Tweet Tweet

I feel like every few weeks, I post randomly about something cool I've found on Twitter... so in keeping with the that trend, here is one of my newest discoveries.

I've seen a few blog posts and tweets in the last few days about Twitter Mosaic (Dr. Karen Russell & Bert DuMars just as a few examples).  This tool is pretty self-explanatory, here is my Twitter Mosaic:

Get your twitter mosaic here.

Whenever I see things like this, I can't help but wonder (sorry, techie Carrie Bradshaw moment) what people will think of next.  Sure, it's cool to see a big mosaic of all the people who follow me on Twitter, but who sat down and developed this application?  I can't even begin to count how many times, when I mention Twitter, people ask "but... what's the point?".  There are so many useful things you can use Twitter for, but things like Twitter Mosaic prove that for each useful tool there is a pointless one (Tweet Like a Pirate... seriously?).  

I actually googled applications and toys for Twitter, and was shocked at how many hits came up.  There are hundreds of thousands of blog posts, wikis, and articles about different applications but the best resource I came up with is the Twitter Fan Wiki, which has a comprehensive list of desktop applications, web applications, and mobile applications.  You can also click here to see Twitter downloads available.

Oh Twitter, you never cease to amaze me.

Keeping it Local: Part 2

Last week, I talked about how I love having visitors in town because I get to eat out and show off Athens. This past weekend, my mom was in town so I got to do the whole visitor thing all over again.

As usual, one of my favorite things about the parents coming to town is going to the nice restaurants that I can't afford on my own (East-West, Porterhouse, Farm 255, etc.). However, this time I decided to take Mom out to some of the fun local attractions Athens has to offer. 

We went to one of my old favorites, the Terrapin Brewery, to meet some friends and enjoy the local beer.  I hadn't been to Terrapin in awhile, but I've never seen it so busy!  The parking lot was absolutely packed and the line at the taps was a mile long the whole night.  But as usual, it was a fun outing and I love the laid back attitude everyone has there.  Not to mention, where else can you go for live music, good beer, and even leave with a souvenir glass for $8? If you have yet to go to Terrapin, go soon - they're open for tours and tastings Thursday, Friday, Saturday from 5:30 - 7:30.  They seemed to be in between seasonal beers right now, but I would imagine soon they'll have their spring beers available for tastings.  

*If you want to see what you've been missing, there are videos on the Athens Convention & Visitors Bureau's blog from my internship last semester

We also went to Urban Sanctuary for facials (what kind of *girls weekend* would be complete without facials?).  My roommate recommended the spa after getting a massage there a few weeks ago, so we decided to check it out.  Urban Sanctuary is one of those cute, homey places in Athens that is located in an actual house - which I love! The facials were awesome, and the whole atmosphere of the spa made you feel right at home.  

And finally, we went to Cine - which I've been meaning to do for years.  They have some great movies playing right now (Milk, Revolutionary Road, & The Reader - we saw Milk) and if you check out their website you can see all the cool events they have each week.  Aside from the cool indie feel of the theater, it has cheaper tickets than traditional theaters in town AND a full bar - not to mention, it is connected to The National (which I have yet to go to but I hear is amazing).

This weekend made me realize there's more to "keeping it local" than just eating in local restaurants.  I'm definitely planning to spend my last two months in Athens experiencing as much of the local culture as possible.  

Snow Day!

So today was my first real SNOW DAY!  Growing up in Florida, the most excitement we got as far as school being cancelled was hurricane days... but those were mostly spent putting up hurricane shutters and taking them down 24 hours later since Sarasota never got a bad hit (knock on wood).  In my four years at UGA, we've had class cancelled maybe once for ice on the roads, but nothing could compare to the snow storm that hit Athens yesterday.  According to the Athens-Banner Herald, we got 6.5 inches but I'd be willing to bet it was closer to a foot! 

It was pretty and exciting at first, but I'm not going to lie I lost a little bit of my love for the snow when it took away my power last night, and I still had yet to get my internet back until a few hours ago.  If nothing else, this snow storm made me realize how much I truly rely on technology!  With no internet access, I had to call my parents to check on school being cancelled today.  I barely knew how to use the phone book to look up our cable company to check on repairs because I'm so used to looking everything up online!  Also, once the novelty wore off I wasn't too excited about being trapped in my house since I was scared to drive on the icy roads.

All complaints aside, Athens is beautiful covered in snow and I'm looking forward to many snow days in my NYC future.