Tasty pastries at Laduree, the best partry shop in Paris.

Sneak shot of the Mona Lisa.

Nicole and an Easter Island (I think) head. Ain't she funny?

Me at the Louvre.

Panoramic shot from the Eiffel Tower.

My sister took a picture of me when we were way up high on the Eiffel Tower.

Creme brulee at dinner. Yum!

That's Notre Dame! and me at the bottom.

what's up? well, blogger's been down

Hey loves,

I've been trying to update, but as you an see from my title... good 'ole blogger has been down.

There are a couple things I wanted to mention about my time in Paris before I forget. Well maybe one thing. My sistser and I were in the business room of our hotel using the computers for the internet and we decided we were done. As I was exiting I saw Jillian Barberie stepping down the stairs with a couple of friends. "Who," you ask? Um, she's the kinda annoying woman who helps with Fox Network's NFL broadcasts. Pictured here: http://www.fox11.com/sections/newsteam/barberie.asp

well, ok, so it was one thing.

Hmm, it's Thursday afternoon and I've had breakfast, but haven't too much else. I'm sitting on my bed listening to Queen's Platinum Edition of their Greatest Hits. "Bohemian Rhapsody" at the moment. Pure brilliance.

I know I have to get a couple Shakespeare plays read today, so I know I'll do that sometime. That task will probably take several hours. Other than that, I'm free. What to do? As the president of my high school, Father Postell, used to say, "It's a nice problem to have."

"Another One Bites the Dust." yeowch!

I guess I'll figure it out then tell you about it later. "Killer Queen" now, sweet. BTW, Italy in about 28 hours or so... I know, I'll pack!

Later chaps,
Q

Oh yeah oh yeah! One more thing. I've been accepted as an RA (resident assistant) at Morrissey. Yay, free room and board (and leadership.. hehe). Just in case you don't go to ND, let me just explain that this is more than just a job, like it may be at other institutions. It's more of an honor and privelege, the way I see it. ("Fat Bottomed Girls," niiiiice.) [oh btw, I guess you can tell by the songs that it actually takes me quite a while to type these blogs up, short as they are. I just get distracted with lots of things I guess] Anyways I'm excited about it.

Well, we'll always have Paris... at least I will

'Lo all and Happy Easter,

I got back to London yesterday, briefly stopping by my flat to pick up a few things than took the express from Victoria station to East Croydon to meet up with my family, but first things first.

Paris was lovely. The hotel we stayed at was ridiculous, probably one of the nicest places I've ever seen. (Check my pictures once they're up.) Our first day in Paris was our tourist day. After passing by the Arc de Triomphe, we checked in to the George le Cinq, then immediately went to a restaurant to see what the fuss about French food was all about. It was just a cheap little cafe, really, but it was pretty good. Next, we walked along the Seine then took the Metro to the Notre Dame Cathedral. It was interesting to finally see wha the whole Notre Dame thing was originally about. It was quite an impressive piece of architecture. No hunchbacks to be seen though.

I was feeling a bit bushed, so we chilled in the park behind the cathedral. Luckily the weather was picture perfect and it stayed that way. We wandered over to the Pantheon, picking up some ice cream on the way. I had a scoop of pistachio and a scoop of caramel. This started me on my pistachio craze for the weekend. We bussed our way back to the hotel and had a little adventure. My dad met a little Filipino woman and asked her for directions. We already had an easy way to get back, but my dad was convinced she had a better way. It turned out that she didn't, but oh well, we ended up seeing a part of town we might not have passed by anyways.

Our nap at the hotel was followed by dinner, then a nice little stroll to the Eiffel Tower. The line was long, but we waited anyways. It was quite worth it.

The next day was my museum day. My sister and I went to the Louvre and to the Musee d'Orsay. I knew the Louvre was huge... but wow. We only made it through a couple floors and a couple wings. We did see the Venus de Milo and the Mona Lisa. They were really stricts about pictures with the Mona Lisa but I pulled one off anyways. I took another nap then we headed over to Laduree, the best pastry shop in Paris. It was heavenly, I ordered a puff pastry thing and a pain du chocolat avec pistache (continuing my pistachio craze.) We went to dinner at the French equivalent of TGIFriday's, but it turns out to be a pretty good equivalent.

We woke up early the next morning to take the Chunnel back to London. The rest of the day was spent with our family friends at mass in Central Croydon and eating some fantastic homemade Filipino food.

So now I'm back at my flat. I've basically been lounging the day away, smelling the wondrous smell of food wafting in from my kitchen. Adam's mom is making everyone a wonderful Easter dinner and I can't wait. They also filled our bathtub with ice, bottles of wine and a couple cases of Stella. Joy!

This short week will be very enjoyable. Then we have or 2nd weeklong break. I'm traveling with Margaret and Molly again. We're hitting up Italy this time, starting in Venice, then Cinque Terre, then finishing it up in Rome.

Now I'm off to enjoy that tasty dinner.

Peace out yo,
Michael

no excuses, time to update

whoa, the last time I updated was... let me check... 11 days ago! That's much too long for my *ahem* dedicated readers. So I must apologize.

Last time I was here I told ya'll that I was going to see Wilco. It was a darn good show, although I'll never get used to venues where everyone sits down. Martha Wainwright was the opener and she was well... weird. Not bad exactly... just not my taste (or anyones taste from the response she was getting.) Even name dropping brother Rufus didn't help too much. I was really impressed with the Wilco show though. There are a bunch of songs on YHF that I had no idea how they would do in concert and I ended up getting blown away. Their encores were fantabulous by the way.

That week was definitely my culture week, as I also watched a couple plays. (His Dark Materials I & II to be specific.) Lesley bought the first night's tickets online, so we didn't have to wait in the morning. This turned out to be the most clutch move that could have occured. Here how it goes: We get to the theatre with a minute to spare. Our seats are in the back row of the stalls, which were actually quite nice. Intermission rolls around and Lesley and I discuss the play and start to head to the exit when we hear a voice coming from what turns out to be a special guest booth. It's right next to the lighting booth. Inside is Ned, a fight choreographer from Texas. He turns out to be roommates with the guy who plays Pantalaimon, a very important character, if you know the story. Ned invites us out for drinks (it was St. Patrick's Day) after the show and we gladly obliged. After the show we meet his roommate, Jamie, and he takes us backstage and out the door to the Actor's Bar in the National Theatre. All the stars were there. We had a couple drinks and a nice conversation. We also learned that a famous actor working at the Old Vic likes to come in and hit on all the young male actors... It was a good night.

We watched the second part of the show on the following night. That morning we woke up at 7 to get in line to get the cheap, available tickets. These tickets turn out to be front row, center, which is quite awful for the main National Theatre stage. Luckily, Ned was watching that night and let us sit with him in the special guest booth, which gave us an ideal view of the stage. Another good night.

This event happened some time in the last 2 weeks and it's worth mentioning. I was walking through Trafalgar Square one night and a street performer was playing "Sweet Child of Mine." Rock, rock on.

This past week has been pretty good. My parents and my sister got to London on Monday. I was going to pick them up but my uncle ended up picking them up instead. They tried calling me at 12, 1, and 2, but I was at Walkabout... whoops. I didn't get hang out with them too much, although I did watch Chicago on Wednesday and The Phantom of the Opera (the 2nd time) with my mom and sister.

Now I'm Paris sitting at a computer in the Four Season: Charles the 5th. It's a nice place. It's also nice to have my parents and sister around. Here's more good news. I ordered a new camera (my old one is getting repaired) and I should be getting it around the 3oth. My return to photography will be epic. My sister is currently letting me use her camera and it's weird getting back into my shutterbug mode, but I think I can do it. Pictures will be posted and I'll finally be able to update my website with stuff.

And while I remember... Happy Birthday Emily!

Peace yo,
Michael

Oh yeah, I just forgot.

But how could I forget.

I'm going to see Wilco... um, tonight! Bwahahahah. Yay me. And Lesley. And random people I don't know.

Rock, rock on.

Way Behind on Everything

Argh, it's always the same. I tell myself, "I'll never procrastinate again!" But I keep procrastinating on ending my procrastination. That's no good. At the very least, the paper did get done.

This week started out pretty well...

I went on a retreat this past weekend. It was a group of around 17 people, guys and girls evenly split if you include Adam, the retreat leader. We went to Walsingham, apparently the Jerusalem of England and one of the top pilgrimage sites as well. Sarah and I listened to music on the 3 hour bus ride there. The highlight of the drive was listening to Sarah's mix CD's and rocking out pretty hardcore to Maria Carey. hahah, yes.

This had to be the most chill retreat ever. Mass, plenty of free time, amazing food (very important to me, obviously) and nap time after breakfast. The first thing we did was the 1 mile pilgrimage walk to the chapel. Traditionally this is done barefoot, but it was snowing outside, so I didn't do, though most nearly everyone else did. Other than that we played big group games. We played "Family" and then I taught everyone how to play "Celebrity." It was a big hit. I made a Stephen Hawking reference and did rather well (after doing pretty poorly the first time around) Maybe I'll explain the rules sometime. This was definitely the recharging weekend I needed.

Monday was Callaghans. I decided to go for the karaoke thing again and I think it went pretty successfully. I sang "Semi-Charmed Life" by Third Eye Blind in front of a packed floor. There just so happened to be about 20 girls in front of the stage as well. They were yelling and it was cool. I was waving to my flatmate Adam in the middle of the song and they started "Oohing" and winking like thinking I was waving at them. "You have won second prize in a beauty contest. Collect $10"

The rest of the week was a bit of a bust. I've ended up staying in just about the entire weekend. I've been experimenting with cooking, which has been fun. Let's see, I've tried a couple chicken marinade recipes (based on my dad's recipes), some easy pasta recipes, and today I made Penne alla carbonara. It all turned out pretty well. Ok, so maybe this week hasn't been that bad. And on the plus side, not going out means not spending money. So that's good too. Hopefully I'll get my camera fixed up sometime soon.

To all you readers out there. You Rock.

Peace in,
Q

Yup, I saw Rufus Wainwright in London on the 1st of March. It was awesome. He played "The One You Love" for the first time live, ever. Best Concert I've ever seen... other than Son of Glam.

Speaks for itself, don't ya think? (Prague)

As if I didn't like the Mowgli title already. (Vienna)

Yes my friends, that is THE gazebo from The Sound of Music. We went on the whole tour. (Salzburg)

What does a catfish have to do with Munich? I don't know!

posing by some statue with my travel buddies (Munich)

resting my eyes...

At the Augustiner across from our Hostel with Amanda and Margaret in Munich.

Why do I do this to myself?

Hahaha. Here I am, procrastinating yet again.

Paper.

Due tomorrow.

D'oh.

Oh well.

I get the feeling nobody reads this...

You know what? I'm ok with that. The prospect of being able to look back and read this a couple months or even years down the road is pretty enticing, so I'll keep it up.

Rufus Wainwright show last night. I was at the very front. Awesometastic. Most likely the best show I've ever seen. I also witnessed the first ever live performance of "The One You Love."

I better go before I'm late to seminar.

Peace out yo,
Q