here in San Francisco...

I ordered my new computer (!) almost three weeks ago, and I'm still waiting for it to arrive. I haven't had the patience to blog on my dial-up connection, but I was advised last night to stop being so lazy and post something already. So here I am...

In case you didn't know, I am now in San Francisco, where I will be for the next four years. Here are some weird things about my new apartment:

-There are mirrors everywhere. It's kind of uncomfortable to think about what the previous people who lived here did. I have already put up a curtain over the mirror that spans the entire 13-foot wall.

-There is a window in my shower that you can pretty much see through. People walking by my apartment can actually see the outline of the person showering (namely, me). Cary suggested last night that i put up a little shower curtain in front of the mirror, which I am going to try to get done today.

-Did I mention the mirrors?

-In the coat closet, the bar to hang clothes on is really close to the sliding door. What I mean by that is when I hang anything in the closet, I can't close the closet doors. Who designs a closet like that?

I'm sure that more weird things about my apartment will emerge as I live here longer. For now, I'll enjoy the view (on non-foggy days) of the GG Bridge:)

It's really hard to believe that school is going to start soon. It feels very unreal right now, but the butterflies in my stomach definitely feel real...

speedbump

Greetings from Portland! It's great to be back, but odd to be here without the guys. Man, it's beautiful here in the summer. The weather is perfect and all the colors are so bright. :)

Ethan and Sonya picked me up at the airport late last night. It was really wonderful to see them, even though I was somewhat delirious from the day of traveling. I've traveled a LOT this summer. From Portland to LA, LA to Denver (to Monument, CO), to Neward, to Oslo, all over Norway (including Alesund, Lom, Spiterstulen, and Voss, to name a few places), back to Newark, to Denver, to Monument, to San Francisco, to Connecticut, to New York, back to Connecticut, and now to Portland, and then in a couple of days to LA. Phew. I'm tired just writing all of that. It's been a fabulous summer, despite the rain that follows me EVERYWHERE (though not yet here in Portland). I got my pictures developed from Norway today and they really made me smile. I can't wait to see the photos that Timo took...

So, for all 6 or so of you who actually read this, I have a question: I'm going to keep a blog through medical school, and I want to name it well. Melvin Konnor already took the clever "Becoming a Doctor" title, so I'm forced to think of something else. Any ideas? Please?!

Chris -- can't wait to see you!

the olympics are neato

i was pleased to see a comment from Amy on my last entry. hi Amy! before you posted that, i was convinced that no one besides Cary, Greg, and Will ever looked at this!

this weekend was good, though it was sad to have those three guys gone...i was getting used to having them around. we ate some good food (yummy Sally's pizza, sandwiches from Booktrader, and delicious Italian at Pasta Cosi), kayaked on the Sound, watched movies, and slept to the sound of the ocean...not bad at all.

on saturday morning I went with David (my stepdad, for those of you who don't know) to buy my first set of medical insturments. i now have the tools to take your blood pressure, listen to your heart, look at the wax in your ears, shine a bright light in your eyes, bang your knees with a hammer, and stick a tuning fork near your ear. maybe one day i'll actually be able to use these tools instead of just thinking they are neat! going to the store to buy these insturments really made me feel closer to starting medical school. i'm so excited to take this next step, but the excitement is tempered by some nerves and some sadness about being away from the great life i had and shared with many of you in Portland. that's not to say anything bad about my amazing friends in the Bay Area -- i can't believe it's already time to come back to the bay, and i am really looking forward to the time we will have together.

if any of you have a diary from when you were 7 or 8, or even from when you were 9, 10, 11, or 12, i suggest you open it up and reread them. you might find your self laughing to tears, running to your parents to share something with them, or just reading the whole thing out loud to friends who can't stop laughing.

oh yeah -- the olympics are neato.

cafe nine

it's noon on thursday and cary, greg, and will are all sleeping after a great show last night at New Haven's Cafe Nine. a nice group of Ethan's friends showed up, and it was another H-W dominated crowd! the show was great, and the people were really nice...

not really much doing, as the day hasn't really started yet. I'm going to head to the post office soon to send Vanessa a package at her 8/16 mail stop. if you don't know vanessa, or even if you do, and you don't know what she's up to this summer, you should check out her website at www.bikethevote.org. she's pretty cool.

it's beautiful out, and i hope that today (as long as the rain stays away) involves some sort of swimming in the ocean or kayaking on the ocean.

does this count as the most boring blog entry ever?

ok, i'll start posting again

i got yelled at last night for not posting for so long. ok, i wasn't really yelled at. greg just stole my shoe. he didn't yell. he just didn't really accept any of my excuses for not writing anything on my blog in a really long time. i'm new at this. sorry.

where to start? well, as long as i already mentioned last night, i'll start there.

last night i went to The Tank to see At Dusk play their first NYC show...and it was awesome! as i told the guys last night, hearing them play made me finally feel like i have come home (even though i've been back for a couple of weeks already). they played a great set -- a good combo of old and new, and it was tight, sounded awesome, and made me smile a whole lot. it was great to see a bunch of people whom i haven't seen in a long time: shari, jennie, alex, steven, jamie, annie, ginny (cary, will, and greg, too), just to name a few.

so, working backwards a bit...

i spent a week in SF living with caroline, searching for an apartment, and getting to know Duner, caroline's puppy! i also had a wonderful time seeing erin, cameron, jamie, and brooke while i was there. i found an apartment, learned a little more about the city, and tried to recover from my summer.

and before that...

i spent the summer in norway, with my co-leader Timo and 13 teenagers from NYC, Maine, DC, and Chicago. phew. it was a tough summer, but really incredible. norway is gorgeous, and i highly recommend that you go visit it. but please bring good raingear. there is more water (and also more green) than i have seen anywhere else. except for the ocean. well, norway has lots of ocean. anyway...we kayaked through three fjords (our last fjord is a really famous one, for those of you interested. it's called geirangerfjorden and it's simply breathtaking. on our first day kayaking in that fjord, i stopped counting at 100 waterfalls), then we hiked Galdhopiggen, the highest peak in northern europe. we then backpacked for 6 long days, went whitewater rafting for a day, and then had a really challenging mountain biking adventure on the Rollerwegen, ending in Voss.

so, norway was great. the sun didn't set, i hardly slept, and i ate a lot of delicious chocolate and bread. yum.

thank you to those of you who wrote to me while i was away. reid wins the prize for sending me the girliest package (which was much appreciated). ethan wins for craziest letters.

no trolls hurt us, though we were afraid of the trolls who live in the waterfalls because there were waterfalls everywhere. but then again, trolls only come out at night, and we didn't have any night. what was i doing being afraid!?

so, as my feet and hands peel off (recovering from 24 days of being wet...ahhh, rain), i am attempting to set aside my "wilderness expedition trip leader" personae and move into, once again, student phase. there are certainly butterflies in my stomach, but i'm really excited about this next step...

goodnight from Branford, Connecticut!