I have a general aversion to religion and holidays and all that kind of stuff to begin with, so I had low expectations, but I was impressed, mostly by my own ignorance with the “what’s the big deal with this whole Kwanzaa thing” way of thinking, but also by the celebration, which showcased a lot of creative talent, intellectual discussion and a general feeling of unity and harmony, which even encompassed the six pasty visitors in the back corner.

Often ridiculed as “made up”, or just generally misunderstood because it’s a relatively “newer” holiday, Kwanzaa is more about community and heritage than anything else, which are pretty admirable things to celebrate (because I’m not a huge fan of celebrating fairy tales and mythical guys who are going to put coal in my stocking because there was that time I saw a naked girl on the computer when I was 13. Ok, maybe it was on purpose, but that’s beside the point).

The Twitter search linked above pretty much sums up the chronology of the event, so knock yourself out with that. It was a fun way to spend the evening and I learned a lot about a subject I knew nothing about before, plus there was free mac and cheese, collard greens, corn bread and fried chicken, which made me wonder if they ordered it for the event or if UMass Catering Services has some preconceived notions.

Happy Kwanzaa!

Not everything is explained in the captions, so here’s a little extra info: First, the tools you’ll need are some wrenches: A lug nut wrench (tire iron), and spanners or a socket wrench with different socket sizes. American cars and cars from other countries differ between SAE and metric tools, so you may need to know which your car requires first if you don’t have the tools already.

You’ll also need an oil pan, a floor jack, some graphite lubricant, brake fluid, and some paper towel on hand.

The procedure is pretty self-explanatory from the pictures and captions, but a couple things that might not be so clear is that you need a second person to help with checking for air, and you need to keep a close eye on the brake fluid level under the hood. If it gets empty, you’re in trouble. Also, when tightening the bleeder valves, make sure not to do it too tight, because if they break you’re screwed.

I’ve never put together a how-to before, and next time I’d plan it a little better, but hopefully someone can learn something from this. It’s very simple, but a little time-consuming if using a manual jack instead of a lift, but it’s still doable.

Oh, and for any classmates who might be interested, I do oil changes and little jobs like this cheaper than any mechanic or Jiffy Lube will.

Right away, this site hits you with powerful images, living up to the name, as they’re huge and in your face. If I could take a single photo as good as one of these, I’d be happy, let alone if I could produce these kinds of results on a regular basis.

On my birthday, my wife gave me a present she had made, a frame with photos I had taken from a trip to Spain to visit some of my cousins on an island in the Mediterranean called Formentera. I was living in southern France, Aix-en-Provence specifically, at the time, and I’d pretty much decided that I wanted to live in Aix half the year and Formentera the other half. The photos are hanging outside the kitchen in my apartment and are a reminder of a great time in my life.

It’s been almost three years since I was in Aix, and a year and a half since I’ve been in France, and I miss it. So, for this assignment I decided to post a gallery of one of my favorite cities in the world. It’s actually a flickr pool with almost 2,000 photos, so I didn’t get through all of them, but this one is a good place to start.

Sometime in the next couple days I’ll make my own flickr stream of my photos from France, and trips to Scotland, Switzerland, Spain, Bulgaria and Greece.

Congratulations, President-Elect Obama.

Anyway, I’m getting the European view of the election right now, with a Frenchman and some Bulgarians, and we’re all unanimously pro-Obama. From what we’ve heard, from friends and family abroad, everyone else in the world is, too. GEE I WONDER WHY.

But if Obama has to give a concession speech in the wee hours, I’m going to cry. Seriously. I haven’t cried in a long time, but I’ll weep like a child if he loses.