Currently on hiatus...

...in California.  Cruising around visiting friends and family.  Enjoying the 60+ degree weather. :)

Plan to resume sometime after Monday, November 16th...

*sigh*

It's been one of those days. 

Discovered my work voicemail has been hoarding messages and only triggered the light once it hit the dubious magical number of 13.  Not a great feeling to realize you have unanswered messages from July.  And that a supervisor-type called back in September (twice) and must now think you're either a flake or ignoring her on purpose.

Completed my rental car reservation for my time down in California, after several hours, a wrong number, and two calls to disgruntled customer service employees.  ...I thought I was suppose to be the disgruntled one.

Sent a Facebook message out to some of the individuals I'll be visiting, after one blank message and a failed send attempt that was only discovered a few hours later and required a total rewrite.

Tomorrow's a new day - I think I may need to use the free Top Pot doughnut coupon my roommate handed me.  Thank goodness for the flexibility of working from home!

The Mr. in my apartment

...being cute.

Where the Wild Things Are

A review on IMDB claims

"You will never see boyhood captured as truthfully on film as it is in the film's first 20 minutes."

  Maybe this is the idea that disturbed me most about the film.  Max is all over the place!  I've often said I don't think I'd be up for the challenge of raising boys.  I can think of a handful of my friends who all have little boys (who of course are all doing a wonderful job), so I think it's fair for me to plan for girls to help even out the ratio...  Genetics seem to be in my favor - there are only 2 boys among my 13 cousins.  I'll take gossip and pouting over fights and destruction any day.

The actor who plays Max is adorable and I think they did a decent job of making the monsters.  It was the desctruction and violence and angst they added that I didn't like.  It's no longer a fanciful journey to a place where it's always party time, now it's a story about an angry young boy surrounded by unpredictable, immature, emotionally volatile creatures who will hug you one minute and rip another's arm off the next.  I didn't leave the theater wanting to frolic and play, I left disturbed by the many ways people can hurt each other (physically and emotionally).  Reading articles about the film you come across the statement that this isn't a children's film, it's a film about children.  As another review on IMDB explains,

"These beasts are the manifestations of our sorrow, our frustration, and our demons; they are the voices living within us, kept down by self-control and overcome by happiness and love. However, when those emotions are brought to life, unchecked, the end result can be nothing short of war, retribution, and malice."

  How is this a recipe for anything but a rather dark movie?

In short, I'd have to agree with the following reviewer:

"It's an interesting concept, turning a children's book into Freud 101, but is seems dark and oppressive. I realize Sendak's book was visually dark, but emotionally is was vibrant and happy, much like the melody to "Wake Up" by Arcade Fire that was used in the trailer. Unfortunately, this film desperately fails to be vibrant and happy, and for a movie based on a children's book that many parents will take their children to see, it's a major flaw. "

Bit of wisdom

"The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease." - Voltaire

I read about people reaching a point in adolescence when they realize their parents are not infallible.  And the shock that comes with this.  While I don't recall having such a moment myself, I do remember my shock at discovering physicians are not infallible.

"It is easy to get a thousand prescriptions but hard to get one single remedy." - Chinese Proverb

It's tempting to think if you can just explain things the right way, or if they could just feel it for themselves, the diagnosis and appropriate treatment would be obvious.

"Despite all our toil and progress, the art of medicine still falls somewhere between trout casting and spook writing." - Ben Hecht, Miracle of the Fifteen Murderers

Alas, we are all limited by our own senses and experiences.  And the body still manages to hide its secrets and evade the simple answer, no matter how much technology we throw at it.  And so it goes.

"Doctors think a lot of patients are cured who have simply quit in disgust." - Don Herold

Fall is here!

Just in the last two weeks or so the temperature has dropped along with a healthy dose of leaves, confirming that it is indeed officially fall.  I've pulled out my down comforter and have been eying the thermostat, stubbornly refusing to start turning on the heat quite yet.  Sweaters are now useful outside of my office, as well as in it, and the rains have returned.

As a warm-up for Thanksgiving, here are a couple of things I'm thankful for not having:

• Classes starting
• Lawn maintenance
• A job outside

Literature

Picked up Catcher in the Rye a few weeks ago. I had been tagged on a Facebook note about the top 100 novels and thought I'd try and check a few more off the list. Man is that guy a whiner! The entire 200+ pages were this 17 year-old kid whining about how he can't focus in school and has been expelled again and hates everyone (except for his little sister, which I have to admit was sweet), and he keeps latching on to ideas obsessively and then discarding them. Teenage angst has a lot of potential for readability, but this was just sad. The beginning of the book refers to the similarities with David Copperfield (a young man writing about his life and all) in a dismissive way, but I have to say I'm enjoying D.C. a good deal more than mister Salinger.

I take it as a sign of maturity that I'm now able to start a book and then decide not to read it. In the past I'd be too stubborn to quit once I'd started. Or if it was a book I'd heard a lot about I'd feel obligated to read it. Atonement was on the Top 100 list, but once I picked it up from the library I remembered I indeed had watched the movie and didn't relish the idea of reliving such a bitter story. My Jim I had heard about, but decided I wasn't up for wading through the dialect. Another book I have was written retrospectively(? - starts at the present and each chapter takes a step back into the past) and frankly I'm starting to feel like since I know how it all turns out there really isn't much to keep me interested in finishing it.

With fall coming on, I need to find a reading nook. Somewhere cozy with a window to let the sunlight in. My apartment windows are unfortunately not faced appropriately and I'm still looking for a coffee shop that has both comfy chairs and sunny windows.

Suggestions?

wow

...one month straight and then one month of nothing. I'll be posting more soon, I promise.

Just as soon as I tear myself away from a couple blogs I've gotten hooked on.

And get the equipment to work from home (finally!).

And finish the books I need to return to the library.

And the thank you cards I've been meaning to send.

...but the thought has to count for SOMETHING, right?

Summer Reads

Summer is upon us. Walked out the door yesterday and was embraced by a strong warm wind whirling by. I LOVE wind. Feels like a caress and a big breath of fresh air in one.

Need to stock up on some books to take with me on trips and to read out in the sunshine on some soft green grass.

Here are a couple I put on hold at the library.



Seems like a good assortment. I also tossed in some David Sedaris, Robert Fulghum, and the odd memoir of first-year residency in med school. Not as odd as some of the books I was reading a year ago (you'll never look at rice crispies the same way again after reading Stiff):



Or as long as others:



East of Eden was great. I was not a fan of some of the "classics" foisted upon us in english classes (Invisible Man? what was the point? really?). But this is good stuff. Wally Lamb's book was rather dark, but I was determined to finish all 901 pages. It definitely wasn't as enjoyable as the 759 pages of book 7 in the Harry Potter series!

In general, the human body fascinates me. One of my very favorite books is Fearfully and Wonderfully Made by Paul Brand and Philip Yancey.

I started The Gift of Pain, and set it aside only because of the more pressing need to finish library books reaching their due date. I look forward to getting back to it.

Any others I should add to my holds list at the library?

Hedonists take heed!

This is the true joy of life, the being used up for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clot of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.
- George Bernard Shaw

Happiness depends upon ourselves.
-Aristotle

Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.
- Abraham Lincoln

FEEDBACK!

Okay, yes, this blog is for me - for me to blather on about whatever my heart desires. But it's also for those of you out there reading it! Let me know what you think of the various random things I write about. You don't even have to go through the hassle of leaving an official comment! Just check one of the boxes at the bottom of the post:

Yesterday marked the one month anniversary of the creation of this site. I would love to get your feedback from here on out, but don't forget there are also 30-odd posts back in the archives for you to critique as well.

As they say on customer satisfaction surveys - Your feedback is important! :)

TGIF

Wow, it's been a long week. I feel a bit like the tattered flower above.

As a 9-5 working adult, I may not have the luxury of winter break, spring break, and summer break, but Friday's are still a joy. I'd even go so far as to say they're more of a joy now that they're free from the entanglements of homework and papers and projects and studying.

Got any plans for this mid-summer weekend?

And you are...?

In keeping with the "What is this?" theme, here are a couple things I've come across I haven't really been able to understand.


This is a strange plant that's growing under an Aurora overpass. It looks like a skeleton plant. It's black and wirey, but still seems to be alive and happy. It makes me think of The Nightmare Before Christmas - how it's all dark and scary-looking, but tenderhearted.

Hey look - a large lego! Okay, not really. But that's what I think of every time I see these around the city. They're replacing the ramps on the corners of sidewalks and I'm sure there's something to do with traction/non-slip something or other, but I think it just makes it look like Legoland.

Did they bolt the cement to the ground or something? The ironic thing is the cement is cracked wherever these are.

This is just above the bolted cement wall. Behind the fence is a paved playground, so I'm not really sure what this is meant to drain.

Does the fact that I notice these things mean I haven't lost my child-like curiousity? Or that I'm hopelessly naive and out of touch? Hmmm...

What is this?

Anybody recognize this common sight?

By the way, did you see the faces in the fire in my last post? If you click on a picture it opens up a larger version. The last two pictures in the post are a little eerie when you look closely. And don't leave me hanging on which one is your favorite!

Fire

Friday night my roommate got some friends together for a BBQ at Golden Gardens. The sun was out, the sand was warm, and the beach was buzzing. I noticed a slackline set up in the woods and had a chance to practice a bit. Enjoyed a fabulous hotdog with ketchup reluctantly provided by the group next to us (so we forgot the condiments, it still seemed a bit stingey for them to begrudge us a dollop of ketchup).

As the sun set, we moved on to dessert. My multi-talented roommate had made homemade marshmallows and brought high end chocolate from her part-time job at Chocolopolis. I've never tasted such decadent s'mores!

We noticed a crowd gathering just down the beach. It turns out Friday nights are the time to gather to watch fire poi. It was amazing to see how the pictures turned out on my camera.

They use flaming swords, and balls of fire on chains.

There is a steady drum beat going in the background, to provide a constant rhythm.

The chains can be either long or short (or you can wrap them around your hands to shorten them temporarily).

A few guys were even juggling flaming batons.

The girl in the middle is using metal fans here, kind of like candellabra.

This looked like a firebird to me.

Which of these is your favorite?

Yep, I'm going to make you pick just one.

Which one is it going to be?

You can choose from all of the pictures, or just one of the last three, but I'm interested to know which one you like best.

To learn more about poi, visit this site: http://www.homeofpoi.com/.

TJ's

Trader Joes is great. I'm currently only a block from one and have been taking advantage of that fact. They may not have all of your staples (turns out they don't sell powdered sugar, who knew?), but they make up for it by having lots of unique items. The frozen edemame and the sweet potato fries are addictive! I braved a few strange looks to snap a couple pics the last time I was there.

"You put the lime in the coconut, you drink 'em both up..." I love the part in Practical Magic when they dance through the kitchen singing this song. There isn't a clip of that online, but you can see the Muppets reprise the song here. This is just one more example of me reading everything in sight and being rewarded for it with a smile.

I think I'm in love... You think I'm kidding. A few Christmases ago I was given one of the 5lb Hershey's bars. It's the size of a small child. I bought a bag of TJ's chocolate covered pretzels a year or so ago, for the first time, and have to say they do 'em right! None of that drizzle of chocolate nonsense - those pretzels are coated. mmmm....

Speaking of chocolate, looky here: an emergency stash of chocolate to carry around in my purse. Have you seen those at Firework's by the way? Some people carry Advil, others carry chocolate. I've never really understood the purpose of having chocolate mints. Whatever positive effect the mint might have on your breath is only going to be offset by the chocolate. And while I do enjoy the flavor combination of chocolate and mint, breath mints tend to be a bit sharp and overpowering. Why ruin good chocolate that way?

It's 10:30 in the morning and I'm ready for a chocolate fix. I think that means it's time to focus on something else!

Thailand II

A few days adjusting to the climate and experiencing their daily life was just what I needed. The dreary chill of Washington and weary routine of work quickly faded from my mind.

Our first spring break destination was Koh Chang, an island off the coast of Thailand a few hours south of Bangkok. To get there we started with a 15 hour train ride from Chaing Mai to Bangkok. When I was 7 we travelled through Europe and took an overnight train through Germany. I remember the steady swaying of the train gently lulling me to sleep. This trip was like a ship on the high seas at times, pitching and bucking in a way that tested your sea legs. Either the journey was actually rockier or I've just gotten old...

Disembarking in Bangkok, we made a beeline for the cafe. (can you disembark a train? Or is that term specific to boats? ...moving on) A 4 hour bus ride lay before us. Even in the comparative cool of the morning my face was already damp with a film of sweat. The combination of suncreen, bug repellent, and sweat makes for an unpleasant sticking coating.

We loaded up in a double-decker bus and wound our way through downtown Bangkok. A little way out of the city the bus started to vibrate in a way that felt like a flat tire. We slowed down and pulled to the side of the road, but kept going in the slow lane. We passed one exit, then another. Either the problem isn't as bad as it sounded or they had a favorite tire place. We finally stopped for our lunch break and they openned up the engine. Out came a chewed up plastic fan and an hour later its replacement arrived to be attached by force, including a good dose of hammering (very reassuring). Then we were back on the road for the remaining 3+ hours to the coast.

<- this is NOT the boat we took.

The ferry ride to Koh Chang is quite similar to Washington ferries. The cars load up on the main deck and there's seating on the upper two levels. It's a smaller ferry, though, and all open air. The view was a little different, too. Deep blue water surrounded us and the islands were covered with lush vegetation.

Once on the island we found a song taew (taew is pronounced like the first part of "towel") to take us to the resort. A song taew is a pick-up truck converted into an open air taxi by adding benches down the sides of the truck bed and putting a roof with a low railing over the top. Luggage is tossed up and strapped to the roof, while passengers settle onto the benches or in the coveted airconditioned seats in the cab of the truck.

I don't believe the island is a volcanic formation. It's more like a mountain of sand covered in vegetation. The road wound up and down along the edge of the island, reducing the passenger-laden song taew to a crawl at times.


We stayed at the Chang Park Resort and Spa (Chang means elephant). The place is beautiful! Not bad for something picked at random on the Internet. An expanse of lawn sprinkled with palm trees stretches between the main building and the pool. A small hedge on the edge of the pool is gradually blocking the otherwise unobstructed view of the beach and ocean. Our bungalow was part of a cluster of huts off to the right.

...to be continued.

"Got Humor?"

I'm one of those people who almost unconsciously reads everything that crosses my path during the day. Sometimes this is informative "oh, I saw the sign for the exit back there." Sometimes it's entertaining "hm, lets see if I can read the poster taped to the window (i.e. backwards)." And sometimes it brightens my day with a private joke. If there are other people around I might share my find, otherwise I just smile and chuckle to myself.

...oh, did you want me to share some examples?

Facial products tend to do all they can to portray their beautiful/gentle/glowing qualities. Which made it funny to see a facial scrub is a "desincrustant" in what I believe was Swiss. Yes, let's get rid of that awful crustiness on our skin, ladies. Speaking of exfoliating, doesn't this tree look in need of a good scrub? (and yes, believe it or not that was exactly what I thought when I passed it, before ever seeing the facial scrub...)

You've probably heard of the fiasco the dairy board encountered when they tried to use their "Got Milk?" slogan outside of the U.S. It's just not as appealing when translated as "Are You Lactating?", wouldn't you agree? But while I got a laugh out of it, it sounds like some people took it too literally and were offended.

Then there are the hidden gems. The things that make all that random reading worthwhile.

This may look like a normal garage, but look closer.

I am only a block away from a Fallout Shelter! Just think how valuable that information will be if I pull a Chicken Little and start thinking the sky is falling!

Boats

Working in South Lake Union, I often wander down by the water on my breaks. I can't say I've lived very many places in my life, but I am getting pretty attached to the combination of water, mountains, and greenery that the Puget Sound has to offer. It's so refreshing to have the view broken up by rises and valleys and expanses of rippling water. All of this really has a chance to shine when the sun deigns to grace us with its presence.

Makes me want to own a boat of my own. Although I'm not sure if I would go for the luxury liner or the "skill-required" sailboat. Sailing is so much more interactive, but you generally don't have the generous berths of a motorboat. (I am I confusing terms here? Does the term liner refer to the huge cruise ships? Motorboat doesn't sound impressive enough - is there a term in between?)


If I had a boat I'd have to come up with a name for her. Something so permanent falls in the category of tattoos in my mind. I've toyed with the idea of getting a tattoo, but haven't the faintest idea what I'd want it to be of, or where I'd want it. At least with naming kids you have other people weighing in on the decision. ...I suppose that could be seen as a downside rather than a perk. Did you catch the Seinfeld reference in the name of the boat shown above? Did it make you laugh? Crack a smile? Anything?

I've noticed many people keep their emotions tightly in check; which I suppose helps the world run smoothly, but is a bit sad when it prevents a spontaneous burst of laughter. Laughter's good for you! Releases endorphins and exercises your ab muscles! They actually have laughter therapy classes - you've heard about those, right? Even the Pentagon is taking note: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5165226. Okay, I'm getting down off my soap box now.

Oooo...wood paneling. Forgive me if it makes me think of cheesy old cars, rather than something fancy or expensive. Have you seen the PT Cruisers with the wooden paneling on the outside? I guess they're finally embracing the fact that PT Cruisers appeal to an older generation than they were hoping for.

I really shouldn't scoff. They obviously take pride in this boat. Look how shiny it is! You can see the reflection of the dingy next to it. I bought a lovely new laptop and luckily don't have the time or compulsion to fixate on keeping the mirror finish fingerprint free (yes, I notice it. no I don't pull out a polishing rag).

If you're going to go for the wood look, I'd much prefer this one. Nice and rustic looking. But I suppose I'm jumping between a liner and a sailboat here. (did we ever figure out if liner is the correct term? ...anyone?)