Headlines

Latest London death toll: 37. 700 injured.

Investigators pick through carnage

US mass transit alert goes orange

Translated statement of responsibility

Eight Philippine ministers quit.

Okay, fine

So I woke up Thursday feeling fine and dandy as I had the day off, took a long train ride to La Guardia, and got dropped off at the wrong terminal. You can hardly blame me, it's very confusing. Deep in my heart of hearts I know I should have insisted that the cabbie bring me back to Terminal B. Instead I got off at C, frantic that Deo was all alone at some gate in the middle of a bustling airport terminal, and after much hand-wringing and brow-furrowing, caught a bus to B, where I found Deo alive and unharmed. Then we had dinner at my fave resto.

Friday, we went to Ground Zero, Battery Park, the Met, MOMA, Guggenheim, had dinner with my cousin, and watched Avenue Q. Made pretty good time seeing as we walked/took the train everywhere and I am not handy with maps. But. As Deo put it, it's impossible to get lost. Yeah, only idiots like me do. Avenue Q is still spectacular the second time around. I was disappointed that a noticeably thinner Asian girl played Christmas Eve, but she was very good.

Saturday, we took a three-hour train ride to Montauk! Inspired by curiosity brought about by repeated viewings of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. It's not that bad. It's a bit cold on the train so if you plan to do this, bring outerwear of some kind. Montauk is the last stop on the L.I.R.R. The plan was to go to the Montauk Point Lighthouse on the tip of the island. Obviously, it looks a little different in the movie by virtue of the absence of snow and conversely, the presence of hordes of pale people staking out their own little spot on the sand. We took a cab/van that smelled of algae, driven by a tour guide kind of guy with a slight Midwestern accent, with ten other people. The lighthouse itself is picture perfect. It used to be surrounded by a lot more solid ground but water erroded most of the soil and it is in danger of literally being swept out to sea, the Atlantic Ocean in this case. However, a local woman rallied to save the lighthouse and boulders have been lined up to form a sea wall and the slope has been reshaped to look like the Banaue rice terraces. The tower itself, probably visible from Connecticutt and Rhode Island, is lit by a 40-watt bulb. It has 137 steep steps, and I have the bruises to prove it. We had lunch at a restaurant where an aggressive seagull was hanging out. On the way home, we dropped by the Amagansett Farmer's Market to visit friends and their 9-month-old baby, whom we took out to dinner when she was a mere 11 days old.

Sunday, I met Deo at the Met and we went to St. Patrick's, Rockefeller, Times Square and the Empire State observatory. We chuckled at the Skyride people enticing everyone to pay twice as much to get into the building to go on their motion-simulation ride before they closed the Empire State. No thank you, we will gladly stand in line for two hours, thank you very much. And none of those audio guides or pictures taken against drab backgrounds. The bare essentials, that's it. Besides, we were standing in line with a group of old ladies who had already made my day. The observatory did not disappoint. Afterwards, we met up with the cousins and a friend and stood in line for another hour to have dessert.

Monday, I brought Deo to the airport, took the bus all alone to Queens Mall, met up with cousins, and went bowling. I rarely go bowling as I tend to embarrass myself with the little dances that I have to do as the ball makes its way down the lane. These have no proven effects on the ball's path, but I feel as if they do. I did so enjoy the game, which may have been the most physical exertion I've had since the last snowstorm. Afterwards, we went on the Dance Dance Revolution machine in the arcade, where I met a really cute guy. His name was Daniel and he said I had to pump the gas pedal twice for the nitrous. He challenged - and beat - me on the Malibu racetrack, where I must have died about ten times. He also beat my cousin. He said he worked there and came to the bowling lanes every day. He was very cute, except that he had to ask his Dad for a dollar several times, which sort of cramped his style. He also hit my cousin and I for quarters. Well, I guess when you're seven you don't really have that much disposable income.

On the way home, the fireworks started as my train was passing over the bridge. It lasted about a minute before the train went under the tunnel. It made a very nice ending to my very nice week-end.

It was nice having Deo around. I wish we could have gone to see a lot more places or just sat at the Met for a longer time. Deo is my shmartypants friend who, when we were 15, said that if the dorm burned down, he'd save his thesis. He works with crystals, which seems mystical, except that they're protein crystals, and therefore require a certain kind of genius.

It's 11 p.m., so I guess I'll watch Safe instead of Das Boot.

Riders on the right won't you help me

I was thinking maybe I could do such useful things as catch up on my movie backlog (films lent to me or rented that I need to watch for maximum turnover) or study for the GMAT that I might or might not take. Or maybe I can redesign my site or upload thousands of photos on flickr that I've still got on my camera. But no, I'd rather sit here and wander aimlessly through the internet.

In other news, Deo was in town for the week-end and we had a blast. Will post pictures, depending on procrastination levels tomorow.

In other other news, I will be posting posts with Beulah lyrics for titles for a significant amount of time.