All in the golden afternoon
I count trees. For the government. I now know trees like Vanna White knows the alphabet, and you have the stimulus bill to thank for it. It's crushingly boring, but it does pay and, hopefully, the people who will in the future see "AmeriCorps" on my resumé won't be curious enough to ask exactly what I did. I work with Tristan, a 23-year-old graduate of San José State who, while very nice, is prone to start conversations that go like this:
"If you had to be a Coast Live Oak or a Mock Orange Pittasporum, which would you choose?"
"..."
"Really. If you had to choose."
"Coast Live Oak."
"Ok, ok--if you had to be a Coast Live Oak or a Deodar Cedar, which would you choose?"
"Still Coast Live Oak."
He can do this for a very, very long time . After a few bouts of this I told him point blank that my favorite tree was the Silver Dollar Eucalyptus, but this doesn't seem to have dampened his enthusiasm much. The first week was torturous because of the heat and intense boredom, but it's better now that the weather's cooled and I'm learning that after about 45 minutes my mind goes blissfully, completely numb.
Other developments:
My little sister is moving into Berkeley next Sunday, and I'm insanely envious. I wonder how many times I'm going to be in Berkeley these coming months, under the guise of Checking Up On Kristina. I'm actually really curious as to how she'll handle Berkeley--she's not as academically qualified as a lot of the kids, and she's very used to having her family take care of her in all aspects of her life.
My Dad's car is in for repairs and he has been given a Mini Cooper to use in the meantime, which I am currently driving. This is, no joke, the funnest care ever. I love it. I don't want a car, but if I did, it would be this one. I have also been led to believe by very reliable sources (i.e. repeated viewings of the Italian Job) that if I owned a Mini I would be fully qualified to start a career as an international bank robber.
I bought a coconut out of curiosity today and broke it open on the front patio. This ended mostly in disappointment--the meat is tasteless, as is the milk. The only real draw is that I can legitimately smack hard objects against brick surfaces with the appearance that I am foraging for food, Tarzan style.
I downloaded the Pride & Prejudice soundtrack (props go to one-blankpage for recommending it) and have been listening to the opening piano track for four days now, lamenting both my lack of any musical talent whatsoever and the fact that we no longer have town balls that involve dances with complicated steps and clapping that everybody somehow knows. Although, if my experiences with ballroom dancing last year are anything to go on, it's perhaps best if the general public were protected from my dancing skills.
How is everybody?
"If you had to be a Coast Live Oak or a Mock Orange Pittasporum, which would you choose?"
"..."
"Really. If you had to choose."
"Coast Live Oak."
"Ok, ok--if you had to be a Coast Live Oak or a Deodar Cedar, which would you choose?"
"Still Coast Live Oak."
He can do this for a very, very long time . After a few bouts of this I told him point blank that my favorite tree was the Silver Dollar Eucalyptus, but this doesn't seem to have dampened his enthusiasm much. The first week was torturous because of the heat and intense boredom, but it's better now that the weather's cooled and I'm learning that after about 45 minutes my mind goes blissfully, completely numb.
Other developments:
My little sister is moving into Berkeley next Sunday, and I'm insanely envious. I wonder how many times I'm going to be in Berkeley these coming months, under the guise of Checking Up On Kristina. I'm actually really curious as to how she'll handle Berkeley--she's not as academically qualified as a lot of the kids, and she's very used to having her family take care of her in all aspects of her life.
My Dad's car is in for repairs and he has been given a Mini Cooper to use in the meantime, which I am currently driving. This is, no joke, the funnest care ever. I love it. I don't want a car, but if I did, it would be this one. I have also been led to believe by very reliable sources (i.e. repeated viewings of the Italian Job) that if I owned a Mini I would be fully qualified to start a career as an international bank robber.
I bought a coconut out of curiosity today and broke it open on the front patio. This ended mostly in disappointment--the meat is tasteless, as is the milk. The only real draw is that I can legitimately smack hard objects against brick surfaces with the appearance that I am foraging for food, Tarzan style.
I downloaded the Pride & Prejudice soundtrack (props go to one-blankpage for recommending it) and have been listening to the opening piano track for four days now, lamenting both my lack of any musical talent whatsoever and the fact that we no longer have town balls that involve dances with complicated steps and clapping that everybody somehow knows. Although, if my experiences with ballroom dancing last year are anything to go on, it's perhaps best if the general public were protected from my dancing skills.
How is everybody?