Dear Xanga Page,
   
    Well, it's been a long time coming, but I feel it's time to leave, and change my blog page. I honestly can't believe I've had this up since I was in 8th grade. That's almost 7 years. In that time, I wrote down some of my most personal, random, and just plain weird thoughts here, whenever I felt the need to. From time to time, I still look back on this, and just reminisce. I'd like to thank my sister for giving me this site in the first place; if not for that, I wouldn't be able to have this record of what's been going on through my eyes. I'll try and come back from time to time to write, or see who still blogs on this. But, I'm moving on to blogspot....I won't take this down, seeing that if I do, I might as well take out a significant part of my life right here and now. So this page will remain standing for anyone curious enough to look through this.

Until the future, dear readers. Thanks for reading.
Take care.

-Shane

PS. Yeah, this is one lame way to leave, but I knew I had to post something. I will be back.
The new blog: http://brownsound22.blogspot.com/ Enjoy it.

...and I'm still going!

Today was quiet. I didn't really go out or anything; after church, I just sat down and read for the majority of the day. Ate Jen had work and Mom & Dad had long nights, so they slept the majority of the day. It felt like just another ordinary, boring day, except my e-mail inbox just flooded with more Facebook notifications than usual and the occasional birthday text from a few people. I really wanted to go to Sally's for a free sundae, but by the time I tried to make up my mind, the Cubs game came on. I actually tried scoring the entire game in a notebook. Lame to many, but enjoyable and somewhat fulfilling to the others.

Long story short, today was quiet. I didn't work today, and the Cubs sweep the Sox right out of Wrigley.
The Facebook messages and texts from friends were nice too.
As long as I have those, I'm happy; I don't need anything else.

Happy Birthday to me.

Cubs tickets on my birthday (vs. the Sox) are sold out. Honestly, I saw that one coming.

But, tickets for Thursday's game are also pretty much sold out, the game I took off work to see.

:'(

As long as they keep playing good baseball, I will be happy.  That's all for now; the end.

I really can't sleep right now. It sucks because for once, I actually wanted to turn in early; right after the Cubs game (more on them later). So far, I've logged in my Facebook about a dozen times today just to take a glance at the homepage, and it's getting really fucking tiring. Yes, I know I'm a loser. So why not write in this for a while?

Mom's 52nd birthday was last Thursday, and it was real low-key. Ate Jen and I got her a card and a nice big flowery plant of some sort. Lately, she's been getting into her gardening and plant-appreciating ways, so we thought it would do nicely. Work called me in for a closing shift later that day, so that really sucked. Mom didn't seem to mind though. "Just as long as you eat your pancit," she said. Eating pancit on one's birthday is considered good luck, and a way of wishing someone a long life. I did just that!

The Cubs have been on a fucking roll lately. Despite Soriano's injury (I will forever hate Jeff Bennett, that outfielder-crippling asshole), things are really looking up for this team. Dempster with his first CG since '02, everyone in the lineup hitting, and for once, our bullpen has been kicking ass AND taking some time off! In the back of my mind, I can't help but think, "What If?" But, we're not halfway through the season; more ball to be played. Still, I just can't not express my excitement for the club. Speaking of which, Ate Jen met Ryan Theriot on Monday at a random signing at an appliance store in Logan Square. And where was I? With Dad, watching the new Indiana Jones movie. Granted, it was still a good time (though the plot itself was just really far-fetched), but I was real jealous of her when I got home.

That night, I hit up Sally's with the normal crew, sans Walter. We were pretty much having a little get together for Sylvia before she left for Poland, and for Jeff's birthday, somewhat. Good conversation, as usual, and even better coffee. I hadn't had a cup of their java in weeks. Had a little run-in with Rachel, as she went to use to washroom, and left as soon as she came. Quite odd, but no big deal.

Man...I was looking forward to writing more in this filler of an entry, but I've run out of steam. I'm outta here.

Take care guys.

Well, it's been quite a long time, hasn't it? Let's catch up.

For the past two weeks, I was on vacation with my family in Wien, Austria; aka Vienna. We were visiting my Mom's cousins (Tita Veronica and Tita Marli).It was my first time meeting two of the three cousins that I had there. In 2005, I met Christine (aka Tin Tin) when she visited us in Chicago. The other two were Christine's sister, Cathrine, and my other cousin Philipp. They were all incredibly nice! Philipp had just graduated from his college studies in Italy. Two days before we even arrived in Vienna, he had just moved back into his flat with Tita Veronica. His specialty? He makes violins, violas, and cellos. He even showed off 2 pieces of his work, and played them for us; it was pretty awesome!

But before I go on, I'll write about how much I hate France.

Now, the flight from Chicago to Paris was about 9 hours long. It wasn't bad at all, really. The food was actually real good for airplane food (who knew I'd become a fan of cous cous?) and there were video games, movies, and songs that were provided for all passengers. I even got a chance to use my French skills. I thought things were looking up.

Then we landed in Paris.

Charles De Gaulle airport is a cesspool of disarray and confusion. Midway is Mount Olympus compared to this "airport." We had to hustle a bit, because we had about 50 minutes between flights. We were in terminal 2C, and had to transfer to 2D. We figured that it wouldn't be too far along. But no. We had to travel on 1 tram and a bus to get there. In between the tram and the bus, the French military blocked our path. He told us to use the elevator to head to a detour. So, confused and annoyed, we did so. While we were on the detour, we were blocked off again, for no reason at all. So we were instructed to go outside! By this time, we had about 20 minutes left before our boarding call ended, and we were all furious. A bunch of other people had to follow along with us also, and they weren't having it. While outside, we were told to go across the road (think of O'Hare; we were by the taxis and whatnot) to the median, and walk along the ramp to get to terminal 2D. Keep in mind that none of these soldiers knew any English, and refused to listen to us. Desperate, we walked across the road. I almost got hit by Parisian taxis, twice. Then after about a minute or 2 on the road, the guard tells us to come back, and continue our way to the terminal. A few people were already walking on the ramp ahead of us, so I felt kinda bad for them. Once inside the airport, we pretty much ran to our terminal, like the McCalister family in Home Alone. When we arrived at our gate, our plane was backing out. When we explained our situation to the guy who gave us tickets for the next flight to Austria, he informed us that stuff like this happens every day. Then he gave us free food vouchers and our new boarding passes.

Fuck Paris. I really wanted to like it too.

Anyway, the majority of our trip was spent in Vienna. Our cousins showed us the different sights like Schoenbrunn palace, the Wurstelprater in Leopoldstat, Mariazell (where Pope Benedict celebrated mass at the church there last year), and Stephansdome in the town center of Stephansplatz. In that time, we also visited Salzburg, Mozart's birth place and where The Sound of Music was filmed. We also paid a visit to Innsbruck, the Swarovski crystal headquarters. We also played a lot of billiards, card games, and talked about our lives in the US with our cousins. All throughout our travels, we relied on public transportation. We rarely used a car. Their underground trains and buses kick so much ass. The CTA should be ashamed; the longest we had to wait for a bus or train was about 6 minutes. They even tell how how many minutes there are between the next two arriving trains or buses. And, the stations are well-lit and clean. The food was delicious; I had many different kinds of bratwurst, bad ass wiener schnitzel (some was homemade also), soup and vegetables, and beverages. I'm pretty sure that I didn't eat a piece of bad food the entire time we were in Austria. And let me tell you: their toilets do Not. Mess. Around. Ask me about how they work sometime, and I'll be glad to tell you. I even wish that I had them in my bathroom!

A few facts and some stats for you:

-Austrian carnies are much more maniacal than American ones.
-Number of times Dad puked because of said Austrian carnies: 2
-Number of times we used a car: 4
-Austrian chocolate rules, it's my favorite now.
-Wiener = one who/that comes from Vienna.
-Always stay on the right side of an escalator if you plan on not walking. Otherwise, prepare to get hustled.
-Pop in Austria is a lot less syrupy.
-Kebaps, their answer to gyros are good, but they don't beat them. The hot sauce they use is excellent, though.
-Mozart Balls (or Mozartkugel) aren't what you expect. They're chocolates filled with nougat and marzipan.
-Christopher Plummer from The Sound of Music was an asshole!
-The Blue Danube River isn't that blue, but it's still a sight to see.
-Thiß ßymbol is not pronounced like a "b." Rather, it'ß a ßharp "s."
-McDonald's and BK's are like palaces compared to here. And Pulp Fiction is right not only about Paris, but in Austria also. (Quarter Pounder w/cheese = Royale mit Käse)
-My lifetime Snooker record: 3-0

But like I was saying, my cousins really impressed me and made me feel humble. Christine is still in high school, and Cathrine is a nursing student. They each knew at least 3 languages and they were extremely nice, hospitable, and respectful. It was a real pleasant surprise! I loved getting to know them better and spending time with them all. Cathrine works at a McDonalds, and she hooked us up with free food one night, and taught us how to play an addicting card game called Gemsh. Philipp also gave us a ton of free chocolate and Mozart Balls, and introduced me to the game of Snooker. We also met his girlfriend, Joy; and she was a joy to be around (yes, pun intended). Tin Tin was even our tour guide for a few times over the trip, and was nearly impossible to beat in a hand of five card draw poker.

I miss them a lot. We've been keeping in contact through Facebook and Multiply, so we've got our bases covered. Philipp and Cathrine might visit us here in December, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

But yeah, it was an amazing vacation. My cousins really humbled me, and I can't thank them enough for their generosity and hospitality. I'm really looking forward to seeing all of them again, and go for another Gemsh showdown.

As much as I loved Austria, I really missed Chicago, my friends, and baseball. That's all I've got for now. Check the Facebook out for pictures that I shall be uploading soon.
It's good to be back! Go Cubs!