I went to Rosie & Jason's wedding in the Wren Chapel at William and Mary this Saturday. Because the wedding wasn't until 5, I left Northern Virginia at about 9:30 and didn't arrive in Williamsburg (a scant 160 miles away) until 1:30 in the afternoon. The trip back was early on Sunday morning so I made it back in only two hours after a brief stop at IKEA in Woodbridge.

If you haven't been to IKEA in awhile, it's turned into a furniture theme park of sorts, where you go on a guided tour of the store while stopping at KitchenLand and BedroomLand and so forth. If it weren't an hour away in normal weekend traffic, I'd go there for all my home furnishing needs.

Here's a song I rediscovered that we used to have on a record back in the early 80s:

In my fourth year of college ('99 - '00), my favourite Friday nights were the ones where I had nothing to do. I remember jogging home through the nasty cold near midnight, having just spent a few hours sucking it up at the trumpet in the practice rooms. My roommate, Kelley, was gone every weekend perpetuating his Demolay cult through his position as Statemaster Councilor, so things would be pretty quiet. I would cook up a double helping of Ramen noodles in the hot pot for a midnight snack and then settle in at my desk with some music and a book, or maybe converse with my network of clowns online, but mostly I would peoplewatch.

I lived in a dorm shaped like an "H" for the first four years of my college career, and in the fourth year, my room was in the armpit of the H (or crotch, depending on what you'd consider the proper architectural terminology). Because of this, I had a Rear Window view on seven stories of teeming humanity in the opposite leg of the dorm. I could sit there for hours, just watching people come and go, get ready for parties, sleep, have fights, watch TV, or turn out the lights for some amorous amity. I wasn't really interested in the voyeuristic aspect of it -- what amazed me (and still does) is that every single person in that personal theatrical production had their own lives and their own stories. Each person had a timeline of twenty odd years just like I did, and friends and family who also had individual stories, ad naseum. Most of those people I never met, but they're still out there, adding to their stories while completely oblivious to my own.

Today's funny video from my archives is this heartwarming clip about the dog who finds out that his poodle girlfriend is a slut (4MB MPG)

Memoirs of a BUsha: Ten Years of the URI! Zone

2004 - 2005

When you leave hallowed halls of progressive education, you completely relinquish your frame of reference since you can no longer say things like, "That was when I was a senior" or "I got arrested the summer after I went to France". I actually had to skim over my old posts from 2004 and 2005 to remember everything that happened, which wasn't much. I know the order of major events, but no longer have a good impression of where on my timeline they were tacked.

I feel like I lived at the Elms in Centreville for two years, but it was actually less than one year. I feel like I bought my house in February 2005, but it was actually 2004. I moved fifteen miles up the road from Centreville to Sterling at the same time that my job moved from Sterling to Reston, and for a single day in 2004, my commute was only 1.2 miles long. Now it's 7.0 miles and sometimes I even have to refill my gas tank on the way home! I spent 2004 employing the free expertise of my parents to convert my fixer-upper house into a Pleasure Paradise to rival Biff Tannen's. Anna and Eric were guests at the Hotel AstUri!a and my web site once again became a daily journal -- which room I had renovated and painted electric orange or which homeless panhandler I'd pimp-slapped on the off ramp. The big change here was that I finally canned the incredibly flexible JavaScript system I'd written for posting updates and replaced it with a standard, simpler navigation scheme that Googlebot and other search robots could finally visit with some success. With the whole site open to search engines for the first time in eight years, I finally received an influx of casual visitors, many who ended up sticking around for a long time.

By the time 2005 had rolled around, the tone of the site had gone from being me to being a zany caricature of me, writing a daily column instead of a journal. Eric moved out, Kathy moved in, Kim appeared, Anna married off for two goats and a sheep and moved out, Kathy moved, and the harem moved in. I really picked up the pace on writing around July of 2005, figuring that if I have a website, I might as well turn writing into a daily routine / hobby to further enrich my already storied life. Using the momentum of that month's posts, I held a faux grand opening in August for the 10th year of the URI! Zone's existence and sent mail to everyone I'd ever known from the previous nine years. Many of the people who showed up as curious visitors are still here today, posting regularly in the comments section!

Ex-Roomie is obviously Anna who I first met when she was a freshman trumpet player in the Marching Virginians in 1999. I've lived with her for three of the seven years since then. Beavis (Dan!) was my roommate in 1997-1998 and rediscovered the site in August after my blatant attempts at spamming the entire Virginia Tech cadre. He came to Tech at the same time I did, and so did Doobie the part math-major part tuba guy who threw up in Kelley's sink the year before I lived with Kelley. The following year, Kelley moved in with Philip who transfered to Tech from some hick-town commuter school in 1997. Both Kelley and Philip were trumpet players who occasionally played trios with Shac. After college, Shac went to Canada so he could learn how to suck less at trumpet where he met Brianne. I've never met Brianne myself so I'm presuming she got here through Shac or decided to randomly stalk Virginia Tech alumni one day. With Brianne came John, Canadian lawyer extraordinaire, and another fellow I've never met.

From the Empire Strikes Back years of the URI! Zone come the Florida contingent, starting with Mike, who is notable only because he is Chompy's owner. "Mike's Apartment" is where we spent most of our off-hours in Tallahassee and is also apparently a porn site online, since I get tons of misdirected searches for that term. Kathy used to date Mike and now lives five miles down the road from me with her sugar daddy, Chris. Mark is a composer who lived on the side of my apartment complex bordering the loud raucous frat houses (my side overlooked a quiet cemetary and was a great sleep enabler). Rob lived just two doors down from Mark and played piano on one of my compositions in 2003. I don't have any tongue-out-pictures of the last two because they are always decorous and present themselves with a modicum of class at all times.

Finally we reach the end of the trilogy with folks who've been around for awhile but never came out of the woodwork until this past year. Paige went to Tech with me and moved to Texas to be an elementary music teacher before jetsetting to Spain with her playboy husband where she now learns Spanish, takes siestas, and plays with her dog. Jaood (Mike), I met through playing Warcraft III in days of yore only to discover that he lives right down the road from me. He's now finishing up his last years at Tech, following in the footsteps of the many intellectual giants you read about in previous paragraphs. Another person I met playing Warcraft III online was Rachel who is the only regular visitor that I still have no picture of. Rachel is from Australia and has the annoying habit of waking up when everyone is going to bed, or ranting about our dirty American habits in the comments sections. Gabe also played Warcraft, but is, more importantly, the brother-in-law of Anna. Kim probably never played Warcraft but did go to high school with me, did all the sports I did, and then went to Tech. I think she was stalking me, but that's okay because I have a lot of stalkers, being an Internet celebrity. With Kim came Sam but I haven't seen him comment here recently so he doesn't get a coveted picture slot. Finally of course, there is Mom who has been reading the page since its inception. There is Dad too, but he never comments, preferring to be the silent behind-the-scenes manipulator of the family.

Other than these regular commenters, there are still plenty of daily visitors who just like to read what I write, and I love them all as well. I would love them more if they did a little audience participation, like getting into an Internet argument with Rachel, or telling Mike (of Chompy and Mike) that U2 is great, or dangling their participles in front of Rob. Until then, thank you all for keeping the Zone alive!

Chad Darnell's 12 of 12

12:38 AM: Back from a hot date to discover that things in code-land need to be urgently fixed for work.

2:22 AM: Finally going to sleep with fires successfully put out. I often look like the face on Mars when I sleep.

9:15 AM: Booty gives me that disapproving "if you loved me you would have woken up at 5 AM to feed me" look.

9:41 AM: Freshly showered and ready for a day that will be "mostly off" from work.

10:14 AM: Booty and Amber, fully satiated, do their invisible trampoline impression.

11:08 AM: Going outside to kill some bugs before it gets too hot to do anything other than sit inside and complain about the heat. My badminton net is woefully broken.

11:42 AM: Making shells and cheese for lunch while catching up on my Harry Potter.

12:56 PM: Spewing my lunch back through a trumpet. Incidentally, I keep random mirrors all over my house just to mess with you on 12 of 12 day.

2:45 PM: Treats and Toys in the mail! I received the complete Liza, Bill, and Jed series from Amazon (a series from my childhood by the author of Amelia Bedelia which I'd completely forgotten about until I saw one of the books in a thrift store last week). I also received a Pamplonan slinky bull from my expat friend in Spain whose 12 of 12s are always more exciting than mine simply because they're set in Spain. Ironically, she will not be doing 12 of 12 this month because she's in Atlanta.

5:11 PM: Anna and Ella stop by for a visit. Ella is pooped and/or pooping.

6:04 PM: HOT: On the way to dinner. (idea courtesy of Anna)

6:10 PM: Pulling into Boston Market for 1/4 Dark Chicken with Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, and Macaroni and Cheese. Yum!

For more 12 of 12ers, see Chad's site!

Chad Darnell's 12 of 12

11:07 AM: Plotting out the plan for the day at Aunt Anna's home.		11:45 AM: At the Downtown Berkeley BART station.
12:43 AM: Meeting Andrea and Annie at the Ferry Building		1:02 PM: Wandering through the fountain near Embarcadero.
1:26 PM: Another in the series of Rebecca and Brian in front of phallic buildings		2:11 PM: Somehow I expected that the gate to Chinatown would be grander.
3:01 PM: In the midst of Japantown.		3:33 PM: It seems unsafe to have fish in an open air fountain in a mall.
3:53 PM: Mr. Crepe is unhappy.		4:59 PM: In Lafayette Park, the dogs run free and the toddlers are fenced in.
8:34 PM: At an Irish pub on O'Farrell.		9:26 PM: Taking the Powell Street BART back to Berkeley.

See more 12 of 12ers at Chad's site!

Chad Darnell's 12 of 12

5:32 AM: Up a little earlier than normal.		5:49 AM: Introspectively mirrored post-shower.
5:51 AM: Rebecca is up early as well, on the morning shift.		6:05 AM: Taking the elevator up, because too much stair-climbing is bad for your aerobic health.
6:29 AM: There may be an explosion in the Oracle building, or it's just a case of highly reflective windows.		11:23 AM: Heading down the stairs for lunch.
11:49 AM: Popeyes and predictable news for lunch.		12:20 PM: Telecommuting from the laptop this afternoon, since the desktop monitor died again.
4:45 PM: Booty watches as I clean up her vomit.		6:31 PM: Tonight is a Guinness night.
6:45 PM: Tonight is also a Seafood Sampler night.		7:14 PM: The Robin himself is out and about, greeting dinner patrons.

See more 12 of 12ers at Chad's site!

Chad Darnell's 12 of 12

on the 12th of each month, I take 12 pictures throughout my day, however mundane or sleep-inducing they might be

8:27 AM: After waking up in Auberge aux Deux Lions on the second day of our visit to Qu?bec City, I listen to the weather report in French while eating a banana (in English), listening to Alize?, and waiting for Rebecca to get back from her jog across a battlefield.		10:11 AM: Apparently, I am on a horse with THE HORSEWOMAN, outside of the Mus?e des Beaux-Arts. You can tell if something is free or costs money, based on whether we are inside of it or outside of it.
10:46 AM: After a nature walk and a neverending stairway filled with self-flagellating runners doing "stairs", we reach the lower town, filled with Rorschach horses along the St. Lawrence river.		11:06 AM: Rebecca eats a healthy banana outside of a store that sells ice cream dipped in maple syrup.
11:41 AM: Rebecca blends in perfectly with the folks in period costume.		1:16 PM: Fun fact -- during a music festival, you can slap a sign that says "Rickard's Pub" on any old tent and sell beer.
2:26 PM: Rebecca learns to play the zamboa outside of the Church of the Holy Trinity.		2:34 PM: Street performers in the Old Town. These guys were much better than an earlier acrobat who spent 20 minutes donning a wig to the soundtrack of Jungle Boogie.
4:01 PM: Catching a performance of Gruv'n Brass down at the ports.		7:33 PM: It's nice to plan your vacation without realizing that the Summer Music Festival is in town all week. This is a free performance of Boulevard des Airs, billed as performing "world music of France".
9:13 PM: In any other city, an advertisement saying "Free nightly performance of Cirque du Soleil, under the Route 40 overpass" would probably be a scam to steal people's kidneys.		10:35 PM: Cirque du Soleil is still incredibly weird, yet awesome.

Chad Darnell's 12 of 12

6:04 AM: Showered and awake.		6:14 AM: Light breakfast of yogurt, because I forgot to buy bagels yesterday.
6:30 AM: Working from home in my whiplash protection chair.		7:45 AM: Outsourcing the ontology work.
9:12 AM: Outsourcing the management work.		11:04 AM: Picking up lunch on the way to the office.
1:13 PM: Continuing to work.		2:45 PM: Overcast over Reston.
4:24 PM: Rewarding 10 years of service, not including 3 summers of manual intern labour.		4:42 PM: Paused in traffic.
6:00 PM: Leftover steak sandwich and cherry tomatoes for dinner.		7:31 PM: Trying out Bioshock Infinite, from today's Steam Summer Sale.

Chad Darnell's 12 of 12

5:09 AM: Up for work.

5:30 AM: Arriving in the office.

7:00 AM: Looking up from SQL query optimization.

11:47 AM: Heading home for lunch.

12:11 PM: My lunch sandwich (handcrafted).

12:24 PM: Rebecca leaves for work.

12:45 PM: Back to work.

3:29 PM: Moving to the summer office for a conference call.

4:42 PM: Exercising with Shameless.

5:55 PM: Time for Overwatch.

7:48 PM: Grilling Asian Fusion Pork for dinner.

9:56 PM: Late dinner for Rebecca after picking her parents up at the airport.

Chad Darnell's 12 of 12

12:52 AM: Feeding #1 for the day.

5:09 AM: Feeding #2 for the day.

8:19 AM: Feeding #3 for the day.

9:03 AM: Soul sisters.

9:36 AM: Bagel for breakfast.

10:55 AM: Feeding #4 for the day.

1:22 PM: Taking Booty to the vet for a swollen lower jaw.

2:57 PM: Waking up for Feeding #5.

3:11 PM: Belated lunch of leftover bean chili. Booty is surprisingly chill for having been needled at the vet.

6:53 PM: Bonus dessert during Feeding #6.

8:46 PM: Not a fan of bath time.

9:59 PM: Content after Feeding #7.

Chad Darnell's 12 of 12

12 pictures of your day on the 12th of every month

6:04 AM: Showered and ready for work.

7:26 AM: Developing some training materials for work.

8:11 AM: Breakfast.

9:33 AM: Breakfast for the gals.

11:32 AM: Running on the treadmill and finishing the first season of Dark.

12:16 PM: Annie's Shells and Cheese for lunch.

1:22 PM: Post-forest bath to remove all the sunscreen.

2:14 PM: Kicking naptime off with some Grim Dawn.

4:27 PM: Too busy practicing evacuation routines to nap today.

5:00 PM: Evening snacks.

6:16 PM: Dinner from Joe's Pizzaria.

6:59 PM: Assisting with mojito mixology.

Chad Darnell's 12 of 12

12 pictures of your day on the 12th of every month

7:25 AM: Showered and ready for work.

7:43 AM: Kids awake.

7:54 AM: Bagel for breakfast.

8:37 AM: Ian joins me at work while Maia goes to summer camp.

9:19 AM: Emily visits Rebecca and Ian.

10:54 AM: Working lunch.

11:50 AM: Return of the fussy officemate.

12:38 PM: Running on the treadmill and rewatching The Shield, Season Five.

2:14 PM: Maia plays Age of Wonder: Duel with Rebecca. Not normally a game for 4-year-olds.

4:34 PM: At "Jason's Penny" for the first post-pandemic mall trip.

5:06 PM: Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream at Ben & Jerry's.

6:00 PM: Family dinner while Ian finally sleeps.

Chad Darnell's 12 of 12

12 pictures of your day on the 12th of every month

5:43 AM: Showered and ready for the day.

6:02 AM: Bagel for breakfast.

7:53 AM: A rare morning in the Herndon office.

11:01 AM: The couch reading crew.

11:13 AM: "I want a snack!"

12:39 PM: Patiently waiting in line to pick Maia up from "Sonrise" camp.

1:32 PM: Art time.

2:13 PM: Queen bee cosplay.

2:56 PM: Time for Zelda.

3:58 PM: Tea party with Nana Char.

6:21 PM: Troubleshooting the Honda Civic's AC system.

7:11 PM: Toothbrushing.