About

I'm an expat Californian who is obsessed with traveling to strange and exotic destinations in the former Communist Bloc. I also like tacos, surfing, and the geopolitics of oil. Washington, D.C. is currently my home, but I'm looking to break out of this fetid swamp someday. Read more about me here, check out my photo album, or send me an e-mail.

Currently...

Located in:
Click for Washington, District of Columbia Forecast


Reading: Telex From Cuba

Watching: Nothing, really

Listening to: Jack's Mannequin, Rage Against the Machine, Arcade Fire, Gogol Bordello, The Clash

Playing: Soccer and Wiffleball (finally!)

World Tour

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« February 2004 | Main | April 2004 »

March 21, 2004

Dear Alumni, give us money NOW

I've only been out of GW for a few months and they're already hitting me up for some money:

Each year, gifts from annual donors make it possible for students to attend GW, and to experience top-notch facilities, technology, and instruction. Your gift, which you can designate to any area of the University, makes this possible for current students. Your gift also strengthens the quality of your own education; each year GW rises higher in the national rankings and makes great progress toward becoming the first-tier university you and I know it to be.

HAHAHAHAHA...hey, GW, how about I pay off my student loans first?

Or will you guys at least send me my diploma? Please?

Try sending me another e-mail in 10 or so years...

March 17, 2004

Fun times at Marriott's Human Resources Department

So I ended up going to the doctor...turns out I had an infection of the bronchial tube. Yeah, definitely should have gone to the doctor earlier. Anyways, 3 days of antibiotics cleared everything up. Thank you, Pfizer.

I went to an audition for a job at the Marriott...I thought it would be like a regular job interview, and that they just gave it the name "audition" because they wanted to seem different...wow, I was totally wrong...it was indeed an audition, complete with dancing. There were 13 people there, and we each had to wear a number around our neck. First, we danced...no really, I couldn't believe it...one of the Marriott HR employees got up and showed us the dances we had to do and then we danced. After dancing, we paired up with the person sitting next to us and learned their name, hometown, etc. and then introduced them to the rest of the group. After that, the HR person would ask each person a question like "If you had a million dollars what would you do with it?" And then we danced AGAIN. I am not quite sure why Marriott uses this particular process to grade prospective employees, but I will bet you they paid some consulting firm a lot of money to come up with it.

March 11, 2004

Sickskaya

I've been sick for over a week, which has been just lovely. I rarely get sick, and when I do it's usually a cold that lasts for a few days, not this annoying, constant pain. I think I'm getting better, though...if not, I should probably see the doctor...actually, I should have done that a few days ago but I'm a moron. It could be worse...I could be sick at GW, where my friends just finished taking their midterms.

I've applied for a bunch of jobs, but don't have one yet. I had an interview at the Marriott on Tuesday but had to reschedule due to my sickness. Oh well, the position will probably be filled by next week anyways.

Chad and Marcus are flying out to California for Spring Break and will be down in Palm Desert for the weekend. Sweet.

March 03, 2004

Soviet hits of the Brezhnev era

I found a wav file of the ridiculous song we would sing at Moscow State University. It's called "Moi Adres Sovietskii Soyouz" (My Address is the Soviet Union) and was released in 1972 by D. Tukhmanov and V. Kharitonov.

I converted the wav file into a smaller MP3 (2.7 MB), which can be downloaded here.

While you listen to this, keep in mind that we were singing along with a karaoke video system that was playing scenes of New York, Las Vegas, and Venice Beach...not images that you often think of while singing about traveling around the USSR in a train.

Lyrics:

Мой адрес Советский Союз
My Address is the Soviet Union

Колёса диктуют вагонные
Где срочно увидеться нам
Мои номера телефонные
Разбросаны по городам

The railcar wheels dictate
Where we urgently meet
My telephone numbers
Are scattered throughout the cities

Заботится сердце сердце волнуется
Почтовый пакуется груз
Мой адрес не дом и не улица
Мой адрес Советский Союз
Мой адрес не дом и не улица
Мой адрес Советский Союз

The heart cares, the heart worries
The mail packs the cargo
My address is not a house or street
My address is the Soviet Union
My address is not a house or street
My address is the Soviet Union

Вы точки тире телеграфные
Ищите на стройках меня
Сегодня не личное главное
А сводки рабочего дня

Telegraphic dots and dashes
You search for me at the construction sites
Today personal matters aren't important
Just the work-day reports

Заботится сердце сердце волнуется
Почтовый пакуется груз
Мой адрес не дом и не улица
Мой адрес Советский Союз
Мой адрес не дом и не улица
Мой адрес Советский Союз

The heart cares, the heart worries
The mail packs the cargo
My address is not a house or street
My address is the Soviet Union
My address is not a house or street
My address is the Soviet Union

Я там где ребята толковые
Я там где плакаты вперёд
Где песни рабочие новые
Страна трудовая поёт

I am where the guys are sensible
I am where posters proclaim 'forward'
Where a laboring nation sings
The new workers' songs

Заботится сердце сердце волнуется
Почтовый пакуется груз
Мой адрес не дом и не улица
Мой адрес Советский Союз
Мой адрес не дом и не улица
Мой адрес Советский Союз

The heart cares, the heart worries
The mail packs the cargo
My address is not a house or street
My address is the Soviet Union
My address is not a house or street
My address is the Soviet Union

Required Reading

Comrades:

Biscuits with Honey
Cindy
Csaba's Flickr
Defined by Location
Dude, Where's the Beach?
EJ Takes Life
fabulous just fabulous
incredibly true misadventures of the gypsy & the jew
Kim's work blog
The Lonely Eater
Monsoon
My Life in Sin City
News to Hughes
Nick
Notes On The Day
The Cincysundevil Made Me Do It
Will’s Title is Too Long
With an "S"

Russia & the former USSR:

The Accidental Russophile
Baku News
Chernobyl and Eastern Europe
Chernobyl Children's Project International
Copydude
English Russia
Goodbye Baby Lenin
Johnson's Russia List
Kaukasus
Notes from Україна
The Oil and The Glory
Registan
Robert Amsterdam
RusEnergy
Russian Oil & Gas
Russian Pipeliners
Scraps of Moscow
Sean's Russia Blog
Siberian Light
Vilhelm Konnander
Vladimir Vladimirovich™
White Sun of the Desert

Energy:

Alexander's Oil and Gas Connections
California Energy Blog
Environmental Economics
The Oil Drum
R-Squared Energy Blog
This Week in Petroleum
The Watt
WSJ Energy Roundup

Washington DC:

DC Blogs
DCist
Metroblogging DC
The Heights they are a changin'
why.i.hate.dc

Politics:

Democracy in America
Free Exchange
get your war on
Political Cartoons
Wonkette

Sports:

6-4-2
7.62x54r
All Climbing
Baseball Musings
Chronicles of the Lads
Confessions of a Novice Surfer
Daily Bread
Halos Heaven
League of Angels
On Frozen Blog
Pearly Gates
Surfrider Foundation
WannaSurf
Your Daily Donkey

Middle East:

american short-timer
Back to Iraq
The Calm Before the Sand
Dan in the Desert
Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone
Michael Yon in Iraq

London:

An American in London
Evening Standard Headlines
Going Underground
Londonist

Travel:

Belly Button Window
blogjam
BootsnAll Travel Network
Gadling
Knife Tricks
Stuck in Customs

Etc.:

best of craigslist
Daily Puppy
Freakonomics Blog
Google Maps Mania
Google Sightseeing
The Great Taco Hunt
Operation Eden
Passive Aggressive Notes
PostSecret
Waiter Rant
Wellington Grey
Wikipedia

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