My biggest hero is my mom. She has made it through so much in her life, not least of all raising me. I... words fail me.

And she can still laugh like that.

This week's assignment is "Your Favorite Picture." Unfortunately, I've already used my favorite photo for at least one other SPF. I was sorting through my photos today, though, so I found one I really liked from my trip to the Dominican Republic in the winter of 2006. This dog seemed pretty much domesticated, and as near as we could tell he was just playing in the waves. Maybe he was honestly surprised by the water, but he seemed too comfortable with the beach for that to be true.

I was digging through folders on my laptop looking at things that really should be organized and stored on my desktop, and among them was the depressingly small number of photos I took this summer. I felt like sharing one with you. I quite enjoyed it.

I'm excited! You can tell by my excessive use of the exclamation mark!

My Back

Wednesday I visited the oncologist and had a marrow sample taken. It is the worst pain I have ever experienced in my life. I'm actually looking for a woman who has both given birth and had marrow taken to compare them for me.

I should also note that this is the most unflattering picture of myself that I have ever allowed to be on the internet. To properly show off my bandage, my pants were at the exact level which makes my ass look worst. I may have to show you a better one eventually (if you're lucky).

I'm seeing an oncologist because three weeks ago today, I had a biopsy done on my left elbow (pictures to follow when I'm on a better connection). 7 June 2007 I recieved a call from my doctor informing me that I have lymphoma. I'm going to do a whole writeup of the past few weeks eventually, but right now I'm at Relay for Life trying to build up some karma for the months to come.

I'm doing just fine, and the prognosis is good.

The opener was a guy named Eef Barzelay. He's the frontman of an "alt-country" band called Clem Snide. I haven't heard the band, but Eef has an interesting sound (and I don't just mean his name.) It's quirky. He also covered a bit of Beyoncé's "Irreplaceable" and all of Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful" in his own style which was interesting too. I definitely plan on checking him/them out.

After Eef went off, house lights came up and crew were running around doing those things that crew do before the main act goes on, and the crowd grumbled because that's what they do. Suddenly the lights go off and "The Final Countdown" comes on. Ben and his accompaniment on bass and drums launch into the first two songs before introducing themselves or saying anything. He made a joke that he would work the keyboard part from "The Final Countdown" into every song, and he did slip it in to the first few but then decided to skip it. He did slip it in though whenever there was a little lull in the show, and it always got laughs.

In my opinion, one of the best parts of a Ben Folds show is the audience participation. The man is as amazing a songwriter as he is a musician, including a number of very interesting harmonies. He had the audience sing backup vocals (and flugelhorns) on a few songs, which was super nifty. There was even a three-part harmony on "Not the Same."

When he played "Gracie" he started over three times from the middle plus a number of restarts right at the beginning, because people were hooting or hollering at some point. I thought that was adorable. Granted it was annoying, but I was annoyed with the audience, not with Ben. This is a song he wrote for his daughter, and he just wanted to get through it.

While I'm raving, I'll mention how impressed I was with some improv he did. He just started playing, then started singing about Blacksburg, saying that it had a distinct lack of "black... buildings." What can you say? The south isn't known for being especially hospitable towards black... buildings. He also worked in the local pub where he ate, and plugged Gay Awareness Week. Afterwards he asked if it was Gay Awareness Day or week, and said "As long as you're fighting for some time for recognition, you might as well go for a week."

So basically that was one of the top two rockinest shows I've ever seen. The other one was also a Ben Folds concert.

On a side note, guys yelled "I wanna have your babies" on three occasions, whereas I didn't hear any girls say that. Now Mr. Folds is married with twin daughters, so I'm afraid these gentlemen are going to be disappointed. It does raise the question though, do more men or women ask to have his babies?

Steve is incorrigibly sweet, despite my best efforts to break him of it. For valentines day he sent me a Bad Taste Bear (nsfw). Some people aren't terribly fond of them, and I admit that some of them are just gross and not funny, but the ones he's given me are adorable. The one on the left is the one he sent me this year. Last year he gave me the one on the right.

I shudder at what I may have to do to match this. I may actually have to show some affection.

Just kidding Love! You know I love you all the way.

For a week in the middle of December, Steven and I were on vacation in the Dominican Republic in a town called Sosua. We stayed at the Tropix Hotel and dove with Northern Coast Diving. We didn't really have internet access, so posting regular updates really wasn't an option. I wrote at the end of the day as if I would be posting that day. Then I got home, visited a lot of people, slept, and eventually forgot that I had written this. Each day is on it's own page, so read on. You should also take a peek at the pictures.

17 December, 21:26 local

Today was our first full day in the DR. We arrived yesterday in the morning, but after the overnight flight and travel we were pretty exhausted and spent a good chunk of time sleeping. My first impression of the town made me a bit uneasy, and to a certain degree I still am. It's strange being in a place where you don't speak the language or know the customs. It's comparable to being in a strange part of New York City, except there you could always walk to someplace more familiar. Here, come hell or high water, I'm stuck until Sunday.

That said, paying attention and keeping our wits about us (along with a rudimentary understanding of Spanish) has somewhat alleviated the need to feel fearful about our safety. There are unsavory types and those who prey on tourists, but they are the same as anywhere you go. We have also met some neat people, none of Dominican origin though. Deann (the proprietress of our hotel) told us that real Dominicans are really caring and open people, which I believe. Unfortunately, she added, a lot of those in Sosua aren't real Dominicans.

We've had an interesting variety of food over the past day and a half. The first place we ate was French, followed by American, British, Dominican, and American again. The American place was called Rocky's and has the best ribs I have ever eaten. I picked one up and tried to eat it, and the meat literally feel off the bone. Normally we wouldn't allow ourselves to eat at the same place more than once while vacationing, especially American fare, but it was that good.

Steve's first two check-out dives for his SCUBA certification were today. I walked him down to the shop and checked things out. By all accounts diving in Sosua should be done with Northern Coast. The diving staff are from various European countries. I'm surprised to see the number of businesses that are owned by non-Dominicans. I'll withhold judgment until I dive with them on Tuesday, but Steven appears to be satisfied. They are organized and professional, without being uptight.

While Steve is training I am reading poolside at the hotel. Hopefully by the time I come back I will be less ghostly pale. I certainly won't have been overly enriched by reading Heinlein, but it keeps me from being bored since I don't have any internet connection. I am not looking forward to catching up on blogs.

Unfortunately, my content just isn't very Web 2.0, nor is the site in general. That's why I was forced to create my very own starbursts that didn't have any new-fangled technological references.

They were created using PS CS2, and a couple of Web 2.0 button Photoshop tutorials.

As an aside, I do believe this is the most categories any one post has ever belonged to.

I used a Palm for a while. It was portable, and it made keeping track of ideas a lot easier. Unfortunately, I never quite mastered the input, and eventually it died. After that I started carrying little thread-bound composition notebooks in my pocket. It was amazing! Call me a Luddite, but there is just something so natural about putting pen to paper. Things go exactly where I want them to, I don't have to do any strange jiggery-pokery to get somewhere to write, and I can draw diagrams and pictures right smack-dab in the middle of writing.

I have purchased a moleskine, but I haven't brought myself to write in it yet. It's just too pretty. I may have to soon, though. The notebook I'm working on now is showing its age, and I'm running out of pages to boot.

I'd just like to point out that these are thumbnails. Apparently there has been some confusion. If you click on the pictures, they are links to larger versions of the images. If you don't click on them they are still links, but they don't really do any good for you.

The Kitchen Sink

This is the sink in my kitchen. The dishes aren't mine, I swear. My roommate and I take care of each other's dishes, but only when we're not being lazy. Needless to say, I was being lazy

Something that needs fixing

These are computers in my closet. The one on the right runs Smoothwall, the middle one is a webserver, and the one on the left isn't running. I need to fix it.

Garbage

The description of this part of the assignment was "Something you’re going to throw away right after you take the picture of it," but if I put that in the title of the image, I'd have nothing to write here. It's an empty Mountain Dew can.

The change of seasons

I know this might seem like a huge cop-out, but I actually wasn't trying to capture the color change of the leaves. I was trying to find a decent way to photographically portray the wind. When the wind gusts it blows leaves off, but it's sort of hard to predict. For me, the wind has always been a big part of fall. Fall is a season of change, and wind is the weather of change. Nobody talks about "the flurries of change" or "the patchy fog clearing in the late morning of change."

The beauty of home

I'll get it up eventually.

Once more I dig into the Photo Folder of Doom™ to bring you pictures of a waterfall! This is a short hike from my home. I love all the little waterways that run around my area. I sort of miss it. It's been a while since I've had a chance to get out and enjoy the nature back home.

My favorite part of the weather change

My favorite part about the weather cooling down is that I get to wear my sweaters. I really do like my sweaters, and I don't get nearly enough opportunity to wear them. I just prefer warm winter clothes in general. They make me feel all soft and snuggly and comfy.

So that's my fall in a nutshell. Walnut, if you want to get specific about it. I don't think they get ripe enough for human consumption though. The squirrels usually get them first.

Did you play?

Something that that inspires you to do what you do

I dunno if it's cheating that I took this picture in 2005, but is honestly one of my favorite pictures I've ever taken, and it really gets to the heart of the matter. I am a college student at Virginia Tech. While this is a fantastic experience all by itself, there are days that I question why I'm here. I could be working less and for the same grades in another degree, or at another school. The thing is, I love animals. I want them to be happy. I may not think highly of every individual at every moment, but in general I want to improve their situation.

Something you don't like to read about in blogs

I'll get it up here eventually.

I hate reading politics in blogs. This doesn't just mean governmental politics. I don't like reading about company or institutional politics, and I certainly don't like interpersonal politics. Eric Meyer recently wrote a very well thought out and articulated series on reforms he would like to see in the W3C. I think his discussion was very reasonable, and to my (admittedly limited) understanding the ideas he suggests would be helpful. Still, it's not the type of thing I choose to read most of the time.

Something that inspires you to write on your blog

I like to blog about everyday things that I find amusing. This blog is about my everyday life. I am pretty easily amused (I mean, come on, I blogged about my iron) so almost anything is fair game. This picture is a mailbox I saw in Brooklyn. I try to keep my camera on me and take photos so I can remember amusing things to blog. I saw a girl eating corn-on-the-cob on the bus yesterday, but I completely forgot to mention it because it would've been rude to take a picture of her. Yeah, pretty strange, but I was amused.

Did you play? I try to comment back within a day.

Something I Have Outgrown

My license is expired. It also says I'm under 21. I really have to work on getting a new one. I have to get a eye test to do that.

Something I Have Overcome

I used to consume amounts of Mt. Dew that even I would admit are unhealthy. I now consume considerably less, though some would consume that it is still a bit excessive

I need help with...

I'll get it up eventually

...the cutest pup in the world. He is oversubmissive towards me, and it makes me sad. I just want him to be my friendpup.