less scattered

i just got back from washington dc. went to two meetings and walked around with my dad, talking about programming, problem solving, and lots of other stuff. the first meeting was fun. i got to look at an intranet (essentially…

just me

my dad left for austin today. he started his journey last wednesday (june 25) driving from texas and arrived the following thursday night after a total of 22 hours in the car. while he was here we went hiking with…

hummus

i first heard of hummus sometime in highschool from christina mehl, who was working at thundercloud subs (check out that website for some pretty incredible web design). she was describing some sandwich whose principle ingredient was this pureed chickpea and…

idea about words

i am constantly looking up words online. sometimes just to check the spelling, but often just to make sure the word i’m using in a blog post or email actually means what i think it means. it’s also fun to…

nesting

when i moved into the apartment on briarbridge valley, i went to town outfitting the kitchen. i had barely cooked during my four years of undergrad, and yet i seemed to have no problem at all stocking an entire kitchen…

you know you’ve arrived when

you get a letter in the mail from bangkok addressed to you: and it contains a LIFETIME VIP MEMBER CARD:

couch

i’m sitting on my new couch. the cushions are all firm and new–they need to be broken in some, i think. and i need some throw pillows. the color is almost a bluish charcoal, depending on the light. the guys…

the database of known humans

i get about 10-15 spam emails a day. i delete them as soon as i see them. actually i bounce them to spam@unc.edu so hopefully someone at unc can contact the offending email servers. chances are they probably just delete…

turn around

how could anyone ever get up in front of a microphone on karaoke night at bubs after owen and rebecca’s stirring rendition of “total eclipse of the heart”? Turn around… clearly my efforts at complete vocal supremacy (singing wide open…

la révolution française

a storm blew through town just as i was leaving work. it knocked out power in carrboro, and though i thought momentarily about firing up the laptop (sans internet) to work on the database for tanzania, i decided rather to…

to my fellow pine lovers

i use pine to read and compose email. many people call this “checking your email with telnet” as we used to telnet to isis.unc.edu in order to check our email on the library computers intended primarily for web-based research. actually…

tanzania, twin peaks, tilapia, & toliet paper

on saturday i’m off to tanzania to reprise my first trip. this time i’ll be in dar for a lengthy two weeks, which should provide plenty of time for database hacking, hands-on training, and poolside relaxation. watched blue velvet and…

i am not in tanzania :(

i am not in tanzania nor am i on my way to tanzania. i am in chapel hill. right now i should have been on a flight about to land in amsterdam. sadly i am not. my flight out of…

i am not on a plane to amsterdam :(

what is this? justin’s travel woes? for some reason, second attempt at leaving RDU was delayed 20 minutes due to weather in detriot. i’m not sure how, but this seemed to eat up my *entire* hour-long layover, and I MISSED…

i AM in tanzania!

it is not everyday that one flies over the highest mountain in africa Mount Kilimanjaro from the air

i need to go get some dinner, but…

i wanted to say hi to my blog, which i know misses me. dear blog, i’m in dar (that’s what the cool kids call it). i went to work today. 8 to 5, hellyeah! i’m itching because i sat out…