spacekadet

Had lunch at El Chile yesterday on E. Manor Road (across from Hoover's).

I wish I had found this place sooner.

The place definitely lived up to its name. Their Bloody Mary was delicious, and very spicy (apparently they use the "Brazos" mix). So good I had to have two.

My veggie tacos (sans cheese, plus guacamole) were AMAZING. I expected some veggies in a tortilla. That's what I got, but in a melange of tomatoes and spices that was absolutely delicious. Oh, and nestled in a double-layered corn tortilla. Their rice was really well done - I think they put saffron in it.

They also had a nice deck with fans and it was very pleasant to eat and drink outside, despite the heat.

I think it might be my new favorite Tex-Mex joint in Austin.

Curra's is good, too... but El Chile had a better atmosphere - more conducive to drinkin' cold alcoholic bevvies on a hot summer day! I often run into a problem in Austin - I sometimes feel like going out for a meal at a place where I can also hang out and have a few drinks on a nice patio. Opal Divine's and Trudy's has the deck, but the food isn't exactly top notch.

Yay El Chile for making my dreams come true!

Posted by monica at 12:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I posted a few photos from the Keep Austin Weird 5k. They were taken with a 3-year old disposable camera, so forgive the dearth of quality pictures.

Posted by monica at 05:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Things are getting pretty fucking interesting around here.

I had the first installment of my garage sale today, an endeavor which I'll deem a success. My evidence? The equivalent of 5 benjamins in my pocket.

Things are clearing out, slowly but surely. I've experienced little to no panic or loss at letting go of my belongings - I'm doing the right thing.

The sale started at 9am, so I got up at 6 to set things up. The night before, I didn't get to sleep until around 2am, so a box of Peet's coffee was acquired, which carried me through the morning. Then lunch at 12:30, and finally, I could feel the fatigue setting in. A nap? Never!

See, today at 5pm was the day of the Keep Austin Weird 5k! But I was seriously doubting my capabilities as 2pm rolled around and I started getting that can't-keep-my-eyes open feelng.

Once I got to the race, everything was crystal clear. Tim and I found Mike - quite astounding given that 6000+ people were slated to attend.

This was my first 5k, and probably not my last. My fatigue was a distant memory as we started, and all I could feel was the fun. The whole experience pumped me up, and I did better than my 35min goal time.

In the end, I finished in 33:42.90, which on average is 10:53 per mile. Since it was a race, I should also mention that I finished in 580th place overall (out of 889), 42nd (out of 75) in my age group. I'm happy with myself - I really had my doubts of being able to run in 90+ degree heat in the middle of the day. But in the end, I made the 5k my bitch. I'm looking forward to the next one - in the UK!

Posted by monica at 10:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Partial inventory:

Furniture, Drafting Table , Glass-top coffee table , Wall-mountable shelving , Ikea TV Stand, Desk lamp, Clamp lamp, Mirror, Wicker chest, Area rug, Art supplies, Screen printing supplies , Acrylic Paint, Brushes, Canvases, Faux Stained Glass stuff, Sporting equipment, Rollerblades, Tennis Raquet, Raquetball Raquet, balls, goggles, Computer stuff, Nice flatbed scanner, Epson Color/BW Inkjet Printer, Lexmark Z32 Color/BW Inkjet Printer, Yamaha Computer speakers and subwoofer, Kitchen appliances galore, Coffee Maker, Espresso Machine, Electric Can Opener, Nice Blender, Toaster, Assorted kitchenware, Plates, Glasses, Cooking utensils, Pots & Pans, Bathroom stuff, Bath mats, Shower Curtain, Hair dryer, Towels , Clothes (women's L, men's XL), T-shirts, Hoodies, Nice men's tops, Shoes (women's 8 - 8 1/2), Toys , File boxes , Storage solutions , Books, School supplies, potted plants, door beads and so much MORE!

Posted by monica at 02:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A Picture Share!
Originally uploaded by doctor paradox.

Posted by monica at 01:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

More of the giant spider and some other random pics around Austin, taken with the Nikon SLR.

Link to gallery.

Posted by monica at 11:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

i got up before 7am this morning. absurd, you say!

this whole balancing running 4 days a week and going to the gym 4 days a week is kind of awkward. i don't follow one after the other, which perhaps i should. but it doesn't usually work that way. commitments and all. like the keep austin weird 5k - it's at 5 pm on Saturday. that's right, 5pm, in the heat of the dread austin sun. so i thought this week i'd run at 5pm, get acclimatized or something. but i didn't want to go to the gym at 4pm, so i thought i'd go as early as possible so as not to be too tired for the run.

so i got up at 6:30am to catch the first IF shuttle. an impressive feet for someone of my nocturnal nature.

it was all a bit of a blur, and a bit distracted by the onset of an allergic reaction i'm having to something. it's manifestation is in the form of a rash (the dreaded 'r' word) and it's causing me hell from my wrists to my shoulders. so my uninsured ass headed over to a general practitioner's office to get reamed just for a prescription for some mega-roids. it turned out to be fairly painless and pleasantly cheap. they warned me that the drugs could cause me to feel "wired". i guess this is it - physical fatigue paired with an inability to keep my eyes closed.

ass!

and yet not, given my nocturnal nature and all. it's nice and dark and quiet (oh, except for my ridiculously loud a/c that rattles everything in the house).

i took the hundreds of dollars i thought i'd spend on doctor's bills, and bought a suitcase. one week! i can't wait to get a job and a place and a new bike! i really want a street bike - i loved the Trek but it was so heavy! and now, no one wants to buy it because no short people are looking for burnt orange mountain bikes at the moment. let's hear it for ebay, let's hear it for pain. let's hear it for poison tears that wash your dreams down the drain.

let's hear it for love!

there's going to be a garage sale cum bake-off this weekend at my place. hurrah! brownies and good deals!!!

played my last game of Fireball Island tonight over at Marcella's and Ginger's new digs.

oddly enough, neither Marcella nor Ginger were in attendance.

oh, about that 5pm run this evening - i bombed it. 23 minutes and i was out like one of my sweat droplets sizzling on the pavement. this saturday, it's going to be all about ice cold bottled water, team spirit, and a prayer for cloud cover.

Posted by monica at 01:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I haven't had much to write about lately. Even after this weekend's vast extent of partying, I'm still at a loss. Was I too drunk to remember anything, or not drunk enough to have a fabulous time?

There was the party at Mike and Adam's on Friday night, a much anticipated welcoming to the new math students. For me, it just didn't have the flare or jubilation of similar past brew-ha-has. It's difficult to figure out why - my iPod was well received, as were the jams I pumped out outside off my "flashback party" CD. The keg was floated. Someone danced at some point. And it rained. Something was missing I guess.

Saturday morning, my waffled iron and I gathered with hungover party-goers and MEB's house to have brunch. It was so much fun cooking with other people, something I dearly miss from my days at UIUC.

Saturday night was Ginger's and Marcella's housewarming party at their amazing house just south of the river. It was cool - the fruit dip was delicious, the t-shirts were impressive, and the pot brownies were weak. But in the end it was all hipsters and lesbians and no place to call home.

9 days til take-off, now.

Posted by monica at 11:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In Washington, a black bear recently guzzled three dozen cans of beer before passing out at a state campground.

It turns out the bear was a bit of a beer sophisticate. He tried a mass-market Busch beer, but switched to Rainier Beer, a local ale, and stuck with it for his drinking binge.

Link to CNN article.

Posted by monica at 10:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After taking a few pics of the MASSIVE spider with my Canon S50, I was inspired to take a few shots with Tim's Nikon SLR - a real camera!

We took a roll outside and had it processed and put onto a CD at Walgreens. The developing took less than two hours and cost less than 10 bucks. Very nice. I think I could have a lot of fun with this. Using a real camera is much more fun than the digital, aside from the whole lack-of-immediate-gratification thing. But really, a couple hours ain't bad.

The Nikon felt really nice to use, and we were rewarded with beautiful pictures! I'm going to have to do this more often.

Link to photos.

Posted by monica at 11:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Posted by monica at 04:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I wanna take a Rock N' Roll Holiday Escape with Journey, REO Speedwagon, and Styx!!!

Posted by monica at 03:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My laptop is back and bigger than ever. I replaced its feeble 20GB HD with a 40GB HD. Er, I should say, Mary replaced my hard drive while I watched and read directions. She was amazing, and the few beers I paid her with do not come close to matching my gratitude.

We started things up at about 5pm last night, and I finally got everything reinstalled by about noon today. Phew!! I'm exhausted!

Saw The Manchurian Candidate yesterday afternoon. It was alright, more of a renter than a trip to the movies.

Somebody please buy my bike.

Oh, I'm slowly re-adding all my photos whose links got lost when I changed designs. They're linked on the right, with fancy dates and everything!

Posted by monica at 02:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Just had a look at adbusters today, and it sounds like the Blackspot Sneaker may actually happen...

A great sneaker factory has been located. It's in the traditional shoe manufacturing region in Portugal. A big, light, airy, family-run factory will be the centre of it all. Union. Fair wages, generous paid holidays, free medical attention, an hour and a half for lunch, impressive safety record - it's an excellent production facility for our worker-friendly, earth-friendly, animal-friendly blackspot sneaker. Details and factory photos will be posted soon. September looks good for delivery. Time for some action.

They also say that "254 indy stores around the world" have signed up to sell the shoe. I hope one of those stores is in London!

Link to the Blackspot Sneaker page.

Click on the image for a high-res version of the shoe...

Posted by monica at 12:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I am officially done spending money in Austin - today I bought my last must-have texas souvenir: a pair of brown cowboy boots. They're pretty rad, and I fully intend on wearing them out. I bought em' used at Hog Wild on North Loop, right next door to the Parlor. The chick who sold em' to me was kind of nuts, which was appropriate for this kind of purchase. Now - does this mean I'm going to have to start shaving my legs and wearing short skirts?

Blah...

So I tried taking some photos of my new footwear, but they didn't turn out too well. So I took a couple pics of the glass-blown pendant my aunt gave me while I was in Chi. Once again, I am utterly amazed by my 5mpx Canon S50.

Now, I have Olympic fever at the moment, so I'm going to get back to the TV. Oh, by the way, honeydew nectarines are delicious.

Posted by monica at 11:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Through the eyes of some highly admirable astrophotographers, I was able to see a few more Perseids this year.

Here's a link to some great photos of the meteor shower. The image below was taken by Stefan Seip at the Observatory Hoefingen near Stuttgart, Germany.

Posted by monica at 02:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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We missed you hissed the lovecats...

My dear Ivy is currently staying with my dear sister, Stephanie, in Madison. Technically he's in quarantine - I can't fly him to the UK for six months. I miss him dearly, but Steph seems to be taking great care of him. Today, she sent me this photo.

Posted by monica at 06:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sheri left Austin today for Houston, and then the West Coast. Here on Avenue H, the rooms are filled with things to sell and pack and sort and ignore until the last minute. It's something like 19 days until I leave. I've never had a terribly hard time with up and moving somewhere else, but this one's a little harder than the rest. In the past, I wasn't so swayed by emotional attachment as I am now. Is that why people settle down?

Luckily there's not much time to analyze the situation. The truth is, I can't wait to get to London. I feel like this move is about starting over. Math is behind me, and when I get to London, so will all the other issues I overanalyze. Life will happen, and I can't wait to enjoy it while it's happening instead of worrying about moving or next semester's classes or where I'm going to be in 6 months or the other people and things in my life I can't control. Choose life, or something.

My landlord, Jess, filmed me today for a "functional fitness" video, whatever that means. I don't exactly know what was going on, except that I was carrying a watermelon, and feeling kind of nasty 'cos I'd just been to the gym. Maybe that's why he asked. Regardless, it was kind of cool, and I couldn't stop laughing!

I don't understand these guys who wear gigantic basketball shorts that go down to their mid-calf.

Beautiful beautiful weather today. And a Perseid meteor sighting tonight! We're all going places. Life is good.

Posted by monica at 11:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Been sorting through some photos tonight. I'm a girl like that -- photo albums, candles, the color red, all that stuff. Even the thought of scrapbooking excites me a bit, but I won't go there. I'm having some stuff shipped to England tomorrow and I wanted to get these organized before I sent them. I love these two pictures of my sister and I at that Italian place, Piccolo, on Rio Grande. That was my first day as an Austin resident. I was so psyched!

Posted by monica at 10:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For someone who's moving across the world and trying to minimize baggage, I sure bought a lot of stuff today. I consumed $200 worth of work-out clothing at Academy. Culture jammer I am not. But hey, my single pair of good gym shorts and weak array of old t-shirts isn't doing the job, and I'm not about do laundry every night. Summer in Austin, man, it's a sweat bomb. Really, it's all about replacing the red addidas shorts with, well, a new pair of red addidas shorts. Rock on.

Also picked up a 40 JEE-BEE hard drive for the iBook - I think my current drive is about to blow. Corrupted files abound, and I'd be devastated if I lost even a single photo. The job looks messy. There goes my weekend.

Going to cook my first Salmon fillet tonight. Something with lemon and pesto. How can I go wrong?

I need to buy some music: Bjork's Vespertine, some Thin Lizzy, and a sample of this Polyphonic Spree band that the kids are listening to these days.

Happy Birthday to Joe Jackson - he turns 50 today!

Posted by monica at 06:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Looks like Austin's schizophrenic weather is going to get in the way of my meteors. Sadness.

(In the spirit of my randomly assigned theme, who knows what song I'm thinking of? A box of Cheez-Its for you!)

Posted by monica at 01:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Who doesn't love shooting stars? Tonight's Perseid meteor shower always promises a great show for us folks in the Northern Hemisphere. The show should get going at around 9pm, with things really heating up from 2am til dawn on Thursday. According to NASA's Bill Cooke, we should expect to see 40 to 60 meteors per hour!

Now, the real question is: where the hell do Austinites to go to see the sky?

Article on the even.

Meteor Observing Tips

Meteor Shower Photography

Posted by monica at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by monica at 01:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This week feels like a good week to riddle my subjects with references to cheesy yet catchy love songs from the 80's and 90's. What can I say, I'm feeling sappy? Heart strings: feel the burn.

Maybe I'm feeling so sentimental because I sold my Vino last week. Two years of beloved 49cc scooting boiled down to 10 benjamins in my bank account. Through the rain and across the pavement, the Vino and I had something special. Strange to be without it now, not like I can't stand to use my bike a little more.

I have this stupid necessity to attach "greater meaning" to everything and anyone. For the most part, it's great, but sometimes it's annoying. Like when I sell a scooter, or when I hurt a friend. I feel this need to do something about it, when most of the time I should just let it go. Drama: it just is. Am I emotionally immature if that realization was inspired by an episode of Six Feet Under?

I think this next bit is going to be kind of annoying...

I was in the shower this morning thinking about the things I'm going to do in London, and I realized that I have some goals. This came as a bit of a surprise, because I haven't had goals in a while. I mean, grad school was all about the far flung goal of earning a PhD in mathematics. That goal quickly dissolved into childish disillusion when I realized I lost most of my desire to do real research. Oops. Sorry, I can't help it - it got boring. I guess when you get out of the house enough you realize that life on the outside is a lot more interesting. At least for me. I just don't see getting a paper published as "making a mark". I want to bring more to the table.

(Do you like how I'm continuously inventing new excuses for dropping out of grad school? Yeah, I guess it's obvious I'm still uncomfortable about the whole thing, feeling a little disappointment, even though I know deep down I did the right thing.)

Getting the hell out of CAM has forced me to make some decisions about the hell to do with my life. I was really worried about it, but I think I'm going to try doing shit I actually want to do, rather than using the M.S. just because I have it. So I found these goals, just randomly in the middle of the shower. I guess they were there all the time but I didn't recognize them as such.

So here's some shit I want to do...

Obtain the legal right to work in the UK
Get a job that makes me some money and isn't too terribly hard
Use that money to support me as I start a business (that story's for another time)
Become certified as a personal trainer
Make the business profitable so I can quit working for any boss besides myself

Do you think I can do all that in the next 3 years? That's what I'm hoping.

Oh I also want to become un-fat and do a pull up. And camp. But that really has nothing to do with my livelihood, which is more pertinent at the moment - where the hell did this adulthood thing come from? I am not mentally prepared for a career, but alas, I guess I'll have to act the part. 'Cos I'm not financially prepared to pay off my student loan.

It feels like the opposite of standing in a timeless dream of light mists of pale amber rose.

If the Boca Burger could speak, it would say to the Clausen Kosher Dill Sandwich Slice Pickle: "You complete me."

Posted by monica at 01:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yet another reason why NYC is so cool - cuddle parties. (And yes, the pajamas stay ON.)

A cuddle party is really about communication and not therapy, say the organizers (Reid Mihalko and Marcia Baczynski).

An introduction to cuddling ensues, first by hugging three people. People then get in a circle on their hands and knees, rub shoulders and moo like cows. After a bit of swaying, everyone falls to their side, which puts them into an easy cuddling position.

Link to CNN article.

Posted by monica at 06:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Moving overseas is a great excuse to drink and be merry with all the people I might never see again. In the spirit of all great going-away parties, Sheri and I had a beer and sangria bash in my backyard last Saturday. The sangria was excellent, and the keg of Live Oak Pale Ale was well received by all in attendance. Most pleasant party surprise: Melanie coming all the way from Houston to have one last slice of fun with us restless chickies. It warms my loins to know that Melanie is still sweet as ever. I doubt that'll ever change.

So, the party was swell even though we didn't make nearly enough sangria and I didn't get as drunk as I would have liked. I think some pictures were taken that might make it to the interweb at some point. There were lots of math people there, which was strange because it's been a while, but rad because I missed them. I get a little sad when I think "wow, that might be the last time I ever see so-and-so". Even though I'm still in Austin, I've been missing parts of it for some time - how nice it will be in London, where missing Austin actually makes more sense! At least most of us went out with a bang. But between you and me, I think it'll be hard to miss much of anything while I'm in London. Aside from Tex Mex.

That said, I've still got a few more weeks here and I plan on making them spectacular. I still have to go to Blanco and visit the Real Ale Brewing Company. There are some movies I'd like to see - The Village, Napoleon Dynamite, Garden State, to name a few. My continuing preparation for the Keep Austin Weird 5k is keeping me sober and healthily fed, at least most days of the week. And a panic party to finish off all my booze would sure be fun. For a "mosquito-infested hell hole", Austin is pretty damn cool. I don't think there's any way to avoid missing this place at least a little bit. Now, time to get my sweat on.

Posted by monica at 04:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thoroughly chill all ingredients and combine with a melange of fresh fruit thinly sliced. Best if you let sit for 48 hours.

From the FN.

Posted by monica at 05:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

these are officially the dog days of summer. my typical love for spooning has been replaced by the necessity for NO TOUCH - must have maximum access to air at all times!!! not that it helps - the air feels like the exhaust pipe of a bus. there's not much to do but spoon mother nature.

so i got my rollerblade fixed - finally. i had to have 6 eyelets installed in the right shoe, whose previous lace assembly came apart when i attempted to tie them up many drunken nights ago. brute strength on my part? doubt it. a crappy skate? no way - K2's are the bomb. i blame it on my own negligence, i.e. leaving my skates in a hot car for a couple months. fyi: the Austin Shoe Hospital is awesome.

I decided to take my reborn skates to the Veloway for a test drive. It was my second and probably last trip to Austin's only haven for rollerbladers. It's a good track, but a little out of the way. The skates feel good, and I'm more excited than ever to do some city skating in London. I did learn, however, that I am extremely squeemish when it comes to other people's blood and physical pain. I have a scar on my knee that I earned on a skate back at UIUC, doing sprints by the soccer field waiting for the other players to arrive. My flesh wound? Ain't no thang - I wrapped a bandana around it and played on (sounds hardcore, but I squealed like a baby when I had to clean it after the game). But other people's war wounds make me utterly nauseous! I didn't expect this emotion, and I'm a tiny bit ashamed of myself. What's the deal with that?

Tomorrow is my last stand at the Parlor. I'm sad but also kind of, well, relieved. It's really hard to achieve my fitness goals when all my friends keep inviting me out for pizza and beer. But at the same time, I hate giving up my vices. Quitting smoking wasn't so bad because everyone encouraged it and I knew how beneficial my quit would be in every aspect of my life. When it comes to living like an athlete, I don't know what the trade off is, so it's hard to make the sacrifice. Yes the trade off is a killer body and a longer healthier happier life. But why doesn't that motivate me as much as the lure of happy hour? One is permanent, the other is temporary. This should be easy, and yet it stresses me out more than the move overseas. I think the key is this: i love beer, and i love my friends, and i love both especially when paired together. There's not a damn thing wrong with that. However, I don't want to feel like I have excessive tummy matter and a flat bottom anymore. So giving up beer isn't like quitting smoking (a mindset I've wrongly embraced) - it's not permanent. I've just gotta be strong enough to back off the beer and the pizza until my body's a lean mean calorie burning machine. THEN I will be able to afford such luxuries. It's all easier said than done. I hope this move to london provides me with a chance to really change some things about myself that have been bugging me for a long time. I think I stopped feeling good about myself for a while there, and that's no good.

Must learn self control - stat!

Posted by monica at 01:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

No time to write - toooo busy getting ready to move. But I'm not too busy for one last hurrah. This Saturday is Sheri's and my going away party. If you didn't get the invite and you'd like to come, let me know!

Posted by monica at 06:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Texas Rollergirls are in the New York Times!!

This is, at the very least, extreme roller skating, heavy on attitude and light on attire, the better to bare breathtaking tattoos. Social scientists may scratch their heads over the emergence of a new form of staged violence by macho women, but to the players, who don't get paid, it's easy to explain: it's fun...

Though perhaps not as naughty or X-rated as it pretends to be, it is still, many of the women gladly concede, an erotic playground where Barbarella types fill out the action by instigating assaults that everyone insists are real.

Here's a link to the article.

Posted by monica at 12:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)