So I'm sitting in Prague, wrapping up an insanely busy last few weeks of a semester, preparing to embark on more than a month of heavy travel. I'm going everywhere, and I really can't wait. I'm going to see my father, I'm going to see some of my friends from school, and I'm going to be in a zillion places. Should be spectacular.

The last few weeks have been intense. We shot several projects, barely having time to do anything else. After classes were officially finished, we still had shooting to do. Eirik left on Thursday, and Riccardo and Vefik left on Friday. Pisek was surreal as hell without them.

So I went to Prague. I took the GRE on Saturday (I did a lot better this time) and was able to relax on Sunday. Today, I went downtown and did a bit of shopping, among several other things.

But yeah, I'll try to update this as much as humanly possible over the next few weeks to give details about where the hell I am.

No hay nada aquí hoy

First I said I'd update this once a week, then once every few weeks, and now it's been almost a month. Wow, I'm awesome.

We've shot a music video, which you can expect to see online probably next week. We also shot a report, and we may shoot one more thing before Christmas. We've had some new classes, and school's generally been all right.

But let's be fair, I'm overdue on a blog about my grandfather.

My grandfather, Cecil H. Underwood, passed away over a week ago. His health had been on the decline for a long time. In a lot of ways, it's a relief.

I knew my grandfather well in a lot of ways, but at times he seemed like a mystery. Before I left, I kind of knew I'd be missing his funeral, so I said my goodbye to him in private. Part of me felt like I was running away a little bit, but I know he'd be okay with where I was at his service. Chris, my brother (pictured above) was able to read a statement from me at the memorial service (thanks Chris), so I did what I could to express my feelings.

Granddad was a public figure in West Virginia. He was a political figure, and while he didn't always win, a lot of people knew who he was. And it definitely looks like people liked him. Every time his health failed, it somehow got to the news media, which always bothered me. Granddad was a very private, quiet man. Unfortunately, being abroad, I had to deal with the public figure part of him first. I knew that something was going on, but couldn't get ahold of anybody, so I ended up checking the Charleston newspaper, which already had a story on it. Four hours after his passing, and they had interviews and statements. It was a bit surreal.

And while I'm not sure it's necessarily a good thing that they had as many cameras at a memorial service as they did, I was able to stream it live online and see how it went, for the most part. It was a lovely service, and everybody that I could see did a wonderful job. Granddad would be a little embarrassed at all the love, but he would appreciate it.

Also, my brother and my uncle Craig look too alike. When Chris got up to talk, I wasn't sure who he was until he spoke. I realized that it looks a little bit like a family of Lex Luthors... I'm not saying we are though.

But yeah, Granddad's passing is sad, but things happen for a reason.