2012, a saturday

Slept in, too sore to work out. Spent the entire morning and the first part of the afternoon upgrading my site to the newest version of WordPress and fixing all of the CSS/PHP kinks that caused. Spent five hours on my geology homework and still feel like I could say more in my paper; I’ll review again tomorrow and see if I missed anything. Celebrated my special day with ‘Tangled’ which was AMAZING—I can’t recommend it enough. So charming, so touching, great songs, great characters, so many clever visual gags and one-lines, great visual style. Can’t stop singing the main song.

2011, a friday

Yoga, celebrated my special day by eating a lot of food. Felt a little ill from said food.

2010, a thursday

got to sleep in a bit, then followed the buller river up to marlborough. it was another beautiful day. we stopped at highfield estates winery for lunch. the food was delicious and we had a view of the valley – endless rows of grapevines and moutains in the distance. we bought a bottle of riesling for the cruise and then headed into blenheim to check in at our hotel room, which turned out to be a little one bedroom apartment, fully furnished and turned out. so, after a very good tour and tasting at montana brancott, we stopped and got groceries to make dinner. spent a relaxing evening eating and watching movies.

2012, a friday

iPhone woke me up at 5:20am with a text alert: campus to be closed due to severe weather…SNOW DAY! Unfortunately, couldn’t get back to sleep. Spent most of the day reading and homework-ing. Got a fair amount done, but took plenty of breaks to watch ‘First Contact’ and ‘the Mummy’. Stopped snowing in the morning, then started up again in the afternoon – huge fluffy clumps of snowflakes. *sigh* Wish I knew how to snowboard. Went to bed early, hoping that by the morning I won’t be sore anymore and will be able to work out.

2011, a thursday

Yoga, errands, to Santa Monica to pick up my textbook order (which has made me extremely poor, unexpectedly). Finally posted my Quantum Leap Isle of Tune. Watched the first few eps of ‘Lights Out’. Pretty good! Up late IMing with Eric, looking at more Japanese videos/products.

2010, a wednesday

drove through the rainforest mountains of mt. aspiring national park and stopped at the spectacular waterfall at the gates of haast in haast pass. followed the western coast up to glacier country. at franz josef glacier, mom and i took a helicopter to the top of the glacier and spent a few hours hiking around the ice checking out ice caves and streams and bottomless holes in the ice. our guide was an american so we had plenty to chat about. the heli-hike was breathtaking! afterwards we drove up to westport, stopping for dinner in greymouth, where dad’s meat was brought out on a hot stone slab for cooking.

2012, a thursday

Up early to work out. Class, met with a guy who’s doing an internal review of the geology department. Home for lunch, ran errands before the snow started falling around 6pm. Did physics and sed/strat homework until bedtime.

2011, a wednesday

Errands, did my taxes, paperwork/emails, etc. Made triple berry muffins from a box mix and they turned out delicious! Watched the rest of ‘Doctor Who’ season 3, and David Tennant on ‘Top Gear’. Up late IMing with friends and looking at this which I’d heard about via Heather Armstrong.

2010, a tuesday

up early and drove through the mountains to milford sound. the boat tour of the fjord was gorgeous and we saw bottlenose dolphins and fur seals too. we stopped at the underwater observatory then continued on the boat. on the way back to queenstown we stopped and saw a gorgeous waterfall in a gorge called ‘the chasm’ and took photos at the mirror lakes.

2012, a wednesday

Class all day; last indoor field geology lab :( Monitored progress on the Kickstarter project. To bed early.

2011, a tuesday

Yoga, bought textbooks for the new semester. Put up old textbooks for sale. Did some NCAA tournament website maintenance. Sent out emails for it. Learned about Egypt. Stayed up late talking to Eric and watching Japanese videos and clips from ‘the Wire’.

2010, a monday

flew into auckland after a good flight, then flew to queenstown. when we exited the plane to the tarmac the air smelled wonderful – like cinnamon toast, I swear! we were surprisingly un-jetlagged so after we checked in at the hotel (dad did great driving on the other side of the road!) we did the gondola up to the top of bob’s peak and took in the view of lake wakatipu and the paragliders. basked in the sun awhile (it’s super hot here) then came back down the mountain and ate dinner at a pub. got dessert to go and will surely pass out soon after it’s eaten.

2012, a tuesday

Up earlier than necessary, so had a nice leisurely morning. Pretty sluggish all day; still tired from being outside and hiking yesterday. Sed/Strat lab was short, so knocked out my Sed/Strat homework and astronomy reading. Did my physics pre-lecture, then started helping Eric check some functionality for the new You Are Listening to websites (you might have to refresh your browser to see the updated page) and was the first to back his Kickstarter project to create an iPhone/iPad app for URL2. Exciting!

something new: quinoa with squash, pears and almonds

2010, a sunday

was in the air and crossed the international date line so this day basically did not exist for me.

2012, a sunday

Worked out, worked on the Mars project, homework, ‘One for the Money’ (nowhere near as good as the book, which was amazing), more homework, Sed/Strat reading, ‘the X-Files’.

2011, a saturday

Dragged myself out of bed and met Jula and Elaine. Drove up the PCH to Point Mugu State Park and hiked La Jolla Canyon. It was unfortunately rather cloudy and cool, but we finished in record time – 2 hours and 20 minutes. Afterward we went to Paradise Cove for dinner. For dessert, split the mile-high chocolate cake, which was 1/5 of 6-layer chocolate cake with chocolate chips and chocolate frosting (probably 10 inches tall). Finally home a bit before 7, showered (glorious) and then decided to stay in and go to bed early instead of going out.

2010, a friday

worked out, went to the orthodontist, ate delicious thai coconut rice leftovers. packed a bit, met mom and dad at their hotel and went to dinner, then dropped them back off. went for goodbye/alan’s birthday drinks in santa monica. did not drink and left semi-early so i can get a decent night’s sleep and get up at a reasonable time.

2012, a friday

Class (more here), saw ‘the Artist’ (delightful), got groceries to make this chickpea casserole but forgot to put salt and pepper in it ( >.< ) so it turned out pretty bland. I think it would be great if I hadn't messed up. To bed early; planning to get up at a reasonable time to do my jump training workout.

2011, a thursday

Up early, packed and Mom and Dad drove me up to Chicago. Uneventful flight – the last leg wasn’t full so I could stretch out a bit. Finished ‘the Hangman’s Daughter’ and started a ‘Torchwood’ novel. Ate an awesome Potbelly’s sandwich. Elaine picked me up at the airport and I caught up on the LA goings-ons. Sad to leave the QC though – not sure when I’ll be back. *sigh* Going to drown my sorrows in TNG and a to-be-decided dessert.

2010, a wednesday

worked out, did laundry, more trip prep, coded, went to christine’s birthday drinks at the well.

2012, a thursday

Up early to work out, class, sweet sweet freedom for the rest of the day. Did a huge grocery run. Finished my homework for the week, and then did next week’s physics recitation and astronomy homework. Spent the rest of the night catching up on my favorite tv shows and drinking strong, milky tea. Lovely evening!

2011, a wednesday

Yoga, last day at home with my parents. Mom made really good grilled cheeses for dinner and Dad popped a bunch of popcorn. Had to force myself to go to bed at a reasonable time – my book is so good!

2010, a tuesday

hit up the $6 matinee of ‘the book of eli’ and I’m glad I did – it was fantastic! after that, picked up stuff I need for the trip from five different places, went to the post office and bank, got gas. finally got a real meal around 3pm. spent the rest of the day examining my finances, checking out flight info and trying not to freeze in my poorly-insulated apartment.

2012, a wednesday

9 hours of class, but at least I got an hour break today. Spent it eating my lunch in the geology undergrad lounge and playing iPhone games. More rock IDs in field geology. Lab ran late, home finally to veg out and shut off my brain.

2011, a tuesday

Yoga, lunch with Mom and Grandma at Cafe Fresh. Pizza Joynt for dinner!

something new: Cafe Fresh!

2010, a monday

worked out, took care of more pre-trip logistical stuff. had a phone conference with my uncle about the website, then coded the rest of the day. went to the smoke house for prime rib night and it was deliciousssssss.

2012, a tuesday

Overslept! Didn’t get to shower until after astronomy. Sed/Strat lab was cool – did rock IDs. Spent the evening doing homework and studying physics.

2011, a monday

Slept in, helped Mom set up her new printer…that’s…about it.

2010, a sunday

slept in, worked out, met jula and finally saw her new apartment. walked all the way to venice along the beach/boardwalk and stopped to watch the skateboarders and dancing rollerskaters(??) at the skate park. it was great to get outside and move around in the fresh air after spending pretty much the whole month sequestered in my apartment!

2012, a monday

Incredibly sore back from all the twisting in kickboxing. Class. All. Day. 9 hours straight, no breaks. Field geology was cool, but then it got cold. And dark. Got home, was too tired to do anything constructive, so that pretty much means 2/5 weeknights I’ll be useless. Not good.

2011, a sunday

Yoga, yummy lunch, had Mark and Laurie over for the Bears-Packers game (sadly, Bears lost). Had Brazilian stew for dinner and Laurie made an apple pie for dessert (yum!). Watched the AFC game, watched some ‘Torchwood’ in bed, up way too late.

2010, a saturday

worked out, ran errands, started packing for the trip. went to burbank for a party megan was throwing for her brother and his friends. went to sardo’s and endured probably the worst karaoke I’ve ever witnessed, which is extremely unusual for that place, in my experience.

2012, a sunday

Kickboxing workout, homework, Mars project, nap, organized field geology stuff, finally got around to posting links to the shorts I worked on in LA. Early to bed – planning to get to campus early to rent a locker and drop off my field geology stuff.

2011, a saturday

Yoga, lazed about, ate way too much brown-sugared acorn squash for dinner, but still managed to choke down some peanut butter swirl ice cream. Watched ‘the Dark Knight’ on cable. I wish the third movie would hurry up and be finished already.

2010, a friday

worked out, went to the dentist, got my hair trimmed, met maria and megan and went to lunch at wendy’s, hit target, then best buy for a case for my new camera. went back to maria’s and checked out the ncaa website i’m building on their pc. megan made dinner and we all ate together and watched the first episode of the new spartacus series. watched some of ‘casino royale’, had ice cream, watched ‘flatliners’, played with the dogs.

2012, a saturday

Errands, errands, errands. Ran around town trying to track down the last things I need for field geology, with moderate success. Picked up Panera for lunch (thanks P and D!) and it was amaaaaaazing. Sonoma chicken stew with a little jack cheese biscuit on top. Try it; you won’t be sorry. Laundry, cuties were on their last legs, so peeled 15 and made a honey vanilla cardamom dressing for them. Already evening, did homework, puzzles, caught up on ‘Psych’ and ‘Last Man Standing’, or ‘Home Improvement with Daughters’ as I like to call it.

2011, a friday

Lunch with Grandma and Mom at Roy’s – ten hours later and I’m still burping tacos. Opted for just chicken noodle soup and bread and butter for dinner. Saw ‘Country Strong’ (Garrett Hedlund has a great voice!) and watched the new ‘Fringe’ and started the original ‘True Grit’. Took an hour of airtime before they even left for the territories. Too. Much. Exposition.

2010, a thursday

worked out, ran errands, did trip planning and some coding.