Cassierice's Weblog

Frustration

cassierice — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 19:03:07 +0000

I understand that within the degree plan of arts and technology we are required to take some Computer Science courses which i would be okay with if they had an relevance to Arts and Technology. I mean come on what is up with us having to take java for 3 semesters one semester should be enough considering the fact that it has no relevance. If i was to take a cs course that maybe involved something that was maybe geared more towards lets say web design or something like that something that i might be doing in the future i would be much happier to take that than i would java. Like Html that would be a nice course to have so that way i can understand how websites work and how i can manipulate them so that way i can get a job when i graduate from college. This basically just me ranting because i over the past couple of semesters have become quite frustrated with the arts and technology program. Not just with the cs stuff but with the all of the courses overall they all seemed to be focused in game design when i would like to take classes in typography logo design, flash, all of these other fields so i can see what i am good at and what i would like to do with this degree in the future. Right now i am leaning towards environments i do enjoy working on them and creating them.

Anywho this is just quiet a long rant on the frustrations that i have been having with the Atec program.

yes i know that there are a lot of grammatical errors but i do not claim to be a writer in any sense of the word.

Drawing to an end

cassierice — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:00:10 +0000

As this class gets closer and closer to an end i have come to appreciate what blogging has to offer even though i might not like doing it. This class has helped me to plan my trip across europe because i forced me to look at plane, and train tickets as well as looking into hostels and hotels. So for that i thank you for this oppertunity because i know now that my dream that i oce had of backpacking through Europe is now possible and it is going to happen in June of 2009. So thank you for this oppertunity.

response

cassierice — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 16:06:41 +0000

This is my response to the Why i Blog article that was to be read for class.

While it was interesting to see why thi guy blogged and the backstory behind it. I still dont see what all the hype is about blogging. I dont like blogging infact i might even say that i dislike it alot. I am not a writer by any means infact i pretty much suck at it. There is one thing that i do enjoy about blogs. The fact that thoughts and opinions, in some cases facts and information of individual people can be posted online for everyone to see. While i might not see eye to eye with mr sullivan about why he blogs i know the reason that i blog is because it is for class. while i did enjoy it when it first started i have come to dislike it as the class has come to an end. Anyways in response to the article i can see and understands why he likes to, looks forward to blogging, but bloggin in itself is just not for me.

How long to stay

cassierice — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 16:56:04 +0000

So i have been having trouble deciding how long to stay and which places i should stay longer than others. In my itinerary i have some rough estimates but i want you to know how i came to that decision.

Berlin i wanted to stay for two days because i want to experience the History that this city has to offer but that is about it. I am not sure what else Berlin has to offer so i decided that 2 days should be sufficent if i leave onn the second night on an overnight train to Amsterdam. I choose to stay in Amsterdam for 2 days because really i just want to go there to experence what is not legal in the US but is legal there. Again on the second day i would leave on the over night train headed towards Paris where i will be spending 4 nights. I wanted to spend more time here because there seems to be a lot more to see like i want to take a day trip to Versailles and see the beautiful castle/palace that is there. And of course i want to go to the top of the eiffel tower and if the line is not that bad i would like to go to the Louve. On the last night catch a train to Monaco and to be honest i just want to go to the beach while i am there and it just happens to be the gambeling capitol of the world so thatis a plus. Spend the night and text morning hop on a train to Milan in Milan i would just be spendind one day but during that day i would love to get to walk around and see all the lovely architecture that italy has to offer. The following morning catch a train and head towards Venice i just wanted to see this city really before it disappers. Again the following morning catch a train and head towards Rome. Rome i love this city there is so much to do there i think that you can live there your whole life and still not see everything that this city has to offer. Which is why i chose to stay here for 4 days (which i know is not very long) On the 4th night get on a plane and fly back to Frankfurt.

So this why i chose to stay as long as i did

What an interesting Day

cassierice — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 04:40:34 +0000

So today was quite an interesting day!

Today was the first time that i have gotten the chance to vote in a Presidential election.

my day started off quite interesting i woke up at 10, a late start i know, i drove home to fort worth so i could cast my vote. While i was on the way there i heard some quite interesting things while listing to 93.3 the bone. They were playing some political games like guess who the celebrity is following. like Kelsey Grammer is for McCain, The Hilton family is for McCain but Paris Hilton is for Obama. They also did a mini pole to see who people were voting for and surprisingly there results were not accurate.

Once i cast my vote for Obama i drove back to Richardson where i noticed a distinct change in the advertisement for candidates. Back home in North Richland Hills the signs tended to be 10 McCain signs to 1 Obama sign whereas here in Richardson they seem to be more even if not more Obama than McCain.

After arriving back home in Richardson i immediately got on facebook because that is what i do. I facebook. I noticed a distinct change in status from yesterday to today people were donating there status for the candidate they choose which is pretty interesting form of advertisement. At around 10:00 i was watching mythbusters with facebook open on my computer and BAM i could definitely tell without a doubt that Obama had one and McCain had lost. so just to double check i went to cnn and sure enough that was quite true.

So pretty much i am happy with the way that the election turned out in fact i am quite proud at myself for getting out and voting. This was in fact a very interesting day.

Traveling by train

cassierice — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 18:43:26 +0000

so i have found some info on trains that i would like to share

the global pass which is pretty sweet

the select pass which is not quite as sweet since you can only go to like 5 diffrent countries

the regional pass which might actually work for because all the countries tha i plan on going to are right next to each other.

and finally the one country pass which is really not an option for me.

if i were to choose now which is a good idea because i could ssave like $200 i would either choose the global or regional pass

where to stay!

cassierice — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 18:42:18 +0000

So i have been looking into where the cheapest places to stay are in each city and i have come across in some interesting results

1. some hostels are pretty damn expensive

2. a hotel can actually be cheaper than hostels depending on the number of people that you have going with you.

3. even though a hostel might only be $11 a night you need to look into the location of where it is at like is it in a good part of town? is located anywhere remotely close to what you want to do .

so i have come across some places that i want to stay

like during my time in Berlin i would be happy if i could spend it at the Circus. it is located right in the heart of Berlin minutes away from night clubs and bars.

now when i am in Amsterdam i want to stay at The Flying Pig. This place just seems awesome because they have a bar pool tables and just and enviorment that you cant really get staying anywhere else.

and the last one that i am looking into stay in at is The Yellow in Rome. The pictures that i have seen and the stories that i have read about the place just seems to have an atmosphere like no other. and it seems to be as unique as its name.

more to come but these are just some of the place that i am interested in staying in as of right now.

Taking a few steps back

cassierice — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 19:32:47 +0000

So to take a few steps back and to let you know how i arrived at the place that i am visiting.

Traveling is one of my favorite things in the world to do i love the spontaneity of traveling and the fact that not everything has to be planned out. I love visiting new places and meeting new people. That is why i am looking forward to staying in hostels and getting to meet interesting people from around the world.

First off the reason i chose to fly into Frankfurt is simply because that is the cheapest place to fly into From Dallas.

Then i chose Berlin because there is so much history there and there is so much culture that i dont want to miss it.

Then Amsterdam, well because it is Amsterdam and there is a lot more legal there than there is here.

From there i chose Paris and again there is so much culture and history and of course the eiffel tower. I am also very into architecture and there are some amazing cathedrals and castles in the vecinity of paris that i would love to visit. The simple fact that i have never been to a castle is also a reason that i want to go because there are several around there.

Then there comes Monaco which i chose because of the beautiful beaches and the fact that it is the gambling capitol of the world.

Then comes Milan and again the architecture has attracted me to it, and of course it is a fashion capitol.

Next is Venice and i have always wanted to visit there because it is very romantic soothing and just seems like a happening place to be.

And Finally last but not least Rome. I have already visited Rome once before and want nothing more than to go back. I want to go back and visit the stuff that i missed before. Rome is so welcoming and educational that i dont think a trip to Europe would be complete with out it.

revised itenerary

cassierice — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:43:52 +0000

fly in to Frankfurt

catch a train from Frankfurt to Berlin

2 days in Berlin

catch a train from Berlin to Amsterdam

2 days in Amsterdam

Catch a train from amsterdam to Paris

4 days in Paris

Catch a train from Paris to Monaco

1 day in Monaco

Catch a train from the French Riveara to Milan

1 day in milan

catch a train from Milan to venice

1 day in Venice

catch a train from venice to rome

4 days in Rome

on 4th night catch a flight back to Frankfurt for return flight home

i also found out that if you fly from boston to iceland and then to frankfurt it is about $600 cheaper than from dallas to frankfurt

finding cheap flights

cassierice — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 19:04:07 +0000

so finding cheap flights is not as easy as it seems i have come to find out.

Let me rephrase that finding cheap flights is easy but finding them for the time frame that i want is not so easy. I have found websites like http://www.mobissimo.com/results_activity.php?activity=europe&depCity=DFW&depCity_name=Dallas/Fort%20Worth&depMonth=6&depDay=1&retMonth=6&retDay=18&NumTix=1&Type=roundtrip&Class=economy&sessionid=puv6nb4a0a3jhenjdon155ubl1 which sounds great and everything but i cant find flights for the dates that i want to go. We are wanting to leave June 1st and return on the 19th but like i said i cant find flights that are cheap.