Brief Turkey recap

A few photos from my last trip...

A beautiful island off the Turkish coast near Kas. near the 'sunken city' (you can see submerged structure in the foreground and the city is near the far landmass)
Sid and I in Kas. This ampitheatre wasn't that noteworthy, but it was close to Kash (pronounced Kahsh) and empty.

Beaker on the Bosporous. This was taken at the Rumelli fotress by the Fatih bridge at the north end of Istanbul. The fortress was mostly notable for its views. Beaker seemed appropriately awed.
I found out recently that our host in Istanbul, Andy, is going to be getting married in the fall! We met is girlfriend at the time, now fiance, soon to be wife Ferah, who was very nice but spoke less English than the Turkish we were able to butcher. At one point, when Andy left the house, Ferah was cooking breakfast. Sid and I were trying to ask if she needed help, but the 'help' in the phrasebook was of the 'help! I'm being murdered' variety and not the assistance variety. After several attempts and puzzled looks on her face, Andy came back and rectified the situation. Supposedly, Ferah is now furiously studying English, and Andy's mom Turkish, so the two can peacefully coexist when A+F come to the states following the wedding (and Andy leaves the two of them alone while he travels to CA to finish up school stuff - yikes!)

Andy, Ferah, Sid and I - last night out in Istanbul. Congratulations Andy and Ferah!

FYI: more photos from the trip here:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=3bcql05z.4mupl353&x=0&y=-bl5z02

Blog - ho!

So, here we go. My first foray into the wonderful world of blogging, er publishing meandering commentary in a public place so people who may or may not care can view your innermost thoughts and feelings without betraying any of their own. Yeah, pretty much. I first felt about blogging the way I did about podcasts - why do it? Why would somebody be interested in reading somebody else's thoughts unless it was a weird voyeuristic thing, or, in the case of podcasts, why not just listen to the radio?

Well, being able to see photos of my baby niece, Rhiannon, courtesy of big sis and her blog has made me a believer. That, and a realization that I won't be able to keep up with all of my peeps as I start my econ program.

What? Econ program? Yes, that's right. I'm going back to grad school. again. But why, Will, you were already there! yes, that's true. But I discovered that there are more than one type! And, plus, being a student is so much fun - long hours, low pay, and, critically, the ability to postpone a lot of life's more important decisions! No, that's not really it. The justification comes next...