Less Planning, More Fun

That's my new motto these days, especially as I wind down my time in MD and prepare to get over to IL. I consider myself to be a spontaneous person, and I generally don't plan a lot of stuff. I compensate by being driven by certain goals and principals which allow me to avoid certain unhelpful activities.

I seem to have found a place to move in Champaign, IL. It's about 3 1/2 miles from the Linguistics building with a couple bus routes available in walking distance. I found the place by emailing the leader of the Navigators at UIUC and having him put the word out that I need a place to live. Someone who owns a townhouse with a couple extra rooms then emailed me and offered me one of the rooms. It's small, but cheap, and a good person to live with. Sounds good to me.

On Saturday I took Rachel up to see the LaDew Topiary Gardens. It was my third time going to this place, but Rachel had never been there. The roses were in full bloom in the Rose Garden. The topiary was magnificent. There was a big old buddha topiary, many interesting fountains, dozens of varieties of flowers, and interesting quotes engraved into stone everywhere.

It's only $8 for students, so if you live in driving distance of Baltimore, I highly recommend a visit there! Oh, and we also saw a toad and a water snake and a chipmunk.

After the gardens we surprised my Mom at work. She works at Graul's Market in the cheese department(cheese is my favorite food). So she let us try a bunch of cheeses(blueberry cheese?) and some sushi.

Oh yes, and go see Shrek 2. It's better than the first one, as everyone says. The girls melt all over Puss In Boots and the references are as sharp as ever, and I even saw a reference to Street Fighter 2!(spinning bird kick and shoryuken) The animation is top-notch and many times I was wondering if they put a real person in the movie, but no, I just couldn't tell the difference.