Travel 2011

January: Home sick, dammit.

February: San Gabriel (Los Angeles), CA

March: Portland, OR and San Francisco, CA

April: Nassau, Bahamas, and Fresnoish, CA

May: Bakersfield, Victorville, Adelanto, and Ridgecrest, CA, and Harlingen, TX

June: Glorious nowhere!

July: Clevelandish, OH

August: Nada!

September: San Francisco, CA

October: San Diego, CA, and Harlingen, TX

November: Sacramentoish to San Francisco, CA, with a brief dinner stop in Napa, and Long Island, NY

December: Clevelandish, OH

So, 1 new country and 2 new states visited. Not my most adventurous year, but not bad, either. Also, I have learned to appreciate San Francisco anew. The trolley is a hoot!

Last week in books

Finished:

The Book of Lost Things, John Connolly: Liked it, but derivative. Very funny perspective on fairy tale speak: "ran away and was never seen again" = eaten and "happily ever after" = eaten quickly.

A Secret Rage, Charlaine Harris: Not bad, short and interesting, spurred questions about rape

Shakespeare's Landlord, Charlaine Harris: Neat intro to series, liked Lily Bard, will continue

Clean

Why are my clean dishes supposed to smell of summertime showers? Everybody knows that clean smells like lemons!

Cheesecake Heaven

is evil. To my thighs. Argh.

(It's across the street from my workplace, sigh.)

To be or not to be (a parent)?

That is still the question.

The way I see it, I would:

a) Not be able to sleep late; and

b) Have to wear pants at home.

Hmmm...

I went to the woods to walk deliberately

and instead I found screaming hordes at a beach. Not the impression I thought I would have of Walden Pond. Apparently, in addition to its historical significance to Massachusetts, nay, New England history and philosophy, it also serves at the local watering hole (literally) for the good citizens of Concord. Scratch that, it is actually the local beach serving the population of folk who are willing to pay the $5 entry fee. And, on a moderately hot day, that population is apparently legion.

The pond itself is lovely, and from its National Park photos I imagine that reservation is quietly stunning in the colder months. The educational nuggets presented on Thoreau, however, reveal him not so much to be the intrepid pioneer of civil disobedience as a sulky ne'er do well. Wikipedia is far kinder to him, for in reading the placards, I came to understand that he was considered to be the slightly touched son of a prosperous family, wiling away his time in, essentially, a treehouse.

Not quite what I expected.

The difference is

Coming out of the gym, I am struck anew by the societally imposed? self-selected? awesome? inherent? differences between men and women. I emerge from a gloriously air-conditioned studio, having learned the fundaments of belly dancing (smile! move sinuously! back straight, chest out! embrace your inner goddess!) set to Egyptian and Latin pop music. Outside of the gym, two beefy, sweat-slick, vaguely military-looking men are taking turns heaving an enormous tire (almost as tall as me, so 5 ft in diameter, perhaps) up and down the fire lane in 100+ (heat index be damned, that's 100+ without accounting for humidity) heat. And yet we all "worked out." Hmmmmmm.

Struggling

Sometimes it's difficult to keep up a happy face. After all, turning that frown upside down takes an act of defiance against gravity, and sometimes you get tired.

Lonesome

Of course it's perfectly possible to have a thrilling and fulfilling life as a single person, without ever needing a permanent (human) companion of any sort. But once you have selected and locked in a life companion, it's a lot less fun to do even thrilling and fulfilling things without that person.

Kindergarten really does teach important lessons (gag). Sharing is fun.

Hello, World!

It's been a long time since I've was on the Metro at night, especially a weekend night, and I marvel at the crowd as I squeeze into a packed train. Has young Washington gotten more attractive? Nope, I decide, it just wears a LOT more makeup and taller shoes.

Travelog 2010

January: La Fortuna, Monteverde, Manuel Antonio, and San Jose, Costa Rica

February: Fresnoish, CA

March: Los Angeles and northern beaches, CA

April: San Diego, CA

May: In preparation for...

June: Hong Kong, Macau, Beijing, Shanghai, and Xian, China; Kuala Lumpur and Ipoh, Malaysia, and San Francisco and Napa, CA and Clevelandish, OH.

July: Nowhere, thank god.

August: Phoenix, AZ, Bostonish, MA, and Philadelphia, PA.

September: Nada.

October: Nada.

November: Home, sweet home for Thanksgiving. Now that's something to be thankful for.

December: Denver, CO, San Fransiscoish, CA, and Clevelandish, OH.