Rebecca A. Foster

I read this blog post about a memorable mix tape, and it reminded me of the box of mix tapes (and mix CDs) boxed up in my storage space. I got my first mix tapes from A., in high school. He was the rebel, I was the studious good girl, and twain we met over debate class and mix tapes. His tapes leaned heavily on b-sides of The Posies and Fugazi, with Nitzer Ebb  and obscure Japanese-release-only Depeche Mode songs thrown in for good measure. My friend C. made me mix tapes in college, mostly songs by alternative bands he found rummaging through second-hand record stores; I'd never heard of most of them, but he did introduce me to Henry Rollins, something I'll never forget. He sent them to me through the mail and I loved getting that recognizable padded envelope. We never dated, but I'd like to think a man who will go to the post office for you thinks you're pretty great. The creme of my mix tape cookie was S., who made me mix CDs by the dozens, full of alterna-rock...

I love that my laptop and iPod run on 100 - 240 voltage and I don't have to carry converters.  I love that I can take antibiotics when I get sick.  I love that I can download silly American tv shows and get a small respite from daily life here.  I love that I can get dimsum 24 hours a day on the street near my apartment.  I love that I have friends who know I am eccentric and have a hard time moving past my mistakes, and like me anyway.  I love that I can still shop on Amazon, Target and iTunes because my credit card address is still U.S. based.  I love cheese. 

I hate being scared, but I love historical ghost walks or "haunted walks". Several U.S. cities have them (Boston, New Orleans) and I went on a great haunted walk in Ottawa when I was there last year. On a haunted walk, a guide takes a group on a walking tour of buildings and places that have haunted ghost stories. It's a great way to see the city you are visiting, as well as hear history about the buildings and people. Next time you are traveling to a major city, check and see if they offer a haunted walk. Really fun! Also, the Bowery Boys ( my favorite podcasters) have several podcasts about haunted and creepy places in NYC. Check them out on iTunes the next time you are there.

1. Amazon.com 2. Target 3. iTunes 4. Google

NBC came back to iTunes, which means I can watch 30 Rock and The Office this season after all! (Although I am sad to say I am more excited about 30 Rock than The Office .) Hulu turned out to be a bust over here, even with an IP bouncer my internet connection is too slow to stream. Shows that are popular here: Lost, Prison Break, Desperate Housewives, Sex and the City, Ugly Betty and Friends . You can buy these DVDs on the street easily. I can see why the humor of 30 Rock and The Office doesn't translate well, but if only they'd get on The Daily Show bandwagon, I'd be set!

One good thing about getting older: if you keep in touch with your peeps, gradually you all thin out across the country/globe, which means you have friends (sometimes with spare beds/couches) all over the place. Awesome! It also means you get e-mails and text messages that contain such random comments as to make you stop and marvel that THIS SENTENCE is how your lives are still converging. A sampling from the past week (from memory, I am too lazy to go look them up): 1. Florida friend: "Just got back from Hemingway's house. I heart Jim!" This friend and I often send each other random "I heart Jim"* texts because it sets off a volly of "I know! He is so cute! Funny! Charming! Awww" blah blah blah. Then we go back to our regularly scheduled lives. But throwing Hemingway into the mix? She wins. 2. Traveling friend: " Your sweet nature, darling, was too hard to swallow, my heart goes bang bang bang bang. FYI I'm in NYC, heading out in a few...

I have a video iPod. I bought The Office Season 3 Pass on iTunes, but I already had Season 2 on DVD. And thanks to Macrovision, I don't actually own the DVDs I buy. Who knew? But by using cladDVD.net.3.5.6 and SUPER ©, I can remove the Macrovision protection (cladDVD) and then convert the video file to an mpeg-4 file that will play on my iPod (SUPER ©)*. Viola, Season 2 of The Office on my iPod. I can't imagine traveling anymore without my video iPod. And now I can add my favorite movies and tv shows without having to re-purchase on iTunes. cladDVD: http://www.softpedia.com/get/CD-DVD-Tools/CD-DVD-Rip-Other-Tools/cladDVD-NET.shtml SUPER ©: http://www.erightsoft.com/SUPER.html *if you know a better way to accomplish this task, please share with me!