Imposter East Coaster

blast from the past: Nov. 4, 2001

2011-02-17T16:57:00.000-08:00

I was going through some old emails today and came across this one I sent from Costa Rica when I was an exchange student during college. Hard to believe that was almost 10 years ago!! It made me laugh, so I figured I'd share it for your reading pleasure :)

Hello all,

Have you ever had the joy of sharing your name with a disaterous weather phenomenon? It is quite an experience, I tell you. For those of you who haven't been following your Central American forecast, Hurricane Michelle spent most of last week flooding northern Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Honduras. I suppose it's hit Florida by now, since I heard it was passing over Cuba. San Jose escaped the worst of the storm; it was just cold and rainy here. And by "cold," I mean it was probably in the 60s, but you'd never know it. Everyone dragged out the winter sweaters and sweatshirts and sat around shivering, including all of the gringos!

My host family thinks it's rather humorous that the hurricane is named Michelle. I especially appreciate the TV captions that say "Michelle attacks!" Then my family starts laughing at me and saying, "Oh no, Michelle is here in the house! Ahhhh!" Then I make threatening hurricane noises at them, and they cower in fear. And FYI, a hurricane sounds like this: Whoosh whooosh swhooshwooosh. But to make it authentic, you have to flail your arms around like hurricane winds...

This week we went to visit a mine/fossil place where we were supposed to learn something about faith and practice. What we really learned about was climbing up muddy hillsides in sandals and skirts! Our leaders had never been to this place before, so they couldn't warn us to dress appropriately. We had a conference with a priest in the morning, so we dressed nicely. Then we showed up at this nature place and all the people there were wearing camoflauge pants and hiking boots. We also seemed to have angered the fire ants, as they were more vicious than usual. Fortunately, I was wearing tennis shoes. But, to take the "shortcut" to the fossils, we had to climb this rocky, muddy hillside, and I was wearing a skirt. Quite an adventure, yes indeed.

The redeeming point was that when we finally got to the top of this small mountain, the view was incredible. All the other mountains were covered in green, and there were no signs of civilization anywhere. It was like we were back in the day before, uh, anyone lived there. (My English skills are failing me at the moment...)

This Thursday we are off to Cuba, the 18 of us who are in the Latin American Studies concentration. I don't really know what cities we'll be in or what we're doing, but I do know we're going to live with families for at least part of the time. And I've got a nice book to read called "Cuba: Neither Heaven nor Hell." Good thing I'm reading it, because the other day I realized I don't know anything about Cuba. And I'd hate to appear like an ignorant North American, you know?

We'll be returning on the 19th, which I believe is a Monday, so the next chapter of Michelle's adventures should be premiering soon after that. And no, I am *not* bringing back Cuban cigars for anyone! I don't want to cause any problems at customs...

Hasta luego,

Hurricane Michelle (whoosh whoosh)

hooray for headphones

2010-09-23T07:58:00.000-07:00

I'm posting from the bus where I am listening to music on my new phone! It is almost completely drowning out Loud Cellphone Talker a few seats behinf me. Score! And another plus is that this music is by the band Homegoing, which includes some friends from DC.

hang up and sit there

2010-09-15T22:44:00.000-07:00

So cliche...get married and drop off the face of the blog-earth... What could have happened to draw me back? That's right, something annoying happened, and it requires a public rant!

Like many Seattleites, I ride the bus to work. It's a quick jaunt on an express route from my local transit center each morning and evening. And at 7:45 AM, it's my opinion that we should all sit quietly and read a magazine or think peaceful thoughts about the day ahead. (After work, we should sit quietly and do a crossword puzzle or think peaceful thoughts about what we will eat for dinner.) Lately, though, I have been accosted by an exponential amount of aural pollution. It started off with the ladies I call the "chatty Cathies." These same two women sit up in the front of the bus every morning and prattle on about their not-very-interesting lives. Mainly, they seem to spend time with their nephews and go to cookouts. And they also like to talk and laugh loudly about mundane items like the weather, local sports, and riding the bus.

Then there is "the Hacker." I'm not familiar with his computer skills; he earned this nickname from his frequent and obnoxious throat clearing and coughing. We ride the same bus an average of 3 days a week. He always sits in the very back, and as soon as he gets on, he starts up with the, "Egggghhmm, haaaaaack, eeeeehhhhmm." A minute or two of silence, then another, "COUGH! ach ach." While I certainly am sympathetic to those with allergies, this dude shows signs of OCD levels of throat clearing.

So, when I board the bus, I'm faced with a dilemma. Sit towards the front, where I'm almost sure to be regaled by the latest antics of Cathy's nephew's t-ball team? Or sit towards the back, where there's a dangerously high probability of a loogie flying past?

All these people pale in comparison to the latest offenders, the CHRONIC CELL PHONE GABBER! In the past there's been the occasional yakker, but their numbers appear to be multiplying. Today, on BOTH bus trips, I was seated within easy earshot of a loud cell phone talker who droned on for the ENTIRE bus ride, 20+ minutes. The AM route featured a run-down of Grandma's issues with Medicare, the speaker's confidence in his ability to get the listener a job that pays cash under the table, and the fact that the listener should move to Seattle to escape the problems in his/her current location (presumably with the law). End of the conversation: "Well, I'm getting off the bus now, so I've got to let you go."

The PM route's topic was the speaker's husband and his medical problems, including possible Crohn's disease, diabetes, gluten intolerance, and "intestinal issues." Solutions proposed: cutting back on gluten, eating smaller portions, and drinking less beer. Potential roadblocks: husband's resistance to change, and fact that removing beer bottle from husband's hand requires prying it from his cold, dead fingers. (Husband apparently still alive and gripping.)

Can I just add that I had absolutely NO desire to listen to either of these people? I tried to read a magazine. Even a crossword puzzle couldn't block out the conversations. I just don't understand why people think that when they in an enclosed space with strangers, that it's a good time to get on the phone and have a long, personal conversation. Newsflash: it is neither the time nor the place!!!

Please, let me ride the bus in peace. That's all I ask. Text messaging is a great alternative to yammering on the phone. Otherwise - watch out - I might continue to take notes about your conversations and post them on my blog, but I won't omit the identifying details. That's right, I'm talking about you, guy with the shaved head!!!

whoops

2010-01-27T23:08:00.000-08:00

Barely even realized it was SOTU tonight...I'm such a bad Imposter East Coaster. Instead, I went out to happy hour with a crafty friend who's coming up with great ideas for the wedding invitations!

I wonder if Seattlites play drinking games while watching prime time political addresses? Here at Fado, they just had a normal night of trivia.

choices

2010-01-19T23:45:00.001-08:00

Teaching ESL to refugees always gives me lots of things to ponder. Tonight, I'm considering the options I have available to me in life. This isn't going to turn into a liberal white guilt post, promise...just food for thought.

Right now I live in, shall we say, a neighborhood in transition. I live here because it was my choice, not because I was born here and never left or something. When I needed to rent a room this summer, I looked for somewhere cheap that would let me sign a lease despite my "unemployed" status. Plus, I wanted to experience a new part of the city, and I thought it would be cool to live in a more diverse area. But I didn't have to live here, and I don't have to stay. So why do I feel the need to pat myself on the back every time we practice writing our addresses in class and I get to write down the same ZIP code as most of my students? Between work and having a social life, I've hardly spent any time getting acquainted with my actual neighborhood, despite my fantasies of knowing all my multicultural neighbors' names.

The class I teach is for very basic beginners, so their English skills aren't exactly on the level where we can have philosophical discussions. However, I did notice that they seemed shocked to find out I don't have a car! I wonder why - is it because they perceive me as a rich American who should, by definition, have private transportation? Is it because they all have cars and think I'm odd? Who knows. I did pat myself on the back again for possibly putting a crack in their stereotypes about me/Americans. But why? I could afford a car if I wanted one, but Matt and I are planning to be a one-car family, and he pretty much drives me anywhere I want to go now or lets me borrow his car anyway. Plus, let's not forget the fact that I read English easily, have internet access practically anywhere I go, and know how to navigate the King County Metro website to plan all my public transit trips. So although I don't technically own a car, I have easy access to transportation while still maintaining my car-less moral high ground.

I'm reading a book called The Blue Sweater by Jacqueline Novogratz. The subtitle is, "Bridging the gap between the rich and the poor in an interconnected world." It's an excellent book about rethinking international development strategies based on business principles rather than donations, recognizing the power in the segments of society often overlooked or discounted by the "experts." In her journeys, she's also dealt with the same ideas of choices and privilege, except they were a lot more intense for her when she was pretty much run out of town in Côte d'Ivoire for being an outsider. Even in Rwanda where she felt like she fit in a little better, there was always the option for her to pack up and go when she had a new project, or just wanted a break. I need to be reminded that most people of the world don't live like that.

At the same time, I'm not saying other people are stuck in their present circumstances. I can look at my students for examples of individuals who made a change. If they were living in a refugee camp, they had to pass through a lot of hoops to wind up in my class tonight. They had to make a choice to attend their immigration interview, to get on a plane, to fly to a new country. Maybe the alternative was so horrendous that it didn't seem like much of an option at the time, but that doesn't change the fact that they did have choices.

Even though I can get overwhelmed by all the options at my disposal, I'm grateful to be living a life that includes them.

wedding planning is a full-time job

2010-01-12T23:24:00.001-08:00

I promise not to turn this into a wedding planning blog. That info will all be up as soon as we get the wedding website done anyway :) Let's just say that I've never really been the girl who started a wedding scrapbook before having a boyfriend or anything like that. So, I'm slowly learning the language and cultural norms of engaged women. It's definitely a new realm for me! And as long as I'm having cultural experiences of fiancee-hood, I figured I might as well dive into the deep end and attend the Seattle Wedding Show this weekend. It's at the Convention Center, where I have previously attended Coffee Fest. When I left that trade show, I was jittery and kind of sick to my stomach. Let's hope the results of this weekend's excursions are more pleasant, eh? Step 1: don't OD on caffeine. Step 2: stay hydrated. Step 3: watch the buttercream frosting consumption.

Yep, I'm good to go!

the blog you've all been waiting for

2010-01-03T16:03:00.000-08:00

2010 is shaping up to be a great year...Matt and I are getting married! Here's the engagement story for your reading pleasure.

I'd dropped a hint or two about how much I'd enjoy receiving a small, sparkly Christmas present, but Matt had asked no further questions and was not acting suspicious. When I knew he'd been out shopping for me, he regaled me with tales of fellow consumers packing the aisles at Home Depot and Target. So, I wasn't quite sure what to expect.

On Christmas morning, we were at my parents' house in Oregon. We opened our presents in age order, a la family tradition, beginning with my brother. I had one small package from Matt that was wrapped rather oddly with a hint of containing jewelry. When I opened it, I saw it was a few pairs of earrings in a ziploc bag. Tricky tricky! I attempted to hide my disappointment. I should've known he had something else up his sleeve :)

When all the presents had been unwrapped, Matt said, "Oh wait, I think there's one more for Michelle over here" and pulled out a small box with a bow. My memory gets a little fuzzy at this point, but I remember him saying how this present was special to him because he loved me very much. Then he got down on one knee, in front of the Christmas tree and whole family, and asked me if I would marry him. I sat there in my pajamas on the couch, shaking like a leaf, staring at the ring, and managed to squeak out, "Yes, I will!" Aaaaaahhhh, so exciting!

So yes, although I was sort of expecting it, he still managed to surprise me! And I know the rest of the family was surprised (except my dad, since Matt talked to him the night before). My mom was very excited and kept looking over at us and grinning for the rest of the day. I see visions of grandchildren dancing in her head...

It was a Christmas to remember! No date set yet for the wedding, but we'll keep you posted.

the people that you meet

2009-12-08T21:36:00.000-08:00

One of the joys of public transportation is that every day could bring a brand new random encounter. For example, the other morning, a guy sat behind me and talked to himself about baseball and health insurance. At first I thought he was on the phone, but no. Then we had the following conversation. I am not making this up!

Characters:
Me, your friendly blogger
Mystery Man, wearing a stocking cap, sporting a few days' beard growth. In other words, he looked like a normal Seattle guy.

Him: Do I smell bad?
Me: [looking back, doubting my ears] What?
Him: Do I smell really bad?
Me: Uh, no, you smell fine
Him: oh, good
[pause]
Me: [glancing out the window nonchalantly]
Him: are you going to work?
Me: yep
Him: Have you been working in downtown Seattle continuously for some time now?
Me: [giggling to self] uh, yes
Him: oh
[another pause]
Him: Does your employer offer you any incentives?
Me: [confused] um, what do you mean?
Him: like getting the newspaper
Me: [smiling] no, we don't get the paper, but we do get coffee
Him: [blank stare]
Me: [once again captivated by the trees outside]
Him: So you're a bartender?
Me: [???]
Him: A barista?
Me: [thinking that makes more sense] No, I work in an office
Him: What field do you work in? Then I'll go move over there [points up a few seats]
Me: [pulling some papers and a pen out of my purse to help with the upcoming ruse] I really need to get some work done
Him: Ok. [stands up] I have to go learn Italian on 4th Avenue anyway.

-end scene-

desert living

2009-11-24T21:04:00.000-08:00

My latest work adventure sent me to the desert southwest - Tucson, AZ to be precise. My organization has an annual board meeting and training conference for all our state coordinators. It rotates around to a different state every year, and luckily on my first year, it took place in the gorgeous sunshine! Our hotel had sort of an open-air layout, so I even got to soak up a few rays while going from meeting to meeting. There were about 60 attendees at the conference, and there were just 4 of us from my office in charge of the whole event. It was pretty busy! But it was a great time of meeting people who I'll normally only interact with by email and phone. Also, a lot of our international partners came, and it was a generally inspiring time to hear stories about the impacts of exchange programs. It made me feel like I'm making the world a better place, one family at a time :)

After 10 days of event planning, presenting, sightseeing-coordinating, eating hotel food, and generally running around, I was ready to come home. But before that, my boss took us on a desert Jeep tour. It was so cool! We went to a private ranch and rode in an open Jeep on rugged, cacti-lined trails. It was warm and gorgeous.

Here are a few photos from the trip.

Our Jeep and (I believe) the Rincon Mountains in the background

The road less traveled

A mutant saguaro cactus

dual citizenship

2009-10-27T22:16:00.000-07:00

Work sent me back to DC last weekend for a conference (Old Town Alexandria, technically). When I left DC in May, I wasn't sure when I'd get to come back, so it was a pleasant surprise to be able to visit just 5 months later (and not have to pay for it!).

Fall is by far my favorite season on the East Coast, and as we flew in to DCA, I admired the view by leaning over as far as my American definition of personal space would allow from the middle seat. The gorgeous colors were on full display. On the way out on Sunday, I struck the jackpot with a window seat for our departure over the Shenandoah Valley. Deciduous trees rock!

The conference itself was pretty informative. I think this might be my first professional conference to attend as an actual professional. When I was in the coffee world, I went to plenty of trade shows, and as a student, I attended a whole host of fora and symposia (yes, grad students are expected to know the plural of such terms). But to just go as a regular participant whose organization paid full price for her to attend and she's not expected to serve lattes or help tear down the tables afterwards was a new (and luxurious) experience.

Being back in DC felt very comfortable and familiar. I know how to navigate in the city, and I've got people there who mean a lot to me. Probably the best times were when I was able to meet up with friends in their homes to just chat and catch up on life. Of course, that's not to say I didn't enjoy some great times out on the town as well. (If you haven't been to Matchbox, I highly recommend it!)

After 5 days, it was nice to come home to Seattle. My flight arrived in the evening, and I always love admiring Seattle from a plane at night. It's fun to identify which dark blob is which body of water :) For the first time, when Matt picked me up from SeaTac, it wasn't for a short visit - he was just doing his boyfriendly duty of giving me a ride home. That's pretty cool.

I guess what I realized this weekend is that I have multiple places where I can belong and feel at home. I knew it before, but I didn't really think about it until now. So far, all of these places are in the United States, but I have high hopes that my list of homes will go global at some point!

random acts of artistic expression

2009-10-19T23:12:00.000-07:00

What is up with me visiting Seattle parks at the same time as artistic weirdos? Wait, that sounds harsh...I meant to say, my, Seattle is brimming with creative individuals, isn't it? This weekend it was Golden Gardens Park. Matt and I stopped by to appreciate the semi-sunny afternoon and toss a frisbee around after lunch at the Blue Star. We noticed some people in tuxedos milling about, and I assumed they were setting up for a wedding. Then more people started gathering, and they were dressed in white. So, I thought, perhaps this is some sort of mass wedding? Or caterers with a strange sense of style? When they brought out the face paint and plastic bunny heads, I was like, "What are these people doing? This is weird. Let's leave!" Matt was like, "What are these people doing? This is weird. Let's move in for a closer look!" It's a good thing I have him around or else I'd miss out on all these interesting occurrences. We heard they were preparing for a performance that would be starting soon, so we ended up hanging around to see what would happen.

We moved towards the crowd that had gathered on the beach. A lot of people were wearing white and ringing bells. I wondered if we were about to be inducted into a cult. Then the band started playing lullaby music and a parade began which featured human-sized rabbits, owls, cats, and clocks, all dressed in white and ballet-skipping across the sand. The characters carried little bells on strings, which they distributed to the children in the crowd. In general, they all danced around in no particular pattern, just mingling with the people who'd come to see the show. After 15 minutes of lullaby dancing, I convinced Matt it was time to move out. But as we were driving towards the exit, we saw the parade had continued down the beach. So we pulled over to watch the end of the show, which featured the entire cast boarding a massive pirate-style sailboat and heading off into the sunset, literally.

Turns out these performances have been going on all year around the city. Odd. I can't believe how many people came out to watch the show - especially the ones who wore white and brought bells. What possesses a person to participate in someone else's random artistic expression? Maybe I'm being too left-brained for this sort of thing.

books, where have you gone?

2009-10-12T23:52:00.000-07:00

Oh, how I loved the endless hours of reading this summer. Reading *for fun* I mean. Now I spend my days analyzing spreadsheets and composing reports about the antics of exchange students. I'm glad I embraced my unemployment while it lasted. It would have been such a pity to waste a perfectly good porch swing and the bounty of bookshelves that runneth over.

That's it for now. It's late and I should be in bed already.

trying to fit in

2009-09-28T22:36:00.000-07:00

I don't like to blog about overly religious topics, but I think this one should be ok, especially since it's mostly whining ;) Matt and I have been trying to find a church that we both like. It's proving to be quite the search. The church he attends is a good church, but it's just not a style I can really get into. However, nearly every other place we go has been filled with old people! I mean no offense to the senior citizens among us. Of course, plenty of mature adults attend church. But when I look around a church and see literally no one else who appears to be in the same life stage as me (late 20s, unmarried, no kids), it makes me wonder if it's really a place I could belong.

We checked out one church a few weeks back where the whole congregation was a-buzz over a recent Husky victory. The pastor started his sermon by putting on a UW cap, and other Huskies' fans jumped up and started cheering. They were all well past college age... And then the pastor proceeded to sprinkle his sermon with what can only be described as old person jokes. You know, grandparent sort of humor that's not actually humorous.

This Sunday, we visited another church where we walked in a few minutes late to find the pastor showing a slideshow of a Mexican cruise he took with his wife for their 45th anniversary. We happened to sit behind the youth group, and at one point during the sermon when the pastor made some joke about doing homework, I swear he looked right at me. Uh, just because I'm not 50 doesn't mean I'm still in high school! On the plus side, they gave us a loaf of banana bread b/c we were visitors.

I know I'm focusing on sort of petty details here. That's because I don't want to get into theology right now, and also because some of the details actually are important to me. My church in DC turned out to be one of the best parts of my life there. I'm completely aware that my reticence to actually find a new church here is -- in part -- psychological, because by doing so, I'm turning a page in the book of my life when I really liked the last chapter. But Michelle, you say, the next chapter could be great too! Why don't you just read the first paragraph and see if you like it? Actually, it might be a whole new book I'm picking up. Yes, that's a better metaphor. Maybe the previous book is over and I'm wary of reading the next one in the series because it might not live up to my expectations. What I should probably do is keep an open mind and just dive on in.

it's been one week since...

2009-09-20T22:22:00.000-07:00

Only one week on the new job? Really, it feels longer. I guess that's a good sign that I learned a lot in 40 hours, eh? Here are my early reflections on working again.

I need to re-establish a routine for my life. So far, I have been disorganized in the mornings and unproductive in the evenings. For example, I lack motivation/time to make myself a lunch. Since I'm working downtown, I have way too many enticing options that make a homemade tuna sandwich seem less-than-appealing. One day this week, I hopped on a bus to Pike Place (6 blocks north), bought a pesto bagel with salmon cream cheese, and enjoyed a gorgeous view of the market, ferry boats, water, and mountains while I ate. But I really should do the responsible thing and bring food because that's way cheaper than going out every day. The other factor is that I actually get a lunch break, during which I am allowed and encouraged to relax and get out of the office. Who can say no to that? And I've already met up with one friend for lunch - so cool :)

Commuting on the new light rail is going pretty well. The trains run frequently during rush hour and are never that crowded. I must say, though, I miss the free newspaper days of DC when I could read the news in the morning and do the crossword puzzle on the way home. Also, Seattle people are sort of strange commuters. A lot of people talk to each other on the train...not everyone is zoned out on an iPod. There's no shoving, and escalator etiquette seems to be that you wait patiently if someone is standing in your way. It's like this weirdly positive communal experience. I find it rather disconcerting...

As for the job itself, it's good. My brain is a little out of practice, and my Excel skills are a bit rusty, but overall I find myself much less confused than I was when I started my previous job. This is due in large part, I believe, to the fact that I've actually worked in this field before. Who knew that it was so helpful to have prior experience? I guess it's true! So while there are lots of people to meet and procedures to learn, I understand conceptually how the pieces fit together. Since I'm kind of a "big picture" person, that's helpful to me.

So no complaints here. I'm so happy to have a job, I wouldn't dare complain anyway!

bringing home the bacon

2009-09-13T22:50:00.000-07:00

Oh, how I have been dreaming of writing this post...I GOT A JOB! YAY! Jump for joy!

After being unemployed for 16 weeks (yes, I just counted), I'm not sure I can fully express my elation at the job that has come my way. I'd spent the summer applying to position after position with no response. Temp agencies provided nothing. Safeway didn't even respond to my resume submission. At first, I was glad for the break from the daily grind. After about a month, though, my stress level began inching up and despair lurked around the corner. It got to the point that I'd start filling out an application, but I couldn't force myself to finish it when I thought about all the more-qualified people out there who would have a better chance at the position than me. Then a couple weeks ago, I came across a posting for an international exchange program. As I read the job description, I realized that I was quite well-qualified for the position, so I swept up all my remaining crumbs of optimism and used them as fuel to write a killer cover letter. A few days later, they called me for an interview. I just about fell out of my chair when that happened, since I wasn't really expecting a response at all. A week after that, I had a second interview, and at the end, I was offered the job!

The real reason I got this job, though, was networking. It didn't happen in the way I normally think of, but it still worked. I think I got the first interview based on my resume. Then it happened that a former supervisor from DC knew the director of this Seattle office and put in a good word for me. According to my new director, that's what really sealed the deal - she said she received numerous resumes from people who all appear to be excellent candidates on paper. Since I came recommended from someone she knows and trusts, that helped push me over the edge.

So, starting tomorrow, I will be managing short term/summer international exchange programs for middle and high school students. What's really cool is that this is the type of job I was applying for in DC when I was finishing grad school, but I couldn't manage to land an interview. There, the organizations all want you to have a Master's degree and 5+ years of experience in the field to be a program manager. It's such a competitive environment that my resume didn't stand out from the crowd. But in Seattle, my DC experience suddenly becomes valuable and something that sets me apart from the pack. Isn't it weird? If I didn't move to DC and have the experiences I did there, I wouldn't be qualified for this job that I just got in Seattle. Life's twists and turns never fail to captivate me.

a fond farewell to North Seattle

2009-08-27T11:39:00.000-07:00

First note, Seattle is a big city. I'm moving 11 miles south this weekend, but both addresses are well within the city limits. (For comparison, the city of Seattle is 91.5 square miles; DC is 61.4 square miles.) Now that we've got geography out of the way, let's move on to the real point of this post, which is to reflect fondly upon my time in the northern sector.

I have spent 7+ years of my life living in various northerly and westerly neighborhoods of Seattle, including Queen Anne, Wallingford, Ballard, and Ravenna. They all have great views of water and/or mountains, delicious coffee shops, fun walkable areas, lots of dogs, and people with a healthy sense of neighborhood pride.

As my time here winds down, I've been trying to take advantage of anything I may have missed about this part of town. Yesterday afternoon, I hopped on my roommate's bike and took a ride on the Burke-Gilman trail. I headed east and was treated to gorgeous views of Lake Washington and mountains, including (maybe) Mt. Baker, or some other mountain that looked noteworthy. However, I felt like a bike imposter because I was wearing jeans, a t-shirt, and regular tennis shoes while everyone else who zipped by was decked out in authentic cycling gear. I just pretended like I was European who was out for a meandering ride to the grocery store, and I was unfazed by the frequent calls of, "On your left!" as the speed racers whizzed by.

Last weekend Matt and I checked out Ravenna Park, 2009 winner of Seattle Weekly's "Best In-City Escape: North Seattle." Just like the award says, it's a great way to feel like you're in touch with nature when you're really a few blocks away from U-Village :) There's a ravine with a creek and a bunch of trails to walk around. I think it would make a great training area for backpacking, if you wanted to load a pack down and then run some hills to get in shape. On Friday, though, we stumbled upon a bunch of adults dressed up like elves, samurai, zombies, and more. They were involved in some sort of role-playing game where they whacked each other with foam swords, threw flour bombs, and cast spells. Some people had giant bug eyes and wings made out of cardboard, and they spoke in buzzy insect voices. There was an apparent leader who would call time-out as regular humans walked by. Then when the coast was clear, he'd yell "Fantasy!" and the game would begin again. People in Seattle are so creative!

All in all, it's been a great place to call home. I'm sure I'll still wander up north from time to time, but I'm also looking forward to exploring a new part of the city.

I like to move it, move it

2009-08-25T23:48:00.001-07:00

No, not true, moving is not one of my favorite things. But the sublease is over and I've camped out in the basement of this cozy little house long enough, so it's time for me to find a new nest. Next stop: South Beacon Hill. Moving day is this Saturday. I can't wait to finally unpack and stop living out of boxes/suitcases!!!

About the new digs: huge house (6 bed, 3 bath) with a gorgeous kitchen, a deck with a view of Lake Washington and the Cascades, and the price is right. I'm in denial about the giant hill that stands between me and the light rail, though the station is only 3/4 mile away by foot. So far, I have met one of the current roommates, and he seemed normal. The house is populated by a mix of guys and girls who all claim to be nice people. If it gets crazy and dramatic, though, I have a plan to cope - I'll pretend like I'm on "Real World," set up a fake video camera in my closet, and be overly emotive as I describe all the problems going on in the house.

The neighborhood has a nice international vibe to it. I saw a couple businesses with signs in Amharic. Closest grocery store is a Viet-Wah, though when I stopped in the other day, I heard some customers speaking Spanish. What a cultural experience! Maybe I could get a job there and put my M.A. to good use...

Seattlites put their brains to good use

2009-08-24T19:01:00.000-07:00

At a volunteer event today, I was chatting with a woman who mentioned she was trying to learn French. I told her about the Seattle Public Library's free online language classes. She thought it sounded very cool. When I said that all you need to access the program is your library card number and PIN, she proceeded to quote her 16-digit library card number from memory. Numeric literacy should not be underestimated - impressive!

embracing nature

2009-08-19T14:48:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, I joined a group of intrepid explorers on an overnight backpacking trip to Summit Lake. Although I was excited about the trip, I was also a tad bit apprehensive in the days leading up to departure (par for the course...see blog url for further reference). Here are just a few of the things I was concerned about.

Dangers in the Woods!
bears
mountain lions
mosquitoes
getting lost
having a bad time
drinking contaminated water; contracting parasite
injury
illness
peeing on my shoes
rain
starvation
dehydration
sunburn
spiders and other dangerous critters
in general, being at the mercy of the elements and cut off from civilization

Turns out, I didn't need to be worried about most of those things. (But as I asked Matt, if I don't worry about events, then what am I supposed to think about?) Sure, there are legitimate differences one encounters spending 24+ hours in the forest instead of a house. But I learned that proper preparation can set you up for success. Here's what I should have been concerned about, things that didn't cross my mind much beforehand.

Non-dangerous, real concerns
Carrying gear (solution: borrow a real hiking backpack and transfer gear in the morning before leaving town. Also, get stronger people to help with the heavy stuff.)
Staying warm (solution: mooch extra layers off the better-prepared hikers)
Sleeping (solution: don't worry about it - you've been sleep deprived before, and you can take a nap when you get home)
Taking good pictures in low light conditions (solution: learn how to manipulate PowerShot settings or ask for a better camera for Christmas)

I also learned that backpacking as a group is fun, and you can work together to literally lighten each other's loads. It was a wonderful trip. I did indeed feel cut off from civilization, but in a good way. Can't wait to hit the trails again!

a view of Summit Lake

sock + sandal sighting

2009-08-12T00:00:00.000-07:00

I had two appointments downtown today with some time to kill between them, so I packed myself a little lunch to be a good and frugal unemployee. I found a place to camp out for an hour which I believe was the Columbia Center food court. Very interesting place to people watch! I was there from about 11:45 to 12:30, prime lunch eating hours, on a Tuesday. This food court is located on the bottom floors of the tallest office building in Seattle, right in the heart of a bustling business district. But the people who came in were dressed like...well...not like they were going to work! You've got your Tevas with socks, your frumpy jeans, your boring khakis, your wrinkly cotton tops. Most people I saw were dining solo or perhaps with 1-2 others, and they didn't have any backpacks or cameras, so I don't think they were tourists. It was jarring not to be surrounded by suits at such a work-ey lunch environment! I did spot some people who were dressed nicely, but on the whole, it was like a Saturday-afternoon-stroll-around-the-neighborhood crowd in DC. Oh, except for the socks + sandals. That's pure Seattle.

What's odd is that I predicted this fashion discrepancy before I moved, and yet I was still surprised by it. Maybe it also caught me off guard because I was actually dressed nicely today...

Bee-ware!

2009-07-28T10:34:00.000-07:00

My spidey sense for wasps is quite well developed. This morning I was pouring a bowl of cereal when I heard a distinctive "buzz buzz" off to my left. A quick turn of the head revealed a GIANT YELLOW JACKET crawling furtively up the side kitchen window. Harnessing my adrenaline, I chose fight over flight and lunged for the trusty flyswatter. I crouched by the refrigerator, stalking my prey, waiting for it to crawl just a bit higher up for maximum swatting impact. When the moment was right, I struck! The first thwack knocked the predator off the glass, but it was not a fatal blow. I momentarily lost visual contact with the wasp and spent a few frantic moments scanning the area for signs of imminent attack. Then I spotted the little bugger flailing on the window sill. I whacked it a few more times, but it still squirmed, so I knocked it onto the floor and pounded the last gasps of life out of its non-existent lungs. Victory! Oh death, where is thy sting? Why, it's resting in peace in the garbage can!

all aboard the light rail

2009-07-27T11:08:00.000-07:00

Seattle's LINK light rail train started operations about a week ago, adding yet another option to the mish mash that is our public transportation system. Just off the top of my head, I can list city bus, county bus, commuter rail, light rail, monorail, ferry, water taxi, street car, and possible other street car as ways to get around here. Each method of transportation seems to have been conceived in isolation, and integration came along as an afterthought. At least they've got ORCA now so you can pay for your whole trip with just a tap of a card.

Riding light rail the other day, I couldn't help but compare it to the DC Metro. Seattle's system, being brand new, is definitely cleaner and spiffier than DC's. The cars allow for easy access for people using wheelchairs, scooters, or other devices. It's a very quiet ride, and the tunnels aren't noisy at all. Most of the track is above ground, though. The recorded voice that announces stations is clear and friendly...but I must say I found it a little odd when it said, "Doors will open on my right," as if some imaginary person is standing in the exit area telling me where to go.

Now for the negatives. It's too easy to evade payment on the train. There are no turnstiles to control access - you are supposed to buy a paper ticket or tap your ORCA card before boarding (and tap the card again upon exiting). However, the ORCA readers are hard to find and easy to forget, intentionally or not. You're supposed to have proof of payment on you when you ride the train, and Sound Transit says they'll have people on trains to verify payment. That doesn't seem sufficient. Maybe they did a cost-benefit analysis and found that it was cheaper to allow some people to cheat the system than to install payment-enforcing turnstiles. At least I hope they did something like that, not that they just assumed Northwesterners are inherently honest and trustworthy...

The other shortcoming would be the literal shortness of the track. It's a good start, but we can't really call one line with 12 stops a "system" now, can we? It takes so long for people to agree on anything in this city and actually accomplish things that I don't imagine a region-wide, integrated public transit system will ever really happen.

Shakespeare in the (Trailer) Park

2009-07-24T11:10:00.000-07:00

Aside: I'm in the midst of reading The Elements of Style, and I'm second-guessing every phrase I write. Each blog will require at least 3 drafts so I can eliminate unnecessary words! Or perhaps I'll get lazy and click "publish" before then...

Have I mentioned lately that I love Seattle in the summer? Well, I do :) On Wednesday evening, when the breeze was warm, Matt and I joined some friends down in Federal Way to see The Taming of the Shrew al fresco. This version was set in the deep South in a trailer park. Ha! Katherine (the shrew) was a biker chick, and Bianca (the non-shrew) was a beauty queen. PBR flowed freely on stage. A karaoke machine brought pizazz to the wedding reception. In short, it was hilarious! If you're in the Seattle area, you still have a week or so to catch one of the remaining performances. Go - you'll be glad you did!

I <3 my walkable city!

2009-07-20T13:28:00.000-07:00

Seattle is slightly more walkable than DC, at least according to this site. Woo hoo! Since I depend on my feet to get me lots of places, I'm glad to see this list. I'll definitely keep it in mind next time I move.

summer reading

2009-07-16T16:12:00.000-07:00

Remember when you were a kid and you spent summer days curled up with a good book? When you dutifully went to the library to report how many books you'd read and receive the corresponding stamps on your reading chart? When you learned that genre was pronounced ZHAHN-ruh, not JEN-ray? Lest I betray myself as a total nerd, sure - I rode my bike, played in the sprinkler, and ate popsicles. But reading and summer are inextricably linked in my mind.

So, imagine my joy when I moved into my new house at the beginning of a sunny June and found it teeming with books - compelling volumes, titles that I'd wanted to read forever, on a wide swath of subjects. And there's a porch swing that's perfect for reading. I'm in heaven!

Now I don't want to bore the audience with book reviews, but I just can't contain myself from sharing some brief reflections on what I've read so far.

Two captivating books about the refugee experience:
1. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman - the true story of a Hmong family in California whose child has severe epilepsy. It's the story of how her family and her American doctors approach her care from two vastly different worlds/thought processes/beliefs/value systems. I started the book expecting to agree with the doctors who, I thought, would know more than refugees about health care. But by the end of the book, I couldn't say one approach was more right or valid than another. Both groups were doing the best they knew how. I was left agape numerous times when I realized the extent to which people were talking and interacting without actually communicating effectively. Highly recommended book for anyone in health care or who works with refugees!

2. What is the What? by Dave Eggers - a novel based on the life of Valentino Achak Deng, one of the "Lost Boys" of Sudan. It brought tears to my eyes more than once. I can't stop thinking about Sudan now. A lot of Sudanese refugees were resettled in the Seattle area, and I'm totally on the lookout for them b/c after everything they've been through, I would love to help make their lives a little easier just by being kind to them.

One of my roommates is a counselor, so:
3. Passionate Marriage by David Schnarch - this book about marriage counseling taught me about the importance of "differentiation" in relationships, though I feel like most of it went over my head because I'm not 50 and married to someone I can't stand

4. a book I can't find at the moment for therapists about how to have a good relationship with your clients - made me want to get into therapy!

And in a house of Christians:
5. What's So Amazing About Grace? by Philip Yancey - an ok book, sort of dated (1997) in its references. The audience he's aiming at seems to be conservative evangelical Christians who are afraid of gay people, and he wants them to be more grace-filled. Since I don't fall into that group, I didn't read it as voraciously as the other books above, but it's still got some good points. In general, I skew towards mercy over justice on that continuum anyway...are there any books called "What's So Just about Justice?"

That's it for this installment of Michelle's Summer Reading Program. Next on the list: My Name is Asher Lev. To the porch swing!

simple reminders

2009-07-15T20:40:00.000-07:00

My undergrad alma mater gives alums two free career counseling appointments a year - sweet! Now considering how much I paid them in tuition, I can't say if it's really "free" or not, but that's beside the point. I dressed in my best DC casual/Seattle fancy clothes and headed over to take advantage of the offer. Since I've been sending out resumes and attempting to network to no avail, I figured professional help might be in order.

The career counselor who I met with had some great pointers and tips. She said I need to identify my top strengths and skills that I can bring to a job. But the way she said it caught me a little off guard - she told me that I'm listing the gifts God has given me to share with the world. The mention of "God" sort of jolted me (in a good way)! My graduate school was not a Christian college, and none of the organizations I worked for in DC had any religious affiliation. I hadn't realized how I just got used to people not talking about God in professional settings. Including God in my resume bullet points hadn't really crossed my mind before, but I like the idea. It's not like I'm bragging then or trying to stretch the truth when I fill out job applications; I'm simply stating what talents God has given me.

She also told me that if I need help identifying my career-related skills and talents, I should ask people who know me what they think. So, people who know me, got any ideas? Don't worry, you're not boosting my ego; you're identifying God's good work :)

in my mind's eye

2009-07-12T22:57:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I think my brain has a mind of its own. When I lay in bed trying to fall asleep, my brain just won't shut off. I was reminded of this phenomenon the other night as I had visions of jewelry floating across my closed eyelids like a continual circuit of sparkles and beads. Reason? I spent the weekend selling jewelry at the West Seattle Summerfest. After 3 days in a booth with such lovely creations, I just couldn't get them out of my head. When I closed my eyes, I could see specific necklaces and pairs of earrings, and it was like I was rearranging them in their display cases.

It's kind of an annoying habit to have because it prevents me from winding down at the end of the day, and it's happened to be before. Frequently. When I worked at a grocery store in high school, images of groceries filled my head as I tried to sleep. I would lay there, mentally sorting refrigerated products and canned goods, creating a perfectly packed sack over and over again. During my time as a bureaucrat, my pre-sleep virtual slideshow was forms, forms, and more forms. I'd fill them out in my head and even start processing files sometimes. If I have to fixate on something, at least vintage jewelry is a more artistic topic than paperwork and produce.

the joy of sleeping

2009-07-09T09:38:00.000-07:00

With my days unstructured as they are, I've fallen into a routine of going to sleep around 1:00 a.m. and waking up at 9:00. This is more or less the same sleep schedule I followed in grad school (when work allowed). Perhaps it means I am, at heart, a night owl. Sure, I can appreciate the splendor of a sunrise, the fresh promise morning brings. But given my choice, I'd rather embrace the beauty of the night.

One thing I've noticed being up so late - BBC likes to use a lot of 'quotes' in their headlines. When I check my Google news site before bed, it's morning in Europe. So I get to see the top BBC stories before hitting the hay. Invariably, they'll post something like this: Pakistan displaced 'can go home'. Why all the quoting, BBC? Aren't you creative enough to come up with your own headlines?

egomania: an addendum

2009-06-24T19:02:00.000-07:00

I forgot to mention another group of Seattlites I recently encountered who were on an ego trip: contra dancers. Last week, Matt and I went to check out a contra dance in Lake City. Back in DC, I used to contra dance on occasion at Glen Echo, and Matt's been once or twice as well. I've always found contra dancers to be a quirky but welcoming bunch, eager to indoctrinate newcomers in the ways of the aleman and the courtesy turn. Well, the Lake City dancers have apparently not gotten the message on how to be good at something while being nice to novices.

We showed up slightly after the dance had begun. I mentioned to the lady selling tickets that I used to dance in DC, to which she responded, "At Glen Echo?" I was surprised that someone on the other side of the country knew about my old dance hall, so I said, "Oh, you've heard of it?" She gave me a condescending smile and said she had, but in a way that meant, "Silly little amateur, you don't know anything about the contra world and you don't appreciate what you had!"

When we joined the dancers on the floor, they were forming long lines. (That's how contra works, sort of like a scene from "Pride and Prejudice.") We tried to position ourselves appropriately, but the other dancers immediately jumped all over us, telling us we were in the wrong spots. The caller had just started explaining the dance, and we'd missed the first move. We asked our neighbors what he'd said, and they briefly responded with a mixture of annoyance and superiority. Once the dance got going, I encountered a few people who were forgiving of my mis-steps, but I got the distinct impression that our inexperience was bringing the line down, and it was not appreciated. Needless to say, we did not stay till the last dance. The evening wasn't a complete bust, though. I talked to one guy who was over the moon about an upcoming contra dance convention in Coeur d'Alene. Ah, maybe that's what I should be doing in my free time :)

Based on my bi-coastal experience (and not just on the dance floor), I'm going out on a limb here and saying that DC Washingtonians are more helpful to the inexperienced than Seattle Washingtonians. DC is a place where new interns arrive with the changing of the season, a city that values education and learning. Sure, people can be full of themselves, but what better way to show how smart you are than by sharing your knowledge with others? Seattle is a city filled with smart people too, but perhaps they're a bit more taciturn about their knowledge. If you're hip enough to live here, apparently you should already know everything.

egomania

2009-06-22T22:54:00.000-07:00

This weekend, I re-connected with the soul of Seattle by working at Solstice, a festival in the Fremont neighborhood celebrating the start of summer. What's better than a bunch of naked bike riders get the parade off to a festive beginning? Solstice and Folk Life combine to form what I'd say is Seattle's Mardi Gras. All the interesting residents of this fair city come out to mingle and have a good time, and I got to meet a lot of them while selling gorgeous jewelry. A 20-something girl with dreadlocks complained to her friend about getting stopped at the Canadian border because the Border Patrol wanted to search her car for drugs. A 50-something woman with long black and purple hair told us she doesn't trust blood transfusions, and also that her boyfriend was married, but she didn't let that bother her. I munched on organic vegetarian pizza from PCC (served on a compostable plate) and snacked on SoyJoy samples. Although I was tired by the end of the weekend, I was also relaxed - something I could never say after a day at my old job!

Being immersed in hard core Seattle again, I felt like my real self might be trying to re-emerge. I kind of forgot how living in DC teaches one to interact differently with the world. There, it was all about power, which comes in many forms. In almost any situation, the main question you're trying to answer is, "How can I prove that I'm important?" Did you go to a prestigious school? Work somewhere well-known? Know or work for someone who is DC-famous? Bonus points if you can say yes to all three and also share your informed opinion on the current president of Turkmenistan.

The thing is, some of DC's ego trip is legit. After all, it is the nation's capital. A lot of important things happen there, and a lot of people are involved in making those things happen. Ergo, there are going to be some real, live, actually important people running around town. But then you get the rest of us who kind of get caught up in it all and believe we are important by association, the power spores nestling deep in our lungs and spewing forth with each self-promoting statement we utter. Oh, I mean that *they* utter. I'm no longer one of them...

As I was reminded this weekend, Seattle's got its own brand of egomania that I can embrace. It's called, "We are better than you, but we're too cool to care about it." Seriously, the self-righteousness on display was rather blatant. I'm surprised the pork kabob vendors weren't shooed away by all the proselytizing vegans in attendance. (My reflections on their propaganda really deserve a separate blog entry.) All the recycling and eco-friendliness was awesome for the environment, don't get me wrong, but there was a whiff of superiority about the whole thing, like of course we have compost bins at our festival... you mean [insert lame city] doesn't? GASP!

Then again, maybe people were just being themselves, trying to have a good time, and that's how the other Washingtonians are, too. Whether you like to talk tofurky or Turkmenistan, to each their own. And Seattle has plenty to be proud of in its own right. A lot of creative, innovative things happen here, and there are plenty of creative, innovative people running around to make those things happen. Maybe I can become innovative by association.

this is my island in the sun

2009-06-16T11:01:00.000-07:00

Proving once again it is the most gorgeous place on earth, the Pacific Northwest displayed its beauty this weekend through the San Juan Islands. Everywhere you turn, there is a scenic vista to behold. How could you not love this place? Matt, being the wonderful person he is, decided to give me an experiential birthday present in the form of a trip. We took the ferry from Anacortes on Friday morning to Friday Harbor (if we'd left on Saturday, who knows where we would have ended up...)

View Larger Map
We spent two days on San Juan Island hiking, biking, observing nature, learning about orcas, enjoying the great outdoors and gorgeous weather, checking out art galleries, listening to Canadian radio stations, and eating lots of tasty food. I think my favorite thing I ate was a hot fudge sundae made with blackberry ice cream. Yum! We also learned all about the Pig War, a boundary dispute which was "fought" on this island between Great Britain and the United States in the mid 1800s.

Words can't quite describe the natural beauty of this place. Cameras don't fully capture it either, but that didn't stop me from snapping some pictures :)

Ferries arriving in Friday Harbor

Sunset over Roche Harbor

weighing heavy

2009-06-11T00:16:00.000-07:00

I've found the word I was looking for to describe my relationship with Matt. Of course, English could not fully convey my sentiments. Hebrew will do nicely: the word is kabad, and it's a verb. I heard it in a sermon at my church back in DC (and maybe also the church I used to go to in Seattle). It means "to weigh heavy." One place I remember it being used is in the 10 Commandments, when God says "honor your mother and father." What it's really saying is, give proper consideration to your mother and father, regard them seriously, and weigh them heavily as opposed to lightly in your life (see Fifth Commandment here).

What does this mean in a romantic relationship? Well, it's a better way to describe "serious" if you ask me. I'd say I'm in a weighty relationship, and I mean that in a good way. It's not something I take for granted. Living in the same city as my boyfriend means I now have the opportunity to weigh this relationship heavy and put that into practice on a regular basis. So far, the "considering" part has been pretty easy, since I have lots of time to sit around and ponder my relationship :) As for the "practice" part, well, they say that practice makes perfect...

Hmm, I see it's after midnight, so happy birthday to me! Such deep thoughts to begin my 29th year.

on serious relationships

2009-06-10T00:39:00.004-07:00

Defining romantic relationships is a tricky business. Since each relationship is complicated and unique, labels can be hard to come by, especially labels that are meaningful with the added benefit of being informative. And I'm not even getting into the "boy/girl friend" vs. "partner" debate for what to call your significant other. I'm talking about adjectives, as in, "I am in a _____ relationship." How do you fill in that blank? Good, bad, casual, serious, loving, abusive, new, life-long, troubled, whirlwind, boring, unconventional...the list is endless, really.

I got to thinking about this today when one of my new roommates asked if my current relationship was "serious." I wasn't quite sure how to respond. We aren't very serious people after all - we like to joke around and laugh together, and we're more likely to smile than scowl. But of course, that's not the kind of "serious" she was talking about. If the relationship is not serious, what is it? Inconsequential? Flippant? Shallow? With those antonyms in front of me, it would seem all my past relationships were serious because I cared about them at the time. Oh, well except that one guy who I kind of had lunch with a few times, but he was odd...I eventually became serious about avoiding him.

At any rate, as for my current relationship, I'm not a big fan of the "serious" label because it sounds stuffy and like we belong to a country club. I'll go with "good" until I think of a better adjective, so stay tuned. But right now it's almost 1 A.M. and my vocabulary is slipping.

one week in

2009-06-08T23:29:00.002-07:00

The first week in Seattle brought some good times connecting with old friends and getting to know new faces here. My roommates have been very nice and helpful with me getting settled in. Matt and I have been spending kind of a lot of time together...it's nice to be able to see each other without getting on a plane - almost like we're a normal couple :)

This weekend, we saw The Escape at the Seattle International Film Festival. It's a Danish film about terrorists and kidnapping, but it wasn't quite as action packed as I'd imagined. Should have considered that it's a low budget artistic escape movie, I suppose. Still, it was a nice cultural experience and a good movie. Speaking of cultural experiences, we went out to an Indian restaurant for Matt's birthday and had some interesting morsels, especially dessert. When we asked what the coconut-covered balls were, the waitress said they were cheese and milk. I think I might stick with rice pudding or some non-cheese dessert next time. But all the rest of the food was delicious. I'm glad I can still experience the world in my own backyard here.

the Seattle report

2009-06-03T23:05:00.003-07:00

Hello readers! I have landed in Seattle! Actually, I've been here almost a week now - we rolled in on Friday evening. It was a bit of a whirlwind at first with Matt's family visiting over the weekend, but they were kind enough to help me unload the moving truck. We were good tourists, visited the Space Needle and all. Now life has calmed down and I'm starting to get settled into my house, neighborhood, environment, etc. (Road trip photos here.)

I'm finding it a bit strange to be back in Seattle. Since I lived here for 7 years, I feel that I should know my way around, but I'm rather disoriented. It's a place at once familiar and yet unknown, every corner the intersection of deja vu and bewilderment. I guess 4 years is a long time to be away, and a lot has changed in the interim. For example, apparently pizza boxes go in the "yard waste" bin now. That's cool. There's a new bus tunnel downtown, which is a good idea, but the bus costs freakin' $2.00 for one-zone peak fare and it is so slooooooooow. I paid $2.90 one-way to work on the Metro in DC, and that was a 13 mile trip that took 17 minutes! U Village is bigger than I remember and now it has an H&M. Sweet.

So yes, I'm adapting. The bright sunny weather is definitely helping :) Having a job would also be a plus, but for now I'm revelling in the freedom of unemployment.

Reflections: just eat it, eat it

2009-05-21T19:45:00.003-07:00

Taking a little break from packing to share my thoughts on east/west dining options. While living in DC, I have become a more adventurous eater, though I have no proof that the correlation there implies causation. This is the city where I've tried and enjoyed global cuisine from nearly every continent. (I don't think we have any Antarctican restaurants...) The variety seems to be endless and tasty! Before, I wasn't quite as willing to try new things. It's not that I've completely gotten over my picky tendencies - I've just found something that I like at all sorts of establishments.

Seattle, though, has the exotic factor going for it as well. I remember some delicious Thai and Indian restaurants there a few years back. Seattle definitely has a leg (or fin) up when it comes to seafood, especially salmon. I've had some salmon dishes out here and they are just not the same. And I think the beverage scene's superiority goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway. Good beer out here is hard to find and coffee is even worse. People drink swill with a smile. Sad! They don't know what they are missing. My beverage snobbery did decrease a little over the years here, so I'm looking forward to getting my nose stuck back up in the air on that front.

Reflections: the way you wear your hat

2009-05-20T19:23:00.003-07:00

Making up for lost time, I'll move on to Topic #3: fashion. One of the first things I noticed about DC was that people dressed up a lot more than I was used to. For work here, many people wear a suit every day. Any sort of professional office environment is going to be dressier than Seattle. But, you must also recall that when I lived in the Emerald City, I was working for a little start-up hippie coffee company. Since we rarely interacted with customers in person, no one really cared what we wore. In the summer, when it was "hot," I would definitely wear shorts and a tank top to the office. Hey, no A/C, what are you supposed to do? However, I have a group photo from one of my last days of work where I am wearing jean shorts, a polo shirt, and tennis shoes with socks. I kind of cringe now when I see that picture. What was I thinking?? Can we chalk it up to being young and inexperienced in the ways of shopping?

I guess my point is that I've kind of kicked my wardrobe up a notch, but I'm still not completely east coast. I kind of enjoy dressing nicely from time to time, and I'll try to keep it up on the west side. I'm proud to say I do not (currently) own any flannel, and it will be my goal to keep it that way.

Reflections: looking out my back door

2009-05-20T14:48:00.004-07:00

(my lofty goal of posting daily has fallen by the wayside...)

Top #2: scenery
Washington DC is a city of symbolism, of monuments, of meaningful edifices, of statues... It's a place that, at its inception, had a design and a sense of urban planning. Sure, the design was crafted in part to thwart invading armies, but at least they had an idea of why they were doing what they did. As far as nation's capitals go, it seems pretty nice. Granted, I haven't been to too many other capital cities so my perspective is slightly limited. But still, the scenery is impressive. Call me a bureaucratic nerd, but I like strolling down Pennsylvania Ave and noting the various agencies I pass by. And watching the sun set behind the Washington Monument from the west lawn of the Capitol is a sight few can rival. DC, though, is a very urban landscape. The old rowhouses in Georgetown are cute and all, but where is the natural beauty?

For that, we must turn to Seattle. The last place I lived there before was just a short walk from the western edge of the city, and when the weather was nice, I'd take an evening constitutional around the neighborhood over to 32nd Ave NW and watch the sun set over Shilshole Bay/the Olympic Mountains. For a good year after I moved to DC, whenever I noticed the sun setting, I would instinctually turn my head west and be disappointed to see only buildings, no mountains framing the sun. I miss the snow-capped peaks! And this city is so flat. I need real hills, real valleys, scenic vistas, water, lakes, mountains, trees, rivers. In short, I miss nature. The nice part about Seattle is that you can feel connected to nature without leaving the city - it literally surrounds you, with Elliott Bay and the Olympics to the west, Mt. Rainier to the south, Lake Washington and the Cascades to the east, and...um...stuff to the north. Maybe Mt. Adams? I mean, you've got Canada up there somewhere. That's cool.

In comparison to DC, Seattle is lacking on the urban planning side of things, but that's because it was formed as a boom town during the Alaska gold rush of the late 1800s and it never really got organized after that...or so I've been told.

Reflections: changes in the weather

2009-05-17T07:12:00.004-07:00

In these days leading up to my departure, I'm mulling over a series of postings on East Coast/West Coast life. I have good intentions to post something every day before I depart on Saturday. We'll see if that actually happens, as things are getting a bit hectic around here.

Today's topic: the weather. While some might consider "weather" to be Unnecessary Small Talk Topic #1, as a West Coast transplant, that was the first major difference I noticed. In DC, you get four distinct seasons. Since I've been living the car-free lifestyle out here, I've had the chance to really get in touch with the elements. I've slipped and slid my way down icy winter sidewalks with a scarf wrapped over my nose while I attempt to breathe in the sharp, arctic wind. The fresh, new cherry blossoms in spring are a welcome sight, and as leaves return to the trees, I start to think life is worth living again. Summers bring sweltering heat and oppressive humidity, and 30 seconds after I leave the house I wonder why I bothered showering. Summer nights are warm (if a bit buggy), and I never need a jacket. When crisp fall arrives, I get a little spring in my step from crunching leaves underfoot.

The intensity of weather out here is what makes me stop and take notice. Rarely do I feel a gentle breeze; gusts of wind send my hair flying in every direction as I walk to work. Drizzle is uncommon; sudden thunderstorms unleash their torrents on the city with little warning. DC doesn't do things halfway, and apparently the atmosphere is in on the game.

Seattle, by contrast, sees its seasons change gradually. While winter storms can pack a punch, the default weather is mostly cloudy with a chance of showers. In a place where you don't see the sun as often, you really appreciate it when it appears. And you just can't beat late summer in the Pacific Northwest - warm days, low humidity, perfect weather for a backyard BBQ. Now that I've experienced East Coast weather patterns for 4 years, I wonder what it will be like to re-adapt to the Seattle climate. I mean, I've become an umbrella user...I'll be shunned!

big news

2009-05-07T17:44:00.004-07:00

As my sister and I used to say when we were playing dollhouse, "[harmonica tweet] I have an announcement to make!" I'm moving back to Seattle. Yay!!!! I put in my 2 weeks notice at work today. It wasn't too dramatic, and most everyone seemed happy/jealous. Heh heh :)

Since my blog links to FB, I figure this is the best way to get the word out w/all the relevant details. I hope no one feels like this is too impersonal...I've already told some of you in person at least! For those of you who don't know, I used to live in Seattle for 7 years. I moved from there to DC and have been here almost 4 years now. In some ways, I feel like I've changed and grown up a lot living in DC, and I'm interested to re-discover Seattle as a semi-east coaster.

Moving date: May 23

Moving method: rental truck driven by Matt & Michelle

Route: Northerly, mostly I-90

Expected arrival in Seattle: May 29

Where I will live: sub-letting a room in Ravenna from a friend of a friend for the summer

Where I will work: still working on that one

What I will do: hang out with Matt, enjoy being in the same time zone as him :), catch up w/old friends, visit the fam, marvel at the gorgeous NW scenery, not die of heat exhaustion in the summer, drink good coffee, find a job, get to know the city again, etc.

So, now you know the news! We're hosting a combined going away (for me)/graduation (for my roommate) party on May 16 at our place. Everyone's invited! She is looking for someone to take over my spot in the apartment (Arlington). It's an awesome location and she is a wonderful person to live with, so let me know if you know anyone who might be interested.

see the world

2009-05-03T08:49:00.003-07:00

Yesterday was Passport DC's Embassy Open House when embassies open their doors (for free!) and let us regular people come in for a closer look. It has definitely been one of my favorite things about living here. I met up with a couple friends and visited Haiti, Korea, the Kyrgyz Republic, Iraq, Nepal, Finland, Sri Lanka, Benin, and Serbia. It was awesome! We saw a traditional Korean tea ceremony, swayed to the beat of a Beninese dance party, had our names written in Tamil and Sinhala, and tried lots of tasty foods. It wasn't as crowded this year as it has been in the past - maybe the occasional rain showers scared people away, or maybe they're saving their energy for Europe next weekend. I thought the weather was great - temperatures in the low 70s made walking a few miles much easier.

I put a few photos up here. Also, I was inspired to work on my knowledge of world geography and found a site w/some good quizzes.

Eugene Lee: newest musical sensation

2009-04-26T18:29:00.003-07:00

One of my friends from community group just put out a CD. It's awesome! You can check it out and hear some songs at http://www.myspace.com/eugeneleesings (no need to be a myspace member to view the page). He's a singer-songwriter with a nice, mellow sound.

I'm listening to the CD right now, and it's oddly cool to listen to the music of someone you actually know. I mean, Eugene gives me a ride home from CG most weeks. I'm practically a groupie!

misheard

2009-04-19T08:19:00.003-07:00

My extended family and I have a history of mis-hearing song lyrics, and we like to crack up over our errors. One of my favorites is my aunt who, when she was little, thought the Easter song went, "Up from the gravy he arose." Ha ha!

Recently, I came across a photo caption which made me realize I mis-heard the chorus of Beyonce's song, "Single Ladies." (Apparently I'm not the only one who's confused about this song.)

Real lyrics: If you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it
I heard: If you like it then be sure to put a ring on it

The real version makes a lot more sense. I wondered why, in a girl power song, Beyonce seemed to be encouraging all the men in the club to find a fiancee...

read all inserts before proceeding

2009-04-16T19:30:00.002-07:00

Um, I may have spoken too soon on the "I lost my old passport!" front...yeah, just read the insert that came with my new passport and it says, "you may receive your newly issued book and your returned citizenship evidence in two separate mailings." Wow, I'm really having a flashback to 5th grade right now where we had some in-class exercise. Item #1 said "read all directions before you begin." Numbers 2 - 9 were really complicated activities. Item #10 said something like, "Write your name on the back of the paper, walk up to the teacher's desk, and hand it in." Of course, I did not read all the directions first and only caught on when other people started turning their papers in really fast. Ah, life lessons that we learn over and over again...

the past is lost

2009-04-16T15:52:00.002-07:00

Did you know that when you mail in your old U.S. passport for renewal, they don't send it back to you? Well, let me tell you, that's how it works. My first-ever passport was set to expire in May, and I don't like the feeling of being trapped in one country. What if I need to flee the authorities? Or maybe just get a bee in my bonnet to climb Machu Picchu? I like having freedom of movement, so I sent in my passport renewal application last month, along with my expiring passport. It never occurred to me to make copies of all the stamps (despite my line of work...), as I just assumed they'd return the old one to me, maybe stamped "cancelled" or something. But I just received my new one in the mail, and sadly, it was all alone in the envelope. Ack! I just lost the last 10 years of my life! All my stamps, my footprints on foreign soil, gone forever. I'm left with only photos and my international turtle collection to console me. I better go make a list of my entries and exits before I forget everything...

the last supper

2009-04-04T09:43:00.004-07:00

Thursday, my last night in KC, I wanted to have a nice final dinner. No one in my group was interested in exploring the restaurant scene, so I ventured out alone. I was about to settle for take-out Chinese when I saw a sign for Bombay Palace. Indian food? Score! I stuck my head inside and saw some nice decor and actual Indians working there (unlike my previous dinner at the Mexican-themed On the Border where all the servers and diners looked like Midwestern farmers...). It looked promising. I took a deep breath and decided to try something new: dining alone at a sit-down, order-at-your-table, leave-a-tip type of establishment.

At first, I pretended like I was a restaurant critic. I noted the prompt attention I received from the servers and the alternating colors of napkins on the tables. But then I decided if I were a critic, I would have brought a friend along with me so I would look less suspicious (and so I could review two main dishes at once). Then I made up a story in my mind about how I was a vegetarian from DC who was having a heck of a time finding veggie-friendly food in BBQ land. Once I had that thought in my head, I had to carry it through by ordering a vegetarian entree, which was quite tasty. I can't remember what it was called, but the menu said it was the house specialty. It was a mixture of carrots, green beans, peas, bell peppers, cauliflower, other unknown vegetables, and chickpeas in a rich, savory, mouthwatering tomato-based sauce. The rice was also delicious. I was a happy diner! Perhaps eating alone caused me to pay more attention to the food than I normally would.

Not sure if the wait staff was taking pity on me or if they do this for everyone, but I also got a little fried veggie appetizer, and they brought me some rice pudding, a fried dough ball in honey, and a cup of chai for dessert. Divine! Oh, and after I'd ordered, a whole family of Indians came in for dinner. Good sign, good sign. I give the Bombay Palace two thumbs up!

On an unrelated note, I also visited the World War I museum. It's really well done, and if you're ever in the neighborhood, I definitely recommend checking it out.

dining delights

2009-04-01T19:20:00.003-07:00

As long as I've got a per diem burning a hole in my pocket, I try to take advantage of restaurant options I don't have at home. I asked some of my fellow workers if they wanted to get dinner last night, but they were like, "No thanks, I'll just go to Outback." As in, Outback Steakhouse in the hotel's parking lot. Good grief, live a little people! Meanwhile, I got a recommendation from one of the hotel managers and tried out Gates BBQ. Best. Baked. Beans. Ever! Seriously tasty.

I got lunch at Sonic today which is not exotic, but their stupid nation-wide commercials make me want to go there when I see one. Yesterday was the Pita Pit. Apparently they have a location in DC but it's campus at GW, and I'm probably not going to go over there anytime soon...at any rate, the pitas are great!

paper-pushing and sightseeing

2009-03-31T15:16:00.006-07:00

I'm here in KC for work - I'm part of a quality review team to audit some files that the agency has processed. Checklists! Standard Operating Procedures! Happy happy joy joy! Yeah, ok, so it's not quite as action-packed as my normal job, but it's a nice change of pace. We've assembled people from a bunch of offices to complete this project, and it's always interesting to discover how the agency operates differently around the country.

The outside-of-work part is definitely more interesting, though. Yesterday afternoon, I took advantage of having a rental car and hit up an impressive monument to American capitalism, Legends Outlet Mall. It's hard to find good deals that are metro-accessible in the big city, you know? So I was quite pleased with myself for not maxing out my credit card after visiting Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, and Old Navy. According to a native Kansan I know, the "legends" that the mall is named after are legendary Kansans. There are a number of statues around there, and if I'd known their story, I totally would've taken pictures. There's one bronze statue about 10 feet tall of a guy standing knee-deep in a pond with a fishing pole. A famous Kansas pond-fisher, no doubt... Oh, ha ha ha! I just looked it up and found out that was President Eisenhower. Sorry, I didn't fully appreciate your sculpture, Ike!

hoppin' on my hog

2009-03-30T18:38:00.005-07:00

My first stop in Kansas City was the Harley-Davidson factory. My knowledge of motorcycles increased about 1000% in an hour. Also, my premonition that I would encounter quirky characters proved correct. One of my fellow tourers was on his way from California to Maryland on a 1970 Harley-Davidson Sportster modeled after the motorcycle from a short-lived TV show called Then Came Bronson. There are other guys who also have made replica motorcycles, and this year is the 40th anniversary of the show, so they had a reunion in California. They've got a website and everything. Hey, you've gotta have a hobby, right?

Yeah, so I thought the tour was ok. If you like Harleys I bet you would think it was awesome! Here are some photos:

Front of the factory

A cool motorcycle

My rebel look

crowded NY airspace

2009-03-29T16:56:00.002-07:00

I took my chances flying to NY for the weekend - haven't done that since Thanksgiving '05 when my United flight out of IAD was delayed for 5 hours and I was left thinking, "I should have taken the bus." Thus, I heeded my own advice for the last 3.5 years. But this weekend's trip was short to begin with, so I was willing to gamble on flying for the big payoff of less travel time. I took Delta on the DCA-JFK route, and the way up on Saturday AM was totally fine, on time, etc. But lest everything go exactly as planned, we did encounter a delay on the return flight this afternoon. The pilot said something about checking a circuit breaker in the cockpit. A maintenance guy came on, fixed it, and left, and that only took about 15 minutes. But we ended up taking off 1.5 hours late because the mechanical delay meant that we lost our spot in line. If you've ever flown out of JFK, you know that place can be a mad house. At least the pilot let us use our electronic devices while we waited for our turn.

Even with the delay, though, I think it was still faster to fly than take the bus. It gave me more time to eat crumb cake and all the other goodies one would associate with a 90th birthday party!

blog to become mildly interesting again

2009-03-27T15:21:00.003-07:00

After blobbing around the apartment for nearly a month, I'm doing much better. I think my immune system is sounding the final death knell on whatever bugs have been harassing me. So that means it's time to do exciting things again!

First order of business: 30 hours in NY. My grandpa is turning 90, so the whole family is gathering to celebrate. Next: Kansas City, here I come! Loyal readers of the blog may recall I was there about a year ago for training. Now I've been selected for a special project team, and I'll be spending a week there at our main processing center. I should have some time to see the sights, and I'll also get to hang out w/a few people that I met at training. It's pretty cool to have the chance to visit people you didn't know if you'd see again.

Oh, lest you think my life has been completely dull, I hosted a little gathering at my place this week which featured homemade pizza. It was totally delicious. I wanted to take a picture but I had dough all over my hands when I thought about getting my camera. We had toppings galore, so the pizzas took a bit longer to cook than normal, but it was worth it. In addition to sauce and copious amounts of mozzarella, mine had bacon, sausage, ham, artichoke hearts, green peppers, and feta cheese. Tasty!

report from sick bay

2009-03-21T07:12:00.002-07:00

Physical health is a tenuous balancing act. Apparently, my immune system was performing a high-wire act for too long, and a few weeks ago, it waved its white flag of surrender to the invading pathogens. So yes, I've been sick - at first the doctor thought it was strep, but it turned out to be tonsillitis + mono. Wow, fun times! I realized I hadn't posted anything on my blog in awhile, and since I have nothing else much to talk about, I figured this was as good a topic as any.

I've been taking it easy, sitting on the couch, watching TV/DVDs, and in general not doing much. It's pretty boring. But my roommate took good care of me, buying me soup and other easy-to-swallow foods. My cousin, who is a nurse, took me grocery shopping and made sure I didn't pass out. And Matt even braved the toxic cloud to come visit me. That was nice :) I missed 6 days of work - my mother thinks I should have taken more time off, but I'm almost out of sick days and I was going stir-crazy in the apartment.

One thing that has been interesting: hearing everyone else's mono stories. Friends at church kept coming up to me last week saying, "Oh, when I had mono I was sick for 3 months; I missed a whole semester of school; I didn't get out of bed for weeks." Uh, thanks for the encouragement, people! Maybe I have a mild case or something because I'm actually feeling about 80% back to normal after 3 weeks. The key to recovery, I'd say, was the steroids, which allowed me to swallow again without cringing in pain. So yes, I think I'm almost back to the land of the living. Hooray!

freet froo

2009-03-07T18:11:00.003-08:00

Families have odd little expressions that, as a child, you assume are totally normal. Then you get older, interact with the outside world, and find out that actually, you're a total weirdo. (See Act 1 of this episode of This American Life for more proof.) Well, I might have just walked into such a situation.

Have you ever heard of the phrase "freet froo"? Here's an example of when you would say it: your younger sister gets off the bus. A boy from her class gets off behind her. He turns to her and says "bye" before heading his own way. You, as the older sister, would say, "freet froo! He said 'bye' to you!"

Another way to express this sentiment is by whistling a noise sometimes referred to as a cat call. Or also pet birds might make the noise. But to me, freet froo is more of a teasing thing to say, not a full-fledged cat call. Anybody want to back me up on this? Or is this one of those family expressions I've been using forever, thinking everyone else understands, when really they're all left scratching their heads?

secret life of bees

2009-02-16T19:04:00.004-08:00

Life has many deep, symbolic moments if you just stop to appreciate them. Last Friday afternoon, I experienced one. Matt and I had been at the American History museum checking out the Lincoln exhibit and such, since it was his 200th birthday. Abe's, not Matt's :) The museum closes at 5:30, which is too early for dinner, in my opinion. So we stopped by Starbucks. As I sat waiting for my (bland White Peach) tea to cool down, I saw a little wiggly creature making its way across the window sill. Matt tried to lean over nonchalantly and block my line of sight with his arm, but it was too late - I had already spotted the yellow jacket. Yes, I admit to a slight bee phobia. This one was crawling along slowly, practically slipping off the edge at times, and in all it appeared non-threatening. However, yellow jackets are not known for their kind and pleasant demeanor, so my first thoughts turned to self-preservation.

"I think you should kill it," I told Matt. "Put it out of its misery." Matt, not a bee murderer by nature, paused to consider my totally rational suggestion.

"Maybe God put you here to kill this bee," I pointed out. "Maybe some little kid will come in here later who is deathly allergic to bees. She'll try to pick it up, it will sting her, and she'll die. Think of the children!" I implored.

Matt paused, knowing I sometimes change my mind. We kept a close eye on the little critter as it turned and headed away from us on the window sill.

"On second thought, maybe you shouldn't kill it. Who are we to play God in this bee's life? Maybe it is not God's will for the bee to die today." My philosophical side was taking over.

"If I kill the bee, that's what God willed," Matt said. Seems logical, but is it true? We then had to debate what role we should play in the bee's fate.

Eventually, Matt took a napkin and knocked the yellow jacket onto the floor, where it continued its slow crawl away from our table. It made an epic journey (for an insect) over the condiment island where it made its way up the edge and took up a post on the counter. We were now fixated on the bee, but we tried not to stare at it since we knew our stares would attract attention and possibly alter the course of fate. Soon, a tourist couple came along (perhaps Italian)? The man, spotting the bee, stood and looked at it for a second. Then he took a water cup, turned it upside down, and trapped the winged traveler. The man slid the cup over a napkin and took the make-shift hive up to the cash register. This was a totally unexpected development! Who would have thought that this bee would have experienced such a turn of events??

Soon, a manager came over to collect the invader. The ultimate fate of the bee remains unknown, but since the cup disappeared into a back room, and we were in a second-story Starbucks, it's more likely than not that the cup was the bee's final resting place. Hmm, so really, that dramatic turn of events wasn't so important after all. What did Mr. Yellow Jacket do with those extra 10 minutes of life? He crawled across the floor. Futility, as death was imminent. His fate was sealed when he emerged from his winter home to visit a coffee shop, really. I wonder how long he'd been in there.

So, at the end of the day, Matt and I exercised our God-like powers of mercy, but the bee died anyway. And that's your inspiration for the day.

false advertising

2009-02-03T14:55:00.003-08:00

One of my pet peeves is when products pretend to be healthy, but they aren't. Example: Nutri-Grain Yogurt Bar. The other day, I stopped at CVS on my way home, and I was really hungry so I decided to buy a snack. I went down the food aisle and saw that Nutri-Grain Yogurt Bars were on sale. There was an eyecatching blurb on the front about their calcium content. It might have also mentioned whole grains. Hmm, I thought, that sounds healthy. So I picked up the box to look at the nutrition label. And what do you think was the first ingredient? Wheat? Oats? No, it was high fructose corn syrup, of course. What a disgrace! If a sweetner is the #1 ingredient, you can't convince me that the product is good for me.

So instead, I bought a cherry cheese danish. I didn't even look at the nutrition label. I'm sure it was packed with transfat and lots of other bad stuff, but its label made no claims of health benefits that would come with consumption. If I'm going to eat something bad for me, it might as well be really bad. Maybe this is example of the old saying, cutting off my nose to spite my face, but I prefer not to support false adverstising of "healthy" food.

Organizational Personalities

2009-02-01T10:08:00.002-08:00

Can Myers-Briggs personality indicators be applied to groups or organizations? I've only ever seen this test interpreted on an individual level. I was thinking about my agency today and have come to the conclusion that it has an ESTJ personality. Now obviously, not everyone who works there shares the same personality type. We employees conform to the environment in which we work to perform as expected. For me, as an ENFJ, I've got a 50% match, but I can definitely feel the disconnect with the N and F parts of my personality at times. Lately, it's been the S-N split that is driving me nuts, as I'd prefer to look at the big picture rather than being bogged down in stupid little details of the present. I wonder what it would mean if you were an INFP working there? Are you out of touch with your true self? Do you have a split work/home personality?

the wheels on the bus go round and round

2009-02-01T06:03:00.003-08:00

Having relied on public transportation for the last 3 1/2 years, I've come to appreciate the train/bus service here in the DC region. Yes, I complain about it when it causes me problems, but when it works, it works well. And I've got to say, it makes my life more exciting. Example: Friday night, I didn't have any particular plans. I needed to get a few household items that I could have purchased at my neighborhood CVS, but I knew my bill would be substantially cheaper if I went to Target. Plus, I really like Target's dishwasher soap pellets. So, my Friday night entertainment was taking the bus to Target and home while trying not to get run over. Yeah, Seven Corners is not a very pedestrian-friendly suburban area...but it was an adventure, tromping through icy weeds on the side of the road while trying not to impale myself on knocked-over road signs.

If I had a car, just think how boring the whole episode would have been. Leave work, get in car, drive to Target, purchase items, drive home. No crusing down uncharted roads, admiring the woods blanketed in icy snow. No observing interesting passengers speaking a variety of languages. And driving probably would have cost more than $1.25. Yep, public transportation works for me, one individual who only buys what she can carry. Some day I realize I'll need a car again, but until that time comes, I'm content to let someone else do the driving.

test your own bias

2009-01-24T06:15:00.004-08:00

Ever wanted to test your subconscious levels of prejudice towards various social groups? Now you can! [Project Implicit]

So far I've only taken the test on bias for/against Arab Muslims. My results:

Your data suggest little to no automatic preference between Other People and Arab Muslims.

Ok, that's good. The test is not perfect, but I'm glad it said my perceptions of myself match reality. And prejudice is a bad thing in my line of work.

fugitive from justice

2009-01-15T15:55:00.003-08:00

Apparently ignoring your mail can get you into trouble. I got a scary-looking letter today from Arlington County...it is a summons! I am summoned to appear in court and register my vehicle or face all sorts of dire consequences. I do vaguely remember getting a letter about registering my vehicle in Arlington County a few months back, but I disregarded it. Why? Because I DON'T FREAKING OWN A CAR! What in the heck are they doing sending me threatening letters about how I will be charged with a Class 3 misdemeanor? If they want to make people register their cars, here is an idea: ticket unregistered cars that are parked around here. Don't harass us earth lovers living the car-free lifestyle. Seriously, so ridiculous.

Since they were so ominously mean in the letter, though, I decided I better respond. So I checked off the box for "I do not own or park a car in Arlington County" and will mail it in tomorrow. I also added a few exclamation points of spite on the form for good measure. Hopefully they don't find me in contempt of court...

not to toot my own horn...

2009-01-13T18:55:00.002-08:00

But me and my peeps - such trend setters :)

Marrakesh: Culinary Destination of the Year

2008: an addendum

2009-01-10T07:09:00.003-08:00

It has come to my attention that some people (cough cough, the Oregonians, cough cough) felt slighted by their lack of a shout out in the previous post. Ok, yes, there were a lot more things that I could have mentioned about 2008, and obviously a few details may have been overlooked. I offer this addendum to add some additional layers to the story of the year.

2008 was full of people and cross-country travel. The most exciting day of my life, ever, bar none, I'll never have a more thrilling day than this one, was in June when my dad, mom, and brother (Josiah, age 15, quite a looker, ladies!) landed at Washington Dulles airport and I picked them up in my cousin's car. Oh, the joy of family! Nothing can compare! I wish they would come and visit me every weekend, sleep on my couch, eat my food, and tell my roommate stories of my childhood. That would be awesome!

Yes, the fam did come to visit. They were here for about a week and did a good job of being DC tourists all by themselves when I had to work. We had a fun time and it was nice to have them out here to see my turf. Then they headed up to NY to visit some other relatives and I joined them for the 4th of July. Later in the summer, I flew out to Washington/Oregon for a lovely vacation, escaping the east coast's heat and humidity. My extended family rented a beach house at the Oregon coast where my cousins and siblings discovered some sort of insect which they have dubbed a "sandcracker." I never saw one, so I'm not exactly sure what they are, but they sound like small, translucent, coastal cockroaches to me.

There is my report on What I Did With My Family Last Year. Have I omitted any pertinent information? If so, my deepest apologies. I also did lots of other stuff in 2008 which was important and meaningful, but this blog is narcissistic enough without me recounting every day of my life and how I felt about it...

Happy New Year

2009-01-09T15:02:00.004-08:00

It's time for the traditional year-in-review post. Come on, everybody's doing it!

2008 was a year filled with change and excitement. Now, I suppose I could say that about every year, since I think lots of things are exciting. But 2008 really was pretty interesting. I went from living the luxurious life of a grad student writing her thesis to the hectic yet better-paid life of a full-time worker bee. That's taken a little getting used to, since I have to go to bed at a reasonable hour, sit at a desk all day, and don't get much vacation time. But I was definitely ready to be done with school, and I feel like I sometimes use my degree in my job, so that's nice. Plus this transition hasn't been nearly as weird as when I finished undergrad. Back then, I remember feeling really disoriented when I came home from work and had no homework to do, no papers to write, no club meetings to attend, no friends to go to the cafeteria with. Grad school was more of a "real life" experience, I suppose, plus I worked a lot while I was in school, so maybe that made it easier to adapt.

Another change was moving to Virginia. I've got to say, it's a good life over here on the other side of the river, even if they are trying to keep us out of DC for inauguration. It's a nice state and I was happy to contribute to turning Virginia blue :)

I got to visit some cool places this year, Morocco topping the list. I'm proud of myself for actually going on this trip and not chickening out, because it was a lovely experience. Morocco is a beautiful country and a pretty cheap place to visit, especially in the off season. Mint tea will always bring back memories.

I also spent some time in Texas, a place I never really planned to go before and have no strong desire to visit again. Work sent me there for training for 6 weeks. The classes were dull but the social life made up for it, since that's where I met Matt. Yes, definitely a highlight of the year! I'm not going to get all sappy here; I'll just say that being in a good relationship is amazingly better than being in a bad relationship, or a non-relationship, or whatever. It's as if a light came on in my head and I'm finally like, oh, now I understand why people go out and date and try to meet someone - it's so they can be in relationships and be happy! Maybe that's already obvious to everyone, but it hadn't really clicked for me yet. So yeah, it's pretty cool. The only un-cool part is that we don't live in the same city...or state...or time zone. But as my roommate says, things have a way of working out for me, so we'll just have to see what lies ahead.

Here's hoping that 2009 brings more adventure and excitement!

holiday plans

2008-12-20T06:56:00.003-08:00

Christmas is almost here and I'm bouncing off the walls! True, my hyperkinetic movements could be caused by the mass amounts of sugar I've consumed in the past weeks...and there are more parties to come! I only have to work 2 days this week, which is pretty cool. On Wednesday, I'll be joining the ranks of insane people who travel on Christmas Eve. Destination: Pierre, South Dakota. I kind of expect the crowds to thin out as I get closer to my destination...especially since my last plane will only hold like 25 people. And why am I going to South Dakota, you might ask? It's time to meet the family, as in Matt's family, on the wide open prairies. I can't help but imagine a scene out of The Long Winter, though Matt assures me that the house is well-insulated and the larder well-stocked. I hope they have a false wall with grain stored behind it from which we can make coarse brown bread...you know, in case the trains get blocked and the cows' noses freeze to the ground. At any rate, I'm excited to meet the fam and all - so far, I've only met his brother, so this should be fun! I'll be there till Sunday.

For New Year's, I'm heading to Oregon. Such a jet-setting lifestyle I have :) Since the president was benevolent and gave us the 26th off for free, I had an extra day of leave burning a hole in my pocket. And I think I feel a little guilty about not going home for Christmas. So yep, I'll be hopping back on a plane on New Year's Eve and flying west yet again. I know some of you Oregonians read this blog, so I'll extend an invitation to get together if you're around. But at the same time, I'm torn because I'm primarily going to visit my family, so I don't really want to ditch them. I'm leaving Sunday morning (Jan 4) - I hope no one gets offended if I don't get the chance to see you this trip. If only I had mountains of vacation time, I'd visit you all!

So there's the story. It's going to be a busy couple of weeks. I better go eat some more cookies to fortify myself for the adventures ahead :)

immunity

2008-12-07T07:37:00.003-08:00

Do I have a wimpy immune system or something? It seems that whenever I get sick, it takes me at least a week to get over whatever bug has attacked me. The latest invader has been a rhinovirus, which I'm fairly certain I acquired by working in the nursery at church on Sunday. One of the little angels sneezed all over me...and two days later I woke up feeling less than chipper. Now I'm on day 6 of this cold and I kind of go in waves of feeling better and worse. It's so annoying! I want to run around and do stuff, but I want to give my body a chance to recover. I was feeling better on Thursday, so I went to a dinner event, got home rather late, and didn't get enough sleep. Then on Friday at work I could feel myself going downhill as my sinuses clogged and my throat ached. Grrrrr. I do not appreciate you, virus!

I also don't appreciate how being sick puts me in a bad mood, a fact which does not bode well for my future. You know, you hear about all these people who, when faced with a life-threating illness, respond with strength and hearty resolve, "You won't get me down! I'm a fighter and I believe I will recover!" Ummm, yeah, I might not be one of those people. If I so much as stub my toe, I have to writhe around in pain for a few minutes. (It's true - ask my mother about my overly-dramatic teenage years and walking into doorframes.)

Sigh. I wish I were a little bit tougher.

does my oven speak Spanish?

2008-11-30T17:31:00.003-08:00

The best decision I made when I was 13 was taking Spanish as one of my electives. I mean, 15 years later, it's still paying dividends! Understanding Spanish is very useful in my current job, and in general I feel like knowing a second language opens the world up. Like, say I went to France, and I didn't want to seem like an American. I could just tell people in Spanglish that I was from Chile or something, and then I bet they'd be way nicer to me.

Right, so the point is, I like to keep up the Espanol, and sometimes I do so by talking to myself. Today I was making a frozen pizza. Our oven takes forrrrrrrrrever to heat up, so when it finally sounded the "I'm preheated" beep, I started talking to it sarcastically about how long it took to get ready, and was it sure it didn't need two more hours to preheat because it's not like I was hungry or anything. Then I realized that I was speaking Spanish to the oven. I have no idea why! The pizza was like tomato-pesto, which is pretty Italian. But it's nice to know I can have sarcastic conversations with my appliances in a foreign language...

thankful

2008-11-26T12:57:00.002-08:00

In the spirit of the season, here are some things for which I'm giving thanks this year.

a full-time, stable job that I enjoy a good 80% of the time
a nice, warm apartment that is a major step up from my previous quarters
my church community group, which is full of awesome people
my family, who keeps me entertained across the miles
Matt, who has proven nearly unflappable (that's a good balance thing, given my proclivity towards flappability!)

and last but not least...

the increased availability of food made without high-fructose corn syrup!

my life as a hipster

2008-11-23T08:33:00.002-08:00

In the past 9 days, I have attended no less than 4 artistic events in the DC area. That should qualify me as some sort of hipster, right? It's a bit odd that I don't do more stuff like this, actually, being a former Seattleite and all. Maybe I'm starting to embrace my inner grunge rocker. Here's a run-down for those who'd like to know.

Last Friday: saw Synecdoche, New York. It was trippy. I make no claims of being a film critic - my gut reaction was that it portrayed the absurdity and universal tragedy of life. Themes: time is relative; everyone dies; art is truth (or is it?).

Last Sunday: went to a live show at Iota featuring Denison Witmer and two other artists whose names I forget. Iota is a great space to have a concert b/c they actually have chairs to sit in. The three performers were all the singer/songwriter types. I enjoyed just soaking in the songs, and they were happy enough that I didn't turn into a huge blob of melancholy by the end of the show.

Friday: some people from my church have formed a couple of bands, and they were playing at The Red and The Black over on H St. That's right, H St NE, the vibrant new urban hot-spot. Yeah, apparently "vibrant" is a code word for "sketchy." Very glad I got a ride from the metro over there. This club lacked the ambiance of Iota as it was a second floor, standing-room-only performance venue. The odd thing was that it was packed with church people, and everyone knew that everyone else was from church, so the crowd seemed a little sedate. My pastor's band, "Homegoing," was the headliner act. They have a cool southern-rock-blues style that I'm totally into. Unfortunately they didn't go on until 11:30 which was already getting close to my bedtime, but I managed to catch most of their set.

Saturday: took my first trip to Ebenezer's and saw "God on Broadway," a collection of musical numbers arranged around themes like "longing" and "hope." I realized that my knowledge of showtunes is sorely lacking. But on the bright side, the cafe serves Mighty Leaf Tea, which made my night :)

overdone conversations

2008-11-12T15:09:00.003-08:00

Ever find yourself in a conversation you've had before? Like, multiple times before? And you just want everyone to stop talking about it because you're so tired of it?

Well yes, that has happened to me before, thanks for asking! I shall now rant about them here. For the sake of anonymity, I'll refer only to hypothetical Person A and Person B.

Conversation #1: Facebook
Person A: blah blah blah, oh yeah, I saw that on Facebook
Person B: Why does everyone use Facebook? I don't have a profile because I think it is creepy/pointless/unnecessary.
A: Facebook is great! You can keep in touch with people/make friends/have fun.
B: I think it's lame/weird/scary.
A: (repeats points)
B: (repeats points)
by this point, I'm excusing myself from the area...probably off to check my Facebook acount

Conversation #2: Tryptophan
Person A: I just ate lunch, and now I'm tired. It must be that chemical in turkey.
Person B: Oh, you mean tryptophan? Yeah, that makes you sleepy.
A: That's why you get tired after Thanksgiving dinner
B: Ha ha, yep, that's it. And also because you eat a lot.
Why do people talk about this like they are sharing new information? Everyone knows about tryptophan! Stop talking about it already!

get out the (early) vote

2008-10-30T19:29:00.002-07:00

Arlington County offers in-person early voting, so I took advantage of that yesterday and made my voice heard. Yay, democracy! Since this is my own blog and you don't have to read it if you don't want to, I'll just go ahead and say that I voted a straight Democratic ticket.

President: Barack the House!
Senate: Virginia has two former governors running against each other for an open seat. Honestly, I'm not that excited about either of them, but Gilmore (R) has a rather prosaic view on immigration, an issue I care a lot about. Plus, it looks like he's getting his butt kicked, and who wants to vote for a loser?
House: Jim Moran has been representing my district for a long time and seems to be doing a good job.

I probably should have spent the time in line at the election office getting to know my fellow citizens. Instead, I had my nose buried in a book. I waited over an hour yesterday to cast my vote via electronic ballot. Oooh, so high tech! Now I'll have time on Tuesday to get to an election day party in time to watch the returns. So fun, so DC :) This election season has been quite the ride...I can't wait for it to be over so we can get on with living the future instead of just talking about it.

inspired

2008-10-26T10:47:00.004-07:00

Today was the Marine Corps Marathon. I had a friend running and since the course winds right through my neighborhood, I totally had to go out and support her. It was a beautiful day for a run, and it was so inspirational to be out there, seeing people struggling but persevering. Made me want to do something that challenges me...I mean, I don't want my life to be full of easy stuff all the time. How will I ever grow that way?

Here are some photos from the morning's events.

The lovely fall trees outside my building:

The view down my street:

The race is on down Lee Hwy - Teddy Roosevelt was even there!:

A band to get the runners pumped up as the approached the Key Bridge:

Runners crossing the Key Bridge w/Georgetown University in the background:

Random people running down M Street (I saw Kristen but missed her in the shot):

One last tree shot from Georgetown:

Needed: one good grocery store

2008-10-20T18:48:00.003-07:00

Fall is in the air. Crisp leaves, bright blue skies, chilly breezes - it just makes me want to whip up some autumnal kitchen creations! Yesterday I decided it was time to make some pumpkin bread, so I strolled down to my neighborhood grocery store, Safeway. As in, the Rosslyn Safeway, which is one of the lamer grocery stores I have visited. Honestly, I don't know what is wrong with all the Safeways around here b/c they pretty much suck. When I used to live in Seattle, I was mere blocks from the beautifully remodeled Ballard Safeway, and it was lovely. (Note: I haven't shopped there for 3 years, so I can't vouch for its current standards of customer service...)

Anywho, yesterday I was in search of canned pumpkin. You know, the standard sort, 100% pumpkin, in a can, about 15 oz. I searched high and low on the canned fruits and vegetables aisle, the baking supplies aisle, and I checked the end displays in case they had a special fall section. No luck. So I eventually asked a checker where it would be. He told me the aisle, I went and scoured it again, and there was still no pumpkin to be found. I told him I still couldn't find it, so he went and looked around and returned empty-handed. At that point, I was tired of carrying my basket (the store has very few carts b/c homeless people stole them so much that Safeway quit buying them, apparently), so I decided to just pay for my stuff. While the checker was ringing me up he told me that the manager in charge of ordering stock decided not to order any marshmallows either, so they'll be out of those for the next month. So dumb! This is prime pumpkin and marshmallow season! It is not unreasonable to expect a grocery store to stock pumpkin in October!

Rosslyn really needs another grocery story to compete with this lame excuse for a Safeway. I did eventually find pumpkin at Whole Foods, but I had to go all the way to Clarendon, and for people like me who are car-less, that is quite a trek. Plus Whole Foods always entices me with its awesomeness and I end up spending way more than I intended. Maybe Safeway secretly owns Whole Foods and that's why they don't care if one of their brands sucks - they make money either way. Yes, that's right, you heard the conspiracy theory here first, folks!

My pumpkin bread turned out just fine, btw :)

charitable contributions

2008-10-15T17:21:00.002-07:00

Some years ago when I lived in Seattle, I went to a fundraiser event for a local non-profit. I wasn't particularly enraptured with their work/mission, but it seemed like a good cause, and I got some tasty dessert out of the deal, so I contributed like $20 at the end of the night. I never asked for any ongoing relationship with the organization.

Fastforward five years and I'm still getting mail from these people! I'd estimate they have sent me 4-5 pieces of unsolicited mail per year since the time of my measly donation. If I'd known they were going to spend the majority of my contribution to fund their efforts to ask me for more money, I would have been sure to give anonymously.

So, what should I do now? Part of me wants to write a letter explaining how they are wasting their time and money trying to solicit me. I don't know how they even tracked me down out here, how they have followed me through two moves to continue the harassment. I have no intention of giving them any more money; my priorities lie elsewhere. Apparently, though, they haven't gotten the hint yet. They must have a database where they can see I'm not a regular giver. Maybe they operate under some sort of formula that you must solicit 10,000 people in order to get 500 responses. I don't want to be rude - I just want to be left alone.

starting to comprehend

2008-10-05T07:29:00.003-07:00

Thanks to This American Life, I'm now starting to wrap my mind around the credit crisis/mortgage meltdown/other alliterative name for "financial ruin." I still don't fully understand, but a few things have become clearer.

Here's the problem as I see it - please correct my logical/economic errors!

1. People are greedy. Not just Americans - lots of people, in lots of countries, are looking for ways to make an easy buck (or euro, or yuan, or whatever). Those who already have money want to make more of it, and the pursuit of riches can easily cloud one's judgment...which brings me to my next point.

2. It's easy to follow the crowd. Bankers and other people in the financial industry knew that the loans they were making were risky and probably a bad idea. But once one institution relaxed their requirements for securing a mortgage, all the others felt like they had to follow suit or be left behind on the big payoff. Or in the case of credit default swaps, that was a serious case of, "everybody's doing it, so what's the big deal?" Obviously, it's a big deal when your crazy speculation causes the economy to grind to a halt!

3. Personal responsibility matters. If homebuyers had considered their true financial situation before accepting a ridiculous loan offer, if each lender or bank had been forced to take responsibility for the loans they issued instead of selling them upstream, if the government had stepped in with regulation earlier, if everyone had just taken a common sense pill, we would have a lot fewer problems right now.

4. I'm glad I work for the government in a fairly recession-proof job. I'm glad I don't own any property. I'm especially glad that I'm young and not planning to retire for many decades. I wish I didn't have so much student debt, but I'm living within my means for now. The crisis is definitely beyond my powers to repair, so I'll just do my part by not emptying out my savings account to stuff the money under my mattress.

semi-scam alert

2008-09-29T15:20:00.005-07:00

I got a weird voice message from 866-493-5563 today. It was an automated message from American Student Assistance saying "this is not a sales or marketing call. It is imperative that you call us back at your earliest convenience." I was like, hmmm, that is odd. So I called while walking to the Metro after work. The person who came on the line asked me why I was calling. Here's our conversation.

me: I got a message from this number asking me to call.
her: Ok, can I have your name please?
me: why doesn't she already know? oh well, my name is not top secret (spell name)
her: and can I have your city?
me: I guess my city isn't that secret either (say city)
her: ok, let me check in the system and see why you got a call

pause

her: for security purposes, can you verify your address for me?
me: highly suspicious now No! I am not going to give out that kind of information because I don't even know who you are or why you called me! What kind of company is this? Are you a student loan company?
her: sounding flustered Well I assure you, this is not a sales or marketing call. We're just calling to follow up on an email we sent you
me: did I solicit this email?
her: no
me: well what is this about? I'm starting to think this whole thing is a scam
her: no! It's not a scam. We're calling on behalf of CitiBank
me: Oh. I used to have some student loans with CitiBank, but I consolidated them through a different company. Is there a problem with my loan?
her: let me check on something

pause

her: ok, it looks like there was a system error and you should not have received a call. Your loans have been paid in full and there is no problem. You might get another call because of the system error.
me: thinking this sounds like my office now, since we routinely do incompetent things like this OK, that's fine, thanks for the information

end call

I figure I'll just post this here so people who Google 866-493-5563 can read my story. I don't think it's an actual scam, but it is sort of fishy.

Happy Fiscal New Year

2008-09-28T08:59:00.003-07:00

Being a new bureaucrat, I've learned this year that the fiscal year is what matters. In fact, given the flurry of activity in my office and some others that I've heard of, I'm starting to wonder if the government would ever get anything done if it weren't for a fiscal year deadline. Sheesh, it's crazy! October 1st is the start of our new year. Maybe its time for some resolutions? I'm trying to convince some of my colleagues that we should have a new year's party. Oh yeah, we're dorking it up :)

things I don't understand

2008-09-24T20:15:00.003-07:00

Since I have no insights to share of late, nor any time during which to ponder life's mysteries, I'll toss these out into the ether and see if anyone would like to help me out.

Things I don't get
#1 the Financial Crisis (tried reading NPR's blog...found it semi-helpful)
#2 how Condoleezza Rice furrows her brows so dramatically
#3 why I keep getting strep throat (what if I have to get my tonsils removed?!)
and many more...

Soon enough, I hope to be back to working a reasonable 40-45 hour week instead of my current 55 or so in a 6-day week. Let's just say I'm rather exhausted. This fiscal year calendar is kicking my butt! Only one week left...I shall persevere.

politics, policy, & personality

2008-09-14T05:41:00.003-07:00

If you want to thin-slice my demographic, I'm a young, urban, educated, white woman. Even with the Palin addition to the GOP ticket, I think I'm still supposed to be in the Democratic camp, right? I haven't been following the polls that closely. But come on, just because Palin has XX chromosomes like me, am I supposed to jump on the bandwagon? Sure, I think it's cool to have women in positions of leadership, but that doesn't mean I'm going to support just any woman. I also think we need more ethnic diversity in our leaders, but I'm not supporting Obama because of his race. I think he'll make a good president, and the fact that he comes from a different ethnic background than our past presidents is a plus factor. I just get the sense that somehow all women are supposed to support Palin. Maybe this is how African-Americans who aren't pro-Obama feel - like they are somehow disenfranchising their own.

What we really need are more viable female candidates so we can move beyond the gender discussion. Once you have even two serious women candidates in the primaries, I bet everyone would calm down and focus on issues beyond pantsuits and lipstick.

in case of emergency, use the stairs

2008-09-10T20:06:00.003-07:00

Ever noticed the firefighter mode in an elevator? Like, how there is a key slot for emergency operations? Well on my ride up to my 4th floor apartment today, I got to thinking...how does the fire department keep track of all the elevator keys for all the buildings in the area? Do they have a huge key ring? A key repository and database? Wouldn't that slow the rescue effort if they were fumbling around with a massive pile of keys in the event of an actual fire/emergency? Then I thought, hmm, maybe each building does not have its own key, and I bet the internet could answer this quandary for me.

Turns out that the internet does know all. There is such a thing as a Uniform Elevator Key and that's how firefighters use the emergency mode in elevators. At least, that's what happens in Florida...can we validly extrapolate to the rest of the country without googling anything else? It seems believable enough that I will promulgate it as truth for now.

seasons of life

2008-09-07T17:50:00.004-07:00

It's Sunday, so it must be time to post a blog. Yes, I know I missed last week, but I was distracted by a visitor from out of town :) On Sunday, we were having fun with a picnic at the National Symphony Orchestra's annual Labor Day concert on the west lawn of the Capitol and stuff like that.

So this weekend, it occurred to me that a lot of people I know here in DC are kind of in a down cycle of life right now. Whether it's relationship issues, job troubles, or deep philosophical questions, there seems to be a general sense of malaise hanging over most of my close friends and a good chunk of my circle of acquaintances. Meanwhile, I don't want to be all Pollyanna, but I'm pretty happy. I have my moments of discontent, but on the whole I feel like life is good. New job is working out well and I feel like I finally understand what I'm doing, relationship front is good, no major family crises, and nothing too deep or philosophical troubling me. So, what's a girl to do? It's like I want to be able to wallow with those who wallow, but I have little fodder for despair, at least on the surface. The problem comes when I start to probe the depths of my psyche for some little nugget of unease. Then I can dwell on that seed, water it, feed it, and let it grow into a full-fledged maple of melancholy. Hmm, but if I go with that analogy, maples produce such delicious syrup that I doubt they are all that despondent of trees. Maybe I am a maple, full of sweetness, and I'll be fine unless I am chopped down at the trunk... At any rate, I'm doing my best to be a supportive friend without letting myself join them in a downward spiral of doom.

puzzle rage

2008-08-24T05:43:00.002-07:00

As the granddaughter of a crossword puzzle aficionado, I have a genetic predisposition to enjoy word games. They help pass the time and keep my brain agile, or at least that's what I like to think. So imagine my surprise when I came across this article on Slate where I found that some people take my delight in word puzzles as a personal affront.

What always gets to me is the self-congratulatory assumption on the part of puzzle people that their addiction to the useless habit somehow proves they are smarter or more literate than the rest of us. Need I suggest that those who spend time doing crossword puzzles (or sudoku)—uselessly filling empty boxes (a metaphor for some emptiness in their lives?)—could be doing something else that involves words and letters? It's called reading.

Ok, you know what? I'll cede his point on sudoku at least. I'll do maybe one sudoku puzzle at a time, but I'm not going to sit on the metro filling in page after page of numbers. Crosswords, though, are often quite clever. It's fun to figure out the long clues, especially if they have a little joke in them or something. (They aren't like "ha ha, I'm rolling on the floor" funny, but they do make me smile.) And just because I do a crossword puzzle now and then does not preclude me from picking up a book at other times and reading it. You know, these activities are not mutually exclusive. Why can't I choose my own leisure time pursuits without being forced to defend my entertainment preferences? Sometimes I'll do a crossword puzzle before bed to help me fall asleep - reading is way too mentally stimulating sometimes compared to printing "ARIA" and "TALC" in intersecting little boxes. I can think of lots of other mindless ways to pass the time, like vegging out in front of the TV. So I say, to each their own, but don't hate me for loving crosswords, dude.

pick your Olympic battles

2008-08-17T06:42:00.003-07:00

There are a few blogs I read from time to time just to see if anything outrageous is being said. Well, I found a post today at Boundless that made me roll my eyes. Topic: modesty at the Olympic games, specifically how horrible it is that the women's beach volleyball players are scantily clad in bikinis. Wow, really? Is this what people are worried about these days? Maybe I've been brainwashed over the years, but I kind of thought that watching people run around in swimming suits was one of the main draws of beach volleyball.

It's nit-picky debates like this that give Christians a bad name, if you ask me. Why don't we instead discuss what the Olympics say about our global priorities? Some vast and perhaps unquantifiable amount of money is being spent on these games that unite the international community in friendly competition. Meanwhile, while the Olympians splash around in The Cube and dive in synchrony off 10-meter platforms, millions of people in the developing world face the daily crisis of living without reliable access to potable water. There's an actual problem worthy of our attention and action. Priorities, people!

vacation, vacation

2008-08-14T16:33:00.002-07:00

I've managed to earn 4 whole days of vacation so far at my new job, so I decided to use them for a little trip to Seattle and Oregon. It was definitely nice to escape the heat and humidity of DC for the loveliness that is the NW during the summer. Here is photographic evidence of my journey.

Matt and I in front of the Fremont Troll (Seattle)

Go Mariners!

Sunset over the Pacific Ocean

The view from Cape Mears lighthouse on the Oregon Coast

in an instant

2008-08-03T19:26:00.003-07:00

"Is this Orange?"

"Blue."

"Blue?"

"Blue."

Through this two-second, four-word-vocabulary conversation, I kept a woman from getting on the wrong Metro train. That is kind of cool. It's times like this I realize I take my native-English-speaking ability for granted.

domesticity

2008-07-29T19:04:00.003-07:00

There's something soothing about coming home to a quiet apartment and busying oneself in the kitchen for most of the evening. I resisted the urge to turn on any background music and instead pondered life while I browned chicken sausage and pitted cherries (not for the same dish). It's not every day I get the urge to cook, so I figure I should seize the moment when it presents itself. Stopping by Whole Foods on the way home got my creative juices flowing, I suppose. But mostly I'm pretty excited about my new purchase. Works like a charm, and I figure I'll make enough fresh cherry desserts over the course of my life that it will more than pay for itself. Hmm, over the course of my life, eh? Will I turn into my grandmother someday, reusing the same clothespins to seal air out of the cereal bag that I've been using for the last 50 years?

an exercise in futility

2008-07-24T17:44:00.003-07:00

And now, for the promised post on my office. This being my first, full-time, paid gig with the government, I'm still getting familiar with bureaucratic processes. On the one hand, I'm glad that I'm still new enough that I can recognize the absurdity of some of the stuff that happens around the office. On the other hand, I'm already adapting to following directions that don't make sense or that waste my time without really questioning them. I hope this doesn't mean I'm on my way to becoming a mindless drone...

So a big part of my job is handling files. Like, that is basically my whole reason for existence at work. I need to have a physical file in front of me in order to do any work. (Let's leave aside for now the question of why my agency still deals in paper while the rest of the world goes digital...) A few weeks back, an order came down from above that we needed to massively revamp the way we store and use files. This, of course, was after a slightly less dramatic file policy change about 6 weeks before. The end result is that individual employees are no longer allowed to enter the file rooms. Not only that, but we can't even talk to the staff who work with the files. So about two weeks ago, we all had to take all the files we had in our offices, staple two cover sheets on them, and send them to the appropriate shelf in the file room. Of course, we were all in the midst of processing those files...and now we can't get them back. Only supervisors can get files, and they won't retrieve them for us right now b/c we're supposed to be working on another project. At the same time, we get reprimanded if we have too many pending files in our names, or if our files have been pending too long. IT IS SO ANNOYING! They want me to be productive, but they make it impossible for me to actually do my job.

In other news of futility, I'm fairly certain that my assigned task for tomorrow is not only a waste of time but will actually cause more problems than it will solve. Sometimes my office is so inefficient that it's shocking. Based on my observations, most people there are working really hard - we just waste a lot of time compiling duplicate reports, shipping files around, and in general spinning our wheels in the mud. I wonder, is this normal for government? Or is my agency particularly out of control?

yes, I still exist

2008-07-19T13:16:00.004-07:00

Whoa, I don't know how a month went by without any blog posting here from the Imposter East Coaster. Hope none of you out there were waiting with bated breath to hear about my latest adventures! Guess time just got away from me as I've been busy entertaining guests and running around. The West Coast bunch came to visit at the end of June, and I made sure they were well behaved tourists, standing on the right side of the escalator and all. Here are a few photos of our outings:

Me and my brother hanging out with George and Martha Washington. (Yes, I am 16...)
The view from the back porch at Mt. Vernon, the Washingtons' home

The I headed up to New York for the 4th of July. Here's almost the entire family:

Overall, life is good and full of stuff to do...I've been approved to work overtime, so I'm a busy little bureacratic bee. Actually, life around the office deserves its own post. Let me ponder that for awhile and get back to you.

My sister wants me to think of something deep and philosophical that provokes discussion. Well this is nowhere near her level of abstraction, but I do have a recent metaphor for the process of falling asleep. When I'm laying in bed, I feel like I let my mind float when I close my eyes. It's like I have islands of thoughts out in a giant ocean of life, and as I try to wind down from the day, I drift from island to island, pondering things that have happened or upcoming activities. It's like I'm in a bubble, almost, touching down for a few seconds here and there, unless I get caught in a thornbush of some complicated topic/event. What I'm really trying to do is clear my head so I can sleep calmly. But if it's been a busy/complicated day, it takes me a long time to process it all before my mind is ready to shut off for the night. I have to find something meaningless to think about, almost like a coat hook where I can hang my brain and let it rest. Once I'm asleep, though, my brain hops down off the rack of its own power and whips up crazy dreams all by itself.

As far as I can recall, I've always been like this since I was young, except then I remember also imagining myself shrinking, getting smaller and smaller like I was falling into a really deep hole until I practically disappeared. Don't have those hallucinations/near dreams anymore, though...

celebrating summer

2008-06-19T18:25:00.004-07:00

When I lived in Seattle, the summer solstice was one of my favorite days of the year. Being so far north, I felt lucky to have such an extra-long dose of sunshine that day. While I never took part in some of the more extreme celebratory activities (e.g. naked bike riding), my friends and I usually tried to embrace nature somehow. One year a bunch of us were over at Alki Beach playing frisbee or something and some Wiccan women were bowing to the sun as it set...that was interesting.

With tomorrow being the solstice and all, I'm trying to find a good way to celebrate. Maybe I should take the advice of some random people and head over to the Netherlands Carillon to watch the sunset (without worshiping it). Any of you DCites want to join me?

where's my banana republic?

2008-06-18T13:57:00.003-07:00

Apparently bananas are on the way to becoming a luxury item. Noooo! Say it isn't so! I am slightly obsessed with bananas and get annoyed at my local Safeway for running out all the time. I guess their shortage was only a portent of looming disaster.

warming the house

2008-06-15T06:10:00.004-07:00

After 4+ months of living in NoVa, my roommate and I finally got around to having a housewarming party. In comparison with our last place, the new apartment has good and bad features for hosting festive gatherings. The major con would be that our building is a little hard to find and parking is scarce. But the pluses are that our kitchen is way better, we're more centrally located to DC via two metro lines, and once you've figured out how to get here, it's not that complicated. Our guests braved a downpour to help us celebrate last night, and we were so glad to have them! The event was a combined housewarming + birthday + wine tasting extravaganza. None of us are really wine experts, but we did our best to practice the 5 "S"s of wine tasting. Hmm, I just consulted a few sites on that and there is a discrepancy between the last S - should the final step be to "spit" or "savor"?

The new curtains were happy to make a debut. I've got to say, they really class up the house.

Here's a wide angle shot, pre party

And a close up with the coordinating pillow cases (and my Morocco crew)

superstitious?

2008-06-14T05:38:00.005-07:00

This Friday the 13th was particularly unlucky:

Metro had massive delays from fires and power outages. Being a reverse commuter, I was luckily spared the worst of it. Sounds like it was quite the headache.

My roommate's boyfriend totaled his car. He's fine, but the aftermath involved a hazmat team and massive traffic backups.

And, RIP Tim Russert. That's kind of freaky because he's the same age as my dad. Watching "Meet The Press" has been part of my Sunday morning routine for years - one of the benefits of attending church at night, I guess. And who can forget the white board from the night of the 2000 election? Loved it! He was a journalist whose passion for what he did shone through, and that made me want to pay attention.

on notice

2008-06-08T09:58:00.002-07:00

I don't really feel like explaining. I'll let Stephen Colbert do it for me.

(Make your own)

reverse hibernation

2008-06-07T04:53:00.003-07:00

Once summer blasts in with all its heat indexes and humidity, I start spending more and more time hiding out indoors. Since I've lived through 2 1/2 east coast summers now, as least I know what I'm in for - and that I will survive. But the first heat wave, before I've fully adapted to the idea of summer, is always tough to take. For the next few days, it's going to be hot and sticky here. At least our power came back on. A few days ago, there was a massive storm that roared through town, spawning tornadoes and leaving destruction in its wake. Our power was out for about 24 hours. Eeek!

My project for the weekend is making curtains out of some fabric I bought in Morocco. So far, the progress is slow. I think that when I cut the fabric in half, I should have done something more precise than the "eyeball-it" method. [Btw, my backspace key is starting to go out. Guess we know which key has gotten the most use on this computer...] Today I have to find some appropriately colored thread and get started on the actual sewing, since one of my traveling companions was kind enough to lend me her sewing machine. I'll be sure to post some photos once my masterpiece is complete. But don't expect any close ups of the stitch work. The most complicated thing I've ever sewed before was a pillowcase when I was about 10, and I don't recall the lines being very straight on that one, either...

bureaucrat's dilemma

2008-05-30T20:53:00.004-07:00

I don't want to make DC sound like some kind of strange and unknown foreign culture, but I had one of those nights tonight that if you don't live here, you might not fully appreciate. A friend and I headed down to Jazz in the Sculpture Garden, everyone's favorite pastime for a beautiful Friday evening. While there, I ran into a former coworker who I hadn't seen in probably a year. I went back over to where she were sitting and met the other people with her - one guy who she'd gone to college with looked totally familiar. We figured out that I'd met him before through an internship I had nearly 2 years ago. Small world!

But the real "DC" part of it was that when I mentioned where I work, not only did he have first-hand knowledge of some aspects of my job, but he had strong, specific opinions about my agency, what we should and should not be doing, etc. He proceeded to made some outrageous statements that demonstrated his high regard for his own opinion while simultaneously conveying his disinterest in considering any other positions on the subject. Not to generalize, but I feel like in most other parts of the country, if I were to say anything about my job, I'd get kind of generic responses. Policy diatribes at 8:00 PM Friday while standing between a placid fountain and a bright yellow crooked house sculpture...yep, that's Washington for you.

So, what's my dilemma? Well, I'm torn. Part of me wants to talk about my job. It's not like I have this covert position or anything, and I feel like most people would find it at least mildly interesting. I want people to know that not every government worker is old and out of touch. But at the same time, as one of my fellow trainees said to me, we're not getting paid to do PR in our off hours. True, true. I don't know. I want people to think I'm cool b/c I have a real job and stuff, but I don't want to have to talk about work all the time. Perhaps over the coming months, the novelty will fade; before you know it, I'll probably slip in to "I work for the government" and leave it at that.

long weekend fun

2008-05-26T15:47:00.002-07:00

With my vacation days few and far between, I really need to savor these long weekends. Fortunately, this one was full of fun and excitement. Friday night, I went to the new Nationals ballpark - my third MLB stadium in 2 months! I think that's the 5th baseball stadium I've ever been to. One of my cousins has the goal of visiting every MLB ballpark...I'm not quite that hardcore. Sure, baseball is fun and all, but I'm not really that goal-oriented of a person.

The rest of the weekend was spent running around with friends, trying to enjoy the beautiful weather. This is a great time of year in DC - it's warm, but not yet humid. Last night a bunch of friends had an impromptu post-church picnic dinner down on the Mall, and I didn't get a single mosquito bite. Score! What a lovely evening.

Tomorrow it's back to the office. I'm quite proud of myself for barely thinking about work at all over the last few days. The week ahead will probably be full of stress and confusion...I eagerly anticipate the day when I feel confident in my ability to actually do my job. It's a steep learning curve, as they say, and there are lots of new people in my office. So on the one hand, I'm in good company; on the other hand, the cluelessness is sometimes contagious. I'll try to look on the bright side - at least it's only a four day week.

natural world

2008-05-20T14:01:00.003-07:00

Having been gone for nearly 2 months, I first noticed the spring foliage that had sprung up around my neighborhood since my departure. Northern Virginia is nice and green, I'm happy to report. Now that I'm back to my urban lifestyle (read: walking everywhere), I'm definitely getting in touch with the elements. This morning, in fact, I had the lovely experience of walking to the metro in a downpour. I had to hang my socks on a box in my office to dry out. See, this was a benefit of training - we were in this totally contained facility. I got up, got dressed, ate breakfast, and went to class without ever having the wind mess up my hair. Around here, my hair has no hope. Maybe I should chop it all off so it can't blow around so dramatically in the breeze.

architectural oddities

2008-05-18T07:26:00.005-07:00

In Kansas City, I thought I was going crazy - it looked like there was a Moroccan-style mosque tower above the Cheesecake Factory downtown. What in the world? Apparently, I was right. Too bad I didn't take my own photo. Here's one of a fountain instead. Kansas City's claim to fame, after all, is being the City of Fountains.

back where I belong

2008-05-17T06:01:00.004-07:00

Home sweet home! I almost don't recognize this place after being gone so long. But training is officially over, so they finally released us back out into the wild. I'm not exactly looking forward to going to work on Monday - no snacks, no two hour lunches, no mindless PowerPoints to watch... My brain has probably begun to atrophy. I need to do some mental calisthenics in preparation for the work week ahead.

A few friends came over last night for a little "welcome back" gathering. As we sat around sipping Shiraz and discussing the causes of past economic turmoil in Russia, I couldn't help but get a big smile on my face...I definitely missed the esoteric conversations of Washington while I was out in middle America. Sheesh, I didn't even know that Edwards had endorsed Obama until this morning when I was catching up on some blog reading. Even though I'm getting tired of the primary cycle, I still like to follow the major developments. Hmm, wonder what else I missed in the world? I almost feel like I'm coming home from a study abroad program. I'll have to be on the lookout for reverse culture shock.

the final leg

2008-05-13T18:43:00.002-07:00

After 6 long weeks in Texas, we all arrived in Kansas City this weekend and are having a pretty good time. This leg of the training is supposed to provide us with practical/hands-on exercises to reinforce what we learned in the theoretical portion. I'm not sure how effective this strategy will prove to be...so far I've mainly been missing the smorgasbord of snacks that we used to have at our own facility. Here, we're just in a regular hotel filled with other guests and lacking a cafeteria. But on the upside, we have rental cars. Freedom!

This weekend I went to a movie, a Royals' game, and a BBQ/blues restaurant where the live entertainment was the amazing DC Bellamy. Last night one of my classmates hosted a BBQ at a nearby lake, and tonight another classmate hosted some of us for dinner and a movie at her house. I can't believe we're out of here in 3 days...I've finally made some friends and everything. The longer I stay here, after all, the longer I avoid doing actual work :)

good habits

2008-05-05T13:38:00.004-07:00

I heard somewhere that it takes 30 days to develop a new habit and make it stick. (Apparently I'm not the only one.) While I've been trapped here at the compound, I've started exercising more out of boredom than anything else. And you know what? I think I kind of like it. Weird! I've used the treadmill, the elliptical machine, and the cross-trainer machine where you feel like you're running in sand. Plus I've played a fair amount of basketball and volleyball. Now, I think that my endurance is improving! When I first started, 20 minutes on the elliptical was enough to knock me out. Now I can walk around the lake (.5 miles), go for 20 minutes on the elliptical, and play basketball for awhile. At the end, I'm tired, but I don't want to die. So now I think I should keep this up when I get home, since most of my time will be spent behind a desk...

This is our last week in Dallas before heading off to Missouri for one more week of "fun." I've actually been having a pretty good time these past few weeks. Without getting in to all of the high school-esque drama that goes on around here, let's just say I kind of worked my way into hanging out with the cool kids, and that's a lot more fun than sitting alone in my room. And, I also had a good time this weekend b/c I rented a car and was a total tourist - JFK 6th Floor Museum and the Fort Worth Stockyards. Yee haw!

Here's a few pictures from the weekend.

Longhorn cattle drive in Fort Worth

My new cowboy hat

edit your humorous ledes, people!

2008-04-29T13:10:00.004-07:00

In case you want to start your "news" story off with a clever cliché, please check to be sure you're using it properly.

Stick a fork in it [Princess Sparkle Pony]