12-25-03 (at midnight)

First: Merry Christmas.

Well here I am, with chips and pizza, celebrating christmas by myself. This morning I pedaled on my bike from campus to the metro station in the freezing cold rain. Completely soaked, I got to work and got wet some more like it wasn't enough riding 10 miles in the rain.

Today I met two interesting people, at the same time. One of them was a freelance photojournalist that was taking pictures of me on the Zamboni as I resurfaced the ice. I asked him what the hell he was doing, and he explained to me the whole deal. He just takes pictures of people, events and stuff, and then sells them to magazines, papers or companies in general. Cool job, thats one of the things I would love to do. In fact, I was thinking of selling some of my Ice Rink pictures to my own company, so they can put something on their lame site. Anyways, this photographer has his own website, you can check it out, he has some cool pictures, and his name is Chip: www.cflp.com.

The second person I met was this girl who had had a little too much to drink: a UVA Law student. She asked me to take some pictures of her with her friend on the ice, and well, Chip joined the photoshoot session. So we ended up talking and the China subject came up, and well interestingly enough, this girl had lived in Beijing for a year and a half. How weird is that? Oh well, she told me all the good things, but most of all, she told me she would tell me more about it later when she could actually remember what she did (when she was sober).

This entire conversation took like an hour and a half (for which I was being paid, hehe), but that's the cool thing about GSI. So today I actually did take some pictures!! It's hard to have variety when you spend your entire day in the same place and every day of the week is just like the day before. But the sunset today was just gorgeous and I also took some pictures of the Zamboni (by the way, the name comes from its creator, Frank Zamboni.)

Anyways, my mom just called me, so that made my night! Gracias madre. Good night to the rest of you.

(our Zamboni)

(sunset at the ice rink today)

12-23-03

The night before x-mas. Well at least in Colombia it is. For some reason we celebrate the 24th and not the 25th. Tonight I had my x-mas dinner with Little G: Wendy's: A triple classic combo with fries, 5 horrible crispy nuggets and a coke. Tomorrow I will be working all day as well as the 25th, so that will be it. I decided to go out tonight not just because I'm extremely hungry but also because I'm getting tired of Lays and Ruffles. On the last day of school I spent like 14 meal plans which adds up to somewhere around 85 bags of chips which is what I eat. As you might see I am running out of ideas and thoughts here. I just thought I would update since it's been 5 days since my last post.

Today I ran some errands on my motorcycle, which was a lot of fun considering I hadn't ridden on it for like 3 weeks (trying to keep the low miles before I sell it). Then I put it back in storage and rode my bicycle back from DC to make the basketball game at 7pm: we won. The team drove down here all the way from Buffalo, NY, with a pretty funny friar that sat with the team throughout the game. You know how they wear those brown robes or whatever they're called with a piece of rope around their waist? well this friar was hardcore and had a cell phone hangin on that rope. Pretty funny. I wish I had taken a picture but was too lazy to get the camera out of my book-bag.

Since I'm not riding my motorcycle, I am going to work from Fairfax to DC on my bicycle and metro. I'm doing like a good 30 miles daily pedaling from campus to the metro station, then from Rosslyn to the Ice Rink. That ought to get me in shape after not rowing for 2 months. It's been fun to ride the bicycle again, I hadn't done it that intensly for a long time. It reminds me that there is something else other than crew.

Ah, here's some fresh news for those of you that don't read or watch CNN. The mad cow disease has come to the U.S. Funny thing, within hours of this discovery Japan had banned all US beef importing. It was discovered in Washington State today. Well, that being said, I think I just ate my last Wendy's for a while. Think twice next time you want to go to McDonalds.

Oh well, this is running a little long and I really have nothing important to say or cool picture to put with this post. So I guess I'll wrap it up wishing you a very merry x-mas! Hmmm..I'm pretty exhausted. Nite.

12-18-03

WARNING: LOTR Comments. You might not want to read this if you actually give a damn about the story in the movie.

So let us move on to more important issues. Lord of the Rings, and this is my story. First time I heard of it was obviously when it came out along with Harry Potter, of which I was not really a big fan. Fantasy movies just don't do it for me. The first one I saw was actually the second movie. A pirated version off Craig's computer on John V.'s big screen. All I saw in that movie was little guys with big feet (like mine) and then some talking-walking trees. I just couldn't find that fun or entertaining. The days that followed, until very recently, I had something against LOTR fans. I kept saying they were idiots for liking that stupid movie. Mr. Frodo?? how queer is that. The kid doesn't even grow a beard and they call him Mr. Frodo.

(I didn't take this picture)

Well anyways, one day, very bored, I decided to actually watch the movie, the second one that is. I loved it, but I understood very little of it since I hadn't seen the first one. So off I went looking for the first LOTR, and although it wasn't as good as the second one, it was very good and simply a build-up to the following movie. Well, just like any other LOTR fan I guess, I was out there on wednesday night, sitting on the floor in the Union Station theatre, waiting in line.

All I have to say about the Return of the King: hobbits are queer. The movie was excellent, the fight scenes, the storyline, special effects (with the exception of this one part where Frodo is running into that "volcano" where he was supposed to destroy the ring (I don't know all the names of places in the movie), anyways, that part looks as fake as Britney Spears' tits. It was pittyful, Mary Poppins kicked ass in special effects, and that was how many years ago? yeah. Other than that, everything was okay. Oh, nevermind, the hobbits are gay. Did I say that already? Like Lil G said "can't wait for the new 'Hobbits Gone Wild' to come out". What is it with that scene where they are all jumping on the bed and queerfully hugging and giving each other those weird looks?? Might as well give them handcuffs and let them get it on!!! Right at that point when you think the movie is over (the world is saved, the guy turns into a king, he gets the chick, and the bad guys die), there's still half an hour of...ummm...not a lot of action. Basically "hobbit-hugging" action only.

All in all the movie was good. If you somewhat like LOTR and got caught into it in the first two, definitely go see this one. Legolas is truly a badass.

12-11-03

Well to be honest I'm pretty bored right now. With only one final left in a couple of hours, I really don't know what to do with myself. I already ate all the piza left in our fridge. That's a picture of what our fridge looks like: water, ketchup, old pizza, and who knows what the other stuff is.

I can't watch The Man Show any longer, for some reason two guys drinking beer and some chicks jumping on trampolines just doesn't do it for me anymore, never did actually. I don't understand how people like that show.

Oh here's something pretty cool I just found out. My bike is in that movie Paycheck with Ben Affleck. It comes out on chirstmas day. You can watch the trailer on that link above.

12-09-03

Only two finals to go now. This morning I went to Gallaudet University in NE DC. There I took that Law final I missed last tuesday. How did it go? I don't know. For those of you who don't know, Gallaudet is a school for deaf people and its interesting how you walk into a building and there is absolute silence everywhere you go. It was quiet to the point I thought it was like a Sunday afternoon and nobody was working. Also, try asking for directions on how to get to a building. Anyhow, there's really not a whole lot to say. I have a debate tonight and two finals on thursday, then, I'm pretty much done for two years. I'll be back for spring 2006.

Last week in one of our presentations, this one girl was giving a presentation related to free speech and brought one of her dad's t-shirts. The t-shirt is about the "Bushisms". I did not know about this before but apparently there are books with thousands of quotes that Bush has made, statements that either make no sense or simply show us why he should not be a leader. I understand that people make mistakes, and that public speaking pressure is likely to make you mess up, but some of these things go beyond that line. Anyhow, the t-shirt has like 10 quotes on the back of stupid things Bush has said. He was at some starbucks one day and this random person saw him wearing the t-shirt and threw his coffee at my friend's dad. I thought it was pretty funny how there are still people like this loose in our society. Well there is worse, but it's still funny.

Here are some of these Bushisms that I consider being pretty funny:

"This is not an instant gratification war" —November 2nd, 2001

"Do you have blacks too?" - Bush ignorantly asked Brazil's President Fernando Henrique Cardoso. Reported by the reputable German publication Der Spiegel. Rumor has it, Condoleza Rice interupted the president and explained in brief the African history in Brazil.

"I am here to make an announcement that this Thursday, ticket counters and airplanes will fly out of Ronald Reagan airport." —October 3rd, 2001 at Reagan International Airport in Washington, D.C.

"We spent a lot of time talking about Africa, as we should. Africa is a nation that suffers from incredible disease." —Gothenburg, Sweden, June 14, 2001

''I had no idea we had so many weapons, ...what do we need them for?'' — George W. Bush, stunned when told the extent of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, Newsweek, June 25, 2001

"The great thing about America is everybody should vote." -Austin, Texas, Dec. 8, 2000

"It's clearly a budget. It's got a lot of numbers in it." --Reuters, May 5, 2000

"Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?" -Florence, S.C., Jan. 11, 2000

"I think if you know what you believe, it makes it a lot easier to answer questions. I can't answer your question." —Reynoldsburg, Ohio, Oct. 4, 2000

...well, all I have to say about this is...Way to go Yale!

12-05-03

Yesterday was the "Christmas Pageant of Peace" in the President's Park, and by that I don't mean the freshmen dorms on campus, its the actual elipse area in front of the White House in DC. Basically what it means is some 7,000 people get together for 5 hours in the cold and wait for Bush to come, say a few things, and hit a button that lights up the national christmas tree. Exciting huh. Well there I was, giving away free hot chocolate and candy cane.

The tradition started way back in 1923 when President Calvin Coolidge walked from the White House to the tree and pushed the button. Of course nowadays, we have Bush, not walking but being driven in a motorcade of 50 armored cars and snipers sitting on top of trucks, as he makes his way to stage where he sits behind a shield of inch-thick glass. Funny how things change. I really thought something was going to happen to him last night.

Then, after working for 14 hours straight, I finally get off at around 10pm. I leave our warehouse in SE DC speeding my way through traffic on 66 before the snow storm reaches me, but surely enough, it did. Let me tell you, it is not fun to ride a street motorcycle in the snow.

(photo taken from National Park Service)

And well now, its a different story. Cold, wet, slippery, I will not go outside, I cannot stand the winter!!! Which is why I am going to Beijing, where it started snowing last month. Four finals to go, 3 days of school left.

12-02-03

Today I missed a final. During my 3 years at Mason, I have gotten nothing lower than a B- in a class, but this semester I am struggling for a D on a Journalism Law class (comm 475, do not take this class). Today, I show up early to that class, only to find out that we had our final tonight. Wow, there goes my luck for finals week. Fortunately I'll be able to take the final next week.

Here's an interesting link. This japanese person (I am assuming), has little or no life (of course you could say the same thing of me just for reporting the fact to you) but hey, Nelson sent this to me and I thought it was unbelievable. For all you Nintendo fans, this person can beat Super Mario in less than 10 minutes (if you take the transitions out and he finishes with 99 lives). If you don't have speakers, thats okay, you can still witness the perfection and exceptional video gaming performance of this character. Simply flawless. See for yourself. Here I'm not a huge nintendo or computer game freak, actually I rarely play video games, but I have played Mario, and that guy is badass.

12-1-03

Well here it is, December. Finals coming up, free pizza and anti-stress activities are all over campus. Is it really that stressful? Do we really need all this crap in order to succeed in our finals? Hmm...let's see, you are stressed and need to focus on your studying. Don't worry we're playing even more movies in the residence lounges, we'll give you free pizza and free soda so you can get fatter. I mean, I don't want to put them down for doing this, I think it's amazing we get free food, but should the real reason be to get the stress off our backs? Oh well. What else is new...China is putting a man on the moon!!! (by 2020) Yeah, I think that's awesome. They would be the second ones to be on the moon, since Russians never made it.

(image from cnn.com)