Clinton vs. Obama vs. Facebook Wall vs. Mimosas

Why hello there! Welcome to my blog. You must be very bored, or really interested in my travels!

Well, about my travels: I can tell you that I'm currently in the George Bush Houston International Airport (in Houston....the Houston in Texas). I am stealing the wireless from the President's Club. Good times. I will be in New Orleans in a few hours. So as of now, I don't have anything interesting to say about Travels with AJ. (Or do I???? Read all the way through!)

Instead, I will throw out some thoughts about politics and Facebook:

Here is a little game you should play. It's a fun way to learn about today's candidates.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/candidate-match-game.htm

However, since I distrust the news media, and since USA Today is not exactly high caliber (sorry, but if I should be snobby about something, it might as well be about how I receive current events), I'm not entirely sure how accurate it is.

Here is a GREAT website to help you figure out who to vote for!

http://www.2decide.com/table.htm

Here is something to try if you're bored in the office. Go back and reread ALL of your Wall Posts on your Facebook Profile. I did that the other day. My first one goes back to November 3rd, 2004!!

Here are some of my favorite wall posts (I'll respect the anonymity of the posters...except for my brother):

6:16am on October 18th, 2006

"AJ I am also in a primitive community in a different country, Ireland. Today I woke up and went to the ritual feasting center, McDonalds, and then watched an ancient "mimetic drama box" or some of the kids call them Televisions. I took a ride in some sort of chariot drawn by invisible druid spirits which are called "Volkswagen" over here. People here worship an intoxicating black fluid called guinness and often go into trances where they are possessed by the demons of said liquid. It is a strange land, but I'm slowly acclimating myself to their culture. Slowly."

at 6:38pm on February 9th, 2006

Happy Birthday manjkl. Have a great time. Oh, by the way, I reminded Gandalf that today was your birthday, and he said he'd personally stop by Chuuk to wish you all the best. Same with Luke Skywalker, actually... and Dumbledore, come to think of it. Ditto Indiana Jones, Neo, Marty McFly, Homer Simpson, and Walter Mitty. So that should be fun. Lastly, Zeus said he'd sacrifice 10,000 bulls to honor the occasion... you know how sons get about celebrating their father's birthdays.. Allllright we miss you!

at 9:52pm on March 14th, 2007

"This note is more to the whole of the internet community than it is specifically to A.J. But I find it apalling that no one has posted on this wall since A.J.'s birthday. I think there should be wall messages daily. Even if it reminding him of what day it is back in America (Wednesday). Anyway, please post on this wall, or else I will get beaten when he returns."

(my brother wrote that one)

at 3:46pm on June 26th, 2007

"there is photographic evidence of your presence in Washington, DC recently. There is no evidence (electronic or otherwise) alerting me to your presence. I may revoke my status as the deity of your religion over this."

at 8:00pm on August 12th, 2007

"gorgonzola"

UPDATE:

So I was sitting in a little chair in the terminal, sitting across from the President's Club, mooching the internet, when this guy stopped in front of me, looking at one of the big poster boards I carry around for recruiting. He apparently works with the Jesuit Conference in D.C. We got a talkin', exchanged pleasantries, then he went on his way. A few minutes later he came back and asked if I would like to sit in the President's Club instead of out in terminal.

Heck Yeah!

So now I am munching on a nice toasted bagel with fresh orange juice in a nice comfy chair and I have my laptop on my own personal desk, not my lap. Pretty sweet!

Let me find some Mimosas and then I'll be on my way!

Viva Espana

My Christmas: Version 3.0*

Happy New Year everyone.

First off, I need to say that I have not made ANY New Years resolutions. Why would I do that? Let's see how well you know me by taking a short quiz!

I did not make any New Year's Resolutions for 2008 because:

a) New Year's Resolutions are dumb and stupid and dumb.

b) New Year's Resolutions were just a lame creation by the media in order to potentially market New Years in yet another way, giving sales and advertising yet another plug for their products in our holiday seasons.

c) I can't keep any resolutions (except that time I decided not to ever drink alcohol until a week after graduating from college).

d) Let's be honest: we're just waiting for 2009.

e) The only thing I'm looking forward to is May 22nd, 2008, and that's it.

f) We should be making new resolutions about ourselves on a daily basis while continually examining the direction of our lives ... or sit back and see what happens. Either way.

The answer is at the bottom of this blog.

Now about my trip to Spain.

My mom, dad, brother (see his blog at http://www.thesaltminer.blogspot.com/ ...he pays me every time I mention his blog) and I left on Continental for a direct flight from sunny Newark to Madrid. Yay Continental One Pass miles! After a 6 1/2 hour flight and delicious airliner food (I'm not being sarcastic here...once, when flying from Chuuk to the other islands, the meal we had on the plane was one of the best meals I've had in a while, so I have a new appreciation, nay, love affair, with airplane food) we landed in the 40 degree capital of Spain.

I can talk about seeing one half of my family (my dad's side) for the first time in 7 years, or the nostalgic feelings I experienced whenever I visited several sites that I have frequented as a child, but instead, I will give highlights, mostly dealing with food.

(This is a Spainard.)

Jamon EVERYWHERE. That's ham in Spanish. They literally have the leg of a pig clamped on this stand, and you just merrily slice off little pieces. It was delicious! I definitely overdosed on jamon.

Chorizo and morcilla, both of them pig sausages. Yum. Also aceitunas (olives), tortilla (spanish omelette), pulpo (marinated octopus) and mejillones (marinated mussel). I stayed away from the sea food...it's got nothing on the good Pacific-lagoon sashimi.

Tapas Bar hoping (my favorite bar hoping) - men and women and children of all ages head into bars (never sketcyh, except for the insane amounts of smoking going on) and eat stupidly delivious appetizers (tapas) while drinking good beer such as Mahou Cinco Estrellas and Cruz Campo. And of course sangria. This is where I overdosed on jamon.

An amazing spread/soup that I will make this weekend called Salmorejo. Ingredients:500 g very ripe, very red tomatoes 1 clove of garlic 1 soup spoon vinegar 4 soup spoons of virgin olive oil salt 2 hard boiled eggs and some chopped up jamon serrano to put on top salt 1 stale Spanish/French stick bread (the quantity of bread may vary) - By stale bread I mean that it should be very dry (but not moldy)....AWESOME. I wish I overdosed on that.

Chocolate con churros. You may have had these in Disney World. They have bars in Madrid dedicated to these fried treats. We entered this bar PACKED with people with tea cups filled with melted chocolate while they dipped these huge fried sticks of fried goodness in them.

Almond soup, a Christmas tradition. Very sweet. I would have bathed in it (gross?).

Rabbit. Tender. Rich flavor. Better tasting than dog and turtle. Great appetizer for...

Roasted pig and lamb, famous in Segovia. The roasted pig is called cochinillo asado, the roasted lamb is called cordero asado and the rabbit and rice is called paella con conejo. I would live off of that.

If you haven't noticed, I like food a lot.

And Segovia is known for...

...its medieval castle and 2000 year old Roman aqueduct, still going strong (I bathed in it). This town is north of Madrid, past the snowy mountains, east of Mordor and south of the Shire. No dragons.

El Escorial. Every time I went to Spain as a child, that is where I stayed. Small mountain town an hour north of Madrid, home of Philip the II's monastary, or summer home. Huge castle/16th century royal palace/pretty sick Catholic cathedral. Also a pretty awesome recreation of biblical Nazereth. By recreation I mean life-sized plaster replicas of shepards, Arabic warriors (they should have more of them in the Bible), and the three wise men, one of them riding an elephant (obviously).

Visited a huge cross carved out of a mountain that includes a tomb/cathedral also inside the mountain. Former Spanish monarch/dictator Franco is buried there. It is eerily majestic inside the huge and beautiful cathedral.

So that's about it. The jet-lag was not so fun. Also, Spaniards like to have lunch at 2:30 and dinner any time after 10. We ate at 9:30 pm once, and everyone else was complaining that the Americanos were eating too early.

Also, check out this castle I stayed at last weekend for a JVC retreat. Jesuit retreat center Inisfada on Long Island. Not too shabby. The Jesuit vow of poverty is evident here.

My travels start again next week as I head towards New Orleans for a second time.

Until then, stay classy, planet Earth.

PS: The answer to the quiz: none of the above. I just forgot to make a New Years resolution. But I like the other answers.

*This blog may be re-edited and have different versions. My parents, especially my dad, will most likely correct my spelling or facts about his homeland.