britney
I have two new house guests, a la Hospitality Club. It's like Couch Surfing, only more popular among foreign travelers and those brave U.S. citizens who travel abroad (note a thread of satire). HC requires your passport number be entered and verified, so it's a bit "safer" in some ways than CS. Last night was their first night here, tonight is their last. These kids are a couple from Ottawa, Canada. The dude speaks English pretty damn well, the chick speaks English well enough (better than my French, worse than my Spanish). They are nice enough, I suppose I just have a lot going on right now..
Speaking of which, I have been cleaning my house like mad lately, all to Britney's new album, Circus. I cleaned the whole house and "got the sickness" out of it the other night; last night I finally finished putting away weeks' worth of clean laundry; and tonight I have finally gone through my messenger bag and purse: both of which contained a bunch of random papers, receipts, et cetera etc: things to be recycled and/or discarded. My bag can actually fit my laptop and books, now, which is thrilling. I'm a super nerd, I know.
Boz called me today, he's camping out about 50 miles +/- outside of Austin. We're still discussing New Year's Eve plans in Austin, etc. I cleared the end-of-the-week with my [freakin' awesomesauce] boss, but I'm not sure if I'm up for the drive out there, and what else will likely accompany a visit to one of my favorite cities and nature areas surrounding it. I'm contemplating going, though, and then spending a day or two hiking, climbing, camping, and maybe even swimming at Pedernales Falls, weather-permitting (have to be very wary of flash floods there). At least I could visit my beloved Barton Springs in Austin, if I didn't make it outside the city.
The end of this year is rather strange: excepting scant few people, most of my friends and acquaintances do not have solid plans to bring in the New Year. Hmph. Interesting?
Anyway, a cool thing/less boring - possibly more interesting note: I brought my Canadian visitors to my grandmother's house this evening, to eat and so that they could talk to her in French and hear her Cajun French, and stories about the culture, our culture. It was pretty damn cool, and I actually understood a lot of what was being said, although I can't speak a word of French (I take that back: I can actually speak a little bit of French, but nothing compared to my English or Spanish)..
I may need a break from running my free hostel. While it's always enjoyable and a great experience, and I meet really amazing people, and my house is rarely empty, it still takes its toll on my need to just come home and sleep after work, some days. We'll see. I write this, but I imagine the next person to email me asking about accommodation will not be denied, unless s/he is some freaky axe-murderer, in which case I will promptly and politely decline the visit.
Isn't this pic cute? I know it's grainy and J regrets the high ISO, but I think it came out kind of artsy and cool, and since it was freakin' freezin' raining yesterday, the "grainy quality" of the photo seems apropos. Yep, that's a baby alligator, by the way.
http://ennyrak.blogspot.com
LJ Note: I need to clean my computer screen. Gods, I'm neurotic, but I truly despise fingerprints/whatever other little marks on my screen. FYI: the prints aren't mine! :)