ps. we took my dad for his first hike ever this Thanksgiving break in Joshua Tree National Park. It was one of the funnier moments in my life. I never thought I'd see anyone use a Blackberry on the summit.

Stu! Happy belated Thanksgiving. Instead of doing my thesis work and general education requirements, I have been thinking a lot about next year, and wanted to know how you felt about San Francisco. Should I be sure to wear flowers in my hair?
I hope all is well; you coming here in January?
love,
Victoria

Hey Stu, thanks for the welcome and early friend request. It's nice here.

i agree with the person below me. where is this 30$ costume?

hope all is well and that you are basking in the glory of boston sports. im going to the pats/ravens game on dec. 3..should be a good time. keep in touch

have to say i'm a little disappointed that you never shared your halloween costume with us. all that talk..

still looking for someone who had a camera and took a pic. I was in no condition to operate heavy (or otherwise) machinery..

what's up with your life these days? not a bad world series, huh?

Appleton is in Wisconsin, it's my hometown. It's been diverting to re-explore it now that I'm back from Iowa, and to see the new establishments that have gone up.

Way to go on this site! Where are you now? I'm trying to get a good job for now and build my assets. It is always a pleasure to hear from you.

two things are clear from your pics: you like mountains, and you like water. great pics man- where are you now?

hey thanks for your comment on my page! Those are some pretty awesome pictures you got...definitely like the "sea of salt" one. Nice.

Thanks Stu! I'm settling into my 2nd night in Oak Square...it's crazy that I'm back east now...but it'll be great!

Hope all is well in SF

now what could possibly have caused you to hate hartford, ct so much? besides the confusing one-way streets and the complete and total lack of anything to do except binge drink? ;)

hey stranger! how are things? just checking in to see whats new in your world. . .where are you these days?? give me a shout, would love to chat! xxooa

stu thanks for the shout. i've been fishing for ten a long time and i still don't think i could beat the sixth-grade bowline time that ou posted.

Yeah, I saw that you are buds! I'm hanging out, working at a restaurant for a little extra cash. I hear ya about kinda being jealous and kinda not...I still have mixed feelings about moving back. But at least I have a bunch of vacations and can come back and ski.

what's new out there??

hi stu,
yes, the wonderful alison soule introduced me to matador. she and i are breaking up soon, though, for her to move to boston and me to travel the world.

how do you know andy pillay? kenyon is full of good people like him.

see ya--

Hi Stu!
I wanted to check in and see how life was treating you. Things have settled down here and I'm looking forward to all the summer fun and craziness in CO before I move back east. (yikes!) How's your new job going?

hope you're well and staying outta trouble!

Ok, so I keep trying to post a comment but I get really distracted by sloths and YouTube. But here it is:

Hi! Thanks for the birthday wishes. Yours is coming up! I hear you are in SF which is awesome. I want to come visit whenever my bank account recovers from this trip, which may be never.

Good work on not having children yet. You and I have to limit our family's population problem somehow. btw- how am i supposed to ever get a real job after this traveling life? i look to you because you supposedly have.... :)

PS. I just looked at the date and realized we are one day past your favorite holiday...actually, on my time we are two days past.

Very funny. I don't know about you but I'm pretty happy to be in the month of may. Something about it speaks greatness.

how's the new/old la-z-boy treating you? hopefully you were able to un-recline it out of your car.
the post about the parking lot knights is unbelievable . . . you up for starting an SF branch? i will definitely join.

Stu, you rock! Not only because you left me a nice comment -- although, honestly, yeah, that's part of it -- but because you're page is awesome. Loved reading your blogs and your profile. Where you off to next? Any good eats there? ;)

Great sloth video:) That picture was taken while walking to the beach in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica to do a little surfing. "Il perizoso" was just sitting in the middle of the road. He was so close, just starring me down...I think we had a moment:)

your profile cracks me up. you should write a book about being the matador poster child. i will read it AND like it. this comments section is a novel in itself.

how DO you have this much time on your hands?

Thanks for the comment. I was looking at your photos yesterday. Looks like you've seen a lot of South America? Where are the sand flats at? Those photos are awesome!
Cool that you made it to Ushuaia. When were you there? I wasn't expecting it to be such a large town.
You'll have to try again for Antarctica. I took an Explorer trip through GAP adventures. I just loved that they gave us two excursions per day. The one photo of mine w/ the penguins was taken at Port Lockroy at 11:30pm - most incredible sunset I've ever seen. Antarctica is like no other place..
Where are you off to next?

it's james bond island in phuket, thailand. really beautiful there. you have some great pics. i totally agree with your 'One Shining Moment' blog below. love that slow-motion action-packed montage set to the music of luther vandros? haha..i have to check on that one.

So, I took the job...I'm excited, but know it'll be sad to leave all these great people and the skiing. I move in August...not sure about all the details of living and all that, but it'll fall into place. Maybe I'll just crash the BU dorms and hang out with the college kids. sweet.

How are you? The new job treating you well? Anything new and exciting (and perhaps borderline illegal) to share?

:)

i know, damn south dakotaians, totally tricked me. at sign #27 i was still resisting, but when they started advertising the giant jackalope, i knew i was doomed.

you need to tell me about patagonia sometime...i read a national geographic article about camping and horseback riding there once when i was 11 and i've been dreaming about it ever since...

Hey, thanks! No final decisions yet, but I was back this weekend to check it out and talk with some people at the school. I love Brookline and it couldn't have been more perfect New England weather! I'll probably make up my mind this week...

Congrats on your new job! UBS the financial company? I have an account with them :) How has it been so far? Are you all professional now? no more flip flops during the week!!

We've lost a ton of snow, but it's still pretty fun; especially apres. It's been a fun season though!

Hope you're well,
Alison

You got my mouth watering...
Growing up in Maine must have been amazing... Just being there makes you feel much closer to the natural world than almost anywhere else. I remember talking to a guy that owned a bookshop in Portland. His commute was a 1 1/2 mile kayak ride from one of the Casco islands... god that really puts "rush hour" in perspecitive!

Congrats on the new job--what kind of work are they forcing you to do?

Our immediate plans are mostly family/local. Wisconsin, then Myrtle Beach (where we hope to do the total tourist thing).

After July, we hope to road over to central Texas (Family), to NOLA (Family), to the Keys, hop a quick flight to Jamaica, get back to the car and drive up to Nova Scotia (with a few stops along the way), and then cut west through Canada, into Michigan, through Chicago (Family), and then up to Cataract, WI.

From Cataract...Brazil (Rio).

Enough about me... ;)

Dood, it was unreal. That game was so tense as it was, but to be in Roma and be smashed into this little bar w/ a bunch of Italians... the tension was palpable. That very possibly could have been the most exciting game of the cup. But I'm a German fan, so Italy winning the thing isn't on my list of top events... haha.

just a quick one to say thanbk you for your encouraging comments. Yep i have been lotsa weird places and i think Matador are going to be posting a few of them quite soon.
check out my own website, there is good/strange stuff at www.elsewhere.co.nz

i've got a weird story about a bar in SanFran i went to in the Tenderloin district one afternoon.
But i think weirdness abounds there. it'll probably be in my new book.

next time i'm up your way i'll let you know in advance, and you will do the same if you are coming down this way.
get to me via elsewhere.co.nz
cheers
g

Glad you have enjoyed fair Praha... My travels are going well. We just finished a 5 day trek in the Himalayas unsupported. We climbed a 12,000 ft mountain for a great view of Everest et al. Feeling pretty damn fantastic at the moment.

Check out Wroclaw, Berlin and Bratislava...

Any luck with the jobs? Or are you settling with being an escort? I don't blame you; it's good money..haha. I'm a total dork, by the way--in case you hadn't realized that yet.

I've been busy with that and got an offer at a school in Brookline...we'll see though. It depends on the salary and if I'm ready to go back--ya know??

The skiing's been great here! I'm almost done with my break--it's so short. I went to telluride for a few days and it was beautiful!! Apparently Maine has some snow, but it's like zero degrees there. I prefer the 45 days we have here :)

hope all is well, Stu.

awsome pics.

Got the backpack cover over the weekend - you're a very good person, Stu Poole. Though, would it have killed you to throw a Flow bar in there?

hey champ. im back in ireland living it up in dublin... back for a short break to bolivia again soon.

how's tricks with you?

I was joking about writing you off; i hope you didn't take it personally :) How are things?
we're in dire need of some more snow! (I'm such a snob!!) did you hear that the laof got about 30 inches????

Hi Stu -

Thanks for the message. I, too, enjoyed meeting you and the rest of the clan. I look forward to many more parties in the future :-)

Have fun at the launch party.

Hey, I heard you might play on Josh's soccer team. I play on a couple teams in the city too. I don't think I know your crew friends from Trinity, do you know what high school they went to or what club they rowed with? PS I think I can beat your bowline tying record.

Stuey! What's up!? Love the pics you posted on my page... yeah, I still have one of my bottles of $1 wine. Saving it for just the right occasion.

So how's it going over there? Congrats on the official launch of the website. I've been spreading the word to every friend I have that's travelling (ok, so that's like 2 friends).

THings here in Philly are pretty good. You'll have to come visit sometime.

if there were to be a rwr house, you are looking at it: fully equiped with a laundry room, bathroom, shower, and green house in one.

could you imagine granny ballenger as the 7th stranger?

stu

thanks for the recomendations ill check those out.

I've sent in my application to the Real World. So I'm hoping to hear back from that. I'm putting A LOT of my eggs into that basket...

Glad to hear that you have love for the Jumbos. How did you know I went to Tufts? What do you do in Berkeley? You are definitely winning the Matador game.

Ok I think everyone gets it, you know how to post stupid pictures. You better hope I don't figure out how to do this, because I've got some real good ones from new years.

i slept in a tent in my backyard too. every weekend. im glad we have something in common that proves our badass initiative* even as children...

we have another thing in common...and that is the fact that next week 523 charlton street will be the place.

* b.a.i. credits to keri sunshine keri

by popular request the white men can jump pic has been added. with all this build up i really hope its no disappointment.

and montreal brings back fond memories indeed. if you're time there was anything like mine than i'm certain you've got some seriously entertaining stories. i love that city.

i love the ring of kerry too. and florence. did you go to fiosele??

are you going to this release party? i think it might give me a good excuse to make it back to san fran. i've got a friend out there i've been meaning to visit.

Good recount of the first day back on the snow. Been there, felt that.

Ah yes, ONE new pic. and ditched a few of the original batch. I got tired of looking at myself threatening the bbq.

Very grateful to be out of San Bernardino... at least an 18. Ironically, I have to go back to LA for work this weekend. Who knew there was such an easy way to ruin Superbowl Sunday? And who knew how soon I'd be basking in SoCal's resplendence...

So I think I'm going to start a redsox blog, I'm going to write after every game, and then when they win the world series I will publish my blogs and make lots of money. Do you want in?

Thanks man. Hem just strikes a cord in my life, both his writing and his own story. This is going to be a series of pieces about the places that Hemingway made famous. I just finished one on Key West and Ross should be posting it soon.
Cheers!
-e

why did you put those pictures so big on my page, I almost went blind. But yes we are very cool. Magic man.

HNY to you too...Bummer about the pats, huh? Oh well...go colts?? GREAT skiing!! over 20 inches at Beaver Creek last weekend--I actually pulled out my alpine skis. Another few inches this past sunday, too. Can't complain. You should check out the CO snow!! Otherwise, the same old, except I joined a broomball league...pretty fun and I get a little (too) feisty on the ice!! How's the "real" world treating you out there?

Sorry I've been MIA...no real good excuse for that one. But I've been meaning to tell you that last week I was at the gym one morning before work and I was all ready to get my ipod going, but on the tv was...back to back episodes of saved by the bell! One even showed a clip of the sprain episode. I laughed for 50 minutes and thought of you. then I wanted to stay there for 2 more episodes, but had to get to work.

Bummer. but did you know that it was on at 6am??? :)

so, how are you?

Hello! I leave a week from Saturday...yikes...
Great to see you over break as well-although i was less than excited for my nail care kit. pretty sure i left it for charlotte and hannah. granny told me that dana called yankee swap "that fucking game from hell" which i found absolutely hilarious. although you might not, seeing how much you treasure your floam.
Hope all is well in San Francisco, and i'll talk to you soon!

i cannot believe you just tagged me with a low quality photo. hopefully it will "disappear" as did your alabama shot. yet, something tells me it didn't just "disappear." i don't think you wanted anyone to know you were in alabama.

Hey - What did Tenne see??

have you ever wondered if on New Years, people in Rome, Georgia drive 20 minutes across the Alabama border into the central time zone to celebrate New Years again? I wonder about this regularly. but not really.

you owe me big time for Marks wedding we are roomates again, but since I made all the arrangements you get the trundle bed.

So we took the first step towards the course on my parents land, check out one of my new pictures, that will be the tee for the first whole.

apples are so delicious

Can Santa and Rudolph travel through Tornadoes?

It appears they did and arrived safely (while you guys get a white christmas, we get severe thunderstorms).

I think Santa might be the new role model for the BI, effectually increasing his attraction level 2 points.

Thanks, man. Like your picks too.
Anna's is a force to behold. Out here in the Windy, though. We can hold up our own on the munchables. You seem like a you're da man here on Matador. It's good to be able to hook up with you guys.

i wish i could say i wouldn't where t-shirts till mid june, but its 50 degrees out here right now, so i will be wearing it next week. hah, see you in a few dude.

No, I didn't break a pair, just scraped them up a ton. But I'm still pretty hardcore :)

It might be family night on the 23rd, since we'll all be together, but I'm sure everyone will go to bed at like 7, so then maybe I can head out. Although, Gritty's (portland?) is like YHS reunion capital...ugh...

Anyway...I'm pretty psyched for just 1 1/2 days left and a party paid for by VMS tomorrow! They call it "food and libations." It's always interesting.

talk to you soon,
alison

The twisted tree is in Cambodia - the area is considered to be one of the seven wonders of the world. To date, one of the greatest trips of my life, and if i could have, I would have lived on banana pancakes w/ bugs crawling on them for a year! (ps - best pancakes ever - even with the bugs!)
The entire Southeast Asian region is a must for anyone who hasn't! Let me know what else i can help you out with!
Sawadee!

I know what you mean...alerts in your inbox are awesome!
yeah, we should definitely go to gritty's or something. When are you heading back? I'll be in boston maybe until the 22nd or 23rd--and then maine and maybe back to the city for a couple more days. We can figure something out.

Funny that you saw the convo about the lame noneast guy! I have no time for games and BS, ya know? I dated that for too long before. hahaaa...anyway, I need to do something productive with my day and since I hit enough rocks yesterday to need to skis, i'm skipping out on the mtn. talk to you soon

Soooooo, do you always write comments to yourself? :) What's happening over there in SF? Going to Maine at all? I'm psyched to head home in a week for like 10 days. A little of boston and little of Maine. I should remember to bring my raincoat and goulashes though.

Be that as it may, I was 15 when i had a crush on her. Shit, I had crushes on any female with anything resembling boobs at the time.

I now concur that carmen is a beef slick stick with poo and day old grits all over her robot face.

I went to my authority (www.urbandictionary.com) to see how everyone is defining Carmen these days:

"Carmen is a rotted beef pop on a slick stick. Her face looks like poo warmed on a griddle and served with grits. With a name and a face like that, she's probably a robot."

I can't believe you crushed on Dennis Rodman's chick.

Well cool, I guess I'll just have to hop to it and do all of that, steak and lamb included! Perhaps I will even jump off high things, if only to prove that someone in my family can be exxxtreme.

As for Hubba Bubba (and yes, it's really sad that I know this), did you know it's a totally different thing in the states than it is in the UK? Hubba Bubba in the states is more like those huge chunks of Bubbilicious:

http://www.wrigley.com/wrigley/products/products_hubba_bubba.asp

While the British Hubba Bubba is much thinner around the gut and has only one flavor wrapped into one piece:

http://www.wrigley.co.uk/HubbaBubba/Index.cfm

It's true, my friend, I speak from experience. I know way too much about gum, I am like Bubba from Forest Gump. I can safely tell you that the peppered fish brand I got in Norway was not worth the gagging and that perhaps the best gum outside of Hubba Bubba in the entire world is France's Hollywood Chewing gum. This is what I do when I travel the world!

hello! i was very excited when i heard this past july that i would be traveling to munich... but i was also a little pissed that i would just miss the world cup by a month!! oh well... i made it in time for oktoberfest. while it was obviously a completely different experience, it was a great one!

cheers,
amanda

is the rumor true? are you coming home for christmas? Hope things are going well in SF!

nice man, thanks. i'm in the heart of studying for exams/writing final papers write now. it's a great time. sounds like i'l be seeing you over break? right on--take it easy for now.

It's in Maine so that is where it must be, though i had forgotten the exact location till you told me. Could there possibly be two of those monstrosities in the world?

It’s final-I am going to have to travel the world naked. Haha! I don’t know if that is too “R-rated” for Matador…I am not sure if you guys are going to take a classier route. Haha!

Actually, those pictures are from all of the above plus Wales and England. The first row of pictures is Edinburgh and Hyde Park, the second is the coast of Ireland (honestly, among the most beautiful part of the world I've ever seen), and the last five pictures are all from coasteering (running into the ocean and jumping off cliffs!) in Wales.

I'm glad you are in a state of agreement with Hubba Bubba, etc. I myself am in agreement with funded travel for a year after college, and being the early bird... though I'd prefer to catch a steak? Badum chhh.

And yeah, I LOVE weird road signs, they are perhaps my greatest motivation for travel. I just added another that was right outside my house the last time I lived in London, warning drivers about old people. I have yet to take one of the sign that says, "Changed Priorities" in Trafalgar Square. "Look, dude, we've just changed our priorities, you're going to have to divert yourself." So very British via CA.

Any tips for New Zealand? Follow the cops I suppose!

And thus ends the longest comment in the history of mankind!

Stuart- they put you in charge of front page content and the first thing you do is take down my picture. Real nice! Haha! I am working on a new picture that will redeem my front page spot! :)

You Got Served is ten times better than Drumline.

Those mountains in Chile look amazing. Gorgeous.... and kind of like wafer cookies you could break, if it weren't for the fact that they're huge mountains.

Anyway, I like the pictures!

Hey dood, whatcha up to? School? Do you go to Berkeley? Where are you traveling to next? It's really cold here in Iowa :-( boo. My parents and sister have come to visit today and tomorrow. Well, have a nice day.

Your querky friend,
Sarah

I would appreciate it if you would stay out of my personal affairs.

dude, exams suck. i have never seen so much schoolwork in my entire life. hope you come east for xmas, that tshirt sounds real good. school is going well, skiing is going well, and you know, the social scene is going well too. hope you're having fun out in san fran.

basically, you are my mbff.

i think you should post another comment or two on my wall to make it known that you are my only friend.

somehow this isn't right. friend's exchange results: stuart (3) keri (1)

m-matador

Thanks for the comment...my first one! I'm having it framed as we speak.

New pics up of a recent excursion to Greece, land of sliced, roasted meats, and a lot of smokers.

Schloatie

yo--check out the smallworld post on my page, PARTY WEDNESDAY NIGHT, don't miss it.

that's exactly right! Granny and Grandpa decided to have a cocktail party at the pool and the appropriate attire was a winter hat, down coat, and scarf.

skiing is going really well! i think we're going to have a really good season. life is busy at school...very ready for this semester to end.

i have high hopes for the yankee swap...but i'll probably get stuck with some pink, blue, and yellow sponges that have been in granny's pantry since 1982. we'll miss you!!

when do you think you'll be in maine again? how are things in san fran? keep in touch. love the website (and i promise after my exams i'll do a better job at spreading the word!!)

Appreciate the compliment about my writing, though I suppose one is never happy with what they create...it is never quite the same as you envision it.
In any case, I'm trying hard to be intelligent and respectful with my writing and if even one other person appreciates it, then I am doing my job.
I enjoy yours, as well, particularly as any of it relates to San Francisco. It is one of the more interesting cities I've found in my travels.
Anywho, keep writing hard and thinking hard...it's the greatest complement to a mindful life.
Well, that and beer.

Stu!
Sorry I haven't been on for soo long. I really had good intentions...but starting this before the wedding mayhem was a bad idea...so was opening a new credit card.

Anyway...we're back obviously...and my life is sort of getting back to normal, except now I'm a Thompson....and life with my Thompson is never normal. :)

We received your fab wedding gift today...we loved it...THANK YOU!!

I'll definitely be on here much more now...to harass you lots for leaving the East Coast. We miss you tons...any chance of getting you for Thanksgiving? We'll be in Maine...and we get Porter on Saturday! Just remember that Wednesday is the "Biggest Going Out Night of the Year." Seriously...I heard it on the radio.

Why wouldn't you want to be in Portland?

Love, Susanna

P.S. Definitely ran into Pirate for Hire...rad chick if you ask me. Oh yes...and Fiji and Hawaii were insane. Pretty much the cushiest travelling we have ever and will ever do- fantastic honeymoon all around.

hey! good to hear from you! i talk to meredith every once and a while--she still promises to make a trip down to sandiego to visit. we'll see! as for me, life is great...im getting ready for a sweet trip down to Jalisco, Mexico to do some field research which should be awesome. anyway, have a happy turkey day and keep the blogs coming--so hilarious!

Well, since it's the schoolyear, only bi-monthly. I know, unacceptable.

When do you leave for redneckville?

WHERE do you come up with this stuff? Now I know what to read when I'm in a bad mood :) I just read the t-shirt convo blog. I can TOTALLY see that happening.
have a good one :)

-asoule (say it 10 times fast)

im surviving, wayyy too much work and trying to get through all this crap before i get to go home for turkey on tuesday :) then come back to get killed some more, finals and projects and papers and shit

then im off to mex and guat for 3 weeks, and home for a semester to work (earn $$$) then africa for almost 8 months!!!!!!!!!

whatcha doin in maine? i love it up there

haha, well, i guess on turkey day, you'll just have to log in on your laptop and pass it around the dinner table for each person to order their tee. OR they can just go to www.cafepress.com/matadortravel

Fire that sexy link around the horn!

Go to "About" on the main nav bar, then "Matador Apparel" and tell me what you think of the first round of Matador shirt designs. We're engaging a bunch of local artists and we have some sick ones on the way. Spread the WORD.