Wagonwheel Wednesdays: North Carolina

My friends, our Wagonwheel has returned. Maybe my recent purchase of Oregon Trail for the iPhone reminded me about how much I've neglected this space. But I must have discipline. It's sad, I can't even remember the last state we did... Let me take a look. Wow, New York... On January 28th. That's really sad. Sorry folks.

Next up we have North Carolina. For some reason I've spent a ton of time in North Carolina. I'd say after my home state of PA, my current state of CA, my college state of RI and my nearby states of NJ and NY, North Carolina has been my home away from home. I believe I was there as a young lad, but from adulthood on, I seemed to go back to North Carolina every few years for some reason or another. Here's a quick rundown.

*I did a 10-day writing program at Duke in 10th grade

*I went to Winston-Salem for an award after my Freshman year of college

*I lived in Durham for 6 weeks or so while working on a show for one of my professors. (I'm realizing that I sound pretty nerdy now...)

*I went to my friend's house in the North Carolina mountains. We found a bloated mouse in the toilet. I was scared of it.

*I drove on the Blue Ridge Parkway twice (once after living in Durham, once after visiting my friend).

*I spent a night in Charlotte on my way to South Carolina.

Perhaps that's it.

I would never want to live in North Carolina but overall it's a state with plenty to offer. The Blue Ridge Parkway is one of the most gorgeous drives in America. Mountains, forests, Civil War history and more. Plus, half of the Great Smoke Mountains National Park is in North Carolina. It can get crowded but it's a fabulous park with some great sites and hikes. Also, the food in North Carolina is delicious. The vinegar style barbecue that they've made famous down there is worth the trip alone.

I don't recommend going in the summer though, it's hot and sticky. Oh and if you like cigarettes, you can smoke almost everywhere. Even in many hotel elevators. Fuck yeah!

TOPICAL TUESDAYS: DUBAI WATER HOTEL

I'm really blown away by the new Atlantis hotel in Dubai. All I've heard recently is that Dubai is crumbling with the rest of the world, yet here we have a 1.5 billion dollar hotel with a 2.9 million gallon aquarium, and a water park with another 4.7 million gallons of water... all in the middle of the desert. Another place to visit just so you can say, "what the fuck?" Oh and it's built on the palm-tree shaped island that didn't even exist a few years back. Lovely. Look at the room with the full aquarium views.
Oh my what fun.


As long as we're on the topic of hotels, take a look at this great little website: Unusual Hotels of the World Not all these hotels are that strange but some are pretty nuts, like the "Dog Park Inn," where you sleep inside a dog (not a real dog though. That may be a bit gross and controversial). I'm still hoping to go to one of the ice hotels one day.

In other exciting news, the stock market actually went up today. I'm expecting another downturn tomorrow though.

Oh damn, my house is so hot right now because Jen has to finish her project and puts on the brutal overhead halogen lights. I'm going to be sun burnt tomorrow. I wanted to write a substantial entry but I think I need to smother myself with ice cubes instead.

THOUGHTFUL THURSDAYS: GIVE ME PENNIES

Here's a thought... I've ignored this blog. Man oh man. I've been so busy blogging and writing articles on other people's sights that I've forgotten all about everyone here! Speaking of which, make sure you visit all my sites on Examiner. You don't even have to read the articles, just visit. And if you have a home AND work computer AND iphone make sure you visit everywhere. I get a cent for each visit, so it's a good cause.

http://www.examiner.com/x-5020-LA-Music-Shopping-Examiner~y2009m3d5-Circuit-City-3-Days-Left

Exciting stuff. It's funny how I worked in my old job for three years and my google search results never increased much, but now in only a few weeks, I'm a pretty popular guy on google. Well not really. But I went from about 12 results to 110. At this rate, I'll be the top search of 2009.

I don't even know what to say for the day. Here's a great link I just found from the guy who runs the music website I write for: http://www.badpaintingsofbarackobama.com/

Wow. It's hard getting back in the groove of things. I'm written out, my friends. But I refuse to close down the blog or put it on hiatus. Just please know that I'm very busy with this pro bono writing thing. I'll keep you in the loop at all times though. In other good news, I got into UCLA! That makes it much more likely that I'll remain in LA (although if I get off the waitlist at Berkeley I'll probably go).

Sigh.

What else can I tell you that you may find interesting? Oh! They came out with a Kindle application for the iPhone. It's free, but the books obviously aren't. Cheaper than a real deal Kindle. But also much smaller. So take your pick. In these troubling times the money has to win out... I wonder if they have Kindle books on torrent... Hmmmmmmmm...