Camera's in hotel rooms?

So, i'm up and paranoid, wondering if the smoke alarm, digital clock, wall picture or coffee maker are rigged with a hidden camera. i'm afraid the person watching would be grossly upset with the lack of action during my stay here, but i can't stop thinking about it when it's shower time or when nature calls. not that i don't want to sleep...i just finished working a 13.5 hour day and would love to be knocked out about now....anyway...
After having that nastiness on the sheets upon arrival, and this being a cheaper, but still catering to the working professional hotel chain, i'm not sure what to think. perhaps the free plane ticket i will get after staying here b/c i've been a recurring guest with this chain isn't worth this quality and will try a new chain w/another rewards card next trip.

sorry, i wasn't going to post that, but...hehehe...i actuall really like the pic, color and composition even though it's got the nastiness on the left and the towel i slept on so it wouldn't touch me in the middle, with the glorius glow of the MAC to the right. long story, but i have new sheets tonight!
Soooo, here are the suspcious objects in question:
Here is the alarm clock with a huge face
smoke detector with a huge hole...i got up on a chair and it is shiny like a lens. some articles said they can stuff up to 5 cameras up there to get a 360 view...
the hole in the framed wall art...like who framed roger rabbit, but no eyes will come out and knock a bottle over - hahaha!!! that scene cracked me up when that movie came out!
the innocent looking coffee maker!
and last, but certainly not least...the inocent mood lighting wall light. i haven't used it yet and i don't plan on it out of laziness. it would require getting out of bed to turn it off....and it's not a clapper (i just tried)...so, i have to live with the harsh Fluorescent glow...ugh.
well...that's that.

Vikings Pillaged for Wives?

After hearing this on a radio game show, it hit me deep inside and made me feel a strange compassion for these men, who were deemed as some of the most horrible people ever. However, it makes sense when you think about all of our needs collectively, as human beings...which disregards culture/perspective/location...etc. the desire for a family/companionship/status. All i can think of is...how strong was that testosterone?! They sound like they were a very passionate people with such a determination and display of eagerness to be suitably acceptable for a woman. It was said that the vikings held up women with much esteem, besides the fact that men had free reign and could do whatever he pleased. In our day and age, men use such things as fancy cars, impressive jobs or portfolios, talents, even cooking or domestic skills. a much more civilized way of setting up a love nest than taking human life, but are we still seeing the same marks of the viking culture in our men (and some women) today with regards to faithfulness/monogamy? However, is this all for personal gain....to say, i have a woman! and not for love? If this is true, then it's no wonder why we have so many divorces, as the marriage begins and ends on a selfish note, even though there was the beginnings of what could have been so beautiful.
The responsibility of the man is quite a heavy one, but when it all comes down to it, if you're truly in love, none of that stuff matters if you truly commit to stick it out to the end, no matter how you may or may not feel from day to day, your financial situation or your talents. i'd still rather be "happily" married to a poor penniless sitar player than a great big rich maharajah! [Moulin Rouge]
_________________________________________
During the Viking Age from the late eighth to the mid-eleventh centuries, Scandinavians tore across Europe attacking, robbing and terrorizing locals. According to a new study, the young warriors were driven to seek their fortunes to better their chances of finding wives.
The odd twist to the story, said researcher James Barrett, is that it was the selective killing of female newborns that led to a shortage of Scandinavian women in the first place, resulting later in intense competition over eligible women.Barrett's analysis of Nordic historical records found that Scandinavian men often served as warriors, frequently forming "military brotherhoods," until they were able to marry and establish their own households, which were key to prestige and power.
Full article

According to Barrett, honor and religious fatalism — the idea that the time and manner of death is predestined — also fueled the Vikings, helping explain why men were willing to risk death in violent battles and risky seafaring. The Viking religion held that "the cosmos began in the frozen emptiness ... and will end in fire with the last battle," said Barrett.

Despite the infanticide, he still believes the Vikings "highly valued" women. Aside from lavishing bridal prospects with plundered goods, they held solemn burials at sea for women. In fact, one of the most important known Viking Age burials, involved numerous goods and two female skseltons encased in a ship called the Oseberg.

Soren Sindbaek, assistant professor of medieval and Renaissance archaeology at Denmark's University of Aarhus, told Discovery News that the new paper "is very right in pointing out the inadequacy" of former explanations for the Viking Age.

For the full article click here.

Solar Cycle 24 - signs of a coming ice age?

This is the new sunspot officially marking the beginning of Solar Cycle 24.

Below is part of an article that talks about the technological effects that Cycle 24 can have on us, not to mention another mini ice age. When i first heard about 1 man fighting the world saying that we don't have to worry about global warming b/c an ice age is coming soon, it piqued my interest to investigate...which i put off until seeing this image on (shhhh) yahoo! So, if things are as they appear to be, perhaps switching to solar energy would be a smart move. [personally - If it continues to get colder and BGE (or soon to be Constellation - which i am slightly happy about being that this months BGE bill was $0! but who knows their plans once they take over), our heating bills are going to go through the roof!]
So, i'm interested in seeing how our modernized world will deal with this issue and how/if life as usual will be affected and how long it will take for it to become known. will a debate break off into global warming vs ice age groups? what about Al Gores efforts with An Inconvenient Truth: Global Warming Effect?
Anyway...

Here's part of the article:
The onset of a new solar cycle is significant because of our increasingly space-based technological society.

"Solar storms can disable satellites that we depend on for weather forecasts and GPS navigation," says Hathaway. Radio bursts from solar flares can directly interfere with cell phone reception while coronal mass ejections (CMEs) hitting Earth can cause electrical power outages. "The most famous example is the Quebec outage of 1989, which left some Canadians without power for as much as six days."

Air travel can be affected, too.[warfi!]

Every year, intercontinental flights carry thousands of passengers over Earth’s poles. It's the shortest distance between, say, New York and Tokyo or Beijing and Chicago. In 1999, United Airlines made just twelve trips over the Arctic. By 2005, the number of flights had ballooned to 1,402. Other airlines report similar growth.

"Solar storms have a big effect on polar regions of our planet," says Steve Hill of the Space Weather Prediction Center. "When airplanes fly over the poles during solar storms, they can experience radio blackouts, navigation errors and computer reboots all caused by space radiation." Avoiding the poles during solar storms solves the problem, but it costs extra time, money and fuel to "take the long way around."

Now for the good news: More solar storms also means more auroras—"the greatest show on Earth." During the last solar maximum, Northern Lights were spotted as far south as Arizona, Florida and California. Not so long ago, only visitors to the Arctic regularly enjoyed auroras, but with increasing attention to space weather and constantly improving forecasts, millions of people at all latitudes will know when to go out and look.

Here are a few good links:
Solar Cycle 24: Implications for the United States
The Deniers: Our spotless sun this article has pretty cool information about how art and literature was effected in previous cycles that brought on mini ice ages.

slow destruction?

oy...if there was no hope, why even bother trying?

Bugs!

it's 3am and my roomate and i are preparing for the pigtown fest tomorrow....in a few hours.
i finally finished and am ready to crash, but then, as i went to turn out the light.....
zzzzzzziiiiiiiiiiiiiiippppppppppp!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the dark blotch that i thought was my hairball darted acrossed the floor......
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
being that it was really big, i had to get rid of it before sleeping.
i tried to crush it with a glass bowl - my poor sleeping roomate under me - and it ran into my victoria's secret minibag.
as scared as i was, i quickly closed it with the weight of my entire body, holding a slipper as to make sure i wouldn't be too close to touching it. once i felt safe that it was trapped, i folded the opening like a present and sealed that bad boy with a wad of duct tape!
i could hear the lil guy runnin around in there. i'm hoping it will die so i can have my underwear.
i'm actually a little too excited to go to sleep after that action...knowing that i shouldn't yell at 3am....ECHO helped with that. atleast it wasn't a spider the size of a tarantua! that was WACK!
anyway...baltimore is jumpin with sirens tonight.
i hope that tomorrow will go well.
i hope to see some familiar faces tomorrow.
i hope everything sells!
here goes, the 1st show!

Random Thoughts

1) My hair is getting really long. i can't wait for it to get past my butt!
2) Do i really want to get a 2010 Camaro? I might get speeding tickets b/c flooring it to feel the torque will be irresistible!
3) I am flourishing on my bed. it sounds odd, and could provoke negative thoughts, but to me it makes sense, since i never slept as a kid and was advised by a medical professional to do whatever i wanted as long as i kept quiet while everyone slept. so, now, i think it seems an inviting place for me to relax, study, work and unwind. i have the exercise bands dangling from the top bunk, the geetar close at hand, the MAC and all its wonderful resources, and good ol' fashioned books all around. it is my entertainment center, if you want to call it that. i really enjoy my room!
4) this remote is great! i wish i could repeat just this CD. i'm feeling too lazy to program it to.
5) i hope i don't forget my cell phone tomorrow morning.
6) maybe its time to wear socks to bed. i'll try tonight to see if that helps with the morning issue.
7) will i be able to keep going to work at 6am, or will i have to wait to go in later with this new position? guess it won't matter, as i'll have to stay late anyway. we'll see. if i keep going in at 6am i'll get lots more overtime!
8) i want an 8 hour massage!
9) is my brain resisting new information? or just forced information? fickle thing
10) man, my hair is really long.
11) i hope 4 more classes won't take more than 1 or 2 years. i'd really like to start programming for money soon!

never can remember

i always have these (hehe) "brilliant" ideas, but then i forget when i get here...like...now.
oh well...i'll try again later.

CEO

i sit here looking gazing out the middle window. Far in the back, i see traffic racing back and forth on the ramp to 95 from MLK Blvd. techno is jamming and i have tissue shoved up my nose to catch the faucet-on-type drip of the lasting phaze of this crazed flu...which i dodged for about 2 years? so, guess this was pay up week!
so, i feel like the CEO of my own world, which can have limitless possibilities.
CEO of what? i'm not quite sure, but i feel it in my bones...like a calling. i don't care if i'm liked, yet i would like to have a few good friends/confidants. However, grateful for the current friends/roomates! and, of course, past roomates who moved onto receiving their permanent roomates.
the remote control for the A/C unit provides limitless amusement and brings about a regal satisfaction that i'm somehow special b/c i can be extremely lazy. lovin the cathedral ceilings that slant to a normal height and the spaciousness that could house a small family all in the quaint comfort of...my room.
Man...if only i was married! - side tracked thought.
somewhere out there...as i watch hundreds...thousands of people fly by my window in microscopic form.
the best is to see one of those viscious all-of-the-sudden storms from my 3 connected windows. how majestic to see over a large range of land and the great bolts of lightning so close.
i will continue to argue that life is so strange...

safe inside

got to remain within the realm.
got to hope and trust within the realm of safety and provision.
can't step out of the safe zone.
charm is sooo deceiving.
beauty is fleeting.
mans wisdom is beneath His foolishness.
i've been given so much.

alter of sacrifice
offer with joy - dead weight

whatever was my gain, i now consider loss

if i die

if i died, maybe i might be missed for a moment...then life continues as normal.
i wonder how many people think that.
And with the suicide rate being @2/week in Japan...i wonder.
everyone there that is looking for an easy, painless way out may have found it.
this is heart breaking. this is also highly disturbing.
sure, the thought passes my mind...but gotta take that bad boy captive!
that's a dangerous thought.
i wish i could say that it's not a powerful thought to the people who think it, but stories and reality would prove me wrong.
yes, life is rough and can be hauntingly sad...
but we have hope!
i could preach to you, but i'd rather you have a powerful encounter of your own.
i wish i could save the world from all the fear, pain and sadness, but it's already been done.
i wish i could bring people to that hope...
i wish i could do it where i am in baltimore, **hanover** and silver spring...wherever!!
**i wish i could bring it back to the underground**

however, knowing that i'm no longer cool and realizing that my life is not too successful - worldly speaking, and seeing how closed and self-preservant/protected-thick-skinned-wall-of-freakin-armor society has become
and the most important of them all
- i can't change anyone - AT ALL...
it's gonna take a bona-fide miracle :)
but you know what?!

I BELIEVE IN MIRACLES!!!!!!!

Man, i love the internet! and a rant on gas prices, and Daniel McConnell

life can be so much easier with the internet...but it can also make you lazy and a recluse if your not too careful.
however, being that gas prices are soaring like a m*f*rrrrrr......any errand that can be done via the internet is well worth the time u take droning into the glowing screen.
However, i still love hikin' around on the 2 feet i have, while they are still good, and livin' in the city provides plenty of opportunity for it!
i feel really bad for those people that are paying over $100 for a fill up at the gas stations.
maybe that guy dan from 98rock this morning will get a new car donated to him.
and the sound of the 3 cylinder that gets @50 highway epa...oh yeah...will the sacrifice of horsepower matter compared to the hole in the wallet?
from 98 rock this morning, check out
www.danielsbigtrip.blogspot.com
Daniel McConnell
here you go, the blurb taken from 98 rocks site:
Daniel McConnell is a 30-year-old former Army helicopter pilot, who lost his right arm when his Apache Helicopter crashed in Afghanistan.
Daniel just finished his first year of medical school, so he figures it is time for an adventure. He has decided to drive across the country in a
1984 Chevy Suburban with 230,000 miles on it, to meet the people and see the country that he dedicated 11 years of his life protecting.
No agendas. Just a Veteran, his truck, a dog, and the United States.
Daniel stopped by the show on Monday on his way up North.
If you would like to keep track of Daniel's progress, and donate some money to help him with gas and food, click here.

stuck in the 90's?

so, i just found some of my old tapes from high school days.
i watched the 1992 Mtv music awards again...wow. it explains a lot about me, i think.
the other day at work, the guy i may be working with soon said that his jazz station just went off the air...so, what did i listen to on the radio?
i said i usually like 98rock. he goes,"Oh! Your a rocker!"
it never hit me until then, and then watching that videoTAPE...yes, a VHS, made it all that much more clear to me.
later, i found a tape of Pauly Shore, Pearl Jam unplugged, Nirvana, the Cure, and other Greats of the late 80's, 90's.
it's amazing that they were my heros...they were the people who i followed and learned about life from in my teen years. with no dad to help me, they were the next best thing. ugh. not ideal role models, man!
when Mtv actually played music videos and had interviews with rock stars.
no wonder i don't have any cooth or shame.
i'm perplexed about a lot of things lately.
where are these so called "hero's" now?
what's gonna happen to them?
is Kurt Cobain really dead?
i wanted to be a rock star and i set my life to attain that goal. the long haired guys...the mosh pits, the head banging...
Honus isn't even there yet, but he seems like he's real close and he's been jamming a long time...and he can rock the set!
i REALLY wasn't supposed to be a rock star. if Honus hasn't broken through yet...there would have been no hope for me!
a few gigs here, a time to party there...and now...reality and practicality set in even deeper as the next generation starts taking the baton that i've been fumbling with.
however, one thing i know...i lived the rock-n-roll lifestyle for a short blip in time. and they can't take that away from me!
now, i see that my day is over, my time has past. it's time to move on to new pastures.
it's amazing the music that tries to define a generation.
of course, we had all sorts and underground stuff, but the grunge got me...tooth and nail! hehe....dokken - remember that band! hahahahaha....
and then, the rave scene...but that's another story!
i'm getting old and i'm starting to feel old.
sooner or later, i'm going to die~

Something beautiful

So, i've been meaning to blog about this...many things actually, but this first.
the other day as i was walking on my usual route by the water i saw something that really touched me.
on the edge of the water there was this really small boned beautiful blonde girl.
she was there with a young man in a wheel chair. as i walked their way, i saw her taking care of him and just looking like she was really enjoying her time with him. when i passed them, i heard her say,"Oh! Your so cold!" and i heard the sound of a blanket being settled. my first thought was...what a beautiful young lady...she could be with anyone she probably would want to be with, and she seems to be in love with this man who may never be able to ...you know.
what a beautiful young lady outside and, seeming, inside.
seeing them was so touching!
on the way back from my long walk, i saw them just leaving the area where they were enjoying one another.
it was a few hours later.
i wanted to take a picture of them for here, but i didn't know if that would be offensive to them...or, i just didn't know what to think.
all i know is that seeing them really touched me.
i wonder...what happened? has he always been like that, or was he in an accident?
i wanted to know their story.

well...

it is truly offensive to our generation if you take a stand to believe in something so strongly, that it's worth becomes more valuable to you than your own comforts, thoughts, boundaries/or lack of boundaries, strongest feelings and desires.

too good

too smart for me own good....
ugh, me thinx me's gonna hurl!
and i don't even have a college degree....HA HA! Sucka!
i'm sure dat tracka gonna raise an eyebrow shortly!
so, now what?
there's obviously no reason to wait around...but there's nothing in the bowl.
time to wait for dat miracle! i keep hearin 'bout it...comin from here and there...the gentle whisper of my hearts desire...is in the wind again.
don't know where, don't know how, but it's there again.
continuously forced to live by faith.

sad

the saddest thing i saw in France was Sunday morning, bright and early.
As we walked up to wait for the metro, from acrossed the tracks a lady sat, still hunched over in a sleeping position with her stuff to the right and left of her and her long cane on the seat to the left of her. i saw her shaking, but not because she was cold...then, my ears filled me in on the rest of the story. she sat there crying. crying so hard and so loud, not holding back.
what went wrong? what happened? that's all that was going through my mind. what tragedy begot her that she has ended up in this place and in this position? will she pull out? will she be alright? is this all there is for her until she dies?

she

maybe this looks like a gawdy post card

she shimmers every now and then for everyone to see
yet every glance reveals that she is vulnerable and open
everywhere eyes are looking, exploring, lurking
inside, outside, around, over, under, through
she gives all that she has for
our entertainment
our enjoyment
our inspiration
i feel as if i've robbed her after taking from her
us tourists are truly like dirty men taking advantage of innocent beauty
they give all they have and the best of what they got
in exchange for...nothing
the wind blows and the time passes, yet she remains as if in waiting, standing tall and proud.

Paris '08

Just wanted to share some of my favorite pics

This is the crowd of people looking at the Mona Lisa. i love how the people on the right seem to flow out of the painting behind them.

These clouds were awesome!!!

post cardish

same

gotta throw in the tower!

Paris and the rubix mini

So, yet another story from the subway of Paris.
The doors open and in pops this young guy with longish blonde hair holding a rubix cube mini..rather on the beginnings of bohemian lifestyle.
He gently utters a few words to a beautiful young girl sitting on the flip seat and begins twisting and turning the cube quickly. as the train stops and the doors open, the cube spins faster and faster in is hands.
Just as the alarm sounds signaling the closing of the doors, he displays a solved cube and slowly takes a gracious step backwards outside of the train while the doors close right after.
a perfectly timed fantasy of a valiant young man. is he a romantic or just a great showman?!
perhaps i'm the romantic?
it left that haunting feeling deep inside...
these are the moments that make Paris magical for me!

Rant and Rave

A full cart of liquids
(that's the woman that stopped to help me while on her cell) Whoops...this is what happens when wheel bite occurs - check that nasty divet under the cart!! luckily, no cars were coming to run over the liquids that were purchased on someone elses card!!!
the free appetizer
so, this is the rant and rave. this is the 2 slices of CHEESE pizza from Mamma Lucia's in Silver Spring. b/c they do not serve slices of pizza after 5pm, you have to get it to go. As if a whole pizza is any classier that a slice of pizza! COME ON - IT'S PIZZA, FOR CRYIN OUT LOUD! the quality is no better than that wonderful greasy, cheesy boardwalk pizza that you can get for a buck a slice...and it even tastes better that this 2-dollar and fiddy cent pizza (it might have even been more...the merlot was $9, and the final bill came out to 15-n-a lotta change! denying food because of an image you are trying to convey.
OK....zagat rated, i don't care! i'm going to start a service rating! how it tastes and is presented may be one thing to you, since this is america, but service and accomodation will make me a lifetime customer! that's the Egalitarian way! although, in France...you can't have it your way...as experienced from a denial of crepe b/c of the ingredient request of bacon, egg, cheese and nutella. it was about the sweet and salty man!
NOW! ABOUT DUNKIN DONUTS!
ok...so, it's not about their food...once again, it's about the service. i hate being "that" customer that makes the workers cringe when they enter the store. especially service jobs, having done customer service involving food for a number of years in my teens and some 20's, this was a disturbing experience. mostly b/c the girl serving me couldn't pull out of the unhappy situation. she asks what i want, and i tell her ,"2 doz bagels, and 2 dozen donuts".
she then asks me what kind of cream cheese i want and i say,"regular and strawberry." then, i proceed to ask what other flavors there are.
she answers,"we have others."
i ask again,"What other flavors are there?
she goes,"We have 4".
so, it was time to say,"What are they?!" from that point on, i was "THAT" customer. the basic point is, listen closely and respond approriately. if there is a misunderstanding, pull out of it quickly, it's not worth ruining your whole shift over. what makes it worse, is that i showed up at 6:30am, so her shift had probably just gotten started. poor girl. well, she has one more chance to let it go tomorrow morning when i show up again asking for 2 doz bagels and 2 doz donuts! hahaha....
so, between that and the ill-setting pizza denial...and then it was mixed with a lil pms and being slain in the mind to the heart from the prince from another kingdom...tues was a real winner of a day!
however, it was redeemed that night with an incredible encounter with God! it's amazing how crud from the day disappears so suddenly when your with Him! tuesdays craziness and chaos were a great reminder of how broken, sick and needy i am of the perfect love for me!