Tonight feels more like March than December. A misty rain is falling and the fog will stick around through tomorrow afternoon, at least, with temps near fifty tomorrow before halving to twenty-five on Saturday. I must remember to get gas and maybe shovel the slush off the steps before the freeze. I don't want to leave the house Saturday.
And how are you? Today seemed long but I did ok. This morning Nat and I watched a special on tagging sharks until I hit the gym at seven for cardio and abs. My arms are telling me not to lift; this will be the first two week stretch with only twice a week upper body in two and a half years. After the gym I showered, ate breakfast, and drove through the fog to Java Dock for a frustrating half-hour of trying to get my computer to sync with the establishment's wireless. I gave up and returned home, where I cleaned and read for a while before sliding out before noon to the library (PK Dick novels before the library closes for the holiday), Home Depot (towel hooks), and an hour in a hot and crowded but not unpleasant Alterra's. Then I hit a packed but efficient Costco before watching one and a half Modern Family episodes with M. I foraged for dinner, nothing serious, and M and I talked about NY Eve plans. I don't care much what we do but she wants to do something special for the boys. Honestly, I think the boys would be fine playing video game and drinking sparkling cider. We'll work something out. Then I read a little and talked with my sister. She seems fine, we don't talk much, really, but we get along. The whole parental subject doesn't get broached much, at least by me, as I don't want to vent on her and lives better in a world outside of all that. I understand. Then M and I finished the last half of the second Modern Family and I came upstairs to read, although she was kind of pissed and said she's watching a Castle without me. That's ok. I want to settle in with a sleeping pill and Bryson's book on Australia. Tomorrow I might play hoops. Good night, people. The year's almost over.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Why hello, faithful blog readers. Two days in a row! No, ladies and gentlemen, your eyes do not deceive you. I'm once again on the bedroom floor, under the full spectrum lamp, breathing in the humidified air. M is stealing closet hangers. I'm about to settle down with a book. I'm not wearing pants. Life is good.
So today was a decent day. I realized, this morning come around 6:30, that A) I haven't woken before five since Christmas morning, I think, and B) I've pulled in ten hours of sleep every night since then as well. Maybe I'm learning how to relax, although, honestly, I don't like saying things like “I don't know how to relax” because, well, that statement sounds whiny and stupid. After I woke I ate breakfast and cruised the net until M left to set up her new room at school. The boys played video games while I started cleaning upstairs. This meant, mostly, that I threw all of M'd crap into the hall closet and cleaned our room. At 9 the boys started cleaning their rooms and did a great job, much to my surprise, I must admit, so they were allowed back on video games around 10AM. I hit the gym until 11:30 or so, showered, devoured Trader Joe's ravioli, and left, after M returned, for Kohl's (candles, 10 buck gift certificate) and Michaels' (DBT poster frame). M and the boys left for the Y pool in the afternoon. What did I do then? I don't remember. I think I read a little bit and channel-surfed since the television, for once, was open. Later M, T and I watched another Castle. T and I visited the quiet library, too, and I framed and hung that DBT poster near the basement entrance, where the Degas sculpture photo was until that, for reasons still unexplained, fell from the wall. So today's been productive, really, or a good mix of productive and vacation-y. Tomorrow I have to form that mouthguard and call the dentist for a January appointment. I need to get out of the house more, too, and as the boys will probably have friends over all day, and everyone's sick of each other, otherwise, the opportunity is present. I could drive down to the art museum and check out the design show before next week's closing. Or I could get hooks for bathroom towels, since the cheap ones I purchased last summer fell already. I'm trying to be careful with money but we've spent next to none over break so I'm ok with bathroom hooks. I want to hit a coffee shop and go through the poetry as well.
Ok, that's it for now. I need a lunesta and a book. Oh, did I mention the sun was out all day? I love grey days but I feel like I'm getting away with something basking in bright afternoons through late December. No complaints. Off to bed.
So today was a decent day. I realized, this morning come around 6:30, that A) I haven't woken before five since Christmas morning, I think, and B) I've pulled in ten hours of sleep every night since then as well. Maybe I'm learning how to relax, although, honestly, I don't like saying things like “I don't know how to relax” because, well, that statement sounds whiny and stupid. After I woke I ate breakfast and cruised the net until M left to set up her new room at school. The boys played video games while I started cleaning upstairs. This meant, mostly, that I threw all of M'd crap into the hall closet and cleaned our room. At 9 the boys started cleaning their rooms and did a great job, much to my surprise, I must admit, so they were allowed back on video games around 10AM. I hit the gym until 11:30 or so, showered, devoured Trader Joe's ravioli, and left, after M returned, for Kohl's (candles, 10 buck gift certificate) and Michaels' (DBT poster frame). M and the boys left for the Y pool in the afternoon. What did I do then? I don't remember. I think I read a little bit and channel-surfed since the television, for once, was open. Later M, T and I watched another Castle. T and I visited the quiet library, too, and I framed and hung that DBT poster near the basement entrance, where the Degas sculpture photo was until that, for reasons still unexplained, fell from the wall. So today's been productive, really, or a good mix of productive and vacation-y. Tomorrow I have to form that mouthguard and call the dentist for a January appointment. I need to get out of the house more, too, and as the boys will probably have friends over all day, and everyone's sick of each other, otherwise, the opportunity is present. I could drive down to the art museum and check out the design show before next week's closing. Or I could get hooks for bathroom towels, since the cheap ones I purchased last summer fell already. I'm trying to be careful with money but we've spent next to none over break so I'm ok with bathroom hooks. I want to hit a coffee shop and go through the poetry as well.
Ok, that's it for now. I need a lunesta and a book. Oh, did I mention the sun was out all day? I love grey days but I feel like I'm getting away with something basking in bright afternoons through late December. No complaints. Off to bed.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Ok, so I'm on OpenOffice on the new computer. So far so good. I also had this weird lightheaded spaceout thing about thirty seconds ago. Not sure what that was about.
So how are you, dear blog readers? I'm ready to get back into groove on the new computer. I'm getting used to the keyboard action and I'm not tethered to the somewhat weird and frustrating google docs. I'm ready to put some more time into the blog. Should that be a resolution? That and leg weights?
So Christmas went well. The boys got an Xbox. T is playing some hyper-violent game on it right now. N is upstairs on Wii Lego Indiana Jones. They've been offline for a while, shooting marshmellows at each other, so I can't complain if they get electric for an hour or so.
I didn't get much for Christmas, but I'm ok with that. M got me a donut maker and a well-intentioned but hastily returned clothes rack she wanted me to use as a cooling rack for whatever I baked. Oh, she also got me a cool Mexican nativity set. I got her those Reebok workout shoes she wanted but said she couldn't afford along with some fleece pullover with headphones attached and some warm socks. I don't suck at presents, I think.
This winter has been ok. We're almost to the first of the year and, while the temps were cold earlier in December, they're hovering in the upper twenties and low thirties now with promises of the forties by the end of the week. I remember a few years back when the last week of December and the first of January were extremely cold, so this is a bonus stretch on which we can lean, I think, to get us past middle winter and toward the worst stretch with the knowledge that the worst ends by the first of March.
What else is going on? I made a cake for N's class on his birthday and frosting for S's class's cookie decorating project. I've slowed down on working because my body seems to be telling me that I should pull back and relax. I think this is healing, really, as now that I'm learning to transcend “flight or flight” every second my body may take a long-awaited rest. Dr. L. told me to monitor the “fight or flight” thing every few minutes or so. I'm trying, and I think I'm getting better. Slow progress. As I heal more memories and flashbacks emerge. I can count on rough nights after session afternoons. Like I said, all part of the healing.
I also found out the rank and tenure committee turned down my associate professor application. This was a serious punch in the gut. Most people, I think, including myself, took for granted the designation. Five years ago this news would have decimated me. I'm still pissed off but not wrecked. I'll write an appeal, since the backroom news indicate some changes on the committee fucked a few people (including one of my best friends) and move on. My identity transcends my job. And I mean that, way more than I would have five years ago.
What else? We hit Discovery World yesterday. That was fun. A few weeks back we also moved the upstairs furniture around so our room is what used to be called the Wii room. T's room is our old room, and N and S still share the same room. The closet's open, too. I need to clean upstairs tomorrow.
We might have people over for New Year's Eve.
Ok, that's it for now. More tomorrow.
Here's my 2010 booklist, by the way:
1. Rampant, Diana Peterfreund
2. The Exterminator!, William Burroughs
3. End of the Affair, Graham Greene
4. 86’d, Dan Fante
5. Dead Until Dark, that Sookie Stackhouse lady
6. Best Travel Essays 2008, edited by Anthony Bourdain (I think…I get the editions mixed up)
7. Let The Right One In, John Ajvide Lindqvist
8. Beat the Reaper, Josh Bazell
9. To The Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf
10. Big Machine, Victor Lavelle
11. Killer Inside Me, Jim Thompson
12. Grifters, Jim Thompson
13. Hard Rain Falling, Don Carpenter
14. A Wrinkle in Time, Madeline L’Engle
15. Death Comes for the Archbishop, Willa Cather
16. Sum, David Eagleman
17. Winter’s Bone, Daniel Woodrell
18. Stories: All New Tales, Edited by Gaiman and Sarrantonio
19. The Wind-Up Girl, Paolo Bacigalupi
20. Vernon God Little, D. B. C. Pierre
21. Cheesemonger, Gordon Edgar
22. As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner
23. Medium Raw, Anthony Bourdain
24. The Invention of Morel, Adolfo Bioy Casares
25. Long Day’s Journey Into Night, Louis-Ferdinand Celine
26. Beautiful Creatures, Kami Garcia/Marcia Stohl
27. Microserfs, Douglas Coupland
28. Zero History, William Gibson
29. The Hilliker Curse, James Ellroy
30. The Unnamed, Joshua Ferris
31. An Abundance of Katherines, John Green
32. Rock and Roll Can Save Your Life, Steve Almond
33. Woodcutters, Thomas Barnhardt
34. Freedom, Jonathan Franzen
I think I’ll finish Bryson's book on Australia and probably one more before the year’s up. I had a couple false starts this year, which is rare…I never finished a re-read of Moby Dick.
My favorite book this year was To the Lighthouse, but I also loved the Faulker and the Barnhardt, along with the Woodrell, Lindqvist, Thompson, L’Engle, Cather, Celine, Gibson, and Green. I liked a lot of books I read this year, maybe more than ever before in a single year. I also read, however, Dead Until Dark, the worst book I’ve read. And the Ferris and Greene were both disappointing.
Let’s do the stats…
• 27 of 34 books were from the library.
• 29 of 34 were fiction. Usually I mix fiction and non-fiction in a more balanced fashion...not sure why that changed this year.
• Taking out the two anthologies, only 6 of 32 were written by women. I need to work on that.
I always feel like I’m missing a book on the list, but this is what my records show. Good year.
So how are you, dear blog readers? I'm ready to get back into groove on the new computer. I'm getting used to the keyboard action and I'm not tethered to the somewhat weird and frustrating google docs. I'm ready to put some more time into the blog. Should that be a resolution? That and leg weights?
So Christmas went well. The boys got an Xbox. T is playing some hyper-violent game on it right now. N is upstairs on Wii Lego Indiana Jones. They've been offline for a while, shooting marshmellows at each other, so I can't complain if they get electric for an hour or so.
I didn't get much for Christmas, but I'm ok with that. M got me a donut maker and a well-intentioned but hastily returned clothes rack she wanted me to use as a cooling rack for whatever I baked. Oh, she also got me a cool Mexican nativity set. I got her those Reebok workout shoes she wanted but said she couldn't afford along with some fleece pullover with headphones attached and some warm socks. I don't suck at presents, I think.
This winter has been ok. We're almost to the first of the year and, while the temps were cold earlier in December, they're hovering in the upper twenties and low thirties now with promises of the forties by the end of the week. I remember a few years back when the last week of December and the first of January were extremely cold, so this is a bonus stretch on which we can lean, I think, to get us past middle winter and toward the worst stretch with the knowledge that the worst ends by the first of March.
What else is going on? I made a cake for N's class on his birthday and frosting for S's class's cookie decorating project. I've slowed down on working because my body seems to be telling me that I should pull back and relax. I think this is healing, really, as now that I'm learning to transcend “flight or flight” every second my body may take a long-awaited rest. Dr. L. told me to monitor the “fight or flight” thing every few minutes or so. I'm trying, and I think I'm getting better. Slow progress. As I heal more memories and flashbacks emerge. I can count on rough nights after session afternoons. Like I said, all part of the healing.
I also found out the rank and tenure committee turned down my associate professor application. This was a serious punch in the gut. Most people, I think, including myself, took for granted the designation. Five years ago this news would have decimated me. I'm still pissed off but not wrecked. I'll write an appeal, since the backroom news indicate some changes on the committee fucked a few people (including one of my best friends) and move on. My identity transcends my job. And I mean that, way more than I would have five years ago.
What else? We hit Discovery World yesterday. That was fun. A few weeks back we also moved the upstairs furniture around so our room is what used to be called the Wii room. T's room is our old room, and N and S still share the same room. The closet's open, too. I need to clean upstairs tomorrow.
We might have people over for New Year's Eve.
Ok, that's it for now. More tomorrow.
Here's my 2010 booklist, by the way:
1. Rampant, Diana Peterfreund
2. The Exterminator!, William Burroughs
3. End of the Affair, Graham Greene
4. 86’d, Dan Fante
5. Dead Until Dark, that Sookie Stackhouse lady
6. Best Travel Essays 2008, edited by Anthony Bourdain (I think…I get the editions mixed up)
7. Let The Right One In, John Ajvide Lindqvist
8. Beat the Reaper, Josh Bazell
9. To The Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf
10. Big Machine, Victor Lavelle
11. Killer Inside Me, Jim Thompson
12. Grifters, Jim Thompson
13. Hard Rain Falling, Don Carpenter
14. A Wrinkle in Time, Madeline L’Engle
15. Death Comes for the Archbishop, Willa Cather
16. Sum, David Eagleman
17. Winter’s Bone, Daniel Woodrell
18. Stories: All New Tales, Edited by Gaiman and Sarrantonio
19. The Wind-Up Girl, Paolo Bacigalupi
20. Vernon God Little, D. B. C. Pierre
21. Cheesemonger, Gordon Edgar
22. As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner
23. Medium Raw, Anthony Bourdain
24. The Invention of Morel, Adolfo Bioy Casares
25. Long Day’s Journey Into Night, Louis-Ferdinand Celine
26. Beautiful Creatures, Kami Garcia/Marcia Stohl
27. Microserfs, Douglas Coupland
28. Zero History, William Gibson
29. The Hilliker Curse, James Ellroy
30. The Unnamed, Joshua Ferris
31. An Abundance of Katherines, John Green
32. Rock and Roll Can Save Your Life, Steve Almond
33. Woodcutters, Thomas Barnhardt
34. Freedom, Jonathan Franzen
I think I’ll finish Bryson's book on Australia and probably one more before the year’s up. I had a couple false starts this year, which is rare…I never finished a re-read of Moby Dick.
My favorite book this year was To the Lighthouse, but I also loved the Faulker and the Barnhardt, along with the Woodrell, Lindqvist, Thompson, L’Engle, Cather, Celine, Gibson, and Green. I liked a lot of books I read this year, maybe more than ever before in a single year. I also read, however, Dead Until Dark, the worst book I’ve read. And the Ferris and Greene were both disappointing.
Let’s do the stats…
• 27 of 34 books were from the library.
• 29 of 34 were fiction. Usually I mix fiction and non-fiction in a more balanced fashion...not sure why that changed this year.
• Taking out the two anthologies, only 6 of 32 were written by women. I need to work on that.
I always feel like I’m missing a book on the list, but this is what my records show. Good year.
Monday, December 13, 2010
12/13/10 Monday 2:08PM
Ok, my doctor’s appointment is canceled, and I don’t leave for the post office/library/pick up the kids for another twenty minutes, so I thought I’d get something into the journal for the first time in a while. Good news...I have a new laptop. My old device charged intermittently, only when the cord was perfectly balanced in relation to the plug, and on Saturday morning refused to charge a all. I quickly emailed myself journals/poems and that night Tristan and I ventured out into the pouring rain to pick up this baby. The entire package was only $450 dollars. I’m still adjusting to the keyboard’s actions but so far so good.
And how are you? The end of the semester has been fine, really. 99% of my grades are entered into the computer. 75% of my syllabi are finished. My office is packed and ready to go. In fact, I’m slightly lost because I’m not sure what to do with myself now the semester is ending. Yes, I know, this is a good problem to have. And I’m taking the opportunity to break my workaholic patterns. I go so intensely when I work...I need to breathe. But this is minor, I don’t mean to characterize the issue as huge. I’ll adjust:)
The weather plummeted into the single digits yesterday. I spent most of the afternoon reading crash (The Ballard one), watching football, and catching up on a nap. This morning I lifted before heading out to work. I slipped some, workout-wise, or perhaps I needed a break. I’m psycho-dedicated and worried of losing my rhythm, so I’m glad I’m back in gear, even though I’ not looking forward to tomorrow’s weather on the way to the Y in the morning.
Ok, must go. Have a lovely start of the week.
Ok, my doctor’s appointment is canceled, and I don’t leave for the post office/library/pick up the kids for another twenty minutes, so I thought I’d get something into the journal for the first time in a while. Good news...I have a new laptop. My old device charged intermittently, only when the cord was perfectly balanced in relation to the plug, and on Saturday morning refused to charge a all. I quickly emailed myself journals/poems and that night Tristan and I ventured out into the pouring rain to pick up this baby. The entire package was only $450 dollars. I’m still adjusting to the keyboard’s actions but so far so good.
And how are you? The end of the semester has been fine, really. 99% of my grades are entered into the computer. 75% of my syllabi are finished. My office is packed and ready to go. In fact, I’m slightly lost because I’m not sure what to do with myself now the semester is ending. Yes, I know, this is a good problem to have. And I’m taking the opportunity to break my workaholic patterns. I go so intensely when I work...I need to breathe. But this is minor, I don’t mean to characterize the issue as huge. I’ll adjust:)
The weather plummeted into the single digits yesterday. I spent most of the afternoon reading crash (The Ballard one), watching football, and catching up on a nap. This morning I lifted before heading out to work. I slipped some, workout-wise, or perhaps I needed a break. I’m psycho-dedicated and worried of losing my rhythm, so I’m glad I’m back in gear, even though I’ not looking forward to tomorrow’s weather on the way to the Y in the morning.
Ok, must go. Have a lovely start of the week.
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