To the few of you who have encountered Mono (emmanuel on here, though he has only posted a few times), he opened a carry-out/bar/eatery in York, PA called the Stadium Grille. I went and checked it out with friends Mike Mann and Henry while back in PA last week. The neighborhood it is in isn't the best but it's right around the corner from the York baseball stadium. I was served with one of the best slices of pizza that I have ever had there. It is a great feeling to see your friends taking risks and carving something out for themselves. Anyone that is in the area for any reason should stop by: website

Last weekend Megan and I traveled to a butterfly conservatory called Magic Wings near Deerfield, MA. It was a pretty fun experience. People were giggling like four years olds as butterflies and moths flew into their face/eyes/ears/nostrils and suckled the sweet nectar of nearby sugary fluid-soaked sponges. The bright blue ones ("Blue Morphos") were very interested in my green tshirt. Also present were quails, parrots and a few lizards. The place definitely had a weird faerie vibe, but i guess that's the point. It was a random day trip but was worth the hour or so drive. Other offbeat attractions of note are "Dr. Spooky's Animal Museum" (weird halloween themed stuffed animal gallery) and about three hundred "fossil emporiums". Also the home of the Yankee Candle.

SIGGRAPH at the convention center. Stayin' downtown. Any San Diego heads should give me a ring (# in profile) if nighttime hijinx are desired. have a nice day.

When I moved to Mass., Megan had to stay behind in Baltimore to finish out the school year. She decided to rent out the spare bedroom to a girl she worked with. It was an informal arrangement and we didn't notify our housing management. The rest is down hill. I will describe the rest in chronilogical order:

-Girl gets fired one week after moving in.
-Girl drinks a bottle of my vodka that was in the freezer with some pills and spends a few days in the hospital. Tells Megan it was because "nobody was home".
-Girl gets new job at a clothing store near DC.
-Girl has nervous breakdown or somesuch at work a week after starting. An ambulance is called. She spends the next week in a facility.
-After hospital incident, girl has been spending 12 hours a day going to a hospital for some outpatient program because she was dangerously underweight and unstable. She is attempting to get disability but i dont think she's been approved. This could be because she has used it many times in the past.
-At this point she is behind a month's rent and a month + some in utilities.
-Megan gives her a few deadlines to pay what is owed, but girl still doesn't have the money
-After the final deadline is reached (last night), girl asks for more time. Megan is firm and says no. Girl states that she will have to live on the street and suggested that she will have to become a prostitute (this girl is a big time church goer so this was a bit shocking, but I guess that was the intent). Megan still says no. Girl says that we'll "just have to call the fucking cops then." Girl says "Fuck you bitch" a few times and storms out.

Basically this girl has a lot of problems but seems to try and use them to get pity. We feel bad for her but she is really erratic and Megan no longer feels safe living with her. I am in Baltimore until tomorrow and I'm trying to resolve this now. Since she is not on the lease and has no hope of paying us, I am considering just having the locks changed. We would be willing to hold her stuff and take care of her cats until Megan moves to Mass with me in June but we just dont want her in the house anymore.

Anybody have experience with something similar? Is there any legal problem with simply locking her out? How long is long enough to kick someone out when they're not paying rent? I'd rather not involve the cops because she hasn't actually dont anything threatening yet, but this girl is nuts.

A really nice guy that I met at the SIGGRAPH graphics conference this summer Alex Evan started a company called Media Molecule last year. This year his company unveiled their first game, LittleBigPlanet at the Sony keynote speech at GDC this year in San Francisco. It got a standing ovation and people are really hyping it up. I'm so happy for him. He used to do a lot of coding in the euro Demo Scene and has a very unique way of thinking about graphics in general, so i like to hear his ideas. I got to go out to lunch with him yesterday. Hopefully that all works out for him, it looks like he's going to do quite well for himself. Everyone should watch the presentation and demo from the conference here. The game looks fucking awesome.

The most entertaining movie I can recall seeing in the past year. Pretty much what you would expect from the Shaun of the Dead dudes doing an over-the-top action movie. There were so many tiny things in this movie that made me laugh. Recommendeddd

Also, I will be in San Fransisco March 5th-10th at this. I'd never been to San Fransisco, let alone California. I would be interested in having a beer with any Killoggers in the area. What's good to do at night there? I will be inside all day.

I'm in the process of buying my first new car. I have some appointments tomorrow at a few dealerships. Does anybody have any advice as far as haggling goes? I'm not a pushover but it's hard for me to be a stubborn prick too. I've done a little research as far as kelly's blue book, etc. for what prices people are paying. Share your experiences here and help a brother out

I defended my Master's thesis today and passed. Just a week or two more of grad school and I am finished.

I will miss thee

I'm visiting Montreux next week. Setting of "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple and home of one of the biggest jazz festivals in the world. Nestled along Lake Geneva. Anyone ever been to the Montreux area or have an advice about Switzerland?

I only have three days left in Mass. Today I get to leave work at 1 and go to some sort of go-kart track and race around. Tomorrow we have an intern dinner. Friday I only have a half day. Then it's back to MD! I'm kind of glad to be going home but not especially looking forward to my last semester at school. I had a good time here but sort of feel like I wasted my summer, as far as fun goes. Hopefully next summer I'll have a nice apt with megan up here and a grill so we can have awesome summer barbeques with all of the friends I dont have! I should probably learn how to use le grille. Maybe I can fit in a quick beach excursion before the semester really kicks in. I'm definitely going to philly either the first or second weekend in sept to visit friends there.