Bringing the Drama

so i may have admitted to friends that i bring the same lunch to work EVERYDAY. it’s been some form of turkey and cheese for years….YEARS! it’s not that i don’t like other sandwiches, but turkey and cheese is easy to make. why would i want to have a difficult lunch to fix the night before work? the other day i went to sam’s and saw their rotisserie chickens. my friend Andy used to rave about them all the time, about how great they were, blah blah blah. today though, i thought i could use the rotisserie chicken for sandwiches. BRILLIANT! on the way home, i stopped off at walmart to pick up some green tea (also a change to the work lunch the past couple of weeks, thanks to an episode of Good Eats) and picked up a rotisserie chicken. i got home and went for a run, then watched HIMYM, and watched basketball (what up Hawks!). i started carving up the chicken to use for a sandwich, and ended up with a week’s worth of meat. not a bad deal to actually have real chicken for $5 when the processed deli meat i usually buy is about $3.50. i piled some chicken on a couple of slices of whole wheat bread, using creole mustard, swiss cheese, and i even threw on a couple of pickle spear slices for good measure. incidentally, an episode of Good Eats from a couple of months ago on sandwiches stressed about using better ingredients, which caused me to search (unsuccessfully) for weeks to find a loaf of bread that was not already sliced. i thought of the episode tonight as i was making the new and higher class sandwich. i obviously haven’t tasted the sandwich yet, but i can report back on the sandwich goodness tomorrow.

tonight my governor, bobby jindal, was on the Tonight Show. i had heard about him being on while driving into work this morning and thought “what a strange guest appearance.” with all the lunch stuff going on, i was up to watch it. he wasn’t bad, he talked about his childhood and parents, and then some about what he’s accomplished so far while in office (political reform….word). i liked what he said about this period after the 2005 storms being a chance for the state to start over, and how it’s like a change has come over people, and we want to make things better than before. while it wasn’t anything i haven’t already been feeling, i found it inspiring nonetheless.

i don’t usually get upset about many things at work, even though lately we’ve had some stupid stuff happen because people can be selfish and manipulative. friday though, i got ticked off. for sake of simplicity, i will follow the lead of HIMYM and say what i was working on was the ninja report. i’ve been working on the ninja report for MONTHS and right before i was going to Europe, it was going to be signed off by various people and then released for the first time as official. i worked hard to make sure everything was done on time. i handed off the responsibility of the ninja report to someone else, so i haven’t been working on it since i got back from my trip. friday morning i got a call from someone (who we’ll call Norman) about the ninja report. after talking to him, i realized he had been given an old copy of the ninja report by some guy in our department (we’ll call him Earl) who doesn’t take direction well, and likes to take control of situations when he really doesn’t know much about what’s going on….AT ALL. i was able to get an updated and official copy of the ninja report sent out to Norman, so that was cool. since the official ninja report had been released sometime when i was gone, i wondered when the old report was sent out, because there’s no reason for old information to be sent out when there is an official version, unless you’re a person who thinks he knows everything. i was able to find out from Norman that Earl sent out the old version on April 14, at least three weeks since i left for Europe, and well after the official ninja report had been released. i talked with my supervisor, and she gave me some good advice. i was mad mostly because Earl sent out something i had worked very hard to complete without telling me, and then the version he sent out was not the final version, and had mistakes that i later corrected on the final version. i ended up emailing the managers to let them know i had talked to Norman, and what Earl had done. i am not really hoping for any punishment to be given out or anything, just that people’s work is not sent out without their knowledge again, but if it is, that it is not old information. i’m not worried about getting more credit than i deserve or anything, but my name IS on the ninja report, so if you’re going to send it to someone, don’t send an old version. i’d also like a heads up when it gets sent out, so when people like Norman call me, i have a good idea of how to help them.

other than that though, work was pretty awesome on Friday. i was able to talk with a guy whose project i’ve been working on to get another contact about “golf clubs”, because the original guy i’ve been trying to talk to hasn’t been returning my calls or emails. i got another contact to call tomorrow about golf clubs, so i should be able to finish what i need to do. also, i should be getting my “free throw” certification because i talked to the guy in charge of the projects and had a lot of my questions answered. before friday, i was pretty nervous about both of these things because i had not gotten many answers from other people, but i went directly to the sources, and got things done.

even so, i was telling Jacob yesterday, that it used to be that i hated NOLA but liked my job. now i love NOLA but kind of hate my job. the paradigm shift has been a little hard to deal with. i guess i just never saw it coming.

so it’s not a secret to some of my friends that i barely read books ever. i’m an engineer, so i guess theoretically i’m not supposed to like reading. i do a lot of reading on the internet, but i just never sit down to read a book very often, only when i’m traveling usually. however, after becoming pretty addicted to the Food Network a few months ago, i was stoked to go meet Alton Brown today at a local bookstore in Uptown NOLA. he’s doing a book tour for his book Feasting on Asphalt which traced a food road trip along the Mississippi River, and what better place to start than NOLA.

i tried to ask around to people who might want to come with me. the people who knew who AB was could not come, because of the time, esp with it being on a Wednesday. the people who could have come to the book signing would look at me quizzically and ask “who’s Alton Brown?” it was kind of a shame and a little sad that i had to go by myself. even so, i was determined to go, so this afternoon i left work a little early and headed into town.

i had googled about his book signings just to see if he was as cool in real life as he was on tv, so i was also prepared for the big crowd waiting outside. there were two lines, one that had bought the book already (which i got in) and one that had to buy the book. one of my friends had hypothesized that maybe i would have to buy the book at the store, but i brushed that off. while i was in line, i noticed everyone had these slips of paper with their name on it in their books, and they told me they had gotten them at the register. so once i got inside, i went up to the register to get a slip. there were two girls working the counter, the first one wanted to call for the manager when i told her i had brought my own copy of the book, but the girl next to her just gave me a slip. then the first girl told me next time i should buy the book there. yeah right, like i’m going to want to spend the extra $12 and wait in line TWICE. there was no warning of that kind of policy on the bookstore’s website or anything, so if they’re going to have something like that going on, they should tell people.

after waiting in line for almost an hour and a half, i finally was going to meet Alton Brown. i was so nervous during the day of what i’d talk about if i happened to have a few minutes. the way the bookstore had it set up, you handed your book to a lady who handed it to Alton, and then you handed your camera to this other girl who took your picture. it seemed very awkward, but i guess if that’s how they roll, then that’s how they roll. i handed my stuff to the people waiting for it and walked up to the table. Alton was standing, shaking people’s hands and introducing himself. he asked me what i did, and i told him i was an engineer, so i love Good Eats, and something about how the show is ‘right up my alley’. he smiled at learning that fact, and said he always likes it when engineers tell him things like that. i read today that’s part of the reason he started Good Eats, was to tell people more of a background on things. i had read that he was also a beer connoisseur, so i asked him what his favorite beer was. i figured i’d get SOMETHING, instead i got “i usually just drink what’s in front of me.” upon being pressed further he just said he doesn’t really have one. he totally stonewalled me. it made the moment kind of awkward, but then we thanked each other for coming and i left. so yeah, but it was cool to finally get to meet someone who i like so much and watch their shows. he was taller than i expected, and had a firm handshake. the picture the girl took even came out well.

upon leaving the bookstore, i headed on over to the bulldog for beer and a burger with my friend mike. the bulldog is one of those places that has almost 50 taps on the wall, and wednesdays are free pint glass night. mike told me they had these keychains where they punch a number for each different beer you try, so i got one. only 45 more beers to go until i get a free shirt and my name on a plaque. it’s too bad the keychain can’t be punched retroactive, because i’d probably have at least 4 more.

tonight i went to my first professional playoff game and it was amazing. we got rally towels to wave that were sponsored by a local ambulance chasing lawyer (he’s a courtside season ticket holder), and then we saw the Hornets completely beat down the Mavericks. i know that two of my friends are gigantic Mavs fans, but no matter, i hollered throughout for them to go down. and go down they did. even when the Hornets were up by 20, i still wanted more! is it too late for Mark Cuban to ask for a do over with the Kidd trade? seriously. i think if i were him, i’d be okay losing in the first round if i hadn’t made that bonehead trade and basically bet the future of my team. i’m sure he was being yelled at from the surrounding crowd. speaking of, the crowd was so LOUD the entire game. i don’t think i had heard the constant din of noise without the use of thundersticks. of course, it probably helps if your team is in the playoffs and hitting almost every shot they throw up. the Hornets looked unstoppable tonight. they even brought out the giant Peja heads! we sat next to a Boston fan who was in town for a convention. we talked basketball the whole time, and i think he came away impressed, esp with Chris Paul. how could he not after a 32 pt/17 assist performance?

wait a minute, he should write for ESPN! it can’t get any worse than the column that basically said “i’m so awesome i can remember a bunch of random first round playoff games to tell you how great the game the other day was”. (thank you Marc Stein!) it was such a good game, the Suns just couldn’t play defense at the end of the OT periods….INSTANT CLASSIC!

so i know i should finish the Europe stories, and they will come in time. all the pictures are posted if you feel like checking them out. the weekend after i got back from Europe i went to Charleston to run in the bridge run. i had run the bridge run one time before back in ‘04, but it had been over the old bridge. since then, Charleston had built a new bridge, and ever since 2006, the 10k race has been over the new bridge. i remember the first time i ran it, there was a bottleneck at the foot of the bridge, with everyone i assume going “omg, we have to run up THAT?!?” i attacked it like Lance Armstrong attacked the Alps though and it wasn’t that bad.

i was a traveling fool for two weeks around my birthday, and flew again to Charleston. i chose the cheapest flight i could get, so i had a crazy departing flight of like 7:30 am. yuck. i flew from NOLA to DC, then DC to Charleston. that route doesn’t make any sense, but apparently it did to United. upon my arrival, my friend Scott picked me up from the airport and the weekend began! that night, we had dinner at the Vendue, which is an awesome rooftop restaurant. the roster included me, scott, mel (his wife), my friend rachel, and my old old college friend charity. i was kind of nervous before about hanging out with Charity because i hadn’t seen her in YEARS (since ‘04), but it was like old times. a lot of ridiculous laughter, which was great.

after dinner, we went over to this brewery place (i forgot the name) and had microbrewed beer. i was trying to wear Rachel’s sunglasses again after trying them on at the Vendue, and finally was able to put them on at the brewery.

the next morning was the race. we (me, scott, and mel) went down where the shuttle buses were supposed to be, and ended up having to park what seemed MILES AND MILES away. luckily though, we walked up to the front of the line (opposite where the line was forming), and just happened to skip the giant line to get on a shuttle buses. i was in a different starting group from scott and mel, so i had to go it alone after we got to the starting area. we planned to meet up at “the first aid tent” at the end of the race, so the race was ON! the race started, i started up the ipod, and we were off. i remember an announcer saying pre-race it was 2 miles to the foot of the bridge, so i was going to run the 2 miles as fast as i could so i wouldn’t get caught up in the bottleneck.

the race wasn’t too bad, and i was able to get going to my own pace faster than the CCC. my plan worked to perfection, and i made it to the bridge without having to slow down at all. we get to the bridge, and my plan to attack it like Lance Armstrong didn’t seem realistic. sure, the new bridge has a less steep incline, but it’s a LONGER incline. i was determined to make it though, no matter that i looked off to the side and saw people walking up the bridge and wished i was one of them, i was going to make it! one lady from the newspaper took my picture, because i was on her side of the road and she looked right at me, but unfortunately my picture did not make the paper’s photo gallery. once over the bridge, we went into downtown Charleston, where i had no recollection of that many turns to get to the finish line. seriously, i thought we were running forever. it was cool though that they had people lining the streets cheering us on and ringing cowbells. then finally, the FINISH was in sight! i was able to finish strong, and when i checked my ipod, it said 58:25, which would be an all time best for me in a 10k. awesome! (my official chip time was 58:29!!!!) the post race water/fruit/bagel thing was kind of bad though. everything was in one location, which meant EVERYONE went to the same tables for water and fruit. i want to thank the guy who was throwing oranges, because he cut down on the waiting in line (and he threw me a good orange). i met up with scott and mel, and we wandered our way back to the car. we stopped for Zaxby’s on the way home, and it was very fantastic!

saturDAY scott and i ventured over to Fort Moultrie, which was cool. i bought one of those national parks passports after hearing about them from my friend Rhonda and seeing them at the FM gift shop. that night we went out to dinner with another old college friend, my friend heather. i hadn’t seen her since last summer, so it was cool getting to see her again. PLUS, we ate at AW Shucks which i have fond memories of also from 2001 when i went down to charleston for the first time to visit Charity and go on a job interview.

on sunday, i met up with Rachel to get breakfast at Panera. it’s a shame there is no Panera within 50 miles of me (according to the website, it’s probably more like 100 or 200 miles) because it was delicious (FRENCH TOAST BAGELS!). she dropped me off at the airport only for me to find my flight was delayed. argh. we were finally able to get on the plane and head to ATL (where i was making my connection) only to find the flight from there to home was also delayed. i killed time by getting a green tea latte from starbucks, because i’ve been drinking a lot of green tea lately after seeing it on Good Eats. the latte was not very good though. i also was able to watch the Hornets game (the one i was missing because of the moved up tipoff time) at a bar in the airport. the flight home finally took off, and i finally arrived home. it was a spectacular weekend, and a perfect finish to an amazing two weeks.

this weekend i watched the Masters and it was awesome….except for one thing, all of the talking heads talked about Tiger ALL WEEKEND at every chance they got, even though he never had the lead at any point in the tournament and never came closer than 3 shots, and he only got that close at the very end of the final round. i read an article yesterday by some genius on espn.com which didn’t even concentrate about who was leading, all about how Tiger was going to win AND HE WAS SIX SHOTS BEHIND. maybe good old Gene wants to get some private lessons from Tiger since he was literally kissing ass, but wait, it gets better. Wojo goes with the ass kissing some more after Immelman won the tournament by saying Tiger let it get away. TIGER NEVER HAD IT! how can someone let a tournament get away if they never led it? and they let this guy write regular articles?

sadly, he’s not the only one. the MVP race is pretty much down to three players, Kobe, Chris Paul, and KG. however, to read what some of the writers are saying, you’d think Kobe had it won. and i love how Adande’s crowning the Lakers already, even though they will probably only win the West via tiebreaker. they deny that they’re giving it to Kobe because he hasn’t won it before, even though they are the same voters who voted Steve Nash MVP two years in a row for inferior stats to what Chris Paul has this season. they love Kobe because of all the drama from before the season, and overlook that he has a great center in Gasol, a great SF in Odom, a great bench with Walton, etc. they overlook that if it wasn’t for Paul, the Hornets wouldn’t even be sniffing the playoffs, much less the #1 seed in the West. just imagine if CP3 had a center who could create his own shot and a PF who didn’t cry about every foul being called and actually crashed the boards for rebounds?

at least all of these guys don’t talk during the games….as much as i can’t stand Jim Nantz talking about some random story about some golfer’s mom, at least it doesn’t come off as arrogant drivel.

Paris - March 25

the 2nd day in Paris was going to involve the major stuff, like the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, etc. we set out early in the morning to catch the subway to the Louvre. we came up out of the subway and i was just taken aback by how pretty everything was. i took a picture of just the street and intersections. we stopped to take pictures by a crazy looking spider (which apparently is also in several other European cities) and then went to go in the Louvre. oh wait, the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays. THE LOUVRE IS CLOSED ON TUESDAYS! the first thing i thought of was that i wanted to punch a moose in the face (watch this video to figure out the reference). [also, Vacation is a classic movie for my family, we could all quote most of the CBS edited for tv version].

so we left the Louvre and went walking down the Champs-Élysées which was awesome because of all the different stores and car dealerships. we passed by a Peugeot dealership that had this crazy car in the window and a bike in front. we figured the bike came with the car. they also had this weird bubble car, not sure what was up with that. we got to the Arc de Triomphe and took a bunch of pictures. our museum passes gave us free admission to the museum that’s INSIDE the Arc, so we climbed the seemingly endless spiral staircase to the FIRST level. we had to go up more stairs to get to the roof, which was pretty amazing. the roof experience comes into play later. we watched all of the traffic at the giant 5 or 6 lane roundabout that surrounds the Arc, and saw in amazement as there were no traffic accidents, even though there are NO lines on the road. this idea would never work in the USA because people would be on cell phones in SUVs and crashing into each other.

after we climbed down from the Arc, we went over to the Eiffel Tower. i had wanted to go to the top, but the massive lines and the fact that i had just been to the roof of the Arc allowed me to realize waiting in a giant line and paying 25 Euro wasn’t worth it. this allowed us to keep walking around and seeing things, which was great. we stopped by this FANTASTIC bakery called Paul. if you ever get a chance to go to Paris, you MUST go to a Paul. what was cool was having to figure out how to pronounce the food (since it was obviously in French). luckily you got to just point at something if you couldn’t pronounce it since it was right there in the case, but still. it was relatively cheap and had good food, so it became my favorite place to eat in Paris. my judgment could have been clouded since we were eating lunch at 2:00 pm.

after lunch, we walked over to meet up with a walking tour behind Notre Dame. i had picked up a brochure of English speaking walking tours of Paris, and the WWII site tour started at 3 pm behind ND. we spotted the tour guide pretty quick, and there was a young American couple already standing there. i was really into the blending and not being obnoxiously loud while in Europe, so it kind of frustrated me that this young couple was talking loud and being obnoxious. i think they said something about how weird it was to be in another country, blah blah blah. i wanted to just tell them “Why don’t you just WAVE an American flag out here? You are making the rest of us look bad!” i refrained though. the first site was the memorial to the French that had been sent to concentration camps. it was impressive to see that, and i really had no idea so many French had been sent to concentration camps. the 2nd site was the Paris police HQ where the insurrection had started. it was cool to stand in the same courtyard and be told 64 years ago, this was where everything started. we walked by the Louvre where our tour guide (John Paul from St Louis) told us some facts about how Parisians were able to take most of the art from the Louvre and hide it before the Nazis got there to trash the place. our 4th stop was outside of Hotel Meurice the Nazis used for their HQ. it was here JP told us about how the German general who was sent by Hitler to destroy Paris became convinced to preserve Paris instead. the tour ended with pictures at a statue to de Gaulle.

i had talked with JP during the tour and asked him where a good place to go for dinner was. he told us of a place, so we went by early in the evening. the sign said it didn’t open for dinner until 7:30, so we walked around. during the walk, we passed by a photography studio with a strange picture of Gérard Depardieu. the Eiffel Tower light show was late getting started, and by the time we walked back to the restaurant, it was open. the food was great AGAIN.

we made our way back to the Eiffel Tower for the light show. while we were waiting for the light show, an Audi R8 pulled up, and a guy with a serious photographer’s camera got out and started taking pictures. i snapped a picture of the car, and shortly after they had gotten there, the photographer got back in the car and they left. i am waiting for an ad picture of the car in front of the Eiffel Tower because I WAS THERE! the light show started and was cool. it was like a whole bunch of flash bulbs going off at different times. i took several pictures. after the light show, we hopped on the subway and went back to the hotel. we had an early train to catch the next morning.

(the pictures are up)

so i’ve been meaning to upload at least the first batch of pictures from Europe, and i was thinking i could upload all of Paris at once, but that won’t be happening. i have uploaded the first day though, with the second day coming later this week. i’m going to try to group them by location because i doubt anyone’s going to sit and go through over 400 pictures at once. the second day is a massive group of photos, so be ready to spend some time looking through them. the first day has Notre Dame and a hotel i can’t remember the name of that i probably should remember.

the first day i got there was interesting. my flight over was nice, because i didn’t have anyone sitting next to me on the flight from Chicago to Paris. the problem was there was a girl sitting behind me who talked….and talked….and talked. i learned so much about her life in about 3 hours (i was dozing in and out until she went to sleep) that i was able to drop knowledge throughout the rest of my trip when the conversation reached a lull. i plan on weaving facts and tales about her life in my posts about Europe. my goal was to sleep as much as possible on the plane so that i could avoid being tired when i got to Paris in the morning. that did and did not work.

when i got to the airport in Paris, i knew to try to go find the train station to take the subway into Paris and to the hostel to meet up with Lori. somehow between landing and the train station, all of the people on my flight disappeared, so i was the only English speaking person around. i was really nervous about talking, because i didn’t want people to point me out or anything. Lori had told me i should work on blending in so i was trying to do that. my friend Kenny at work had told me as long as you don’t come off demanding that people speak English, you’ll be okay. all these factors added up to me going up to the window at the train station to buy my tickets, and whispering to the girl behind the glass “do you speak English?” she replied she did, so i bought my train ticket to Paris from the airport, then a two day subway pass.

i made my way down to the train platform where there were two trains. i didn’t know which one i was supposed to get on, but these two French girls came up to me and one of them spoke quickly to me in French, but i didn’t know if they were telling me the train was about to leave or if that was the right train or what. so i stood there confused as they got on the train and it left. i then saw the sign that said both trains went to Paris. great. so i got on the waiting train on the other side of the platform. as i’m sitting there, a guy gets on the train and asks me in French what i assumed to be “is this the train to Paris?” i knew i couldn’t say ‘yes’, so i nervously replied with “Si”. WRONG. then i said “Yes”, and finally “Oui.” the guy looked at me with a look of “i’m sorry i made you look like a complete idiot, i’ll just ask someone else”. i guess i was blending pretty well because two people had already talked to me in French.

i met up with Lori and we set off to Notre Dame. the cool thing about Paris i noticed right away was the architecture. every building looked interesting, there were restaurants on almost every corner. we got to ND and waited in line to go inside. i started taking pictures immediately. the inside of ND was gorgeous. i can’t even begin to describe how breathtaking it was, but you can look at the pictures. after we left, we got some crepes at a nearby restaurant. they weren’t that good, but i had ordered some of the cheapest kind on the menu, so maybe that had something to do with it. we walked across the Seine and back to the hostel. after Lori did some laundry, we went to the hotel we were staying in and both crashed. i hadn’t realized how tired i was, so i guess the sleeping on the plane did not completely have the effect i wanted it to.

(the girl that sat behind me on my flight was on her way to Rome to visit her boyfriend of 8 months, the guy sitting next to her was going to Venice. she mentioned the boyfriend very early in the conversation, but the guy was an idiot and thought he could somehow wrangle a phone number or something out of this girl.)

we grabbed dinner at a nearby restaurant that night. i liked the challenge of having to figure out the menu and order something. the waiter was cool and spoke a little English, and the food was great. upon getting back to the hotel, we watched some French tv, which included Wild Wild West dubbed in French.

more later about day 2 and pictures and stuff.

so the day before Easter, i ran in the crescent city classic, which i’ve done for the past few years, excluding last year when i was out because of injury. the race went okay, and it was made much better because it was the first time i ran it with my ipod. only thing is i wish i had made a new playlist before running.

i was able to find a parking spot pretty easy, make it down to the shuttle bus and down to the start. they have port-a-johns near the start where everyone lines up, so i got in line for one. the race started while i was in line, but i figured i could catch up later. after dodging and weaving through people for the first two miles, i was finally able to reach a normal pace. the ipod said i ran 6.5 miles in 1:01, but i don’t know if that’s because it was off measuring or it was because i actually ran that far after the zigging and zagging through the crowd. i don’t mind having to go around walkers, but there were some people who weren’t even trying to power walk it. strolling along the route is not cool, especially when you are strolling 4 or 5 across in a crowd. i had to slow down a few times in the first two miles, but that wasn’t too bad. i keep saying one of these years i’ll start farther up or something.

i got my shirt and headed to the tent i signed up for through work. i love the post race tent, because i can sit quietly and eat fruit or whatever and not be bothered by all the commoners waiting in giant lines for a granola bar and a bottle of water. it is totally worth the $9, and if i didn’t have to get back and do laundry, i would have stayed longer and maybe drank some beer. i ate an orange and banana, drank a gatorade, then left and went home, because i had to get back and pack for Europe. i was able to get home and showered by 12, which was awesome.

here’s my official race photo…i wonder if anyone actually buys bigger versions of these. i thought i was giving the pistol fingers to the camera, but apparently i may have been doing that to the wrong camera and the picture was snapped before or after i thought it was going to be. there’s just a gaggle of photogs on a crane over the road taking pictures of everyone, so you really have no idea who’s taking your’s.

speaking of packing for Europe, i made a late game decision and scrapped bringing the backpack i had bought and went with a rolling duffel bag that Lori had told me she had gotten at target. it worked out a lot better than the backpack. i first started having doubts when i read about how the frame could be damaged if it was dropped while loaded, and since i was planning on checking the backpack, i didn’t like the idea of the frame being bent or something. so, on the way to the hornets-celtics game, i stopped at target and got the duffel bag. it worked out excellent, plus i’ll return the backpack today and get my money back for it, which after the trip, i could use some extra cash.

i know my handful of readers probably want to hear about it, and you will, but right now i’m having to get things settled to pack again to go to Charleston this weekend for the Bridge Run. speaking of running, i need to go run for the first time since the CCC so i’m not completely out of shape for Saturday. about Europe though, i took about 461 pictures, so it’ll take a while to go through and post to flickr or facebook. i will leave you with one from Tuesday night as i celebrated my birthday with a few friends in a real Irish pub.