cool site

Check out www.icecreamlandia.com for a cool site design and some pretty funny comics. Enjoy.

I love my new job...

    ...And would love it more if it was more than 2 hours a day. Currently in search of something more diverting, though not challenging, to add to my days. Starbucks, Borders, B&N. Hell, I'd go back to stocking shelves at Zany Brainy if they hadn't gone bankrupt...

    Teaching the kids is fun though. I taught "Energy Burst" this week and asked the kids to give me an example of a type of energy. One kid, a jedi in training obviously, answered: "The force". I had to write it on the board. Also cute was the constant mispronouncing of the term 'kinetic Energy'. "No little Timmy, KINETIC, not Connecticut..."

    No stories involving goats or strange things witnessed at the bazaar however. Somehow I'm envious of the people still in Kstan.

"I am not Joyful"

    I just got up from a well deserved nap. I spent the whole weekend in Vegas and was operating on only a few hours of sleep. It was a great trip, mostly because I got to visit Ailey, who I hadn't seen since she left Kyrgyzstan a few weeks before I did.

   I got in Friday night around 7 and had to kill some time (five hours!) until Ailey's plane arrived. She called to say that her flight was delayed and I actually didn't see her until 1:30 Saturday morning. I spent the interim drinking in the sports book and was pretty sloshed when she arrived. She flew in with her friend Denise and we stayed with another friend of hers, Adam, who lived just outside the city.

   Saturday we went and saw a Cirque du Soleil show and it was awesome. I had never really had an interest to see an artsy French circus, but I was blown away by the performance.

   Sunday we went to a free show at the Rio. Some ventriloquist guy who's audience consisted of mainly kids and senior citizens. He became a lot funnier as we downed the drinks we were forced to buy to make the show 'free'. Halfway through, he asked for a volunteer from the audience and Ailey and Denise happily volunteered me. I was brought up on stage and had to be the guy's dummy (shut up). He made me sing a song and afterwards shamelessly promoted the merchandise he gave me for being such a good sport. It was a good time though.

   Later Sunday night, we decided to go to a club in the Bellagio. Admittedly, I am not a club kind of guy and wasn't too pleased to be in a line with about twenty other guys. The bouncer noticed Ailey and Denise, though, and went to let all three of us in, until he noticed I wasn't wearing dress shoes. I had left my dress shoes at home, and as far as I know, they are still covered in dust from Kstan...So I couldn't get in and told the girls to go without me. I stormed off, pissed at the situation, and wandered around for an hour. I finally made my way to O'shea's, a crappy little casino that had cheap blackjack. An hour later I was up $300. Great night. The girls found me a few hours later. They liked the club but left early after some guy accidentally punched Denise and made her bit through her lip. Ouch.

   We took a cab back to Adams' and the cab driver got lost mostly by his deviating from our precise directions to take a proven shortcut that he knew because his nephew lived in that area. We finally told him to go our route and the meter read twice as much as it did the night before. Ailey and I sat in the back and bitched about the driver in Kyrgyz. "We will not pay him", "No problem. He will not get our money", and my favorite from Ailey: "I am not joyful". We paid the guy exactly what we paid the night before and after complaining for a while, he took the money and left.

   So, I had a great weekend and came home with the trip basically paid for by blackjack winnings. Not bad.

Jobs, Speeding Tickets and Praha

    Well my two (nearly three, God...) weeks of sitting on my ass watching movies and playing video games are finally at an end. I got a job. That's right. No more lazing around for me. I will now have two, maybe three, hours of actual work each day.

    I was hired today by Mad Science (insert maniacal laughter), a company that teaches after school programs dealing with fun science experiments. I get to wear a white lab coat play around with acid and stuff. Thing is, I have to come up with a cool science name. Some science word + Sean. While alliteration is probably preferred, I'm leaning towards...wait for it...Combust-sean. Clever huh? I doubt a cooler name could be created, but if you have any other ideas, feel free to leave a post...I also volunteered to teach the after school chess program, which is less cool, but pays better. I have no formal knowledge of chess. In fact I barely know the pieces (guy on horse, castle, little fella, pointy guy) but I'm sure I can wing it.

    In other news, I had a great time last weekend visiting Santa Barbara, my old college town. I learned that revisiting college has a unique ability to make you feel really old, but this feeling fades the more you drink. It was a great weekend despite the speeding ticket I received on the way up. 84 in a 65. And no proof of insurance or valid registration to boot. I'm sure traffic school will be a good time...

    Most importantly though, is my recent acceptance to a TEFL certification course in Prague. It runs from mid July to mid August and promises a teaching job upon completion of the course. I went to Prague last Summer and loved it and am really excited to be going back. The school provides an apartment and a few other amenities and comes pretty highly recommended. I'm not sure where I'll go from there. Japan is still top of the list, but I might stick around in Europe for a while. I can't wait.