This is my first picture. It kind of scares me.


I finally put the plastic in the windows. Look its crystal clear. Just in time for the nasty weather. It is snowing and windy now.


My mom's husband found this lamp for me at a flea market. The piggy is a lighter that shoots flames out of his nostrils.



My roommate



I made this the background on my phone. The plant hangs over into my bed so its sort of like I am one with it.



Oops almost forgot this one. Got this calendar for my roommates birthday. Its called Extraordinary Chickens. Yes it would have been a great gift for (e:mike), but he doesn't use calendars. You guys should see these chickens. I had no idea chickens could be so exotic. One of them looks like an Arctic chicken or something because of his downlike plumage.

I did it and went to get a new phone today. Screw you CRICKET, I'm free of your crap now.

My new phone is so cool. Best of all when my phone rings the ring doesn't make me want to slit my wrists. $10 after rebate.

Pics I can upload to the computer via text messaging. Here is a tester.




This means that all the times of thinking "oh I wish i had a camera so i could post this on estrip", i'll have one.
How fun!

I went with Verizon. The phone is superclear and amazing reception in my apt. What a relief. I went with a 450 min a month plan which i have decided isn't enough, so i'll have to upgrade to 900.

Here are a few jumbled photos of my travels on the grey hound and on a Boeing 757. I didn't feel like taking any other pics of my trip. Next time...













p.s I love the new file uploader.

This is just cause I need to bitch right now. Maybe I should take up stiching?

These stupid companies are at the point of making me want to blow something up. Oops are we allowed to say that? I was just kidding I swear. Please don't send homeland security after me.

There is nothing that gets me more aggravated than calling companies only to get caught up in a complicated system of push 1 for this, 2 for this, 3 for that.

HSBC has this new security key code I have to enter to do online banking. I forgot it twice. They only give you two opportunities to enter code and if they are incorrect they lock it forever until you call the 800# to have them unlock it. Once it is unlocked you have to reset everything and then call them back. They then ask you a million questions and keep you on the phone for like fifteen minutes with someone who doesn't speak english all that well.

Then I decide to pay my CRICKET bill two days early. Usually I don't remember until they send me a text message the day before it is due to remind me. I can't stand this government phone anymore. The service is horrible and I can't even have a converstation with my boyfriend without dropping the call or not being able to hear or some crap. I get only 30 minutes of roaming time a month which is almost nothing considering if you call and get someone's voicemail and hang up right away they charge you two minutes for. They also delete minutes everytime you text. So for $60/mo I pay for my aggravation.

To make things worse CRICKET has changed their payment policy. If you are one day late they charge you $15. If you are three, goodbye service. They use to allow extensions but now on top of crummy service they are unbearably rigid. You can't call and talk to someone about it because they force you to pay your bill before allowing you the luxury of talking with one of their phone bitches. I owe $30 in late payments now and I have decided to not give them any money at all. I'm getting a new phone. Does anyone have a plan that doesn't suck?

Had a surprise visit today from two of the girls I went to Cuba with. One of them just returned after another semester there. It was good to see them, because really I haven't made any effort to stay in contact with anyone. That is a problem of mine staying in contact with people. Anyways the semester at the University of Havana didn't go so well this time. There is so much that gets in the way there such as spying and paranoia to the extreme. It reminded me of why I wanted to leave while I was there.

They told me that it is now legal in Cuba to have a sex change. This means that the procedure is covered under their universal coverage. Contradictions like these are daily. We talked about the change that many Cubans are craving and we also thought of the chance of too much change. We all agreed that McDonald's presence in Cuba would be horrific. It is so hard for me to imagine, but the thought of the golden arches in Havana is painful. Of course eating at the state run Rapido is a nightmare in itself. There was nothing to be enjoyed at el Rapido except the ice cold Bucaneros. Actually could be considered worse than the school lunches they serve the unfortunate children here.

I guess I just still haven't figured out an answer to any of my questions that I had before this experience. Cuba must retain its independence from the US and from any other country really. It was a terrible mistake on the part of the Revolution to become so reliant on the Soviet Union. The suffering they endured during the "special period" is still remembered by people my age. Then they served a ball of rice with a piece of candy for school lunches.


Sugar is the unsweet tragedy of everything about Cuba since 1492.