DREW DOPE! I put together a fun little website called POPE FACT. If you don't get it, don't worry—the website is an online version of a real-life game involving writing fake tattoos on people's knuckles. The launch fell on, and was in honor of, the birthday of Molly Hallweaver, one of the ladies who first introduced me to POPE FACT at Lake Tahoe.

I designed and launched a new version of the Lei-Out Beach Ultimate website. Joaq said it is the prettiest version to date, so that's worth something. Chalk up one win for gorgeous photographs found via Creative Commons search on Flickr. And, of course, the new Lei-Out website is running on my most favorite CMS to date, Drupal.

I have begun maintaining my Drupal installations on Github, with repositories for Drupal 6 core and Drupal 6 optional modules and themes. Now, when I need to do an update on my dozens of Drupal websites, I install the updates on my master, commit and push from there, and then pull the changes down on all the rest of the sites. Commit, push, and pull! So easy!

Whit hit it big, where "it" is defined as The Internet, this month with his video, "Drunkest Guy Ever: Larry Goes to the Market." Have a look at the video then go read his blog post, What! No Beer?, describing his creative process and the video's success, currently sitting at 716,000+ views on Youtube. Did I mention that he got linked on Huffington Post and BoingBoing? Yeah, seriously, I know: I need to redesign Whit's blog so that its features and appearance are consummate with his success.

Whit and I are trying, in a nutshell, to figure out how to promote efficiently and effectively our friends. Clearly, this goal cannot be accomplished simply by telling someone to get on Twitter. Expect more on this subject from us over the next year. For now, ON A COMPLETELY UNRELATED NOTE, you should go watch our friend Brittney's video application to The Big Trip.

Oh, and I dressed up as Zombie Abraham Lincoln for Halloween. Naturally.

EDIT
Oh, and I forgot to mention another website I launched this autumn, Nicole d'Avis at Bellalogica. This beautiful site is for my beautiful sister—a place for her to write and just be amazing, not that she needs a specific place for that. Did I mention that she got married to a wonderful man, Mark, and that they bought a house? It's good to have a big sister who is super good at life.

Half of a Weekend (or a Little More, Maybe)

January 23, 2009

• 5:05 PM Sunset run on the beach followed by ocean dip and drinks
• 6:00 PM Depart Tamarindo in 7/8 full Toyota Prado with one 40-ounce of Imperial
• 6:01 PM – 7:29 PM Pass around a million cars
• 7:30 PM Stop on side of street to buy two bottles of vino de coyol (palm wine) for $2 each
• 7:33 PM Stop on side of street 100m later para cenar at a tiny family restaurant
• 8:00 PM Discover that palm wine does not actually cause the advertised blindness
• 9:30 PM After some moderately difficult uphill dirt roads, discover at bar, with swim-up service and sign offering "Informacion de Monteverde," that we are actually still quite far away
• 9:33 PM Turn up nearly hidden dirt road next to church for 45-degree incline rocky dirty joy
• 9:45 PM As the road winds and climbs and climbs and climbs, begin somewhat nervous but mostly manic and joyful laughter. Increase volume on music.
• 10:15 PM After climb has leveled out, stop on ridge and turn off car lights to consider amazing vistas and stars and to pee.
• 10:55 PM Reach Santa Elena and Hotel de Sueños to reunite with Slepak of Safety 3rd fame
• 11:15 PM Head out into the nearly dead quiet Santa Elena to find a bar and a beer
• 12:00 PM Beer success! Then! Sleep!

January 24, 2009

• 01/24 7:00 AM Good morning!
• 7:15 AM Breakfast at the Hotel
• 8:00 AM Depart Santa Elena in 8/8 full Toyota Prado to Selvatura Park.
• 8:30 AM Begin zip-lining at Selvatura. See Quote #1.
• 9:00 AM Did I mention we were zip-lining? High high above the ground through a rainforest? Amazing.
• 9:30 AM Arrive at "la sorpresa." The surprise was, somewhat unsurprisingly, a Tarzan-style swing from a huge-ass platform.
• 10:15 AM Finish zip-lining with a few last nice rides.
• 10:30 AM Early lunch at Selvatura restaurant.
• 11:45 AM Head off hiking in local nature preserve
• 12:30 PM Climb closed-down observation tower for more amazing vistas of surrounding jungle
• 1:45 PM Become disgruntled with constant, sticky mud and its propensity to detract attention from surrounding flora and fauna
• 2:30 PM Complete hike, return to car for drive to Monteverde village
• 3:00 PM Shop for arts and crafts in Monteverde with way clutch coffee and peanut butter brownie refueling
• 4:45 PM Depart Monteverde and begin drive back to Tamarindo
• 4:46 PM Be convinced by three passengers in extremely tight back back seat that we should take the slightly less scenic but far less treacherous and bumpy route home
• 5:30 PM Stop at roadside of low ridge to watch the sunset and polish off the palm wine
• 7:30 PM Dinner in Cañas at seafood restaurant. Ceviche = good; sopa negra = not so good
• 9:00 PM Very nearly completely memorized Track #6
• 9:01 PM Finally stop listening to Track #6
• 9:45 PM Arrive home in Tamarindo, unload car, jump into our pool
• 10:15 PM Start playing Siete-Once-Dobles
• 10:17 PM Remove shirts and don sunglasses to increase Siete-Once-Dobles skill
• 10:33 PM Stop game after finishing five 40-ounces of Imperial between six thirsty, road-worn men
• 10:40 PM Remove sunglasses and don shirts; head out to Babylon for drinking and dancing
• 11:00 PM Cerveza! Bailando!

January 25, 2009

• 1:00 AM Más cerveza! Más bailando! See Quote #2.
• 1:30 AM Unquotable, indescribable moment(s).
• 2:00 AM Walk home on the beach, stopping to consider stars.
• 2:30 AM Arrive at home
• 3:00 AM Bailey makes scrambled eggs with extreme difficulty cracking egg shells on plastic bowl: nearly fall asleep with face in plate of aforementioned delicious eggs
• 3:25 AM Sleep! Wow!

Driving Playlist (On Repeat: We Only Had 1 CD)

1. Led Zeppelin – Over the Hills and Far Away
2. Curtis Mayfield – Move On Up
3. Us3 – Cantaloop
4. Jurassic 5 – Concrete Schoolyard
5. Arrested Development – People Everyday
6. MIA featuring Bun B and Rich Boy – Paper Planes Remix*
7. Kanye West – Homecoming
8. Vampire Weekend – Cape Code Kwassa Kwassa
9. Regina Spektor – Hotel Song
10. Paul Simon – You Can Call Me Al
11. Old Crow Medicine Show – Wagon Wheel
12. Modest Mouse – The Good Times Are Killing Me
13. The Who – Baba O'Riley
14. Talking Heads – Once in a Lifetime
15. The Moldy Peaches – Anyone Else But You
16. Puff Daddy and Faith Evans featuring 112 – I'll Be Missing You

10 Simple Rules of Siete-Once-Doble

1. Stand around table with two dice, one shared cup for beer, and beer source.
2. Roll dice, taking turns and passing counter-clockwise.
3. If one rolls a seven, eleven, or double, assign the (quarter- to half-)cup of beer to someone else
4. As soon as assigned drinker touches cup to start drinking, roller tries to roll another seven, eleven, or double.
5. If the dice settle with one of the combinations before the drinker puts down the empty cup, the roller refills the cup: return to Step #4 with same drinker and roller.
6. If the drinker puts down the empty cup before one of the combinations is rolled, the roller refills the cup and the dice are passed to the next player.
7. At any time before the drinker touches the cup, any player can steal the cup from the drinker and become the drinker. The same rules apply to the new drinker for finishing the beer before a siete-once-doble roll.
8. If the roller touches the dice before the drinker touches the cup, the roller must finish the cup and the dice proceed to the next player.
9. Do not wear a shirt (optional).
10. Wear sunglasses (not optional).

Food I Have Eaten

• Casado de bistek
• Casado de pescado
• Casado con chuleta
• Gallo pinto con huevos
• Gallo pinto con queso
• Gallo pinto con bistek
• Tostada
• Pizza Selvatura (chicken, olives, anchovies, and eggplant)
• Every fruit
• Every fruit, in juice form

Quotes from the Weekend

• "I'm just playing with my equipment." "Somebody's got to do it."
• "You can dance near me, but you can't dance with me."
• "It's cold today: I'm glad I wore a shirt."
• "Her name is Beretta and she's m-----f---ing crazy."*
• Yeah, I think I should stop sharing these…

Wow, yeah, that was quite the weekend.

* At the point on the drive home at which we'd already listened to the whole CD numerous times, we decided to memorize the lyrics to the Paper Planes Remix. Queue repeat. I'd say we did pretty amazing but we did mess up a few lines. For example, apparently it's not that "you need more than a helicopter to stop us" but rather "a million cops." Who knew? Additionally, if you undertake such a task, the hand motions on the chorus are absolutely vital.

• Smelled hamburgers when I stepped out of my apartment this morning. Wish it had been watermelon. 09:00 AM September 29, 2008
• Two quick notes: my hair looks way good today and I like Americanos better from Trabant than from Victrola. THERE I SAID IT. 09:45 AM September 29, 2008
• Up and done with a run. Just finished cereal with local organic white nectarines. How often does a piece of fruit need three adjectives? 08:44 AM September 30, 2008
• Forgot to mention: was at Verite with Avery, and I ran into a XC teammate from high school in Massachusetts. Crazy small world! 10:35 AM October 01, 2008
• Palin over and over, "Of course I support ____. Some of my best friends are gay/Israeli/nuclear weapons/caribou. Actually I kill caribou." 06:56 PM October 02, 2008
• Re: Biden's wife, "Her reward is in heaven." Did you just threaten her life, Palin? 07:12 PM October 02, 2008
• I need a machine running Windows so I can test on IE 6. Also, I want to remember what it feels like for a browser to stab me in the eye. 09:04 AM October 03, 2008
• Been too long since I made Annie's Mac & Cheese: I almost forgot how to "Push tail to open." 08:16 PM October 03, 2008

DarkCash HorseLove from Carlos d'Avis on Vimeo.

I'm easy to amuse, I won't lie.

As counterpoint, I offer South Park's explanation of Scientologist doctrine: