Am I in trouble?

I just blew off a lunch date with friends with no notice to go to some silly work meeting. Oops. I actually had no concept of the fact that we were all working right through lunch until it was over and I glanced up at the clock. It said "12:45 you friendless bitch". Seriously, that's what the clock said. I would've been offended if I hadn't been so impressed. Anyway, sorry guys. Next time.

I've been holding off on my vacation review until I got my pictures uploaded, but considering their sheer numbers and the fact that I will probably have to go through them as anally as possible, weeding through them, discarding the ones where someone walked by the lens or the many nighttime shots I attempted without a tripod -- and then there's the editing process, deblurring and sharpening and color correcting -- little Woodlaysons will probably come along first.

The Rundown:

Royal Caribbean - Better than Carnival insofar as you don't feel like a refugee family of Irish Catholics when reclining in the top bunk of your "cabin". It also got points for not trying to pack 4000 people in a 6000 sq. ft. boat. One of my most vivid memories from cruising Carnival was a 10 foot square pool, dotted with algae, with about 20 kids crammed into it, all trying their damnedest to look like they were having fun and avoid inadvertantly losing their virginity. The RC pools were spacious, clean, and didn't smell like the ocean. The only suggestion I have for anyone thinking of vacationing on the RC is this: Drop the notion altogether that cruises are "all-inclusive". Just don't think about it in those terms. You won't feel quite so cheated everytime you find out that you have to pay $3.00 for a Coke, and that you owe five different waiters a tip and you've only ever met two of them, and that you'll get charged $1.00 for every fingerprint they find on the minibar. If you're on a budget, just don't cruise. Just don't.

Cococay - First stop. Kinda sucked. But if you get off the beaten path, there's some pretty inter-island trails. I found a cave there, and if I ever go back, I'm bringing my spelunking gear. Pay for an excursion? Thank you, I'll make my own fun.

St. John - Beautiful island, weird vibe. It's one of those places where, on one side of the street, there will be this ostentatious mansion, and on the other side, there's a driftwood shack with half a roof. There is a literal hierarchy here, considering the whole place is basically a mountain sitting in the middle of the ocean. The rich people look down on the poor people. Every cliche you can think of, you can go to St. John's and take a picture of it. Upper class, middle class, lower class. Upper island, middle island, lower island. It's just creepy.

St. Maarten - We are not in Kansas anymore, and I freakin' love it. This place was just awesome. I don't know how this place got so cool, but I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that it is the smallest freestanding parcel of land to be divided between two coutries. It's half French and half Dutch. The personality of the place is a pretty uniform blend of the two cultures, although they still bicker about whose system of local government is better. They're all islanders at heart. I may never again run into so many friendly people with French accents. I'm going to write France a letter and tell them how much more becoming it is. St. Maarten goes on my list of places I must return to before I die. I could see myself going native there.