Friday, January 30

PENNINSULA TRIP

On Februrary 13 I will set foot outside the Canaries for the first time in about five months. I'm going to Madrid for a meeting for three days with the other exchange student crazies. After I'm sure they have all had a good souzing session, and I've felt the first goosebumps ripple my beautifully dark-browned Canary epidermis (We're talking serious cold here people, I mean like 30º), Tobi and Amelia and I will embark on a journey by train to the south of the Penninsula. Our plans include the following four cities: Córdoba, Málaga, Granada, and Sevilla. I was bumbed to miss out on visiting Barcelona, but Maybe the 'ol pops and I can do that when he comes to visit me in June. More on this later, jingus monkeys.

SICK SICK SICK

On Tuesday I had a 102º fever and a stomach ache to beat the band, but I am slowly regaining my Herculean strength. Thanks to God oh Jesus almighty my cycling hasn't suffered. After a three day abstinance from my dear love, we reunited once again for a tranquil ride today along the usual sloping old main road to Guimar, and I was relieved to discover the old engine ticking normally.

Monday, January 26

SO WHAT IS IT THAT I DO HERE ANYWAY?

I realized that most of you, my dear readers, must have absolutely no conception of what wondrous events fill my everyday life on Tenerife, and so I've created a nifty outline of a schedule that generally mimics my daily tasks. Check 'er out below:

6:15 Alarm sounds

6:30 Time to make breakfast alone because the fam is still snoring above. Usually the meal consists of oatmeal, a peanut butter sandwich, or cold cereal with the nasty boxed UHT milk. Without fail I eat one of many daily oranges at this time, which is not uncommonly accompanied by a manzanilla tea or a Cola-Cao hot Beverage. (beverage is a great word, it just sounds so much like Beavus, or Beaver. You have to say like Wally says it: 'wull, gee whiz beave...' Ahh yes Beverage.)

7:00 Carmen (mom) comes into the kitchen to make her coffee beverage. Without fail, even though I ALWAYS leave the killer-vicious fluorescent light OFF while its still dark out and I'm calming eating at the table, she asks her rhetorical question, 'ahh, woaw, qué oscuro Sam, ¿no quieres luz?' At that point you just have to squint the eyes, because without response, here it comes. Bam. Like a preview of its shocking penetrating powers, the exposed bulb flickers once, and then remains lighted.

7:10 I run down the hill to the road which goes to the freeway. At the bottom is where some family friends pick me up to car-pool the 10 minute drive to Santa Cruz. If I don't make it, it's bus time.

7:30 It's a 5 minute walk to school

8:00 First Class begins. On Mondays its language and grammar. That's the worst. Any circumambient free-flying creativity is trapped in a net of death and has its head ripped off by the 55 minute lecture. Symbolism? Ummm...I don't know how to say that in Spanish.

10:45 30 min break begins. I usually sit around doing very little outside the bar on the patio of the school. Most kids buy a gigantic sugary croissant or a mayonnaise-packed chicken sandwhich way to the barf bucket. Normally, I hold out until lunch at home.

11:15 3 more 55 minute classes and the school day is over. My class list is as follows: Spanish Language, Philosophy, English, Geography, History of Spain, Art History, Math, and Art.

2:00 School ends. I walk for 25 minutes down to the central city bus station, Sometimes with Kristo, who also lives south of Santa Cruz. The station is a few hundred feet from the ocean, where I can see the sailboat masts in the gigantic harbor. There are many tourists waiting for buses to go to the south of the island, most of them are English or German. I have never seen another person from the U.S., ever. With a Bono Bus Pass, the trip costs .90 Euros , which is about $1.05.

3:00 I arrive home, and ring the doorbell. Mercedes, the cleaning woman/cook/spoiled-brat disciplinarian opens the door. My place at the table is set, with all courses ready to roll. About half the time I eat with the family. The other half of the time, they have already eaten, or my parents have stayed in Santa Cruz for the afternoon, so I eat with Pedro, my little 12-year old bro. If that's the case, lunch is very loud. Mer always prepares me a nice vegetarian dish to eat if Carmen, Antonio, and pedro are eating meat (which is rare- I mean rare as in not often).

3:20 Clear my plates, which Mer washes, and then it's across the hall to my room where I take a 30 minute nap, because I'm pooped.

3:50 Alarm sounds. Time to go to training. I get dressed, fill the bottles, and check tire pressures.

4:00 I climb up the 15% grade to the 'old road' above the house about 1/2 km. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday are calm Zone 2 recovery rides, if I can help it. Tuesdays, Thursdays, and weekend days are usually strenuous. About 4 times a week I train with one or more of my team members, the other days alone.

6:00 Return form my training ride. I stretch for 20 minutes, and prepare a good recovery snack, which means that I have a 4:1 ratio of Carbohydrates to Proteins. No-one is home because Antonio and Carmen have returned to work, and Pedro is at soccer practice, tennis lessons, or guitar lessons.

6:25 Shower

6:45 Occupy myself with such silliness as writing this website, checking my emails, or talking with pals online. This is a nice time of the early night because I can relax without Pedro blasting the TV next to me, or yelling in an argument with his parents close to the matter of why he can't be watching TV.

7:15 Bro rings the doorbell 5,000 times successively while knocking on the door simultaneously. I go upstairs to unlock the door.

7:20 I read (right now I'm reading Harry Potter books in Spanish), check up on any language questions I have, or watch some stupid but helpful and educational sitcom.

8:00 I start to prepare dinner for Pedro and myself.

8:30 Antonio and Carmen arrive home, and help me with the dinner.

8:40 We eat together (usually, but sometimes Carmen gets home late cause she has dance lessons.)

9:00 Carmen or I do the dishes and clean up the kitchen. (Mercedes has left long ago, at 5:00)

9:20 If I have the energy, I force myself into my room to do homework. Often the invitation from Antonio and Pedro to watch a big soccer game on TV is too tempting though.

10:30 I drink my 2 glasses or water, take out the contacts, brush the teeth, and put in the retainer. Then I stretch before going to bed for 10 minutes.

10:45 Hopefully lights out by now. In the summer time, I leave the windows open. The sound of the waves 1000 feet below my neighborhood sometimes reach my ears, but its hard to distinguish between the water's sound and the whine of tires on the freeway close-by.


Weekends are always filled with all sorts of crazy things, but my training is a constant. On Saturday and Sunday I have team rides. I have to get up at 7:00 and start training by 8:00. Usually I get back by 2:00.

That's about the size of it.



Sunday, January 25

MY TARDINESS

Im sorry that I haven't written anything for so long. This week has been rather overwhelming. When I have a second I will put up some little tidbit. Please don't stop checking back every once in a while!


Wehrman Writes In

Here you have the pleasure to hear some wise words form a dear, crazy freind, Mr. John Wehrman:

Had a moneymaking brainstorm for my other corporate job...(drumroll please)
'First there was the Full Monty...a film about regular guys taking off their
clothes...for profit. (drumroll continues) Then there was the New York
City Fireman calendar...a bunch of everyday heroes wearing nothing but the
mantle of national admiration...for profit (still with the drumroll)
NOW... for the first time ever, a major American retailer presents
BOOKSELLERS as only their mothers and extremely close friends have seen them
before! Barnes and Noble presents...(SFX: Cymbal crash leading into
badass power chord repeating riff under) THE BOYZ OF BARNES AND NOBLE!
Check it out...the same dudes who so smoothly run the registers, stock the
bookshelves, and perform complicated title searches with a smile now wear
just that smile as they show you the day...in a literary way!' We see on
the cover of this calendar that our January Bookseller is apparently naked,
but there is one of those cheesy brown paper bag covers over the lower half
of his body. Remove the teaser and discover he's holding a book in the
strategic location.

There's more, but you get the idea. I'm actually going to suggest that our
store should do this...I could find a model photographer to do it, etc. but
I'd be kinda surprised if they went for it. I just think it'd sell and we'd
make money at the same time.

You heard it here first: The Barnes & Noble Bookcake calendar!

Sunday, January 18

LES SILHOUETTES

THE sea is flecked with bars of grey
The dull dead wind is out of tune,
And like a withered leaf the moon
Is blown across the stormy bay.

Etched clear upon the pallid sand
The black boat lies: a sailor boy
Clambers aboard in careless joy
With laughing face and gleaming hand.

And overhead the curlews cry,
Where through the dusky upland grass
The young brown-throated reapers pass,
Like silhouettes against the sky.

-Oscar Wilde

AREA MAN GOES AND GETS HIMSELF HIT BY A GODDAMN BUS

Here is a very fine article from the Onion newspaper. To view the official edition from the website, with pictures, click here. If not, please continue reading below...


HARRISBURG, PA—Area resident Dwayne Pafko, 27, went out and got his ass totally creamed by a big old bus Monday.

"There he was, just walkin' out into the middle of the road like a goddamned idiot, when all of a sudden this huge-ass bus comes along and... blammo!" said eyewitness Mario Loyola, smacking his fist into his palm to illustrate his account of the accident. "I was all like, 'Hey, dumbass, watch where you're going. What are you trying to do, get yourself killed?' But he just looked at me like some sap, and meanwhile, this big freakin' bus barrels down on him like a ton of bricks, and then it's too late."

"Big ol' bus," added Loyola, outstretching his arms as far as he can to indicate the vehicle's enormous size.

Sources reported that Pafko, who recently lost his job at Grainger's Gas 'N' Snack for forgetting to restock the beverage cooler, was hit full-on by the huge-ass bus, which smacked the holy living shit out of him and sent him flying maybe, like, say, a good 10, 20 feet or so.

According to police who arrived on the scene, Pafko is lucky to be alive.

"I couldn't believe it," Sgt. Jean Christensen said. "When the call came in from dispatch saying that some moron had just strolled out in front of an oncoming bus, my partner and I were like, 'Come on, what is this, a joke?' But when we got there, sure enough, there he was, just laying there face-flat on the asphalt, right smack-dab in the middle of the damn road. I practically shit. It just didn't seem possible that anyone could be that clueless, but, apparently, this guy was one dim bulb."

Pafko was rushed to Harrisburg Lutheran Hospital, where doctors describe his condition as "pretty fucked-up." Doctors, however, say his prognosis is actually halfway decent, which comes as a surprise to many, considering the fact that a goddamn bus just plowed into him.

"For a guy who just got his face pureed by the grill of a bus, he's doing better than one would expect. If all goes well, we may be able to upgrade his condition to merely 'seriously fucked-up' by week's end," said Harrisburg Lutheran chief of staff Dr. Nelson Hoyt, who, along with three other doctors, spent six grueling hours in surgery saving Pafko's sorry ass. "He should survive. That is, as long as he doesn't decide to walk out in front of any more buses in the next few weeks. Hello? Get with it, people!"

"How the hell does somebody manage to get themselves hit by a big ol' honkin' bus like that in the first place?" Hoyt asked. "I mean, what, he didn't notice? The thing's only about the size of a freakin' freight train, for Christ's sake. This Pafko fellow isn't exactly the most on-the-ball character you'll ever meet. You know, even pigeons know to get out of the way of a damn bus."

Police said quick thinking on the part of the bus driver may have saved Pafko's life. Gregory Peete, a 15-year veteran of Harrisburg's public transportation department, said he spotted Pafko in his path just moments before impact.

"I look down and, suddenly, out of nowhere, there's this dipshit walking right out in front of me like I don't even know what," Peete said. "The first thought that flashed through my mind was, 'Jesus, what does this guy think he's trying to do?' So I blast the horn, just to send a subtle little message, as in, 'By the way, sir, huge bus comin' through over here, just in case you wanted to, say, step aside or something.' But no such luck. He just stood there and looked around like, 'Duh?' So, finally, once it was obvious that Smart Guy wasn't going to get out of the way, I hit the brakes."

"Unfortunately," Peete said, "we were moving pretty fast, and I couldn't stop. I'm not a miracle worker, you know."

Emily Pafko, the dipshit's wife, spoke to reporters early this morning about the near-fatal accident. "Well, I gotta admit, I wasn't exactly shocked. He's always doing stupid, no-brained shit like that," she said. "What was he thinking? Did he wake up Monday morning and say, 'Hey! I've got a brilliant idea: I think I'll go walk into the path of a bus and get myself pounded completely flat today!'?"

The accident has stunned others, as well, including area resident Gregory Lundeen, who furrowed his brow and blew a long, low whistle after being told the story while waiting in line at the grocery store. Harrisburg College junior Jonathan Neimuhr was equally taken aback, telling his roommates, "Guys! Did you hear? Some dude totally got, like, whomped by a bus today!"

Though the accident has raised issues of traffic safety at the intersection where Pafko got creamed, local authorities have no plans to implement any new safety measures at this time.

"It's a street. What do you honestly expect us to do?" city councilman Gordon Hutchinson said. "Should we put up a sign reading, 'Please Do Not Walk Out In Front Of Any Huge Oncoming Buses Here To Corner'? I mean, sure, we could do that, I guess, but I'd like to think most people would already know to avoid that type of thing. Can you believe this guy? Geez, what a dumbass."

INTERNET AD FOR EMPLOYER TIPS WEBSITE

Your employee is pregnant and wants to lift a heavy object. Do you:

a) Stop her from picking up the object
b) temporarily reassign her to a job with less strenuous conditions
c) Allow her to lift the heavy object

Click here to Find Out the answer

This is what the ad said. What are they thinking? If the goal of this question is to entice readers into entering website for the sheer excitement of discovering the answer, then they must be catering to some severely sub-par individuals. I mean, could the answer be more obvious? They may as well replace choice (b) with 'kick 'er in the belly'. The only reason I would enter the website would be to laugh more at these stupid idiots and their inept advertising abilities.

Wednesday, January 14

THINKING BACK TO COSTA RICA

Last summer Moe and I went to Costa Rica to volunteer with the organization Earthwatch. Each night, after a hard days work, we collapsed inside our tent which served as our little hideout in the forest. But on the final evening, Moe and I decided we had been spoiled with the luxuries of weatherproof tent life. As darkness fell, we crept from our camp with two foam pads and hiked a kilometre through the humid forest to the base of the Park’s monument. The huge cement platform towered above the dense canopy of lush green trees, and once we had scaled the structure, lightning flashed in the distance, illuminating the massive expanse of dark forest below and the silhouette of a billowing cumulonimbus looming over a massive volcanic mountain. Despite a chilling wind, Moe and I agreed that the once in a lifetime experience was worth the cold. For hours, we lay gazing at the stars and ignoring our goose bumps. When sleep proved difficult, one of us would cover the other with his sleeping pad and then lay on top of him to trap body heat. Every hour we switched. It was Mount Everest survival style. When morning finally came, we watched the sun creep over the tip of the Volcano and for the first time on our adventure could appreciate the warmth of its rays.

The other thing that comes to mind about Cosat Rica is that I can boast about my rare run-in with a creepy crawler one chumpy morning. So I got out of bed, and started get dressed- as usual- As I'm typing here I still get goosebumbs because I remember the exact sharp feeling I experienced as I put my dainty footsie in my shoe. '¡Joder! ¡Que coño es eso!' Out crawled the slithering slimy scorpian who had just finished sticking his thorned tail into the sensitive skin right under my big toe nail! So how many of you can say you have neen stung by a scorpion, eh!?

Saturday, January 10

TOP NOTCH FILMS

After weeks of deliberation, I have decided upon my top favorite flicks. I'm sure I have forgotten some, so this is just a first edition. If you haven't seen any of these, I would highly recommend viewing them soon! (This list is in no particular order.)

- The Black Stallion
- Apocalypse Now
- 2001: A Space Odessey
- Star Wars
- Fight Club
- Hudsucker Proxy
- The Big Lebowski
- City of the Lost Children
- American Movie
- All Quiet on the Western Front
- Shawshank Redemption
- Brazil
- Being There
- Dr. Strangelove
- Good Will Hunting
- A Clockwork Orange
- Adaptation
- Scent of a Woman
- Basquiat
- Sleeping Beauty
- Rosencrantz and Gildenstern
- Raising Arizona
- Magnolia
- Beverly Hills Cop
- 7 Samuri
- The Princess Bride
- Pulp Fiction
- Breaking Away
- Amelie
- O Brother Where Art Thou
- The Man Who Wasn't There
- The Royal Tenenbaums

Friday, January 9

BEHIND ENEMY LINES

I just saw Behind enemy Lines and no movie has pissed me off so much since I saw Pocahontas. More on this later....

ps. I just did the auto spell checker on this deal. I spelled 'enemy' wrong in my rush typing. The first suggestion the checker gave me was 'enema'. I think that title would be more appropriate: The Sequel- Behind Enema Lines: The American Empire Conquers a New Realm.....

Tuesday, January 6

FELICES REYES

Today was Christmas for me here because my family and the majority of Spanish people give presents to each other today, to celebrate the three kings. So it was nice.

I gave my fam two of those nifty folding chairs for soccer games and the beach, a cd, a wood knife block for the kitchen, and some REALLY SWEET potholders.
They gave me a pair of slick jeans, two sweaters, a shirt, dark glasses, and a necklace! Also, I had the great honor of being the distributer of all gifts....meaning I read a loud each gift giver and the recipient. I was basically the ringleader with all the extended family and my host family around me....it was fun.

Thursday I go back to school. I am sad.

Monday, January 5

COLLEGE AT SEA

I'm really excited because I just found out about these sea programs which are available to college students. All three give college age students the opportunity to 'attend classes' and receive credit for various courses aboard a sailboat for a spring or fall semester. Here are the three I have found so far: 'Seamester', 'SEA', and 'Williams-Mystic Maritime Studies'. I definitely want to try to do this my sophomore or junior year!

Sunday, January 4

PROBLEMATIC LEG HAIR

It's really better, after all, to not have leg hair. I think the Spanish know what's going on with this...The fashion here is to shave your legs, so my biking habits fit right in. But first, just to clarify something once and for all, bikers do not shave their legs for aerodynamic benefits! (or if they do, they must be one hairy freak). It's the swimmers who do that. For cyclists, smooth legs are a cautionary measure to minimize the severity of road rash when there's a crash. With hairy legs, the follicles help the asphalt to dig deep into the skin, pulling away a larger chunk of tissue, while baldy legs usually incur only minor scrape areas.

Now I admit, there is the spandex factor that comes into play, though usually no one will admit it. To be blunt, big hairies just don't look as clean, fast, and professional as shaved legs, not to mention the increase in tanning ability (and therefore the increase in tan-line ability, which is ever so important to prove your mileage). So if you are ever thinking about becoming a two-wheel freak, remember that it will be considered extremely bad taste to combine spandex with the just for men look.

Lastly, have you ever suffered from leg hair pain? Like when you wear dress socks all day, and then remove them to find that every strand is going everywhich way? It's not a pleasant feeling; and no one should have to deal with that kind of discomfort. The answer is clear: it's time your razor was used for something more than just your mug, so get to it. Plus, you know, you have to watch out for those ear hairs.

HAPPY APPLE EXTRAVAGANZA

I am extremely jealous of any of you who had the good fortune to go see Happy Apple play one of their double-header shows on Friday and Saturday night at the Artists Quarter. Becca told me about Dave King's new song having to do with Seven-story tall Buffalo coming out of the center of the earth to eat all of the Hollywood video stores, so it seems not much has changed with this whacky trio, gosh they're so whacky, aren't they?! Yes, they are.

Friday, January 2

MOVIE GUIDE

Here is a fantastic resource for finding films...you know, when you feel like there are absolutely no movies left to see which sound appealing...I promise you will find one here

NEW SPICY LINKS

FIGHT CLUB WEBSITE WITH ADDITIONAL LINKS TO MORE TERRIBLE FIGHT CLUB WEBSITES

BAD LANGUAGE

Grapefruit is a really bad name. You know, you realize these things when you're learning a new language...Picking up Spanish gives me a different perspective of English. Grapefruit is a profound example of the English language gone bad, because you have grapes, which are a fruit, but then you also have grapefruit, which is something entirely different. These are the kinds of things that just aren't fair for people learning English. Plus, oranges taste better than grapefruits anyway.

Our Dear Sir Dudley Watson Writes:

A SCUPPER IS A HOLE OR BREAK IN ATHE GUNWHALE O N ATHE SIDE OF A VESSEL FOR WATER TO DRAIN BACKOFF THE DECK . JUST A LITTLE TIDBIT OF VALUABLE INFO FROM AN OLD SALT

Also, the title of Sendak's masterpiece is 'In the Night Kitchen', thanks to Miss Barb Watson, so now you can go to the library and enjoy it.

Even more fancy is that I can tell you the author of Scuppers is Margaret Wise Brown, who also wrote the classic, Goodnight Moon. That's what Jon Wehrman says, anyway. But I don't know if I would trust him, you know, he's kind of a shady character.

Read this in depth analysis of the second book of the trilogoy which kicks Lord of The Rings right in the arse: In The Kitchen

Thursday, January 1

I CAN DRAW BETTER, SPELL BETTER, AND RUN FASTER THAN YOUR KIDS

I haven't laughed this hard in awhile...

Warning: If you choose to click on this link, you are taking the risk of being severely offended by crude themes and language, so don't go if you're going to get mad at me...If you are wondering how in the world I would ever find such a horrific website, it wasn't my fault. Laura Gantenbiem told me to go there, so send complaints to her.

Here is a summary of what you will find...

The premise: I can draw better, spell better, and run faster than your kids. So being that my skills are obviously superior to those of children, I've taken the liberty to judge art work done by other kids on the internet. I'll be assigning a grade A through F for each piece. : See Artwork and Commentary

HARRY POTTER IN SPANISH

I have started reading Harry Potter book 1 in Spanish to practice my language skills. I've finished two chapters now. It took be about 2 hours, but if I go slowly I can pretty much understand everything, which makes me feel a little bit better about my Spanish. Doesn't the story bear an uncanny resemblance to James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl?