i think the picture says it all.

we spent our last few hours in puerto rico [over]eating an amazing meal at Pamela's on Ocean Park Beach. sooooo good.

this dog seems to be a regular at Pamela's. He had the puppy-dog eyes and why-won't-you-give-me-a-table-scrap look down pat. I think his thickness proves his begging abilities; he was pretty much rectangularly shaped with four little legs splayed out from his body. The waiters spoke to him (i didn't understand the spanish) and gave him a water bowl at one point. And when they cleared our plates, he hedged his bets and waddled closer to another table that still had their food.

okay... i'm signed up to take my first architect's exam. a friend convinced me to schedule the same test so we could study together. i hadn't even started to prepare for it, but i guess a looming test date is the best incentive to start. so now i'm taking spare moments to read through a study guide. this stuff is pretty dry, so i sometimes end up falling asleep.

i was just thinking that i should probably just announce when i have successfully passed each exam, thereby avoiding any embarrassment should i fail them. oh, well. i can take it.

wish me luck!

once again, santa brought me almost everything on my christmas list. i guess the flat screen HDTV i asked for was too big for the chimney because i couldn't find it anywhere. i know it was a tough year, but i don't think high fuel costs should affect someone with flying reindeer.

But thanks everyone for your gifts. B+T, the meat tenderizer you gave me made it through airport security in my checked bag. Holly+Chris, the headphones kick, and i can't wait to peruse itunes to spend the GC. Mom, thanks for finding that gift you forgot to wrap. sorry dad i didn't love the shirt, but now YOU get to wear it! Anna, the pretzels rule. Marshalls, i can't wait to wear my homemade FruitbytheFoot stickers.

Thanks for a great stay in She-Vegas/Sure-Boredom/Sheboygan. It was above freezing probably the entire time, and that single hour of sunshine was a real treat. Thanks too for the extra five, six pounds from the constant eating and loads of christmas goodies around the house. i thought of you this morning at the gym.

i forgot to post this pic earlier. christina is singing me 'happy birthday" with my makeshift birthday cake; the cake is a pint of haagen-das, and the candle is a match stuck into the ice cream. by the time she was done singing (and prancing), the match was going out. c gasped to get my attention (i was taking this picture). i lowered the camera and saw the flame dying, so i lunged towards the flickering flame and at the same time blew out a quick puff of air. i got it just in time. then we died laughing.

The state education department of the university of the state of new york has informed me that i "have been found eligible" to take the 9 tests of the architect registration examination. i guess i'll be studying my way through most of 2007! yeah to me.

maybe i'm just tired, but i'm really not looking forward to this. it seemed like test taking was over for me a long time ago. and for these tests i really have to study to pass. however, i am hopeful that studying will help fil in all the gaps in my knowledge in the myriad aspects of architecture and the profession.

wish me luck. i need it.

I Hate T-Mobile 's Unfair Policies

My stolen phone saga continues. To review: When i realized a couple weeks ago that my phone had been stolen and called T-Mobile to freeze my account, the rep told me that the thief had already racked up $130 in international calls. Whoa! sucks, right? but it could have been worse.

I got my phone bill today, and it wasn't $130. My bill is for $590. I had a lengthy conversion with a customer service rep, and the superviser, Sam, and they insist they can't do anything for me. Actually, when i said that i can't afford to pay this, he offered to try and set up a payment plan for me. But not now. He wants to call me back closer to when my bill is due.

It is their policy that the customer is responsible for all calls, even if stolen, up until you call and freeze the account. Everyone i tell about this doesn't believe me, and once i convince them that it's true, are shocked and disgusted at the unfairness. this policy applies to you too! and there's nothing you can do about it.

i told the customer rep on the phone that it's disgusting that T-Mobile is profiting from my misfortune. my phone is essentially a credit card with which one can buy calls all over the world, surf the web for a fee, and buy all kinds of downloads (my thief bought $72 worth of ringtones.) But a credit card company would not make you pay for fraudulent charges. How can we make this true for cell phone companies too?

Thankgiving giving is next thursday! and the day after the official start to the christmas shopping season. So PLEASE let me know what you want for christmas. I really need help with ideas. This is assuming that 'you' are someone that i buy presents for.

If you need some ideas for me, i have racked my brain to think of some stuff i want. You can access the list by clicking the green link on the top right side of this page. Easy, right? I'll keep updating it as i think of additional things.

Christmas is in 38 days!

reasons that it's a good thing to have your phone stolen:

6. You get to spend days shopping around for a replacement phone: stores around town, online, ebay auctions. It's so exciting!
5. You get to reenter all your contacts... again.
4. You avoid all those pesky calls from friends and family.
3. You get to pay full cost for an overpriced cell phone that will probably break as soon as you drop it.
2. You get to help out a bunch of strangers with their international calls to Colombia, Venzuela, Panama, etc.
1. You have two chargers; one each for work and home.

so... some people just suck. like my neighbor who plays his music so loud that it was making it hard to hear our tv earlier this evening. or the person who swiped my cell phone and racked up a fortune in international phone calls. or the telephone company that is going to try and make me pay for it all. Jesus wants me to love these people, but it's hard enough to just not hate them.

now, do i fork out the cash to get the fancy phone again? (say yes.) either way i have to pay for a phone, full price, without the incentives you get when you sign up for a new plan. why not pay a tad more for the good phone? it's hard to go back once oyu have the good stuff. since i just started my plan, i can't get a discount from the store... yet. they thought if i would wait a month i could get a discount. but the discount price is basically what the phone is going for on ebay. crap i forgot to bid on the phone! two good auctions just ended 10 minutes ago.

whatever, i'll put it off again for another day.

Here's a great distraction for y'all. Go to www.jacksonpollock.org and create art just like the master painter/dripper/splasher.... move your mouse around on the blank screen, click to change colors.

here's my creation!

have fun.

mac or pc? everyone has an opinion, and frankly, i'm sick of the whole conversation. but i bring it up because i have a solution: both. i don't mean that both are better, i mean get both!

we got new imacs at work last week (mac). but we use a program called parallels to allow us to run windows xp(pc) in side a mac window. so we use mac for everything except pc-only programs, autocad in our case. and i love it!

there are a few quirks though. for instance, my number pad keys won't work in windows, and right now i can't delete anything in windows. that could be a problem pretty soon, but for now i just put all my trash in a single folder until i figure out the problem. perhaps it's just a faulty windows installation problem. anyway, it tells me that the path to the recycle bin is not valid or something.

all this to say that i played with the built in web camera and photo booth program to make these pics. they have built-in effects that are pretty fun to play with when you just need a break from it all.

my bosses curated an art exhibition for their friend that opens tonight. Christopher Adams makes these amazing sculptures that are unlike anything i've ever seen; you can't stop staring at them! They are reminicent of something biological, although neither plant or animal similarities really explain it. Some are beautiful while others are scary or squirmy. Different pieces cause different reactons depending on the person. Also, they really look best in groupings, whether thematical or seemingly random. That's just a tip in case you end up buying some. The show is at the Ricco Maresca Gallery, 529 W 20th Street, 3rd floor. click HERE for a sneak peak; I took some pictures while they were finishing the installation.

being low in the money category, i've been really good this year about not shopping and buying clothes and other stuff. but my phone is 3 years old and lacks lots o' technology, and my shoddy black shoes have cracked soles that let the water in, so i got these beauties shown here: nice, right?

the phone was basically free, but not quite; that's after rebate and not including some made up setup fee. i wanted to upgrade to the black model with a 3Mp camera, but i promised myself that i wasn't going to spend money for a fancier phone. but this one is great. i love the slide!

the shoes came from the puma store. i got fed up with shoe shopping for something i liked and could still wear to church (choir dress code). i decided to give up on the wear-anywhere shoe and just keep a pair of dress shoes at church, and buy what i wanted for work and play. these shoes are finally a break from my last 3 pairs that all looked the same.

now i just need... (it never ends, right?)

I went this morning to meet a friend because i'm helping with his house addition project. I needed to go over some concerns of mine and try once again to pry closely guarded details from him. But we didn't really talk much about the house because i met him first at his friend's bike shop where i saw this beautiful bike.

This bike is his gift to me for my help so far, and i'm sure as an incentive to work faster on the project. It's a Trek full-suspension mountain bike just loaded with carbon fiber (seat post, entire rear suspension frame, handle bars, even brake levers!). My favorite feature is the grip-mounted lever that allows you to "open" and "close" the front and rear suspension on the fly. So cool!

We tinkered with the bike at the shop, i picked out some shoes for the clip-on pedals, took some test rides down the street, talked a little about the house, and then drove to a bike trail to break in the new bike. I was laughing the whole ride because it was so much fun; the difference from my old bike with no suspension to this is quite extreme. You should be jealous now.

Success! after a lot of phone calls, faxes, stress, early mornings, long lines, and patient waiting for mail, i've managed to register my car in new york. why does doing the right thing have to be so hard and expensive? the shady way was so easy... but no regrets.

my next task is to alter a fence. my car needs to get past it so i'll have a place to park when i'm not driving. once i come up with a plan of action, i'll get to pull out my toolsand do some sawing and drilling and screw.... we'll see how that goes. i have more experience telling other people how to build than actually doing it myself. but i'm confident.

my house mates are out of town for 10 days. you know what that means! wait, i don't want to know what you were thinking. but i'm sure i'll miss them by the time they return.

if you're looking for me tomorrow, i'll be at the beach.