• The seat was completely adjustable and there was also foot stool so that you could lie down if you wanted to
• There was a four course meal for dinner included smoked salmon ceviche
• The headphones they gave out blocked an incredible amount of the airplane noise

• Luckily this can be fixed by reinstalling GRUB using the Ubuntu Live CD.

• Glossy screens in office environments are dreadful.

• If you live in Chicago and you need to rent a car, you can probably save a boat load of money by getting it in Oak Park. Their Hertz is even within walking distance of Green line and Blue line stops.

• If you update your credit card’s address twice within 10 minutes and then immediately attempt to use it to buy a laptop, you will set off a fraud alert and the charge goes through.

I have to say that so far the drive is a lot less satisfying that driving up the East Coast through the Boswash where you can tick off states and major cities are fairly regular intervals.

The bad thing about the rental car is that I could not automatically play my iPod through the stereo. It does not have a tape player or an audio input jack. Radio is not cutting it. I heard Coldplay’s Viva la Vida at least four separate times while flipping through radio stations. I also heard a lot of Pearl Jam and Nirvana. The only interesting station I happened across on the entire trip was WBER.

So I just spent $30 at Target here on an FM transmitter with the hope that it will make tomorrow’s slightly longer drive more bearable. It was working pretty well on the drive back to the motel, but I am still skeptical.

The first day we settled in and walked to Ocean Beach and ate only half of an enormous “small” fries order at Hodad’s. The next day we spent the entire day at the San Diego Zoo was very worth the kind of pricey $24 admission.

Third day it was off to LA! Stopped at the Louis Kahn’s Salk Institute on the way.

January 10-12: Los Angeles. Went to Pasadena first, to James’ house. Checked out the Gamble House with him and his girlfriend Claire, followed by a delicious dinner cooked by his mom. His parents are very cool. Drove to Westwood to crash at Yvette’s apartment by UCLA.

Next day started out as a disaster. For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to go to Chinatown. We managed to get downtown and circle around the Walt Disney Concert Hall, but there was nowhere to park that didn’t cost $8. Didn’t seem worth it. Finally pulled over at a Burger King and plotted our escape to Venice Beach, where there was free public parking!

Made it back to Westwood before rush hour. Yvette gave us a tour of the UCLA campus and then we explored a bit on our own. Caught the end of her frisbee practice and got some good pizza.

On our last day in LA we got up and left early, first checking out the Getty Center but then getting away from the smog ASAP.

January 12-16: Santa Barbara
Mostly relaxing, enjoying the 70F weather and spending time with my family.

What is there to say? This Thanksgiving vacation I went to Renaissance Weekend along with Ma, Mummy, Martin and Matthew. Martin was invited and managed to bring the rest of us along. Papi was supposed to come but had a mild heart attack in Dresden about a week ago, so he stayed in Germany. The big bummer was that there were no really famous people there like Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer or Stephen Colbert who have attended past events. The closest it got was Dick Thornburgh, former Attorney General and Governor of Pennsylvania, and Bjarne Stroustup, designer of C++. Most participants were business people and consultants.

• Had tapas and walked through a cemetery
• biked along Lake Michigan
• walked through Oak Park during the Harry Potter Countdown to Midnight Book Release Festival
• attended a seminar at Chicago Green Tech
• drove to Goose Lake Prairie and got ambushed by tics and a bit sunburned
• window shopped in Chinatown with Stefan, purchased kung fu shoes, and ate a truly disgusting amount of dim sum
• enjoyed multiple delicious homemade meals

All in all, splenderific!

On Tuesday I went to New Haven with Peter to visit two Louis Kahn buildings. One was beautiful (Yale Center for British Art) and one was all right (Yale Art Gallery). We also checked out the Yale Art and Architecture Building designed by Paul Rudolph. It was probably the worst most oppressive building I have ever encountered. We also saw Peter Eisenman, who is apparently famous in the architecture world, sitting in his office which he possibly shares with Neumann, a Brown professor who is visiting Yale.

On Wednesday I went to the beach in Newport, RI with Katie. Yesterday I didn’t do much. Today I went to the Recycling Center with Peter and then a photo walk with Donald. Tonight is another Cobra concert.

I have not done enough work but I needed a break. Fresh start when I come back, I have told myself.

Right now I am at the public library in Marengo, IL while Peter has lunch with the furniture craftsman that he interned with last summer. Tomorrow we are going back to Providence.