Granted- to a certain extent I have been aiming to live a slightly less collegiate life (with cooked meals and everything). I was a little amazed to find myself up a full half-hour before my alarm was supposed to go off. This newfound ability and determination to.. wake up.. also has manifested itself as the inablility to sleep throughout the last week. I guess this is good insentive to be off campus by 6PM, either way.

Beautiful spring day in the making- and this time it is actually spring.

The explosion of interest in GUIs since 1984 has had the unfortunate effect of obscuring the virtues of CLIs. The design of consumer software, in particular, has become heavily skewed towards GUIs. While this is a good choice for the novice and casual users that constitute most of the consumer market, it also exacts hidden costs on more expert users as they run up against the expressiveness limits of GUIs--costs which steadily increase as the users take on more demanding problems. Most of these costs derive from the fact that GUIs are simply not scriptable at all--every interaction with them has to be human-driven.

Buenas!

I've got about 2 days left at Casa Verde. Tuesday we leave for San Pedro Sula to catch the early^Wonly flight out on Wednesday. At this point, I'm not ready to leave. There are plenty of things to do here that I have not yet done (like rafting), but these are not the primary reasons why I want to stay. Life here is slower, simpler, and a whole hell of a lot more beautiful. That's not to say that there are not a whole bunch of reasons that Jungle living is difficult, but these pale to the natural majesty of La Cuenca. I'll have to wait to see if the photos do this place any justice.

We bouldered up the river Friday and Saturday morning. The boulders along this river are quite gargantuan, which makes them a LOT of fun to climb. I think that my body was made to do this sort of thing. The first day my ugly sandals were really getting in the way, so I ditched them yesterday and went barefoot. This made it much easier to climb, but when the sun starts to get high overhead, the rocks head up making it a bit more difficult to scramble au natural. When we returned, a little bit battered but no worse for the wear, I felt fulfilled. I could do it every morning.

We never did make it to Roatan. Several setbacks, and a crap ton of rain kept us home for the better part of last week. This, however, is what I like in a vacation-- amazing scenery, natural living, plenty of booze, yoga, and just being. Running around trying to see everything, though surely an enjoyable endeavor, is not a priority to me. Especially as I plan on returning here numerous times-- it will all still be here waiting to be explored.

Whitney has been occupied filling ~400ft of 16mm film. This, however, is not a straightforward process. Point-and-shoot is a lot more of Think-Look-Point-Think-Look-Point Elsewhere-Think-Look More-Point-Shoot. It's fine, though. I am really excited for them to shoot Blondes in the Jungle. I am sure that will be an insane and hellish (and probably HOT) week or two of filming, but I am also fairly certain that it will come out great. If you're the type of person that grants up-and-coming filmmakers money, give them a whole lot! Then again, if you're the type of person who does this, I'd love an email from you-- how did you find this on the web?

I've got a bunch of big decisions to make when I get back home. I am not really fulfilled with my life there. I've known this for some time, but it is increasingly apparent to me that I should not continue if I am unhappy. My job has been unfulfilling; and to continue without any indication of near-term improvement would be self-damnation. City-living is another factor towards my discontent-- I long to live somewhere slower-- I think. When I get back it is at least time to start knocking on a few doors to see what opens itself to me. I've not made up my mind that I want to leave, but I should know what my options are.

Coming to Honduras has been a very powerful experience. I've not been impressed by the local culture, or even the wealth of things to do here. Rather, I've been made more aware of contentness in being-- peace of mind. I imagine that this is achievable in any setting-- even the Nuevo-Police State that is the New York Metropolitan area. However, in order for me to cope, personally, I need to put myself in a more positive environment. Fighting to be happy seems like a lot of energy that I could be putting into something creative.