points to What), What is over here!
Brian: I don't know.
What: He lives across the street.
(pause)
Brian: What is the name of the person behind you?
Yes: What is over here, and there's no one behind You!
Brian: I know!
You: That's I Don't Know's sister.
(pause)
Brian: So, why did you come here in the first place?
You: To accompany Yes and What.
Brian (to Yes and What): Well then, why are you here?
Yes and What: To accompany You.
Brian: Me?
What (pointing to You): No, him.
Brian: You make up your mind!!
You: About what?
What: Me?
Brian (angrily): GO AWAY!! (Slams door on You, Yes, and What.)
You (yelling to Brian): That's my next-door neighbor!

The End

Florida dreamin': Natasha's view (part 2)

This is the second of two guest posts by my friend Natasha, who visited me from Thunder Bay, Ontario, in June. Read the previous installment to get caught up.

On Wednesday, Jordon invited me to have lunch with two of his good friends, Nick and Mike. I had never been to Hooters prior to my Florida visit, but it was an experience. We had a nice time with Nike and Mike, and went back to the house for more down time. Kristen then invited Jordon and I to go for sushi with a friend of hers. The sushi place was pretty packed, but we managed to find a booth. We enjoyed our dinner and conversations, and headed back to the house. We hung out with a couple of Jordon’s friends till it was time to go back home.

Thursday morning we lounged around for most of the day. One thing I wanted to do was go to Build-A-Bear Workshop and get a memorable animal friend for my nephew, Traden. They didn’t end up having the Gator, so we decided on a baby Florida panther. We dressed it in a UF t-shirt, jorts, converse sneakers, and aviator sunglasses. Even though Traden is very small, he loved it when I gave it to him. After that, Jordon and I decided to get some pictures taken in a photo booth. It was a lot of fun, and the photo’s turned out to be stickers! I wonder where Jordon has decided to stick his. I haven’t stuck mine anywhere yet; I haven’t found a place special enough. When we returned back to the house, we had dinner with Jordon’s family and Kristen’s friend. Jordon and I decided to watch Harry Potter after dinner; soon after the movie was over I fell asleep.

Friday was a day I had been looking forward to since I arrived. It was the day that we were going to Miami! Jordon’s dad dropped us off at the train station, and we boarded the train to Miami. It didn’t take very long to get there. Once we were there we had lunch at a small sandwich shop, and walked around for a while. We went to this outdoor mall which was neat, and I did some shopping for my nephews, Benton and Traden. We then met up with Andy, Kristen, and Kevin. We enjoyed some Starbucks, parted ways with Kevin and Kristen and Andy, Jordon and I headed to the Miami Seaquarium. I had never seen sea life like killer whales, manatees, and sea lions before. It was a worthwhile experience, although I felt like I was dying in the heat. We were getting pretty hungry after seeing all that fish (just joking), so we headed over to an area in Miami called Little Havana. We enjoyed our meals and afterwards met back up with Kristen and Kevin. We went to South Beach and checked out all the amazing scenery and stores. The beach at night time almost took my breath away. The contrast between the shoreline with all the lights, and the ocean at night was surreal. After taking more pictures at the beach, we stopped by Nick’s house and had a nice visit, where we enjoyed playing some fun games. Jordon and Andy took a drive to Taco Bell which was lovely. We then decided it was time to go home in the wee hours of the morning and get some sleep.

Saturday almost killed me. We went to the beach during the day which was the first time during my visit. The sand was so hot; it felt like I was walking on hot coals. I couldn’t understand why someone would want to put themselves through that. We left shortly after and relaxed in the pool at Jordon’s house which was much better than frying alive. Because it was my last night in Florida, I wanted everyone to get dressed up and join Jordon and I for dinner. We went to a Chinese restaurant and enjoyed our dinner’s and everyone’s company. Saying goodbye to everyone I had met that evening was another bittersweet moment. It was starting to settle into my brain that I was leaving the next day.

When I awoke in the morning on Sunday, I was happy to be going home but sad at the same time that I would be leaving behind all the amazing people I had met. The experiences I had in Florida would forever be in my heart, as well as the people. Jordon and I had brunch with his family, and we then had to leave to get me to the airport on time. We took a couple family pictures plus one (me). Saying goodbye to Kristen was awful! We both started to lose our composure and tear up, but I guess that goes to show you how close you can grow to someone in a short amount of time. On the way to the airport, I was worried that I was going to react the same way when saying goodbye to Jordon. When I got out of the car, a feeling of ease washed over me. I knew I would see Jordon again, whether it be in Florida or back in Thunder Bay. Knowing that I would see him soon again comforted me. We gave each other a hug, said goodbye and I walked through those airport doors ready to go home, feeling like I did what I wanted while I was there, and enjoying every moment of it.

I want to thank everyone for making my visit so special; I will never forget any of you. And Jordon? I’ll see you soon.

Florida dreamin': Natasha's view (part 1)

Here's the first of two guest posts by my friend Natasha, who visited me from Thunder Bay, Ontario, in June.

As most of you know, Jordon and I have been friends for a very long time. We initially started talking through his blog. We always spoke of meeting in person, but this summer we decided to make it a reality. This post will show you my perspective of the visit!

I awoke that morning feeling very tired and slightly confused as to why I was waking up so early. It didn’t take long for me to realize it was because I had to catch an international flight to Florida, with a layover in Toronto. I completed my morning routine, checked my suitcase to ensure I had packed everything I needed and headed out the door of my small Thunder Bay apartment with a smile on my face.

My boyfriend Kenny kindly drove me to the airport and we exchanged our bittersweet goodbyes as I headed through airport security. I knew I would miss him a lot but this break from my regular life was well needed. After boarding the plane, I still couldn’t believe I was finally going to meet Jordon and spend time with him for an entire week! I was so excited.

Once I got into Toronto, my aunt was there to pick me up. We had breakfast and spent some time together which was much better than sitting in the airport alone for a few hours. We then headed back to the airport so I could board the plane to Fort Lauderdale.

The golden sand surrounding the coast, and the bright blue water reassured me that I was finally in Florida. As soon as I stepped off the plane I could smell the difference in the air as well as feel the difference in temperature. My friend Marcy told me to expect the air to smell like heaven, and I admit, it smelled pretty darn close. I didn’t know where Jordon would be when I got off the plane but a quick text informed me that he was by the baggage claim. I walked towards the claim, searching for the face I had waited to see. It didn’t take long for me to find him in the crowd of strangers. We both were smiling ear to ear as I proceeded to pick up my enormous suitcase.

The drive to Jordon’s house from Fort Lauderdale wasn’t very long, but I did enjoy the time it gave me to chat a little with Jordon and his mom and check out to the scenery a little bit. I noticed that there were palm trees everywhere! Once we got to the house Jordon showed me where I would be staying and made a quick trip to Walgreens so I could pick up postcards to send to Kenny, a couple of my friends and family. We had dinner with Jordon’s family, and Kristen’s friend Kevin. They decided to play the Beatles Monopoly that I gave Jordon. I could feel the heaviness of my eyes from my day of travels and decided to give them a rest.

The next morning, we decided to go shopping in Boca Raton which was amazing! I brought a lot of clothes with me, but wasn’t really sure what to expect. I ended up buying a couple dresses and lighter clothes than what I had brought. We spent most of the day shopping, and after a few hours I knew Jordon wanted to go home. Shopping with girls can’t be that enjoyable, although he insisted that he was having fun. When returning back to the house we had dinner. Jordon’s mom and dad made some amazing meals while I was there. Jordon, Kristen, Kristen’s friend Nathalie and I then went to the beach and enjoyed some night swimming, and wandering around the pier. We left shortly after, and headed to Mizner Park for some frozen yogurt. Not only did we enjoy frozen yogurt, but we also had a lot of fun taking lots of pictures. That was one thing Jordon made sure of. I definitely did not want to forget a single moment on my visit.

When I woke up the next morning (Tuesday), I was pretty tired from all the fun shenanigans we had the prior night. Later in the afternoon we went to Taco Bell with Jordon’s friend Andy and Kristen. I had never had Taco Bell before and I fully enjoyed it. It wouldn’t be the first time I had Taco Bell during my visit. Muah ha ha. We decided to go to IKEA, which was insane! I loved seeing all the diverse furniture and household accessories, we ended up taking a ton of pictures that I absolutely adore. We then went to Las Olas which was beautiful. We had a lot of fun playing with this really rad fountain that you were able to control with motion sensors. Laughs were had and more photos were taken. We ended up going to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner; I think I almost died from amazing food overload. We walked around Las Olas after dinner, took more pictures and then decided to call it a night.

Bloggers: a comparison

I'm Kirsten, from All About Me - And Then Some, and Jordon is super busy right now so he asked me to help keep his blog alive, so here I am. Today I wanted to do a comparison because I didn't know what else to blog about on someone else's personal blog.

Jordon: blogs about stuff
Kirsten: blogs about herself - and then some

Jordon: living the collegiate life
Kirsten: living in a cubicle

Jordon: lives in balmy Florida
Kirsten: lives in blistering Las Vegas

Jordon: is 21 and doesn't look like he has any wrinkles or gray hairs
Kirsten: has been 29 for seven years now and while she's avoided wrinkles so far, the gray hairs are creeping in

Jordon: knows html
Kirsten: knows html, more or less

Jordon: knows php
Kirsten: knows php when she sees it but doesn't quite know what to do with it

Jordon: is a coding maniac
Kirsten: sucks at all kinds of coding

Jordon: knows what algorithms are
Kirsten: barely has any rhythm

Jordon: listens to The Beetles
Kirsten: listens to angsty chick music

Jordon: will graduate college with a 4-year degree and some career direction
Kirsten: graduated with a 2-year degree in liberal arts and still has no direction

Jordon: went to Europe and was able to meet all sorts of people because of years of dedicated, self-motivated Esperanto studies
Kirsten: went to Europe and was not able to speak to anyone despite 6 years of French studies

Jordon: puts interesting links at the end of nearly every post
Kirsten: stayed up way too late and couldn't find anything link worthy, so is encouraging everyone to go to wikipedia and just keep clicking on "Random Article" until something interesting comes along

The fresh prints

Since I got my new digital camera, I've been astounded by the sheer hugeness (and clarity) of the images it produces. They just scream to be printed. So after my friend Natasha's visit, during which I took hundreds of pictures, I figured she might like to have some prints to remember her trip by.

It's a quaint idea—having photos on paper? Ha! I've used digital cameras exclusively since 2002, and you know how printers are. So I've long been content to just gaze at my photos on a screen, but now I've figured that having my favorites on nice Kodak paper wouldn't be a bad idea—think of it as a paper backup. And you can't pin lots of thin, tiny screens onto your wall (yet).

(Aside: When I was packing up all the stuff in my room a few weeks ago, I found my old cameras with film still in them. My mom got the rolls developed, and I'm looking forward to seeing the pictures [and also my mom and dad at the new house, which they started moving into on Monday].)

There are oodles 'n' kaboodles of web sites that send you prints of photos that you upload, so it was hard to pick out one. But I had heard good things about HP's Snapfish, so I decided to give it a spin.

Uploading the photos was easy enough. Snapfish offers a choice of uploading the photos at full size or scaling them down to medium size and then uploading those versions. They recommend the latter for all but the largest prints, probably because it saves a great deal of time. I was concerned that the quality of the prints would suffer, but I decided to go with their recommendation. Uploading over 100 photos didn't take long at all.

I got 20 free 4x6 prints for signing up, and I was able to get free shipping (something they normally charge a lot for) with a coupon code I found on RetailMeNot. So I ended up paying $10.44 for 136 prints (about 7.7¢ per print).

The photos arrived in a small box that contained two envelopes (like the kind you would get from having your photos developed at the drug store, except without a slot for the negatives). The first thing I noticed about the prints was that the paper was kind of thin—not super thin, but they seemed thinner than the old film prints I would get from the drug store (unless my memory is failing me). It was Kodak paper, though.

The color reproduction was pretty faithful to my monitor. I'm not an expert on colors, but a particularly colorful part of one photo seemed to be oversaturated. I don't think this would be a problem in general, though. As for the image quality, it was great. I looked as closely as I could, and I couldn't see any JPEG artifacts from the resizing. In fact, I discovered that my 14-megapixel camera produces much clearer snapshots than my old (cheap) film cameras (with cheap film) did.

All in all, I would recommend Snapfish if you can use the coupon code for free shipping. Even without it, it seems to be a pretty good deal. Sometimes you just need that paper backup.

A relevant link: Photographer Steve McCurry talks about shooting on the last roll of Kodachrome film ever produced. (Via J-Walk Blog)

Because once just isn't enough

Big things are happening. My parents moved today; I no longer have a residence in Deerfield Beach, the city I've lived in my whole life. (Well, I haven't really lived there for a while since I'm in college, but now it's official.) They'll be moving in to our new house on Monday (I think) and in the meantime are staying with my grandparents.

But here in this little college apartment I've come to call home, big things are happening too. Although I'm buried under a pile of homework and work and housework (or at least the threat of impending housework), I'd like to stick my head in briefly to say: Kate is coming back.

I met her last summer when I was in Europe, and in January, she paid me a visit that I detailed in 5 posts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

She'll be leaving Russia this weekend and will spend a week meandering from Miami to Gainesville. Then she'll be meeting up with me, and we'll spend a few days in St. Augustine and Jacksonville. Then we'll be back in the Gainesville area, where we'll visit my parents at the new house. After that, we hope to make it down to Key West for a few days, and then Kate will have to be in Miami to catch her flight home.

It's incredibly kind of her to travel halfway around the world twice in less than a year to visit me, and I'll make sure she enjoys her visit.

In the meantime, I have all this work to catch up on.

Just one link today: An interactive chart showing The Evolution of Privacy on Facebook.