Ten Places I'd Like To Visit (Preferably in 2015)

In 2008 I created a list of ten places I wanted to visit. Since then, I've crossed two places off my list (Yellowstone National Park and Victoria Falls) and will be crossing one more off in early 2015 (Seychelles). So seven locations have persisted on my list for over six  years. And here's the full list, beginning with the three newest locations:

10. Auckland, New Zealand. I think this is less "Auckland" then it is "New Zealand" in general, but I'll use the gateway to New Zealand as my point on the map. The natural beauty of the country--especially as shown in the Lord of the Rings movies--appeals to me. I really hope to travel to New Zealand some day and see its urban areas and scenic locations. Oh, and Zorb down its famous hills.

9. Fogo, Cabo Verde. Notwithstanding a recent volcanic eruption, I've heard amazing things about the hike up to the top of Fogo, which is perhaps the most famous mountain/volcano in Cabo Verde. I may not always seem it, but I love the outdoors and especially hiking. So yeah, a hike to the top of a volcano in a picturesque setting sounds pretty appealing to me.

8. Windhoek, Namibia. My map of "Where I've Been" has filled in most of southern Africa, but Namibia is one of the holes I'd really like to fill. Like Auckland, for me Windhoek would be a base from which to visit the rest of Namibia, including its world famous sand dunes. But Windhoek itself also has some appeal, with its German history and architecture unique to southern Africa.

And the persistent seven:

7. Honolulu, Hawaii. I've traveled to 41 of the 50 states (some much more extensively than others...), and Hawaii is one of my nine remaining states (along with Alaska, Arkansas, Kansas, Maine, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Vermont). Thus, I would like to visit. Plus, it's supposed to be a tropical paradise.

6. Reykjavik, Iceland. Northern Lights. And glaciers. And hot springs. The possibilities in Iceland seem endless!

5. Thimphu, Bhutan. A real life Shangri-La, the natural beauty of Bhutan is supposed to be among the best in the world. I've seen pictures of Buddhist monasteries built into the sides of mountains, and that's the sort of architectural wonder that really tends to captivate me.

4. Andorra la Vella, Andorra. I'm not a big skier, but I've heard that the town and its old architecture is a beautiful place to walk around and drink some hot chocolate. I love places off the beaten path, and while Andorra is well-known to winter sports enthusiasts, I wouldn't call it a popular place in, say, the summer. Which is when I'd probably like to go.

3. Cape Town, South Africa. I want to climb Table Mountain. I want to see the penguins of Boulder Beach. I want to go on a wine tour of Western Cape's famous vineyards. I want to pay my respects at Robben Island. And I want to explore this city that I've been told has a pleasant climate and delicious cuisine.

2. Sydney, Australia. I want to explore all of Australia, but I also wouldn't mind time in just Sydney. There seems to be so much to do there, and I want to do it all. I have yet to find one person who has gone to Sydney that has said something bad. So I want to go. Plus, I've never been to that entire part of the world (furthest west I've been is the west coast of the US, and the furthest east is Qatar).

1. Vilnius, Lithuania. This has less to do with the natural beauty or the old town than the personal connection I have to the city. Vilnius was the birthplace of my grandfather, and I feel a deep need to go and visit the city. For me, it's that simple.

So that's my list. Maybe I'll be able to cross some of these places off in the coming months/years! In the meantime, THIS is Zorbing. And on The Amazing Race no less. Maybe one day I'll do both!

Ten Places I'd Like To Revisit

The end of the year is a time to reflect, not just on the year that past, but also on our whole lives that led us up to this point. I'm lucky to have had the opportunity to travel a lot; I've gone around the world and across the country, and many places have stayed with me. I want to go everywhere, but below are 10 places I would really like to revisit one day.

10. Doha, Qatar. Doha makes it onto this list because it's been nearly five years since I was there, and everything I see suggests that the city looks completely different. So my curiosity gets Doha on this list, to see how it's changed, evolved.

9. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. I have Yellowstone on this list because I want to believe there's more to it than I saw in my drive through a few years back. It was very scenic, we saw Old Faithful, and came close to lots of bison. I would go again for the absolutely stunning scenes, but I also feel like it has more to give.

Statue of General Artigas in Montevideo

8. Montevideo, Uruguay. I found Montevideo to be a clean, relatively quiet city, my ideal kind of place. It's a city when you need it, but it didn't feel like an overwhelming place, like a New York. It felt like a good city to go to relax and work on the novel that I, and half the people I know, are apparently working on.

7. Zurich, Switzerland. My Zurich experience was a few hours late at night and sleeping in the airport, so not ideal. But I was stunned by downtown Zurich and would love to see it in daytime and get the full Swiss experience.

6. Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. There are few things more majestic than seeing a herd of zebra trotting across the plains. Or a small group of elephants walking in a pack. Or a couple of giraffes eating leaves from the solo tree in a vast expanse of openness. I've seen the animals before, but I wouldn't give up a chance to see some of them again.

Ulcinj, Montenegro

5. Ulcinj, Montenegro. I'm not sure it gets better than sipping Italian wine right outside an old stone city perched on the Adriatic Sea. I wouldn't mind doing that again anywhere in the world, and Ulcinj would be a wonderful location to go. Ulcinj, for me, provides the perfect scene for a relaxing vacation.

4. Panama City, Panama. I was in Panama City grudgingly after more hours than I care to remember at the airport because Copa Airlines' system went down, effectively closing 90% of the airport and my flight back to the US from Aruba. The first thing I was struck by in the city was the number of skyscrapers, and how skinny all of them were. I would love to go to Panama City in a better mood and to walk around the city and surrounding sites.

3. Albuquerque, New Mexico. My stopover in Albuquerque was brief, but there was something intoxicating about it that makes me want to return. The blend of cultures was apparent, even in just a few hours, and I would love to go back and explore the city, its history, and its quirks.

Durmitor National Park

2. Durmitor National Park, Montenegro. One of the most breathtaking natural landscapes I have ever seen, Durmitor National Park sits high in the Montenegrin mountains. When I went in April 2011, there were still several feet of snow on some parts of the grounds, making hiking difficult. We made it partway into the park, but I would love to make it further in and see some of its natural wonders, such as its glacial lakes and canyons.

1. Victoria Falls, Zambia/Zimbabwe. When I went there earlier this year it was high water time. So much water tumbled over the Falls that I was soaked within minutes and could barely see the falls. But I could hear them. And feel them. I would love to go back one day during low water and see the splendor and beauty that is Victoria Falls.

Victoria Falls

In the next few days I hope to look at the 10 places I still would like to visit. I've drawn up the list, but the motivation to sit down and type it out--along with reasons--is the holdup. So enjoy this list in the meantime, and also this holiday greeting from the Minions...I can't wait for their movie in July!

An Awesome Birthday Weekend

December birthdays are hard. First, especially those of us with mid-to-late December birthdays, our plans to go out are usually subsumed by ugly sweater parties and other holiday shenanigans. Second, even if we magically find an open day, there's a good chance half the people we would like at our event will be out of town to visit family. And third, it's cold and gets dark early, so just spending time outside at a park or something equivalent is not a legitimate option. With two notable exceptions--a surprise birthday party and a blizzard that kept all my friends in town a few extra days--therefore, my adult birthdays have typically been relatively quiet. This year was no different.

But I've accepted quiet birthdays and enjoy events with 4-5 good friends. This year my birthday fell on a Friday, putting even more pressure on me to actually do something. Post-work (sadly couldn't get out of that, although my coworkers did bring in some cupcakes and Oreos, which was nice!), as much as I wanted to go to sleep and be lazy, I went into downtown DC and watched the carolers at the Willard Hotel. There was a nice group of 5 of us there, listening to some music, drinking hot apple cider, eating Christmas cookies, and catching up. The party then continued to a Thai restaurant, where I received a free meal, and then on to the Tombs, a wonderful Georgetown bar. Finals were over so students weren't around, so it was a chill Friday night there, but it brought back enough good memories. And I was with friends, which was sweet.

Clearly I partied too hard, though, and slept in until about 12:30 today (Saturday). It was slow-going to start the day, but I eventually pulled through and then went to a friend's place for an EPIC trivia tournament of champions. This friend--we realized we've known for each other for just a shade under 5 years(!)--has been hosting trivia nights at his house every couple of weeks for the past few years, and I've managed to attend a few along the way. The first time I knew no one else, but every time I've learned more names, recognized more faces, and made some new friends. My teams typically did OK, but not splendidly. Today, my team struggled to keep up the entire night, going into the final bonus round in last place. The final round's category was 2014, putting 12 events into order (one per month) and...MY TEAM GOT IT. The only one of the five teams to successfully do it. We worked well together to get it, and I'm proud that I was able to contribute. Here were the 12 events:

1. January: 33 couples get married at the Grammies
2. February: US beats Russia in Olympic ice hockey
3. March: Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 goes missing
4. April: Boko Haram kidnaps girls
5. May: 9/11 Memorial opened
6. June: World leaders gathered to commemorate D-Day
7. July: Germany wins World Cup
8. August: Robin Williams passed away
9. September: First US Ebola case
10. October: Kansas City Royals go to first World Series since 1985
11. November: Trailer released for Star Wars Episode VII
12. December: Last Colbert Report aired

So that's made this an absolutely wonderful and awesome birthday weekend. Here's to being 27! And I love this DJ Earworm mashup...his end of year stuff is good, but this is one of my faves. Very summer-y feeling, which is what I need in the depths of winter.

Light It Up

I went to a Tacky Xmas Sweater Party last night and man, it was fun. There are some truly weird looking sweaters out there. Obviously, I didn't go Christmas themed...I needed to find something for Hanukkah, and I found just that. Thank you, Target. In any case, nothing big, it was just a lot of fun spending time with friends, per usual, and doing it in funky looking sweaters was a big plus.

My Tacky Hanukkah Sweater

Also, yesterday was Taylor Swift's birthday, which I obviously knew. And T-Swift's best friend is Selena Gomez, and this song by Selena Gomez is brilliant. The live performance last month was even better.

Not Living in the Past

About two years ago, I went on a few dates with a girl, we'll call her "R" for the sake of this post. Date #1 went pretty well, which led to Date #2, which was also pretty good, but definitely fell short of Date #1. No worries, though, I figured not everything in life can be a 10/10, so I looked forward to Date #3. But Date #3 tanked. I mean, it was really bad, and I'm pretty sure both of us knew it. I don't think we needed to say that there would be no future dates, but R nevertheless did the whole, "It's not you, it's me" thing and claimed she wasn't ready for a relationship. So, no harm done, and we went our separate ways.

I figured I'd probably never run into R again; we live far enough away from each other and wouldn't be hanging out in the same circles. But a few weeks back I saw her--unexpectedly--and we played the "Let's catch up" game. I surmised that we both said that to be polite but that neither of us really meant it. Until she sent me a text. I was flabbergasted. She asked if I wanted to pick up where Date #2 left off (see, she blocked Date #3 out of her mind too!), but I politely declined. I have moved on, and I don't know why this time would be any different.

I've been thinking about this for awhile, and while I was flattered, I just couldn't imagine myself trying again with R. In part, it's because I've learned more about myself in the last two years and what I think I'm looking for in a partner. But there was also a part of me that just didn't want to rehash a past scenario--Date #3 was undeniably bad.

So that's what's been going on lately. I'm happy it's December, because days seem to speed up at the end of the year and I love the changing of days. What I'm less thrilled about is the cold weather. I wish I enjoyed it as much as this dog, who totally understands how to run a snow maze.

My Brain Is Still Processing Interstellar

I saw Interstellar on Indiana's largest IMAX movie screen (it was huge) almost a week ago, and my mind is still processing it. [NOTE: Sort of spoiler alert if you haven't seen the movie, but not really. In fact, this could end of confusing you more....] The premise of the film really stuck with me. The Earth is destroyed and can no longer sustain long-term human life, the population is decimated, and our only hope is to find a new place to live. I remember watching Anne Hathaway on ellen where she said it was purposefully left out how the Earth fell into disrepair. Was it because of humans? Natural forces? At the end of the day, it doesn't matter. The Earth can no longer support mankind and we must deal with the consequences. There's a focus on solutions and the future.

Stylistically, I really liked the movie. The film has many elements that conjure up images of 2001: A Space Odyssey that even for me--being a young 'un--were easy to recognize. The talking computer and the silent space scenes were probably most prominent. There's something powerfully emotive about a completely silent theater as we watch a spaceship float through space.

But anyway, back to the movie and why it hit me. Space is one of those things that scares me because it is so unknowable. Just trying to reconcile that there isn't an edge to the universe, but also that the universe isn't in something, completely baffles me. The universe is huge, so what else is out there? I don't buy that we're the only planet with "life" (whatever that may be) because of the millions of planets orbiting the thousands of suns, there has to be another one that's developed something, right? And I suppose that's one of the thoughts of the movie. There ARE other planets capable of having life...there have to be! We shouldn't wreck ours, but we're probably not alone either.

So I guess the movie made me realize just how tiny we are. Even the things we can see in the sky at night are very far away. Other planets can take years or more to reach. Other galaxies? Generations. Interstellar doesn't do alien life, but it made me think about it. Well, I guess it does other lifeforms in its own way, and the idea that I can be another lifeform, guiding myself along the way, is an awesome message. But this concept of free will--and whether free will exists if you are the one predetermining your future--is another philosophical conversation my brain is currently processing that may have to wait for another day. :-)

So go see Interstellar if you haven't already. It's worth it. On a MUCH lighter note, John Lewis--a British company--puts out amazingly well-crafted commercials every Christmas season. If you haven't seen them, they are most definitely worth your time. Here's a link to this year's video, with Monty the Penguin. Absolutely precious. Incredibly touching. OK, I'm done melting over this video.

Mixed Feelings on Social Media

Like most people my age, I'm fairly active on social media. As someone who had few people follow him from elementary school to middle school to high school to college, and then moved and stayed away post-graduation, I find social media a great way to keep up with people I knew in childhood. And I love seeing people's updates, even from people I haven't talked to in a long time.

I might not see them often, but I share in their successes in life and feel for their pains. I never know whether it's appropriate to "like" or "favorite" their posts, however. Will these people think I'm strange? Do I come across as a stalker? And that's the hate part of my love-hate relationship with social media. It allows me to connect with people from the past, but it also makes me feel weird when I do reconnect. I do it anyway--I like when people, especially those I may not have talked to in awhile, comment on my activities--but I am self-conscious about such interactions.

Anyway, this has been something I've been thinking about lately, especially because I read a post a former coworker put on her blog about Taylor Swift's new, absolutely amazing song, Blank Space. But she criticized the video, and rightly so. As she pointed out, Tay-Tay had gone Cray Cray. But I didn't know if it'd be weird to engage on the post.

And that's all for today. This song has been stuck in my head all day, and I think the general message is right on target. It can even be changed from talking about a girl to just life in general.

The Beauty of a Do-Nothing Vacation

I'm back on another vacation. In fact, I'm about two-thirds of the way through another jaunt in the US Virgin Islands (as beautiful as always) and I've done so little in my time here, it made me wonder if I do this whole "vacationing" thing wrong. I take two types of trips--exploratory ones and relaxing ones. Usually the former, but increasingly the latter. And this trip is very much the latter.

But on the exploratory ones...these are the trips I take to far-off lands and just see, do, and experience another culture. In 2011 I went to the Balkans and had an amazing adventure in Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, and Turkey. Two friends and I were constantly on the move, spending just a day or two in any one spot, and enjoying the variety of the terrain and the unique aspects of each of the cities we visited. Those vacations are the fun ones that require a relaxing vacation upon returning to home.
 

I am very much in the other type...the relaxing vacation. I've been on St Thomas since last Wednesday, and each day has been spent sleeping in, lying around, doing almost nothing. Could I do this at my house? Well, yes. except the weather here is much better than in Virginia, plus my parents are here so it's nice to see them in their place. I'm awful at staycations; I get antsy and find reasons I have to work or look up work things. Six days into this Virgin Islands vacation, however, I've read the news a few times, but I haven't thought about work or even felt a need to do so. And that's why I'm loving this vacation.
 

I know friends and others will be disappointed that I came to the Virgin Islands and didn't go to the beach or lay out in the sun. But I realized that that wasn't the reason I came here. I came here to clear my mind, to step away from the hubbub of the DC suburbs and just do nothing. And for that, this nothing was the most successful nothing I could've asked for. Successful nothing with breathtaking views :)

 For this post's happy video, I like Bruce Springsteen (the New Jerseyan in me coming out), and I love this acoustic version he does of No Surrender. Pure, raw emotion.

And A Crazy November Begins

Here's a short post, mostly just putting down a marker.

November is shaping up to be a crazy, crazy month. By my count, I will be spending more time outside the DC area than in it. It will make me appreciate my own place during December all that much more, I hope. And to top it all off, November got off with a bang. In my attempt to drive yesterday, I successfully blew out two tires last night, requiring a tow to the dealership to get it fixed first thing this morning. Not how I anticipated spending my Saturday evening and Sunday morning and afternoon. If two blown tires is the worst I encounter this month, however, I will be very, very happy. So here's to keeping my life straight over the next 28 days. I'll reevaluate come December 1!

And just because this is really, really cool. Love the song, love the impressions. :)

It's Been So Long Since Last We Met

This past weekend was Georgetown's homecoming, also known as Georgetown giving hundreds of students and alum a reason to day drink. Oh, and obviously to catch up with friends who I haven't seen in awhile. Very clearly, homecoming is not at ALL about football. To celebrate, a good friend came to town and stayed in my guest bedroom, so we had a full weekend full of fun activities.

Great Falls

We started on Friday with a hike through beautiful Great Falls National Park. It was an approximately 4 mile loop on the Virginia side of the Potomac, with stunning views of the river and rapids, and in general just lovely nature. It was definitely not a bad way to start a weekend. Friday continued with a game of Scattergories--I lost--and grilling baked potatoes and barbecue chicken. Deliciousness.

Perils of the Lost Jungle

Friday night evolved into epicness with the best 18 holes of mini golf I have ever played. There's a place near me that does "Perils of the Lost Jungle" that is basically an Indiana Jones-themed course. There's a sign at the start warning that players will get wet, but I did not take that seriously. The course was interactive--at one point we needed to put our hand on a mini pyramid to open a trap door--and the animatronics were well-done. There was a hiding gorilla, evil things in boxes, etc. So cool. Oh, and I got sprayed with water twice...once was a spritz by poisonous frogs, and the other was a volley of water from an alligator. And then there was the end. Unlike most mini golf courses where the final hole steals your ball, here when you reached to get your ball out of the hole, it used air to knock it out. It was completely unexpected. Ice cream obviously followed. :)

Hello, Georgetown!

Saturday was homecoming day. We started off by exploring all the new buildings on campus, and I was amazed by how nice campus is and all of the new study spaces. But then to the main event. Friends + Fun + Beer + 80s Cover Band = My Perfect Day. I did NOT stay for the football team and don't even know who won (at least I know they played Bucknell). It was an absolutely spectacular day, with temperatures getting into the 70s under a cloudless sky, so the next stop was obviously the grand lawns at the front of campus to take a nap under one of the big trees. It was college all over again, but the fun part, after spring finals, when there were no responsibilities and the weather was perfect. Eventually we decided to move on, walking along the C&O Canal towpath before catching a metro ride back out to the 'burbs.

Observation Tower, watching a plane land at Dulles

And then there was Sunday. I was already working on little sleep having had an action-packed Friday and Saturday, so we agreed to just wake up whenever and then went to the Udvar-Hazey Air and Space Museum near Dulles Airport. It has hangars of planes and is a nice complement to the museum stuck in downtown DC. Udvar-Hazey also hosts the space shuttle Discovery(!) and a Air France Concorde. I guess that's what you can do with unlimited space in the suburbs!

Before my friend departed DC on Sunday night, we played a couple rounds of Mario Party on Wii, a nice relaxing way to end the weekend.

And last week I saw this video and, well, I love every 80s slow dance song apparently. This video was better, in my opinion, than the 90s or the 00s version.

A Magical Journey to Orlando

Another vacation. I know, I'm getting crazy here. This time it was to Orlando and the magical world of...Universal Studios. Had you going there for a moment, didn't I? While Disney is the place to be a kid, Universal for me was the place for adults to be a kid but to pretend they're more adult-y. Boom. I should be in Universal's marketing department.

Hogsmeade

In any case, Universal was super fun, and not just because I got to experience the magical world of Harry Potter (boom x2...these are almost too much fun!), but the non-Harry Potter things were pretty cool too. Despicable Me, Jurassic Park, the Mummy, the Hulk...overall, a great set of rides to go on. But Harry Potter was obviously the biggest thing. Hogsmeade looks as amazing in person as it does in pictures. I know the snow is fake, but the atmosphere there is brilliant. Food at the Three Broomsticks was OK--nothing special--but again, it was the atmosphere. If I wanted great food, I probably wouldn't have eaten inside the park.

The dragon above Gringotts blowing fire

Other really enjoyable Harry Potter-themed activities were the journey through Hogwarts, which was really well done, and two trips on the Hogwarts Express (once in each direction). On the Diagon Alley side of Harry Potter World, I was most impressed about how they took minor details from the books and broadened them into something "real." This was most prevalent in the choice of stores. Not necessarily a minor detail, but even Florean Fortescue's ice cream shop made an appearance. How cool is that?

You may not believe it, but there's more to Universal than just Harry Potter. Obviously I was naturally drawn to the minions of Despicable Me. Not only are they funny, but they're super cute and I give the creators a lot of credit for not just making mindless robots but giving each individual minion a unique personality. (Side note: We watched Despicable Me again one night in Orlando because, why not?) It's amazing what moving seats can do. It completely felt like a full-fledged roller coaster, even though we moved at most a couple of inches in any direction. Gotta love it.


Yes. Of course.

The other fun rides were Jurassic Park, the Mummy, and the Hulk. All three were big surprises for me. The park employee told us that the Jurassic Park lagoon ride had an 85 foot drop at the end. Yet, somehow that drop REALLY surprised me. Definitely wasn't prepared. With the Mummy, I had set my expectations pretty low, but the storytelling and the twists and turns on the indoor roller coaster far exceeded my expectations. And with the Hulk, it was a standard roller coaster except for the beginning. You expect to slowly creep up and then begin your free-fall. But not the Hulk. The quick acceleration starting halfway up was unexpected. So three rides that were above and beyond what I would've figured.

Obviously there were some middling activities--Gringotts, Shrek--and some downright bad ones--Twister--but overall it was an enjoyable experience at Universal. Even if only for a short time over a few days, it was really awesome to be able to join the world of Harry Potter. Now if only my acceptance letter would arrive in the mail--or by owl--already. It's just 15 years late....

Not related at all to the post, but this duet between Jennifer Nettles and one of her contestants on the failed show Duets might be one of the best duets of all time. Really, any duet Jennifer Nettles does is amazing (also see her You and I with Lady Gaga), but this just captivates me. Every. Single. Time.

Finally Caught Up

I returned from my vacation a week ago, but I only just caught up on my DVR. Apparently I record a lot, and with things to do most nights last week, I struggled to keep up with my overactive DVR. But alas, problem ended, and now I have no un-seen shows on my DVR.

As the new season for shows kicks into gear, five shows have caught my eye--two in new seasons, and three brand new shows--and I will look forward to them every week. Let's hope they don't disappoint:

• New Girl
• The Amazing Race
• New Show: Red Band Society
• New Show: A to Z
• New Show: How to Get Away With Murder

So that's all I've got from these last few days. Looks to be another crazy week--or two or three, a I look at my calendar--so we'll see what gets turned into updates. :)

I heard this song on the radio recently (apparently it's 5 months old, according to YouTube), but I really like it. I don't know how I've missed it for so long!

I Took a Vacation. No Seriously, I Did. A Virgin Islands Adventure.

I'm sure it's hard to believe, but the long delay in posting (ok, not that long, but longer than my promise to post once a week minimum) is because I was on vacation in lovely, sunny, humid, St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. St. Thomas is a beautiful island and it was really nice to get away from the hubbub of life in the DC area, relax, and see family. Yes, it's such a difficult trip to be forced to go to the Caribbean to see family. I don't know how I survive.

Storm clouds ahead of a setting sun on St. Thomas

In any case, this was my second trip to the US Virgin Islands. When I last went about 15 months ago, I took a day trip to St. John, which is predominantly a very green and very mountainous national park. This time, the excursion away from St. Thomas was to the British Virgin Islands. I know they say each island has its own personality, but that seems like a ridiculous thing to say. After all, there are only so many personalities to be had, and with these islands all so close to one another, they have to share that, at least. I, however, admit that I was wrong. Although I have yet to visit St. Croix, the rest of the US Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands are all very distinct. Which is a good thing.

Some of the rocks on the outskirts of the Baths

The day trip to the British Virgin Islands started off awfully early from St. Thomas, where we boarded our boat. We cruised to St. John to pick up a few more passengers, and then went on our way to Virgin Gorda to check in with British immigration and customs. Yay new stamp in passport! After a short walk around the Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour (with a "u" to designate its Britishness, because otherwise the people there have American accents and use the US dollar...), we returned to our catamaran and sailed down the coast of Virgin Gorda to the world-famous baths. Spectacular. Breathtaking. Amazing. Those are the words that come to mind to describe the rock formations and the pools. I unfortunately don't have any photos since it was a 70-yard swim from the boat to the beach, and then a 60-yard swim back, and I didn't want my camera getting wet.

Snorkeling

We then went to Scrub Island where we had lunch, got to play in a pool, and go down a water slide. But that was the boring part. Our next adventure was a short hop to Great Camanoe Island to go snorkeling. It was my first time snorkeling, but once I got the hang of how to breathe and not panic, it was super fun. The coral was massive and stunning. We also saw a couple of moon jellyfish (prompting our guide to say: "I shall call him Squishy and he shall be mine and he shall be my Squishy." Finding Nemo if you didn't catch the reference). The guide caught one of the jellies--they're harmless, and this one was old and lacking tentacles--and I got to touch it. Squishy and slimy are the two best descriptors I can come up with, but how often does one intentionally touch a jellyfish without getting stung?

There were also brilliant fish, some massive, around the area. Near the surface swam a group of thin fish with very pointy noises that looked like they could skewer me if they wanted to, but thankfully they didn't. There was also a line of squid that reminded me the underwater worlds in the Mario games where you try to avoid them as you sail through. The squid just swam back and forth in perfect rhythm. I was astounded by just how well the different schools of fish interacted. They swam through, above, below, near, etc. each other, but each school had its own mission and it seemed as if nothing would take them off that mission.

We ended the day at the popular Jost Van Dyke, home of the Soggy Dollar Bar. Another great location, but not much more to tell than that. We returned to St. John and then headed back to St. Thomas, where the day was done. It was an amazing adventure in a short vacation, but I'm glad I got the chance to see a few more islands and their all very different personalities.

A spectacular view from Jost Van Dyke, just because:

And a song that I can't seem to get out of my head caps off this post. I have a lot of other things running through my mind, so there might (no promises!) be a series of rapid-fire posts coming up!

 

Optimistic Skeptic . . . Or Is It Skeptical Optimist?

There are two theories of trust out there. One is considered "100 to 0" and says that you trust someone until that person gives you a reason to stop. The other is "0 to 100" and says that people have to earn your trust. I'm in the latter camp. I'm a skeptical person. But that skepticism is often misinterpreted as pessimism, which I'm not. I'm an optimist and want to believe in the best in everything. So yes, I'm an optimistic skeptic...or a skeptical optimist.

That's why I love Jimmy Fallon's newest segment, in which he gets real newscasters to give good news, or news that we wish we would hear. There's a lot of bad news out there and you could be forgiven for thinking that the world is a scary place. From Islamic militants in the Middle East to missing children in Maryland, it's easy to get depressed and retreat to the dark corner of the room. And that's what makes the below videos so amazing. It's hard to pick my favorite news story, but there's no way you don't get into a good mood watching it.

So I may not be the most trusting person out there--I'm still skeptical of your intentions--but I'm optimistic that there's more good than bad in this world and that people in general can win me over. As Lemony Snicket says:

At times the world may seem an unfriendly and sinister place, but believe that there is much more good in it than bad. All you have to do is look hard enough.

 

 



This Is Why I Can't Have Nice Things

Two weeks ago I was helping my brother-in-law saw some branches off a tree and apparently thought my left thumb was a branch. I took a saw to the thumb but it wasn't that deep, nothing that a little water, Neosporin, and a Band-Aid couldn't take care of. Oops.

Two weeks ago I bought a new set of glasses because I figure that after being an "adult" for the last four years it would be good if I finally had a full set of glasses...that all looked the same. Fine, they're not necessarily nice things--it was a set of 16 glasses for $15 from Bed, Bath, and Beyond. But they were mine, and they made me feel grown-up. This morning, I broke one of the glasses. It took me two weeks to make my beautiful, wonderful, very nice complete set incomplete.

So if you're reading this, you may wonder why I brought up the story of me sawing my thumb. Well, brilliant me at 6am this morning cleaned up the broken glass and through it in the garbage. Then, even more brilliant me decided to push down the garbage to make sure I was using all the space. And the glass got its revenge by impaling my right pointer finger. I can't have nice things because I break nice things and then find ways to hurt myself with it.

Successfully-built IKEA bed.

I'm in the process of building myself IKEA furniture--at this point a bed an entertainment unit--so I'm scared about what I might manage to do with those given my experience with other things I've bought and done for myself recently. Hopefully the thumb and pointer incidents aren't warnings for the rest of my fingers...my left middle finger is on notice!

There were two videos on my list that had me cracking up recently, but I'll save the other one for the next post. In this one, the baby panda cub refuses to let go of his trainer's leg after being put back. It's such a cute juvenile thing, and a quick search of YouTube suggests pandas are very clingy animals!

10 Books That Changed My Life

A few months ago, there was a thing going around Facebook about the 10 books that stuck with you. I modified it to the 10 books that changed my life, because I felt that it was a similar concept, but much more me...the books that have stuck with me and made me who I am. Facebook stalking tells me that the lists are going around again, so I figured I'd explain my 10 choices. They're listed below in the order that I'm pretty sure I read them.

My Harry Potter Collection

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
This book set me on a journey with millions and millions of others around the world, and I patiently waited (am still waiting?) for my letter to Hogwarts. This book made me enjoy reading and immersed me in a new world with new friends. Seven books and eight movies later, I still love the Harry Potter series and the book that started it all.

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
One of the first books taking place in Africa I've ever read, I remember this book tugging at my emotional heartstrings. There was a lot of self-reflection about the value of life and going out and exploring the world. Kingsolver made me want to see the world.

Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States by Kenneth Jackson
I don't think it's a big secret that if I could do anything in the world, I'd be an urban planner. I loved this book because it was my introduction to urban--or, really, suburban--planning and the formation of cities and towns. It truly fascinated me and is a book I still go back and read parts of today.

It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis
Lewis got me enamored with alternate histories. I loved the mind game presence of the book. Even though the book is decades old, the society created has found new homes in many young adult dystopian novels, a genre with which I'm also in love. This book also made me realize just how lucky I am to live in the US and that the US turned out the way it did.

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Potentially my favorite book of all time, I loved the twists and turns and am secretly very happy that every movie version has turned out to be mostly bizarre. I remember reading it in the living room and finding out I only had 100 pages left around midnight and deciding I'd stay up to finish. Then it was 2am and I still had pages left and I kept reading. I couldn't put the book down, and still can't. It's a dangerous book for me to read.

Collapse: How Societies Choose To Fail or Succeed by Jack Diamond
I know many people don't like this book, but I really enjoyed the journeys to places near and far and the exploration of diverse cultures. The focus on environmental factors and humans' impact on the environment fascinated me and was my first introduction to environmental history, which became the basis for my thesis concentration: the history of poverty in the developing world.

Chasing the Sea: Lost Among the Ghosts of Empire in Central Asia by Tom Bissell
Every now and then a book comes along that encourages you to read more and more and more. This travelogue is one of those books. I so thoroughly enjoyed this book about Bissell's travels in Uzbekistan that I created a very lengthy book list containing one book for each country in the world. THIS book started it all.



My collection of books from my Chasing the Sea-inspired reading list


A Different Kind of War Story by Carolyn Nordstrom
I got into environmental history and, soon after, African history. This book is the reason why. This book also became a theme through three years of college and gave me the topic for one of my theses on the Mozambican Civil War. Some parts of the war are so gruesome that I had to put the book down, but the focus on the people element, especially the children, makes this book an essential read on Mozambique. Nordstrom reminds us that there's hope even in the darkest of times.

Anthills of the Savannah by Chinua Achebe
No top 10 list for me would be complete without a Chinua Achebe novel. This book did for me and my impression of Africa what Sinclair Lewis did for me on the United States. Achebe has an ability I've only felt with a few other writers (most of whom are on this list)--that you are in the story and not just observing it.

Kaaterskill Falls by Allegra Goodman
This novel on relatively isolated Jewish communities in New York was a great reintroduction for me into my own heritage. Even though I grew up in a more secular community, I could relate to the topics and the struggles characters went through. It put some of my life experiences back into perspective.

So that's my list of ten. Six are works of fiction, four are non-fiction. With one exception--Harry Potter--all were read for school or class, and were read in high school or college. Harry Potter, however, was a gift to me from my aunt/godmother. In the front, she wrote "Enjoy the adventure!" and boy did I ever. Each book on this list was a major step on my life adventure and helped refine me into the person I am today. I may have initially been upset about being forced to read them for school, but I'm definitely glad I did!

On a separate note, last night I watched ABC's Behind the Scenes of Frozen and it was super cool to see how the movie became what it was. I had already seen the below clip, but it's this post's thing that makes me happy. I love Multilanguage song videos, and this one is beautiful...so many individually great performances. I'm of course personally in love with Idina Menzel (English), as well as Anais Delva (French/Canadian French), Takako Matsu (Japanese), Jelena Gavrilovic (Serbian), and Maria Lucia Heiberg Rosenberg (Danish).

Tourist-ing My Own City

Washington Monument

Sometimes when you live right next to something, you take for granted that it's there and never go explore it. I lived in DC for four years and did get around to many of the museums and monuments, but as soon as I moved to Virginia, my tendency to go into the District and play tourist went down drastically. With the parents in town this weekend, it was a fun opportunity to play tourist and do some new things I had never done before

The day began with a tour of the Capitol, my second one. It was fun touring the capital near the 200-year anniversary of the British burning of Washington during the War of 1812. Each state can send up to two statues to the National Statuary Hall Collection in the Capitol. When I went two years ago, I was most interested in the New Jerseyans (Philip Kearny and Richard Stockton), but this time I was more interested in the Virginians (Robert E. Lee and George Washington), I guess showing that I'm taking on my adoptive state even more.

Fluttering Flags

The other fun activity I had never done before was go to the top of the Washington Monument. I've always loved the Washington Monument--it has a great view of the mall, and the wind beautifully flutters the 50 (or maybe 56, depending on your source) American flags circling its base. Especially with a perfectly blue sky, or even with a stray cloud here and there, it's a view anyone could get into. But I didn't go to the Washington Monument to stay at the base, so it was really enjoyable to take the 70 second elevator ride to the top and see the AMAZING views. And, it's only been reopen for 3ish months, after it was closed because of cracks discovered during the 2011 earthquake.

The view to the East: the Mall, the Capitol, Prince George's County (MD):

The view to the North: the White House, Montgomery County (MD):

The view to the West: World War II Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Rosslyn, and way off in the distance, Tysons Corner:

The view to the South: Jefferson Memorial, National Airport, Potomac River:

Super cool stuff. The elevator ride down was also really interesting, seeing some of the donated stones from states, cities, and organizations. I hadn't known about those, so it was really neat to learn something new about the Washington Monument in the process. Anyway, every now and then it's fun to play novice tourist in your own city. I'm hoping that next time we get to see a few new places, such as Arlington Cemetery, the Pentagon, and Mount Vernon.

To celebrate 'merica on this Labor Day, the unofficial end of summer, here's a cover of one of my favorite summer songs:

My (Admittedly Silly) Stake in Scotland's Independence Referendum

When I was younger--maybe 15 years or so ago--my brother dared me to memorize all the countries in the world in alphabetical order, probably because I was bothering him and there's no better way to get rid of someone then by sending them off to a ridiculous task that seems most impossible. After all, around the year 2000, there were approximately 190 countries in the world, so a pretty hefty list. I didn't see it as a useless task; rather, I found a fun challenge, and thus began my excessive organizing skills.

When I travel to every country starting with a letter of the
alphabet, I am crossing it off this list. There are no W or X
countries, so those were gone first. I traveled to Qatar--the
only Q--in 2010. And I hit up both Zs--Zambia and Zimbabwe
earlier this year. I'm a few countries away from any other
letter except the ones that only have 1 or 2 total, so it might be
awhile until another country gets crossed off.

It's amazing how you can find patterns in things when you need to in order to make life easier. Maybe that sounds obvious, but memorizing 190+ countries really put that into perspective for me. For instance, I could always tell if I missed an early-alphabetical country because I knew Dominican Republic, the last of the 4 Ds, was #50, and 50 is an easy number to which to count. The end of the Es is Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia...or "Er", "Es", "Et". Peru follows Paraguay, two South American countries.

Problems soon arose, however, because the world is not a static place. Since originally learning the list, I've had to add in East Timor (Dominican Republic, East Timor, Ecuador)...which then changed its name to Timor-Leste (Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo); Montenegro (Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco); Kosovo (Kiribati, Kosovo, Kuwait); Serbia (Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles); and South Sudan (South Korea, South Sudan, Spain). Kosovo was a great addition...it now means that the Ks are now "Ka" (Kazakhstan), "Ke" (Kenya), "Ki" (Kiribati), "Ko" (Kosovo), "Ku" (Kuwait), and "Ky" (Kyrgyzstan). Yeah, that got me excited! :)

I'm conflicted about whether to add Palestine, and I don't do changes well. When Cape Verde became Cabo Verde, it moved it up a couple of spots, just far enough to mess with my patterns. Stupid Cabo Verde. So here's my stake in the Scottish independence referendum: if it passes, I'm going to have to figure out where Scotland fits in the list. I know, I know, this is a silly, ridiculous thing to be upset about. Scottish people are deciding their future, and I'm worried about having to re-alphabetize the countries of the world. I guess we all have our priorities???

So how many countries are there in the world? CGP Grey does a good job of explaining...or not explaining.

An Outdoor Concert in Tysons Corner

The new plaza at Tysons Corner Center

Tonight was an absolutely beautiful evening. As the temperatures started to dip into the 70s, the sun began to set and spending time outdoors was an absolute must. I knew I was going to be outside, I just needed to figure out in what capacity. Step in Tysons Corner Center with a free outdoor concert on its new plaza. Tonight's "headliner" was Andy Grammer, known for such hits as Keep Your Head Up and Fine By Me. The concert was a ton of fun--Andy played in front of a crowd of maybe 200-250 folks who were all in generally pleasant moods. The nascent bustling-ness of Tysons nearby seemed to be an eternity away as his music enveloped the space, blocking out the honking horns and the metro trains speeding by. We were only temporarily interrupted by an ambulance racing down the highway (acceptable, in my opinion).

Deloitte/Intelsat

Unfinished Apartments

This was my first time on the plaza, so I went as much for the music as to check out the plaza itself. It's small, but cute. It also has interesting views. Ahead are two tall buildings--one occupied by Intelsat and Deloitte, and the other a currently unfinished apartment building. To the left are cranes and a rising skyline. To the right is the Beltway and trees, and far off in the distance one can see some tall buildings. Some deduction skills were necessary (with the aid of Google Maps), and based on my location and the angle at which I could view the Beltway, those buildings could only be in Rosslyn, probably a good 10 miles or so away. I know not everyone gets excited by these things, but I do. I find it cool! :)

Anyway, it was a great experience tonight. A free acoustic concert by an up-and-coming artist who I had previously heard of. Below is his current song on the radio, and the acoustic, audience-participation of this song was super fun. He also explained where one of the lines came from: "So here's to the cheap sunglasses, Red Bull and minivans." Getting the personal story on that was an added bonus.

I hope Tysons decides to continue these concerts next summer...definitely something I could get used to!

A Sappy Post About A Beautiful Wedding

Oops, it's been a little bit since I last wrote, but that's because I was SUPER BUSY these last two weeks. Or, please believe that. In any case, I have done a lot; I've become much more comfortable with my public transit commute, and I traveled a fair distance to attend the wedding of two great friends. So I'm only now getting back into a nice routine. The lack of stress by commuting with trains/buses is doing wonders, and I'm so happy I have the ability/opportunity to commute via public transit. So much more relaxing.

But on to the truly exciting stuff. Two of my best friends got married this past weekend. To attend this wedding required a trip to the northern reaches of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Perched on the shores of Grand Traverse Bay--an arm of Lake Michigan--sit the small villages of Suttons Bay, Omena, Leland, Lake Leelanau, and Peshawbestown. Because the Leelanau Peninsula is near no major forms of transportation, three friends and I flew into the lovely city of Flint (*please note the sarcasm*) and drove the 3.5 hours up north. I was a bit disappointed in the drive; I don't know what I was expecting, but interstate highways in Michigan look just like interstate highways in the rest of the US. I guess I was hoping for it to look different, but that's based on nothing than hope, I guess.



A beautiful spot for a wedding ceremony.

Anyway, the Leelanau Peninsula was a wonderful setting for a wedding. The rehearsal dinner on Friday night was half-outside, and with temperatures in the mid-70s with a cloudless sky, it was a pleasure to eat, drink, and chat with friends. An after-party sitting around a bonfire was a great way to cap off the night. The wedding on Saturday was perhaps even better. Temperatures got into the low 80s. Set in a cherry farm, the scenery was stunning and the ceremony absolutely beautiful. I'm going to embarrass myself and make my second reference to the movie 27 Dresses on his blog. In that movie, Katherine Heigl's character says:

You know how the bride makes her entrance and everybody turns to look at her? That’s when I look at the groom. Cause his face says it all you know? The pure love there.

And later in the movie James Marsden's character says:

When the bride comes in and she makes her giant grand entrance, I like to glance back at the poor bastard getting married. Cause even though I think he’s an idiot for willingly entering into the last legal form of slavery, he always looks really, really happy.


So as the bride started walking down the aisle escorted by her parents, I looked back at the groom. You shouldn't go to chick flicks (sorry, romantic comedies) for advice of any sort, but this was pretty awesome. As James Marsden says, the groom looked "really, really happy."

The cocktail hour was outside with giant versions of games like Jenga and Tic Tac Toe. Dinner was under an outdoor tent. And dancing was in an open barn that made me think of the last scene in the 2011 version of Footloose--some lights strung in a barn and awesome music playing while everyone danced like there were no cares in the world. Even though I only knew a few of the other people at the wedding, it was fun just being a 20-something and enjoying life.

Wine Tour Party Bus

The next morning after Sunday brunch, the three friends I drove up with and I went on a wine tour through northern Michigan's wineries. It was my first time on a wine tasting tour, and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to try so many different types and flavors. As you might guess, northern Michigan would be a fruit-lover's paradise (on top of the cherry farms, there are lots of apple orchards and pear farms(?), and collections of other fruits too), so many of the wines were infused with different fruits. Most were very good, although a few were pretty questionable. Especially the adult ciders. Oh well. Overall, it was a great time.

And now I'm back. I'm looking forward to my next wedding and having such a great time again. I'm glad I had the chance to see two friends tie the knot and look so happy before, during, and after the ceremony. Until next time, enjoy this cover of Sia's Chandelier from a contestant on America's Got Talent. Flawless.