Joshua Zamrycki's Weblog

Home again, home again lickety split. Now let’s see… how to tell you all about my trip to Ireland without writing a novel. I think my writing style is much more suited to a long drawn-out narrative than a short and sweet summary. Look at that: there I go already. OK, I’ll give it a try. Maybe I’ll make two installments to create the illusion of brevity.

(more…)

Homestar Runner has done it again. I religiously check the site every week to get a new helping of Strongbad’s Email, but this new game is oldschool fabulous. Check it out. I got 1943 on my first try!

Four days without internet access. Now that was a test of strength. I don’t ever want to have to go through that again.

So now I’m here, writing my last entry in Barcelona before I fly off to Ireland in five hours. I guess I should start packing soon. What clothes do I bring?! I’ve dusted off my tent, saddle bags, and my sleeping bag; adjusted the straps on my bike helmet; printed out some road maps of the Irish countryside; grimmaced at the five-day forcast for Cork and Tralee (thunderstorms all week!); gathered together an impressive collection of plastic bags; made Jonathan promise to water all the plants on the terrace while I’m gone; and booked a hostel for my first night. That’s gonna be interesting: I arrive at Cork airport at around 11:30pm and then need to cycle to the city center. As you probably know, most airports aren’t exactly in the city center. I’d better stop off at the local sports store before I leave and pick up some bicycle lights and bungee cords. I’ll hopefully arrive at the hostel before 2am. What the hell am I doing?!

One week and 200km later, I should be home again. If I find a reasonable internet connection on my travels, I’ll try to write again before I return. That is, if I return…. (insert evil laughter here)

I did it. I just booked my flight to Cork. I’m leaving next Saturday (after a long week of dubbing work) and I’ll be there for a week. I feel like I’m sort of rushing into this trip without really thinking it through, but I checked my Palm Pilot four times and I’m pretty sure I have nothing to do here in Barcelona that week. So off I go!

I’m thinking about going to Ireland next week. Since nobody works the entire month of August, Barcelona completely empties out and everyone goes on holiday. Everyone but me. I’ve been working off and on without any real wondow of opportunity to escape – until now. It looks like I can get away from the 21st to the 28th and Ireland has been on my mind recently. I found a pretty sweet deal with Aerlingus so I guess I’m going. I’ll think about it for another 24 hours then I’ll book my flight (if it’s still available). The plan is to bring my bike and my tent with me and cycle from Cork to Kerry the long way: around the coast. That should take me a week to complete and they say the countryside there is breath-taking. Ok, I think I just convinced myself. Now I just need to find someone to water the plants on the terrace while I’m gone.

I used to play the trumpet. I started when I was 10 and played all through high school but then stopped when I went to college. When I moved to Barcelona, I saw many of my friends who were musicians playing gigs every week and it looked like good fun performing on a regular basis. So I was inspired to buy myself a new trumpet. I soon found a group to play with and I performed for over two years with Afrodisian Band here in Spain. Then I stopped. I realized that I have too many things in my life that require a lot of attention and I prioritized. And the trumpet ended up in a box under the bed where it has remained dormant for about two years now.

(more…)

So I go into work today and Nick says to me, “I saw your Live Journal online. I guess you decided not to do the ‘Blog’ thing.” “What do you mean by that?” I asked. “Well, yours is really a journal, not a blog.” “What’s the difference?” I asked intently. To which, he replied, “I don’t know.”

So what am I gonna do here? Maintain an online confessional of my inner thoughts and secrets? A matter-of-fact daily update of my travels and adventures? A profound dream journal? A “My life in pictures” photo album? A scathing political commentary? A collection of links to interesting pages I find on the internet? I still don’t know.

I cried when I saw this!

I’m very excited about this project and just had to share!

A couple months ago, I had the opportunity to provide some voices for a new video game called Scrapland which should be released for the PC before Christmas and for the XBox soon thereafter. It is being produced by American McGee (the evil genius that brought us Alice) which only makes me more excited. The games looks absolutely beautiful and I did the voices for four different characters, so how can you go wrong?! The buzz is starting to spread around the net so I thought I’d pass on the good word. You can find more info on the following pages:

Scrapland
American McGee
GameSpot
WorthPlaying

I woke up this morning at 6:30am (entirely too early for me) after getting only four hours sleep (why did I stay up to watch The Hulk?!) to take Jan to the airport. By the time I write this, she should be safely in her hotel room getting ready for her first day of work tomorrow with The British Council. Like last year, Jan will be teaching four weeks of intensive English courses in Hong Kong while I waste away on the sunny (and lonely) Spanish beaches.

(more…)