Since I don't have anything to update on, I'll just throw out there another video from my friend Ryan. This is really just a clip of him playing with some special effects, but nevertheless, pretty cool.

Hey! I know its been forever and "Tim, you never update your blog" and "Your blog sucks!" and "Are you alive?" blah blah blah. So here it is! I'll try to summarize the past 4 months. Last summer I drove (overnight this time) from Guadalajara to Austin and stayed for almost 3 weeks. In that time I: toobed, went out on the lake, ate pizza (tons), went downtown (alot), and tried to squeeze as many friend visits into the little time I had there, which turned out to be harder and much more expensive since my car was broken down for most of it. I also made the regular stops for clothes/groceries to take back to Guadalajara.

The highlight of the summer was our trip to Cancun (my 3rd trip). 13 of us stayed in 2 rooms at the Salvia Condominiums in the hotel zone. All in all, super cheap place, but not very nice accommodations. I would recommend it only to those on a very tight budget. We did a variety of the outings including: lots of beach lounging, biking, hiking, swimming, boating, snorkeling, zip-lines, Chichen Itza ruins, Coba ruins, Tulum ruins, Senor Frogs, Coco Bongo, etc etc. As you might imagine, I didn't do much of the biking and hiking. haha! Sad enough, I learned that the Booze Cruise is a seasonal offering and we had missed it by a week or two. Many of you know (and many don't) that I was robbed/mugged/kidnapped/whatever on our first night. It's a huge story which maybe I will elaborate on another time when I'm not so busy. But so you know, I am safe, alive, no injuries, the $3000 was insured and therefore refunded by the bank. I am out my camera with a crap load of pictures, and a nice leather wallet. Anyway, everyone knows how I am overcautious, I over-plan, and take care of myself and my friends in these situations... but if you roll the dice enough, your number will come up...wrong place at the wrong time. The 2 main lessons learned: Avoid going places alone. And. Shit can happen to you. My camera was jacked...that's the reason I haven't been posting pictures in the album. Thanks to my travel buddies, I have some pictures from Cancun (not yet organized...will get on that as soon as I have them all).

On with school...we are in 4th semester, we just finished pharmacology. We are currently in the Kaplan USMLE prep course. It is ~4 months of focused review for our first board exam coming in a few months. Overall, I feel on track for where we should be and it is likely I'll be ready at test-time. This test has been called "the most important test of your life", so please don't think I've forgotten you or whatever craziness...I'm just busy. How about youuuuuu make the effort and dial my digits. Yes...same cell phone...yes, it works in Mexico...yes, it's free for you. So, things are good. I hope to try and update more often, but who knows. I would also like to remind everyone that there are other (easier) ways to keep updated on my blog than just checking the website once a day/week/month/year. Features like RSS, are awesome and easy to use. Most people probably do not have the time to check EVERYONE's blog or photo album each day. But, with RSS feed capability (already built into your browser), you get updated only when something is new on the site. So no more checking tons of sites that haven't been updated. This has changed the way I browse the web, and you will definitely find yourself wasting less time!

* [Click Here] to subscribe to my blog RSS feed.
* [Click Here] to subscribe to my photo album RSS feed.

Finishing off my Spring Break, I have just returned from a visit to Guanajuato, a beautiful and historical city less than 3 hours drive from Guadalajara. I stayed in a pretty nice bed & breakfast called La Casa Serena. Since I start class tomorrow, there wasn't much time but were able to squeeze all of the major attractions and sites within about 28 hours:
El Museo de las Momias
Alhondiga de Granaditas
Iglesia de San Roque Museo
Casa de Diego Rivera
Universidad de Guanajuato
Templo de la Compania
Basilica de Nuestra Senora de Guanajuato
Plaza de Paz
Templo de San Diego
Teatro Juarez
Iglesia de San Francisco
Museo Iconografico del Quijote
Monumento al Pipila (via Funicular)
Bocamina Valencia
Templo de Valencia
My favorites were the Museum of Mummies and the Museum of Don Quijote. The architecture of the old Spanish churches was also very impressive! See for yourself, the trip photos can be found here.

Everything is going pretty well with school in 3rd semester. I've been much busier than the past year but it is paying off with the grades. That is pretty much the reason for there not being any new pictures in the photo album. It's strange now to think that I have lived here over a year, it doesn't seem that long. We have our spring break coming soon in the last 2 weeks of March. I was thinking about how I missed the good old days of driving to South Padre Island with a 10 car caravan, and renting 10 rooms in the Miramar Hotel. How the times have changed. I was unable to find someone to travel with me, so I'm going to stay in Mexico and try to do some exploring/lounging no where in particular, just wherever the road takes me...hopefully a beach, to some ruins, and perhaps a bar or two.

Continuing on, today's "looks the same, is not the same" is dedicated to Nacho Cheese Doritos. I think everyone loves them. Here they look wonderfully similar to what you would find back in the US. But oh no, you won't fall for that again once you have tried them. First, you must accept that here in Mexico, everything has peppers or chile on it. I have theorized on another occasion that this is why there are no decent Chinese restaurants here. Back to the topic of this post, the Doritos are tolerable but definitely different. Heed my warning: bring your own or adapt!  I like the reference to parties.... "Donde es la fiesta?" Have a good day!

I don't understand why a lot of the best rappers from Houston have died pre-maturely. There aren't any developments in Pimp's death, but in memory here are some classics from youtube:

Tell Me Something Good

It's Supposed To Bubble

Use Me Up