here are some things i've done in the past few weeks:

-i went to new york (again). bus tickets are between $1 and $20 from here, so i am just trying to not pass up opportunities to go there. i found a place to stay in brooklyn, through

airbnb.com. basically, airbnb is a site that pairs up travelers with people who have a couch or air mattress available for travelers to stay on, for a price that's usually cheaper than a hotel

or hostel. i had a really good experience with the girls i stayed with, and i will probably do some

more accommodations arrangements through there in the future.

while i was in new york, i found an AMAZING stationery store (their website doesn't show their best stationery, but trust me, it's great); ate fruit and granola and yogurt for breakfast at my new favourite new york breakfast place; rented a bike and biked down broadway from central park to the brooklyn bridge, then across brooklyn bridge, then up along the hudson river; and visited the bamboo bike shop (more on that later).

-i've been playing kickball every wednesday on a league that plays in columbia heights. i joined it because I LOVE KICKBALL, but pretty much everyone on my team (and in the entire league) is more about the drinking afterwards (and even during the game) than the actual kickball. some of the girls just sit around and don't play any innings and just drink beers. ugh. by contrast, i keep begging my team to keep playing for fun even after the 5 innings that make up each game are done. yeesh. i'm planning on hosting some kickball games when i get back to edmonton, so hopefully they will be more kickball-focused than these ones.

-i've had some good hangouts with various new-ish friends, including:

1. a boy named joe, who i met over craigslist before i came to DC the first time, because i posted an ad there asking if anyone would be willing to write letters with me before i arrived in DC, and then be friends when i got there. so we hung out a bit when i was first here in the fall, and then we hung out again a few times. he's neat. he works in sustainable energy, and he's really bright and kind.

2. a boy named bryson, who i met over craigslist when i posted an ad for a bikeriding partner. he's probably the person i've hung out most with in DC. he's in the military - coast guard, i think - which is preeeetty strange for someone that i would associate with. but he is very bright, and a critical thinker, and he likes doing a lot of the same things that i do (biking, canoeing, going to airshows, and eating indian food), so he's good company.

3. my coworker lauren and her husband. they invited me over for dinner one day, and usually dinner parties make me pretty uneasy, but this one was really enjoyable. another older couple was there too, and we talked a lot about the american education system, which is pretty fascinating.

4. my former coworkers sharyl and adrienne, from the museum i used to work at. i met up with them and their boyfriends at the rosslyn film festival, where we watched cry-baby outside in a park. nice.

5. my coworker erin and her husband. we met up at the rosslyn film festival (on a different friday than the one i just mentioned) and watched mrs. doubtfire. ha.

6. some edmontonian girls named brianna and julie, who just moved to DC to do the same smithsonian internship program that i did the last time i was here. i hadn't known either of them until a really random connection a few months ago, but brianna and i have been facebooking each other so i could help the two of them get prepared for DC life. now that they're here, we've hung out a little bit, and i'm really glad to have them here. i'm hoping we'll get to hang out lots before i leave DC, and then lots again once we're all in edmonton. interestingly, my love jessica just got a job with them at blackbyrd (where they work when they are not in DC). neat.

i also had some good skype talks with nathan and claire, which made me feel not so alone.

i'm still biking a lot, which feels good but makes me constantly sweaty. that part makes me feel not-so-good.

i watched micmacs (which was directed by the same guy who did amélie). not quite as good as amélie, but it was still pretty visually pleasing.