Rants

07:08 am - Consumer Lesson

BP or Amoco places an $85.00 hold on your credit limit or checking account if you use a credit or debit card to buy gas. The hold can last several days depending upon your bank. I'm telling you because they don't post this anywhere in the gas station. So, upon checking your account after filling up, you have what appears to be an unauthorized $85.00 charge. This happens only on signature transactions. Despite BP's recent advertising, my recent visit to a BP gas station did not make my day better.

Just FYI, particularly if there's not much in your checking account.

04:49 am - Bench it Like Beckham

Bench it Like Beckham,
originally uploaded by Camerongallery.

11:04 am

I watched the space shutted Endeavor launch during the evening news. It made me really, really uncomfortable. The last time I watched a space shuttle launch, I was in third grade as Mrs. Gehris told us a teacher was going into space for the first time and how she had applied for the program. Then the Challenger exploded and she turned off the TV really quickly.

So, 22 years later, space shuttles make me uncomfortable. God, I think I need better psychoses.

04:11 pm - City Life, part deux

Most gas stations within Baltimore City limits, despite being equipped with buckets/slots for window cleaner, do not have squeegees. This is due to urban entrepreneurs repeated theft of squeegees in an attempt to make a few bucks cleaning driver's windshields.

My car is dirty as hell between the pollen and the concrete drilled in my parking garage. There is no incentive to watch my car until my parking garage ceases construction. So, it's been difficult to see out my back window for a couple of weeks.

I was thrilled to find a squeegee at the gas station when I filled up the other day. It totally made my day. How sad is that?

11:36 am - The Police

The show was excellent,despite the fact that we only heard the first song (Message in a Bottle) as we sprinted to our seats. Stewart Copeland is the best drummer I've ever heard. The set list was pure nostalgia: Don't Stand So Close to Me; Every Breath You Take; Everything She Does; Roxanne; and King of Pain.

We camped out on a blanket on a grassy median in the parking lot for an hour after the show watching thousands of cars not move. While the Police were awesome, the four and a half hour drive was not. The final driving time was three hours longer than predicted by Google maps. It should not take two hours to drive ten miles.

Dear Hershey, PA, consider doing this- turn all traffic lights on the one two lane road into the venue to flashing yellow and have police direct traffc into the venue. During my brief visit, I did not find any compelling evidence that Hershey is the sweetest place on earth.

11:19 am

Today, I mailed the final payment on undergraduate student loans. My bachelor's degree is finally paid for!

11:05 am - Apparently, my neighborhood isn't the only one going down hill

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.rodricks21jun21,0,7140098.column?coll=bal-local-columnists

10:31 am - City Living

It was a bad day in the neighborhood for crime. Our neighbor's car (We'll call him P.) was broken into in broad daylight. A couple hours later, some kids came down the street with a fire extinguisher aiming it at the flowers in front of the houses. P, the local wannabe sherriff, confronts the kids and takes the fire extinguisher. Brad was with him. P was very nice but the future of Baltimore City threatened to hit with a piece of metal rebar.

I'm watching this from down the block. Another neighbor comes down the block with her grandchildren. She mutters that P. shouldn't be talking to the kids without the police or their parents around (um, hello, that's the problem, the parents are never around and the police aren't going to be there in time to do anything). She then buys dope from the dealer squatting two doors down with her grandchildren looking on.

Sigh.

11:43 pm - 24 Hours of Flickr

The uber groovy (or uber narcisstic) folks at Flickr are putting together a book of photos called 24 Hours of Flickr. Any Flickr member can sign up and submit one photo (only one!!) he or she took on May 5, 2007. Several photos will be published in a book or used at Flickr promotional events.

Brad and I volunteered at the extremely photogenic Kinetic Sculpture race on May 5, 2007. I need your help in choosing which one: Take a look (http://www.flickr.com/photos/camerongallery/sets/72157600226925172/) and leave your vote in the comments. Vote early! The submission deadline is May 21.

10:07 am - Good Common Sense Advice

Read documents before you sign them.
If you don't like what you're reading, you can change the document even if it is a pre-printed form. Put any changes in writing.
If you don't understand what you're reading, ask someone.
Put agreements and business dealings in writing. Don't make oral agreements or do business with a handshake.

This will save you so much trouble in life.

02:22 pm - How to Celebrate Cinco de Mayo

Might a suggest a lovely day in Charm City to cheer on the annual Kinetic Sculpture race?
Go here for details on this event: http://kineticbaltimore.com/ . The highlight will clearly be the obstacle course in our own backyard, Patterson Park.

Brad and I have been fans of this since we stumbled upon the race a few years ago. This year we're volunteering. I'll be directing traffic and Brad will be making mud for the obstacle course. He even got his very own white Tyvek suit while I will be carrying a chicken stick.
It's good fun and excellent way to enjoy Cince de Mayo in Charm City.

11:07 am - Alternative Commencement

As most of you know, I was raised Mormon and even had a brief fling as a BYU student. I no longer consider myself a member of that church but it was an important part of shaping who I now am. BYU is scarily homogenous. It is an institution that places indoctrination above education. Utah Mormons, for the most part, are committed Republicans. For example, while I attended BYU (a decade or so ago), there were all of 10 College Democrats.
So, again a day late or so, I discovered that BYU had booked Dick Cheney to speak at commencement. (And Good for these Students!!!)A group of students organized in opposition to the graduation speaker: they obtained signatures, demonstrated, and raised the money (in addition to spending their own) to hold an alternative commencement.
This is an inspiring story to me! Maybe someday these students will be able to change many of the harmful homogenous aspects of the Mormon church from within. While the students have now raised enough money, they are funnelling additional donations to other causes. Check them out: http://www.byualternativecommencement.com/index.html

Current Mood: happy

03:23 pm

Because I don't post enough here and I want to know more about my LJ friends.

1. Can you cook?

2. What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator?

3. What talent do you wish you had?

4. Favorite place?

5. Favorite vegetable?

6. What was the last book you read?

7. Are you Dirty or Clean?

8. Any tattoos and/or piercings?

9. Worst habit?


HERE COMES THE FUN ...

1. How did we meet?

2. What's your philosophy on life?

3. Negative or Optimistic?

4. What was your dream growing up?

5. Worst thing to ever happen to you?

6. What was your first impression of me?

7. Tell me one weird fact about you:

8. What’s your favorite memory of us?

9. is missing. Make up something if you want.

10. Have you ever kept anything from me?

11. What do you think of me as a person?

12. Do you think I'm sane or insane?

13. Would you cry for me if I died?

14. Would you be my crime partner or my conscience?

15. If you could change anything about me, would you?

16. How do you fall asleep?

17. Ever gotten angry with me?

18. Would you go on a blind date if I set you up?

19. If you had one day to live, what would you do?

20. A million bucks… what would you do with it?

21. What is your worst fear?

22. Favorite thing to do in your spare time?

23. Can you sing or dance?

24. In one word, how would you describe me? Be honest....

25. Will you repost this so I can fill it out?

12:49 pm

Netflix sent me "The Corpse Bride" yesterday. I am a Tim Burton fan. I am a Danny Elfman fan. The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of my top 10 movies. I was really looking forward to this movie.

And the whole thing was disappointing The music is not as good or catchy. The story is formulaic. The world of the living is unpleasant and the World of the Dead is truly mediocre. A lot of attention was put into design and animation. The plot and character development was non-existant. All in all, a film that is more style than substance.

Granted, I'm sure Nightmare before Christmas had similar flaws (what is Oogie Boogie's motivation? When does Jack exactly fall for Sally?) but the whole had an intangible spark.
Sadly, The Corpse Bride is not recommended.

03:38 pm - More Vacation Photos

Take a gander, if you like.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/camerongallery/sets/72157600025966583/

10:07 am

Anchorman is superior to Talledega Nights. Discuss.

03:27 pm

I've gotten a bit of perspective on our trip to Tanzania. You will never again hear me complain about being broke. My mother used to say how lucky me and my siblings were for being born in the US.
It's true. We have so much that we take for granted. Our homes do not have tin roofs and children do not beg as a means to support their families. Every child can go to school, for free, for grades 4-12. College education is very accessible. Most of us have never experienced a famine.

The overall effect of this trip on me is that I want to continue to travel. I want to see more of this planet and more of Africa (Botswana has caught my eye, but Hungary or Peru seem to be next in line). I want to take more and better photographs. I want to soak up as much as I can.

More safari photos coming soon to my flickr account!

Current Mood: contemplative

11:26 am - Winners!

The winning entries from the annual Bulwer-Lytton Fiction contest. An excellent Friday diversion.

http://www.sjsu.edu/depts/english/2006.htm

10:57 am - We're Back

We're back and so is our luggage. The trip was the longest vacation (just short of two weeks) I've taken since I was a child. It was wonderful to be able to forget what day of the week it was.

Like any country, Tanzania is complicated. I certainly did not get a very good understanding from watching it through the windows of our safari vehicle. My opinion on zoos is diminished (try as they might, an enclosure is not the same as living in the wild). Zanzibar, in reality, is not as romantic as it sounds. And my mom was right. I am lucky to have been born in the US. Having seen the Serengeti, the Lion King was pretty damn accurate.

More in the next few weeks, including pictures after we sort through them (we took approximately 2500).

Some trip numbers and approximations
Miles traveled: estimated 17,000
Insect bites: 27
Leopards seen: 0
Rhinocerous seen: 8
Gazelle seen: 53,452
Airport layovers: 11 hours
In-flight movies: 5 (I highly recommend The Queen)
Tanzanian shillings remaining: 12,900

Current Mood: tired

09:49 am - Oscar Nominations

http://oscar.com/nominees/?pn=list

Make your picks! I was surprised to Little Miss Sunshine up for Best Picture, but I gotta give the muckety-mucks credit for recognizing the greatness that is Steve Carrell.

Me thinks I need to see Pan's Labyrinth.