Feeling Like a Rock Star

Today, quite simply, rocked. My phone rang at 7:00 this morning with a 202 area code, and since I knew one of the fellowships I applied for is required to be announced before March 1st, I had a good feeling.

And now I have a great feeling because I HAVE A FOUR YEAR FELLOWSHIP FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.

That's right, my friends, I am a newly-named Jacob K. Javits Fellow, and my tuition, fees, and living stipend will be paid for by YOU, the taxpayers of our great nation, for the next four years.

Did I mention how much that rocks? With the California budget in such a sorry state of affairs, it is such a relief to know for absolutely, positively certain that I have funding until I finish my dissertation.

Rock.

In other news, I got my hair cut today! I finally bit the bullet and went super short. I think it's a pretty good Berkeley grad student haircut, don't you?

It kind of freaks me out how much I look like my mom in these pictures.

Ok, there are too many boys rough-housing in this room and I can't concentrate anymore, so I have to go!

Rain, rain, go away...

Ok, Northern California. I get it. You rain a lot. I know my impressions of you have been unjustly skewed because I arrived here during a drought year, but now that it's been raining for the past four days, I believe you. The "wet season" does exist after all. You win. Rainy winters. Ok. Can you cut it out now?

Seriously. It's been raining for a few days now, and I'm kind of ready for a break from it, but I feel bad saying that because we really, really need the rain. This is the first time it's actually rained for more than a few hours at once since we've been here! And once we hit March/April, it probably won't really rain again until November. So I should just suck it up and deal with it and stop being so selfish. But I had to take the bus to the grocery store in the rain today because we were almost completely out of food and I couldn't put it off any longer, and it was pretty nul. Plus, the department's hosting a linguistics conference this weekend (did I mention that before?), so I've been forced to be out and about and my pants and socks and shoes get all wet, and then I'm cold all day.

Waah, waah, waah, I know. Here are some good things about my life.

I got to see George yesterday! For anyone reading this who has no idea who I'm talking about or why I'm so excited he's in town, George (and Matt and Dan) are my best friends from studying abroad in France, and I miss them all terribly. George is doing a graduate program in French literature at UC Irvine right now, and he and his friend drove up here Friday night to visit San Francisco. So I met them in the city yesterday for lunch, and then we went to Ghirardelli Square and got massive ice cream sundaes drenched with chocolate that we couldn't finish. It was drizzling in the city too, but we hiked up a HUGE hill and stopped at the top and looked out across the Bay. Alcatraz was right in front of us, and I pointed out the clock tower on campus waaaay in the distance, in the Berkeley hills, and the clouds were beautiful. We don't usually get interesting clouds here; most days, the sky is either completely blue or completely flat gray. Sometimes we get white little wisps of cirro-nimbus clouds drifting across the sky, but very rarely do we have the big, marshmallowy cumulus clouds we had yesterday. And the colors were great too - grays, blues, purples, and even pinks as the sun was setting.

So we stood on the side of the hill in the rain for a few minutes, looking at the landscape, and then we walked down Lombard Street ("the Crookedest Street in the World") to their hotel, so they could give me a ride back to BART (the train back to Berkeley). We weren't on the crooked side of Lombard Street, though; we walked down the other side, which is perfectly straight, but still not boring. It's still on some kind of crazy 45 degree angle or something.

I don't know what else to say. We don't have class tomorrow, but our conference is still going on, so I have to go to that in the afternoon. I hope the rain will let up in the morning so I can run with my dogs. Then I'll take a hot shower, drink some tea, and enjoy my warm house while I get some work done before I head in to campus.

Sounds good to me.

Excited

Today is a great day so far!  Here is why:

1) While running with the dogs this morning, we got caught in pounding hail.  No joke.  It was honestly laughable, it was so ridiculous.  Just out of nowhere - sunny when we left the house, 30 minutes later we're getting pummeled with hard rain and ice chips.  Bizarre.  Then by the time we were soaked to the bone and I was bright pink, it let up and there were blue skies again.  So we kept running.

2) I ran into Tera on campus this morning!  I noticed her right away because she looked so cute in her bright blue jacket with her pretty red hair!  We might do something this weekend, but she's always so busy and I have a lot to do this weekend, too... but if that doesn't work out, I was still really glad to see her.

3) I have another potential experiment in the works.  Maybe.  So the Illinois conference didn't work out, because I decided not to pursue that syntax project I told you about, for now at least.  But today I went in to be a pilot subject in a experiment one of our 5th year grad students is working on, and afterwards I stayed and talked to him about it, and we came up with some good ideas.  He doesn't really have time to do it, though, so I might jump in and partially take over.  Maybe.

4) I have another potential experiment in the works.  Maybe.  This is not the same one as #3.  My experimental phonetics class is really, really fun, and we're starting a new unit next week that I'm excited about.  I have a cool idea for an experiment for that class, too, so if I get my act together, I may get to run my VERY OWN subjects for that one.

5) The fact that these potential experiments have got me so excited, even though they're just cute little ones that aren't going to be earth-shatteringly interesting or anything, makes me happy about being in grad school, and makes me happy about going into academia.  Sometimes when I have a lot of work, I start to think "Ugh, is this really what I want to do with my life?" but other times, I get so excited that I know this is the right place for me.  I also really enjoy the flexibility of having an academic life - I always have work to do, so I'm never bored, but really, I can do it whenever I want.  This works really well when Roger's working full time, because I can run errands and do fun things interspersed throughout the day (get groceries at noon, get coffee with friends at 2:00, whatever fits my class schedule), then walk the dogs, cozy up with a cup of tea and read.  As long as I don't let the workload stress me out, it really is a pretty awesome life.

6) It will be an even awesomer life if I get a fellowship from the federal government for next year!  I'm starting to get anxious to hear back from the two I applied for, but I probably won't hear for another month.  If I don't get either of them, I'll be teaching next year, and that's exciting too!

Life is good.

Oh! and 7) George is getting into town tonight, and we might meet up for lunch or dinner tomorrow and/or Sunday.

Well, time to get some reading done on this gray, chilly, drizzly, cozy day.

Wistful

I'm not exactly sure why, but I've been feeling wistful the past week or two. Like, starting to get subtle yearnings for home. There are several factors related to this development:

- I was looking at the webpage for the inaugural Illinois Marathon the other day. Man, I really want to run that race sometime. Maybe next year? But silly me, I traced over the whole course map, and it really made me miss running with Second Wind. A lot of the course follows the old marathon training runs. It's funny how grids of streets on a map can bring back so many memories.

- I've been reading James's blog (hi, James :) ), and his photography has developed this really dreamy, impressionistic view of C-U. Since we ran in a lot of the same places, I think we had a lot of the same visions of Urbana, and his pictures jar those images in my memory, like seeing the town pass through my peripheral vision during a twilight run.

- I miss all of you whenever you leave me a comment on these blog postings.

But anyway. My classes are still really good, and I become more and more sure that this is the right school for me as time goes on, which is a great feeling. I'm so glad to be solidifying in that direction, and not the opposite - if I were becoming more and more sure I don't want to write my dissertation here, I'd be pretty miserable!

Hey, speaking of being miserable in graduate school... my friend George will be in town this weekend! I'm so excited; I haven't seen him in almost a year, and it'll be fantastic to catch up. On a whim (the combination of my wistfulness and the knowledge that George is coming), I was looking back through old journal entries from Paris tonight. Here's part of one about our trip to Greece that made me laugh:

So we got in to Athens around 12:30 the Thursday night before break, and it was surprisingly easy to find the bus to the port, where our hotel was. I had my first experience of being paralyzed and having to ask George to say things for me when we bought tickets, which was odd, but fine. We get on the bus and this guy immediately asks the three of us, in French, with a Greek accent, if we’re French. Maybe because I was wearing French clothes and I might be pulling off the European look these days? Who knows. But we weren’t even speaking French at the time, I don’t think. So we tell him we’re not French in French, and George says something to him in Greek, so he says something to me and Matt in Greek when George goes up to validate his ticket, and Matt and I tell him in French we’re sorry but we don’t speak Greek, and then George comes back and says something in either English, French, or Greek… I forget, I just know the guy kept getting more and more confused, until he eventually says in French, “I’m sorry, but I don’t think I understand where you’re from….” So we explained that we’re Americans studying abroad in France for the year, that Matt and I only speak English and French, but that George speaks Greek too. The first of several interesting language situations.

So we’re on the bus, headed for the port, surprisingly not tired, especially considering I was up the entire night before writing my stupid paper for my Paris IV class that I ended up not even being able to turn in because there were manifestants [protesters] outside of Malesherbes [the school building] because of the whole CPE thing [proposed new employment policy] and no one could get in. Anyway… we’re clipping along at some ungodly speed, dodging other vehicles as though on a moped, when we finally get on the highway that goes around the perimeter of the city and the traffic up ahead is at a standstill. The bus driver pulls up on the sidewalk for some reason… it seems in retrospect that it might have been to let ambulances and police cars through, but I honestly can’t say whether I’m making that up so it’ll make more sense or not… and just stops. This guy in the very back of the bus starts yelling at the bus driver, who starts yelling back, and Matt and I have no idea what’s going on, but George is laughing and promising to translate in a second. Then the doors of the bus open and everyone but us files out and starts smoking. It turns out the guy was telling the bus driver if he was going to be an idiot and just pull over on the sidewalk like that, he might as well be reasonable and open the doors to let him go out and have a cigarette. Apparently everyone thought that was a good idea. Eventually the bus driver started yelling at everyone to get back in again so we could go, and we made it to the port and to the hotel around 2:00, I think. It was a perfectly Greek start to things. I really like how everyone yells at everyone else, but it’s like… good-natured. It’s cool; that’s just how they talk. They get excited about things.

I'm not sure why I wanted to share that, but I did. Ok, it's late, I'm tired, I have to run the dogs in the morning, so I'm going to bed. Love to you all.

Semester #2 Has Begun

I've been lazy with the blog lately. I started my second semester of school last week, and I'm not at all into a routine yet. I haven't figured out yet when to do my homework and readings, when to have down time, when to do house work, when to walk the dogs. Well. The last one is taking care of itself, actually; with Roger leaving around 6:45 in the morning, Rye has decided that's when he needs to get up, too. So every morning when Roger's about to leave, Rye gets up to say goodbye to him, and then he stands right next to me and barks his little head off until I get out of bed. Really not an ideal situation. He is such a stubborn little fart. So I usually get up a little before 7:00 and dilly dally for about 15 minutes before the sun comes up, and then the dogs and I get in a run so I don't feel too terribly bad about leaving them alone all day. Then I shower and go to class, and usually get home around 4:00, it seems. Today I went grocery shopping and did the dishes, tomorrow I'm taking Huck to the vet for a check up, Friday I'm meeting someone for a run in the afternoon, so that means I'll try to get the dogs to the dog park in the morning so I don't have dog mom guilt.

I think I like my classes this semester, but it's a bit early to tell. This semester is extremely different from the last one in terms of subject material; last semester was very "experiment" heavy, in that I was mostly reading research articles all the time. This semester seems like it will involve a lot more problem sets and less reading. In case anyone's interested, here's what I'm taking: phonology (where we learn about analyzing the sound systems of languages), quantitative methods in linguistics (where we learn lots of statistics and how to analyze data), historical linguistics (how languages can change over time), cognitive linguistics (how the brain stores language... supposedly... I'm skeptical about this class), and I'm sitting in on experimental phonetics, where we get to play with high tech lab equipment to do things like measure pitch and air flow while people are talking. I'm particularly excited about the last one, since I don't actually have to worry about doing the work for a grade - I just get to play!

Other developments in my life... my new running shoes came in today!! I'm going to go pick them up on Friday or Saturday and take them for a test run. I am so excited. I also seem to have found some potential running partners. Ok, here's a funny story. So I posted an ad to Craigslist looking for a marathon training partner. The first girl who emailed me back was talking about how she's working on her second bachelor's degree now and used to be a personal trainer. I'm thinking, all right, awesome. Somewhat serious about both school and running - my kind of chick, right? So we have this email exchange wherein it becomes clear to me that she honestly believes astronomy and astrology to be the same thing. It's not that she mixed up the words - that would be far more forgivable - no, she just started a second bachelor's in astronomy this semester because she thought it was astrology. Something along the lines of "I'm more interested in the spiritual aspects of astronomy, not all that physics and chemistry stuff." Yikes. Now, part of me says I should stop being so judgmental and give her another chance. But if I run with her once, it'll be harder to get rid of her in the future. And marathon training involves spending hours with someone. What am I, a person who clearly values science and science education very highly, going to have to talk about with someone who signed up for astronomy classes to like, predict what house is in Virgo this month or whatever?

Then girl #2 emails me, and she's from Orange County. First strike against her. She wants to train to run her first marathon with her dad and sister in May, and she's "starting from zero". Umm, you do know how long a marathon is, right? I would not recommend going from 0 to 26.2 in, uh, 12 weeks. The selfish part of me wants to try running with this girl anyway, but the concerned fellow runner part of me wants to forbid this girl from attempting this, since she's probably going to do some serious damage to her body if she actually goes through with it.

Anyway. I did find one person, this guy named Kevin who's originally from Michigan. I responded to his ad after being disappointed at my only two responses, and he's perfectly nice. He got a few other responses, too, so I might end up finding someone through the grapevine eventually.

I'm sorry if I bore everyone who reads this with my running talk.

I think we're going to join the City Car Share. The Bay Area has these cars (and trucks and vans) stationed all over the place, and when you sign up for this program, they send you a card that unlocks them. You go online and reserve one for whenever you want it, they send a signal to your card to allow it to unlock the car you signed up for, then record when you return the car, and you get charged $5/hour plus 40 cents/mile. Not bad at all. That way we can run errands more easily and maybe get out and explore a little bit, since it is very unclear whether there is a new car in our future any time soon. And lots of people apparently sign up for the car share while they wait to get a new car, and then end up so happy with the car share they forget about buying their own. Oh, the price includes all gas, maintenance, and insurance, and you can sign it out for 24 hours at a time at a flat rate of $40, if you want. The only drawback is we can't take the dogs in it... so we'll probably get a car eventually, but this will definitely do in the meantime.

I'm suddenly very tired of typing, so I'm going to get ready for bed now. I'll try to update again soon!

Pictures and Running

As promised, here is my picture post! This first one is of Jimmy actually playing poker during the tournament. He was "surprised and impressed" that I watched him play for so long. But of course I did! It was fun and interesting and definitely not something I'll have the opportunity to do very often.


The next one is the view from one of Jimmy's friend's room. Freaking amazing.


This is one of the beach. I didn't actually swim in the ocean, but I did walk in the sand for a while, and it was downright beautiful. The water was so turquoise, the sand so creamy.


The next one is a tank full of jellyfish. Random, I know, but one of the coolest things about this resort was that they have this awesome network of aquariums, with walkways going under, around, above, and through them, so the animals swim all around you. I thought this was a cool shot, even though it doesn't really capture the coolness of all the aquariums (aquaria?).


And finally, just because this picture is hilarious, here are my doggies earlier today. We went for a great run this morning, and then Rye discovered a new way to sleep in the sun; we call him the sun dial dog, because he literally scoots around the extra bedroom on the floor all day, following the path of the sun. If you catch him before about 10:00 am, the sunlight is still on the wall, not the floor, so he can't sleep in it yet. He used to just back up against the wall and wait for it to hit the floor, but since I've gotten home from my trip, I stacked my suitcase against the wall and, well, see for yourself:


I love it that Huck has this look on his face like, "Do you see this? You have got to be kidding me."

In other news, I was doubly inspired yesterday. While walking the dogs, these three girls ran by me, and my first reaction was a pang of jealousy; why do they have someone to run with and I don't? My second reaction was, "Wait, isn't the pollution level pretty high today?" And it was - yesterday it was in the high 90's, I believe, which is the yellow "sensitive individuals should consider limiting outdoor exertion" level. Usually when it gets in the high yellow zone, I don't run, since my chest used to get pretty tight on those days. But these girls were running in it just fine, apparently.

So the upshot of that brief encounter is 1) I went running today, even though the pollution index was like 105, and I was totally and completely fine. This is somewhat good and somewhat bad. On the one hand, it's great that I've adjusted my sensitivity to the pollution, since it apparently doesn't affect me like it did at first, and now I can run when the levels are higher. On the other hand... seriously? I'm used to having 2.5 micrometer particles gunking up my lungs now? That's depressing.

And 2) I got on this website called exercisefriends.com and started looking for a running partner. I found this girl who posted an "ad" a few years ago looking for a fellow 20-something female to train for the San Francisco Marathon with her, and I sent her an email to see if she's still living in Berkeley, still interested in training for SF '09, and if she might want to grab a cup of coffee to make sure neither of us are 45 year old creepy stalker dudes before we set up a running date. I'm really hoping I hear back from her soon!

Ok, that's all for now.

Only one more week of long days left,

and then they start streaming by like water through a sieve again. This has been a wonderful break. My first semester of school went by so quickly, reminding me again of the fickle nature of Time; when you're waiting for something that's a few weeks or months away (as I was before moving and starting grad school), time passes so slowly. But when you're stuck in the moment (as I generally am when I have coursework to think about), time can easily pass you by. I can't believe we've been here for five months already!

I was ready for a break, though. I had a very busy semester, and while I've gotten a lot better about not stressing out when I have an interminable list of things to do, you can only keep it up for so long. So I was very relieved when it was time for a break, and I've been having a lovely time doing absolutely nothing. The great thing about a semester break, though, is that it's usually long enough that I'm ready to go back to school by the end of it. Like, ok, that was nice, but I'm ready to feel productive again...

So I'm starting to feel that way now, and that's lucky for me, because I start class on Tuesday. Part of that feeling is undoubtedly due to the fact that Roger's working now (more on that in a bit), which leaves me with very long days of walking the dogs, reading, and running little errands when I feel like leaving the house.

The Bahamas was (were?) great! Jimmy didn't win the tournament or anything, but we both had a really good time, I think. He was very happy to see his friends, I had a good time meeting them all, and it was really nice being able to spend some time with him - in such a gorgeous setting, no less! I'll post some pictures soon, maybe later today, even.

Roger loves his job. He has so much to do, and he loves being so productive and taking on such an important role in his company. He's already accomplished so much, and he's only been there a week and a half! He's got the payroll and the pensions in order, he's been working on the budget and ordering supplies, and apparently his boss referred to him as the company's controller in an email, which further supports Roger's theory that he's already looking at a promotion in the (relatively) near future. He's gone a lot now, especially since the commute is 75 minutes one way, but that's only temporary; his main task starting in about March will be to find a new office for the company in downtown San Francisco, and once they get moved in (in July or August), his commute will only be 30-45 minutes. In the meantime, I think we're both okay with him being gone a lot. And I don't mean that in the mean way it sounds! I'm starting class soon, he's thrilled to have stuff to do and really enjoying working, he's really fun to be around when he's home because he's in a great mood, and now that we'll have money, we can actually do stuff on the weekends, and I'll be able to do stuff with my friends during the week. He really likes his coworkers, too - one guy is actually from Downs, IL, which is pretty crazy, if you think about it, and there are a few other guys he seems to be getting along with well, too. They've been out to lunch a few times already, and I think once we get our house more in order, we can invite them over here.

Payday is Friday, and we've been conferring on what we should buy first. The first order of business will be repairing our fence. Yesterday morning, I let the dogs outside and made my coffee. I was going to drink it out on the deck because the weather has been fantastic the past few days, but it was eerily quiet when I walked outside. Well, to my horror, I soon realized the gate to our fence had finally given way, and the dogs were nowhere to be found. Freaking out, I set down my coffee and went running down the sidewalk in my pajamas and sock feet, whistling and yelling at the top of my lungs. When I quit screaming my head off for a second, I realized I could hear them barking and wreaking havoc just one street over, so I whistled and yelled louder, and pretty soon the two rascals go streaking down the sidewalk across the street. I yell "HEY!!!" so loud that they actually stop and look at me, followed by a very "wow, she really means it" rendition of "GET OVER HERE". So they come running back across the street right up to me with these elated looks on their faces of "man, that was AWESOME". I was so angry and relieved at the same time, but of course all I could hope for them to understand was that they were good dogs for coming home when I called them, so I loved on them a lot and gave them lots of treats for coming home.

But holy cow, that was freaking scary. So since payday is Friday, as I mentioned before, the first order of business is to have the fence completely repaired and improved so that that never happens again and we can put them back there confidently, knowing there will be no impromptu jaunts around the neighborhood. Hmm. I hope they didn't like, kill any cats while they were out. I hadn't thought of that until now.

So I emailed the landlords today to see if they'll be willing to help pay for it, and I've been looking around online for contractors to do the work. I found this place that specializes in deck repair, and there were some gorgeous before-and-after shots of decks, and that got me thinking - if we're paying to have the fence repaired, and we're hoping to start cleaning up the property anyway, maybe we should take the opportunity to have them stain the fence and deck while they're at it? Just an idea, but it would go a long way toward making the backyard look nice, which is the eventual goal.

We've been talking about other stuff to take care of, too, of course. I think we're going to swap our bedroom and the extra bedroom and finally get a desk for Roger so he doesn't have to sit at an ironing board in the living room, although it does kind of make me laugh. (You do whatcha gotta do, y'know?) Also, that reminds me: Roger's company gave him a "new, kick-ass laptop" on his first day, which is obviously great, and apparently they're getting rid of their old laptops, so I might get one of those for really cheap, which would be beyond excellent. I need a new one for this semester, so that's also near the top of the list of purchases.

I feel like I'm yammering on and on, but I guess that's sort of the point of a blog...

Anyway, we're both very very very excited and will be going out to dinner this weekend to celebrate the start of our real adult life, where we can like, actually do things. I couldn't be happier, and the year is certainly off to a wonderful start.

I'll try to post some pictures soon. Much love to all of you, and I hope your 2009 is off and running with a bang, too!

From Runner's World Online Today

"Everyone get a run in yesterday?

I did. And it was the most amazing run of my life.

No, nothing outwardly amazing happened—I wasn't moving very fast, didn't find a hundred dollar bill on a deserted street, wasn't running the full Boston Marathon course... My wife hadn't paid an elite to join me. The weather wasn't even that great.

It wasn't so remarkable inwardly, either. While I ran, my mind toggled through the usual laundry list of thoughts: bills to pay, projects to start (or finish), anxieties to face. Laundry. I didn't feel especially strong. I wasn't enjoying that effortless, fluid stride that sometimes comes like a gift.

I was just out there, putting in an easy 4 1/2 miles around the neighborhood on New Year's Day.

Only later, upon reflection, did it hit me: My run today was amazing not in spite of its mundane nature, but because of it.

In other words, my run today was great because it was my run. Today.

I'm one of the lucky few (and we are few, as a slice of the population) who is in on this wonderful, little secret: Running makes you feel good. It's good for you, in so many ways. And I'm doing it. I've been doing it so long, in fact, I've managed somehow to forget how incredible it is, that on any given day I can decide to go out and run, then do it. And come back feeling clearer, brighter, stronger, more relaxed.

It occurs to me that too often we take for granted these countless, everyday jaunts. The "in between" miles. We've been conditioned to see only milestone runs or marquee events as noteworthy or celebratory—running a PR, qualifying for Boston, doing a destination marathon or a relay like Hood to Coast.

All of those things are great, don't get me wrong. But as far as I'm concerned, in running as in life, true happiness lies in finding joy in seemingly smaller, more quotidian stuff. I'm not big into New Year's resolutions, but this year I just might have to adopt one: Remind myself every single day how lucky I am to be a runner.

Happy New Year, guys. Here's to many happy and healthy miles in 2009."

That pretty much says it all. Enjoy your run, everyone!

I'm also lucky enough to be headed off to a week in the Bahamas today, courtesy of the little bro, who's playing a big poker tournament there. I may be slightly incommunicado for the next few days, but I should be reachable by email, at least.

Happy New Year!

Don't tell the dogs!

But I'm going to be extremely selfish in a minute here and go for a run by myself. I know, I'm an awful dog mom, but I haven't been on a run by myself in (literally) months, and today just feels like a great day for it. I heard this song by Bon Iver again today (scroll down and click on the "Listen" link if you want to hear it), for the second time, and I have decided this is the next album I need to buy. But it put me in such a nice, melancholy little mood, and with the clouds rolling in on a chilly December afternoon, I just want to run around town by myself for a while. Campus will be deserted, the leaves are all still lovely, drooping, and yellow, and I'd like to have nothing else to think about except my own feet pounding the pavement.

In other news, I'm still enjoying having nothing to do, and I've taken the opportunity to read non-school things and watch movies so far. I've also been cooking and have decided I need to make a greater effort to eat healthy. It's easy to eat nothing but sweets around this time of year, and I've definitely hit the point where I feel kind of gross and don't want anymore. So I've been loading up on veggies and am trying to find interesting new things to do with them - if you have any suggestions, please let me know!

So after I finish this blog post, I'm going to hit the road for a while, then I'll shower and get dressed (in my new clothes!), then the one thing I want to get done today is to write a letter to Michelle. Are you reading this, Michelle? I am going to write you a long overdue letter today. I'm thinking about going to Barnes and Noble to do it, just to get out of the house for a while and have an excuse to treat myself to some yummy tea or a Frappuccino or something. Oh right. Eating healthy. Maybe I'll stick with the tea.

The other things I guess I should update you on are as follows:

- I checked my grades the other day and am very pleased with them. Hooray for a successful first semester of grad school! (Not that grades matter that much anymore, but it's always good to get positive feedback.)

- Since I got some money for Christmas, I went clothes shopping the other day and bought some much needed new jeans, as well as some corduroy pants that were on sale and a few cute tops.

- I am leaving for the Bahamas on Friday!!

Since I haven't been very good about taking pictures lately, I hope this will suffice. I wrote it a few weeks ago. You can consider it a belated Christmas present, if you like. Here's to the end of a very interesting 2008!

* * * * *

Berkeley in November

is a failed watercolor

(the kind no one wants because the colors have all run together).

More than that: nothing even matches.

The earth is a parched and dirty brown,

but the trees have somehow regained their lush green

just in time to signal the transition to fall.

(Think of a broken traffic light

that switches on and immediately turns a garish yellow.)

And the sky! Who would think to swirl together such hues of

rose

burnt orange, dirty white

charcoal and cyan?

Frankly it’s all a bit too Thomas Kinkade for my tastes;

the houses glow with luminescent warmth,

the purplish hills come alive with twinkling lights

as the sun sets into the sea.

I just don’t buy it –

the real world is not rendered in such a palette.

Good news all around!

My mommy has informed me that this blog is in need of update, and she is right. I am just chock full of good news right now!

First and foremost: Roger has been hired at the job he interviewed for last week! (Hooray!!) We are both beyond excited and relieved, and he can't wait to start work. He starts January 5th and will be making the commute to Daly City every day, which maybe isn't ideal, but definitely tolerable; it's about 75 minutes one way, but that's actually pretty good for around here, I think. I guess the place also said there'll be an opportunity for telecommuting in the future, which means he may get to work from home sometimes.

Less excitingly, I'm done with my first semester of grad school! (Hooray!) I handed in my last paper on Monday night, then did absolutely nothing on Tuesday and Wednesday. Well, I went for a run on Wednesday, I think. Then on Thursday I started cleaning the house, and yesterday I already started to get bored and decided I would learn to work with the Natural Language Tool Kit over break. This involves learning some programming, but I've needed to do that for a while, so I think it's time to dive in.

Today I'm going to take the dogs for a run, eat some oatmeal, and grade my last set of papers. I might even do some laundry. Tomorrow I'm going to clean some more and I don't know what else, and Monday, my mommy will be here! The next few weeks should be really good, I think.