Better Now

I'm feeling better now, but my world's just begun shakin'. (I had to sneak in one last music reference before I left.)

I had a bizarre dream last night. I dreamed that I was in the airport ready to fly to Spain. It was bizarre because I was with a friend of mine who HATES Spanish with a passion, and I was talking to a woman in Spanish. This marks my first dream in Spanish, which is exciting. I've been told I have to think and dream in Spanish to truly master the language.

I'll wrap this up because I need to run out to pick up "The Razor's Edge," by W. Somerset Maugham. Apparently it will change my life.

Thanks for voting on the car (it'll probably be a glacier blue Honda) and for all of your support. I wish everyone at Ithaca a great semester. My next post will be from Spain, probably Monday. Stay classy, and stay tuned.

Sick, Sick, Sick

I knew this would happen. I should have put myself into a protective bubble to somehow prevent it. The Philadelphia Phillies could have used these, because the injuries haven't stopped from the beginning.

As for me, I'm always sick. I think it was second semester freshman year at Ithaca where I was sick for weeks straight. I've been sick on my birthday, Halloween and the night of a Dave Matthews Band concert. The worst was several days on vacation in San Francisco. Cold, flu, fever, you name it, I had it.

Now, it's nothing more than a cold, which did keep me up for a bit last night. I'm hoping that drinking water nonstop and just taking it easy will get rid of it. Let's hope the old saying, "feed a cold, starve a fever" will work.

The goal is to finish packing today and then a round of goodbye phone calls tomorrow. Look for one more post before I head out on Wednesday.

Pick a car

I'm buying a new car for when I return to the states in December. I'm looking for something to survive ice and snow as well as hold all my stuff for college. But I don't want something ultra ultra big and bulky, like one of those ginormous Lexus SUVs. And yes, ginormous is a real word.

Check out the poll on the left and vote for either the Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4 or Subaru Forrester. Which will it be?

Welcome to Tirando Cobre

How's it going? My name is Josh and this is my blog. On most days I'm just like any other 20-year-old student, scrambling to find jobs, surfing the Net and playing guitar. My alter ego lies somewhere in Ithaca, N.Y., where I will return in January to my two best friends and the most amazing '90s alternative rock radio show ever. I kid you not.

On Wednesday, Aug. 29, I journey to Seville, Spain, for 3.5 months. You will find this page oozing with details of my faux pas in Seville, feeble attempts at mastery of the Spanish language, cultural musings and much more.

I named the blog "Tirando Cobre," which is "Throwing Copper" in Spanish, the name of the 1994 breakthrough album for one of my favorite bands: Live. "Tirando Cobre" also reminds me of a cobra, which is a fierce creature in my book (see photo at left). Either way, it's a difficult name to pronounce if you can't roll your r's. (I'm going to need to work on that.)

Speaking of Spanish, I will try to make sure "Tirando Cobre" is the only Spanish that makes it to this blog. A certain reader needs to get over a certain phobia of the language, but I imagine said reader would appreciate me from refraining from writing in Spanish. I shall do my best.

So stick around and check back every once in a while. Feel free to post comments. Blogs are all about interaction. Yell at me (Internet style) for complaining about Spanish cuisine or console me when I can't figure out how to ask for directions. Just don't insult Live or Guns N' Roses.

I'm only kidding.

Seriously, don't. Save us both the aggravation.

Welcome to the jungl ... I mean thanks for checking out "Tirando Cobre"!