My Summer Staycation: Lessons in Saving

Sometimes you need to take a break from the daily grind. Sometimes you just need to get out of the house and escape for awhile. Unfortunately, especially in times like today, it can be difficult to afford that amazing vacation that you’re longing for.

The good news is, there are probably hundreds of hidden adventures in your own ‘backyard’. (And by backyard I mean ‘your local area’).

The “Staycation”

Having entered common vocabulary in the past couple of years, the “staycation” is a great answer to this dilemma. Some people find ways to relax and have fun at home; others take daytrips to local amusement parks and other attractions. It’s a great way to save money, while still enjoying vacation.

How do you save?

By cutting down on travel costs, you can save hundreds of dollars. Think about it – no expensive flights, no expensive hotel bills. Even if you do decide to get a hotel relatively nearby (as we did) you still cut down on a $400, $500 flight. And you probably won’t feel the need to buy as many souvenirs if you’re just staying local.

Our Experience

Last weekend my boyfriend and I stayed in New York for our own mini vacation. When we got home, we tallied up our receipts and determined that we had spent close to $1,000. Not exactly the expense we were anticipating. Since the point of “Staycation” is to avoid spending excessive amounts of money, I found myself wondering, “Where did it all go? Was it worth it?”

To answer those questions, we have to take a look at what we did:

• Took taxis instead of the subway
• Stayed two nights in a hotel in Midtown Manhattan
• Ate out at more expensive (for us) restaurants
• Saw a Broadway play, plus other entertainment expenses
• Bought souvenirs

Travel Costs

On Friday, I caught the 5:30 train for a one way ticket costing $13 (one way; we were coming back on a different line). All in all the price there seemed normal to me, and besides, I don’t mind paying for a train ticket if it means I don’t have to drive in to NYC. There’s the stress of traffic, the stress of finding (and paying for) parking, and the stress of locating one of the few gas stations that are actually on Manhattan and paying whatever exorbitant prices I’m sure they charge. In the end, that train ticket was the cheaper (and overall better) option.

We also spent time walking, although due to the excessive heat (it was between 90 and 100 in the city), we did occasionally frequently opt for taxi cab rides. What? I didn’t want to sweat in my dress. And I already had blisters on my feet. All in all, we probably spent about $80 in taxis (about six trips). Had we taken the Subway instead, it might have been around $40.

We could have halved the cost. However, sometimes it’s not just about how much you are paying, but what you are paying for. The extra cost saved time and energy (less walking to a Subway station). To me, that value is worth it, but if you don’t mind walking and waiting, then the Subway is a great way to save money. And it really is not that difficult to navigate, if you know where you are going and utilize their very helpful maps.

The Hotel – Park South

Park South is located near the southwest corner of Lexington and 28th. It’s a nice hotel, nothing ridiculously fancy, but the advantage is that it’s in Midtown Manhattan and doesn’t break the bank. For two nights it was roughly $400. Unfortunately that meant a tiny room with a window facing an alley. However, the bed was comfortable, the room was nice and clean, it came with free Wi Fi and the hotel itself was in a good location. Oh, and I should mention that we didn’t book until mid week, so there’s that too. All in all, I’d say a very awesome price. And it came with a complimentary breakfast. We didn’t end up going to it, but there was a restaurant downstairs (the Black Duck) that plays jazz in the evening.

Food

For dinner, after much conversation and indecision (a problem we frequently face), we decided to return to Uncle Mario’s Brick Oven Pizzeria. We’d had a great time there when we went to see the Daily Show back in February – I had delicious gnocchi and the price was reasonable ($36 after tax and tip for 2 people).

Uncle Mario's (Italian)

Uncle Mario’s is a quaint, charming little Italian restaurant. Unfortunately our great first impression was marred by poor service. Our waitress left in the middle of taking our drink order, made assumptions about what we wanted without letting us answer and got it wrong. A horrible start to the meal. Fortunately our food came out very quickly (as it had the first time) and it was delicious. One thing, though, was that the tip was printed on the receipt – for a party of 8 or more, of course you would expect that. We were two people. It was a little presumptuous, especially considering that the service was not worth 18%.

Dardanel (Turkish)

Saturday evening, we went out for Turkish. Time to get fancied up – I wore a swishy purple dress; it was a nicer material but super light and airy, perfect since the sweltering heat had hardly died down after sunset.

My boyfriend is Turkish, so it’s kind of our “thing” to get Turkish food when dining out in NYC. We’ve probably tried about 75% of the Turkish restaurants in Manhattan. After being overwhelmed by the reviews on the various deals websites he had pulled up, we opted again to return to a favorite – Dardanel.

We didn’t exactly recognize the place when we first walked in – they had recently undergone a renovation – so we were worried that it wasn’t the right place… but it definitely was. I love Turkish cuisine and it’s always a struggle to decided what to eat, but I went with the usual:

Shepherd Salad (shared)
Hummus
Chicken Kebab (my boyfriend got lamb)
Baklava
White Wine - Cankaya

The food was fresh and delicious. Great flavor for the chicken (although the chicken was admittedly too chewy). I have to say, the meal was expensive because we got the wine. I never like wine. Ever. It just doesn’t taste good to me. However, for the first time ever, I LIKED WINE. It was a pretty amazing thing. Although the wine did not go with the salad very well, it did go with the bread and olive oil. Our meal came in at $93, mainly due to the wine (which we don’t usually get; typically a Turkish meal in the city costs about $50, and that’s with the salad, hummus (appetizer), two entrees and dessert).

Entertainment

Aside from the hotel, HERE is there the rest of the money went.

Harry Potter Exhibit at Discovery Center in Times Square

$58 for two people

I love Harry Potter. Seriously, I am a total Harry Potter nerd. I still don’t think this exhibit was worth $27 per person. Granted, it was fun, but I don’t think it was $27 worth of fun. I guess these things are what you make of them, though. Mainly it was costumes that the cast wore during filming, but it also had some set pieces (Hagrid’s chair, which you can sit in and feel tiny; Harry and Ron’s dorm beds). There was also this interactive thing where you could pull up Mandrakes and listen to them scream. OH, and you can shoot a Quaffle. The gift shop was full of interesting things too. Mainly wand replicas of ones used in the film, Harry’s, Ron’s, Hermione’s, Luna’s, Bellatrix, Snape, Dumbledore, etc. Interesting but they cost $44. Not worth it, in my opinion.

Rain – A Tribute to the Beatles

$144 for 2 fifth row seats

Worth it. Worthitworthitworthit. I JUST found out that their final perforanance is July 31, so I’m so glad I decided to see this show (it was this or How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying). I have become a Beatles nut in the past month and I enjoyed every second of this show. It’s advertised as “the closest you can get to seeing the Beatles in concert” and while I have of course never seen them in concert, I would say that’s pretty accurate.

The tickets were 50% off – we basically went to the box office around 11. The line moved really quickly, I don’t know if it normally does or if that was weird luck on our part. I always worried that buying tickets rush would be this huge, stressful event and it wasn’t at all. It was super easy and I ended up getting great seats (sure, it was $144 but FIFTH ROW, come on. I’d never been that close to any show before so I was really excited).  This was probably my favorite part of the vacation.  (For more of my thoughts on the show, check out my review of RAIN on my Ink Traces blog)

Upright Citizen’s Brigade

$20 for two people

Incredibly funny. I was thrilled that the guy who does Improv Everywhere was there. No minimum drink requirement, although I wouldn’t have minded. It was a bit cramped and crowded, the seating situation is not ideal but it gives it a kind of intimate atmosphere I suppose.

Souvenirs

We slept in Sunday morning (missed breakfast), then went shopping at Borders. The funny thing I find about discounts is that I end up making a purchase I would not have otherwise made. So it really feels like the opposite of “saving”. I also bought Krispy Kremes for my family, since you can’t really get them anywhere around home. The total for these purchases comes to about $65. Again, seems like a drop in the bucket when you look at the total. I know that I said it seems silly to buy souvenirs when you’re in the area (I could have bought the books at our local Borders), but it was something to do while waiting for the train. If you’re interested in saving money, you need to think about “is this souvenir really worth it?” Is it something you can wait to buy later?

Overall, I do believe that we could have saved much more by taking the subway, not buying souvenirs, getting cheaper seats at Rain, and declining on the wine when we ate out.  It definitely would have cut down the cost much more, possibly even by a couple hundred.  However, I had fun, and that's the important thing.

In the end, travel is about more than facts and figures, dollars spent and discounts used.  Its about having fun.  It's worth it.  The money, the planning - all worth it when you are sharing an adventure with people you love.

Read Me If You Can

I know I said that I was going to read Mirror Mirror next, but this morning I was watching Catch Me If You Can, which is one of my favorite movies (with great actors like Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCarpio, a great score, a great script and a great story, you just can't go wrong with that movie).  I've always been rather interested in reading Frank Abagnale, Jr.'s actual autobiography of the same title, so I decided, finally, to drive over to the library and pick up a copy.

I'm already more than half way into it.  I couldn't put it down for awhile, although about two thirds (pg 202 out of 293) of the way into it, it is starting to drag a little bit.

My main thoughts as I was reading:

Great Details

Abagnale gives detailed accounts of how he executed his cons, including descriptions about how he created his fake checks.  While it's fascinating to learn just how he did it, after about the Nth time, it starts to get a little repetitive.  I understand it's a little bit different each time, but for me particularly, my interest lies more in how he managed to pull off the con and convince people to believe him.  As he states in the book, many of his checks were not actually that convincing; rather, it was the manner in which he interacted with the banks and various others that cashed the checks.  He was a charmer.

Conversational Narrative Voice

Abagnale's style of writing sounds very conversational, as though he were sitting right next to you telling you his story.  He uses vernacular words quite often, making it feel as though you were in the 60's - it's a nice touch for an autobiography and adds a touch of historical flair.  It adds to the appeal of the novel; not only are you reading about these amazing cons that a teenager pulled off, but you're immersed in the 60's atmosphere. Great for history lovers.  Of course this was written in 1980, when the 60's weren't that long ago; I doubt it's intended to be any type of 'historical piece' but that is the awesome thing about reading first hand accounts.  It's almost like a 'primary document'.  And I love me some historical primary documents (thus the appeal of museums).

Differences from the Movie

I was surprised to find that the movie actually takes a number of liberties with the story.  I vaguely remember seeing, at the time the movie came out, one of those behind the scenes extras explaining that Abagnale was consulted for the movie.  While it does combine various relationships, cut out a few cons (he posed as a college professor for one summer, this does not appear in the film, although the film does show him teaching a high school French class when he is mistaken for the substitute), I think that all in all the movie does stay true to the spirit of the book and condenses things in a way that feels natural and necessary for a movie.  It seems to play up the relationship between Handratty and Abagnale (oh, and it's O'Riley in the book); this is a nice touch I think as far as telling an interesting story to movie audiences, but something rarely touched upon in the book.  Abagnale describes his pursuers as phantoms as he rarely encountered them aside from a few close run ins here and there.

All in all, I would definitely recommend this book for anyone who enjoys autobiographies, history, and perhaps a general interest in learning more about Frank Abagnale's adventures... otherwise, the movie is brief and generally (I feel) a well done adaptation, that stays true to the general themes of the book, if not being specifically accurate.

Well I have to get back to reading (or maybe go to sleep considering it's already past midnight -- how did that happen?).  The most interesting part (imho) is coming up - Frank's capture and his life afterwards.

Update 11:39 am:

So I ended up staying up to finish the book, instead of going to bed.  I couldn't put it down.  Once Abagnale is caught, the story becomes horrifying.  The prison in France sounds like something out of Count of Monte Cristo, minus actual beatings. Abangale is imprisoned in pitch black dark, with nothing but a bucket.  The walls are covered in mold and he eventually discovers (upon his release) that his bucket and the floor are covered in maggots.  It's hard to imagine how a person can survive in such conditions (and many didn't).  

Once returned to the US, Abagnale manages to escape several times before ultimately being caught for good (this is right where the story ends).  It then goes on to an Afterward that explains what happened to him (trouble finding a job since he was an ex-con and then eventually becoming a consultant for banks and companies to develop more secure checking practices) and includes an interview with Abagnale, where they ask questions about his feelings about the movie that was made.  (The copy I had was published after the movie, although the book was published in 1980.)

Review of RAIN: A Tribute to the Beatles

Last weekend, I saw Rain on Broadway.  In the past month, I've developed a huge Beatles obsession, so when my boyfriend and I were trying to decide between How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and Rain, we opted for Rain.  (The 50% discount helped too.  Oh and did I mention we got two fifth row seats for $144? I thought it was worth it).

Granted I have never seen the Beatles live (they were far before my time.  Very far), but I was completely impressed.  I can't say anything about the performance as far as mannerisms go, but I have seen pictures and I have been listening to the Beatles' One album non-stop.  And they sounded dead on - especially Paul.  My boyfriend, who is a bigger Beatles fan, has seen videos of their performances and did say that Paul was also dead on - everything he did, his gestures, the way he played (the way all of them played) were just like the real Paul.  With one exception - he was right handed.  Well you can't have everything.

According to the Playbill, the person who plays Paul (Joey Curatolo) taught himself to play the guitar at age ten and won Paul McCartney sound alike contests.  So no wonder he was so good, we thought.  But then at the end of the performance, they announced that he was actually played by Graham Alexander.  We were amazed that it wasn't even the "main" Paul.  Can't imagine what Joey Curatolo sounded like!!  Also worth noting is George-actor's (sorry I'm not sure who the actor was, it is usually Joe Bithorn) amazing guitar solo in I've Just Seen a Face.

The show itself was divided into different 'albums' I guess, or periods.  They did homages to the concert at Shea stadium (and intermixed pictures of the audience in the theatre with actual historical footage of the concert) and also to the roof top concert.  It goes chronologically, and just like when I listen to the One album, I love witnessing the progression of the Beatles' music and personalities.  It's fascinating to watch from the beginning as they sing songs like "I Wanna Hold Your Hand", which are beautiful in their honest simplicity, and go throughout time through songs like "Help!" to "Hey Jude" and "Come Together".

In addition to having great performers, the show was also just plain fun.  Audience participation was encouraged - with clapping (various songs), standing and dancing (Twist and Shout and then more songs at the end) and even singing along (Hey Jude).  Much of the audience only participated half heartedly, although down in the orchestra seats people would get into it.  I did - might as well take advantage of it.  So when they had us sing along at the end to "Hey Jude", they were surprised when the whole theatre sang a whole verse, and "Paul" even had to say "Now it's my turn".  It was awesome - to be singing with that many people.  It just really makes you feel great, to feel like a part of something as wonderful as the Beatles.

The actors also commented several times on how great it was to see such a wide range of ages throughout the theatre.  It truly speaks for how talented and exceptional the Beatles really were.  Four decades later, and they still attract a full size theatre full of all kinds of people.  With great music and great lyrics, what else could you expect?

--

Later, after returning home, I read on the RAIN website that July 31 is their last performance!  So glad that I got a chance to see that before it left Broadway!

Also I just wanted to say, while talking about the Beatles, I did also just finish reading The Beatles Unseen Archives, which my sister lent to me.  It's mostly pictures, but it is always interesting to see behind the scenes, candid pictures like that. I would definitely recommend to any Beatles fan to take a look at least.

New Books - Gregory Maguire

Last weekend, I purchased 2 Gregory Maguire books: Mirror Mirror and A Lion Among Men. (The latter of which is the third book in the Wicked series).  I'm really excited to read them; I'm a huge fan of Gregory Maguire and greatly enjoyed Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, Wicked, and Son of a Witch.  I love the way he writes about fairy tales.  (Okay technically Wicked is based on The Wizard of Oz which is not a fairy tale, but it has fairy tale esque traits).  I love how he twists these lighter stories and puts a new spin on them, making them feel more realistic and a little more dark than usual.

I'll probably read Mirror Mirror first, since I feel the need to reread Wicked and Son of a Witch before going on to A Lion Among Men.

The Independent Traveller

The train rocks in its gentle rhythm as the Northeast Corridor coasts along its track. I sink back into the familiar blue seat as I watch the houses, trees, and swimming pools blur past. Ahhh. It’s been awhile since I’ve taken a train ride by myself.

Back in college, I used to ride the train every week to visit my boyfriend in Teaneck. The hour and a half long journey was always cut into smaller, bearable pieces by the transfer in Secaucus. I wonder just how much time I spent on those trains and in that in between place where I made those transfers. I think back to Secaucus now as a sort of resting place. Peaceful. Tranquil. A time where I would take out a book and read, or take out a notebook and write, or take out my laptop and edit stories for my writing classes. Those journeys were a time for me.

I never really thought about them like that at the time. Back then, it was just a place to wait for 40 minutes and idle away the time. Now it seems I never get any free time like that to myself. Between sleeping, work, driving to work, and then spending “quality family time” at home, it seems like I hardly ever get a peaceful moment to myself.

Since I am constantly surrounded by people, I had forgotten how nice it is simply to go somewhere on my own, to navigate the streets of New York on my own (something I would normally shudder at, being rather small and defenseless, but I was only going to in Midtown Manhattan). Somehow I feel a greater sense of adventure travelling alone. It’s up to me to decide which turn to take, to navigate through the streets and figure things out without any help. It’s silly, but it just feels exhilarating. It makes me feel proud. Independent.

I didn’t read or write during that peaceful hour on the train. Simply sat and watched the world blur and let my thoughts finally collect, drift slowly to the ground and get left behind as the train sped forward. Time to unwind. Time to let go.

Times like these remind me not only that it is good to get away from the daily grind, but also to find moments for yourself. Go for a walk. Go on a hike, just you. Go the beach and just relax under the sun with a good book – sometimes the best travels don’t involve physically going far, just mentally going somewhere new.

Update

Coming Soon: Went on a "Staycation" to NYC last weekend, and am now working on a post about it. Stay tuned! :)

Writing Progress... or UnProgress?

May 2010, I completed my Creative Writing Senior Thesis.  As part of a novel, it only needed to be 50-75 pages long, and then include chapter summaries for the rest of the story.  It was 69 pages long (not including the summaries).  Doubled spaced, TNR 12, 1 in margins.  Seven chapters.

Since then, I have more than doubled the length.  Most of that progress occurred in September and October 2010, as outlined in my LJ (click the links for details).  I have 54,499 words written, not including the most recent chapter, which is number 21.

And then I decided... it all needs to be rewritten.

I'm not touching the stuff that I wrote for class (yet).  Other people have actually seen that, so I'm less concerned, although I have already altered a few plot points so I WILL have to go back and make a few changes.  I'm just putting it off because I don't want to be caught up in tedious rewriting.

Something about chapter eight - yes, that first chapter I wrote after the stuff for school - was just really irking me, so I had to go back and write it.  And I've been stuck in writer's block for a few months, stuck on the same freaking chapter that I started almost a year ago.  I finally finished rewriting it (it is on its third draft) but I am still not happy with it.

I am, quite honestly, not sure what to do.  I need other eyes to see it.  But I am so apprehensive about showing my work to other people.  It's my baby!  I've worked so hard on it.  What if it is horrible?  I have a vision in my head.  What if they don't understand the vision I have?  The comments I got from my senior thesis class were always so helpful and constructive.  I miss having that support, but have few writer friends that I still keep in touch with.

I'm having my boyfriend look at it now, to see what he thinks.  It's mainly plot that I struggle with.  Stupid plot having to make sense (heh).

Well, anyways.  That's my writing rant for now.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

I have been a Harry Potter fan since I first picked up Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the fall of 1999.  Writing that number - 1999 - was probably the first time I've really thought about it, and I actually just astonished myself because that means that I have been a Harry Potter fan for over a decade.  I started reading the books in the 20th Century.

I guess it was a pretty important time in my life and in life in general.  More broadly, 1999 was the year of the Y2K scare, a time of great worry that turned out to be unnecessary.  (No, it wouldn't be until two years later where the Big Scare would take the country by surprise...)  But for me, the 1999 - 2000 school year was my first year of middle school.  And I was pretty terrified.

I don't do change very well.  In fact I struggle very hard to avoid it.  But you can't avoid getting older.  I very distinctly remember sitting on the bus towards the end of 5th grade, I was eleven years old, and I stared out the window watching the school disappear as the bus took me towards home.  And I was just thinking (and worrying) about the Future.  Wondering who I would be in a year, in two years, in five, ten...  I spent most of my preteen years impatiently wishing to be a college graduate.  Because I figured, my 20's would be the best time of my life: I would be free of school and would have independence, a boyfriend, a job.  All of those exciting things.

I was eleven when I first read Harry Potter.  The same age as Harry.  Like Harry, I was starting at a new school.  No wonder that book was so popular among my peers at the time.

Over the next decade, the sequels would be released, the movies released, all staggered and paced out perfectly to be close enough to look forward to, to string us along and keep us constantly interested and intrigued.  Order of the Phoenix was published when I was 15 - again the same age as Harry.  Half Blood Prince when I was 17 (so just a year off), and finally the last installment, when I was 19.  As Harry grew, I grew.  I know it's something talked about so many times -- how my generation matured as Harry matured.  A whole generation that learned as Harry learned, that learned what true friendship meant, what love meant, that gradually grew to learn that sometimes adults can disappoint us and are not the infallible authority figures we looked up to as innocent children.  And many learned, just like Harry, what it was like to lose a loved one... whether it is a curse from an evil witch or cancer, the pain of death is still the same.

The release of the final movie installment is more than just a conclusion of a popular fantasy series.  It is the closing of an era, the closing of a period of life.  The end of childhood.  So conveniently coinciding with my generations' graduation from college and entrance into the adult world.

A friend on Facebook posted this great quote:

‎"No story lives unless someone wants to listen.... The stories we love best do live in us forever. So whether you come back by page or by the big screen, Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home." ~J.K. Rowling.

PS - I know I haven't said anything about the movie in this whole post.  I don't want to spoil it for anyone.  The movie was fantastic.  I would say combined, Part I and Part II are the best yet.  Phenomenal acting.  Very very true to the books.  Go see it.

So Many Blogs...

So here is another attempt at trying to stay active in writing a post.  A major problem that I have is that I have several different blogs, including the new Tumblr blog that I have, two old LJ blogs, and now two blogspot blogs.  "Where do I post?" becomes a frequent question, and lately the answer has been Tumblr, then the old LJ.  I don't like having so many different places to post.  There are different advantages to all of them.

LiveJournal
This is my oldest journal, and thus the one I feel the most loyalty to.  It uses a penname that, aside from the LJ, I haven't used in many years - holy crap, probably a decade.  Or almost a decade.  So I had decided a few months ago that I was done posting, but I do have a few friends who still use LJ so I went back on that decision recently.  It's really hard to step away from this blog, even though it's an old penname that I don't use.  I've thought about merging my two LJ accounts (I don't even know if this is possible, for all I know it's not).  Even if it was possible, I still am not sure if it's something I would want to do.

Xanga
Second oldest journal, I got this because back in high school everyone had one.  People actually posted back then, so it was the most worth while one to have.  And then in college everyone just dropped off the face of the earth internet and so it became pointless, and I was never really into the Xanga brand anyways.  So this one is pretty much done with.  The thing is that I am not a huge fan of the Xanga community set up/layout.  I used to log in now and then just to read the featured posts on the main site, but after a month I noticed that it was the same topics constantly recycled, so I stopped with that.

Blogspot
Obviously I haven't been posting in this very frequently and the reasons for that have (most recently) been A) hardly ever logging onto the internet ever -- I have a smart phone now so I check things on that, don't usually feel the urge to post from it, although I should see about starting to do that I suppose; and B) I started postingon Tumblr and Twitter, which are both more conducive for short quick posts.  The advantage to blogspot over Tumblr is that you really can do much more with a post, you just have more control over the look of the post, inserting images and doing divs and whatnot, which you just can't get with Tumblr (and this has been pretty frustrating).

Tumblr
Advantage to Tumblr is that it's easy to share other content, especially other multimedia content like videos and images.  The disadvantage is that you get hardly any control whatsover over the presentation of an actual post.  I am more of a text person anyway, so really I just ought to start blogging more.

I'm trying to juggle each of these different platforms and see what happens and how I decide to divide (what little) content I have.  I don't want to post the same thing on every blog, as I hear that's a duplicate content issue, otherwise I would look into that.  For example, my posts on Tumblr automatically update my Twitter.  Which is fine because Twitter just makes it a link.

Anyways that is my random post for today.

Where does the time go?

Holy crap the last two months practically flew by.  I swear, time accelerates as you get older.  It's like an exponential thing.  It feels like the past year has gone by in the blink of an eye.  And 4 years of college went by faster than 4 years of high school which went faster than 3 years of middle school (miraculously).

I guess it sort of makes sense if you think about it.  Because five seems like forever to a five year old.  So of course it's going to take ridiculously long for 5 years to go by, if you've only lived 5 years than going another five seems long.

And then when you're 10, the span between 10 years and 20 years seems forever.  But 5 years seems faster.

I don't know, I articulated all of this at work the other day and it made sense then.

Anyways not much has even really happened in the past few months other than the usual.  Work 9-5.  Sit at home wasting time getting stuck in the quicksand that is the couch/tv combo.  Practicing the art of being a couch potato.  MEH.

Have been trying to force myself to go on the computer more.  I really don't actually do that much like I used to in high school (posting in forums).  My usual computer schedule is sign on, check email, check Google Reader, check Facebook, check Google+ (yeahh got one of those invites like on the first day because I know awesome people), and then that's pretty much it.  Not much to do for me after that.  So the hope is that I'm already online, might as well open up Word and work on that novel thing.

I did start a tumblr, naturally its with the user name Callioope

The most exciting thing going on in my life right now is the discovery that the Beatles are bloody fantastic and the bewilderment that I have gone FAR TOO LONG not realizing this.  Sure objectively I knew people considered their songs to be good and I knew a few of their more famous songs.  But I never really KNEW how freaking amazing they are.

So am now busy preparing a list of my favorite songs and then am going to set about purchasing these songs and compiling my own Beatles favorite album so I can jam out to these songs during my 30-40 min commute.

Well I gotta go get ready for working out.  But that's the update of my life.