the numbers are in...

...and we each spent a total of $140 dollars on communal things like the hotel room, gas and groceries. not too shabby of an attempt at a cheap spring break i think.

i presented my thesis sunday so i should finally have time to upload the hundreds of pictures i took and decided to keep. stay tuned.

Boys (and girls) in Da Hood (well...my car)

Here's the second video shot with Kim's digital camera as we were pulling out very old records of mine. Here we all sing along to Dynamite Hack's cover of the Easy E classic "Boyz in Da Hood" which I belive to be one of the true symphonic opuses of our generation (Easy E... we miss you, boy). I hope you enjoy the musical stylings and you'll see why I DJ and don't sing at all:




Don't Quote Me, Boy...

the first video is up!

Watch as Will, Matt and Robin discuss the silly demands of some artists as we wait our turn at the Chinati complex to view a piece that can only be seen by 5 or fewer people at a time...

Disclaimer: This video (and the others to be posted later) are taken with my digital still camera and aren't great quality. In this one, the wind tries to overpower my camera's baby mic.



More video fun to come later!

Too Little Time

I'm posting this from Austin as I didn't get a chance to write about it out there. Everyone got up early on Saturday, save Julie (who slept almost the entire day), Kim, and I. The rest of the group took a trip out to Ft. Davis to the Stables for an early morning horse ride. The horses went very slowly and everyone (except Tiff) wore a helmet which did not really make them look like "cool cowboys." After they got back, I had fixed everyone fajitas (they were a little too hot due to the addition of local spices) and we tried to see what else there was to do. Matt, Robin, Katie, Kim and I all went out to Monahan Sand Hills to ride down the dunes in these plastic disks, seen here:


Yes, I'm mooning the camera with my disk. The dunes were a lot of fun, despite the fact that I got sand on/in/attached to every part of my body and clothing. I didn't want to go at first and the 80 mile drive wasn't helping that, but Robin said it was a good thing and he wasn't wrong (not once) the entire trip- so I went. I was really glad we did that, though walking up the really tall dunes in very soft sand was such a freaking workout. I drove back (everyone was asleep except Katie) and all in all, I'm glad I went along!

After we got back and got showers (I don't think I've felt better after a shower in a long time) we decided to go eat at "The Cutest Resturant in Balmorhea" but then, the power went out. Cueva de Oso (Cave of the Bear) was out so we called up a place in Ft. Davis to see if the grid streched that far (power was out in our room too). Ft. Davis had power so we drove out there. It had turned cold and slightly rainy, so deer weren't really out (which is a great thing). Instead of the pizza place we had called, we turned into a well-lit mexican resturant called - I shit you not- Cueva de Leon (Cave of the Lion)! So as we traded one cave for another, we found that they had a cheap Saturday night buffet of beef and chicken fajitas, rice, beans, two types of cheeze enchiladas, chili rellenos, and a salad bar. The food was great and we took some pictures before we went back for an early bedtime (I packed first).

After waking up at six thirty, the gang got into the cars with amazing speed. We checked out at eight right on the dot! We had to stop at Ft. Stockton to take a picture of the giant roadrunner. Afterwards, we stopped in Fredricksburg for lunch at the Pizza Hut that Kim's mom used to work at as a teenager. The food was ok, but Kim and I passed off Julie to the other car so we could go visit Kim's Oma (German for grandmother) who lives in this beautiful house in Fredricksburg. After spending an hour and a half with Kim's family, we had some great cake and headed home, not too late after the other car.


Time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping...

horsing around

The last full day in West Texas has been lots of fun. Got up early this morning and drove over to the Lajitas stables to ride horses. I've never ridden a horse before, so I was kind of scared of the horses. With the help of a safety helmet and the realization I was riding the prissiest horse at the stable (Paco was something of a diva), I ended up having a blast. I kind of want a horse now. Or a donkey. I would settle for a donkey.

This afternoon we went to the Monahan Sand Hills and sledded, of sorts, down sand dunes. Climbing the dunes was really hard, and I think that if I did that for an hour or so every day, I'd have the most fantastic legs in Texas. (Not that I don't already have some pretty spectacular gams.)

We did not stop at Dairy Queen again, much to my dismay. Oh, well. I have heard we might be swinging by the one in Fort Stockton tomorrow on the way home, as well as stopping to get a picture with the giant road runner statue. I am really excited about that. Not so excited about going back to Austin and back to homework. Oh, well.