Terrarium Update

It's been a little over a week since I installed my terrarium, and there have been many exciting additions to the environment which I'd like to share with you, gentle readers...

First of all, I felt like my tree frog was having a boring time at ground level, so I purchased a fake vine and some fake leaves. He (or she) seems to enjoy them, and he loves to sleep at the top of the tank amongst the leaves. The other day when I fed him some crickets, he was perched about halfway up the vine - them he leapt down to the ground, landing with his mouth squarely on top of the unsuspecting morsel. It was awesome.

I also bought a light, for warming the space, as although the weather is hot during the day, it still gets a little chilly once the sun goes down.

This weekend I worked on supplementing my frog's diet. He eats only crickets at the moment, so I have to dust them with a calcium- and vitamin-containing powder to ensure he doesn't suffer from any nutritional deficiencies.

The carnivorous plants also need feeding I think. Apparently I can sustain them with dead crickets, but I'm having trouble with the transformation of a live cricket into a dead one. In other words, I too much of a sissy to kill an insect. Currently I'm attempting to asphyxiate one in a sandwich bag. It's been half an hour and it seems to be getting nervous at least.

So far, a couple of my Venus fly trap heads have died, but there is one new one growing. There are also signs of new growth in my pitcher plants.

Terrarium

Kristal had a spare terrarium after the gecko that Jim gave her died. It now proudly houses my new Venus fly trap and pitcher plants. Oh, and a Cuban Tree Frog!

Gosport Art Show

On Saturday Kristal and I looked after Pottery by Tasha McKelvey's booth at the Gosport Art Show. It was held on Portsmouth High Street by the quay, so I was more interested in the huge Navy ships docked nearby than the art. However, I did buy some carnivorous plants from the Fly Trap Farm stall.

Monument Avenue...<*dispair*>

This is the "Sons of Confederate Veterans" Parade - a mile long cavalcade of small squads of old men in gray uniforms, pickups pulling period artillery pieces, horses and another course of slightly arrogant wallowing in immoral defeat like only Richmond VA knows how to serve up. I shouldn't be so negative - I love Richmond's history, it never ceases to amaze!

Handlebars

Confession time. My current facial hair arrangement is old enough to be considered at least semi-permanent, which warrants posting the evidence on the internet for posterity and the amusement of the general public. I've always wanted to look a bit like Morgan Spurlock, and be like him too...thus I have embarked on my own incarnation of 30 days by immersing myself "in a mode of life markedly different from their norm" -- ie, wearing a handlebar moustache. After overcoming the three day hump of being labeled a Redneck, and eventually addressing issues of asymmetry, I think the new look has come together well. Now I just need to wait thirty years for it to develop into the sophisticated whiskers showcased by the likes of Terrence "Terry" Gene Bollea and Paul John Teutul.

North Caorlina

Kristal and I took another weekend vacation to the beautifully photogenic Outer Banks, NC, and this was the only picture I took...what can I say, I was on holiday! It was out six month anniversary, so there were more pressing concerns than filling the photo album. Recommendations from this trip include, but are not limited to: Ocracoke Island, the North Carolina Aquarium, and trying to cook shrimp and tuna kebabs over an open fire without burning one's fingers.

We stayed at the KOA campground, which sadly gets no recommendations on account of employing staff possessing no common sense, of closing 90% of the facilities at any time vaguely off season, of being full of RVs and overpriced. Its a shame because I have fond memories of KOA sites in NY state during our family trip to Niagara.

MobileMate SD+

My ability to post photographs has been temporarily interrupted because I've lost the USB cable. I'm assigning blame to my housemates (but haven't told them yet). Someone did some 'cleaning up', and transferred all my belongings from the living room to my bed. I say "all", but in reality one item has always and forever departed from this world.

Now I have a new card reader - apparently it is impossible to replace camera cables... The SD reader has a green light, though, so I'm happy. OK, so here are some posts.

The Chilli Cook-Off

Yo. Check it. Chili Cook-Off 2007. Local radio station 102.6 The X organize an annual chili competition /slash/ heavy metal concert and the Raceway Complex.

An inch of snow fell in the morning, setting a new record for April, and making for a cold day hanging out on a windswept lot drinking beers and imbibing shots of chili, caring little for how they taste, only that they are warm.

The bands were pretty terrible, even after taking into account the genre. We kinda wanted to see Buckcherry, since they were the only band on the lineup that we'd heard of, but left early on account of extreme coldness and boredom.

Introductions...

I'm sorry, I'm terrible at Introductions. These are my new housemates, the poor people who have to put up with my strumming and singing, the hair in the bathroom, the smug way I cruise through life, never seeming to try very hard...

(l-r) Whitney - 2nd Grade teacher, Liz - in Advertising and fastest member of the house, Uh ME, and Rob - Bank Analyst works 80 hours a week. Aren't we beautiful?

Yamaha FG 700S

Since moving out of Chris' Apartment at Honey Tree I have been deprived many things. Regular grill-outs (that's a BBQ to the Brits), sports on huge, hi-def flatscreen, and guitars, to name but three. Well, rumours abound of a gas grill being on the way, there's a sports bar round the corner and I've just purchased a sweet new baby, so order in the world is beginning to be restored.

I did my shopping at Guitar Center which is full of friendly staff. On my first visit, Joseph help me pick out something cheap and cheerful. I went home with a second hand Epiphone in good nick, at a bargain price. However, after attempting to launch into the Intro from 'Sweet Child O' Mine' I discover a bump in the fretboard where the neck joins the body. Apparently this is common in cheaper models. Thus I returned to GC, whereupon Seth helped me dig around for something more suiting my expectations of quality. I noodled around on five or six, gradually sneaking out of my envisioned price range. This Yamaha really caught my fancy, and trusty Seth went to chat to the manager about approving a discount... Behold and Lo, a deal was struck, and I am now the proud owner of the beautiful example of craftmanship pictured above.

The Ukrops Monument Avenue 10K

I finished in a time of 48:45. It really was a lot of fun. One thing you can say about the Americans is they know how to be a good crowd, and there was great support all the way along the course, and some good bands playing too. I was treated to a rendition of 'Hard Day's Night' as I reached the halfway point, and sprinted home to Outkast's 'Hey-ya'! Tonight the housemates of 2236 are going out to party together for the first time, but since we all ran this morning our endurance may be, uh, pathetic, frankly.

Chincoteague

KRIS and I spent a relaxing weekend visiting the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge.

WE stayed for one night at Miss Molly's Inn, a cute B&B run by an English lady and her American husband. At breakfast we were the youngest guests by a factor of about 2.5.

MY WalMart bike rack performed admirably after a few minor alterations, allowing us to cycle around the wildlife refuge on Assateague Island, catching a glimpse of the wild ponies, taking in view from the lighthouse and gazing across the Atlantic on a windy beach.

Virginia's Eastern Shore is the only remaining undeveloped barrier island system ( I learned from a book on the B&B coffee table). It's abundant supply of fish and game birds has attracted hunters for centuries. The local huntsmen used wooden decoys which have developed into an art form. There is a decoy shop on the island selling items by distinguished artists, which are exquisite examples of brushmanship. I must have looked like a man of good taste and a large wallet, as the sales-woman instructed mt to snap up a beautiful $3000 duck before the artist went commission only and prices soared to prohibitive heights. I chose to ignore her advice.

We dined handsomely in several local seafood establishments, and were lucky enough to catch Snackbar Jones performing at the Chincoteague Inn. On our trip back we hit the jackpot, stopping for lunch at a Wachapregue restaurant with an awesome view.



Throughout our trip, and all my travels so far in the Eastern United State, I have been impressed by the quality of the visitor centers at Historic and Natural sites of interest. Somehow they manage to commission some really original artwork, as seen in the example above from Kiptopeke.

New House

I have recently moved house, since my previous house mate decided to move back home to NC. My new pad is on Monument Avenue close to the 'fan' district of Richmond. The Fan is know for its small bars and cafes and is inhabited mostly by students of VCU. I'm living with three young professionals who were looking for a similar person to move in a short notice. They seem like a lot of fun, and it's nice to meet some new friends outside of work!

Sadly my days of completely freeloading are over, but I think I did well to live in the USA for over 9 months without really owning anything. To make up for it, I bought a gigantic bed.

I have the uncomfortable feeling that I beginning to put down roots in this country. But to quote Martin Blank, "I've always been a very temporary person" - I doubt that signing a 12 month lease and buying a bed will do much to change the certain aspect of my personality colloquially termed "commitment-o-phobia".

After initial wireless network troubles, I am now 100Mbps Hardwired to a cable modem, which leaves me no excuses for not posting more often....

Hope to see you here again soon

John

Valentines Sushi

For Valentine's day Kristal and I made each other Sushi. We were surprised how well it turned out! Tuna, salmon, avocado, cucumber, rice, seaweed paper....and our mad rolling skillz.



One of our local Sushi places serves 'Sake-tinis' so we made our own - they're basically cocktails made with Sake, rum and fruit juice. A much cheaper way to eat sushi, and we avoided the crush at the restaurants.

My holiday in West Virginia

This weekend Kristal and I spent a romantic weekend in the snowy West Virginian mountains. We stayed in a 'Cozy Cabin' at the ACE adventure centre complete with hot tub... Friday afternoon we took a horse ride in the snow. Our guide, Jeff, was a real character and provided a commentary on the local history, mostly coal mining and railroads. We rode to a viewpoint overlooking the smallest incorporated town in America (6 inhabitants), which also hosted the longest poker game in history (13 years). People were dealt in and out continuously, although many players left the game on account of being found floating face down in the river in the morning.

On Saturday we traveled to Winterplace Ski Resort and took a snowboarding lesson. We sucked at snowboarding, but at least we looked rad. Desperately needing coffee we stopped at a small booth at a desolate intersection near the town of Minden. The occupant had apparently set up similar booths in Texas serving espresso, but sold them to move back to WV. Made the nicest damn vanilla latte I've ever tasted.

On Sunday we stopped at a few of the other attractions of the area: New River Gorge Bridge (the largest single span arch bridge in the hemisphere), Hawk's Nest lookout and an old grist mill.

See my photos here: http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/4947689

Running

I've signed myself up for the Monument Avenue 1oK on 31st March. The course is about as flat as possible, so shouldn't be too much trouble. Hopefully can get a sub-hour time. Training will be tough as it's just turned cold (finally), but I can always do some stuff on the treadmills too. Wish me luck!

BodyCombat

Hey dudes and dudettes. I went to a class at the gym this afternoon called 'BodyCombat' with Kyle. Me, him and 30 girls punching and kicking thin air for an hour. We looked ridiculous, but I'll tell you it was a good work out. I hurt. A lot. Although admittedly I was pumping iron yesterday... There are no pictures, which is a good thing, from my point of view.

Happy New Year

We had a party at our house with silly hats, beads and banners.
We drank Champagne once Kristal got it open - and I discovered that the Champagne they drink over here is nasty as all hell.Jennifer and Brian were there.
So were Chris and Kaitlin - here seen limbering up for Twister.
And Laura and her friend Kaitlin totally kicked our asses at '90s Edition Trivial Pursuit.

Pat McGee Band

Chris, Kaitlin, Kristal and I went to see the Pat McGee Band at the Canal Club downtown on Saturday night. It was a tribute gig for their drummer who recently passed away. The guy gave drumming lessons, so several of his pupils were invited to play the drums during the set. Great music. And I got lots of compliments on my hair from various punks, who all complained that their girlfriends wouldn't let them do it!!

After we went to Sheetz, which is a gas station that serves food as well. This country is weird. I had a burger. It was tasty. Yum. Weird can be good I guess/

Red is the New Blonde

Words are not required. In any case there is no explanation for this level of idiocy.