2010!

Hmm.  A Lot Has Happened. I guess that is expected when you only post every four or five months. Whoops. Sorry to any and all adoring fans out there.  On the other hand, hopefully you can’t get bored when you only get a handful of posts a year!

Anyway, let’s just jump in with what’s standing out as most memorable in recent weeks. Reaching all the way back to September seems impractical. I think I will start with today, perhaps, and then try to work backwards.

1. Today: The World is More Beautiful that We Can See

I’ve been feeling a little blah, mostly due to too many work projects and much ambiguity around my future plans. Then this weekend, something special happened. I remembered that art and music make life more wonderful! When Sunday was just an hour or so old I started reading Harry Potter, which was most exciting. (The final book, which I haven’t managed to read after all these years!) So that started the day off on the right foot. Then I decided to return to Hindi class after a two week hiatus. Even if I have no immediate plans to go to India, why not keep learning? Who cares if I’m too busy to study and if I’m not really learning THAT much and if it’s a long drive?

Then today in the car, something wonderful happened. KPFA, my favorite radio station of perhaps all time, usually plays bluegrass music on Sundays. But today in the car there was a mixtape playing of Bob Dylan and hip-hop artist K’NAAN, produced by J.Period. Now this left me quite confused. Actually I started wondering if Bob Dylan died and this was some sort of tribute, because the Dylan remixes just kept coming.

But then, god bless you radio host, I found out that no, in fact Dylan is still alive and well. The host had heard a track from the mixtape this week and felt compelled to play it. (Download it yourself from J.Period’s website, the album is called The Messengers and also features tributes to Fela Kuti and Bob Marley, haven’t listened to those yet but looking forward.)

Anyway the salient point is that this music was really exciting. I tend to forget how awesome Dylan is. The poetry today totally woke me up. The beat had to help.

Two things stuck with me:  The line “He who is not busy being born is busy dying.” Wow, now there’s a thought. I decided this was great justification for Hindi class. I’m busy being born.

Then I got a little wrapped up in the imagery of everything, and thought about how beautiful words are. That they can paint a picture in your head, an alternate reality. I wish I could convey this to my students, who tend to not like words very much. How to make them see that words are a way of creating your world…if you don’t like what you see, imagine something different, and live in that place, at least for a while.

Anyway all in all it was a wonderful half hour or so and brought me back to life. I was reminded of a quote I heard earlier this week on the radio also: La Cultura Cura. Culture cures you. How true.

2. Talent Show

So a few weeks ago, to celebrate my birthday, I held a talent show. My friend Annie (who is a beautiful singer/rockstar!) invited me to her Annual All Participatory Talent Show a few years back and it was amazing. This year I decided to adopt the idea. I think it was an amazing success! My friends busted out all sorts of talents, from teaching a Scottish reel to re-enacting movie scenes to teaching an acapella three-part round. I loved it. I think this is a great way to celebrate a birthday, a day of birth, a day of being alive. What better way to celebrate than to create something? And to have people to create with.

3. Nuyorican Poets Cafe: My Heart Stops a Little and then Jump Starts

While visiting an awesome friend in New York, we went to the Nuyorican Poets Cafe. This was my second time there, and it was just as amazing as I remembered. If not more. The Nuyorican holds poetry slams weekly. If you are in New York, please go.

Out of the six or so poets there were two who made my heart stop. I had to sit still, so very very still, to listen to what they said, to take it in, to make sure I heard every syllable. I had to stop breathing for a few minutes to make room in my chest for the words.

The first poet is a woman named Falu, whose poem about Obama had the refrain, “There is a candlelight in the belly of a man.” I won’t try to tell you more except to say that it was stunning and I had to sit oh so still and you will too if you hear it in person.

The next poet is Adam Falkner. Now I know part of the appeal for me is that this is a skinny white boy up there, which you don’t often see at the Nuyorican. It gives me hope. And he’s a teacher. I was skeptical at first, especially when his first poem was about racism (oh dear please Adam don’t make this a white guilt thing) but then he surprised me. The passion and the fire in his words pierced the air and settled within me. It was real. I was moved. Or rather I was stilled.Then he drove it home later with a love poem, with the same intensity and fury. Damn. I wish I’d had the courage to talk to him after the show. And I wish I lived in New York so I could go to his poetry workshops.

And so that night I decided to write some poetry. Which so far is not going well, but you have to start somewhere.

Phew, ok, that’s all for now. Many, many more words left to say but this is getting long and my time is getting short. Over and out.

P.S. Next time will try to include some pictures.

Take a Buddy!

So I did it.

I went hiking by myself.

Now in the three years I’ve lived in California, I’ve often thought about going hiking alone. I’ve done lots of other things that I never thought I would do alone: go to movies, out to eat, even dancing. But hiking was the final frontier. Years of Girl Scout training taught me that hiking by yourself is unwise. Anything could happen! Who would be there to help you? It is fundamentally against the all important rule of The Buddy!

But I decided to do it anyway. Why? It was a particularly cloudy and drippy day, which to me seems like prime hiking weather but to many California residents means that you should not leave your house under any circumstances. Plus I just decided to go spur of the moment, and it’s often difficult to drum up a buddy on short notice. This is something I find particularly irksome: that I know very few people whose schedules are open enough to accommodate my whims.

Anyway I decided to go for it. I reasoned that usually when I go hiking in the Oakland hills there are approximately 1.2 billion people on the trails with their babies, dogs, boyfriends, etc so there really wasn’t any danger of twisting my ankle, crawling off to the side of the trail and never being seen or heard from again.

However when I pulled up, there were only 2 other cars in the parking lot. ON A SATURDAY. This, I can assure you, is highly unusual. I decided to forge on nonetheless. I approached a paved trail, and saw a sign that said the Quarry Trail was closed because EBMUD (local utility company) was doing some sort of excavating. Consulting my trusty map (of course I wouldn’t venture off without a map!) I saw that the Quarry Trail seemed to be a long way off and its closure shouldn’t interfere with my plans.

So I set off. I was already feeling a little uneasy. Was the trail closure an omen? Why does it have to be so quiet up here? Why is my imagination so big?

Things went well for the first part, through a misty and drippy green forest section of the trail. Then the trees thinned out, and after a short bit of grass I came across a grove of burned stumps and eucalyptus, which did not appear too terrible at first but soon revealed its true identity as the Haunted Eucalyptus Grove. As I approached, I heard a sound in the bushes. Of course I stood still and looked to see if I could see an animal. I couldn’t. But the rustling continued undaunted (encouraged?) by my presence. Finding this unsettling, I continued also. Once past the grove, I was trudging uphill to some grassy meadows when a weird howl came from the grove. Was it the wind? Dead branches rubbing together? Some “Where the Wild Things Are” style beast?

Better not to contemplate it too much and just keep walking into the meadow. The sign on the gate told me to steer clear of cows in the meadow. There was also a sign about rattlesnakes but I reasoned that with no sun out the snakes were less inclined to be lounging about anyway.

So I started across the grassy field. Here you could actually see the clouds blowing past, and I had the feeling that if it had been clear I would have had a spectacular view of Something but today it was all just rather gray.

The Meadow

I was trying to calm my racing thoughts and wondering if having an accelerated heartbeat induced by fear counted as cardiovascular excercise when I heard a most disturbing rumbling sound which seemed rather near. Of course due to the fog I couldn’t see very far off. Was it a train? Sure, I reasoned. Maybe there were freight train tracks somewhere down below, even though I had never seen them here before…

Well then I rounded a bend in the trail and the rumbling grew louder and I came across a very large dump truck trundling past with a load of rocks, and I saw some orange fencing which seemed designed to deter hikers from taking that trail. I took this as a sign that I should turn back.

Which meant I had to walk back across the lonely grasslands, past the Haunted Eucalyptus Grove, and through the dark and drippy forest. I wasn’t sure if this was better or worse than forging on through unknown terrain: I was sure that where I had come from was scary. Maybe the unexplored trail up ahead was less frightening. But alas I didn’t have the heart to find out.

The grassy field passed uneventfully, save the continued rumbling of trucks. As I approached the eucalyptus grove, I decided to try to photograph it. This went well, but I didn’t particularly like the way the photo looked so I thought I would try again closer up. Unfortunately closer up the Beast Who Resides in the Grove was still rustling about, and rather closer to the trail this time, so I hurried past sans photo.

Haunted Eucalyptus Grove, viewed from a safe distance

With the grove happily behind me, I re-entered the damp and dark forest. This looked a lot like forests back home so I felt comforted. It was quiet, and being in the trees made me feel less exposed than walking through the meadow. The sound of raindrops falling from tree branches was quite familiar.

Reassuringly gloomy forest

Now that’s the kind of place Edward Cullen could jump out from at any moment. Swoon!

And on the way in I had seen a spectacular slug feasting on some dog poo. I have a special love of slugs, especially banana slugs.  I wanted to take a picture  of the slug, but thought the poo wasn’t aesthetically appropriate. When I came back upon the scene, this time there were three slugs (!) and one was far enough away to take a proper photograph.

Isn't she a beaut?

Before long I was back in the parking lot, completely unscathed. The whole ordeal had taken less than 45 minutes.

This time there was a mail truck in the parking lot, which I found confusing. (Did the park receive mail? Was the mail carrier taking a break here?) I got back in my car, took a few deep breaths, and continued on my way, convinced that never, ever would I go hiking by myself again. The Girl Scouts had it right. The woods themselves might not be so dangerous, but one’s unchecked imagination is a frightful thing indeed.

The Sun Returns

And thank God!

We had a bit of a rainy spell around these parts which was really sort of demoralizing. I mean for gosh sakes I’ve been bragging about California’s perfect weather and then it has to go and do a thing like that. And while my friend is visiting from NYC none the less.

I guess I can’t grumble too much, since we’re in a drought, and since grumbling will confirm that I’ve become a rain sissy since leaving the cold, damp north. I wouldn’t want to own up to that.

I will own up to taking an extended break from writing. Too wet and too busy. Suddenly I got extra busy again. I guess it’s the start of apprenticeships at work, extra coordinating to be done, but still I don’t like it.

Luckily spring break is just around the corner! Spring Break! I thought it would never come!

Unfortunately, due to my indecisive nature and tendency to procrastinate, I have yet to finalize any spring break plans. There are a few destinations that have been in the running and remain highly desirable:

Washington, DC to visit good friends

St. John, visiting a college friend, plus general sunning and island pursuits

Mexico City, friends from last trip, cultural investigation and language practice, plus Semana Santa

Kentucky, visiting my cousin

Last weekend, after a particularly pleasant day showing off SF to friends  (it’s been a busy couple weeks of visitors!) I decided that maybe the best spring break would be to stay here and see all the friends I’ve neglected since starting my new high stress job. And to enjoy the good things about the Bay Area that I never have time to enjoy.

But then today I got an email from my friend in Mexico City and it got me thinking about that again. Plus he mentioned that he has a break from school for Semana Santa, which seems like a good excuse to go, don’t you think?

Of course economics are starting to play into the picture at this point since the trip dates are rapidly approaching. But what fun would it be to plan a vacation far in advance? Better to wait until time necessitates an impulse decision.

Still I feel like I should file my taxes before I decide so I can see how much cash Uncle Sam will be shaking me down for this year.

No pictures now because I decided to shoot some on film and haven’t gotten it developed. Will try to do that soon.

Weekend Walking

Miles walked this weekend: 12

Minutes of football watched: 0

On Saturday I unintentionally walked about 4 miles in my neighborhood after getting lost on my morning constitutional. Well at least my neighborhood is a nice place to get lost. And thank god I had eaten breakfast first or I would have been in real trouble. :>)

Then on Sunday my friend Kaity and I took off for an adventure in Pt. Reyes. We walked through the Tule Elk Reserve, where in fact we saw many, many Tule elk.  We also ate a delicious lunch she had made including cabbage that totally rocked my world. It’s not very often you can say that about cabbage. That Kaity is special girl.

I was channeling a little bit of redneck energy. Note the outfit. I’ve been listening to Johnny Cash on repeat lately. And planning a possible road trip through Kentucky and West Virginia. Hmmmmmm the possibilities.

I keep taking pictures outside when my camera is set to tungsten lighting or something so they are too blue. My attempts to correct the color haven’t been too successful. I like how this one looks a little old school though.

Getting excited for East Coast visitors in the coming weeks!!! Always looking for ways to convince the rest of the populace that West is Best.

January in California…

Is not like January in other places.

You can go to the beach in January in California. And not all bundled up to walk the damp sand watching the storm-whipped waves and thinking gray thoughts.  (That’s January on the beach in Washington.)

No, here you can go to the beach to sit in the sand and eat a picnic lunch and watch kids splash and surfers paddle and birds dive and the sun sparkle on the water. Which is exactly what I did last weekend.  It’s a fine way to spend an afternoon, let me tell you. I was wearing long pants and long sleeves, but hey it still feels like a day at the beach. I got that bleached-out, tired feeling from sitting in the sun, which I suspect we paler folks are more susceptible to. I even got some sand in my hair. I deliberately left my shoes on, which I know is not very beach-y behavior, but the beach was just one stop in my day and I have this weird dislike of taking my socks off and then putting them on again when they are all stretched out and tired. I thought about wearing sandals to avoid this situation but wearing sandals in January is just too much for my Northern self to handle.

(I did see a woman on the bus today in flip-flops, which seemed like a bad choice because today was actually a little bit brisker.)

The other news of January is that I have planted some seeds! So alas the blog does still have  a garden bit left. My brother gave me a wonderful and very thoughtful Christmas present: a Chia herb garden. That’s right, the folks who make Chia pets also sell plain old pots to grow herbs on your kitchen windowsill. But it comes with the patented Chia Growing Sponge, which so far seems fairly exciting in that it’s less messy than dirt.  Anyway here’s the Day 1 shot of the little herbs all ready to sprout to in their mini bag greenhouses. If all goes according to plan I should have basil, chives, dill, and cilantro at my disposal very soon.

In other news, I’m trying to figure out where to go for spring break. This would not be so problematic if there weren’t so darned many places that I would like to go!!!! The main contenders seem to be Mexico, Washington D.C., Louisville KY, New York City, or home. I think DC will probably win out, especially if I find a good way to combine it with Kentucky to visit my cousin. But I can’t help feeling a little sad that I have the opportunity to go back to Mexico and I might not take it. Hmmmmm. Same is true of home, of course, which is always a welcome destination. I probably can mull it over for another week or so before buying tickets.

Jamaica Pond, Berkeley, D6

So I made it back to Oakland, after a very pleasant holiday in Puyallup and a work trip to Boston. Boston was great! I was there for a two day mid-year retreat and then two days of master’s classes.  The mid-year retreat made me realize that A) I’m mid-way through my first year and B) I really like my job. It’s hard to believe that the school is year is halfway over. (well it’ s not exactly. My supervisor keeps warning us about how spring semester is interminable.) And having time to reflect on the semester, away from the busy-ness of it all, helped me see that I really do like what I’m doing. Even if it gets a little wild and crazy along the way. Tonight I called some of my students to remind them that we start up again on Tuesday and it warmed my heart. It’s good to remember that they are the reason for all the stress.

While in Boston I visited this lovely place:

Jamaica Pond

I was staying right near Jamaica Pond and had the chance to walk around it one morning. It made me wonder a lot of things. Why don’t we have ponds in the West? We tend to call everything a lake, even when it’s small. Why are there so many places on the East Coast with Jamaica in the name? Further research is necessary. Why are there those swirly lines on the pond? Something to do with the way the water freezes, I guess. Also I saw ducks on ice for the first time which was pretty silly. They would come in for a landing and just sort of glide along. I wondered if their feet get cold…they don’t look very insulated.

Anyway Boston was supergood. I was staying in a co-op which was really lovely and I met lots of cool people there. I’m inspired. Perhaps I should live in a co-op! Seems like a good way to form community, which is the gap I feel most keenly in my life right now. At this house they cook vegan dinner together four nights a week, which was really nice. Although I’m not sure I could be vegan, considering that cheese is pretty much my favorite food of all time.

I also got to hang out with friends new and old. Lots of cooking and eating and talking. Which are high on my list of the best ways to spend my time.

Then after a long day of travel delays I arrived back to Oakland which was (is) in upheaval over the shooting death of Oscar Grant. Oakland wastes no time in welcoming me back to the urban scene.

Today I escaped to Berkeley which made me quite nostalgic. Perhaps I’ll end up back there…I haven’t made much of an effort at getting to know Oakland, which is probably part of the problem, but Berkeley just seems more likeable. It’s easier to walk and bike around. There’s lots of friendly people. I seem to end up there to run errands a lot, so maybe it has more of what I need. Today was unseasonably warm so it felt like summer in Berkeley and everything was golden, very good weather for feeling a bit wistful.

I went by Games of Berkeley to get some extra dice for games at school. I asked the saleslady if they have blank dice, and she replied that they have blank D6. Now since I happen to go to game night almost weekly with a group of gamers far more hardcore than myself I actually do know what D6 means. (Don’t worry, it’s just a die with 6 faces! aka what most people simply call dice) I wasn’t sure what to make of this. Is it appropriate to assume that everyone who shops at the game store is nerdy enough to know what this abbreviation means? Seems a bit bold. But perhaps I’m underestimating my own nerdiness and in fact the only people who shop at Games of Berkeley are indeed…nerds.

Winter in Puyallup

I’m back in Puyallup for the holidays. Yay! It’s been quite snowy here, much more so than I can ever remember. The newspaper headline the other day said something about being “pounded by relentless winter” which I thought was sort of funny, considering it’s not even March or April yet. How relentless can it be, really?

I took a break from the cookie baking and general laziness to go outside and make a snowman. Or rather, to make a movie about making a snowman.

Quiet Friday night

I find myself spending a peaceful evening at home. I have my candles lit and my music on and my knitting is near.

I had been planning to go out, but I’ve misplaced my cell phone and that made the evening seem a little tricky. Funny how much things change in just a few years, right? I have so few numbers in my head now….

But it’s good to take it slow for one night. This week has been really busy, and the next two will be the same! I can’t believe the semester is almost over. Now we’re planning our end of semester celebration. Exciting but a lot of work.

No need to think of that now, though. I think I’ll turn the lights out and shut down the computer and just watch the candles for a bit.

Reasons why I should just ride a bike

As my dear friend Kelly brought to my attention, I have not been posting. At all. Sorry folks. We’ll try to remedy the situation.

I was actually thinking about the blog last week after experiencing a few silly incidents. Apparently my current favorite use of the blog is to convey my small troubles in life.

So, incident #1. My car is dirty. I decide to go to the carwash. Simple enough, right? Well, my current car has a sunroof. Oh so fancy, right? Well, sort of. 80% of the time it won’t open, and 99% of the time it’s not quite closed right. You can see where this is going.

I fiddled with the switch (it’s motorized) until I was sure it was sealed tight. I enter the carwash. I get wet. Water is just sort of streaming in through the edges of the sunroof. I’m not sure if I shold try to fiddle with the switch more or if that will only make the situation worse. So I just let the soapy water run down my back. Then when I exit the carwash, driving down the sloping driveway to the street, more water runs down that has collected in the sunroof. I swab at the leather seats with a shirt that’s in the backseat (sometimes it pays off to have random junk in your car) and turn up the heat all the way in an effort to dry things off. This makes me quite hot because the heater is one of the car’s best-functioning features.  However it doesn’t do much to dry me off and I have to go to the grocery store looking like I just got off Splash Mountain. Except I smell soapy.

Moral of the story: Ride a bike. No sunroof. No carwash. No worries.

Now I get it

So, obviously this regular posting business continues to be a challenge. My apologies to all those loyal fans out there. All three of you.

Anyway, a quick update. I’ve started my new job with Citizen Schools! So far so good! I’m at my school site, completing training, recruiting students, planning program….in short, my head is spinning. But in a good way. I’m going to learn like 10 million things in this job, I can tell.

One quick lesson so far: I really understand why sneakers are so aptly named.

See, for my new job I have to dress kind of fancy so I look the part of a teacher lady. Those who know me know that I’m not really a fancy dresser normally. So basically I had to go on a major shopping spree to completely overhaul my wardrobe. Combine this with my long-held idea that I should learn to wear heels and be a real live grown up lady, and you get NEW FANCY SHOES! I found some lovely wedge heels at Nordstrom Rack. They are black with a little flower-like bow thing on the toe. Adorable. I’m completely in love with them. I’ve been wearing them around the house to break them in a bit and make a day in them tolerable.

So yesterday I finally got up the courage to wear them to work. Yay! Feeling so cute. But then I discover that they make a really noisy click-clacking sound when I walk. You know the sound. At first I liked it, because it really did sound like a real live grown up lady was walking your way. But then I started to think maybe it’s a bit annoying to have everyone always know you’re coming. And then a bunch of the students were doing testing in the Family Room, aka the big open space right next to our office. Which meant that when I had to go to the bathroom, make copies, or otherwise venture out into in the school building, I had to click-clack my way over the tile floor in a silent room with like 50+ students all listening to/watching me. Not my idea of a great time.

And then on one trip back, one of the students actually started mimicking the sound of my shoes by makign clicking noises with his tongue, in rhythm with my walking of course. As if that wasn’t embarrassing enough, when I got back to office I couldn’t get my key to work in the door. Sheesh. No wonder new teachers get so stressed….all those eyes trained only on you.

Anyway, it was at that time that I realized the brilliance of sneakers. You can actually walk quietly in them! Meaning that you can sneak. I guess I always knew that was the concept behind the word sneakers, but now I had experienced it for myself.

Maybe I’m not meant to be a fancy lady after all. Or maybe I can find a way to do it in sneakers.