August 18, 2006
she never thinks she's wrong
I have found two new favorite activities - sitting in a beach chair on the edge of the surf reading and kayaking.
I never have been found of the beach because of the sand. i hate sand. i hate it so much. i haven't been to a real beach (one without a pool) since high school trips to Florida. The beach has definitely redeemed itself with beach chairs on the edge of the surf. I love reading while the surf comes and goes beneath me.
wednesday morning we went kayaking on a river here and i fell in love. i grew up canoeing in the buffalo river in arkansas. it is by far one of my favorite parts of childhood and am planning on taking the dog some day. i've always thought kayaks hold you in and that didn't seems to jive with my mild claustrophobia which gets way worse when water is involved. These kayaks had plenty of room and i loved loved loved paddling up and down the river. We saw a turtle, a water moccasin, and two herons, including one taking off over the water.
Posted by christina at 5:09 PM | Comments (0)
July 3, 2006
i've been everywhere
The puppy is Lilibee, Ben and Julie's awesome puppy. We saw Ben and Lilibee when we were in New York. This is my Ben and Lilibee. She thinks she's a lap dog.
We have made it to Utah. Steve and Jen's wedding was so awesome. It was perfect weather for the outdoor ceremony. The food was good and the music awesome. They have great taste in music. We admired their selections so much that we'll probably reflect a lot of them at our own reception.
Yesterday was all travel:
After my run around beautiful state college, we left at 9:30 for Pittsburgh. we took another way which was thought to be faster, but was not. We cut it close, but made our flight. We were stressed just because you never know how long a new airport is going to take. the lines could be that 30 mins we had to spare before boarding, and now days it is the bags that have to be there early.
4 hours in car to Pittsburgh.
Turns out, Pittsburgh isn't that busy. There was no line at the american desk (unheard of at o'hare). Security was quick. We has time to be sandwiches at the expansive au bon pain at not expensive prices. Pittsburgh airport definitely gets my cheapest airport designation, though was new and nice.
3 hours on plane to Dallas.
we had a lay over in dallas, where we met up with pete and had more sandwiches from au bon pain (we correctly assumed that everything would be closed when we got to Utah at 8:30 on a Sunday). Of all the choices in the dallas airport (which is HUGE), it was the best for the body.
1.5 hour lay over in Dallas.
3 hours to Salt Lake City.
So I live in a world without kids. The very few kids I'm exposed to are under five. On the plane to SLC, there were more kids than adults! It was crazy, but did not compare to the airport. It is amazing.
Everyone is quite nice here. We are staying in another Hampton, which I really like. The mountains are awesome. I really love the Rockies. Ben's mom's family is really big, and half of them aren't even coming. so many kids. so. many. kids. i was warned, but nothing could have prepared me.
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July 1, 2006
the screen door slams / mary's dress waves
Central pennsyvania is quite beautiful. We drove through it to state college, which is also really pretty. I love college towns. Since all of my schools so far (and for near future) have been in major cities, I've never experienced life in a college town with cool t-shirt stores and yummy diners.
I stumbled upon a great running trail. i ran around the Penn State campus to the public golf course, around it, and through some pretty subdivisions. No sidewalk seams.
Stupid sidewalk seams in Pittsburg tripped me yesterday. I scrapped up my left knee and right palm pretty well. I continued with my run with little pain. My right knee was the one that really started bothering me. it is black and blue. I ran this morning will little pain, but walking to lunch after about killed me. So here i am laided up in the bed icing my knee. I want to be able to dancing at the wedding tonight so I am trying to be still.
I am pretty excited about Steve and Jen's wedding. Ben and i are the only ones from Northwestern. I think there is one other couple from Chicago coming. The wedding is pretty small, though since they both went to Penn State, there will be a lot of their college friends there. Steve and I have talked about the weddings a fair amount (we ride home together a couple times a week), so i am interested to see how all the planning comes together.
Posted by christina at 1:58 PM | Comments (1)
June 30, 2006
pour me something tall and strong
New York
Ben is currently watch maury and it is SO STUPID. Why do (1) do stupid these and more over (2) go on tv to air their tales about cheating?
When we decided to stay in Pittsburgh, I picked this hotel because it was close to Cargnie Melon and U of Pittsburgh. I pick it because I knew I would be able to have a good neighborhood to run in. This is a good neighborhood. Hilly. I forgot how hilly new england is. It is so flat in the midwest. The neighborhood around C.M. is quite nice and pretty. Lot of trees. No running trails. I am SO spoiled with the lake front trail. Trails are better for me than sidewalks as sidewalks have seams. My left food likes to catch on things like sidewalk seams.
Sad day yesterday. My parents old cat dies. She was 17 and lived a long long life. My dad is quite sad. The NU football coach also died suddenly of an apparent heart attack. He was young than my dad and the same age as Ben's dad. Ben when to college with his son. He was so young.
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June 29, 2006
jenny i got your number
The lobby/breakfast area of our hotel is an interesting place to spend 6:30 am - 10 am.
I woke this morning in a comfortable bed in Pittsburg. I could not go back to sleep. After starting to stress about random stuff in my life, i decided to just get up and work on the thing i was stressing about and could actually do something to help - my thesis. I kissed ben and gathered my stuff and went down to the lobby in our hampton inn. This hotel is great. In addition to an awesome bed and bath and couch, there is free wireless and an expansive breakfast with nice work areas perfect for plugging in one's laptop and working for a bit.
There was classical music and quiet business people at first. I ate rasin bran and edited. The crowd changed to noisy business people. Then the music changed to "adult contemporary". The crowd then changed to families.
The flight in to pittsburg was quite bumpy, though short. and 2 hours late.
Posted by christina at 8:54 AM | Comments (0)
June 13, 2006
around here
New York was loud and busy, but we found respite on the north side of the island.
Pete’s show was in TriBecca, I believe. The subways make everything so easy to get to, especially since our hotel was so conveniently located. The show was excellent, as I expected. We then went out with Pete, J, their band, plus some friends to an excellent Indian restaurant. Ben didn’t like Indian food and for that reason Pete picked Indian food. Ben ended up liking Indian food. Dinner conversation was quite amusing, as the drummer got drunk and started talking about going to high school with J.
Saturday we wondered around Central Park and then up to the north side of the island to meet a friend who use to live in Chicago. After the people and traffic of Midtown, the reality quietness of the north side was so welcome. The three of us took his awesome dog for a long walk in the forest preserve (yes, there is a forest preserve on the island). There are hills on the island! There were also awesome views of rivers and bridges. Our friend’s condo was so nice and not any more expensive than wriggleyville. Pete and J pay an unreasonable amount of rent on their tiny three bedroom apartment. It made me think that I could never live in new york. Our friend’s place was big and sun-filled and made me thing, well, maybe. (Ha ha who am I kidding. I could never live in new york. I am too cheap.)
Sunday we headed back to Chicago. The highlight of the day was getting to La Guardia for $2. The only reason that we got to La Guardia at all was through the kindness of strangers. We missed the subway stop because it did not have the same name as was on the map. A nice lady, who didn’t want to pry, asked if we were trying to get to the airport. She gave us directions to Kennedy, but we quickly figured out that we had pass the correct subway stop. Good thing we built in an hour of travel time. We got to the right subway stop. We were then going to take a cab the rest of the way to the airport, but the La Guardia bus was sitting right there..and poof, we got to the airport for $2 in plenty of time. Though one there, we almost missed our flight because we were eating lunch in the gate across the way. For the first time ever, they boarded the plane 30 mins ahead of time and were issuing final boarding calls 20 minuets before the schedule departure time. Crazy airlines, trying to be on time and stuff.
Posted by christina at 1:31 PM | Comments (0)
June 9, 2006
i smile just because / i've got a city love
I have finally made it to New York. It is exactly like i expect - a lot like Tokyo. I suspect most americans do it the other way - new york than tokyo, and they say, tokyo is just like new york. I can't help but thing has we walk down the crowded streets filled with random little stores and people like it is like tokyo, in english.
We're here mainly to see the famous Pete of Pete and J (article here). They are playing at the Knitting Factory tonight, and I am quite excited. I have only seen them at a really intimate venue called the harper's backyard for emma's birthday party.
We got in yesterday, and when you think that your finger might fall off, flying isn't so bad. : )
We saw a little bit of Pete's 'hood (the east village). We are stating right by the empire state building. we found a nice hotel for a reasonable rate (my idea of a reasonable rate had to be readjusted for new york). It is conveniently located near all the "stuff" - mainly our main attraction yesterday - broadway to see Avenue Q. The show was so funny. I recommend it highly to everyone, as long as you are above oh 12 or so.
Posted by christina at 9:06 AM | Comments (0)
June 4, 2006
going to the chapel
There are 10 pieces of wedding cake in our refrigerator.
With october inching closer and closer, i finally got motivated to wrap up the wedding vendors i'd been putting off - rehearsal dinner, cake, and flowers. Since we are having the wedding not in chicago, it has been a bit of a pain to arrange things. okay, not really, but it did give us the excuse to leave the cat and spend a beautiful weekend in wisconsin.
We met with the rehearsal dinner people and got that reserved. I reserved the date for the flowers over the phone (we'll go up in a couple of months to actually pick the flowers). We spent the night in racine, wi, were $100 buck got us the most comfortable bed at the three-star marriot. We tried the happening Japanese hibachi grill in downtown were our meal, instead of traditional miso soup and cucumber salad, came with chicken noodle soup and ice burg lettuce with thousand island dressing. Our steak and veggies were excellent and the grill dude was amusing, so no real complaints.
The cake lady was in Kenosha, which is the bested named town ever. it is also the location of a jelly belly factory. we did not go, much to my sadness. When i made the cake appt, it was just to chat about dates and prices. As we drove from a very large brunch at cracker barrel, we hoped it would not turn out to be the tasting.
We talked shape and design. I am not that bride who knows exactly what she wants when she comes in. i have yet to buy a wedding magazine (though my sister does and looks for stuff for me). i do have a planning book, which is good for when you need to do stuff time-wise. Together ben and i and the example book came up with a good design. We are probably the best couple as we are pretty easy going. All i care about is that the food is yummy and arrives yummy and on time. After we did that we were quite surprise when she handed us a list of the cakes we would be taking home. Hence the 10 slices of cakes in our fridge. It really was the perfect situation as we were not in the mood to taste and now we don't have to go back up there for a tasting. We had out own tasting in our kitchen at home. It was awesome. We have it all chosen. Everything is done for now. Quite happy.
Posted by christina at 7:03 PM | Comments (3)
May 15, 2006
monkeys at the zoo
In the llama pen there was a peacock. All of the llama were quite intrigued by the peacock, especially the adolescant one.
The adolesant peacok tried to either play with or attack the peacock, causing it to spread it’s feathers.
The peacock then strutted around much to the delight of us humans.
Posted by christina at 3:42 PM | Comments (0)
May 6, 2006
swingin' from the trees
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May 3, 2006
in the jungle / the mighty jungle
OH MY GOODNESS
THE SAN DEIGO ZOO IS AWESOME
I play hooky (somewhat guiltily) today from the conference. There wasn't anything i really wanted to see at the conference today, so I spent from 9:45 am to 4 pm at the zoo. It is safe to saw that I saw everything there was to see. There is little wonder why that zoo is world famous. I saw so many monkeys playing. I saw hippos fighting, peacocks playing with the lamas, lots of different kinds of pigs, bears, tigers, birds, fish, lizards, snakes, wolves, pandas, goats, and sheep just to name a few. I took a million pictures of the animals and the plants, so once i get back to the camera cord you'll be amazing.
after my 5.5 mile run and all day after than on my feet, i am happy to be back to my room, sitting in my room.
ah.
Posted by christina at 7:20 PM | Comments (1)
April 19, 2006
To fruits to no absolutes
This past week we went to see Ben’s old roommate, parker, in a play. Contray to the pic on the website, no one is naked in the play. It was excellent. It took play in a coffee shop (a real coffee shop). There were some “theatre seats” but there were also seats in the shop, where we sat. The premise of the play was that you were eavesdropping on people around you in the coffee shop. The play’s dialogue came from improvisial sessions based on a script outline. It was interesting to see how much of parker was in his character, especially his video game and relationship habits.
Mostly it is interesting to know him. He is fascinating to me for many reasons; one being that he is making it in an industry that I perceive it impossible to make it.
Posted by christina at 4:38 PM | Comments (0)
April 3, 2006
I hear the bells / they are like emeralds
parker and chipper, who, I'm sure, is telling a gross medical story.
Turns out, trying to find a time to defend in the summer time when all four of one's committee member's can come is impossible.
Ah, must not worry. It isn't like I'm not going to graduate. I'll be finished writing at the same point.
Ben and I went to the BEST fondue restaurant. It was better than the melting pot and $20 cheaper for the fondue extravaganza. For the chocolate fondue course, they pour alcohol on top of the chocolate and then light it on fire. They give you marshmallows to roast. The fire goes out and the chocolate is ready for the yummy yummy bits of yumminess.
We went to this restaurant on a fluke. I was looking for someplace new to go on our weekly saturday night date. I stumbled across a fondue restaurant which inspired me to find one closer. They did not take reservations. According to their website, it could be a long wait. We decided just to go expecting a wait, hoping that the final four would keep it under an hour. We get there and they say 30 mins to an hour. Awesome. We run across the street for some pills that will prevent the cheese course from making ben sick sick sick. We walking back in the door to the restaurant and they seat us immediately. It was awesome. They have lots of two people tables, so that helps with the shorten wait also.
It was awesome.
Posted by christina at 4:36 PM | Comments (0)
March 21, 2006
in the way, in the way that we're constantly moving / reminds you of home
As I have settled back down into writing, I have found my self in a familiar pattern. As remembered from my qualifier/research proposal writing, I write a paragraph and then must do something else for 5 minutes. I just cannot write and write. So I’m catching up on people’s website, including a friend from work who just had a baby! She is so cute!
The weather here is gross. We did not get piles and piles of snow like they did down state, and for that I am thankful. The wind was something crazy this morning. It was causing waves to crash way way way up on the running path. I had to basically run next to lake shore drive for a bit and on the grass for a while. There were parts that were ice up to the drive, so I carefully walked. Running against the wind did keep my heart rate up, so even though I spent 3 extra minutes on my run, it wasn’t like I was cheating. At certain points I really thought that the wind was going to blow me down. It was that insane.
The running into the wind is something I have gotten use to, but the sheets of ice on the trail this morning was something new. As I was running in the grass, next to the ice, I saw this poor biker bite it. I made sure he was okay and warned him that I was ice for a while (I was on the way back). I was certainly glad when I got to the part of the trail that bends away from the shore and into the park. It is much easier to run when you aren’t trying not to slip and fall.
Posted by christina at 2:41 PM | Comments (0)
March 13, 2006
I think I'll go for a walk outside now / the summer sun's calling my name, I hear it now
This past weekend was that weekend Chicagoans wait for all winter long – the first 60+ degree Saturday. Every fiber of one’s being screams must-go-outside! It knows that we still have a bout of 30s and some snow before spring truly arrives. It insists that we take advantage of every moment of warmth.
And we did.
I was up early thanks to el workers’ blow horn. I actually didn’t mind. I enjoy getting up on the early side, going for my run, and being back in the apartment for the day by 9ish. I hurried us along to our usual Saturday errands because of forecasted storms. We started at the Gap in boy’s town. We never go shopping, and certain members of our household had reached the hole-in-all-my-khakis point. So to the Gap we went. For some reason the Gap in the land of skinny guys who like tight clothes only carried the relaxed fit. They looked like MC Hammer pants on ben. I would uber amused at that and the dude in the dressing room wearing a beret and not hiply. I found two things on sale (the only way I buy at gap). Ben bought enough that it made sense to open a gap credit card account. He made me laugh, though a lot of the stuff he bought was either on sale or one special.
The storms did not materialize; the warmth called to us. We headed downtown to the state street area in search for classic khakis (found, I also got a new hoodie for $10 off. I love specials). I had also been hankering after H&M for my once-every-two-years trip. They have these tanks tops I love for $5.90. You can’t beat that. H&M is so hit and miss. I have a couple things from there I love, but most of the stuff I would never wear. It is the same for Ben. He did come away (in really his biggest shopping day since I’ve met him) with 4 cute tight polos. I got a tank in every color they had plus a linen skirt, which I was on the fence about, but for $20 even if I just wear it a couple times it will be worth it. The range of clothes in that store amazes me.
It was just a perfect day to be out and about. The stores weren’t that crazy, which probably had to due with it being St. Patrick’s Day (Observed) in the city, so most people were already wasted in the bars. It was quite a sight to see at 11:30 people participating in some sort of pub-crawl in our neighborhood. The bars were packed by 3 when we headed downtown. It was crazy.
Posted by christina at 1:01 PM | Comments (0)
March 9, 2006
i'm defying gravity / and you can't pull me down
Ah, once I stopped all the grading (next week) I’ll be back to posting regularly.
This past weekend, I had the joy of seeing Wicked (the musical). It is camped out in Chicago and is in high demand. I went with Ben’s mom. We then meet his dad and sister down town and this restaurant that had amazing dessert. Seriously, amazing desserts.
Whenever I go to the theatre in Chicago, the buildings themselves amaze me. They are so elaborately ornate inside. This one was a little over the top, but it is still amazing to look at. When Ben’s dad started working downtown 25 years ago, he told me, all the beautiful theatres were xxx movie houses and had fallen into complete disarray. It is amazing how they have come back. The theatre in Chicago is thriving and I appreciate it every time I get to see a show. It is nice how shows come and stay for months (most shows) to years (3 years for Wicked).
I enjoyed the show. It is Ben’s sister’s favorite musical. (He took her last year for her Christmas present.) I had pretty high expectations, but very little knowledge of what it was about. The show, past its initial high pitch annoying singing, was excellent. It is amazing to see stage and the actors and the costume changed. I loved the dragon. (You can see him on the website.) We were right at the front of the lodge, which was awesome.
Whenever I got out with Ben’s parents, there are always amazing desserts involved (well, food too, but the desserts, they are fabulous). Ben got this trio of small soufflés. They were fabulous. My small crepes were great, but the soufflés, I still think of them.
We got into an interesting discussion on why people get tattoo and/or body piercing. Is it to rebel against their parents, society, their life? I would say usually not to the first two, but kinda to the second one. I know I did it because I was bored with who I was; I wanted to change in a new way; and I just thought it was cool. I think most people get it because they just want it, like a plasma tv. This is especially true with piercing, which are easily erased.
I love project runway. I am so sad it is over. I do have to saw that Santino was given such mixed messages. The judges beat him down during the competition for being too out there and then when he toned it down for the runway show they complained then. Sigh. Not that I disagree with the winner, but just the mixed messaged.
And hence probably my only comment I’ll make about a tv show, especially one in the genre I hate – reality tv.
Posted by christina at 12:40 PM | Comments (1)
February 24, 2006
i'll make the most of it / i'm an extraordinary machine
hello kentie!
I love data. I love data more than I love ice cream, which is saying a lot.
Part of the reason I love science is that I love data.
What fascinates me more than data from my films, is data from my life. I specifically love to keep track of my exercising. In true commitment to that love, I now possess a heart rate monitor. Prior I had a pedometer, which recorded my steps, miles (base on stride length), time, and calories. I love it, except it was never quite right. Whenever I would run faster, I would measure less mileage (even though I ran the exact same route). The stopwatch was never quite accurate because it only measured time when I had moved forward 4 steps – therefore it stopped at stop lights where I stretched. But it did enable me to push myself to a point.
The HRM is so much cooler. A strap around my chest measures and beams my HR to the watch on my wrist, which is a stopwatch that I control. I record the data when I get back. I have numbers. I love numbers.
Did I mention that I also have a heart murmur? They found it in the ER. My awesome doctor confirmed the nurse practitioner’s diagnosis that it is from running. Of course, I did a little research and found out that it is a condition called Athlete’s Heart. Of course, I laughed, as I would be the last people to say I am an athlete. After a little bit of reading (and with the knowledge from my heart monitor), I do fall into the category with my 6 days a week 1-hour dynamic (cardio) exercise. I do just barely, in my opinion. My resting heart rate is low (~60 bpm), but right on the edge between normal and “athlete’s heart). Anyways, it turns out that when your heart is in good shape, it does things that in sedentary people would mean something is wrong. Because of the amount of blood that must be pumped with each beat, the valve just doesn’t close efficiently. According to what I read, the weird things go away when you are exercising. It is interesting.
Posted by christina at 2:11 PM | Comments (1)
February 11, 2006
you don’t know what you got ‘til its gone
My quiet has been a function of life. Usually I post during the day while I watch some experiment. For the past two weeks, I’ve spent that time grading homeworks. I went to Atlanta on my birthday for 4 days, so I worked by butt off to get everything in order so I wouldn’t be stressed out about taking the time off. See, my problem is not that I can’t take the time off to travel, but the fact that I have to get stuff done, so two days out of the office puts me behind.
Due to the silence, I have no had a chance to gush about the new ditigial camera porch boy got from his parents for graduation. I’ve been using tom’s, and it is quite nice to now have our one. (Though tom is awesome and has given me free rein with his camera since July. JULY! That is a long time to let someone run off with your camera. He is just that awesome.) The picture at the top is one of the first. Kitty with her cute pink tonge.
Atlanta was excellent. I took a ton of pictures, except forgot to get one with Shel. Oh well. I’ll just have to photoshop us together. : ) I love how I have friendships that just pick up easily. That is the hallmark of a great friendship. There are a couple of things that make me want to move back to Atlanta – the dekalb farmer’s market, kent’s apartment complex (complete with pool, workout room, and great water pressure) all for cheapish, and Atlanta. I do love Atlanta. I also love Chicago. I would pick Atlanta, though. One would think because it was warm, but it is more because you can still live in the city and buy land. Houses that have actual yards. Chris has an amazing backyard.
Posted by christina at 4:49 PM | Comments (1)
December 24, 2005
i can hold you in my soul
what i am totally not missing right now.
the weather is so wonderful in hot springs. it was in the 60s both yesterday and today.
Yesterday, all the girls of the family went to the big L.R. for day one of wedding dress shopping. The eighth dress I tried on I loved. We had planed on going to a huge wedding dress store about 2 hours away on Monday. After a short conference, I decided that i really did love that dress, and when in really love something it is hard to draw me away. Plus, i was not real excited to spend that much time in the car on Monday. So we placed the order. I ended up also really loving the shoes they gave me to try on so from head to toe, i am now outfitted for the wedding day. Check check check off the list. makes me happy.
Today the weather was amazing when i ran. Blue skies, free air, surrounded by trees it was awesome. The hills, not so awesome.
Posted by christina at 7:19 PM | Comments (0)
November 3, 2005
copper kettles sitting side by each / copper coil, cup o'georgia peach
shrine in nikko. finally got my pictures back. I have lost a roll, oh well, though i'm happy that the rewinding mishap/film exposure didn't run a whole roll.
Yesterday I presented and saw the most patriotic city ever.
I presented in the morning. It went well, of course. There are not a lot (if any) tribologist hanging around at this conference (and those that do seem to leave on Tuesday). I got some good comments, but nothing real help for my current mechanism debate. Oh well.
Because the afternoon sessions held little interest for me, I decided to take the opportunity to explore Boston – specifically the Freedom Trail. After changing, I set out downtown. Upon arrival, I found some lunch by wandering around a bit and noticing a HUGE sign about world famous sandwiches. I went. I had an excellent roast beef in a busy deli. I shared a table with some really amusing older ladies.
I then enjoy a beautiful sunny afternoon (a tad cold) along the freedom trail, which involved following a red line around the city of Boston to Charlestown. The red line was sometimes just paint on the ground. The line was sometimes brick. The line did disappear as I found myself in a construction area and then out lost, then figured out where I was (love maps).
I saw old gravestones, houses, and tributes to the greatness of America. I also saw an anti-war protest. I almost joined, except I had freedom to see. I walked the 2.5 miles from one end to the other to walk up the 294 stairs to the top of the Bunker Hill monument. It was totally worth it as it offered beautiful views of Boston, including Logan airport. Even though I thought the stairs where going to kill me (which surprised me as I run 5 miles most mornings, but after 100 stairs I couldn't really breathe), watching the planes take off and land at Logan made it all worth it. Turns out this area has lots of tree covered hills. I guess it is New England, and the leaves are quite beautiful, as they are in Chicago and Japan. Funny how my trips have turned into fall leave seeing trips due to the warmness of the season.
I walked back into Boston, saw a lobster special for 10 dollars, and for the second time of my life had whole lobster for dinner. Yeah. I remember now, I like lobster, but really can’t deal with a whole one due to lobster goo. The thought of lobster goo made me feel slightly ill all evening and still makes me feel icky when I think about it.
Boston, despite the whole lobster, is definitely my favorite conference city yet. I love the ease of the T (now that I’ve figured it out). I love the sights, the smells, and the feel. I love Brookline. It has wide sidewalks great for running. Stores and eateries are conveniently located. The neighborhood is filled with youngish people also out and about at all times, though it has made me feel a tad old.
I could live here….except for the harsh harsh winter.
The thing that has struck me is how young this city is. According to my taxi cab driver, there are half a million students in this city. It shows. This is a very young city, at least the parts I’ve seen. Though I am sure it is like Chicago where there are really young parts and older parts. The parts that are young remind me of the neighborhood to the south of mine in Chicago. Our neighborhood is young, but not college young. It is like mid 20s-30s young. Not college age, just out of college young.
Posted by christina at 9:14 AM | Comments (0)
October 21, 2005
i would walk five thousand miles
I’ve made it back safe and sound. I’m enjoying (I guess) the longest technical day of my life. I was up at 5:00 this morning (in Tokyo time, 3 pm, Thrusday, Chicago time) to go to the fish markets. It was crazy full of fish. You can’t see where the fish come in and go to auction, but you can wander through the external market (middle men) and see all the fish and sea food and everything in between, including pottery. We found a great little pottery stand and got a couple things. We made it back for an 8 am breakfast. We left for the train station at 9:30, caught the 10 am train to the airport. 11:15 am found us checking in. They have a weird system in which your checked bag goes through the x-ray before you check it. They put stickers across the zippers, but one could easily slip something into their bag after screening. Though they are probably looking for bombs, which would be hard to slip in unnoticed (and without breaking the stickers) in the check in line.
After a final lunch of udon, at 1:30 we boarded the 777. It is a beautiful plane. We have an on time departure at 2:34 pm. I slept a good bit in the middle of the flight, in hopes of returning easily to us time. I watched bewitched (I love the 777s with their personal screen systems). Turns out that the trip back is much quicker as one catches the jet stream. The trip was like 2-3 hours quicker. This combined with o’hare being empty made for a quick journey through immigration and customs. I was standing outside being picked up by porch boy at 12 pm Chicago time (2 am, Saturday, Tokyo time).
Here I am, enjoying life on the couch with porch boy and the izzerator. I debated a nap earlier, but I’m really not that tired yet. I am punchy and emotional as I cried at the end of Grey’s Anatomy (I love dvr). At this point I’m just going to stay up until at least 10. So really on my agenda for this evening – a shower and food that does not involve fish in anyways.
I must mention our beautiful trip to Nikko on Thursday. We enjoyed the mountains from both the train out and the bus up the mountain to the waterfall. We had lunch on the mountain, where we ordered by pointing to the plastic food in the front window (most restaurants have plastic food in the windows). Another guest at the restaurant, a Japanese man, took our picture. I get the feeling that Nikko gets a lot of westerners because of the temples and shines (which we saw later), the waterfall at the top of the mountain gets very few.
All in all, Japan was an very interesting experience. The first three days we met with people from different universities and research centers. Monday we went to Tokyo Institute of Technology. Tuesday we went to a national lab type research center. Wednesday, we went the University of Tokyo. At each place we met with different research groups and talked about their research. It was quite interesting and much like the US. The major exception is that there are way more Masters students than Ph.D students. At Northwestern it is the complete opposite. We don’t have Masters student. We have people that leave with a masters, but no one in admitted just for a masters.
All of the people we interacted with Mon-Wed spoke English very well. It was not until we were on our one that (1) we started to use a couple words and (2) started to figure out that Toyko subway fare system. It took until this morning to figure out that there are two different subway lines and when you transfer between them, you have to get a new ticket. Now I know. It makes sense that when you transfer to the elevated/surface trains you have to get a new ticket, but for the subways, it was confusing.
The food was good. There were things I loved (including the most expensive meal I’ve ever eaten, though I did not pay, our hosts did, who included the science advisor to the prime minster, who had been at northwestern for a while) and things I was not a huge fan of. All in all, I tried everything and enjoyed just being in Japan.
I am glad, though, to return to porch boy and izzy.
Posted by christina at 5:29 PM | Comments (0)
October 19, 2005
filled so porch boy won't be bothered
again i was up at 5 am this morning wide awake, though i am still tired becuase we walk a lot tokyo yesterday. this city is CONFUSING. of course we decided to walk things instead of taking the subway, but we have no maps with street names, just subway stations and the street are not on a grid and therefore we spent a lot of time wandering around.
today we are off to the country by train to see shrines, temples, and waterfalls.
Posted by christina at 3:13 PM | Comments (0)
October 17, 2005
you are far far away
and cant find the ' key. though obviously just found it.
the flight over was long, but fine. the flight was 3 hours delayed on the tarmac because the loaded the plane wrong and not one noticed until we were about the take off that we were lopsided. other than that, it was good. they showed 6 movies. 6! i was on the plane for 6 movies! i only watched two of them. they also fed us a lot.
so this hotel is cool enough to have internet access ona a computer in the lobby. downside is that i have to stand at it, but it is 5:23 in the morning and i have been up since 3:30. stupid jet lag. yesterday morning was better, as i woke up at 5:30. but i was dead asleep by 9*30 last night. oh well, i really do not want to get too use to the time change, as we leave in a couple days.
anyways, so here i am checking my e-mail on this crazy keyboard. japan is good, tokyo is basically like any major city, research is similar in any city. 'im enjoying the three other guys i am travelling with and the food. so good. and the people are so nice.
Thursday we are planning a day trip to see some temples and leaves. I am quite excited about that.
Posted by christina at 3:29 PM | Comments (2)
October 3, 2005
she's the name you'll find / written on my heart
There are few things better than picking an apple right off the tree and eating it. This is especially true when the skies are blue, the breeze is warm, and you are with good friends.
We spent another beautiful Saturday picking apples in northern Illinois. Along with us was another couple whose apple-loving rivals ours (if not exceeds). We went to a little mom-and-pop operation. The apples were amazing. Porch boy and I got 2 pecks of empires, 1 almost peck of macintosh’s (for the pie) and another almost peck of jonathans. Who knew there were some many types of apples! The four of us got almost 8 pecks of apples. Our car spent almost $100 on apples (at $1.25 per pound, I’ll leave it to you to figure out home many apples rode back to the city in my trunk).
I made another pie, and yet again am not happy with the crust. The first pie I ever made was last fall and it came out perfect. Ever since then I have had all sorts of unhappiness. Tom made a good analogy is that it is like research – it works well once, never to be reproduced.
One reason we got so many apples is porch boy’s hankering for homemade apple sauce. It is amazing how many apple it take for apple sauce, and hence we got a lot of apples.
Posted by christina at 4:52 PM | Comments (3)
August 29, 2005
'Cause you need to be back in the arms of a good friend
It is so beautiful in Chicago – blue skies, 80 degree temps, cool breezes, one could not ask for better weather than this. Of course, Friday we’ll be leaving it all for hot hot hot Arkansas. Though, it is probably more rainy there and cloudy due to Katrina.
I cannot believe hurricane Katrina. I was glued to the tv last night. I cannot believe they evacuated New Orleans. It makes total sense, but still blows my mind.
Well, the highlight of porch boy’s weekend was the Ryne Sandburg retirement ceremony before the game on Sunday. There were trumpets. Not any trumpets, but those long one with banners hanging from them that one thought went out with kings and queens and such. Though porch boy enjoyed it, I thought it was a bit much. And I’m not that nice of a person to not straight up tell him that later. We are past me pretending to like things for him. Of course I didn’t say anything during, but after the game, as to not ruin the moment. I just rolled my eyes and read the program.
The highlight of my weekend was making farfel from scratch. It was quite yummy. We have a lot of farfel left over, so come on by if you are in the neighborhood.
Posted by christina at 5:02 PM | Comments (0)
August 26, 2005
Pouring over photographs. /I'm living in your letters.
One of the amusing things about staying in porch boy's childhood bedroom is getting to look at his childhood stuff. I love looking at pictures of all the kiddies when they were younger. They were so cute (still are). his sister was so cute (still is). Last night I was looking through ben’s old photoalbum and found a picture of cosmo as a puppy. I must get a puppy. It is so cute that I want to take the photo of the puppy in the sandbox. He was so small is a amazing to see how big he is now.
Last night I took cosmo the great for a walk around the block cuz I’m just that good of a dog sitter. Ha ha. I really misinterpreted his reminder for his treat as his wanting a walk. He was extremely happy with the walk though.
I only had my tennis shoes up there. I did not want to put them back on, so decided just to walk barefoot. The sidewalks are clean and cool. We go walking, stopping every so many feet to pee on things. Things are going well. I spot a potential situation coming toward us – a woman with her stroller. I’m not sure how cosmo deals with things on his walk, so I sit him in the grass. I stand between him and the approaching stroller. Turns out that it was a dog in the stroller instead of a baby! It was quite a sight. I was flustered and didn’t know what to saw when she asked if my dog wanted to saw hi. I just said no, he’s very cute. Yes, it made no sense, but neither did the scene in front of me. The real reason is that I wasn’t sure how cosmo reacts to other dogs.
We continue out walk, come upon my favorite house. This evening, it has a dog in its yard. Cosmo and the dog went crazy – lots of barking. I had to basically sit on cosmo to get him to stop. In the process, his nails scratched my feet. Not badly though.
Posted by christina at 2:38 PM | Comments (0)
August 13, 2005
what a wonderful world
Rain falls outside my window.
I love the rain. The number one thing I miss about southern weather is summer thunderstorms. I love chilling to the rain.
I had more than 125 e-mail messages from the past 7 days. Nothing too exciting. Only one annoying thing. I’m glad I didn’t get a chance to check my e-mail again on vacation. Who bothers someone with stupid questions while they are on vacation? Inconsiderate people, that is who.
The rain is falling steadier and harder than it had since the spring. We’ve been in a terrible drought. The rain is quite welcome.
Porch boy is still asleep in bed, which is where I really want to be. I have to think more about my sleep schedule than done for a month boy does. We got back this morning at 8 am. Hawi’i is five (six?) hours behind central time. Our first flight yesterday, from Kawi’i to Honolulu was at 1:50 local time. We left Honolulu at 5. A 7-8 hours flight east has us leaving the sun and then meeting it again. That was the strangest aspect to the flight. Also strange – I have lost any ability to sanely fly. They tell me is normal to become more scared of things one can’t control after a life like mine, but I understand flight. I understand the physics. I also understand failure and betting the odds. And so the flight up and down off the islands were scary was you come and go out at angles to avoid mountains.
I slept just this morning, as to get back on a Chicago sleep schedule.
I am so tan. I have not been this tan since I was young. My hair is blonder. I look like a different person. I am actually embarrassed to go back to work as it is quite apparent that I just spent 10 days laying in the sun. Intersperse some pampering and a lot of amazing food, you now can picture my vacation. After Tuesday, we should have pictures up.
The rain has let up a bit. I shall take this opportunity to commence my afternoon errands, which involve going up to work to start pumps and heaters so I can get back to the grind Monday. I am not looking forward to it, but tell myself every day that I work is one day closer to the end.
Posted by christina at 1:16 PM | Comments (0)
August 5, 2005
The sun’s so hot I forgot to go home
So yes, I'm on vacation. Life was so busy before departure, I didn't have time for a farewell post.
We've (the future in-laws and I) have been in Hawaii (currently the big island) since tuesday. The flight was long, but not bad. The islands amazing. The resort quite nice. We've swam with dolphins (quite cool), got amazing massages, read in the sun, and have ate amazing food (fish mainly).
Life is quite amazing. I love being here with porch boy and his family. we laugh, we chat, we exist. Both of us are quite lucky to have such amazing families and that we get along so well.
and as i lay in the sun surrounded by beautiful water, assure myself that i still have many days left (until the 11th or 12th) until i have to face my real life again.
after a day or so of having to settle into vacation life, i am thriving quite well.
Posted by christina at 10:31 PM | Comments (2)
July 26, 2005
he had it coming / he had it coming / he only had himself to blame
I had the best weekend. One of my seriously favorite people came to visit me. She shall remain nameless in case some one googles her during her confirmation for a judgeship. She shall remain unconnected to me and my gun hating politics.
The weekend started out on a great note as we scored free hot fresh krispy kremes. We went right after we picked her up from the airport as that is the closest one. It is hard to resist. We went inside so I could watch the machines, leaving porch boy in the car with his baseball game. (How great was porch boy to not watch the cubs-cardinals game so he could have dinner with me and go to the airport.) At this location, they give fresh donuts to those making purchases. Interesting, as we really only wanted one. The line was not long, but it was slow as no one was seemed to be being helped. We all, in line, were given our hot, fresh krispy kreme. We waited and then these dyed blond older ladies cut in front of us. At that point we had gotten what we wanted and no one had appeared to be helping anyone in line, so we just left. Awesome.
We spent a lot of time hanging out and chatting or hanging out and reading. We walked out to the harbor and watched the boats. The three of us went downtown for a NPR fundraiser/live interview by Ira Glass on crime in Chicago during the 20s. People were being murdered for reading the wrong newspaper during the paper wars. People were being murdered at an astonishing rate. It was quite interesting. One of the stories the historian dude told was of the women that the musical chicago is based on. Plus, I got to see Ira Glass in person. I love Ira Glass’s voice, and for an hour and a half I was awash in his voice.
The visitor also got her wish for a “Chicago” hot dog. I guess they are different as they put a large amount of stuff on it (include a full quarter of a pickle).
Sunday we did our best to not melt, which involved staying inside most of the day watching the thermometer outside reach 111. We did venture out for both Trader Joe’s and for sushi. Dude, I do love sushi, and my favorite place is so close to the apartment. Whenever an sushi eating person comes to visit, we go there. Porch boy is not a fan, so I rarely get a chance to partake.
Whenever one of my friends come to visit, we spend some amount of time doing things in my neighborhood. During those time, walking with friends, I appreciate how nice it is to live in my neighborhood where there are so many cool things within walking distance. One way is a short walk to the lake/park. Another way is a very short walk to Wriggly Field. There are more restaurants than I can count, bars and shops and ice cream too.
I was sad to drop the visitor off at the airport. I really enjoyed having her back around, if even just for a moment. We are both quite bad with the phone, so we don’t stay in constant touch between visits. When we do get to see each other, it is quite a treat. It reminds me how much I love having a good female friend around and how sad I’m going to be when Leta moves away.
Posted by christina at 2:44 PM | Comments (2)
July 18, 2005
don't drink the water
I have found the best place in Chicago – the dog beach!
Saturday we joined ben and Julie and their dog lilibee at the dog beach. It was so much fun. There were dogs running everywhere playing with each other, with their owners, in the water. It was so so so so cool. I saw (and got to pet) boston terriers, pugs, an italien greyhound, amoung many many other breeds, including precious lilibee. It was the perfect day for the beach – hot enough to drive you into the water.
I must admit I enjoyed the fresh water beach as the water did not sting. I’m sure it is oh so clean, but I didn’t drink it and I took a shower immediately upon returning home.
Funny thing is that my trip to the dog beach made me be a little more realistic about owning a dog. I do want to own a dog, so badly that I just lay my head on whatever dog I happen to have and love love love it. Dogs just need so much, and currently, it is all my energy to plod through school/work right now. I really think that having a dog at home would completely cuase me to implode. Okay, not really, but at this moment in my life I have to work a lot. The strange thing about when I get stressed about work, I just want to work more. Yesterday I had this big struggle between my stress wanting me to go to work and my brain knowing that today was going to be a long day and knowing that all I really wanted to do with my afternoon is hang out with the boy I met on a porch. And so that is what I did (though I did work a bit at home).
It is truly the season for engagements around here. In the past month or so four couples I know have gotten engaged (three with one person in the dept and one that the boy use to be in the department). How crazy is that! The latest is my friends Jon and Chris. They met the same night that porch boy and I met. They didn’t start dating until a month or so after. They are awesome. I hate hate hate that they can’t get legally married. It is so stupid. Why am I allowed to marry porch boy, but they can’t marry each other? How is it any different? I DO NOT understand why this is such an issue. I look forward to a time when my children can look back and shake their heads in wonder that there was a time when people who loved each other couldn’t get married.
Posted by christina at 7:36 PM | Comments (2)
July 13, 2005
if you like pina colas
I have changed my running route. I have been meaning to start running on the lake (there is a really nice running trail and park along the shore) now that it is hot and sticky. Most of the year, the wind off the lake makes it too cold, so i run inland from my apartment. Saturday, I finally changed. It is so beautiful, plus has a lot more runners (to motivate me) and way less streets to cross (decreasing the chance of getting hit by a car).
I've seen some random things so far in the park. Saturday it was a dog drinking from a water fountain. This morning it was a tv crew filming and guy (unrealated to the tv crew) walking around barefooted in while linen pants and a white overcoat and white bere (sp?). Quite a strange sight.
My computer is somewhere over the ocean. It should arrive Friday.
Currently, the hardest thing for me is remembering or learning or accepting that grad school is a learning experience, that i don't have to do everything perfectly the first time. That I work on the edge of something and so things don't always fit in a box.
did you know that one could get married in a library? After hours, of course.
Posted by christina at 9:59 AM | Comments (0)
July 7, 2005
the smile on your face
Liz came into town last Saturday. She usually comes in for the 4th of July weekend. Usually I go out to Naperville, but she wanted to see the place and the kitty and the Cubs game. Despite having grown up in the area, she had never been to Wriggly. Therefore going has put an end to all's amazing at that fact.
We had a great day. The weather was perfect. We had lunch outside in the sunshine followed by yummy italian ice and ice cream chatting in the sunshine. There no less than 4 ice cream shops on southport rd between belmont and irving park (1 mile). It is insane. The game was fun, though the cubs lost. Some of us minded more than others. And then us + hunk o' man went downtown to meet Liz's best friend from high school and her b/f for dinner. One the way there hunk o' man witnessed a mooning. A guy on the el car was mooning his friends has it pulled away from the platform we all had gotten off on. It made his night.
Yesterday Thomas Louise has surgery on his right shoulder. I spent the majority of the day at the hospital hanging out for this, that, or the other reason. It was outpatient scope surgery. I do have to say after my long history of hanging out in hospitals (as my mom was a nurse and we would go there after school), it was weird to be there for someone else. The small part I saw of evanston hospital was nice. The out patient surgery waiting room was nice. It had big fish and no screaming children, therefore better than the er.
Tom is doing as well as expected. He's on a lot of pain pills, so it sounds like he is just sleeping a lot. From my post surgery convo with the doctor (who was super cool), it sounds like he is going to have more mobility with his right arm than we thought (we thought none). He'll be able to drive once he's off the super pain pills and type and eat and stuff. He has this really awesome cool pad for his shoulder area. I covet it.
After I got Tom settled with ice and food and drink and pain pills, I went up to our "local" outdoor concert area, Ravina. It is a short train ride from evanston. It is the regional train metra, who confused me and caused me to miss a train because they drive on the WRONG side of the tracks. Wrong being the opposite of streets and the el. But it was cool, as the ride was much shorter than i had anticipated, any my "later" arrival meant no line to pick up my ticket. Hunk o' man, Steve, and Jen were already up there. I got there with plenty of time before allison krauss and union station came on. The whole event is quite cool. It was packed with people in the lawn with full fledged picnics. Had i had more time and energy, it would have been really cool to put something really nice together complete with wine and cheese and fruit. Though I was quite happy with my sandwich and sunchips.
The night was perfect, though a touch chilly. We curled up and listened to the beautiful music as we watched the stars come out. It was definitely one of those nights that you live the moments in between for.
Posted by christina at 3:47 PM | Comments (0)
July 5, 2005
hey julie / look what they're doing
So I am overwhelmed, still, by work issues, that the task of posting about all the cool stuff i've done lately has been daunting. So I'm going to do it piece meal.
(I would just like to pause and say that I hate the friction tester. People tell me it should behave in certain ways and it does not!)
Anyways. To the nice happy thoughts.
Weekend before last, hunk o' man + friends and I went to Vermont for Ben and Julie's wedding.
Vermont is beautiful. Spending time among trees and hills makes me miss living among trees and hills.
The wedding was small and done quite well. It was mostly family. I am quite happy that we had the opportunity to go. I adore ben and julie (though not as much as I adore their dog) and loved getting to see them get married. All of the friends stayed in this house at the "base of operations" inn. The house is meant for family reunions; it sleeps 16. It was perfect as it gave all the friends a place to hang without disturbing anyone. Both night the bride and groom hung out. (after the wedding just for a bit, but the night before the wedding, there was tequila shots going on. not for me though, but for others who can stomach tequila shots.)
The wedding, beside taking place outside in a heat wave, was nice. It was a somewhat traditional Jewish wedding. I enjoy the component of Jewish celebrations that recognize that everyone is not as happy at that moment. The wedding and reception took place at a family friend's "farm". He didn't raise anything, just had a lot of land. And ponds. And a babbling book. It was enough to make ben go around announcing to me that he wants land. I, myself, have always had dreams of living in the middle of nowhere. I either want to be in the middle of a city or the middle of the woods. When I was young I wanted to be a forest ranger so I could live in the woods. That career choice made me look at environmental science which somehow turned into chemistry and then into chemical engineering than to materials science and engineering and here I am. Most days I wish I would have stuck to my original plan. Ben is the only thing that makes me glad I came to grad school this past month.
Anyways, the reception was complete with people being lifted on chairs and lots of dancing. It was the longest wedding/reception for me yet (though, this is only my third friend wedding).
This past Sunday ben and julie had us over for brunch so we could see all their cool wedding presents. They got some cool stuff. Copper pans are awesome.
Posted by christina at 10:31 AM | Comments (1)
June 18, 2005
did you ever live to linger? / to twril time around your finger?
I walked Cosmo around the block at lunch today becuase the yard is messy becuase the Harpers are reroofing thier house. This would be fine to most risk adverse animals, they would pee around the stuff (or on). Cosmo eats everything, therefore i just put him on the leash and walked him. It is a beautiful day, and it was a beautiful walk even though Cosmo pooped in someone's yard. I have no idea why i was so surprised (and unprepared), as that was the goal of the walk. We walked back to the house and got a bag and than returned to pick it up. I'm not sure what the rules are in Willmette, but it is just considerate to pick up about your dog, and so I did. It was good practice for my future dog, though i hope it poops smaller poops.
Tom and I saw the HUGE dog (really, a bear) outside of the restaurant last night. "Can you imagine how much that dog poops?" i asked Tom. Seriously. I can't imagine. That is a big plus for a small dog, small poops.
The trip up to walk the puppy was good motivation to get some work done at school this afternoon. I am currently taking these type pictures on the SEM.
It took me along time to be able to hop in here and get these kinda of nonconducting small things. Tricks of the trade enable me to find them. People not messing up the SEM before me also helps.
Not such a bad gig. I brought my ipod. Quite nice.
My ipod + pedometer have been some of the best two christmas presents ever. My parents rock. The combination, I believe, are what have motivation my 5 mile morning runs. Those morning runs have played more into my sanity these past two weeks than I think I realized until today. I didn't run this morning becuase my body was complaining that it would be 5 in a row, which it doesn't like. When a part (or two) of my life feels out of my control, I have a tendency to try to ubercontrol parts to make up for it. Usually it is my running. I push myself. I look forward to getting up in the morning and running. I totally stress about whatever is stressing me running my run, so it isn't like an escape. Some how, though, it makes me feel better.
Tom and I saw Howl's Moving Castle. It was excellent. I'm not sure Tom was a huge fan, but I really enjoyed it.
Posted by christina at 6:04 PM | Comments (0)
June 13, 2005
crazy little thing called love
Organize regional conference complete with invited speakers from around the world. Check.
Well. The meeting has come, is almost gone, and can be said went well. It is always interesting to hear about people’s research. The highlight is that one of my invited speakers turned out to do a lot in tribiology of mems, a field that my low friction films apply well. I alternately love exposing my research to people in my field and alternately am afraid of some question I can’t answer. It never has really happened, as I’m not afraid to say I don’t know.
I got here at 6:30 am this morning, and won’t leave until close to my usual 6:30 time. Gotta love those 12 hour days. I am debating a run as I did not get to yesterday or this morning, but the humidity might just make me wait until tomorrow morning. I have to be here early tomorrow, but not until 8:30, which makes it hard to fit in a run, but I think I’ll just get up early when it is nice and cool.
Go to crazy Cubs-Red Soxs game, the first one since the 1918 word series. Check.
Yep, to the envy of random people, I got to go to Saturday’s Cubs-Red Sox game.
We’ll call Friday and Saturday the days of pretending I lived in the south again. It has been so hot and humid up here and we spent a good chunk of our time out in it, as air conditioners are everywhere here like they are in the south.
Friday evening was hunk o’ man’s little sister’s graduation. She graduated from a tiny school – her class had 38 people. The speaker was very amusing and not what you would expect. They didn’t wear caps and gowns, which perplexed me. I found out that hunk o’ man didn’t either. He went to the local public school, so it must just be a north shore thing. Random
After the ceremony there was a reception complete with miniature pastries. I’ve decided that my heaven will contain miniature pastries.
A thunderstorm blew in just as we arrived at the local country club for the dinner/dance. A lot of the tables were under this large tent. There was some mighty strong wind and I really thought the tent was going to blow down. The staff did too as they ushered us all inside. The wind soon calmed down and we had a delightful dinner with the sound of rain on the tent. The sound of rain is one of my favorites. If/when I get married, I would love to order rain and listen to it on a tent.
And there was dancing. The thunderstorm did nothing for the humidity, but that did not stop the dancing. There was this great cover band with a stupid name. And there was lots of dancing. Everyone in the family danced. There was a conga line. There was some swing dancing, where I discovered ben’s version of swing to be quite different from mine. We had a great time dancing the night somewhat away as 11 was our limit and we left all the high school grads dressed in white dresses and suits to their celebrating.
Saturday was the game. It was crazy. I never see opposing team fans at Wrigley. Saturday there were Red Sox fans everywhere. They were crazy and obnoxious. It was a great game – close and warm and winning. In the evening we joined all the Harpers for dinner in honor of Emma’s graduation. It was this great wine bar that had “wine flights”. It was three “half” glasses of wine on a theme. Ben and both his parents got the wines from the south of France theme. I got a merlot, shiraz, and pinot noir theme, whatever that theme might be. I got it, mainly, for the pinot noir as like most people who’ve seen sideways are intrigued by the pinot noir. It was really good. The food was quite great. And I had a great time. I got to spend lots of time with Ben’s young brother, which I really haven’t had the opportunity to do. So that was a great perk to the weekend.
The cat is TOO CUTE. She is laying in front of the open door sleeping in the evening breeze.
Posted by christina at 8:02 PM | Comments (0)
May 30, 2005
i need you to me here with me
Well, we are officially nerds. Not that this was an unknown fact about me, but I have brought Ben over to the dark side. Ha ha ha. He is all into our new space. As I spent the majority of saturday getting gallary installed and moveable type, he spent it working on our opening pages at andsafetybelts.net . If you haven’t figure it out, and safetybelts is from a cake song – stickshifts and safetybelts – one of my favorite songs of all time.
It has always been relaxing to me to mess around with this kind of stuff. I’ve had a perfectly blissful memorial day weekend with my laptop with ben across from me with his laptop. I was going to go into work this afternoon, but Friday I forgot that that was the plan and therefore didn’t set up my chamber to cool down so I cam make a sample this afternoon. And I don’t want to do the hour round trip for nothing. I worked all last weekend and the Saturday before, therefore I am justifying in to myself that I can enjoy this beautiful memorial day with my lap top. The izzy househould shall be grilling out, have no fear. We’re all-american like that. Izzy has taken to laying out on the balcony. I am a little nervous about this new habit, even though I know that there is no way ever she could fall off.
Today is one of those day I can’t wait until I have a “real” job where I can leave my work at the office and take holidays off without feeling guilty about what I am not doing. Every day that I don’t work (weekends, holidays, vacation), there is always a part of my mind that thinks about what I should be getting down at work. I think this is more of a function of graduate school, with a small sprinkle of my personality. Graduate school is a competition in a way, of who is getting more research done, of who’s research is more “sexy”, crap like that. I dream about jobs that I can leave work at work. Though I wonder how much of it is my personality and how I have to be careful of not getting into job where I get consumed until my kids are old. I do get consumed by things, as evidence of this website.
Posted by christina at 2:03 PM | Comments (0)