Recently
Capped off vacation with a relaxing visit to Truckee, where I got to play fourth daughter for my best friend's mother, a role I've been filling intermittently throughout the past, uh, 8 years or so. Emma and I went snow-shoeing, worked in the tiny subterranean cafe in downtown Truckee, ate too much, read, and went to see her friend Caleb's jazzy band play at a night club in a ski resort village.
Made it home after some mishaps in which my plane was broken and US Airways lacked all organizational competency, resulting in waiting in line 2.5 hours just to get rebooked on a later flight. So the 30th was a day mainly spent reading fiction in airports--alternate worlds in alternate worlds.
On the 31st I set out on a shopping mission with Cyn: prom dress and top hat. Expected to set myself $200, but got out for about $60+tax with both! And the prom dress is that red I love so much. Sadly, iPhoto is being a bitch and crashes rather than letting me get pix off my camera, but here's an image you can hopefully see.
That evening I volunteer bartended at the Burners Without Borders NYE party. I sobered up and drove us home around 4:30. Cyn, Matt, and Ryan slept in the living room. The next morning I started what will hopefully be a new tradition of making a huge brunch from all my houseguests. Plus Casey and Sarah joined us! So, basically, it was Brunch for Burners. We spent the rest of the day hula hooping in the park and chasing the sunset over Mission Hills. That night I soaked in the bath with Emma's early birthday sea salts, and then set about a satisfying round of New Year's clutter-busting, which lasted well into the next day. Now there are no shoes or clothes in my closet that I wouldn't be happy to wear.
Last week I returned to school. I'm TAing a class on Technology, Medicine, and Ethics, which mostly means the abortion debates, but also a bit of positive/negative eugenics, and some cyborg studies. I got monstrously sick, to the point where it felt like my brain was congested, which in turn made me incredibly frustrated and depressed. I like my students very much but was sad to have to meet them during a time when I couldn't think straight, or breathe through my nose for that matter. I'm a little concerned that it may have undermined a bit of my authority in the classroom, but hopefully not too badly.
On Friday we finally had a party at our house. The dream was for it to be a Red Shoes party (or blue shoes, or at least favorite shoes). Plenty of grad students, it turns out, have absolutely no interesting shoes. This was disappointing. Otherwise, the turn out was wonderful and it sounded like most everyone had a good time.
The nice young man from last quarter came to the party. I mostly left him to mingle, though he also took it upon himself to make several classes of tea for my friend Kaya, who showed up with a sore throat, out of no motive but the goodness of his heart (he knows she married). At the end of the night, there was just my housemates, their girlfriends, the nice young man and one other friend of mine. He wanted to talk. So we talked in the garage a while, sorting through where things had been left and where they are now. He gave my friend a ride home...and then he came back. The next morning we brunched and in the evening we went to the monthly Art Walk then worked in a cafe and then that morning went to the farmers market. He's out of town the next week or so. We're not exclusive, we are not committed, but it's abundantly clear that we enjoy one another's company, and when there's something we need to communicate, we do, we will. It's happy.
Really good qual paper progress, especially considering my physical state last week and my romance this weekend.
And I've been sticking to my New Year's Resolution of better oral hygiene. I decided to keep it simple for once.
So far, so good, 2010.
Made it home after some mishaps in which my plane was broken and US Airways lacked all organizational competency, resulting in waiting in line 2.5 hours just to get rebooked on a later flight. So the 30th was a day mainly spent reading fiction in airports--alternate worlds in alternate worlds.
On the 31st I set out on a shopping mission with Cyn: prom dress and top hat. Expected to set myself $200, but got out for about $60+tax with both! And the prom dress is that red I love so much. Sadly, iPhoto is being a bitch and crashes rather than letting me get pix off my camera, but here's an image you can hopefully see.
That evening I volunteer bartended at the Burners Without Borders NYE party. I sobered up and drove us home around 4:30. Cyn, Matt, and Ryan slept in the living room. The next morning I started what will hopefully be a new tradition of making a huge brunch from all my houseguests. Plus Casey and Sarah joined us! So, basically, it was Brunch for Burners. We spent the rest of the day hula hooping in the park and chasing the sunset over Mission Hills. That night I soaked in the bath with Emma's early birthday sea salts, and then set about a satisfying round of New Year's clutter-busting, which lasted well into the next day. Now there are no shoes or clothes in my closet that I wouldn't be happy to wear.
Last week I returned to school. I'm TAing a class on Technology, Medicine, and Ethics, which mostly means the abortion debates, but also a bit of positive/negative eugenics, and some cyborg studies. I got monstrously sick, to the point where it felt like my brain was congested, which in turn made me incredibly frustrated and depressed. I like my students very much but was sad to have to meet them during a time when I couldn't think straight, or breathe through my nose for that matter. I'm a little concerned that it may have undermined a bit of my authority in the classroom, but hopefully not too badly.
On Friday we finally had a party at our house. The dream was for it to be a Red Shoes party (or blue shoes, or at least favorite shoes). Plenty of grad students, it turns out, have absolutely no interesting shoes. This was disappointing. Otherwise, the turn out was wonderful and it sounded like most everyone had a good time.
The nice young man from last quarter came to the party. I mostly left him to mingle, though he also took it upon himself to make several classes of tea for my friend Kaya, who showed up with a sore throat, out of no motive but the goodness of his heart (he knows she married). At the end of the night, there was just my housemates, their girlfriends, the nice young man and one other friend of mine. He wanted to talk. So we talked in the garage a while, sorting through where things had been left and where they are now. He gave my friend a ride home...and then he came back. The next morning we brunched and in the evening we went to the monthly Art Walk then worked in a cafe and then that morning went to the farmers market. He's out of town the next week or so. We're not exclusive, we are not committed, but it's abundantly clear that we enjoy one another's company, and when there's something we need to communicate, we do, we will. It's happy.
Really good qual paper progress, especially considering my physical state last week and my romance this weekend.
And I've been sticking to my New Year's Resolution of better oral hygiene. I decided to keep it simple for once.
So far, so good, 2010.