After getting back from Europe, I had to get ready for Dawn and Greg's wedding. I got into Detroit at 9:00 AM on Thursday, May 23 and the rehearsal was at 6:00 PM that night...Dawn would have had kittens if I had been late. :)

So, here, in no particular order are my gripes about the wedding.
1) I had to wear a tux...ick, which I had to pay to rent to boot.
2) I had to walk down the aisle with a girl I didn't know...ick :) Although Heather was very nice.
3) There were WAY TOO MANY pictures taken of me...too many being anything over zero. Not to mention I'm wearing a tux in all of them.
4) I had to go and help get the "hall" ready for several hours on Friday night.
5) The food at the reception sucked (i.e. not Curt food).

Well, since Dawn is probably ready to jump through space and time to choke me (or kick me with her steel toe boots), I guess I should mention what was nice about the wedding. So, here are the top 13 things that were cool about Dawn and Greg's wedding...

13) The wedding invitations were classy and unique.
12) The rehearsal was short and to the point.
11) The rehearsal dinner was delicious
10) They gave me a gift (gift cards rule!)
9) The ceremony was meaningful, beautiful, and to the point
8) The atmosphere at the reception was light and enjoyable
7) The place cards were of unrivaled charm (flowers in paper bags)
6) Everyone had a good time and liked the cake and lunch (except me)
5) I didn't have to dance
4) Someone who acted and talked like Dawn but didn't look like Dawn showed up for the wedding (Dawn had to get dressed up. :D )
3) There are a TON of pictures of Dawn and she hates pictures almost as much as me (or more than me if you ask her)
2) They actually let me walk down the aisle with a girl! (poor Heather)
1) I got to see two of my best buds in the whole world lovingly commit themselves to one another for the rest of their lives.

Definitely a nice break between vacations. Besides, now I have something to get even with Dawn for doing to me!

That is the question!

I pose this to everyone. Several of my companions and I have had discussions on whether or not it is necessary to store ketchup in the refrigerator. Some people say it should be stored in the refrigerator while other say it can be stored in the cupboard.

So, what is your take and why? Add your vote/comment and let's see where everyone falls. Besides, it will let you know who's ketchup to use and who's not to use. :)

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to mention (for those that don't already know), I'm hosting a summer get-together/party/curtstock in August. The details are:

Who: All of my companions from high school and college
When: Saturday, Ausugt 10, 2002, 3:00 PM - midnight or so (dinner at 6:00 PM)
Where: Parent's house (30436 Gloede, Warren)

Actual invites will be going out this week. However, if you don't get one, just let me know as my addresses are out-of-date. Everyone is welcome to come, just let me know that you are planning to attend. I will most likely be asking everyone to braing a dish to past, but I'm still working that out.

Hope to see you on the tenth!

Following my trip to Tennessee (the day after I got back), I set off with Katie on our European adventure. This trip was the most exciting, educational, rewarding, and fulfilling experience I've ever had in my entire life. I still sit here and find it hard believe that I've been where I was during May. I still vividly remember the trip, but it seems, at times, as though it is impossible that I was actually there. I could fill several web pages with what I saw, but I'll try to limit it to the highlights. Pictures will be up within the month.

London: Walked by Parliament, Westminster, London Eye, Buckingham Palace, and through Hyde Park
Belgium: Bus got into accident
Netherlands: Red light district & marijuana bars, diamond cutting demonstration, Rijksmuseum, Anne Frank's house
Germany: Wine tasting, Rhine valley, Glockenspiel in Marienplatz, Hofbrauhaus, liter of beer!
Austria: mountains, white water rafting (oh yeah, baby!), crystal museum, cool little towns
Italy: (Venezia) St. Mark's Square, Rialto Bridge, gondola ride, fantastic dinner; (Roma) the Coliseum, Forum, Pantheon, walking tour, Spanish steps, Capuchin monk artwork, attempted purse stealing, 110 V; (Firenze) leatherworking demo, group picture, EXCELLENT dinner, walking tour, incredible churches, Michelangelo's tomb, Medici home
Vatican: Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basicala, Vatican Museum
Switzerland: Incredible views, going up a mountain and its view, incredible city (Luzern), Swiss army knives, Swiss chocolate
France: Eiffel Tower, Louvre (Mona & Venus), Museo de' Orsay, Champs D'ilsay, Arc de Triumphe, Napoleon's tomb, sidewalk artists, Cabaret (lots of T & A)
England: Inside Westminster Abbey, London Eye, Kensington Palace, Changing of the Guard, Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged, Tower of London, Roman Baths, Stonehenge, Mind the Gap! (Subway joke)
Canada (not quite Europe): Toronto's CN Tower

So that summarizes what I saw and did as quickly as possible...but the actual experience can not be summarized I'm afraid. Incredible...

My first adventure in May was to the Smoky Mountains and my home away from home, Tennessee. We headed down early on Wednesday, May 1. After driving the delightful 11 hour drive, we made it down to our cabin around 5:00 PM. This year there were just the four of us (me, Jenn, Chris, and Kristine) and we stayed in a place called God's Little Acre. The place was much better than last year and rivaled Angel's View from two years ago. We hung around the cabin that evening and I took a dip in the Jacuzzi. :)

Th next day we stopped at my least favorite place in Tennessee (Wild Plumb Tea Room) for lunch. After consuming their "delightful" food, we headed off for our first hike of the day, Ramsey Cascades. Due to some mis-reading and mis-communication, this became our only hike of the day. It ended up being an eight mile strenuous hike. It took about five hours to finish the hike, but the Ramsey Cascades were well worth it. The only bad part was me tripping 15 minutes from the end and scraping up my knees and hands. Pure genious.

The next day Jenn and I headed into Knoxville while Chris and Kristine went to North Carolina. Jenn and I had lunch with my cousin Angela and then visited TBP headquarters. We ate dinner with my relatives and headed back to the cabin around 10:00 PM. We stopped by the Hard Rock in Gatlinburg before finishing up for the night.

We ate lunch the next day at an interesting liitle "English Pub" before trekking back up to Michigan. The trip was relaxing, fun, and WAY TOO short! We got back around midnight and I began packing for my next trip...

Hey everyone!

As I mentioned in my last entry, I've moved to a new system to do my journal. It is called Movable Type and is a lot better than what I was using. I've fully customized it so it looks like it is truly a part of the web site. I was able to import all of my old entries and comments except for the fact the comments have the wrong posting date on them...oh well. Other than that, the system is much easier for my to use and I don't have to worry about owing Dawn any more. :)

Well, to bring everyone up to date on the happenings of the past 2 1/2 months, I'll start with the end of the winter 2002 semester at U of M. The semester ended on a high note since I got my first ever A+ in microarchitecture! Yeah, baby! Mike and I really liked our research project and so did Professor Austin. We are continuing to work on it this summer and hope to be able to publish our results...which would really be cool. The research project in addition to a couple other things has pushed beyond the edge towards the dark side...towards pursuing a PhD. I know, pretty bad. I still have to talk to Prof. Austin about it, but I'm pretty sure that's where my journey is headed. In addition to microarchitecture, operating systems went well and I filled in one my knowledge gaps in the process.

Tomorrow, I'll fill everyone in on my sojourn down to Tennessee with Chris, Kristine, and Jenn. Later!