Laura (libarian) es hermosa!

Yes, friends, I seem to have a secret admirer. This piece of graffiti was marked onto a table at my library. And that is exactly the way that everything was spelled.

Kind of made my day. Although I would have preferred it if they hadn't written on the table in permanent marker.

I'm an answerer

Lately, I've become addicted to Yahoo! Answers. If you don't know what that is, basically people post a question to the website, and other people answer them. The questioner and other users can vote on the best answer, and you get points for having the best answer.

Its kind of exhilirating to be chosen as the best answer. Its also really crazy how many people don't know how to use the Internet! I mean, some of these answers you can find on Wikipedia. Some of the questions are kind of funny (how do they keep the colors separate in a Cadbury creme egg), other questions are straight from a kid's homework assignment.

I always get a little thrill when my question is chosen as the best answer, but when I told Matt that, he said, "Aren't you just doing your job?" Which is true, I guess. But it just goes to show that in the age of the Internet, librarians are needed more than ever.

Its so sad

This morning I was reading the Washington Post online. The Virginia Tech massacre is a very big story here, since its only a few hours south of DC and the shooter and a few victims were from the area. Underneath the stories about VT were a few other world headlines, in much smaller type. The one that caught my attention was "Baghdad blasts kill 131."

After Monday, that particular headline sent me reeling. I can't imagine living in a country where mass killings are so...ordinary. I can't imagine daily have to relive the sorrow, shock and pain of 9/11 or Virginia Tech. But that's what the people of Iraq, particularly in Baghdad, have to live with.

After that, I flipped through the Post's online photo album of the victims of VT. I teared up at work as I saw so many young people's lives taken away from them, as I read about the heroics of some of their professors. And I wondered about the Iraqis whose pictures we'll never see, and the infants who may have died at the scene, who never had the chance to grow up to be heroes.

This isn't a commentary about the war. Its just my own thoughts about two terrible situations, and how the media covers it. We may have become desensitized to coverage about the war, and perhaps its a shame that we're only reminded about the horrors happening abroad when a horror happens here.

Me, on a diet

Me
Originally uploaded by laura_gonzales.

Every now and then I'll catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror, and think, Wow, I look good! I hadn't realized how good I've been looking until I started putting my pictures from Paris in a photo album. I happened to put them in the same album as my pictures from London and Rome, which we visited in May 2005.

I can't believe how much I've changed! It's like I'm a different person. And its not just because I'm wearing an opposite color jacket either, or my hair's a little longer (the shoes are the same, and I'm wearing a pink shirt in both). I'm honestly surprised that people recognize me.

Looking a pictures like this really motivates me (she writes, while eating Easter candy). Its been a tough couple of months for me, losing weight-wise, since I've only lost about 10 lbs this year. It seems like there's always an excuse to not watch what I'm eating.

Matt and I were joking the other day while at Subway, and I couldn't finish my 6 in. roast beef sub (on wheat, no cheese). "Is this going to turn into an after school special? 'Laura, Please Eat Something'?" he said. Luckily, I love food too much for that to ever become a problem.

Snow in April

Snow in April
Originally uploaded by laura_gonzales.

It snowed this morning. Yes, today, April 7, it snowed about an inch in our nation's capital. Nevermind that this is the same week as the Cherry Blossom festival, or that is was 75 degrees four days ago, or that the tourists have been running around in shorts. It snowed this morning and the blooming trees were covered in the white stuff. Apparently its been 83 years since the last time it snowed on this date.

The snow's pretty much gone now. Its been above freezing all day,, although it may freeze again tonight. I keep hoping that's going to be in the end of it, and spring will finally come to us full-blast, in all of its sneeze-inducing glory. I'm just not cut out for these yankee springs.

Trip Planner-Paris

Okay, so I've finally updated my Trip Planner for Paris. You can read about our trip in excruciating detail. Be sure to leave a comment there so that I can feel loved!

Paris in the Spring!

We're back! We were supposed to return on Saturday night, but the flight was overbooked and they asked for volunteers to fly back on Sunday. They gave us each vouchers worth $400, and put us up in a hotel. But of course, that's not what you want to hear.

The trip was so great! We stayed right in the middle, in the Saint Germain de Pres neighborhood. Our hotel room was small, like most European hotel rooms, but the staff was very friendly. We walked everywhere, and every night we were so exhausted. We tried to pack in as much as we could in a week, but there was so much more that we missed. In addition to Paris, we visited Versailles (a 45 minute train ride out of town), and there was a few worrisome hours there when we discovered that some of the workers were on strike, but only for the morning.

One surprising discovery for us was the Sacre Couer basillica. It was so beautiful, inside and outside.

Of course, we had to visit the Eiffel Tower. Out of necessity we visited it at night, and luckily it had rained earlier so a lot of the smog was cleared out.

The food was sooo good. The French really love their bread and dairy products, and honestly I don't know if there was a meal that I had that didn't involve bread and cheese (even in the morning, there was usually a cured meat out). Also, I've decided that I really, really dislike foie gras (duck liver). I had it several times in Paris, because they are obsessed with it, but I don't see the appeal. I went to Paris with an open mind about food, and I'm glad I tried it, but if I can avoid it, never again.

Oh, and the song of the trip was "La Camisa Negra," by Juanes! We heard it everywhere!

Anyway, I'll probably blog more about Paris later. And I'll definitely have more pictures up soon.