October pics

In no particular order (or photo quality):

I'm not sure I've ever posted a picture of Kira except for the ones I took when we first got her almost two years ago now. I think it's safe to say she's gotten comfortable.

This is the Navy Ball a few weeks ago. You know, Rich loves his iPhone, and I can't convince him that the pictures he takes on it don't come out very well. I do like that I look like I'm wearing a pillbox-hat of light. The other people here were the only ones we knew at the ball. We like them a lot, though, so it was all good.

Rich had a birthday. He's 32 now. It worked out well this year because--you see the woman in the picture who isn't me? She and Rich had a Dancing with the Stars bet (who would go home first--Chuck or Michael), and the loser had to make the winner a dessert of the winner's choice. It happened that Sarah lost the bet just before Rich's birthday, so she ended up making him a birthday cake. The guy in the photo? That's my friend Rick from the previous post. Now you know. And just ignore my pudgy belly there. Ugh.

You know, I wish my clothes would put themselves in the drawer like my cat does.

Come on, you know who the guy holding the taquitos is, don't you?

Rich and me as Rocky and Adrian on Halloween. As always, Rich didn't like my Halloween costume idea, but he reluctantly went along with it. Everyone at the party loved it. Natch. And go ahead and ignore the pudgy belly in this one too. What the hell? I'm not that pudgy, am I?

In this one, I got smart and covered up said pudgy belly! Besides, this shirt hides it anyway. This year, the jack-o-lantern was very last-minute. We picked out the pumpkin Saturday/Halloween morning, I carved it that afternoon, and quickly put it out before the kids came around. They have official trick-or-treating hours here, and they start early. Thankfully, this left us with enough time to go to the party at my friend Dwight Shrute's house (See above). This reminds me, Jack is still outside our house. It's probably time to bring him in, don't you think? I love how as they decompose they look like old men who've lost their teeth. Very frightening.

Thankful Thursday

Today I'm thankful to my friend Rick (not to be confused with my husband Rich--that's not awkward at all) for sharing his insanity with me. Excuse me, that's Insanity. Rick's wife bought him this program, and I was there when they were opening it. See, Rick is the in the reserves and his wife is going to school with Rich, so that means Rick has a lot of down time just like someone else you know.

I casually said, "Hey, if you need someone to work out with you, I'm free during the daytime." It turns out he did want someone to work out with him, so for the past two weeks we've been doing this craziness together. At the end of the first week, I was already starting to see a little more muscle tone, but now that I've been sick for the past week (no swine flu, just a cold), I think the progress has slowed down because of my eating habits. Still, it's good to have a fitness routine, and this one is right up my alley with no equipment required.

I'm also thankful to myself for deciding against pursuing the job at University of Phoenix. There's one less technological responsibility in my life. I wasn't hot on the idea of online teaching before I got into it, and the first two weeks of unpaid training didn't change my mind. I concluded that the next two weeks of unpaid training probably wouldn't either. I'm not against online education; it just wasn't the right environment for me.

The time has come

I need more real, physical, simple, old-fashioned stuff in my life. Since moving to Monterey, I've become gluttonous in this respect. Here's the rundown:

1. Got a new cell phone, which is no biggie because we need telephones, but I splurged on a fancy one with real internet/email/Facebook/GPS nonsense! I could go on and on about GPS by itself, but I admit it's been handy. I am one of those people who will get my phone out to check in on things when I'm waiting for a haircut. What happened to reading magazines or just watching the goings on around me?

2. Bought Rich an XBox for his birthday. We had arguments over this. He has a PS2 and an old Nintendo from 20 years ago, both of which he never plays because he's too busy. He kept thinking that the reason I didn't want him to get it was the "clutter." I just don't want yet another machine in my house! But it was his birthday, so the PS2 is in the storage closet and if he continues to not use it, then I'm giving it away.

3. In lieu of having cable, I've become a slave to the internet. To be exact, a Facebook slave. I tell myself that I don't need TV because TV is the opiate of the masses or some such thing, and I could be doing better things with my time, yadda yadda yadda, except that the only thing I do in place of watching TV is to play online. Yeah, that's much better.

4. Realized #3 and got cable TV. As I type this, the Direct TV man is outside installing the satellite. Okay, fine. But I swore I'd never have a DVR. Why? Do I like watching commercials? No, of course not. But in my whole adult life, I haven't really had many of my own shows, shows that I would make plans around so as not to miss. I watch TV to kill time and relax (not to watch quality programming because, let's face it, there isn't much of that on TV anyway), and if a decent show happens to be on when I'm free, then great. I never wanted to be so invested in a show that if I missed it, I'd feel the need to watch it at another time because I had recorded it. Besides, isn't that what Hulu and the TV stations' websites are for? I don't even have to pay for it then! The only benefit I can see then is to record a show, and watch it just slightly after it has begun, so I can fast-forward through the commercials but still basically watch it in real time.

Anyway, my husband who absolutely loathes commercials, wanted the DVR. We're getting a DVR. Of course, this means that I don't need to be such a slave to the internet because I can be a slave to the TV instead! The real advantage for me is that I can knit more because I like to knit while "watching" TV, and I can't knit while on Facebook.

5. Got a new laptop, but that was a 1 for 1 trade, so I'm back to where I started with that.

6. Started online training for the University of Phoenix job. I still don't officially have the job, and the training is really more of an extended interview. I'm not sure I should count this as more virtual-machinery-crap because I think my teaching philosophies are a little out of sync with theirs, so I'm not even all that confident I'm going to get the job, but still, I'm glued to my computer for a few hours each day for the chance at getting an online job.

7. Blogging about technology? How's that for being a slave to machines?

I'm just feeling all icky inside because I look around and see all these things that keep me distanced from the physical world. I see my outlets full of plugs, and it's just weird. I'm not one of those people who is resistant to technology (I love hot, running water and electricity after all), but I just don't like feeling so out of touch. Someone people think their technology brings them in touch with the world but it doesn't work that way for me. Something's gotta go.

Missing my calling

The title of this post could just as easily be "Being super nerdy."

When I was at that age when I was deciding what I wanted to study in college, I had to look back at the classes I enjoyed and the ones in which I did well (usually these were synonymous). That brought me to English. It could have brought me to Spanish, but I had never heard of anyone being a Spanish major in college.

I liked English classes because I could write well, and in high school, writing classes were generally also literature classes. So, I majored in English and studied literature. Until very recently, I always wondered why it was the reading part of my classes that was such a chore. I'm an English major. Shouldn't I enjoy reading? The truth is, more often than not reading is very tedious for me. I enjoy having read something when it's over and done with and I can reflect on it, but the act of reading is difficult for me. I have found a few books/authors along the way that are enjoyable to me, but the key with these authors is the language they use. I couldn't care less about the story. It's all about how they put their sentences and paragraphs together.

This brings me to today. No, wait. This brings to me yesterday. Yesterday, in my Spanish class, my teacher busted out some linguistic symbols (some that I remember from the one linguistics class I had to take), and suddenly I got excited. Yes, I was excited over the linguistic alphabet. Then, she was talking about voiced and voiceless sounds, and I was positively giddy. She asked if we knew how to tell if a sound was voiced or voiceless, and while I didn't say anything, I put my fingertips to my throat (because that's how you tell). At the same time she put her fingertips to her throat as a demonstration. No one else knew what she was talking about. It was like being in a special club...for geeky linguists.

For the last couple months, I've been thinking that if I knew what I know now, I would have been a linguistics major or a foreign language major instead of an English major. I know now that when I write, it's not about creating amazing stories; it's about crafting the perfect sentence and putting all the elements of the English language together. That's a beautiful thing. It's all about the language. Yes, content is important, but what fascinates me is how the content is delivered. I also find the differences between languages fascinating--you can learn about people by looking at the language they use.

Anyway, I have still have time to go back and study linguistics. I just have to decide if I really have the energy and if it'll be worth it in the long run. That's up to me to decide.

Lastly, on a somewhat related note, I got the job at the community college! I'll be teaching two sections starting in the next semester. Go me!

Monuments

The homeless/crazy in Monterey have it pretty good.

Today I spent the better part of my afternoon at the public library because my internet has been down (for those of you not following that drama on FB). I was there when it opened, and I saw two familiar men. This town is so small that it's not uncommon for me to run into people I know, even though I don't know very many people, and it's especially true of a certain crowd.

One, Downtown Homeless Man. He's black, and his hair sort of sticks straight up. Usually, he wears his pants low enough so we can all enjoy his butt crack. He hangs out near Peet's Coffee and Trader Joe's mostly, and once he opened the door for Rich and me and then asked us for change. At least he was willing to work for it, you know? I used to see him sometimes when I would walk to my Spanish class last summer. When he isn't opening doors for people, he pushes around a shopping cart (cliche, I know!) piled mile high with blankets.

Today he was in the library, and frankly I was worried when he came near that he was going to smell. He didn't. So, somewhere he's washing up. Plus, at least once a library worker came over to talk to him about a book he had been looking for. On my way out, he asked for change because by then he was outside again, but I honestly didn't have my wallet so he was out of luck. Still, he clearly stays warm at night with all those blankets, he's relatively clean, and the people in the library don't mind helping him out. The weather here is conducive to living outside I suppose, and people have enough money that they can part with change now and again.

The second guy was Downtown Schizophrenic. I'm no doctor so maybe that's an incorrect diagnosis, but he definitely has conversations with people that I can't see. He is far more annoying than Downtown Homeless Man, especially when I'm trying to get some work done at the library and he's having a conversation on the couch next to me. What's worse is that sometimes he does talk to real people, so then it's just confusing. He's white and appears relatively normal in every respect but the whole talking business, and he in fact always looks like he's in a hurry, like he's going to work soon.

I saw him a few weeks ago at Peet's Coffee, and I just thought he was a irritating because he started talking to me (or at least I thought it was to me), but then he left me alone. Today I saw that he had a little more going on with him.

What I find most interesting is that these guys are like city monuments. I bet if I ask anyone who's lived here for more than a month, they will have had some encounter with one of these men. I don't have any pity for them because as I said before, Monterey is pretty accommodating. Of course, I don't want to see anybody homeless or insane, but life could certainly be worse for these two.

This is not to say that this is somehow a pleasant thing; in fact, it's weird. Do you remember The Truman Show? Well, it feels a little like that. This town is full of characters. Hey, we need a homeless guy over here! Get me Joe! And Joe shows up exactly where you would expect him to be. He's filling a role as if people wouldn't believe that this is a real town if we didn't have the token transients and schizos. If you go to Cannery Row (the tourist trap), you will also see Asian tourists taking photos of each other throwing peace signs. I wonder if all these characters exist when I'm not looking?

So many things!

There has been a lot going on these past 30 hours or so.

We invited some friends to come to dinner at our house yesterday because they are currently staying in a hotel after a tree ended up in their house during the storm last week. So, naturally, there was cooking and cleaning to be done, but I like to make sure that if I have one thing to do, then I have 20 things to do. Behold:

1. Woke up, got some things done with my training for the online teaching job.

2. Went to Trader Joe's to get groceries.

3. Went to Rite Aid to get the things I couldn't get at Trader Joe's.

4. Came home and got my old laptop packed up and ready to ship out to be recycled after transferring a few more things to the new one.

5. Balanced the checkbook and paid some bills.

6. Cleaned.

7. Ate a quick lunch

8. Started cooking/putting the stuff for the sauce in the slow cooker.

9. Rode my bike to the elementary school where I volunteer.

10. Rode back, dropped off the bike, and left in the car to go to the farmer's market for some fresh pasta (totally worth it).

11. Came home, made pesto and finalized the dinner preparations.

12. Entertained guests, talked about politics with someone who wasn't a complete idiot, and baked some cookies (pre-made).

13. Threw in some laundry after guests were gone.

14. Knitted.

By the way, the bike ride to the school? All gradually uphill for maybe 2.5 miles with the exception of the really steep hill by my house. The ride back then is all downhill--sweet!--except for the last part when my quads have stopped functioning. Another by the way? Butternut squash ravioli is the best thing ever!

So that was yesterday. Today, I got up and made a handout for my teaching demonstration and tweaked my resume. Then, of course, I had my interview. I swear one of the interviewers looked just like Jimmy Fallon. Then I came home and beat myself up a little for not saying the right things, had some candy, and then checked my online training schedule to see that I'm off the hook for today. Still, I'm pooped.

Thankful Thursday

This Thankful Thursday is brought to you by Oral B satin floss.

I'll admit it; I don't like flossing. It once took me a couple years to get through a whole roll of floss because I just never did it.

Anyway, last Christmas my mom put a bag of trial-size dental hygiene products in the upstairs bathroom for us to use as needed. I have no idea how my mom has accumulated so much of this stuff, but when the zombies attack, there will be no excuse for bad oral hygiene in that household. So, since she made it obvious that all this stuff was extra, I swiped a few things including some toothpaste for sensitive teeth, and two small packs of floss. One of those packs was the aforementioned satin floss.

Now, the Oral B website describes using this floss as an "elegant" experience. I probably wouldn't go that far. Any activity that often causes me to spit blood is probably not elegant, but this floss is pretty spectacular. It really does glide between my teeth. Instead of having to fight with the floss to get it to go through only to have it unpleasantly crash against my gums, I just give it a gentle push and it slides right through and back again in no time flat. I bleed very little in part because of the floss's texture and in part because now I floss more regularly since it's not such a laborious task.

There's only one thing I don't like about this floss. If my hands are wet (because I've just brushed my teeth), it's a little difficult to get a grip on the floss because it's so smooth. Still, unlike regular wax floss, if I wrap it a couple times around my fingers to get a grip, it doesn't cut off circulation or get uncomfortable in any way.

So, there you go. Thanks, Mom, for having this stuff and not using it so I could steal it. And thanks, Oral B, for making this great product.