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As some of you may know a few months ago I went to Barcelona, Madrid, and Alecante. Follow the links to some pics from the trip.

Enjoy.

So this past weekend I went to the Oregon Coast. I stayed in a little town called Astoria. As it turns out this is quite a popular little town. Astoria was the setting of the 1985 movie The Goonies, which was filmed on location. Other movies filmed in Astoria include Overboard, Short Circuit, The Black Stallion, Kindergarten Cop, Free Willy, Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, Benji the Hunted, The Ring,^[10] The Ring Two, Into the Wild, and The Guardian.

For the occasion I got myself a new camera - Cannon PowerShot SD780 IS.

Got some pictures here. Enjoy.

So I’m on my way to Berlin to visit a friend. Its been eight years since I’ve been to Germany. The last time I went to Frankfurt, Cologne, Freiberg,  Rothenburg and Selters. So I’m very much looking forward to visiting Berlin. Ah Berlin the former home of the Love Parade with all its European charm and splendor. Yes I know its cold and we all know how I feel about the cold. Oh well hopefully I won’t freeze. Until then I’ll be practicing the most important phrase in any language “Wo ist die toilette?”

So last weekend I took a trip back to my old stomping grounds. As I pass through the filthy streets and the dark dull grey buildings, and ponder on how they starkly contrast the colorful clean beauty of Seattle, I start to wonder: “How could anybody miss this?” How could I possibly miss being in this tangled mess of corruption chaos and crime. New York City, the place that some people call the greatest city in the world. The place where people come together to be free, where people come to expand their horizons. The place where people come to ferment with the dregs and feast on their regurgitations. How could I possibly miss this? And yet…

Music: OrtoPilot, “Shiver (dance mix)”

I’ve just gotten back from a trip to Houston. I really had a good time. We went to Houston for the weekend because a friend was getting married. And as weddings go, since he was busy with the last minute details, I didn’t get a chance to hang out with him much. So, I did the next best thing, I hung out with some of my other friends who came for the wedding and even some that didn’t. We had a great time. I hadn’t seen Matt and Talmon since moving from PA, and it was great to hang with them again. It was even better because now they are best buddies since I moved from NY. So, what does it mean that my friends start liking each other after I move away? (I try not to think about it.)

In the process I discovered that Houston is almost a brand new city. For some time I have been hesitant about moving back to Houston because it would feel too much like moving back home. You know that feeling, been there done that. I never wanted to move back to what would feel like the same old dead end. Don’t get me wrong, I really like Houston. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good place to live. I guess I’m sort of like the small-town boy who leaves home to see the “Big Beautiful World” out there and is not sure he’ll ever fit into that small-town life again.

However, I was somewhat surprised to find that Houston is more than I remembered it to be. For instance, we went out to a small mostly outdoor cafe for desert and drinks and I really enjoyed it. It reminded me of hanging out at cool little places like that in Manhattan or out in Queens. The strange thing is that the cafe or at least something like it may have been there before I moved away from my small-town Houston life. So, this of course begs the question: Did Houston really grow and change or was it I? Maybe a little of both. In addition to all the new neighborhoods I saw popping up around town, I also saw quite a few new buildings down town.

Quote: “See that nice tall domed building over there, Never seen it before in my life.”

And what they did to Main Street is amazing. I remember Main being a congested street with plumes of black smoke pouring out of the myriad city busses that reside there. But now there are slick new trains that run up and down the beautifully cobble stoned expanse that is now Main Street. All I could say is Wow!

I could almost see myself living in a cool little condo near down town riding my scooter to and from work on beautiful warm days. But then there is that fear again. What if I got there and the newness lasted for all of one month, and I start feeling like I’m suited for something… more… Whatever that more would be. How could I possibly go about extracting myself from the boredom of a hum drum life? I mean, do I remain safely away from my small-town and keep exploring and discovering life out in the “Big Beautiful World” always coming back to visit with friends that I miss? Or, do I settle down back home with the people I have come to know and love, yet long for the adventure and discovery that was part of a life gone by. There in lies the question:

To be [home] or not to be…

Music: Brand New, “I Will Play My Game Beneath The Spin Light”

We finally arrived in Washington State after three and a half days of driving. We left on Sunday afternoon after learning there would be heavy snowing in the northeast for the next few days. And its a good thing we left early too because snow it did. We seemed to have missed most of the really bad weather.

While driving through the Midwestern states I was amazed by the landscape. The view of the mountains and hills in the distance, some covered with a sprinkling of snow and dried brush were really awesome. Check it out.

Music: Pendulum, “Through the Loop”

Today Amanda took us to Philly. Of course, Amanda doesn’t even need an excuse to go to Philly. That’s her town. This was our first time going there for fun. Satonya and I had been a couple times before, but that was mainly to go shopping at the two Philadelphia area Ikea’s. We saw both the ghetto and the posh sides. It’s really a nice city. And even the ghetto isn’t as much of a ghetto compared to New York. Clean streets, awesome murals on some of the buildings, and cool places to eat. We ate at Famous Dave’s Legendary Pit Bar-B-Que at Penns Landing. It was really good. Even better than Dallas BBQ. Afterward we headed downtown. Like I said Philly is a really nice city. We went to the gourmet type market downtown and the main cruising strip. Cool, trendy little clothing stores, restaurants, bars. That strip was made for walking and oh yes we walked it. I took a few pics, but we were on the go so none of them were as clear as I would have liked them to be.

An interesting conversation took place in the car on our way back home. Though I don’t intend on divulging the contents of the conversation. I have to say that men and women have a markedly different way of communicating. I’m often amazed that we can communicate at all. Or, perhaps we only believe we’re communicating and each has their own, and probably very different, idea of what the conversation was about. Maybe its better that we don’t know the extent of our miscommunication. But somehow we seem to understand enough to get by and find happiness in coexistence. And to that, all I can say is Vive la differance!

Music: Kaskade, “Everything (Kaskade’s Big Room Mix)”

So again, like MoJo-JoJo before me I was again beaten up by the Power-Puff girls. Why do I do it? I guess its because I love hanging out with cool people that are like family.

So, here’s a run down. Arrive on Friday dinner consisted of pitas, cold cuts, strawberries and Strawberry Cheese. How cool is that?

On Saturday I got to have some of my favorite beer Paulaner Hefe Weizen which put me in just the right mood to be covered up in pillows by the Power-Puff girls and treated like a talking couch. Just when I had forgotten what its like to be a five year old’s favorite toy.

On Sunday we went to the meeting and we met up with Eva from my doctors office and I got to give her the good news that I probably won’t be back at the doctors office for another six months. Yippie!! My friends said it was good to see me eating again, and believe me its good to be eating like a normal person again. Now I can do all of that cool stuff again like drinking coffee (budding Starbuck’s fanatic), drinking alcohol (Aspiring Wine connoisseur) and eating cheese. I LOVE CHEESE. After the meeting we enjoyed the company of a couple from Jackson Heights that are now at Patterson. I had only seen them in passing in Queens, but now we got a chance to sit down and talk for a while. For dinner we had pork roast with cranberries and for desert pumpkin cheese cake. Did I mention that I LOVE CHEESE cake.

Monday was great too. We headed out to the Vanderbilt Mansion, took some pictures and drove past the Franklin D. Roosevelt Mansion. We ate at this neat little diner, you know the kind that’s made out of all chrome. The kind that seems to be a staple on the East Coast. The food was really good. There I found the sandwich I had been craving. It was a bacon and blue-cheese cheese burger, except it was served as a club-sandwich and it came with sweet potato fries. That was different, but not in a “That’s odd” way but in a “Hey that’s imaginative” way.

When we got back home, I found the two Python books I ordered at my doorstep. So I’ve got some good reading ahead of me, as I devour yet another programming language.

Today, I got started packing up the apartment. I say “I got started” because Satonya began about a week ago. I know that we have to move, but I’m not completely sure where to yet. So I could be writing you from Bora Bora soon or even New Delhi. But probably no where that exotic. Who knows I might even end up on the West Coast. Of course if i get a job offer from a company in the area I’de be happy to hang around a bit longer. But things seem to be a bit dry in this neck of the woods. So the search continues.

Music: Seal, “Colour (Acoustic)”