many faces of will

So.. I finally uploaded the photos. Here they are, in no particular order.

Witness the evolution from professorial bearded fisherman....


to motorcycle riding arthouse cappucino-drinker....




to mustachiod slightly-disturbing goofball!!
more photos coming.
next time... I moved apts!

cleanshaven

Well, my fall experimentation with facial hair is now officially over. The progression from beard to bigger beard to motorcycle man with lambchops and handlebar, to regular mustache... is now, sadly, finished. I did bring my mustache to thanksgiving dinner, however, and got some great reviews. I think that I looked very distinguished. The stache will be back. mark my words!!

In other news, I am moving apartments tomorrow, hopefully with the help of my brother and some friends. I've played the guilt card, so we'll see who responds. Thus, I will keep this entry short and sweet. By monday, I should be moved into a new place (cross your fingers), have a replacement roommated, and be settled in for the long haul.

While I have many cool photos of mustachery, they are loaded onto my work computer, so that will have to wait for next week to upload. In the meantime, I found some photos from the 'forbidden party' that we threw before Eric and I moved out last summer (I'm the one in pink.)

The crowd gathered to watch the limbo contest
I went as a cheerleader.
limboing in action! Eric went as a uberrunner, or something.

veteran beagle cheesesteaks

Philadelphia was the order of the weekend for me, and I can now report that, 4 months into married life, Dave is more boring. Well, that is maybe more of a result of him doing thrice-daily dog walks and preparing for medical school residency interviews than undergoing a personality transformation or estrogen beat-down from his lovely wife. In fact, the newlyweds (how long can they use that title, I wonder) seem the very picture of domestic happiness, with their cute and well-behaved beagle, Lucy, joining them on their journey together.

The weather in Philly was slightly rainy Sunday, but beautiful on Saturday, and we took the opportunity to walk around the city, visiting various bookstores and historic sights. Sadly, such is the level of involvement of my two friends with their medical residency planning, they have essentially ignored wholesale their mastery of the types of interesting facts and historical anecdotes that a visitor to the former US capitol and home of Ben Franklin demands and expects to learn. Upon observing and repeately decrying this deficiency, I promptly took it upon myself to buy them a guide book to their adopted home city, at least depriving them of that excuse. I sensed that it was a futile effort, but piece of mind and willful wishful thinking are potent justifications for these things.

Sunday, we drove out to Valley Forge, and did a short walking tour of some of the replica soldier huts (12 people per hut!) and browsed the lovely gift center. Chief among the incredible selection of George Washington and VF kitsch, and the item that surely every child will want to find under the tree, ....the Park Ranger action hero!!! Yes! He includes binoculars! Forest green pants! A canteen! A dorky hat! Bureaucratic redtape and ticket book sold separately! (see photo). I came super close to pulling the trigger and taking myself home one of these dandies - the only problem was an annoyingly accurate knowledge of my meagre grad student income, and, more importantly, an inability to determine who would be worthy of this incredible prize. The trip to the Forge, as I like to call it, was beautiful, despite the rainy cold weather. I would definitely like to go back when the opportunity allows.

I returned home Sunday night, rested but tired (does that make sense?), having tasted a glimpse of domesticated marriedom, and summarily rejected any notion of me joining the dog-owning, kid-having, wagon-driving lifestyle any time soon (sorry, mom). Apologies to my gracious hosts for the weekend. It looks good on you though.

Veteran's day ceremonies in Washington Square park.
The team, ready for action near Indepedance hall. (I know what you're thinking - I had a big lunch, okay? Besides, the beard makes my butt look fat).
The happy couple in their blissful home. Lucy (the dog) attentive, as ever.

I made Tara and Dave take this picture on a stranger's doorstep near some Ginkgo trees. I was pretty happy with how it came out, and expect some attribution on their holiday cards!
Dave and I took a shot roughin' it with the period actors in the replica soldier hut. That's raindrops, not whizzing musketballs, seen in the photo.
Another lonely hut in beautiful Valley Forge.

And, finally... ACTION RANGER!!

calendar excitement, redux

Here is a photo of Carl with 'his boys' from a few weekends ago. A great visit, and we were well fed!

So, the calendar drama continues. No, the word is 'there is a naked girl calender' somewhere in the office. People are so ridiculous! I have a tasteful 'girls of Hawaii' calender on the wall of my cubicle, and some people have made it their mission to (repeatedly) state how offensive this is and how it demeans and objectifies women, and how their impression of me is irreparably harmed! I say, get over yourself people! If this calender gets you so worked up, then either you have a serious axe to grind, or you don't get out enough to interact with real women. Nevermind the fact that you actually have to be seated at my desk to see this thing - even if you are there, it's just girls in bikinis! You see them at the beach all the time! And they're good looking! No reason to feel threatened, just some nice scenery for me as a reminder of one of the nicer aspects of living on the West Coast.... anyway, off my soapbox, I thought I'd let you decide on whether I am out of line. Look at the photos below which mimic a walk into the office.

Into the office we go. There's Will's desk. I see an apple.
Normally, I would see Will studying. Very hard. Like this.
If I walk over to his desk, what do I see? A jacket, some books, a calendar.
Hello October.

election night party

Just returned from a classmate's election night party, which was a good experience... sort of homogeneous crowd, politically speaking, which made it less interesting in that sense. A dark chocolate fondue fountain provided the sustenance, along with ample adult beverages. One thing that struck me was how difficult it was to carry on intelligent conversation while trying to digest election results on the TV. Another observation - foreign nationals outnumbered US citizens by 10-5. This was unexpected, because my classmate and her boyfriend are both from the states, but it is a testament to how international a town DC is (and how savy Europeans are about American politics!). They seemed to all be nice folks, except the girl who started badmouthing California (it turns that she went to Stanford, so character flaws are expected anyway!)

I checked out a few apartments this morning, but they were both bland and overpriced. It made me skeptical about living in a large apartment building - it seems that you either sacrifice price (ie you end up paying out your nose), or you sacrifice quality of life, or both. So... the search for my future home continues.

upgrade

I am writing from my bedroom!! Yes, that's right, aside from picturing me in my superhero pajamas, you are supposed to realize that this means I finally have a working computer at home, and that I will be able to describe even more of my exciting life and times! Can't wait!

just a taste

So... I finally have got a photo that gives an indication of the look that I'm rockin' these days. You like?


This was for a classmates (Laoura, in green) birthday. The girls across from me I had just met, and then at the end of the table are other classmates (CW from behind Lauora: Adan (el Tiburon), Seth (el Lobo), Amparo (una flaminga), George and Magdalena (una flaminga et ela esposa). Apologies for the rotten espanol.
Anyways, the beard is growing in nicely. I should have some more photos to put up once I get the laptop up and running (thanks again pops!). Also, it may be hard to tell in this photo, but el Lobo is rocking a handlebar mustache. Real nice. In fact, he got complements from a couple of gay guys at a bar a few hours after dinner. Pretty funny.

For comparison's sake, here are a couple of photos that I just received from 3weeks ago in California.

Jimmy and I

Jeff, Sid, Alex, Dino and I

11hrs of sleep!

Yes, I have been somewhat sleep deprived. I slept 11 hours last night, awakened once or twice to a doorbell and a 'trick or treat' coming from downstairs. It was a sound sleep though. Speaking of noisy households, I am starting to look for a new (less noisy) one. More specifically, I am being encouraged by my wise father to move into a place of my own. I am starting to look for studios online, but these things take time.

This past weekend, the pops visited his boys, and we had a lot of fun. Friday we basically hit the stores: costco, trader joes, and K&G (men's clothing). That was followed by a nice dinner (Ruth's Chris) and movie (the departed). Saturday we ran a few errands, mostly dropping food off at my various stashes - school and work (I don't have refrigerator space at home) and showing my offices to the fam - then we went back into town for a White house tour. Well, actually, I studied, but the others got a West Wing tour. Following that, we looked for an evening plan... Cirque de Soleil was sold out, as were the various plays that we tried to check out, so we settled for Louis Hayes and the Cannonball Adderly legacy band at the Kennedy Center. It was a great time. The music was really good and relaxing, and it capped off a nice night. We called it quits after that, and headed on home. Chief left in the (sunday) morning, and I studied for the remainder of the day: well fed and well-rested. Oh, I almost forgot: he brought about 20 avocados out for Eric and I to share!!! Thanks dad! You're the best!