cold start

Yes, school has started again here on the Maryland campus. The halcyon days of early January have given way to homework assignments, lengthy lectures, and crowded hallways. It's good that things are starting up again though: I was having trouble figuring out what to do with all of my free time! Ok, that wasn't really a problem, but it is nice to be busy again. The classes so far look like they will be a grind, but having the comp exams looming at the end of the semester should keep me on my toes. As the classroom setting doesn't necessary lend itself to exciting photos, I'm not posting any this round. I am going to NYC this weekend for Katie's bday, though, so I may have some good ones when I return.
In other news, I tried and failed to have my apartment in ship shape before the semester began...now I have half projects lying all over the place: paint, light fixtures, things that need to be put away...it's a disaster! As messy apartments also don't make great photos, I'm holding off on doing that too. But, if everything goes according to plan, I should have all the upgrades in place in time for a housewarming party February 9.
It started snowing finally too. It looks like we'll get a bit tonight, and I can hear the wind howling outside. Should make for a super-fun commute home! (the blue stuff is snow - sorry I couldn't figure out how to save the animation movie thing to here - maybe next time)

camping in january?

Yes, you heard me correctly. MLK weekend was coming to DC, and I was going to camp right through it! School hasn't started yet full-time, so I had all week, between working at my RA job and taking a class, to prepare for the big trip. The plan was as follows: go to bed at a reasonable hour on Friday, leave early Saturday morning, and come back sometime Monday afternoon, relaxed and refreshed for the workweek ahead.

Rebecca and I decided sometime on Thurs night that we would instead go for two days, returning Sunday night in time for a big dance party at a friends house. As the forecast was for rain the entire weekend, this seemed like the right move to make. Also, a reasonable hour on Friday turned into 3am, so a good early start on Saturday it was not. But, we rolled out around 9am, and were at the trail head by noon. Destination: GW National Forest, just west of Shenandoah national park. A beautiful, if secluded section of Appalachia, complete with local color (I think the mullet count was 3 on the way in, and there was more than one stop sign with bullet holes in it). The DC license plate in concert with Rebecca's VW Rabbit convertible seemed to be a bit of a oddity next to the de rigueur 1/4 ton pickups with which we shared the backcountry approach road. This being hunting season, I was none too excited about the possibility of a confrontation with an irate local, so we tried to be as low key as possible. Of course, on Sunday afternoon, at Mill Mountain lookout, I momentarily thought that the repeated rifle shots (which seemed to get closer) were directed at us. Fortunately, they weren't (or they missed by a lot), and we spared a passing thought for our fallen dear brethren as we enjoyed our lunch. There were definitely a few 'The Far Side' cartoons playing through our head to accompany the gunshot serenade as we left the lookout.

The rain forecast turned out to be a blatant lie, and we enjoyed 60 degree (mid-January!), dry weather throughout the trip. We did a 13 mile loop, which left plenty of time for meandering and photo ops, and for chatting with the occasional outdoor enthusiast who was guiltily enjoying the unseasonable weather with us. Bugs were at a minimum because of the season, and, although my West coast bias for large-scale geography left me underwhelmed at the muted 'mountains' and brown winter foliage, the trip was beautiful.

Monday was a day of culturing around DC, with trips to the National Gallery of Art and the National Portrait Gallery. The lights on the bank sign read 69 degrees as we walked downtown with friends John and Carrie. After an early lunch at a Belgian cafe, we strolled over past the capitol building to the museums. A very leisurely, enjoyable day and weekend, to be sure.

Now it's back to work, with school starting next Wednesday. I dread, but secretly long for the start of classes, which will terminate in June with the all-important qualifying exams!! Various weekend scenes pictured below.

Off we go! just prior to liftoff, straight outa the city.

View over Rebecca's head during lunchbreak, looking northwest towards the Monongahela
R and me, Mill mtn overlook.
Mill Mtn overlook, 'the best vista in Virginia', and an excellent location to hear a lot of gunshots in the valley below.
Day 1 on the trail
A super cool felled log along the trail.

mossy trail into the woods, mill mtn, va
lunch break at Mill Mtn overlook.Cool fungus tree with rocks on the trail

Cali fantastic

Just back from a wonderful, relaxing Christmas break in Santa Barbara...oh, how I miss the weather. It seems that I actually did bring some back with me, however, as the weather in DC was 70 degrees yesterday! There are even a few cherry trees in the area that are in full bloom due to the warm weather (note: this is supposed to happen after winter - usually early April).

The trip home was awesome, and I got to see a lot of very cool old friends, as well as spend some fun time with the folks and grandma. Avocados and tangerines were picked and eaten in large quantities. Beautiful hikes were taken, beach trips involving surfing were had, and, on several occasions, adult beverages were consumed. All in all, just what I needed.

On the 23rd, we even ventured to the Getty museum for a few hours of 'culture'. It is really a beautiful facility, and the collection is amazing for such a small museum. The St Katherine's monastery exhibit, involving ancient Christian relics borrowed from the oldest continually run monastery near Mt. Sinai in Egypt was a bit disappointing, I thought. It was a cool idea, but the presentation was a bit confused, and it didn't impress me overall. I can't even remember a specific piece that I saw in that exhibit - just sort of an 'old stuff' continuum, which I hate. Anyway, the Getty has an amazing impressionist collection... van gogh's 'irises', great monet, munch's 'starry night', as well as some great marble and bronze sculpture. I really enjoyed walking around that section of the museum. It always cracks me up though... I've seen it before, but I still don't get the idea behind people that try to film the entire museum on video as they walk through. I mean, do they actually watch these things? Is there a huge pirated 'museum tour' dvd trade in China or something? It's strange, I tell you. Definitely saw a few of those dudes this time round as well. Nevertheless, an awesome trip.

On boxing day, Kevin, Andres, Kevin's dog and I (note: Andres is not Kevin's dog) went for a hike up Gaviota peak. It was a gorgeous day, cloudy, but with a high ceiling, and beautiful light playing on the water. The view from up there is amazing, you see so much coastline, and to be in shorts and tshirts in December on the top of a mountain is unfairly awesome.

New Years was spent in LA with Alex and Kambiz, where we did a public transportation pub crawl through LA, then ended up at a party in Pasadena, walked down Colorado blvd to see all the pathetics camping out for the Rose parade at 2:30 am, before cabbing it home. Let me just tell you, I can't imagine anything more miserable than camping on a public street voluntarily, but if you have good reason - say a really expensive drug habit or something, then I suppose that's understandable. To do it for the sole purpose of being able to sit on the curb as floats go by for a few hours New year's morning? That's just ridiculous. And if you throw about ten thousand other people of mixed repute with the same idea, competing for space? That's deliciously moronic. Almost enough to make somebody want to go there in the middle of the night, perhaps after a few libations, and make a lot of noise - to convince the peoples trying to sleep on the dirty, smelling, crowded sidewalks that this was, in fact, a really stupid idea! Not that I would engage in that sort of activity, but it sounds kinda fun, eh?

Well, back in DC now, as I said, working and taking a short-session Matlab programming class for school. Real classes start back up on the 26, so this is the calm before the storm. I'm hoping to have enough time to decorate my apt for a housewarming party soon, so I need to get on that right now in order to get to it all, as those things will inevitably get backseated once school starts in earnest. I've included a few pics of the trip below for your edification. Happy New Year!

A beautiful SB sunset from dad's office.
Me and the rents at the Getty museum.
the cousins at family holiday party
Gaviota peak on boxing day.
the dudes getting ready to go out for New Years.