Three dates?

After three dates... and what? A month and a half between the second and third dates... Alejandro finally kissed me. We kissed so much. He's so precious. I hope I get to keep him for a little while.

Maybe he'll be my midnight New Year's kiss...

Alcohol problem?

Tonight, I went to a bar with Cyril and Amanda. We went to my favorite bartender there and as soon as he sees me, he turns around and grabs something behind him. Turns out, he had a Christmas card for me. When your bartender writes you a Christmas card, does that mean you have a drinking problem? ;)

Anyway, it was super sweet and it made me blush. ;)

Barcelona!

On some days, I feel like I am the luckiest boy.

I have been looking for places to stay in Catalonia with friends on the Internet and stuff like that so that I wouldn't have to pay rent. Well, since I decided that I wanted to stay there for three months, it's been kind of difficult to find enough places to stay because obviously I don't want to wear out my welcome. Two weeks here, three weeks there, two weeks there... hmm... I still need two and a half more months worth of rooms!

Well, I found out that my friend Eugeni and his girlfriend Gemma have an extra room in their apartment and coincidentally are looking for a roommate for the summer. Well, not bad. They pay 600 euros a month and want to split it three ways with a roommate. 200 euros a month is really cheap for a room around there, and since I would be paying, I wouldn't have to worry about outstaying my welcome.

But well, they don't live in Barcelona. They live in a city just outside of Barcelona called Sabadell. Kind of like Pearland is to Houston. It would take me about almost an hour to arrive in downtown Barcelona from their apartment including the walk to the train station and the wait and then the actual ride, it seems. Well, okay... I'm already used to commuting for about 30 or 35 minutes every day to get to wherever I need to go in Houston. No biggie. It seems like that was going to be the plan, then.

Well, today, I was telling my friend Ivan about it. Ivan is my friend from Barcelona who has lived here in Houston for several years.

"When are you going?" he asked.

"In the middle of May until the middle of August," I reply.

"Well, I'm moving back to Barcelona in February. Why don't you just stay in my apartment all summer? I have three empty rooms. You don't have to pay rent, but you can help me pay for food if you want. My apartment there is right in the heart of Barcelona in the highest part of the city."

"Sold!"

Holy shit. This is better than I imagined it could be. And that's 600 euros I'll be saving... which is like... $750. $750 I can spend on partying and travelling around Catalonia.

It's all working out perfectly. Gosh. Let's hope everything continues this way. :)

At peace?

I dreamt about Cláudio last night. In the dream, I was visiting old friends in Brazil and one day while wandering about the city, I ran into Cláudio. I saw him and we made eye contact. I tried to turn the other way because a flood of old feelings that I had been trying to forget began to pour down upon me. But he approached me and found me anyway. He looked at me with those same beautiful eyes that I will never forget and I told him that I miss him. He put his arms around me and he kissed me. I returned the embrace and the kiss. I can't say no to his lips. The whole world around us -- all the cars, all the people walking by -- disappeared and I believed that everything was going to turn out all right. I didn't have to worry anymore.

Then I woke up and cried a little until I fell asleep again.

Thanksgiving update!

Hey everyone. I suppose it's time for me make an update. It's been a while. Several weeks have gone by without a word from me.. even some of my friends are sending me e-mails wondering if I'm still alive. :P

Well, I'm alive and doing very well, thank you.

What all has happened since my last updates? Well, nothing too interesting. Just the typical boy drama. I'm horny as all hell and still no boyfriend or special friend to help me out with that. Dry spells suck hardcore. Oh well.

My job is going well. I have paid off all my credit card debt as of yesterday. What a good feeling. Now all money I make can go towards the trip I am planning to Catalonia. I'm hoping to spend the summer there. I have a friend named Eugeni who lives in a city 20 minutes from Barcelona called Sabadell. He told me that I can just stay with him and his girlfriend, so that's exciting. No paying for hotels is always exciting. I also have a friend, Vicent, who lives in Ibiza who wants me to stay with him and his family. So... I know I have two places in Catalonia where I can stay for sure. There are a couple of other cute boys I've met too in other cities like Barcelona and Sitges who have made me offers, but I'm not sure if they just want the company or expect sex... not sure if the latter would be such a bad thing anyway. ;)

Dana, my former French student, is living in an apartment all alone in Paris, so I'm probably going to go visit her for a week or so... I can't wait to go party in Paris. And my friend Gérald who lives near Lyon wants me to go and spend time with him... I can't wait. I miss him so much. So I'm sure that France is going to be one of my destinations while I'm in Europe.

Then, of course, there is Fabiano... one of my former lovers from my days in Brazil. As it turns out, he's moving to Lisbon (that's in Portugal, just in case you didn't know. Hehehe) in January... and he's really pressuring me to go visit him. And of course, I've been dying to go to Portugal... so... I guess that's on my list too. ;)

And lastly... two more things. My baby snake Richard has finally passed away. I suppose from old age. I took good care of him... so it was either that or who knows... whatever. I was kind of sad... but I got over it.

A week later, since I was feeling so down about so many things, I decided I need something to show my love to... so I adopted a baby girl. Her name is Daphne Ethel-Camille DuRapau. I made a video of her eating for you guys to see. She's so beautiful. Truly, I am in love. If you meet her, you will fall in love with her too.



It's she lovely? Sometime, I'll post some nice photos of her. She has beautiful honey-coloured eyes and little spikes on her eyelids that look kind of like eye lashes. Love. She's a bearded dragon, in case you are wondering. And she loves to be held, licking things, eating crickets, eating fruits and vegetables, eating mealworms, eating anything really, bobbing her head, and waving at people passing by.

So that's that. :)

Kisses,
Charles

My mother

I just felt like sharing with the world a photo of me and my mom. Isn't she beautiful?



And some other random photos of me, my mom, Amanda and my niece Kaiya...

New Camera!

So I bought a new camera on Thursday night. It's love; it's pure love.

Kenny suggested that he come over and paint my face with some clown make-up he had lying around and that we should take some photos. So we did. And some videos. Here's Kenny painting my face and being shy on camera:


Yeah, we're total geeks, I know. In any case, here's some of what the final product looked like:



Well, we tried our best.

So later, we headed out to the bars and had a few drinks... well, a few too many, that is. Then we tried to play pool at 611, a bit drunk. Actually, I think all the drunkenness suddenly hit me the moment I decided to try to hit the ball and break.



"Oh god, I think I'm drunk!"

A little later, Amanda joined up with us and met Kenny for the first time. That was nice to see my friends bond. I caught on video a moment of bonding between them as they discussed how R&B is good for grinding on the dance floor. "Mmmm!" I like drunken conversation.



We got to the point that we decided that we had drunk enough... and just then Amanda's charm earned us each an extra shot and an extra free cosmopolitan. We were so gone by the time we got to Southbeach shortly after. I caught Amanda and Kenny dancing a little bit and declaring how cute they are together in the drunken way that we do. Notice how after Amanda stops laughing, that her face gets so serious and she does her "blue steel" pose to dance.



Is it just me, or did Amanda sound kind of like a chicken when she shouted, "We're so cute!"

Anyway, as it usually happens, the alcohol made us lose our better judgement, but it made for a pretty video.



Boys kissing are hot. Drunkenly kissing Kenny was pretty hot.

Anyway, so Amanda decided to go home and Kenny and I walked back towards my car. Kenny got the bright idea to lay in the back of some stranger's pick-up truck parked on one of the streets in the gayborhood.



He invited me in, and of course I couldn't resist. We lay there for a while and stared up at the sky and the beautiful tree above us. Kenny decided to take some pictures of the tree... and then he started taking photos of us in the stranger's truck...



I have to say, although we were violating some unknowing stranger's truck, it was quite hot. I told you we lost our judgement.

Speaking of lost judgement, Kenny decided that the tree was so pretty that he wanted to climb it. So he did.



He ended up getting a few scratches on his arm:



But he kept on going and eventually got up higher and even took his shirt off... man, he was hot. He looked like a savage jungle man up in the tree. Yum.



Anyway, we finally made it home and passed out. We slept like babies.

Good times.

I'm over it!

So Cláudio informed me in a recent e-mail of his that he is dating someone new now. Well... I'm happy for him. He's so wonderful that I'm glad he doesn't have to be lonely. But a big part of me wishes he weren't over me and that part of him were suffering because we're so far apart. I guess I'm just selfish. Oh well. At least I have several other foreign boys I can obsess over. Alexandre, Fabiano, Camillo, Gérald... the list goes on.

Speaking of which, there is a straight guy that I know who lives in Catalonia. He's a super cool guy and we met online to do a language exchange. I help him with English and he helps me with Catalan. He's been in a relationship for a while with a girl that he's quite fond of and just recently they moved in together.

I think he has a crush on me. Well, I'm pretty sure. He recently confessed to me that he thinks he is bisexual. And the way our conversations go... and we get along too well. And I know we miss one another when we don't get to talk often. Too bad he's not closer and well... gayer. I think we'd make a nice couple. Not to mention that he's handsome too. Tall, athletic, dark hair, green eyes... intelligent, fun, open-minded, sweet. What else could I want? If I thought I had a chance with him, I can see myself really being crazy for him.

Monday night drunk

So Monday night, Kenny and I had planned on having dinner together. We went to Mak Chins or... well, I think that is the name of the place. It's a really cool Pan-Asian restaurant with a bar kind of ambiance. A good friend of mine for many years, Tony, happens to be the manager of the restaurant. Bad equation. The product of it all turned out to be lots of free drinks from the bar with a really messed up Kenny and Charles.

But wait, let's take a step back. For those of you who don't remember, Kenny is the only guy whom I might consider to have been a boyfriend. It only lasted about 5 and a half weeks, so I don't know if it counts. We were official, though. So I guess that makes him my ex-boyfriend. In any case, we stopped talking for about three years and just recently we have been talking again -- as friends.

Anyhow, Kenny has been stirring up some old feelings in me. As you guys know from my needy personality, I never really stop liking a guy once I really begin to like him. And Kenny never truly wronged me, he just broke up with me for reasons that I found to be very silly at the time (which I understand now) and really neither of us knew any better. So I was never able to hate him and just forget him.

Monday night, after getting totally fucked up and the restaurant closed, Tony suggested we go to EJ's since they had $1 vodka drinks. Well, I've always been afraid to go to EJ's, but I couldn't resist the $1 vodka drinks. So we went.

At some point Kenny needed me to cock-block when some scary guy was flirting with him. So we told him that I am Kenny's boyfriend... and Kenny kissed me. Yuck. Yuck. Yuck. Stupid emotions. Stupid being so needy.

The next day, I told Tony that Kenny had been behaving ambiguously with me and was making me have funny thoughts. Tony of course, with his big mouth, blabbed to Kenny that he needed to call me and clear things up. Shortly after talking to Tony, Kenny called explaining to me that Tony had just called him. He then proceeded to explain to me that although he loves me as a friend, it's not going to go any farther than that. He also added that he hopes he can still be flirty with me. Audacious. Oh well. We'll be friends. Great friends, I'm sure.

At least this story is over quickly and everything was brought out into the open before I even had the chance to suffer. I wish that had happened with Leo.

And enjoy the old photo of me, Tony, and Kenny. It's from several years ago when Kenny and I were boyfriends and I had long hair. And another photo of Kenny looking really drunk with Tony.

Recent Nights Out

Shilpa and Leo when we went to eat at Chili's. Leo is addicted to margaritas, as you can see. :)



Me, Ingrid and Amanda at the Taqueria del Sol while Ingrid was in Houston visiting Edward (now her fiancé!).



Me, Amanda and Ingrid at some straight bar on Ingrid's last night in Houston. Later, we went to Southbeach and partied like crazy.



Me and Amanda... looking cute like usual.

Catch up and ugly ducks!

So... what has happened lately? During the holiday weekend I got not just drunk, but messed up three times within four nights. Bad Charles. I went on a really bad date and made a boy cry because he wasn't really my type. How come I finally go on a date with someone who finds me really attractive and charming, but he's crazy? Stupid world.

Anyway, Leo was travelling and away for the weekend in Chicago, so I had a chance to get away from him. And when he came back, I had decided that I was going to distance myself from him as I had previously mentioned. It lasted an entire couple hours. I couldn't do it. I gave in and visited him on Tuesday.. and I have slept there the past two nights. I know -- I'm weak.

Monday, Dustin and I had a picnic at Herman park and I took some pictures of some really ugly ducks. I even found a bunch of those ugly ducks wallowing in a puddle of mud right next to a lovely pond. They actually chose the mud puddle over the pond. Ugly ducks, ugly habits.



And here is a close-up of one of the ugly ducks along with another photo of the ugly ducks sitting in a fountain thing.

New Blogs.

Okay, so I made three new blogs. Since some people used to complain about when I'd not post in English, I kind of stopped posting in other languages... but I miss it. So I created a blog for my entries in French, one for entries in Portuguese and one for Catalan which I have just begun to study.

For those of you who are interested in reading my thoughts in another language or for those of you who have difficulties with English and would prefer to read about my crazy life in those languages rather than in English, feel free to bookmark my new blogs and comment on entries there and all that. :)

Here are the links to the new blogs:

My Blog in French
My Blog in Portuguese
My Blog in Catalan

Una nit sense en Leo

This is the first day in a week and a half that I didn't go see Leo. I was getting too attached.

I opted to stay home this time instead of rushing over when he called asking for my company. Honestly, I don't know how to feel. I guess part of me is sad because I miss him (not to mention that I was really enjoying sleeping in the same bed as someone else several nights in a row), but part of me is relieved. I'm so bi-polar.

He's another guy who makes me feel deficient. I think I'm going to distance myself from him. I know he loves me, but I still just feel bad about myself around him and I shouldn't surround myself with people who make me feel like that.

New semester!

So it's Monday. I've survived my first week back at school for the semester. I love my classes and professors. I'm making some cool new friends. And most noteworthy, I've seen Leo every day for eight days straight. And three nights, I spent the night with him here. We're not having sex, no kissing, nothing... we're still just behaving like friends. I'd like to see more than that happening, but I don't want to push it and scare him away. I think I'm getting attached. I'm crazy about him, but I don't think it's a feeling that we both share... but I know he adores me -- if not as more than a friend, I know that he loves me and considers me to be someone very special to him. Maybe with time things will change. We'll see.

So right now, I'm in Leo's dorm room (or "our place" as Leo and I call it). I spent the night here with him again last night after a night out with Dustin. Leo has left and taken off to class and forbidden me to leave so we can hang out afterwards. I'm glad. This reassures me that it's not just me forcing myself on him and possibly being that guy who just keeps inviting himself over.

Last night, for reasons I won't go into right now, I saw Leo get emotional. He weeped in my arms. I saw him in a very vulnerable state. It broke my heart to see him hurting so much, and yet in those moments, he was more beautiful to me than he has ever been.

In any case, here's a kind of old photo of me (on the right), Leo (directly to my left), some guy, and Amanda.

Snow White y El Tao Tao

Oh man, this made me giggle.

Oblivious boys!

I know that I often seem like I am in love with a new boy like every week and then I complain about how frustrated he's made me...

Well, it's been a little while since that happened, so time to get back into the cycle. ;)

But I won't give too many details this time. I'll just say that boys are so oblivious. They have no idea what's going on. I'm crazy about him... I have been since I met him a year ago. I guess I'll just grow a pair and tell him how I feel. I'm just such a pansy when it comes to boys and telling them how I feel and being direct. I wish he would just see it in my eyes, understand, and kiss me...

Stop dreaming...

Fundies!

Here is a link to a fun post in a random blog.

Top Ten Signs You're a Fundamentalist Christian

Click it! I dare you!

City matches!

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Your personality type is SCUEI

You are social, calm, unstructured, moderately egocentric, and intellectual, and may prefer a city which matches those traits.

The largest representation of your personality type can be found in the these U.S. cities: Washington D.C., St. Louis, Albuquerque/Santa Fe, Salt Lake City, W. Palm Beach, Tampa/St. Petersburg, Raleigh/Durham, Denver, Seattle/Tacoma, Minneapolis and these international countries/regions Slovenia, Israel, Czech Republic, Russia, Netherlands, Denmark, Argentina, Argentina, Ukraine, Romania, Norway, Croatia, Hungary, Turkey, Sweden

What Places In The World Match Your Personality?
City Reviews at CityCulture.org

The Medium

So the opera "Medium" was last night. To those of you who didn't go, it was really quite good. Very modern 20th century type opera. And also the fabulous company who showed up made it even better. Patty, her daughter, Stacy, Brett, Carlos, Grady, Leo and Sergio. Some of my favourite people.

After the opera, we went to JR's and Southbeach, all except Patty, her daughter, and Grady. We danced a lot and Leo and I flirted all night... it was good. I wish Leo were interested in me. He's not into chubby guys. It really sucks. I think we'd be great together -- everything else fits perfectly. I can definitely tell that he adores me. Well, the fact that he tells me so kind of gives it away. But he's one of those few guys that I can go hang out with and we'll talk and talk and talk and never be able to say goodbye because we don't want to end the dialogue. I guess I'm kind of infatuated with him. Anywhere, here is a little blurry photo of me, Amanda and Leo. It's from a few months ago and it's not a very flattering photo for any of us... and it doesn't help that Leo always makes goofy faces for photos.

Did I mention that Leo is from Argentina? And he speaks really pretty Spanish? Yeah...

Last night I also saw Tiago Brandão (AKA Tiago Whore). I called him out on his being selfish and always using people and he got a little impatient. Oh well.

Diet status.

Well, I haven't been very good since I last posted about my weight-loss progress. I've cheated on my diet a few times and I haven't exercised as often as I planned, but nevertheless, I did manage to make at least a little progress since then. Looks like about 2.2 pounds less than the last post. Gotta keep going!


Any my new rule for myself: Alcohol only once a month... unless it's a really special occasion!

Last week, I lost three whole pounds while dieting. And then during the weekend, I cheated a little and partied all Saturday and drank way too much. Come Monday, turns out I gained two pounds back. Not worth it at all. Alcohol and deliciously unhealthy food will be there in a few months when I'm a skinny bitch.

Brokebat Mountain

That's really how I feel sometimes about a certain someone. Maybe more than just one certain someone. I wish I knew how to quit him.

V For Vendetta

So, I saw V For Vendetta tonight with Stacy, Olga, Steven, Rosie, and Jason... what a great movie. And so relevant to us, I think.

Perhaps even a scary forshadowing of our future...

Pretty.

Where the hell is Matt?

Whoa! Now this is fun. A guy named Matt has been traveling all over the world and making a video of himself dancing many of the world's most beautiful places. Take a look. Good stuff. :)

Amor e ódio.

Não consigo entender como é possível que eu possa amar tanto alguém e odiá-lo ao mesmo tempo.

Bom, com certeza eu não o odeio. Odeio o fato que ele me faz sentir tão fraco. Eu deveria poder controlar melhor o que eu sinto, mas não dá enquanto eu sei que ele está ainda no mundo e que talvez um dia eu possa vê-lo novamente. E bem sei que ele não se interessa mais em mim, mas não consigo esquecê-lo. Faz um ano que eu não o vejo, mas ainda penso nele e ainda espero que estejamos juntos um dia.

Pensei que eu tivesse superado, mas hoje, acho que não.

Body Worlds

On Saturday, after having slept only three hours the night before after going out and being stood up by a date (boys suck), I went to see the Body Worlds 3 exhibit at the Houston Museum of Natural Science with my family. Amazing. That's all I can say. Simply amazing.

I highly recommend that all of you go and see it if you can. It was very fun and educational.

After that, my father took us to eat at Mely's in Pearland. I had the "Pollo Macarena". It was delicious... it was kind of like pollo poblano but the sauce was kind of different. It totally gave me a foodgasm.

Then, I went to a Brazilian party with Adriana, then we went to another party with all her co-workers in Pearland, then lastly a final party with the ones who wanted to get kind of wild and we drank and danced and had a great time. And then the two of us passed out on a stranger's bed with a boy whose name I can't remember.

At 8:00am after having slept probably only four hours, Adriana woke me up and got me to take her home... it's really difficult to drive while you're asleep, just to let you know. ;) I went home and slept the entire day and finally woke up at 7:00pm. I suppose I caught up on all the sleep from the past two days that I had missed. I feel much better now, though. ;)

Ah... oh... Kenny just called and is inviting me to go visit him at a bar called 611 that I've never been to. I can never say no to him... who do I ever say no to anyway? Oh well, here I go to make myself presentable and then I'm off!

Have a good night, my lovelies.

So wrong.

Bunny!

Bandtastic!

So last night, in one of my dreams, I was in a parking lot sitting in my car, plugging my iPod in so I could jam out as I drove away, when suddenly someone opened the back window of my car (which actually doesn't have an openable back window) and I saw before me three tall, somewhat aged, gay men. One of whom was Mr. Grice, my former band director from high school.

One of his friends saw one of those little CD flip-case things (those things that hold likes 20 or so CDs) in my car and reached in and grabbed it and looked like he was going to walk away with it. And so I snatched it back out of his hand and was like, "What are you doing, crazy?" To which he replied that he really loved my CD case which had an emblem of the Pride of Pearland Band on it and he wanted it so badly for his daughter. And then, like such an asshole, I responded, "Well, if she ever learns to play like I did, the bitch can get her own!" and I drove away, but not without hearing the other little gay man start laughing as if to encourage me. I think that one might have been Mr. Luster, the guy who taught clarinet to the middle school beginners and who happened to be an incredible clarinetist and a genius... and the first big flaming homosexual I ever met and befriended. Oh well, I can't remember. The dream is fading.

Jogging.

I like jogging. It's a habit I had about two years ago and then it suddenly stopped. Just lately I am beginning to try to do it regularly again. So my sister and I have been jogging every day for about a week now. I had forgotten how accomplished it makes me feel.

I can't wait until I'm one of those skinny bitches that I hate. Those'll be good times.

And to all those skinny bitches out there, I don't really hate you. I actually kind of like some of you.

Job!

So more good news! I'm basically hired for that cool project studying reading skills and techniques for teaching literacy. So I'm content. I have training next week and work starts pretty much when all the little junior high school and stuff start up.

That's exciting. I won't be as poor as before. And maybe I can start saving up money for a little trip. Can't decide. It's either a trip to France with a few days in Portugal, or a trip to Brazil. I don't know yet. There is also still the possibility of my going to Guadalajara, Mexico in December with Valentina and Amanda since Valentina has a house there! That'll be awesome!

Anyway, just because it is cute, here is a photo from a while back of me, Valentina and Amanda licking a wooden spoon covered with chocolate cake batter. Mmmm... guilty pleasures!

Evil dogs!

I had an awful, long and draw-out dream last night. I dreamt that Amanda never came home from Brazil because she was attacked and killed by a big mean dog. It was horrible. I cried so much. And I went to visit her family and I couldn't bare it. In the dream, Amanda had an identical twin sister who tried to comfort me, but she reminded me too much of Amanda and it broke my heart.

It's been a long time since I've been so happy to wake up from a dream.

On a more exciting note, I have an interview for a job this afternoon that I'm very excited about. Well, my friend Brett who has been hired there basically guaranteed me the position. Although I can't believe that, I think it means I can be optimistic. Here is a snippet of the job description:

The Texas Center for Learning Disabilities is interested in hiring 20 data collectors for the fall 2006. Individuals will conduct assessments of adolescent language, literacy, cognition, and mathematics, complete assessment records, verify accuracy of assessment data, and assist in the scheduling of students for assessments.

Anyway, it seems like it should be super cool. Firstly, they are looking for part-time positions for only like 20 hours a week. Secondly, they are very flexible with hours and told me that my being a student will not be a problem at all. They'll just work around my classes. Thirdly, it's related to education and linguistics. And lastly, they will pay me hourly more than twice what I made when I worked at Foley's.

So yeah, I'm pretty excited. :)

United Statesians?

We really need a word for "American" that is more specific. I mean, technically, American can refer to anyone born on the continent of America... Canadians, Mexicans, all the people from Central and South America, et caetera.

I mean, in Spanish, for example, the word "americano" refers to anyone in North or South America. The word to refer to citizens of the United States of America is "estadounidense" coming from the name of our country in Spanish -- "Los Estados Unidos". Spanish speakers, in fact, often think that we are very egocentric because we call ourselves "Americans" and we often call our country "America" as if to say that we're all that matter on the continent of America.

Of course, the truth is, that they simple don't understand that "American" and "americano" are not synonyms. In modern English, "American" only refers to the citizens of the USA. And anyone who speaks English uses the word "American" to describe us, including all the many other English speaking countries. If we need to be broader than that, we can say "North American" which includes the Canadians and Mexicans... or "South American" even. So if we think we're all that matter on this continent, I suppose that means that England, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and so on all agree that we are all that matter. :P

Anyway, I'm tired of being lectured by Spanish speakers... and a few Brazilians. Especially ironic that the Brazilians try to lecture me on that. Especially since in Portuguese, they HAVE a word that refers specifically to us Americans -- "Estadunidense" -- but NO ONE uses it! They always choose to use the word "americano". Really kind of strange to me.

Amanda!

I miss my Amanda.

She was my really good friend that I met through the YMCA BIP program last year. And during the training process, we became really great friends. Now she's been in Brazil for almost three months and I don't have my sidekick anymore!

But... she'll be back soon. In like two weeks. I can't wait to see her again. And Valentina too. We had such good times. ;)

So anyway, here's a photo of us drunk.

Butt pirates.

Here's a cute photo of a flag that Dustin sent to me. I wanted to share.



Yes, that does say: "Surrender the Booty"

Some Facts About Charles

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Charles!

1. In a pinch, the skin from a shark can be used as Charles.
2. Charles is the only bird that can swim but not fly.
3. Some hotels in Las Vegas have Charles floating in their swimming pools!
4. Charles can fly at an average speed of fifteen kilometres an hour.
5. The first domain name ever registered was Charles.com.
6. Never store Charles at room temperature.
7. Charles can smell some things up to six miles away.
8. There are 336 dimples on Charles.
9. The International Space Station weighs about 500 tons and is the same size as Charles.
10. The porpoise is second to Charles as the most intelligent animal on the planet.

I am interested in - do tell me aboutherhimitthem

Opera.

There is going to be an event at the Artery in like two weeks. Who wants to go with me? Looks like fun. Contact me if you're interested. Here's a copy & paste of the details:

FRIDAY August 11 8:00pm no charge

Gian Carlo Menotti’s THE MEDIUM, an English opera in two acts.

Menotti’s music tells the tale of Madame Flora, a fraudulent medium who deceives bereaved clients by pretending to commune with the dead. Her sixteen-year old daughter and an orphaned gypsy assist in her ruse, until a fateful encounter brings to light questions of sanity and the supernatural.

Let me know! :)

Bonjour America!

For those of you who enjoy podcasts, I found a very entertaining one just recently.

It called "Bonjour America". Here is the description from the Podcast itself:

Cyrille de Lasteyrie, aka Vinvin, is a famous French blogger. In his English speaking video show Bonjour America, Vinvin wants to have fun and entertain all American guys... and to meet Clint Eastwood!

He's quite adorable. Check it out.

Two headed snakes.

So I had a dream last night about my pet snake Richard (AKA Dick). But something was different about him. He had two heads! One on each end!

I was holding him in my hand like I do and in the other hand I was going to drop something for him to eat. A baby mouse, of course, just like usual. But as I began to drop his meal, I felt that it was slimy and gross in my hand. I looked at what had fallen out of my hand and it was a leech! Richard struck at it and devoured it with one of his two heads, somehow managing to fit this very large leech into his tiny head.

I woke up around that point. Who is this leech? Why did Richard have two heads? Why was I feeding him by hand? Hehehe. All very strange.

Ideas?

Losing weight!

So, as I posted already, I've miraculously lost around 11 pounds in five days.

I'm going to periodically keep you guys updated so you can cheer me on. Thanks to this cute little ticker I've found, it's all visual and pretty. :)




So as you see, my goal for now is 150 pounds. I wonder what I'll look like at that weight? Well, we'll see. I'm so short that I should probably shoot for lower than that, but I'll figure it out when I get there.

Who wants to jog with me?

First Post

Here we go.

As I've fallen under the spell of Google and its products, I'll now be migrating my blog over here.

I hope this works out.