My friend Patrick goes on a rant:
---------------
I've about had it with so-called "Christians." Who the fuck do these people think they are? How can someone call him/herself Christian when he/she has zero Christ-like qualities?
The morning prayer in the Senate was, for the first time, a Hindu prayer. You know how our country has freedom of religion. You also know that our founding fathers were not Christians, but rather Deists. And you must also know that Jesus did not advocate being an asshole to people of other faiths. In fact, that's contradictory to his message. Yet three Senate members rudely interrupted the Hindu prayer. Let's call this Exhibit A:
Then we have the anti-stem cell research, anti-abortion, anti-pulling-tubes-out-of-vegetables, "culture of life" that Jesus apparently had a problem with. I'm not going to jump into the abortion debate on Biblical grounds, because deciding what constitutes murder is a very personal thing and you could argue it either way. I'd rather point out that fundamentalist Christians overwhelmingly supported the war in Iraq and the death penalty. Why is killing an innocent fetus wrong, but killing an innocent Iraqi is good? Why is it good Christian values to kill a convicted criminal, even though Jesus condemns violence (or even ill will) against someone who has wronged you? Let's call the 3,000 dead Americans and the 50,000+ dead Iraqi civilians Exhibit N.
Let's tackle homosexuality next. Isn't it a little strange that so many Christians claim homosexuality is a sin, even though Jesus details several kinds of sexual immorality, but doesn't manage to mention homosexuality even one time? Go ahead and look through one of those Bibles that puts Jesus' words in red text to make it even easier on yourself: Jesus has no problem talking about sexual immorality. He has big issues with sexual immorality, but never once indicates a single thing about homosexuality. He doesn't even gently suggest it in any way. Not a single word. So who are all of these Christians saying it's a sin? Let's call this missing scripture Exhibit C.
To wrap up my argument, Jesus plainly said to let he without sin cast the first stone. Going along with Jesus' theory that everyone sins, it would appear that Jesus is saying STOP JUDGING OTHER PEOPLE. YOU LIVE YOUR OWN DAMN LIFE AND LEAVE EVERYONE ELSE ALONE. But this still leaves me wondering, if there are one billion Christians on this planet, where the fuck are they? I have met only a handful of Christians who are even remotely Christ-like. It's really fucking easy to wear a cross, say you're Christian, believe Christ died for your sins, etc. but by looking at exhibits A, N, and C, you'll find that Ain't Nobody Christian. I can't wait for the fucking rapture so Jesus can come back down and look at all six billion of us and say, "You guys are idiots. Fuck all of you," and leave alone.
p.s. -- I suspect all of the popes are merely Satan in disguise... and what a poor disguise it is.
---------------
Last week I thought about picking up the Bible and reading it through, having never done that (and know very little about the book). This week, I still think I have better things to do than learn about Christianity.
---------------
I've about had it with so-called "Christians." Who the fuck do these people think they are? How can someone call him/herself Christian when he/she has zero Christ-like qualities?
The morning prayer in the Senate was, for the first time, a Hindu prayer. You know how our country has freedom of religion. You also know that our founding fathers were not Christians, but rather Deists. And you must also know that Jesus did not advocate being an asshole to people of other faiths. In fact, that's contradictory to his message. Yet three Senate members rudely interrupted the Hindu prayer. Let's call this Exhibit A:
Then we have the anti-stem cell research, anti-abortion, anti-pulling-tubes-out-of-vegetables, "culture of life" that Jesus apparently had a problem with. I'm not going to jump into the abortion debate on Biblical grounds, because deciding what constitutes murder is a very personal thing and you could argue it either way. I'd rather point out that fundamentalist Christians overwhelmingly supported the war in Iraq and the death penalty. Why is killing an innocent fetus wrong, but killing an innocent Iraqi is good? Why is it good Christian values to kill a convicted criminal, even though Jesus condemns violence (or even ill will) against someone who has wronged you? Let's call the 3,000 dead Americans and the 50,000+ dead Iraqi civilians Exhibit N.
Let's tackle homosexuality next. Isn't it a little strange that so many Christians claim homosexuality is a sin, even though Jesus details several kinds of sexual immorality, but doesn't manage to mention homosexuality even one time? Go ahead and look through one of those Bibles that puts Jesus' words in red text to make it even easier on yourself: Jesus has no problem talking about sexual immorality. He has big issues with sexual immorality, but never once indicates a single thing about homosexuality. He doesn't even gently suggest it in any way. Not a single word. So who are all of these Christians saying it's a sin? Let's call this missing scripture Exhibit C.
To wrap up my argument, Jesus plainly said to let he without sin cast the first stone. Going along with Jesus' theory that everyone sins, it would appear that Jesus is saying STOP JUDGING OTHER PEOPLE. YOU LIVE YOUR OWN DAMN LIFE AND LEAVE EVERYONE ELSE ALONE. But this still leaves me wondering, if there are one billion Christians on this planet, where the fuck are they? I have met only a handful of Christians who are even remotely Christ-like. It's really fucking easy to wear a cross, say you're Christian, believe Christ died for your sins, etc. but by looking at exhibits A, N, and C, you'll find that Ain't Nobody Christian. I can't wait for the fucking rapture so Jesus can come back down and look at all six billion of us and say, "You guys are idiots. Fuck all of you," and leave alone.
p.s. -- I suspect all of the popes are merely Satan in disguise... and what a poor disguise it is.
---------------
Last week I thought about picking up the Bible and reading it through, having never done that (and know very little about the book). This week, I still think I have better things to do than learn about Christianity.
Friend 1: I'd love to try shabu shabu
Friend 2: I don't even know what that means and I'm too lazy to look it up
Aaron: Basically, the restaurant's hostess arms you with a slingshot and five stones ranging from rough, large rocks to smoothly polished beach pebbles. One person in your group randomly gets a spherical blue stone made of azurite. This stone is known as the 'lingam' and the person with the stone is called the 'Avatar of Tarsus'. They then lead you to a large room about the size of a racquetball court that's loaded with feral bush creatures. You take turns shooting at the animals in the menagerie. Once you're all out of ammunition, you pick the three most delectable animals. The chef than dresses the corpses in front of you and the waitstaff throws the internal organs to the other animals in the menagerie while monotone chanting characters used in the I Ching. If the chef finds the lingam while dressing a corpse, the Avatar of Tarsus eats for free.
You are then led to your table, which is a large donut-shaped round table about knee height. You sit on cushions around the table with your legs folded underneath you.
The dressed corpses are roasted over an open pit fire in the center of the round table. Each person is given a thin trident and a tree pruner to shear chunks of meat off the charred corpses as they cook. The Avatar of Tarsus has the only sharp pruner; everyone else's is intentionally dulled ahead of time, resulting in less clean cuts of meat and a messier experience. If any person except the avatar drops a meat chunk into the fire, they must complete their meal in silence, eyes downcast. If the avator drops meat into the fire, all persons seated at the table toast the person to the right. Once the meal is complete, a traditional after-dinner frozen mint drink is served to cleanse the palate.
The custom of shabu-shabu originated in Ghengis Khan's army after they had raided a rye silo contaminated with ergot.
-Edit-
Friend #3: Where does the Fired Spicy Jumbo Tentacles(spicy) fit in? Does the
Avatar of Tarsus get these? http://www.kazeshabushabu.com/menu.h
Aaron: You have to specify that you want "Hentai Shabu" to the hostess. Then you're led into the Lovecraft room, which has different creatures that can be shot with the slingshot.
However, you have to sign a waiver first, since the creatures in the Lovecraft room have natural weapons that can easily overwhelm your paltry slingshot.
Friend 2: I don't even know what that means and I'm too lazy to look it up
Aaron: Basically, the restaurant's hostess arms you with a slingshot and five stones ranging from rough, large rocks to smoothly polished beach pebbles. One person in your group randomly gets a spherical blue stone made of azurite. This stone is known as the 'lingam' and the person with the stone is called the 'Avatar of Tarsus'. They then lead you to a large room about the size of a racquetball court that's loaded with feral bush creatures. You take turns shooting at the animals in the menagerie. Once you're all out of ammunition, you pick the three most delectable animals. The chef than dresses the corpses in front of you and the waitstaff throws the internal organs to the other animals in the menagerie while monotone chanting characters used in the I Ching. If the chef finds the lingam while dressing a corpse, the Avatar of Tarsus eats for free.
You are then led to your table, which is a large donut-shaped round table about knee height. You sit on cushions around the table with your legs folded underneath you.
The dressed corpses are roasted over an open pit fire in the center of the round table. Each person is given a thin trident and a tree pruner to shear chunks of meat off the charred corpses as they cook. The Avatar of Tarsus has the only sharp pruner; everyone else's is intentionally dulled ahead of time, resulting in less clean cuts of meat and a messier experience. If any person except the avatar drops a meat chunk into the fire, they must complete their meal in silence, eyes downcast. If the avator drops meat into the fire, all persons seated at the table toast the person to the right. Once the meal is complete, a traditional after-dinner frozen mint drink is served to cleanse the palate.
The custom of shabu-shabu originated in Ghengis Khan's army after they had raided a rye silo contaminated with ergot.
-Edit-
Friend #3: Where does the Fired Spicy Jumbo Tentacles(spicy) fit in? Does the
Avatar of Tarsus get these? http://www.kazeshabushabu.com/menu.h
Aaron: You have to specify that you want "Hentai Shabu" to the hostess. Then you're led into the Lovecraft room, which has different creatures that can be shot with the slingshot.
However, you have to sign a waiver first, since the creatures in the Lovecraft room have natural weapons that can easily overwhelm your paltry slingshot.
- Mood:
hungry
I'm actively aging today and don't feel any particular way about it.
My friend Chris is so popular that I can't get him to hang out with me, even on my birthday. He didn't even have time to give me credit for this comment:
"I'm going to have a brownie to fill the Chris Brown void in my life."
But I needed to document this so some of you out there can appreciate just how lame I get every year, as I grow closer to death.
Funniest thing today:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Q5im0Ssyyus
"Shun the non-believer! Shuuuuuuuunnnnn....Nuh."
Happy day, folks.
My friend Chris is so popular that I can't get him to hang out with me, even on my birthday. He didn't even have time to give me credit for this comment:
"I'm going to have a brownie to fill the Chris Brown void in my life."
But I needed to document this so some of you out there can appreciate just how lame I get every year, as I grow closer to death.
Funniest thing today:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Q5im0Ssyyus
"Shun the non-believer! Shuuuuuuuunnnnn....Nuh."
Happy day, folks.
- Mood:purple
Week three at my new job and I’ve been shown hundreds of knots but have had to figure out the shoe myself, to understand how they all fit together. It’s a little frustrating and a lot confusing, but I’m making my way through this stuff steadily. My co-workers are fantastic and super helpful whenever I do ask a question, but I’m having a hard time asking questions because they’re all so busy all the time. I also discovered that I have some serious responsibilities that affect stations nation-wide, which is totally intimidating. One of my coworkers asked how I’m liking my job and I said “I feel like I’m making a difference.” He looked surprised. Maybe he thought I was ass-kissing.
Worked on a couple of tickets today and got this back from a client:
“Angie--Thank you so much for that full and informative reply. NEVER have I had a response as swift as yours. It's great PR for NPR.”
Good news, yes, except I don’t work for NPR and it’s funny how people continue to confuse the two (in fact, I did so myself). Goes to show that PRI/PI needs PR more than we realized. That’s the skinny on the jobby-job.
I love my brother. I gave him the shoelace analogy (“If you want to teach someone how to tie a shoelace, first you gotta tell them what a shoe is and where it goes. So far I’ve been shown knots…”) and he said “Great. Now tell me what’s really going on without the shoe part because I’m not stupid.” And when I did that and explained a bit more of my responsibilities, he said, “OH, so you have to actually READ now.” Such a smartass.
Other news: Aaron and I have been super active socially. Danny P. is now a Cambridge resident and I see him often, which is fantastic. John/Nate/Mel are also moving to the area in September, and we’ll hang out with them regularly, I’m sure. I met some of Alice’s friends at a Boston Scavenger Hunt, for which our team came in third place (out of five teams, so it isn’t a big deal but it was fun). Last Thursday we grabbed dinner with Maija, which led us to meeting a few really fantastic people and some incredible jazz. This weekend we’re away to a beach house to celebrate Pete’s 30th, next weekend I’m likely to be in NYC with Danny P, the weekend after that our new housemate Alex moves in, and the following weekend we fly down to see![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
tbons get married. So tightly booked, and I love it.
And I just heard there is a new Taiwanese restaurant that just opened even closer to our apartment than the only Taiwanese place that I know of in Chinatown. Competition! I shall be the judge.
Worked on a couple of tickets today and got this back from a client:
“Angie--Thank you so much for that full and informative reply. NEVER have I had a response as swift as yours. It's great PR for NPR.”
Good news, yes, except I don’t work for NPR and it’s funny how people continue to confuse the two (in fact, I did so myself). Goes to show that PRI/PI needs PR more than we realized. That’s the skinny on the jobby-job.
I love my brother. I gave him the shoelace analogy (“If you want to teach someone how to tie a shoelace, first you gotta tell them what a shoe is and where it goes. So far I’ve been shown knots…”) and he said “Great. Now tell me what’s really going on without the shoe part because I’m not stupid.” And when I did that and explained a bit more of my responsibilities, he said, “OH, so you have to actually READ now.” Such a smartass.
Other news: Aaron and I have been super active socially. Danny P. is now a Cambridge resident and I see him often, which is fantastic. John/Nate/Mel are also moving to the area in September, and we’ll hang out with them regularly, I’m sure. I met some of Alice’s friends at a Boston Scavenger Hunt, for which our team came in third place (out of five teams, so it isn’t a big deal but it was fun). Last Thursday we grabbed dinner with Maija, which led us to meeting a few really fantastic people and some incredible jazz. This weekend we’re away to a beach house to celebrate Pete’s 30th, next weekend I’m likely to be in NYC with Danny P, the weekend after that our new housemate Alex moves in, and the following weekend we fly down to see
tbons get married. So tightly booked, and I love it.And I just heard there is a new Taiwanese restaurant that just opened even closer to our apartment than the only Taiwanese place that I know of in Chinatown. Competition! I shall be the judge.
- Mood:a little surprised
I got a "Big-Girl" job.
As of August 1st I will be an Arts and Culture Product Manager at Public Interactive, a subsidiary of PRI. It will be my first ever salary position, comes with great benefits, casual work environment, with the possibility of working from home in the future.
It's making me a little giddy, but I am a bit nervous, too. The start date that I've agreed to means that I won't be able to give my current employer a two-week notice like I wanted to, so suddenly (as I'm about to leave) I'm swamped with work, writing up a bunch of manual and procedures that will help them train the next customer service monkey. It's tedious work but it's the least I could do.
The nicest thing about getting this job is the fact that I don't have to worry about how I'm going to pay my student loans. I'll be able to pay them, and then some, which means that as long as I'm good at this job and am able to keep it, I can start saving for bigger things (like a better piano...what, did you think I was going to say 'a house?' Well, maybe that, too, later) in my future.
So where does this put my Suzuki piano teaching? I think I will continue to advertise and maybe get some students around my work hours. I'm still very interested in teaching Suzuki piano, and I'm not willing to drop it after all the energy I've put into it. Plus I know I'll be good at it, and doing things that I'm good at makes me like me, and who in their right mind would say no to that?
If anybody is interested in what Public Interactive does and what I will be doing for them, ask and I shall deliver.
"Getting so much better all the time..."
As of August 1st I will be an Arts and Culture Product Manager at Public Interactive, a subsidiary of PRI. It will be my first ever salary position, comes with great benefits, casual work environment, with the possibility of working from home in the future.
It's making me a little giddy, but I am a bit nervous, too. The start date that I've agreed to means that I won't be able to give my current employer a two-week notice like I wanted to, so suddenly (as I'm about to leave) I'm swamped with work, writing up a bunch of manual and procedures that will help them train the next customer service monkey. It's tedious work but it's the least I could do.
The nicest thing about getting this job is the fact that I don't have to worry about how I'm going to pay my student loans. I'll be able to pay them, and then some, which means that as long as I'm good at this job and am able to keep it, I can start saving for bigger things (like a better piano...what, did you think I was going to say 'a house?' Well, maybe that, too, later) in my future.
So where does this put my Suzuki piano teaching? I think I will continue to advertise and maybe get some students around my work hours. I'm still very interested in teaching Suzuki piano, and I'm not willing to drop it after all the energy I've put into it. Plus I know I'll be good at it, and doing things that I'm good at makes me like me, and who in their right mind would say no to that?
If anybody is interested in what Public Interactive does and what I will be doing for them, ask and I shall deliver.
"Getting so much better all the time..."
- Mood:feel like gloating
How do these things happen?
"OH NOES!"
"O RLY?"
Somebody has got to know.
"OH NOES!"
"O RLY?"
Somebody has got to know.
- Mood:not just weird
Five teacher training workshops plus one introductory course all in 16 months while finishing a degree; what in the world was I thinking?
Now that I'm a trained Suzuki piano teacher for Books 1-4 and have finished all the website building stuff for the studio, I wait. I suppose more advertising couldn't hurt, but man, I'm tired. Everybody has been supportive and encouraging, but this waiting around is just hard, and it isn't something that I have control over if I wanted to speed it up. A couple of days ago I got an e-mail from an interested parent, who wanted to observe my lessons over the summer. I had to write her to explain that I'm a new teacher, which is why I'm offering a free lesson so that she could decide whether I'll be a good match for her child...and now I wait and see if she'll at least give me a chance to prove myself. My brother is right - I need a mug shot of myself on the website. People want to see who they're dealing with, and maybe they can tell by my photo that I'm a (usually) pretty nice person.
Next project: a site for my web design business. I made some contacts over the last few days at the training workshop, and may get a web design gig out of it, besides just networking within the Suzuki community. I want to build a nice site that has all my design projects in one place. I've been working on a logo for the past week or so, and nothing has really jumped out at me. I suppose that I should think of a name first, and right now I'm working with www.ydesigns.com, which has no ring to it at all. It's hard to be creative - my 'art' never seems good enough.
At these workshops I discovered that kids seem to like me ok. I can almost always get the younger ones (3-6) to smile or grin back at me, and the older ones (10-12) like my brightly colored shoes (which was followed by a discussion about shoes). I'm still learning how to talk to children, and it's a bit weird. Some of these teachers I met are SUPER good at it..they always know the best things to say. I find that I get nervous and babble, until everybody is just a little bit uncomfortable...then I sort of make my exit. Luckily I've been doing most of my talking with the parents, and those conversations are mostly fairly normal.
I also discovered that I know jack shit about music. Here's a reference point: Imagine the body of my musical knowledge as a human form. There is a universe full of information out there that I know nothing about, equivalent to the size of...well, the universe. And then there are also microscopic elemental concepts within what I thought I knew, equivalent to the size of atomic particles. And then this universe is just the "Classical" Music Sector. There are multiple universes out there, and all I know of them are little bits and piece...like the Progressive Metal Universe, or the Singer/Songwriter Universe, or the Jam Band Universe, the Electronica Universe, (and this is just within Western Music History) and each of them has their multiple galaxy systems with mini star systems and planets and moons and little itty bitty (possibly) humanoids of bodies of music that I know nothing about. I hope I'm still making some sense here. The point is - I know very, very little. And I'm going to (hopefully) have students that will look to me for guidance. It's sort of frightening, and a heavy load. How can I possibly be a successful teacher, with so little knowledge?
So I go on in this mind loop for a while, then I make a conscious decision to put all of it aside and do one thing at a time - Wait. 'Cause with no students, all of this stuff is just unnecessary stress.
Now that I'm a trained Suzuki piano teacher for Books 1-4 and have finished all the website building stuff for the studio, I wait. I suppose more advertising couldn't hurt, but man, I'm tired. Everybody has been supportive and encouraging, but this waiting around is just hard, and it isn't something that I have control over if I wanted to speed it up. A couple of days ago I got an e-mail from an interested parent, who wanted to observe my lessons over the summer. I had to write her to explain that I'm a new teacher, which is why I'm offering a free lesson so that she could decide whether I'll be a good match for her child...and now I wait and see if she'll at least give me a chance to prove myself. My brother is right - I need a mug shot of myself on the website. People want to see who they're dealing with, and maybe they can tell by my photo that I'm a (usually) pretty nice person.
Next project: a site for my web design business. I made some contacts over the last few days at the training workshop, and may get a web design gig out of it, besides just networking within the Suzuki community. I want to build a nice site that has all my design projects in one place. I've been working on a logo for the past week or so, and nothing has really jumped out at me. I suppose that I should think of a name first, and right now I'm working with www.ydesigns.com, which has no ring to it at all. It's hard to be creative - my 'art' never seems good enough.
At these workshops I discovered that kids seem to like me ok. I can almost always get the younger ones (3-6) to smile or grin back at me, and the older ones (10-12) like my brightly colored shoes (which was followed by a discussion about shoes). I'm still learning how to talk to children, and it's a bit weird. Some of these teachers I met are SUPER good at it..they always know the best things to say. I find that I get nervous and babble, until everybody is just a little bit uncomfortable...then I sort of make my exit. Luckily I've been doing most of my talking with the parents, and those conversations are mostly fairly normal.
I also discovered that I know jack shit about music. Here's a reference point: Imagine the body of my musical knowledge as a human form. There is a universe full of information out there that I know nothing about, equivalent to the size of...well, the universe. And then there are also microscopic elemental concepts within what I thought I knew, equivalent to the size of atomic particles. And then this universe is just the "Classical" Music Sector. There are multiple universes out there, and all I know of them are little bits and piece...like the Progressive Metal Universe, or the Singer/Songwriter Universe, or the Jam Band Universe, the Electronica Universe, (and this is just within Western Music History) and each of them has their multiple galaxy systems with mini star systems and planets and moons and little itty bitty (possibly) humanoids of bodies of music that I know nothing about. I hope I'm still making some sense here. The point is - I know very, very little. And I'm going to (hopefully) have students that will look to me for guidance. It's sort of frightening, and a heavy load. How can I possibly be a successful teacher, with so little knowledge?
So I go on in this mind loop for a while, then I make a conscious decision to put all of it aside and do one thing at a time - Wait. 'Cause with no students, all of this stuff is just unnecessary stress.
- Mood:impatient
So I forgot to put my name in.
| ||||||
| 1421 BC: An Emperor’s Bitch | ||||||
| 494 AD: A monk | ||||||
| 1903 AD: A Writer | ||||||
| 'What were you in your past lives?' at QuizGalaxy.com | ||||||
Aaron and I went down to RI to see his family over the weekend. Aaron's brother John and John's good friend Silas went for a bike ride yesterday in the middle of the woods and quiet country streets. Upon their return I made the comment that, "Hey Silas, I'm glad to see you guys are wearing helmets."
Silas said, "Of course. We're dumb, but we're not that dumb."
Well, I told him, there are many many cylists are just that dumb, riding in the Boston area.
Then John took Aaron and I fishing. That was neat. We saw a beaver, a turtle, a bunch of annoying screaming teenagers with one dumb dog, and a nice older gentleman with two beautiful dogs. Aaron and John each caught two little fish, I sat and read a bunch of Terry Pratchett. Maybe next time I'll try fishing.
Silas said, "Of course. We're dumb, but we're not that dumb."
Well, I told him, there are many many cylists are just that dumb, riding in the Boston area.
Then John took Aaron and I fishing. That was neat. We saw a beaver, a turtle, a bunch of annoying screaming teenagers with one dumb dog, and a nice older gentleman with two beautiful dogs. Aaron and John each caught two little fish, I sat and read a bunch of Terry Pratchett. Maybe next time I'll try fishing.
- Mood:
curious
Very hot out. I may have browned a bit yesterday.
Browsing around on ebay I found this small company who sells some clothing that were interesting to me. I liked the colors, the styles, and even (some of) the prices. Certain styles they had ran from sizes X-Small to XL, and then they had other styles which ran as 'plus sizes' clothing, XL and up. So I noticed that all the styles that I enjoyed were for plus sizes. When I tried to determine why that is, it occurred to me that most of their XS-XL sizes clothing were one of the following:
1. A tube top
2. A spaghetti strapped tank top
3. a halter top
4. some sort of neckline that involves sharing cleavage with the world
The stuffed I liked? Short sleeve shirts with cool prints, simple cut, higher necklines, those are all reserved for the plus sizes.
I found this slightly irritating. I don't like tube tops. I'd rather not wear spaghetti strapped tank tops. I will not wear halter tops. And I happen to not want to share my not-really-there-anyway-cleavage with the world. Never mind that it is entirely inappropriate to wear any of the above, while hovering over a young student at my piano. Shopping sucks.
I'm at work, and I can't concentrate. Sitting here makes me feel like I'm wasting my life away. I've been thinking about mortality, and sometimes I get really, really scared. Not of death, but of Not-Living. I don't know if that makes any sense; I guess I'm not concerned about "What happens after?", but about "I don't get to try this again." I don't want to mess this up, but working here feels like I'm doing this wrong.
The set up for my studio is pretty much done. I’ve been advertising for the last couple of weeks. No calls, no e-mails yet, but I suspected as much because people are on vacation (which I don't exactly understand, because the weather in Boston just got nice enough to be doing stuff outside) and all the parents and children are out of town. About 80% of people who knows that I've recently finished my studio's website have asked me "so do you have any students yet?" in the last two weeks. Every time I answer "No," it makes me feel like I'm doing this wrong.
My mom turns 60 tomorrow. I should give her a call. I don't actually know where she is right now, but I hope she has her cell phone with her. Does this make me a bad daughter? I don't know. But when I'm reminded of our relationship, it makes me feel like I'm doing this wrong.
I missed the Boston Pride Parade because it was raining, and by chance landed myself near the Providence Pride Parade, but missed that, too, on account of another interesting cultural event. Did I do that wrong? I don’t know. But it always feels like I’m doing something wrong and I’m pretty sure that’s the core issue.
One more thing – I’ve been missing Toftie a lot. She’s just super, you know? One of those people in your life that makes you go “Hee.”
Browsing around on ebay I found this small company who sells some clothing that were interesting to me. I liked the colors, the styles, and even (some of) the prices. Certain styles they had ran from sizes X-Small to XL, and then they had other styles which ran as 'plus sizes' clothing, XL and up. So I noticed that all the styles that I enjoyed were for plus sizes. When I tried to determine why that is, it occurred to me that most of their XS-XL sizes clothing were one of the following:
1. A tube top
2. A spaghetti strapped tank top
3. a halter top
4. some sort of neckline that involves sharing cleavage with the world
The stuffed I liked? Short sleeve shirts with cool prints, simple cut, higher necklines, those are all reserved for the plus sizes.
I found this slightly irritating. I don't like tube tops. I'd rather not wear spaghetti strapped tank tops. I will not wear halter tops. And I happen to not want to share my not-really-there-anyway-cleavage with the world. Never mind that it is entirely inappropriate to wear any of the above, while hovering over a young student at my piano. Shopping sucks.
I'm at work, and I can't concentrate. Sitting here makes me feel like I'm wasting my life away. I've been thinking about mortality, and sometimes I get really, really scared. Not of death, but of Not-Living. I don't know if that makes any sense; I guess I'm not concerned about "What happens after?", but about "I don't get to try this again." I don't want to mess this up, but working here feels like I'm doing this wrong.
The set up for my studio is pretty much done. I’ve been advertising for the last couple of weeks. No calls, no e-mails yet, but I suspected as much because people are on vacation (which I don't exactly understand, because the weather in Boston just got nice enough to be doing stuff outside) and all the parents and children are out of town. About 80% of people who knows that I've recently finished my studio's website have asked me "so do you have any students yet?" in the last two weeks. Every time I answer "No," it makes me feel like I'm doing this wrong.
My mom turns 60 tomorrow. I should give her a call. I don't actually know where she is right now, but I hope she has her cell phone with her. Does this make me a bad daughter? I don't know. But when I'm reminded of our relationship, it makes me feel like I'm doing this wrong.
I missed the Boston Pride Parade because it was raining, and by chance landed myself near the Providence Pride Parade, but missed that, too, on account of another interesting cultural event. Did I do that wrong? I don’t know. But it always feels like I’m doing something wrong and I’m pretty sure that’s the core issue.
One more thing – I’ve been missing Toftie a lot. She’s just super, you know? One of those people in your life that makes you go “Hee.”
- Mood:stuffy
Hi folks!
I've added a new handle:
suzukipiano
I'm hoping that it will help me pass the word around that I'm actively seeking new students.
Please add as 'friend,' if you are interested. Thanks!
I've added a new handle:
suzukipianoI'm hoping that it will help me pass the word around that I'm actively seeking new students.
Please add as 'friend,' if you are interested. Thanks!
The Flash classes went well; my students wanted one more class to go over some of the things we covered one more time, but not enough of them wanted to pay an extra $10 for that to happen, so it didn't. The director did ask if I wanted to take on another workshop in August. I probably will, since much of the prep work is already done.
Yesterday I went to a gathering of SMS (Suzuki Music Schools of MA, which I think ought to be SMSM, but anyway), and networked a bunch. People were really sweet and friendly, and made me feel really welcome. I'm all that much more excited to start teaching and become part of this community. These are quality people. Kind of interesting, too, that most Suzuki teachers that I've met so far are female. My theory on that is (specifically for pianists) guys have bigger hands and are more frequently great performers, so they don't need to teach 'cause they can hack it on stage. But I'm not sure how this theory holds for things like the flute, for example.
Website is done, but a couple of small bugs here and there. I haven't the vaguest idea how to fix them bugs, so I'm kind of ignoring them right now. Same thing with my business card - the ones I printed out are a little Not So Good. They're perfectly functional, but they're not perfectly perfect so it's grating on my nerves.
Last month I applied to this media design company to be an assistant producer. They got back to me last week, and I'm to have a phone call from them tomorrow to discuss the position. In the first e-mail they wrote me, they greeted me as "Annie." I was not impressed. Although, it does remind me of this story I heard yesterday, when I was discussing poorly named names with other Suzuki teachers. Apparently one of the ladies there knew a girl who's little sister's name was Ana Bench. And when I asked, "What about her middle name? Could she..." I was told that her middle name was "Park." That poor thing.
One of my most favorite guys from undergrad is moving to within three miles of me in a couple of months. I am so ridiculous giddy about this - he would be my only tie to my college days in the Boston area. And he was my dancing buddy, too, so I'm really looking forward to having him around for those 80s nights before I get too old to stay up late.
The Boston Pride Parade and Festival is this weekend, and I want to go. I think it'll be fun.
Yesterday I went to a gathering of SMS (Suzuki Music Schools of MA, which I think ought to be SMSM, but anyway), and networked a bunch. People were really sweet and friendly, and made me feel really welcome. I'm all that much more excited to start teaching and become part of this community. These are quality people. Kind of interesting, too, that most Suzuki teachers that I've met so far are female. My theory on that is (specifically for pianists) guys have bigger hands and are more frequently great performers, so they don't need to teach 'cause they can hack it on stage. But I'm not sure how this theory holds for things like the flute, for example.
Website is done, but a couple of small bugs here and there. I haven't the vaguest idea how to fix them bugs, so I'm kind of ignoring them right now. Same thing with my business card - the ones I printed out are a little Not So Good. They're perfectly functional, but they're not perfectly perfect so it's grating on my nerves.
Last month I applied to this media design company to be an assistant producer. They got back to me last week, and I'm to have a phone call from them tomorrow to discuss the position. In the first e-mail they wrote me, they greeted me as "Annie." I was not impressed. Although, it does remind me of this story I heard yesterday, when I was discussing poorly named names with other Suzuki teachers. Apparently one of the ladies there knew a girl who's little sister's name was Ana Bench. And when I asked, "What about her middle name? Could she..." I was told that her middle name was "Park." That poor thing.
One of my most favorite guys from undergrad is moving to within three miles of me in a couple of months. I am so ridiculous giddy about this - he would be my only tie to my college days in the Boston area. And he was my dancing buddy, too, so I'm really looking forward to having him around for those 80s nights before I get too old to stay up late.
The Boston Pride Parade and Festival is this weekend, and I want to go. I think it'll be fun.
- Mood:achy
A friend of a friend (whom I've met once and would happily consider her a friend) has a vlog (video blog) and I've been catching up on her entries. I discovered this:
http://lovewonout.com/
Here is her vlog: http://bshoot.blogspot.com/ She had multiple entries under "Love Won Out." Pretty interesting stuff.
http://lovewonout.com/
Here is her vlog: http://bshoot.blogspot.com/ She had multiple entries under "Love Won Out." Pretty interesting stuff.
The commencement was blissfully short, and the speaker (Gwen Ifill) was spectacular. I really enjoyed her speech tremendously, far more than I enjoyed our student speaker. My brother asked me what I thought of our student speaker, and I think my answer was, "It takes a certain type of personality to deliver a speech like that." To quote her worst line, when speaking about learning from mistakes, she said, "It's more fun to learn from the mistakes of others," followed by a smirk. I was trying my best to give her the benefit of the doubt, but when that flew out of her mouth I said Forget It.
Last week I met with a local Music Together director, Laura, and she expressed interest in hiring me, if I were interested (I think mostly because I've already been trained as a Music Together teacher, which means that I would be saving her about 500 bucks). We spoke briefly, and as it turned out, I would need a car in order to work for her. Teaching Music Together involves transportation of equipment, and my bike just doesn't cut it. So I had to write her a "thank you for meeting with me" e-mail and pass on this opportunity, 'cause a car just isn't in the budget right now.
I taught my first class ever last night, a small class. Seven registered, four no-shows, and one walk-in. It went pretty well, and I have a whole week to prep for next class, which is nice. There were definitely things I wasn't expecting to have to deal with, but mostly it was pretty breezy. I was really nervous about not knowing all the details in order to teach the class well, but it's true what they say - the expert in the room is whoever knows the most about a certain topic, and that person was unquestionably me. I will need to spend more time prepping for the next class period, no doubt, and try to budget my time more wisely so my students don’t become restless. I must say, not really enjoying classroom teaching, thus far.
For Suzuki piano, I wrote to a Suzuki piano teaching guru last night. I am networked to her by one of my professors at Emerson, and am extremely lucky to have her as a mentor in setting up my studio. She wrote a long, detailed e-mail and thoroughly explained many things and gave excellent advice. Now I'll have to take her advice and make something happen -- it would be terrible of me if I let her down. It takes all kinds of things to motivate people, and me, I can't bear to disappoint those that are supportive of my endeavors.
So things are still happening, and still very slowly, but I have short legs and I don’t do giant leaps.
Last week I met with a local Music Together director, Laura, and she expressed interest in hiring me, if I were interested (I think mostly because I've already been trained as a Music Together teacher, which means that I would be saving her about 500 bucks). We spoke briefly, and as it turned out, I would need a car in order to work for her. Teaching Music Together involves transportation of equipment, and my bike just doesn't cut it. So I had to write her a "thank you for meeting with me" e-mail and pass on this opportunity, 'cause a car just isn't in the budget right now.
I taught my first class ever last night, a small class. Seven registered, four no-shows, and one walk-in. It went pretty well, and I have a whole week to prep for next class, which is nice. There were definitely things I wasn't expecting to have to deal with, but mostly it was pretty breezy. I was really nervous about not knowing all the details in order to teach the class well, but it's true what they say - the expert in the room is whoever knows the most about a certain topic, and that person was unquestionably me. I will need to spend more time prepping for the next class period, no doubt, and try to budget my time more wisely so my students don’t become restless. I must say, not really enjoying classroom teaching, thus far.
For Suzuki piano, I wrote to a Suzuki piano teaching guru last night. I am networked to her by one of my professors at Emerson, and am extremely lucky to have her as a mentor in setting up my studio. She wrote a long, detailed e-mail and thoroughly explained many things and gave excellent advice. Now I'll have to take her advice and make something happen -- it would be terrible of me if I let her down. It takes all kinds of things to motivate people, and me, I can't bear to disappoint those that are supportive of my endeavors.
So things are still happening, and still very slowly, but I have short legs and I don’t do giant leaps.
- Mood:transitional
happy birthday dear chrisbeck, happy birthday to you.
don't worry. you don't look anything like a monkey.
don't worry. you don't look anything like a monkey.
I promised to address my plans to become a Suzuki piano teacher, so here it goes:
Things are falling into place, just very, very slowly. The website is still in progress, mostly because I keep tweaking it. I should just let it be, finish editing all the parts, and get on with my life. I have a major lead that I will be following up on soon, which should get me in touch with some local teachers in the area and hopefully find some students. I've registered for teacher training for book 4, which will happen in July. Last summer I traveled all over North America to complete training for three books - this summer I will be able to bike 8 miles to take book 4, which I am very excited about. A girl I met last year will also be attending this session, and she will be staying at our apartment for those few days. An old pianist friend called out of the blue last night, and asked me "How are things going with your teaching?" When I laughed and answered, "Not," he said, "oh you're just being chicken shit. You just gotta do it. Then you know it isn't worth it." He really isn't the teaching type, but he sure did give me a good shove in the right direction. I've got to stop dragging my ass.
The adjustable bench works beautifully, I practice more often now that my seating is at an appropriate height and my back doesn't ache like it used to. The footrest is also here, and the last purchase will be the metronome, which isn't even really a required purchase prior to teaching, because I do own an electric metronome, I just happen to prefer the old school Wittner pendulum wooden type. I’ll have to review my notes, practice my shpiel for the informational meeting that I offer to new students/parents, keep up with the actual playing… and before we know it I will be raking in the dough with my superior skills as a piano educator. Right.
I had a long AIM conversation with Toftie and she’s great at tooting my horn. It was on Monday, and a rainy Monday while I’m at work after I vegged out all weekend just isn’t a good time to be thinking about my accomplishments. It was interesting – My head kept repeating “Look at me. I’m 27 and have nothing to show for it.” And Toftie pretty much said “What are you, on crack?” So she laid out a few things for me and gave me some examples of data collection to reach the conclusion of “Yes, I am somewhat of an interesting, well-adjusted, likeable person.” It’s funny; I’ve always said that I didn’t care about what people thought of me, and that’s not entirely true. I do care about what people thought of me – people that are important to me. An example of this is my mom – she’s my mom, I care about her, so I do care about what she thinks of me. And just so happens she doesn’t have a very high opinion of me (or at least that is the message she is sending with her actions, regardless of what the fact is), so here I am, all messed up. So how do I learn to say “fuck it,” and really mean “I don’t care what people think of me. All of them”?
Spring is clearly here. It’s staying above freezing fairly consistently, things are green, or blooming, the sun comes from a different direction so everything looks fresh and new. Graduation is in a couple of weeks, and I have secured the tickets but will have to get the cap and gown later this week. I think that after graduation I will be out of this funk that I call “post-academia syndrome,” and start to make myself more useful.
Other news - I’ve mostly finished a trough that I was building as a makeshift planter, and my plants should be arriving this week. Aaron and I cleaned out the backyard of the place we are renting - the neighbors said that it has been left unkempt for at least six years. I’ve purchased a new swimsuit (and officially upped one pants size, and I’m calling the extra padding muscles, as a result of bike-commuting), and hopefully will make use of it some time this summer. I’ve been awfully pale these last few years, living in New England. Any whiter and I’d be turning Japanese. I’m also contemplating a haircut, because it would be something new. Spring is here!
Things are falling into place, just very, very slowly. The website is still in progress, mostly because I keep tweaking it. I should just let it be, finish editing all the parts, and get on with my life. I have a major lead that I will be following up on soon, which should get me in touch with some local teachers in the area and hopefully find some students. I've registered for teacher training for book 4, which will happen in July. Last summer I traveled all over North America to complete training for three books - this summer I will be able to bike 8 miles to take book 4, which I am very excited about. A girl I met last year will also be attending this session, and she will be staying at our apartment for those few days. An old pianist friend called out of the blue last night, and asked me "How are things going with your teaching?" When I laughed and answered, "Not," he said, "oh you're just being chicken shit. You just gotta do it. Then you know it isn't worth it." He really isn't the teaching type, but he sure did give me a good shove in the right direction. I've got to stop dragging my ass.
The adjustable bench works beautifully, I practice more often now that my seating is at an appropriate height and my back doesn't ache like it used to. The footrest is also here, and the last purchase will be the metronome, which isn't even really a required purchase prior to teaching, because I do own an electric metronome, I just happen to prefer the old school Wittner pendulum wooden type. I’ll have to review my notes, practice my shpiel for the informational meeting that I offer to new students/parents, keep up with the actual playing… and before we know it I will be raking in the dough with my superior skills as a piano educator. Right.
I had a long AIM conversation with Toftie and she’s great at tooting my horn. It was on Monday, and a rainy Monday while I’m at work after I vegged out all weekend just isn’t a good time to be thinking about my accomplishments. It was interesting – My head kept repeating “Look at me. I’m 27 and have nothing to show for it.” And Toftie pretty much said “What are you, on crack?” So she laid out a few things for me and gave me some examples of data collection to reach the conclusion of “Yes, I am somewhat of an interesting, well-adjusted, likeable person.” It’s funny; I’ve always said that I didn’t care about what people thought of me, and that’s not entirely true. I do care about what people thought of me – people that are important to me. An example of this is my mom – she’s my mom, I care about her, so I do care about what she thinks of me. And just so happens she doesn’t have a very high opinion of me (or at least that is the message she is sending with her actions, regardless of what the fact is), so here I am, all messed up. So how do I learn to say “fuck it,” and really mean “I don’t care what people think of me. All of them”?
Spring is clearly here. It’s staying above freezing fairly consistently, things are green, or blooming, the sun comes from a different direction so everything looks fresh and new. Graduation is in a couple of weeks, and I have secured the tickets but will have to get the cap and gown later this week. I think that after graduation I will be out of this funk that I call “post-academia syndrome,” and start to make myself more useful.
Other news - I’ve mostly finished a trough that I was building as a makeshift planter, and my plants should be arriving this week. Aaron and I cleaned out the backyard of the place we are renting - the neighbors said that it has been left unkempt for at least six years. I’ve purchased a new swimsuit (and officially upped one pants size, and I’m calling the extra padding muscles, as a result of bike-commuting), and hopefully will make use of it some time this summer. I’ve been awfully pale these last few years, living in New England. Any whiter and I’d be turning Japanese. I’m also contemplating a haircut, because it would be something new. Spring is here!
- Mood:green
One of my professors hooked me up with a lead to teach an introductory Flash workshop at Somerville Community Access Television. I went to meet with the director lady, and landed this small job (about a total of 10 hours worth of work, spread over three weeks). This is pretty exciting, I am a little bit nervous but I think I will be fine. It's intro Flash, which I'm very familiar with, and I'm just anal enough to be able to dissect things into small little bits and redeliver them to the students. It'll be a small class, anywhere from 2-6 students but no more. It's not a school situation so the students will be there because they WANT to learn this stuff, which makes all the difference. I'm currently working on a syllabus, having just finished a short biography, which looks like this:
"Angie recently completed a graduate program in Visual and Media Arts at Emerson College in Boston, specializing in New Media and Audio Production. She previously interned with the new media production house The Barbarian Group, LLC in Boston, and currently works as an advertising designer at Market Precision, Inc. in Cambridge, as well as being a part-time Flash consultant for Russell Street Web Hosting in Somerville. When she isn't at her computer, she enjoys dancing, reading, cooking, and pursuing her passion in music as a registered Suzuki piano teacher."
I think I'm avoiding the Suzuki piano thing, probably because I'm chicken shit. I'm not entirely sure about this, still doing some self-reflection, and considering therapy. I'll address this again when I'm 27.
Last night we played a D&D session where my ranger was awarded extra points for using her wild empathy feat on a dire badger. And if you have no idea what that meant, it's ok, and let me put it this way:
The character I play, let's say she was once a zoo-keeper, and is good with animals. She's in the middle of this forest with some friends and suddenly a wild (tiger, let's say) jumped out and growled. She used her zoo-keeping tricks to chill the (tiger) out, and off goes the (tiger) instead of sticking around to kill and eat every and each one of the travelers. You follow me?
So the Dungeon Master (aka God of the game, if you will, and some of us call him 'Aaron') says "so describe how you calmed down this dire badger."
Uh. I've never 'ranged' nor 'zoo-kept' before, and he was kind of putting me on the spot. So I held up my hands and said "Whoa buddy." and somehow that was hysterically funny. Well, does anybody else have a better idea? Some of you watch the Animal Planet and has episodes memorized. (I'm looking at you, woman. You know who you are.) Throw me a bone here. (HA)
Later in the gaming session we discovered that my owl can pick up a halfling. Picture an owl carrying Mr. Frodo with its beak. My bird is totally badass. So the owl did this, and carried our badly injured halfling to safety, then the halfling was fed a healing potion which gave him enough energy to quaff another healing potion, so that he woke up pissed off and called his air elemental with his lute which was responsible for taking out most of the dire wolves that were about to hand us our flesh on a plate and then eat it. I probably shouldn't get into why we were fighting dire wolves.
And now that I'm looking at this post I'm a bit disturbed - most of it is about this game I play, so what does that say about my life? And my god, I play D&D and I'm going to teach a class in Flash. I'm totally turning into a geek here.
"Angie recently completed a graduate program in Visual and Media Arts at Emerson College in Boston, specializing in New Media and Audio Production. She previously interned with the new media production house The Barbarian Group, LLC in Boston, and currently works as an advertising designer at Market Precision, Inc. in Cambridge, as well as being a part-time Flash consultant for Russell Street Web Hosting in Somerville. When she isn't at her computer, she enjoys dancing, reading, cooking, and pursuing her passion in music as a registered Suzuki piano teacher."
I think I'm avoiding the Suzuki piano thing, probably because I'm chicken shit. I'm not entirely sure about this, still doing some self-reflection, and considering therapy. I'll address this again when I'm 27.
Last night we played a D&D session where my ranger was awarded extra points for using her wild empathy feat on a dire badger. And if you have no idea what that meant, it's ok, and let me put it this way:
The character I play, let's say she was once a zoo-keeper, and is good with animals. She's in the middle of this forest with some friends and suddenly a wild (tiger, let's say) jumped out and growled. She used her zoo-keeping tricks to chill the (tiger) out, and off goes the (tiger) instead of sticking around to kill and eat every and each one of the travelers. You follow me?
So the Dungeon Master (aka God of the game, if you will, and some of us call him 'Aaron') says "so describe how you calmed down this dire badger."
Uh. I've never 'ranged' nor 'zoo-kept' before, and he was kind of putting me on the spot. So I held up my hands and said "Whoa buddy." and somehow that was hysterically funny. Well, does anybody else have a better idea? Some of you watch the Animal Planet and has episodes memorized. (I'm looking at you, woman. You know who you are.) Throw me a bone here. (HA)
Later in the gaming session we discovered that my owl can pick up a halfling. Picture an owl carrying Mr. Frodo with its beak. My bird is totally badass. So the owl did this, and carried our badly injured halfling to safety, then the halfling was fed a healing potion which gave him enough energy to quaff another healing potion, so that he woke up pissed off and called his air elemental with his lute which was responsible for taking out most of the dire wolves that were about to hand us our flesh on a plate and then eat it. I probably shouldn't get into why we were fighting dire wolves.
And now that I'm looking at this post I'm a bit disturbed - most of it is about this game I play, so what does that say about my life? And my god, I play D&D and I'm going to teach a class in Flash. I'm totally turning into a geek here.
- Mood:fantastical
Uh, weird. I'm turning 27 in a month.
| You Are 27 Years Old |
 Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax. |
- Mood:Yikes.
I love this guy.
***********
Heya Angie!! I just wanted to write a quick email because I didn't
want to forget to tell you this: I just had a dream in which you gave
me an aquarium with a seahorse and a beta fish (among other
nondescript fish) which had a toucan's beak. There was also an
"underwater cactus" to which you attached a webcam because, as you
said, "now you can always be with the fishies!"
Very, very weird!...although I like the webcam idea.
-Sherv
***********
Heya Angie!! I just wanted to write a quick email because I didn't
want to forget to tell you this: I just had a dream in which you gave
me an aquarium with a seahorse and a beta fish (among other
nondescript fish) which had a toucan's beak. There was also an
"underwater cactus" to which you attached a webcam because, as you
said, "now you can always be with the fishies!"
Very, very weird!...although I like the webcam idea.
-Sherv
- Mood:carbs overload
Within the pile of mail we have post-vacation, I received my diploma from Emerson. It's official now, except I still have to walk at the commencement in May. The thing reads "Master of Arts" and that's it. No mention of exactly what I studied. It's kind of amusing because my family asked me just that - "Exactly what did you study?" - and they still wouldn't be able to tell with this diploma.
California was glorious. Santa Barbara was expensive. The bums on the main street in downtown SB wore layers of Patagonia sweatshirts and Brooks Brothers blazers, asking me to "spare some change," and randomly waltzing into my path singing drunkenly. Time with Charlotte and Scott is always too short, especially when we power hiked up a mountain with my stubby little legs, which were affectionately dubbed "lil' smokies" for the duration of our visit. I think we drank every night (it's a bit hazy now), and I might have over-shared at some point, but we had some good times with no vomiting.
As we arrived at SB airport to pick up a compact car for the drive up to San Fran, the fella at the counter couldn't fill our request. "Unfortunately, we have to upgrade you," he said, and went through a list of cars available when all I heard was "....convertible." So in a Sebring we went, up the Pacific Coast Highway where far too many people drive much too quickly. It was a really gorgeous day, unseasonably warm they said, not a drop of cloud in the sky. The Pacific coast waves are quite mighty; I really enjoyed watching them crash into the side of the cliffs. Picture this panoramic: deep blue ocean, white waves, brown and gray rocks and hills, followed by green rolling hills with possibly a lighthouse to complete the look. It really was stunning.
Next was Pleasant Hill, where Toftie and Penny reside and the pair equals fun times. We also had the opportunity to meet Heather and Nick over dinner, who were fabulous as promised. At this brewpub Aaron order a beer sample, I got a soda sample, and Toftie got a water sample, thanks to our competent waiter. Aaron and I ventured into San Fran daily, and visited Haight/Ashbury a couple of times. Gutterpunks littered the streets, and I overheard one of them recycle the joke of, "My family was killed by Ninjas I need money to learn how to fight." His delivery was awful, and clearly he didn't put any effort into getting my pocket change. San Fran bums are bizarre, they have this sense of ownership of the streets. If you walk down Haight on a weekday you'd feel like you're leading around an elephant in their bedroom. Aaron was quite uncomfortable with it, I mostly just wanted to ask them to bathe.
I missed the Boston blizzard by about 12 hours, while I sat in Oakland Airport waiting for my delayed flight. Coming home was comforting, especially noticing that the cats are clearly irate with me for being away (it's their way of showing they care). I'm finally feeling like we've settled back into our routine now, two weeks later. A huge load is also off our backs - we found a housemate to fill the vacant bedroom, and she is very interesting. An elementary school teacher, Katelyn is also getting certified to become a yoga instructor while she makes and sells her own jewelry, among other things. I'm really looking forward to getting to know her better; I feel that it will be quite a learning experience for me.
Yesterday I finally figured out how to make a Flash menu where the Actionscript behaviors are doing what I want them to do. It was a good feeling, and now I have another skill that I can use in my web design work. Very exciting stuff. Other web projects include: a site for Susan's cattery, assisting Aaron with one of his projects, and getting some work done on my piano site. I'm starting to feel like I'm pushing off my piano studio building process, and I suspect, if that is true, it's because it's new and I'm terrified that I won't be able to get clients, that I won't be a good teacher, that I won't have the patience for my students and be a supportive role model. Any day now I will have to just sit down and crank it out and start my networking to just try it, 'cause if I don't I'll never know.
While chatting with Cristal over AIM a couple of days ago for a tagline to describe myself, I came up with "unsuspecting and unconventionally unexpected." It has really grown on me - it's incredibly vague but it has a nice ring. I had wanted something that says, "If you didn't know her, this tells you nothing about her. If you knew her, this makes perfect sense." and I think the phrase did the trick. Sometimes I impress myself just a little bit.
Other New Year things: We're preparing seedlings for the spring, considering our cats for cat shows, and cleaning the house thoroughly (finally) with a new fancy vacuum cleaner. We’ve changed our diet so that our meals are: Large breakfast, medium lunch, and light dinner. We are now Netflix subscribers and I’ve already placed 50+ movies in our queue. As soon as I get more funds I’m putting them toward piano footrests, a Wittner metronome, and upgrading our fish tank. Finally, I’m also in the market for some fun shoes, but that’s rather low on my list of Things To Do.
I’m making a mental note to post more often on Fridays instead of Mondays. Oh, and note which week of the month I’m posting, that seems to impact my mood.
California was glorious. Santa Barbara was expensive. The bums on the main street in downtown SB wore layers of Patagonia sweatshirts and Brooks Brothers blazers, asking me to "spare some change," and randomly waltzing into my path singing drunkenly. Time with Charlotte and Scott is always too short, especially when we power hiked up a mountain with my stubby little legs, which were affectionately dubbed "lil' smokies" for the duration of our visit. I think we drank every night (it's a bit hazy now), and I might have over-shared at some point, but we had some good times with no vomiting.
As we arrived at SB airport to pick up a compact car for the drive up to San Fran, the fella at the counter couldn't fill our request. "Unfortunately, we have to upgrade you," he said, and went through a list of cars available when all I heard was "....convertible." So in a Sebring we went, up the Pacific Coast Highway where far too many people drive much too quickly. It was a really gorgeous day, unseasonably warm they said, not a drop of cloud in the sky. The Pacific coast waves are quite mighty; I really enjoyed watching them crash into the side of the cliffs. Picture this panoramic: deep blue ocean, white waves, brown and gray rocks and hills, followed by green rolling hills with possibly a lighthouse to complete the look. It really was stunning.
Next was Pleasant Hill, where Toftie and Penny reside and the pair equals fun times. We also had the opportunity to meet Heather and Nick over dinner, who were fabulous as promised. At this brewpub Aaron order a beer sample, I got a soda sample, and Toftie got a water sample, thanks to our competent waiter. Aaron and I ventured into San Fran daily, and visited Haight/Ashbury a couple of times. Gutterpunks littered the streets, and I overheard one of them recycle the joke of, "My family was killed by Ninjas I need money to learn how to fight." His delivery was awful, and clearly he didn't put any effort into getting my pocket change. San Fran bums are bizarre, they have this sense of ownership of the streets. If you walk down Haight on a weekday you'd feel like you're leading around an elephant in their bedroom. Aaron was quite uncomfortable with it, I mostly just wanted to ask them to bathe.
I missed the Boston blizzard by about 12 hours, while I sat in Oakland Airport waiting for my delayed flight. Coming home was comforting, especially noticing that the cats are clearly irate with me for being away (it's their way of showing they care). I'm finally feeling like we've settled back into our routine now, two weeks later. A huge load is also off our backs - we found a housemate to fill the vacant bedroom, and she is very interesting. An elementary school teacher, Katelyn is also getting certified to become a yoga instructor while she makes and sells her own jewelry, among other things. I'm really looking forward to getting to know her better; I feel that it will be quite a learning experience for me.
Yesterday I finally figured out how to make a Flash menu where the Actionscript behaviors are doing what I want them to do. It was a good feeling, and now I have another skill that I can use in my web design work. Very exciting stuff. Other web projects include: a site for Susan's cattery, assisting Aaron with one of his projects, and getting some work done on my piano site. I'm starting to feel like I'm pushing off my piano studio building process, and I suspect, if that is true, it's because it's new and I'm terrified that I won't be able to get clients, that I won't be a good teacher, that I won't have the patience for my students and be a supportive role model. Any day now I will have to just sit down and crank it out and start my networking to just try it, 'cause if I don't I'll never know.
While chatting with Cristal over AIM a couple of days ago for a tagline to describe myself, I came up with "unsuspecting and unconventionally unexpected." It has really grown on me - it's incredibly vague but it has a nice ring. I had wanted something that says, "If you didn't know her, this tells you nothing about her. If you knew her, this makes perfect sense." and I think the phrase did the trick. Sometimes I impress myself just a little bit.
Other New Year things: We're preparing seedlings for the spring, considering our cats for cat shows, and cleaning the house thoroughly (finally) with a new fancy vacuum cleaner. We’ve changed our diet so that our meals are: Large breakfast, medium lunch, and light dinner. We are now Netflix subscribers and I’ve already placed 50+ movies in our queue. As soon as I get more funds I’m putting them toward piano footrests, a Wittner metronome, and upgrading our fish tank. Finally, I’m also in the market for some fun shoes, but that’s rather low on my list of Things To Do.
I’m making a mental note to post more often on Fridays instead of Mondays. Oh, and note which week of the month I’m posting, that seems to impact my mood.
- Mood:dry. it's very dry here.
