Hoodies and kilts and cons...

Updates, abundance, and links

2006-12-12T20:02:00.000-08:00

The score so far:

Grading/assessing: 19 down out 33
New quarter prep: 1 down out of 13

Yeah, the goal posts got moved. But I'm still on track.

So, a door closes and a window opens and all that: it turns out that new registrations are running so high at Antioch that I will have two sections of Academic Writing in Winter. That helps to balance the budget a little bit, especially since it looks like I'm going to have a light spring. I'm back to 24 credits next quarter: five classes, four preps, three schools. Sheesh.

Linkin' logs:

Hey, Stella dialed in by remote with this great historical website. Check it out.

Here's a holiday classic, courtesy YouTube via Raincoaster.

This is sort-of comics, but it's also Jack Chick, so here it is, instead of going on that other blog.

Tactical error

2006-12-12T08:45:00.000-08:00

My students are doing a two-hour in-class essay. I brought some materials to grade, but evidently not enough. We're only half-way through and I am out of work to do. There goes a potentially useful hour down the drain.

Drat.

Again on a Monday

2006-12-11T21:07:00.000-08:00

The score so far:

Grading/assessing: 13 down out of 30
New quarter prep: 0 down out of 12

I'm pretty much on track.

And that just about sums up everything I've been doing since yesterday, too.

Oh, except that I found out that that half-time grants director job I had applied for at NSCC has been filled. I have concluded that my application must have gotten lost. I had feared as much since I never got a confirmation postcard from the district HR office, but could never get an answer from them for sure. In any event, the wave form has collapsed and the cat is dead.

Hey - check out Otis's Art Show announcement on the group blog.

The Breakfast Bunch

2006-12-10T20:23:00.000-08:00

What a swell morning! Otis and I joined Dingo, Johnbai, Sachet, and Silvio for yummy omelets and such at Crave today. The ocassion - other than allowing Sachet to fulfill her insatiable desire for duck confit - was to tour Dingo's new massage space up on Capitol Hill. And what a space it is - inviting and funky and attractive and filled with potential. Otis smudged the room with sage and clapped out the corners to ensure nothing but positive energy, but the room had good vibes from the get-go. Dingo has done a great job infusing the shared spaced with her own personaity, and it looks pretty clear that her practice is about to jump to a new level. yay, Dingo!

After the shared community of the morning, Otis and I returned home, each to our separate labors: Otis had a session, and I was, of course, grading. We took time out for a trip to Ikea, where Otis got some more frames for her show this week, as well as a new chair for her massage room, some new lights, and a few supplies.

Work took up the rest of the evening, but I think I'm done for the day and will relax a bit. Just a few more classes at North and it's all over - except for the grading.

It's Saturday night!

2006-12-09T20:07:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's been a heck of a couple of days here.

After classes yesterday, while Otis was at a writer's group, I had a three-hour interview at Lakeside School. I talked to administrators, observed a class, and met with a student panel. It's a beautiful campus, and working with such a group of academically advanced students would be great fun. It's hard to say how the interview went, since the selectors aren't even sure of what they are looking for yet. The programs that need to be taken care of might comprise one job, or two jobs, or even three little bits of jobs, when the decision is finally made. In any case, I think I acquitted myself well, and we'll just wait and see.

Late night Friday brought chaperon duty for Otis and me: Invisible Adam and EMI Karen threw a big sixteenth birthday party for their daughter at the Green Lake community center, with a 300-person invitation list. There were about ten adults present as well as two off-duty cops hired as security; Otis and I were working the door, but there was no guest list or entry pass or any other control. I think the crowd peaked at 150 or so, but in the course three and a half hours, two different fights broke out and about a half-dozen people got ejected. Even so, it was a fairly mellow night, although the music was awfully loud.

We got to bed pretty late, and actually slept in until almost nine this morning. We still had time to run errands before getting to Johnbai and O's for a scrumptious brunch. O really laid out a spread, as usual: tangerine-avocado-pomegranate seed salad, poblano chili quiche, roasted potatoes, and manchego, with tangerine juice, coffee, and Mexican chocolate. Talk about yum! We hung out, shot the breeze, and then went comic book shopping (twist my arm). Good times.

The rest of the day has been filled with work and housework and enormous grocery shopping. Otis is framing artwork for her upcoming show. Maybe I'll help.

The film that wasn't

2006-12-07T21:25:00.000-08:00

Blogging note: I upgraded this blog to Beta tonight, but I accidentally combined accounts with my comix account, so the profile and stuff will look different until I get it sorted out. I think this might mean that there will be some changes made in the near future - a redesign, which I had been thinking of anyway, might be my project for the break.

So, the last time we saw Ms. Matcha and Surfer-T, they gave us a free pass to see a preview of The Holiday tonight. After class today, I got all my grading and assessing organized, set a work schedule for the next two weeks, and actually got some evaluations done. Then, after dinner, we headed down to Pacific Place.

Traffic sucked.
There was no street parking.
We went into the PP lot.
It was full, and we had to circle around until a space came free.
After we made our way to the top of the galleria, the line was huge.
We didn't get in to see the movie.
It cost us $3 for 30 minutes of parking.

So, we came home, made our own popcorn, and watched the Battlestar Galactica DVD Yojimbo gave us. So there.

The big blog

2006-12-06T19:51:00.000-08:00

Oh, so much to blog about. Or maybe it's just that I know I have a ton of stuff to do, and as long as I am blogging, I can pretend that I'm being productive, and so don't have to begin it yet.

Anyway.

To recap the week so far: Sunday, after blogging about and recovering from the super-duper Saturday night bash, we went up to LFP to celebrate the birthdays of Otis, her grandmother, and her brother with Pagliacci's pizza and chocolate cake AND tiramisu. Result: (1) Yum, and (2) oooohh, my stomach!

Monday: Last week at Cascadia begins, last real week at North begins, and actual last class at Antioch. The ice and snow storm really took the wind out of our sails this quarter, coming as it did just when students were starting to lose their momentum anyway. It has been hard keeping interest up the past few classes. My 099 was scheduled for an in-class essay Monday and Tuesday, so that was okay; the other classes were harder to motivate. Except, of course, for Antioch: even at the last class session, we had a hard time getting out of there on time, because there was so much still to do.

Tuesday: Morning class, then back home for a chance to visit with b, who had come to give a birthday massage to Otis. After b had to fly, Otis and I went back up to General Yiao's on Phinney Ridge for the lunch special. Once fortified with wonderful pan-Asian goodness, we took the roads and headed up to Bellingham for a visit/reccie/celebration!

First, Otis used some birthday loot to get herself a Regina Spektor album.

Then we stopped at the Bagelry for coffee

and I gave Otis the first season of Medium on DVD (now that Charmed is off the air, she needs a new Guilty Pleasure).

We took a walk around town and found a little low-rent galleria-type building that had giant Origami birds hanging.

It had a nice aromatherapy store and an import place for Otis to browse, and on the second floor, a little shop I stuck my head into:

We capped out tour of downtown Bellingham with a stroll through a new pocket-park, where Otis really got into the public art.

We cruised down to the Fairhaven district for more strolling and bookstore browsing, followed by soups and salads at the Colophon Cafe.

That about wore us out, so we headed home for a quiet evening in front of a (fixed) fireplace. Good times.

Today: was school and school, for me anyway. Actual last classes at Cascadia, and I can't even begin to look at the pile of portfolios and papers I need to grade. Otis, on the other had, kept busy with animal Reiki and getting a free Feldenkrais session from a networking practitioner.

Job news: Thanks at least in part to the good offices of Pater Putnam, I have an interview on Friday for a half-time, interim job at Lakeside School, teaching the classes associated with their yearbook, newspaper, and student radio station. It' s not a smooth-as-silk opportunity, but is definitely worth exploring despite any kinks in the hose.

Other people's news: Dingo has the keys to her exciting new massage space, right in her own neighborhood! b has the keys to her new massage space, right in her own neighborhood. Good massage-space karma all around!

Upcoming stuff news: Be checking out the Group Blog for news of Otis's art show and the group's next Chautauqua.

Th-th-th-that's all folks!

Full tilt!

2006-12-05T09:18:00.000-08:00

So, it has been go-go dancer, go-go dancer since last post!

The b-day bash at the Putnam Compound was all kinds of swell, but lasted longer than we had thought it would be, and we both had work to do when we got home. Yesterday was my last Long Monday (next quarter, it becomes Long Tuesday) and it was long indeed. Today I am teaching now (the students are writing an essay) and then Otis and I will be playing hard, because it is her actual, official, real-live birthday!

Happy
Bird-day,
Otis!

Messiness

2006-11-30T20:10:00.000-08:00

Okay, so Wednesday was a no-class day at NSCC, but Cascadia was up and running. I stayed home and worked/fiddled around all morning, then I headed up to Bothell after lunch, only to find that they were going to be closing early, which meant that my second class wouldn't meet at all. I went ahead and held the first class, but only ten students were there.

That's when all this offically got annoying.

Wednesday night was fine, and when the snow started late in the evening it was really pretty, but I knew it wouldn't last. Waking up to the raining skies and slushy streets today was actually a relief. My classes weren't quite up to full speed, but there were enough students to make it worth going with the lesson plans and making some real-live teaching and learning happen. Huzzah!

The quarter is going to end a bit scruffily because of all this, but what the heck.

Had a good day today after work. I ran some errands and then came home and made a nice little vegetarian hunter's stew (a gatherer's stew?) with some apple-sage field roast sausage. It turned out really nice for an improv. Otis and I went out for a bit, just to see the sky (the sun came out!) but came back quickly so she could dive right back into a big pile o' papers she is grading. (Oddly enough, my workload is light right now, but will hit hard next week when the quarter ends.)

I made a fresh salad for dinner, and we were graced with the company of Ms. Matcha and Surfer-T, who were in the neighborhood and stopped by for a little visit. Otis is still grading.

This is my new favorite blog.

A break in the revels

2006-12-03T08:39:00.000-08:00

Hey, what a heck of a night we had last night. A few well-wishers stopped by to say Happy Birthday to Otis, even though the actual day isn't for a little bit. It was a warm gathering (in both senses of the word), full of celebratory good cheer.

Invisible Adam and EMI Karen came by for the start of the evening, bearing better-than-Bailey's. Johnbai also had to leave after the opening festivities, but made his considerable presence felt even without slamming any Ro-Rock. Dingo was actually first to arrive, resplendent in her Johnny Cash kit, and Dar-Dar Binks and Mr. T followed soon after, after too long away. Stella brought some almond roca along with her good cheer. Soapy brought more ice cream, but this time we actually made a dent in the supply, I think. J-Force brought Keeper, on his first (but hopefully not last) visit to our strange little world. And the Special Guest Star (as Quinn Martin used to say) was April Breeze, blowing in with her gentle ways and soft touch (not).

The was much mingling, and then an Otis-knowledge quiz (won by AB with Soapy as runner-up - the start of a beautiful friendship) that served to sufficiently embarrass the Guest of Honor, and then presents for the Birthday Girl - all of them really thoughtful and sweet and completely unnecessary and very much appreciated.

We spectrated The Secret of Roan Inish (birthday girl's choice) and wound up the evening with coffee and tea before it got too, too late. The house wasn't even a shambles, despite AB's and Soapy's exertions to start a popcorn-pretzel war.

The feting isn't over yet, though - this afternoon is the Putnam Clan celebration of December birthdays, so we have a few hours to work and relax before we're off to the races again!

Easy Friday

2006-12-01T21:06:00.000-08:00

Peer review: the English teacher's friend. It was a good morning.

After classes, Otis and I took a nice walk through the U-district and stopped at Flowers for their vegetarian lunch buffet. If you haven't tried it, you should. It was nice to get back to normal gray, cool, drippy weather - although I guess the rest of the country is having its share of weird stuff right now.

We came home and Otis attended to the business of running a business while I hovered in that nether-space between productive work and dinking around.

We both took a break to watch Kamikaze Girls, a Japanese teen Thelma & Lousie-type buddy story about the unlikely friendship between a lolita girl and a yanki scooter-gang chick that unfolds in a surreal narrative with plenty of violence and laughs. It was one of the weirdest movies I've seen, but actually quite good.

Now, on to the business of having a great weekend!

Singing a snow delay song

2006-11-29T06:13:00.000-08:00

So, the website is saying that NSCC won't start today until 10:00 am, and since my classes are at 8:00 and 9:00, well - you do the math, as they say. I'm having a cup of tea and enjoying the early-morning chill. Actually, I did program the furnace the other day and it comes on just before I get up, so it's really comfortable. Of course, the gas fireplace has punked out again.

Yesterday turned out to be a pretty futile exercise in instruction. I got to school fine, but only 30% of the students showed up for my 8:00 class and less than 20% (four, to be precise) at my 9:00 class. As an instructor, I am torn between going ahead with the planned lessons, to honor those who made it in, and using some supplemental learning activities, to keep the class together as a whole. I made the latter choice yesterday, and now today is going to be a no-nothing day. The remainder of the quarter is going to be a little tight, especially if it snows again today and tomorrow is another cancellation. I usually leave myself a little slack in the English classes as far as lesson plans go, but this quarter there are a number of presentations in different classes that are jamming up. Ah, well, we'll figure it out.

Otis and I did head out yesterday, to an appointment on Capitol Hill. The main roads were fine, but it was still icy in a lot of places - I don't think it ever hit 32, did it? We had lunch at Ballet and even stopped at the Value Village (which was cold inside!) before coming home.

When we got back to the RD, we saw some surveyors on the block, and it soon became apparent that they were figuring out the property lines for the lot next door and setting monuments in the pavement. It looked like a top-drawer operation, so I imagine we'll see a multi-unit development next door soon. I was told the place was to be torn down by January; that seems likely, with this prompt activity.

Out own property development has been successful. I have posted a picture of the cathouse-boxes. I mentioned yesterday that we heated one of them (there's an old heating pad in the one that is near the outlet) and that's where Mountie has settled in. Yes, two cats hang about now, but while Selkie was adopted, Mountie is more of a charity case. He's a cranky, smelly old street cat, but we feed him and try to give him a place to get out of the elements. He wouldn't settle in as a house cat - he doesn't have the people-savvy that Selkie demonstrated from the get-go, and Selkie wouldn't let him share the house anyway (I can't begin to imagine the literal pissing match that would take place). So, we have Hal Linden and Tony LoBianco, and still no litterbox.

And just so this isn't a complete wall of text, here's a picture of me in my current mood:

Still no snow day

2006-11-28T07:31:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a weather mix-n-match. No worries getting to North in the morning, although student attendance was a little light. I had no prbelm getting up to Bothell, either, but the empty parking lot told me a lot of the north-end students had taken the day off. Emails and attendance bore this out, and I ended the last class a little early.

This turned out to be a fortuitous choice; the drive from Bothell south on Lake City Way was a royal mess. It was snowing pretty hard, things were slick, it was congested, and things weren't helped by people who just gave up trying to drive and sat in their cars in the middle of the road with their flashers going. What is that all about?

Then, at about 85th Street, it just cleared all up, as if the weather front was sitting right there. From the Roosevelt Safeway south, it was just flurries and wet roads. I had no problem getting to Antioch, but again, the attendance was really light.

Selkie got me up at 5:30 today, and an early check showed that North was not closing for the day. So, since I was up, I left plenty early. It turned out to be an easy ride in - 5th Avenue was pretty clear all the way - so I am having breakfast and blogging.

Dingo reported her walking-home adventure last night in the comments on the previous post. Does anyone have any other reports from this "snow event"? (At least they're not calling it StormWatch '06! - or maybe they are.) Anyway, it'll be fun until the rains come back in a few days.

Cat note: Selkie spent all night inside and had a very brief morning jaunt; Mountie spent the night in his little (heated) house and was spunky this morning.

No snow day

2006-11-27T06:17:00.000-08:00

Good thing I got everything done anyway.

Last night

Weekend vampire

2006-11-26T07:38:00.000-08:00

(As I type this, NPR is playing a story on basque sports, like stone-lifting and wood-chopping. Agur, Wheylona! (Is that right?))

Yesterday was mostly papers, papers, papers: both Otis and I had stacks to plow through, and plow we did.

We did start off with a nice walk down to the U-district before we hunkered down, and took a break in the afternoon to head over to the purgatory of Home Depot. That trip secured some planter boxes which we adapted for use as cat-houses, in an attempt to keep the critters (Selkie, the indoor-outdoor cat, and Mountie, the outdoor-outdoor cat) happy over the winter. They also keep our front entry looking decent.

We had the good fortune to meet Gweekers and Mikey (and assorted kith and kin) down at the Blue Star for dinner. One of our dinner companions, five-year-old max, graced Otis with this lovely portrait of a (not terribly threatening) vampire:

We still managed to have sweet dreams.

Back to work!

And another long day!

2006-11-25T07:29:00.000-08:00

The cat got me up again this morning, and after cleaning up the dishes I looked outside to see him on top of the shed, perched on the edge as if he were a forward scout scanning enemy lines. We are still observing/working out the relationship between Selkie and "the outside cat," the semi-feral brown tabby who is the only other cat that Selkie lets on the property (we feed him, but he mostly keeps his distance). Selkie seems to enjoy the company pretty well for a while, but then gets all territorial and starts swatting the other cat around. I think today he is exhibiting that latter behavior.

Anyway, yesterday, or "Recovery Day," as I have heard it called, was another long good day for us. It started off fairly early with a walk to and around Green Lake in the morning chill. It was bracing and made us feel less like little tofu sausages after the feast on Thursday. That being the case, we immediately followed the walk up with a big breakfasty brunch! Gweekers and Mikey had come over from The Spoke (along with momma) for the holiday, so they picked us up and we all headed down to Silence Heart Nest for vegetarian goodness. We had some nice catching-up time that lasted well into the afternoon.

Upon our return home, we saw activity at the house next door: folks were boarding it up and fixing the fence and stuff like that. I talked to them and it turns out the place has sold and is planned to be torn down in January; they were securing it further to make sure nothing untoward happened in the meanwhile (Mikey speculated that it might have been a condition of the sale). It was unclear if another private residence is going up or another townhouse property; I would guess the latter. So, I guess that's a good thing.

We took care of business, art, and naps in the afternoon, and then headed out for an evening with more Putnams: specifically, Otis's brother and his wife (who couldn't make dinner on Thursday) and the mater and pater. We had dinner at Aqua Verde and coffee at the new shop next to Araiya's, and then caught Casino Royale at the Neptune. Good, long day.

Now, for today: well, there has to be a lot of responding papers in it, so I know it'll be long; whether it's good or not will have to wait.

Shout out to JustJon: I don't know if we technically Bought Nothing, since we did have to pay for meals and a movie, but we did avoid the whole Black Friday craziness in spirit, anyway.

Shout out to Yojimbo and Johnbai: Yeah, Casino Royale is that good. Daniel Craig is indeed muy macho. But if I never have to seen another dramatized game of Texas Hold 'em again, it will be just fine.

Long day (and I mean that in a good way)

2006-11-24T06:50:00.000-08:00

Wow - what a day! The First Extemporaneous Thanksgiving Pumcake Brunch was a rousing success, leaving little but crumbs in its wake:

It turned out that we had a pretty full house. Dingo, E-rik, and Silvio kicked off the proceedings, bringing along ooey-gooey cinnamon rolls as well as Dingo's pumcake batter. Kris-10 and Rye-N squeezed in some waffle time between all their holiday festivating, and JagGirl arrived with her apple crumble and her new beau, Dvd, our instant expert on classicval music and other stuff. Old pal Stella brought a new face, too: Della, another delegate from North of the Lake, known to me from Cascadia for a long time but never before a player in our games. Della didn't have to bring a fresh pineapple to contribute to the feast - her company was treat enough - but she did anyway. Even Johnbai and O made time to join us before heading east to family-land, and brought with exotic cheeses and bread to counterpoint out sweet buffet.

Dingo's pumcakes were the hit of the show, although the coconutcakes got a bit of play, too. I think I was the only purist around, so there's lots of leftover plain batter for me!

There was a whole lot of eating going on (appropriate for the day, I guess), but even sweeter than the food was the meeting and greeting and talking and laughing as new faces met old faces and ideas were shared and problems solved and the world made a better place through intercourse. Otis scored a hit with her choice to big-wall-spectrate Disney's Fantasia during the proceedings; it provided a great backdrop for the party (except when the nekkid lady centaurs came on, at which point it was forefronted).

E-rik and Silvio say "hi" to shutterbug Otis

Dingo hides from her culinary fame
as Johnbai sits mesmerized by good animation

Dvd, JagGirl, and Della share drinks and laugh

The whole magilla

We could have gone on all day, and we we sorry to have to shoo people out so we could get ready to leave for our next event, the traditional dinner up at the Putnam Compound in LFP.

It was a wonderful evening with the Putnam family and friends, highlighted by Otis's sweet animal-totem blessing before before the meal. The cherry on top was the presence of Ms. Macha (about as preggers as a girl can be) and her happy hubby, Surfer-T. After baby-makes-three arrives (any minute now) we hope to be seeing a lot more of them.

Poppa and momma to be

The weekend continues, with both work and play, and I am as thankful for one as the other.

And I aplogize for the cheesy, homeowners-association-newsletter style captions, but it's early.

Happy Thursday!

2006-11-23T07:57:00.000-08:00

Here we are, on Thanksgiving Day, perhaps that most 'merican of all holidays, with a history that pre-dates even Independence Day. We could (and should) problematize this holiday, rooted as it is in the first steps of European imperialism on the North American continent; all human eneadvor is problematic, isn't it?

The History Channel has a new documentary on the Mayflower colonists. A Christian Science Monitor article explains how all the modern Thanksgiving traditions stem from just two passages in the records of those early English religious separatists from almost 400 years ago.

We could also look at the idea that thanks-giving is a universal ritual, and that the North American tradition is just an extesnsion of the ancient harvest festival ritual. There's a lot of truth to this view, but modern attempts in the U.S. of different thanksgiving traditions don't ever have the horsepower of "Turkey Day."

Or we could get all hip and cynical about it, like these guys.

Me, I'm just going to spend the day being thankful for all the privilege and good fortune I was lucky enough to be born into and enjoying the company of all those folks who make my life special.

And, I'm going to eat Pumcakes.

PS: I apparently got the traditional Thanksgiving nap out of the way last night; I slept through most of the Madonna concert that Otis was watching on TV. That's why there was no post yesterday.

Toesday

2006-11-21T20:15:00.000-08:00

My toes are in red woolie socks right now.

Teaching all day yesterday and then teaching this morning and a meeting this afternoon. Another semi-long day tomorrow and then a looong break. Yay!

Didja see the lightning and hear the thunder and feel the rain today? I saw the lightning with my eyes closed, that's how bright it was! And the rain came down sooo hard and there was even hail. But it only lasted a few minutes.

After the big rain, but still in the regular rain, Otis and I went to the Freedy M in Ballard. We needed to look for some house stuff and thought we would do grocery shopping at the same time. It turned out to be a bad idea. We didn't find the house stuff and the grocery shopping took forever; we had forgotten about holiday shopping, and the aisles in the store are too cramped, and the people in Ballard drive their carts the same way they do their cars.

I had a phone call from the east coast earlier today, and found out that my sister, her ex-husband, and their son are all getting married to their new partners within six months. I thought that was a bit unusual, but maybe not.

That's all I got!

Taking a break

2006-11-19T19:04:00.000-08:00

That's the picture of me in my gimme-hat at the movies the other night*, with Otis in the backgound, but really, that's the mood we're both in right now.

Yesterday, Otis had a two-hour special at 10:00 am; while she was giving the massage, I went for a walk around Green Lake and did some errands.

Today, we went out in the early morning rain for breakfast at Silence Heart Nest.

Other than those two items, our agendas have essentially been full of responding papers and doing house stuff all weekend. We haven't really gotten out of the house much, and haven't socialized at all (except when Yojimbo stopped by for a minute on his way to Casino Royale), and have generally been hard-working slugs. Otis has been plowing her way though what seems like a brazillion "what's-my-mandala" papers; at least I have had the luxury of switching from class to class and doing lesson planning as well.

Hey, maybe I'll go crazy and walk to the store for milk -- life in the fast lane!

See youse Tuesday.

*A big ol' thanks to Dingo for forwarding that picture today,
from the test email completed at her place the other night!

Slow day, fast food

2006-11-18T07:07:00.000-08:00

I don't like having class on Friday - I don't think anyone does - so I try to do something different or fun in my Friday classes. This week, the activities I tried actually seemed to work pretty well: the students woke up, got engaged, responded, and, in one class, wrote some funny stuff. (The othr class designed their own assignment.)

After class, the day unfolded deliberately. Otis and I did work (she's still wading through a ton of papers herself), had lunch, did work, took a walk, and so on. I was pretty sleepy all day; I think the cat disturbed my sleep more than usual this week.

We kikcked it off the evening when Stella arrived so we could carpool up to Capitol Hill for moovie nite. We met Dingo and walked over to Pho Cyclo, where we joined Sachet and Johnbai (and were joined by Soapy). After topping off with tofu, we walked back down Broadway to the Harvard Exit to watch Fast Food Nation.

I think Bummerman is going vent his spleen about this movie at length, so I will only say that it was disappointing on almost every level: pacing, narrative arc, character development, and even music. It's a shame, really - the movie, like the book, could have delivered an important message, but aside from one terribly affecting sequence towards the end, the entire film is pretty much a waste of time. Even in a town like Seattle, where viewers are likely to be predisposed to liking the film, the audience was restless, unengaged, and unhappy.

Nonetheless, the cinema experience was not a complete loss. There was a stack of free baseball caps on the lobby table, promoting some car, so we each snagged one. Viz:

(My picture and Soapy's got lost in the ether when Sachet tried to send them from her phone to the email, I guess.)

After the film, we retired to Dingo's pad for tea and sweet cookies and conversation; it was nice to end up in such a warm and welcoming pace, and it made a nice change from a late-night IHOP.

Jobby McJobber

2006-11-16T20:47:00.000-08:00

So, I just finished applying for that training coordinator job with the city. It was an electronic application, and once I figured out the ins and outs, it was quite smooth, actually. I'm not sure I am even a match for this job, but I was rejected by the Ferry System today (not even an interview!) so it was all about the getting-back-on-the-horse business, I suppose.

Consolidating the job situation still remains the holy grail for me, although even I am getting tired of my ongoing conversation about it. I can remember some few times in my many careers when I wasn't actively looking for a change in my employemnt status and I could just think about the work at hand; those periods never seem to last too long, however.

And what really gets me is how much there is to think about with just the job(s) that I have: teachers are constantly assessing their practices, revising syllabi, trying out new lesson plans, hoping to figure out that magic formula that will actually work and make learning happen. Even if a teacher gives up on that quixotic quest, there's still just the mainenance and updating of instructional materials to worry about. I have lessons and exercises that were oh-so-current and hep a few years ago but which now get blank stares or uninterested yawns from students.

Oh, somebody call me a waahmbulance, eh? Today was a good day: the sun shone bright on my old Washington home, my classes went well, and I got both a nap and a walk in this afternoon; who can complain?

So, on a cheery note, we were thinking of having a Thanksgiving Day community brunch/elevenses. Would there be any takers out there, or are y'all heading off to bigger doings? Otis and I will be joining with the Putnam clan, but that's not till the evening. Lemme know, okay?

Speaking of the Thanksgiving holiday, Otis has once again adopted another turkey, who gets to survive the season and play in the fields at Farm Sanctuary.

This is Sunflower:

"Sunflower looks forward to a sunny day, when all turkeys can run freely with all farm animals."

Sounds like a communist to me.

I'm here

2006-11-16T06:29:00.000-08:00

Last night, after a typical longish Wednesday and an atypically long commute home, Otis wanted to watch a movie-length version of her new guilty pleasure, the TV show Medium. So, I essentially crashed on the couch all evening, which was fine, since I wasn't really capable of too much else. I did manage to invite y'all to the movies, though...

Another long day

2006-11-14T22:03:00.000-08:00

Well, we know that Mondays are always long for me - first class starts at 8:00 am, last class ends at 9:30 pm, a total of five classes at three campuses - but I usually make up for it with a short Tuesday. Not today!

I had my 8:00 and 9:00 am classes, came home for just a little bit, and then headed down to Antioch for a three-hour program meeting. After that meeting, I had an invidual meeting with another instructor with whom I will be team-teaching. Then I walked from Belltown to the downtown library (which I still don't like the looks of) before meetng Dee-Dee from the 'Couv, who was in town for a conference, at the Crowne Plaza. He and I bussed back to the RD to meet Otis for hors d'ouevre and a walk down to Taste of India for a wonderful meal; the engaging conversation didn't stop the whole time.

I just got back a little while ago from dropping Dee off at his hotel. I'm tired. I think I'll go to bed.

Apres moi, le deluge

2006-11-12T20:48:00.000-08:00

Man, is it raining.

Hey, what's wrong with this picture: it's Sunday night, my bags are all packed for the morning and Otis is grading papers because she's behind. That's a little backwards, innit?

One of the things that got Otis behind (just a little) was out stopping by to say goodbye to JJ, who is off in a few days for a new job as the number three administrator in the Milwaukee (Wisconsin) Library system. Classy to the end, JJ's Seattle send-off was down at 10 Mercer, and we briefly joined the scores of well-wishers getting their last bits of JJ goodness. I wish we could have stayed longer, but I'm sure the miracle of the intarweb will keep us connected to JJ, even hemitranscontinentally. Here's a pic of JJ from the last Oscar do, looking suitably triumphant:

Speaking of pictures, Sachet sent along some pics from Librapalooza. I felt inspired and made some animated gifs - click the links at your peril.

Prom king and queen open prizes

Teddy bear mug shots

Rockin' raft o' ladies

Otis got bamboozled today - she's replacing the lavender at her business entrance with bamboo, and picked up the pots of starts today. Tip o' the hat to Farmer Scott for the recommendation.

We spent last night with the Putnam Pater and Mater celebrating the former's birthday. More "good" Chinese-American food. There were Top Pot doughnuts for dessert, though!

Other than that, the rain has kept me mostly umotivated and underactive. I did get a lot of work done, but it hardly seems a fair trade.