shutitdown: taking one for the anecdote
world travel
° nippon
Tokyo was awesome: plastic food everywhere hordes of people sleeping in nightclubs so they could wake up and rave more...
° Repressed but remarkably dressed
My commitment and attachment issues aren't content to stay in the arena of male humans and has now extended to...
° I left my heart...
My last two trips to California have left me with a deep sense of homesickness. This homesickness was not inspired...
° Booking holidays
I just booked two weeks off of work. I have not taken a two week vacation since I started working....
° Crossing the Atlantic
I am far too highly strung. I know this. I seem unable, though, to stop this. I'm writing this on...
° American girls
On corpulence: As I stepped onto the elevator the other day, I was pleased to see a grossly obese young...
° On being an immigrant
After spending 4.5 hours at the immigration office yesterday, I guess I'm officially here. On one hand it feels like...
° Delays
Lina: im at LAX Lina: delayed two hours Lina: but Lina: who is going to be an ex-pat by tomorrow?...
° Good news and bad news
The good news: I now have a work permit and visa for the UK. The bad news: The picture on...
° Airports and my life
Airports are funny places--the normal rules that apply to one's life seem to be discarded the moment one enters the...
° The last few weeks.
For New Years I was in Hamburg, Germany. I stayed on the Reeperbahn, the red-light district of the city. (Perhaps...
° Trip
Tomorrow I go to Germany, then to France then to Prague....
° My semester abroad
I've now been in Ireland for 2 months, and I feel like I'm having the high school/college experience that I've...
° The latest on international Jewry
"Aren't I the best?" I asked the Polack today, in reference to a project we were working on. "Yeah," he...
° What lies beneath the plait
On Friday, I spent the first 5 hours of work with a large wad of gum in my hair. I...
° Strangely happy
I'm happy in Dublin. It's weird. In response to a complaint from a Dubliner that I only write about things...
° Scotland
Me at the castle in Edinburgh Before going to Scotland, all I knew about the country was what I had...
° Possible Flags of Europe progress
[Insert racy story here] Lina: anyway Lina: do you think that counts for Holland? Ryan: I'd say so Ryan: unless...
° On being a snob
The other night, I was at a pub with a gang of Irish folk. I like to think of the...
° On the street
Walking home from dinner with my new German friend. Man at a bus stop, "Hey girls, hey girls, hi girls."...
° ex'patri'ation
n. (-t, -t) 1. One who has taken up residence in a foreign country. 2. One who has renounced one's...
° On smuggling and anxiety
All of my Spain food talk made me fondly remember my meat smuggling history in August of '04. This just...
° Oink: suckling pig, jamon, and pig's ears in Spain.
I'm back from my trip, 4.7 pounds heavier and stricken with bronchitis. Seriously, my scale is very precise. The second...
° Whore or Spaniard?
The street I am staying on in Madrid is crawling with prostitutes. There are usually three or more huddled around...
° Suckling
I'm going to Spain in five minutes, and have a reservation to eat suckling pig immediately up arrival....
° Approaching Riverdance
Apparently all of my whining has paid off, and my company is rewarding me with a short-term transfer to Dublin....
° Buenvenidos a Miami
I'm in Miami right now--it really is like a foreign country here. Although I've only been here for a few...
° Puerto Viagra to LA and home again.
I went to Mexico a couple of weeks ago--it was awesome. I've never been on the sort of vacation like...
° Snapshots
Snapshot of Rome: In a cab, trying to go home. The cab driver pulls the car over, and tries to...
° The promise
And now I am in Rome. I've been sitting around thinking about putting up something on shutitdown, but I've been...
° An email regarding honorary titles
From: Oliver To: Lina Date: Feb 8, 2006 Subject: Re: what Who's going to move to England and be knighted...
° On moving to London
I did four interviews this week, spent hours chatting it up with my potential boss, and spent significant amounts of...
° How can you say I go about things the wrong way?
Sunday roast. Things I learned (learnt) while in London: People don't really hate Americans. They like to use our accents...
° This night has opened my eyes
This morning I woke up, besieged by handsome men with English accents. I shook my head, sure that I was...
° A Cunning Linguist
When I was but a girl, my parents, rather than try and escape my presence, would speak to each other...
° The heat of the meat
A meat stand in Spain. So here I am, updating again. God, I'm good. Anyway, I still haven't posted much...
° Guess who's back in the mothafuckin' house?
Ok, I am back from Paris, Stockholm and Barcelona. And New Jersey. Each was exciting in their own way. Of...
° The grand tour.
spoonery (9:40:58 AM): youre going to update right spoonery (9:40:59 AM): you have like 20 minutes spoonery (9:41:21 AM): i...