Top Chef Finale and Belgian Waffles

I am incredibly stoked. The man that I have rooted for from the beginning made to the final two. Is it the hair? Possibly. The cool name? Probably. The fact that his arrogance is hot because he actually is super talented, so it's not really hubris, but confidence? That he didn't personally attack people even when unfairly villanized? That he's clearly a geek in his field? Definitely. Marcel, I love you; if we get married, we'll be able to have amazing dinner parties for the English department, and I promise I will eat anything you make me...even if it's something gross with peas, mushrooms, olives, or green peppers.

And now, a foodie moment from Brussels.

Sunday Comics

Sunday is the best day for comics, well I don't get a paper anymore, but that's what I remember from being a kid. Brussels takes their comics seriously; they were continually refered to as the 'ninth art'. (I don't know what the first eight are, but I'm sure it's they are the more accepted classic ones.) Katie and I went to the Comic Strip Centre, which has history of comics, production of, etc. Most of the exhibits didn't have English explanations, and though we had a book from the desk that had the English translations, it was incomplete and difficult to follow at times. But, Belgium is the home to Tintin, the Smurfs, and the guy with a red mask (sadly, Katie has those pics, so you won't see him).

Beyond the obvious coolness of the Museum, it was housed in a former department store that was designed by Victor Horta, one of the first architects to encorporate the principles of Art Nouveau into buildings. It was wonder-bar, but there'll be more on him later.

So I Went to Europe...

The past few weeks have been extremely busy. Once school ended, I had a few days off before going to Boston to be with my family for Christmas. Since my brother and sister -in-law recently moved into a new house we spent most of the time moving boxes, painting walls, and doing other general home repair (well, my dad did, I just stuck to painting and carrying things). It was nice that I got to see the Family Roomie while in Boston.
On the 27th , I flew to Chicago to fly to London to get on a bus to Coventry to get on another bus to get to Birmingham to see Katie. It was an exhausting day-plus of travel, but worth it! I was abroad until Jan 14th . Katie and I spent time in London, Brussels, Brighton, and, of course, Birmingham, until Eden showed up on the 10th when we trekked up to and all around Scotland, where we saw Nessy!At the beginning of December, I received a lover-ly Olympus Stylus 750 digital campus for my birthday/Christmas. I have since taken hundreds of pictures, some more of which I will post, describing my travel adventures as the spirit leads. I assure in no way will I attempt to follow a linear narrative of events because that is too daunting a task that would surely fall by the wayside in light of my extremely busy semester that is just starting, but more on that later.