Author: Elaine

today was back to work.? my email load was somewhere upwards of 500, but at least half of that was in spam, and a good quarter in some sort of discussion about parking woes during building construction.? (so glad to have a vanpool, with a reserved spot even.)

it was a relatively light day, on purpose, trying to get back into my routine.? what I’d really like is to give my routine a little jolt from all this mind-expandingness.

yesterday when we were out biking, we ran into somebody in town, and I was talking about my trip, and he said that I looked the “sparkliest” (I think that was the word) that he’d seen me in a long time.? I don’t want to lose that feeling!

although life seems to conspire against one…looks like our furnace went out this morning.? C has been handling it, for which I am very grateful.? it sucks to try to coordinate that sort of thing from here.? hopefully it won’t be so expensive as to preclude any opportunity of going to SXSW next year. 😉

my blog traffic seems to have settled down as well, from the dizzying highs of Shelley’s link to my notes back to about the usual numbers.? (damn that measure map for being so addictive!)? tonight C is going to a friend’s kid’s basketball game, so I’m going to try to finish summaries of my notes and post them as a clump.

I think I need to hide my lunch somewhere on campus everyday so I have a reason to get up and walk to wherever I left it.? because it’s not like I was super-active during the days of the conference, but I did have to at least walk far enough to get lunch.

honestly, for all that the pre-conference blogs talked about gaining weight and such, I think I was in the best health habits I’ve had in a long time.? it was a consious choice.? I rented a bike, and I used it.? didn’t drink any soda, although I had (incredibly good) lemonade on my gardening day and a number of mochas.? tried to go for fruit as much as possible.? no seconds.? and I only had dessert twice.

which had an interesting side effect…the cookie I had at Halcyon wasn’t particularly memorable, but the brownie ala mode at Magnolia Cafe South?? that is a dessert I will remember for the rest of my life.? it stood out so perfectly, the molten hot brownie contrasted and soothed by the vivid vanilla ice cream.

(mmmmmmmmmm)

so ready to travel.

in re: job listings:

My personal favorite [on Craigslist] was the one that listed as a required skill “RTFM” along with a long list of other acronyms.

I have now gone two solid months ending my work days with no email in my inbox.? it’s a happy feeling.

I’m considering getting a new camera to take to SXSW next month…although I’ve also been thinking about it for probably a year.

Should I buy….

• an inexpensive Sony,
• the adorable, but more expensive Canon, or
• an inbetween Panasonic that has good reviews?

I kinda need to do this now, because I’ve been putting off making any sort of a decision for almost a month.

Financially, I’m leaning towards the Sony, which I think would be good enough, although I find myself lusting after the digital elphs (elves?).

I love taking pictures, but am by no means a photography snob. My 1.3 MP Sony has been good enough, quality-wise, for 3 1/2 years. I just don’t take as many as I’d like because it’s so freaking bulky, and now the battery life is getting wonky.

…which I managed to handily forget, went well anyhow, with a tasty dinner and some 1st season Star Trek Next Gen.? ? mmmm, love.

two things reminded me yesterday:

1. phonecall from C, on my office phone because I accidentally left the cell at home — sitting next to my brain, obviously.? so very sweet, and so very embarrassing.? “oh, that’s right, today is the 14th.”
2. LJ entry by K, waxing poetic about the holiday.? something deeply and truly ironic in that.

last night & this morning were so very cold; I kept hoping that I’d get up and look out the window at snow, but no such luck.? the forecast just keeps calling for cold & bright.

I have to admit that I’m enjoying the new prettiness of WordPress 2.? I’ve been upgrading installations elsewhere, and damn that’s painless, too.? Only thing that really irks so far? Having the excerpt box down below the fold.? Y’all know that I love my excerpts. 🙂

I’ve thought about getting out an explosion of words lately, but rarely been in the vicinity of either computer or notebook when that thought showed up.

This last weekend was astoundingly beautiful, after enough rain to start looking to see if an ark might be floating through the park.

Totally random aside: I saw this TV special a while ago about the Noah story, and the actual historical thing seems likely to be this: a guy who had a boat on the Euphrates got caught in a freak rainstorm and swept out into the Persian Gulf.? Yep.

Anyhow, it was sunny, and warm, at least on the south side of the house. On Saturday morning that inspired me to clean the kitchen and my room…a fully clean fridge!? On Sunday it pulled both of us outside….

Together we radically trimmed the grapevine on the fence, including on the neighbor’s side.? (She said, on being asked: “I would love it if you would tackle that thing.”)? A creative and energetic project, since the damn thing was planted by the neighbor 3 tenants ago, and I swear I’m the only person who’s ever trimmed it.

Now it looks stark and architectural.? I think C is somewhat hoping we killed it; me, I’m hoping for it to be lovely and trainable.? (Visions of an arbor.)

And then I took to the garden bed on the west side on the patio, the one that’s always looked like a midden overgrown with flowers, and turned it into something a little more architectural.? Okay, mostly…

Because I let C talk me into an afternoon bike ride…which was totally fscking amazing! He’s much more daring a cyclist than I am, of course, and more willing to go the long and/or difficult route.? I did have a bit of a tumble when he was turning and I didn’t see him turning and my front wheel hit his back wheel and I (mostly) jumped free.? Except I have a achy bruise in almost the exact same spot I hurt the side of my knee before.

And I never did write about the tumble I took last Tuesday riding home: caught my front wheel on the sidewalk and fell perfectly sideways.? Into traffic.? Thankfully, there weren’t any cars *right there* and the cars behind all stopped while I picked up myself & my bike.? But that is a very ugly dark purple bruise on my thigh.

Oh, cycling season. The season of bizarre & semi-mysterious bruises.

On Sunday we rode all the way around Capitol Lake and then had an early dinner at Taco Del Mar.? (I’ve been eating their food for something like 10 years now, starting with the old one in downtown Tacoma!)? It was…words fail to describe…the crisp faux-spring air,? tingling legs, and then just wolfing down a burrito & chips….

Here’s the other thing with C: he’d rather take the big hill home than throw the bikes on the bus, so we rode home, albeit on the most mellow of the roads up the hill.? For once I was willing to let him raise my bike seat a little, and damned if it didn’t help.

Of course Monday was dark & icy, which makes me a little glad I didn’t get around to planting the first of the vegetable seeds.? I made a calendar this year, with help from You Grow Girl. Next weekend I really do need to get the lettuce, peas, and arugula in.

As for the title? Yoga last Thursday was insanely excellent.? (If you’re in the Tacoma area, take Hatha Yoga with Jami Button.)? I’m mildly embarrased to admit it, but for the first time possibly ever in my life, I can touch my toes.

Simpsons fans will then be able to extrapolate the reference.? (Bonus points for knowing which episode.)

I feel a little high-wire-like today — hey, I completely forgot to do anything for Valentine’s Day! — so I’ll take a chance seeing how other see me.

(Assuming they see me at all, of course.)

• Johari window
• Nohari window

I also have this fits-and-starts entry perlocating along in my head, which hopefully I’ll get to before I forget what I wa going to say!