Jul 31, 2008
After toying around with Google Sketchup for a while, I’ve decided it is awesome. It took me a little while to figure it out, but I think I’ve got the hang of all the basic stuff. They’ve got a ton of tutorial videos online, so that helps for sure. Did I mention it’s free? (it’s google, duh!)
I’ve been thinking about how I’m going to fix up the room upstairs, and now I got to render it on the computer. Wicked!
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| From Townhome |
Jul 17, 2008
This past weekend’s road trip was to Paris for a few days. I left Friday after work and took a train to London, then the Eurostar rail to Paris. Not a whole lot to blog about, so I’ll let the pictures do the talking…
Jul 1, 2008
I finally got to go home mid-June to see friends and take care of errands/appointments. I really didn’t have a chance to sit back and fully relax, especially since I worked most of the time, but I did have a little fun.
I started it off with a great trip to LA. The US national team started World Cup Qualifications on the 16th, and a few of us Dallasites made the trip. Not much to say about the game except they actually showed up this time. Oh, and it was
8-0! Yeah, yeah, it’s only Barbados. I know…it was still fun. The rest of LA was pretty much spent in pubs or our hotel pool. (by the way, there’s nothing wrong with swimming in your underwear when you don’t have your swim trunks!)
Back in Dallas, I just worked and ran errands. I did get to have a gathering with Inferno friends and with The Horde, though. I also managed to spend a day with my puppies who I miss very much.
Pictures:
Jun 1, 2008
I went to London back in late May (can you say delayed blog?) for the USA vs England game and a bit of touring around. The game was pretty bad ’cause the US players didn’t seem to be trying, nor did they apear to care. But any time you get to go see the national team play, it’s still a good time.
I met up with Adelaide and Jose after the game and spent the next couple of days touring around London with them. I didn’t go everywhere I wanted, but the city’s not going anywhere…I can always go back. Here are some pictures of the game at Wembley Stadium, the BBC headquarters, QPR’s stadium, Craven Cottage, and the Sherlock Holmes Museum:
May 10, 2008
Another gorgeous day in Nottingham today. It’s been in the upper 70s all week. I wish it would stay this way, but I know better. I’m in England. What really makes it great is that it hasn’t been raining either - just nice, sunny weather.
Today I went down to the market square in the city center. There’s a French Market going on this weekend. I bought some cheese, bread, olives, cookies, and some really yummy pralines. I spent the rest of the day walking around a nice residential area called The Park - very nice, very expensive. Then I headed back to the city center to find a nice place to sit down with a book (currently Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere). Right now I’m at Hog’s Head, gathering my thoughts, having a beer, keeping an eye on the Darlington vs Rochdale game, about to dive back into my book.
Good times, noodle salad.
My friend was right. Living in the UK will definitely change you perspective on soccer as far as what team you support in concerned. Well, it actually changes your perspective on the sport completely.
I’ve followed Manchester City FC for a number of years now. I had no ties to the team or to the city; I just picked them when I started following the game. Now that I’ve actually been to the UK and experienced the English game in person, the opportunity has come for a team to pick me. I’ve seen Fulham twice, Derby and Manchester City once each, and Nottingham Forest a few times in between. It was great to see the Americans in Fulham, to sit with fans in neighboring Derby, and to take in the sights at Eastlands. But none of it compares to the atmosphere at the matches in my “home” town.
I was lucky enough to arrive at the most exciting part of the season, and watching Nottingham Forest battle for promotion was nothing short of awesome. Given that it’s the home team in this place, it’s no surprise that you see a lot of Forest jerseys on game day, a virtual sea of red. Being enveloped in that kind of atmosphere, you can’t help but get attached. And needless to say, being at the Forest game and seeing them win promotion last Saturday sealed the deal.
I bleed for FC Dallas, of course. They will always come first - miles ahead. But now I have ties to an English team, and I support Nottingham Forest.
Here are some pictures from the game on Saturday:
Here’s a video I got of McGugan’s goal off a free kick:
And here is a video of the fans invading the pitch after the game…NUTS:
May 5, 2008
There was a fantastic article on Brian McBride in The Independent on Saturday. Link
May 4, 2008
Please, go to the Story of Stuff website and watch the video. It’s 20 minutes long, so go when have the time to watch it all the way through. After the video, follow the link to find out how you can make a difference. EVERYONE needs to pitch in or our planet really is doomed. I’ve already been trying as much as I can to spend less energy and waste less, but now I don’t think I’m doing enough.
Please, follow the link.
Apr 30, 2008
Last weekend I went off to Manchester to see the Man City vs Fulham game. Fulham came back from 2-0 to win it 3-2. I never liked Sun Jihai, but now I hate him. That was just horrible. But that’s not for here…
If you’ve never heard of CouchSurfing, you should check it out. It’s a very cool concept. I had a free place to stay, and my hosts even fed me dinner and breakfast. Lee and Heidi were extremely nice, and their neighbor Penelope was so cool that she even gave me a Neil Gaiman book! (Neverwhere)
The next day I was off to Preston to visit the National Football Museum. A lot of the stuff was out on loan, but I still got to see a lot of cool stuff. Check the pictures.
Here are my pictures from the weekend:
My apologies again for the brief post. It’s late and I need to get to bed!
Apr 23, 2008
Sorry if this post is kind of choppy. I’m trying to get over strep throat, but I just really needed to get this up on the blog. So here’s the Scotland update…
Two weeks ago, I went to Edinburgh to work for a couple of days. I took that Friday off so I could stick around and see the sites. My friend Chris met up with me Thursday night and took me to Stirling where he goes to university. We went out with some of his friends Thursday and Friday night and I had a blast. Saturday morning I met up with a few new friends I met on Friday night to go to Stirling Castle. Good times.
Stirling and Stirling Castle:
Saturday afternoon I went back to Edinburgh with one of the guys I walked Stirling Castle with, ’cause he lived there and I needed a place in Edinburgh to stay. Sunday was filled with a tour of Edinburgh Castle and playing snooker with my host. Thanks to Kajetan and your girlfriend for offering your spare bedroom!
Edinburgh and Edinburgh Castle:
Now I’m going back to bed. :’-(
Apr 1, 2008
The phone that my office gave me to use while I’m over here in the UK is awful. Well, maybe not awful…but certainly not as good as the one I already have. Plus, the predictive text works different and I can’t message as fast. Thanks to the wonderful folks over at cellphoneforums.net, however, I am now using the company SIM card on MY phone. They gave detailed instructions on how to unlock my phone to use another network’s SIM card. Woo-Hoo!!
Mar 31, 2008
I’m going to get in shape over here. Well, I’ll shrink a couple of inches off my waist anyway - and that’s good enough for me. Check out the stairs I have to climb everyday on my 20 minute walk to and from work:
Mar 29, 2008
I got to attend my first English Premier League game on Saturday. Derby is only a 25 minute train ride from Nottingham, so I figured I’d check it out. Sure, the ticket wasn’t cheap and it Derby are the worst team in the league, but still…it’s a Premiership game! The best part is they were playing Fulham. Fulham has 5 Americans on their squad: Kasey Keller, Carlos Bocanegra, Clint Dempsey, Brian McBride, and Eddie Johnson. Derby has 2 Americans: Benny Fielharber and Eddie Lewis. I only got to see 4 of them play (Keller, McBride, Johnson, and Lewis), but it was still a blast.
The train was a breeze. The Nottingham station is a 5-10 minute walk from my apartment, and the Derby station is a 10-15 minute walk from the stadium. All I had to do was follow the crowd once I got to Derby.
Here are some pictures:
Mar 28, 2008
That’s my apartment flat number here in Nottingham. Initially I was just going to describe the apartment, then I figured I could post some pictures. Instead, have a video tour (it sounds like I’m complaining, but really it’s pretty cool
Mar 27, 2008
…that’s how many frequent-flyer miles I got flying business class to the UK.
Harlan picked me up on Thursday morning and took me to the airport. Thanks Harlan! Checking in, I found out that both of my checked bags were overweight. They charge $50 per bag that is overweight, which I think is ridiculous. Fortunately, I just slammed it on my American Express corporate card which I’ll get reimbursed for. Still, it kinda sucks.