In hip hop, this is called a shout out

You may notice some design / template changes and some adds to my links sections. The template change is just an experiment, but I wanted to add some great new people / sites to my random links list.

In any case, if you feel my opinion has any sort of worth whatsoever, I'm gonna direct you to checking these out whenever you have a chance.

Adventure Girl — This is an amazing new friend of mine from LA, Stefanie Michaels. We traveled through Croatia together as part of the press tour. She's smart and gorgeous and funny and has done all sorts of incredible things (for instance, she MUSHED in the Iditarod. Mushing has been a long-time dream of mine). Stefanie and I went off on our own a couple of times during our trip to do more adventurous activities. We also had a knack for stumbling into unbelievable jewelry stores and blowing cash we should not have been spending.

Aural Lice — Aural Lice and I have been close friends for over a year now. When we were first introduced by a mutual friend, I was excited because I needed to do a profile on someone "interesting" for a feature writing class I was taking. I discovered Aural Lice loves audio in ways extending far beyond enjoying the ability to hear sounds. For instance, he's saved every voice mail he's received for the last eight years. So I'm REALLY excited AL is back to getting creative these days because he's one of the most visionary people I've ever met. His blog and podcasts chronicle a lot of the bizarre things people discuss on a daily basis. And yes, he tapes people with their knowledge so there's no Linda Tripp action going on. Keep checking, because he has some upcoming posts that are absolutely amazing. You will definitely want to subscribe to his podcast.

On The Globe — This is a longtime travel website written by Andrew Princz. Princz was also on my press tour of Croatia. He recently moved back to Montreal after spending the last eight years in Budapest. He was also an author for the Frommer's Budapest and the Best of Hungary guidebook, as well as contributed to the Wall Street Journal's international edition. He's a great writer and talented guy. I also like to refer to him as The Cleaner, because he just reminds me of the guy you call in after a botched hit job (e.g., La Femme Nikita, Pulp Fiction).

Kling Bags — My cousin, Natasha, makes these incredible handbags out of vinyl and duct tape. Check out her goods, they're quite extraordinary. If you're like me and would rather carry something original than a big designer label, this is definitely up your alley.