Apr 1, 2006 · 1 minute
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A charming image, there.
Last few days: the return of Ian Is Dumb!
Other news: the burritos at Fiesta Grill are about twice the size of a swiss roll…guh
Magnetic paint is actually quite hard to find.
You can buy non-spill bubble cups from Target.
Dinner with Mandy wasn't quite as scary as it first seemed.
Chocolate chip cookie dough pop tarts are really quite nice!
Christa really wasn't kidding when she said she loved Elizabeth Shaw mints.
currently playing: Lucky Soul – Give Me Love
Mar 30, 2006 · 1 minute
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1: Get bowl in Weaver Street Market
2: Place eggs in the bottom (note: not sure whether they should be raw or cooked, but to be honest, that’s the least of your worries, as you’ll soon see)
3: Alternate thin layers of scrambled tofu and potato.
4: On the final potato layer, place a pancake on top, and drizzle with blueberry syrup.
5: You’re supposed to eat the pancake first, letting little drops of blueberry syrup mix with the potato.
6: Erm…yes…
currently playing: Neko Case – Hold On, Hold On
Mar 29, 2006 · 1 minute
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The Essential Godzilla collection is great 1970s Marvel madness.
A rather light day today, as last night, Collin, Christa, Mandy, Esther, myself, and a cast of other random drop-ins and drop-outs went out to the Orange County Social Club for a little drink. I was very restrained. Honest.
(In fact, it was my usual 'first night out with everybody and I feel very shy and intimidated' blues, but as ever, I'll probably get over myself in a day or two)
I've spent most of today sleeping, so I haven't got too depressed over
this news today (what happened to the Lords?).
You may have noticed that the new pictures on the sidebar are at a slightly higher resolution. I have my new T9 camera now, woohoo!
currently playing: The Flaming Lips – Goin' On
Mar 28, 2006 · 1 minute
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An ungodly amount of girl-group music. AND IT'S ALL MINE!
Mar 28, 2006 · 1 minute
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They get their furniture from IKEA now…damn Carrboro yuppies…
Mar 28, 2006 · 2 minute
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Five words that normally spell disaster. I’m staying at Leigh’s at the moment, which is a lot further out of Chapel Hill than where I’ve stayed in the past. There is a Chapel Hill Transit bus route nearby (free of charge, of course; yet another reason why I love this town - its public transport links are better than many British towns, which you can’t say often in America), but I waited for about twenty minutes and thought ‘oh well, I’ll just walk to 15-501, and get the bus there’.
Yes, you can see where I went wrong. I walked for an hour, crossing the bridge over Interstate 40 (with centimetre clearances between myself and oncoming traffic), up hill, down mushy dale (Americans! PAVEMENTS! They're fun for all the family!), and got rather concerned that I wasn't recognising any of the landmarks as I was walking. Being too stubborn to turn back, I kept going. And going. As I was giving up hope, I saw a big blue building in the distance. I thought it was the Blue Cross Shield centre, but no, it was a BB&T office. But! As I saw hope dashed before my eyes, I saw the dilapidated K-Mart to my right. To my left, the new Super Target.
I had walked to Target. Oh my poor feet.
Thankfully, I knew there was a TTA bus station nearby, so I was soon heading into Chapel Hill. Today was an exploring day; wandering around the town, visiting the
comic shop (obviously), bumping into
Leanne (twice!), heading down to campus, then off to Southpoint Mall and New Hope Commons. Where I broke down and bought Tetris DS. Ooh, it's good.
currently playing: The Dresden Dolls – Sex Changes
Mar 27, 2006 · 3 minute
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It is, perhaps, somewhat disconcerting to get on a plane being greeted by the uplifted sound of Radiohead’s No Surprises. Not exactly the tunbe to get you in the holiday spirit. But then. Flight AA173 is less a holiday flight and more of an extended bus journey, not just for myself, but for the seemingly endless parade of people working in the Raleigh Technology Park who use this flight. At check-in, security and boarding, it’s always the same; chance meetings, bumping into an old friend at IBM, and so on. Me? It’s just occurred to me that this is the fourth consecutive year I’ve been on this flight. Which scares me a little.
But I think I'm all ready. I'm slightly odd in that I appear to undergo a slight change whenever I fly back to Chapel Hill. I dress slightly differently, I wear a set of glasses that I don't wear back home, and I guess I feel a little different. Which is not to say that I jump into a telephone kiosk and suddenly develop a weakness for kryptonite (and really, that should be in my computer dictionary with the amount of times that I use it). I just feel slightly different when I'm in America than I do when I'm in Britain (and it's not just being off work, either, as when I was working at UNC, I felt the same way).
Nothing too interesting this flight in way of the SkyMall catalogue. Aside from the usual hot dog/bun heaters that I normally come across, the only other thing of note was a Möbius strip with the Lord's Prayer etched into its silver frame. It's a merger of science and religion! Or something. The in-flight magazine lets you know just how little it thinks of coach passengers by including a six-page feature on why company directors are having a hard time in the US at the moment, because they might be legally liable if their company breaks the law. Awww. I'm sure we all feel sorry for them.
Another thought: after four years on this flight -
the menu hasn't changed once. You will always be given the option of "beef with brown gravy" (we're entering American country now, of course, which means that 'gravy' will get you a slimy white substance almost definitely of a dubious origin) or 'chicken with pasta' (actually, not too bad). Then about an hour from landing, the menu says that we will get a snack. This invariably turns out to be a single-person pizza, which is surprisingly nice. I have to say I look forward to that part of the flight.
I have played every single circuit of Mario Kart. I'm afraid to go into Animal Crossing, because I haven't been into my village for ages. The animals may have burnt it down by now (they can't be trusted with anything). But I still have four and a half hours to go, so I've got to do something…
Mar 26, 2006 · 1 minute
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Off to Chapel Hill again tomorrow. Expect lots of fancy pictures with my new camera, extended meandering blog entries, and lots more! Meeting back up with friends, drink experiments, electrical experiments, and Chapel Hill Comics.
Byeee!
currently playing: James Taylor – Carolina in My Mind
Mar 25, 2006 · 1 minute
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My birthday present (early, as I’m flying out on Monday):
Mar 23, 2006 · 0 minute
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