Some people only acquire a sense of home when they are travelling -Franz Kafka

barnes and noble is a bad bad store....

but on the plus side, i have a new novel to read and a lovely leather journal both to take to....

LONDON!

karen and i are off tomorrow for a week of travel. it's only been a few months since i was in europe, but years since i was there with my dear roomie karen! :) it'll be a little weird to be traveling in europe and not hear german, or czech. i wonder if it will really feel like i'm overseas, or if it will just feel like an american city.

so i'm signing off until next weekend. then i'm sure lots and lots of pictures will be posted. i'll miss you all, some more than others...

love is a dog from hell.

and i mean that in the most endearing way possible. :)

was i really in NY this morning? weird... that's the thing i don't like about trips and vacations and such. when it's over, it always feels like it was just a dream. especially after a situation like today: i got up at the equivalent of 3:45am chicago time, flew back to the midwest, dropped off my stuff and went straight to work, then class, and got home at about 10:15pm. once my day got rolling, it was like any other tuesday and it was easy to forget that this morning i was 800 miles away. life is weird.

in my sleepy haze, i've had blog stuff swimming in my head all day and now i just have nothing.

my friends wanted me to come over to their party. i love them and i love parties, and it'd be great to hang out since i was gone all weekend. but i literally walked in the door of my building and felt like i'd been hit by a truck. i just can't do it. i was gonna shower before bed and i'm not sure i can even manage that. it might have to wait until morning.

life is... complicated. very very complicated. yet somehow, at the same time, very very good.

it must be fate... I'm going there in 2 weeks

Your must-see European city is London!

Look, kids, Big Ben, Parliament! A cool cat like you will probably opt to leave the folks at home when you head to this bustling city. Rich with history, diversity, and personality, London has a lot in common with you. An edgy and stylish soul, you'll fit right in with this hip city that's always got it going on.

From London Tower and the Tate to Harrod's and the local pubs, London has loads to offer from the historic to the cutting edge. We doubt you'll ever be bored in a place that's this happening and has so much to see and explore. So what are you waiting for? Grab your London A-Z and say hello to the Queen.


What's Your Must-See European City?
Brought to you by Tickle

seasons, by chris bryan

when did we cease to be
innocent and young and naive?
watching, waiting
challenging eternity...

reasons like seasons are changing again.


www.myspace.com/kidronmusic

Devotion (for Jack Ridl)

She devotes her life to what
she can live with: shoes, handwritten
notes, pillows, postcards
from foreign countries, summer rain,
picture frames, mountains,
a man to love her like
a black and white photograph,
poems, imperfection, a prayer.

meet Sue

I'm no scientist or anything, my sister certainly got those genes. But when I was kid, I loved dinosaurs. I loved watching shows about them, loved little toys of them, loved wearing tshirts with dinosaurs on them. Loved them.


<-- This is Sue.

I met her yesterday for the first time at the Field Museum in Chicago. She is the largest, most complete, and best preserved TRex to be discovered thus far. She's huge. 13 feet from floor to hip, and 42 feet long. Her skull (which is too heavy to sit on the skeleton but is on display upstairs) is 5 feet long and weighs 600 pounds. She was found in South Dakota. Can you imagine creatures like this roaming across northwestern America?

Not only was Sue cool to look at (and I think she's even kind of cute... looks like she's smiling) but there were also videos playing about her discovery, construction, study of her, etc. It was cool to watch how theories and things that we know about the TRex have changed over the last 100 years, and even over the last 15 years since Sue was found. I'm so fascinated by the fact that scientists can study this skeleton and learn things about how this creature used it's senses, how it moved and hunted, how it lived and died. And I'm fascinated by the theory that birds are living dinosaurs. They have similar bone structures, and their feet are the same.

Ok, enough of my sharing intelligent scientific thoughts and meanderings for the day. But really, if you like dinosaurs go visit Sue. Or at least Sue's website at the Field Museum site, cause she's cool and really (for lack of a better word to describe how I feel about her) fascinating.

i heart my new shoes :)

yesterday was the first time i wore my new running shoes. i did 35 minutes on the elliptical. 10 on the stairmaster. and then i ran a half mile on the track. a half mile! i don't think i've ever run that far without stopping to walk. i don't know that i've even run/walked that far since grade school! go me. :) granted... for the next hour or so i kept coughing occasionally for no good reason while my breathing returned to normal...