Insert Beach Boys Reference Here

I am, in fact, alive and well, if lacking in new and interesting news. The last week has involved a lot of shopping and driving and general preparations for the big cruise. This year my parents are celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary by taking the honeymoon they never had, and they're kind enough to take my sister and I along. We'll be taking a Carnival lines cruise in the Caribbean with stops including San Juan, St. Thomas, Aruba, Dominica, and Barbados. Our plane leaves Sunday and we'll be back on the Fourth. I expect to have grand adventures to report--snorkeling! rum! rainforests! coconuts! sugar cane! sunburns! rum!--and pictures to go along with them. My research indicates that, although I am not permitted to drink onboard the ship, I am of legal drinking age in the ports we're visiting--with the possible exception of Dominica. I haven't managed to find information on the legal drinking age there because Google is convinced that what I really want is information about the Dominican Republic. In any case, the important thing here is that I get to enjoy visiting the rum distilleries more than, say, my little sister. And mostly it's so that I get to enjoy making Pirates of the Caribbean references just a little more often. :-P Anyone interested in getting a postcard from the Caribbean should drop me a line at gnome[at]silver-starlight.net with the appropriate information. I will try my best to be good about doing that this time. In car news, we hit 301 miles today, which means that the engine is officially broken in and long distance road trips are now permitted. This is good because, once we get back from the cruise, Mom and I (and probably my little sister) will be taking a road trip up to Ithaca, New York in order to locate an apartment for me. Exciting times.