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Saturday, June 28, 2008

...and the living's easy


Matt spent ten days here in the thick of a glorious heat wave.  He arrived Friday night, and we spend Saturday hanging out on the patio with Sandy Owen, walking the RHE trails, and dipping our toes in the night-shrouded Pacific.  After Father's Day brunch at home on Sunday, we drove to Balboa Island for salt-water taffy and frozen bananas.  It was a brilliant blue day.  During the week, I was lucky enough to have two-hour lunches at work, of which we took full advantage.  The long summer evenings were sweet: sunset at the PV cliffs, dinner at the Red Onion, drinks and appetizers in Long Beach with Mel, and watching old Beatles episodes of the Ed Sullivan Show.  It felt so great to not have homework to do.  The last weekend, we took Highway 1 up to the Getty Villa, spent some time bumming around the cliffs past Malibu, and slept in Ventura.  The next morning we continued north to Santa Barbara, where we stopped by the Mission, the long promenade of State Street shops, and Stearns Wharf.  He left on Monday, so we're in for another long dry spell of Skype and Scrabulous.

After two weeks of actual teaching, I can say I love my job.  It's tough, but genuinely rewarding and often very fun.  I can't believe that only three months ago I was convinced I would never be able to find a job I didn't hate, and on my very first try I've scored a jackpot.  Seriously, April feels like a full nine months ago.  The life I'm living now is so much richer and more complete, and so many radical changes have unfolded since then, that the reality of the time frame seems impossible. How life's pendulum can swing from despair to ecstatic satisfaction!  Once I let go of my graduate career, and acknowledged my underlying unhappiness, I began to recover my appreciation for life.  But it wasn't until I began working that true joy began to bloom within me again in a rush of gratitude and excitement.  The blank white page of the future no longer terrifies me; it is freedom.  Life is short, and there are things to do.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Ten Things I Like About Life Right Now

1. My boyfriend is coming to visit next Friday! I'm the luckiest girl in the world.

2. Indiana Jones 4 is quite a lot of fun.  Harrison Ford just owns, period. 

3. OBAMA!  YAY!

4. My job, though tiring, is rewarding and fulfilling.  I would like to continue when I go back east.

5. I'm kind of on an LotR kick again.  It's a more hopeful fantasyland than the one I was living in before.

6.  I am no longer terrified of freeways.

7. I'm starting to lose the motivation/need to dress up every day.  I think I feel more real and whole than I did, so I don't always need to build up an existence out of makeup and accessories.

8. Coconut is delicious and good for you.

9.  The fog has lifted from my eyes, and I can see beauty again.  PV is beautiful.

10. Did I mention my boyfriend is coming? ^_^

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Siva Noir

I had the pleasure of attending college with the talented and beautiful Lexi Newman.  A lover of literature and rock, the crown jewel of her Yale career was the staging of The Tempest interjected with live David Bowie songs.  She's currently the singer in an alternative outfit called Siva Noir, whose dark glam-ternative alto sound evokes Souxie and the Banshees, Concrete Blonde, and (though she would kill me if she read this) a much more talented Evanescence.  Their MySpace  features a few songs from their upcoming album, although my favorite ones, including "The Rapture," aren't available there.    It's good stuff, and Lexi is deeply cool.  On Friday, I saw Siva Noir with Cleveland's Mr. Gnome and Montreal's Bad Flirt at The Knitting Factory's Alternate Lounge.   Siva kicked serious butt, and the other bands rocked too, particularly Bad Flirt with their not-too-cutesy, punky, fuzzy girlpop. Yum.  It was only Siva Noir's third show, and you never would guess it from their polish and energy. Lexi, you are an inspiration to all of us who dream of pursuing our creative loves.  Rock on.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Matthew M: Erica, I want to congratulate you on having done so well in this prim--scrabble game.

Matthew M: We have both worked long and hard at winning the vot--points of each of the tiles, by playing them on the board.

Matthew M: I will graciously therefore accept your concession in this game, and look forward to joining forces with you against John McCain

Matthew M: You see, I have played more tiles this game, than any other candidate. I have the support of more letters of the alphabet than any other player in History!!!

Matthew M: It is UNFAIR to count letters like Z as 10, when no Democrat has won these tiles in the past 30 years, whereas I have played a majority of the "E"s that our party will depend on for victory in November

Matthew M: The point scoring system is inherently UNdemocratic, and I ask you to help me rectify this by dropping out.

Matthew M: You have run an awesome campa--game this time around, but I think you'll see that when we discount the words you played on triple word score spots (undemocratic again) and reapportion Zs and Ks to 1, that I have won

Matthew M: Thank you and GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!