Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Couch Surfing


My friend Pascale always looks put together (ohh les filles francaises). I wouldn't call her formal, but she's permanently organized, cheery, polite, polished, and shod in swanky shoes. So it surprised me that she was the one who forwarded me a blurb entitled "Skip the Hostel, Couch Surf for Free" which was about the website http://www.couchsurfing.com/

The site's mission statement is "CouchSurfing seeks to internationally network people and places, create educational exchanges, raise collective consciousness, spread tolerance, and facilitate cultural understanding."

Um, and travel on the cheap.

Not that that expensive accommodation seems to be an issue in Southeast Asia (hence <2% of exchanges are in that region) but I will try it with the goal of meeting in-the-know locals. (There’s a “just meet for coffee” option) For those Yanks traveling to Canada & Europe- might be fun to try out the whole shebang.

PS For those who haven't been to my apt, pictured above is my ingeniously designed pull out mattress stored in my galley kitchen.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Typhoid Vaccine, Take IV

4 doses of Typhoid vaccine- only 1 trippy dream set remembered...

Oddly enough, though, that particular dream (See 12/11 entry) might have been a precursor to actual events.

My friend Andrew recently blogged about Constitution Day in Russia, including a blurb on the "Miss Constitution" pageant held outside the Kremlin. The swimsuit portion, like the rest of the event, was held on an outdoor stage in subfreezing temperatures.

Follow this link from the LA Times for the whole report- it makes my hazy visions seem tame:
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-fg-missconstitution13-2008dec13,0,7463223,full.story

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Hunter Mountain

My first day of skiing for the season was filled with pretty views, Magic Shell-like encrusted chairlifts, the sounds of snowblowing machines & the thunderously low scrape of edges against ice. (Northeastern Ice...)



Saturday, December 13, 2008

Switching Sports in NY

In theory, one could still surf in NY, but it's feeling more like ski/board season to me.

Certain things I’ll miss:



Others I won’t:

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Sweet Swirling Dreams, Take II

The first round of typhoid vaccine+sleep resulted in dreams of me feeling nervous about competing in a “Russian Beauty Pageant” because

A) I wasn’t sure that my Czech would be of any use for me in the Ruský Q&A section

B) My fanciest dress, i.e. my real-life perfectly pretty purple dress, isn’t truly a ballgown.

Perhaps the sequence was inspired by me watching “Eastern Promises” before bed, but I would have much more appreciated something with Viggo Mortenson within rather than some pageant. Let’s hope that tonight typhoid vaccine+sleep equals something more trippy-happy.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

A House in Bali by Colin McPhee

I’ve been reading in anticipation of the trip- studied the “Need to know’ info in the Lonely Planet, skimmed the balance, and I picked this up expecting it to be a “Spinach” book- i.e. good for me but not necessarily tasty. But it turned out to be charming, and much funnier than I anticipated. Can't wait to hear the gamelan and all of the other instruments he described in person. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/A-House-in-Bali/Colin-McPhee/e/9789625936291/?itm=1

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Sweet Swirling Dreams


The listed side effects of my typhoid vaccine do not include trippy slumber, but considering how straight edge the rest of my life is, here’s to hoping that I get some crazy dreams tonight.