These statements always come apropos of nothing. I will look puzzled. The students will walk away smug. And in the end, I'll be just that much more confused by this generation of young people.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
'As far as you know'
The start of the school semester means an aggregate of mysterious student statements. These students will come forth with statements like, "no, I don't have a cell phone in my backpack... as far as YOU know." Or, "Professor win!" Or, "I'm not sure I can take a class from a Chargers fan."
Thursday, January 14, 2010
San Diego!
We had SO much fun in San Diego over the Christmas break. Goodness, I don't even know where to start. We seemed to pack weeks of activities into a very short amount of time. I'll keep in picture-concise.
We had a great Christmas Eve. My mom took us to a play at Lambs Players and then we went to dinner at Candelas in Coronado, which was beyond unbelievable. Here are my sister and I enjoying our meals...
Mom was into the closeups that day. And yes, we all wore red scarves.
My adopted bro Jason joined us for Christmas Eve dinner, too and he kept it seriously real. Didn't Jim look handsome in his tie?
Then for Christmas we sat in the living room and enjoyed breakfast and presents and each other. So many wonderful gifts! Jim started it off with amazing REI gear for working out in the cold weather.
I enjoyed the floor and watching everyone open all the homemades.
Then, the night before we left, we got to hit up our favorite San Diego burger joint. Hodad's is the OB spot. We got serenaded by the greyhaired guy who knows a lot of Neil Young. We waited in line. We secured the prime end-of-board seats and got to taste the burgers and rings and unhealthy shakes. It was wonderful.
The rents even liked it. :)
And I got my mom in the half-car-Hodad-van-thingy! Doesn't she look hot!
A very Ballew Christmas
The wonderful Ballews blessed us with many gifts this holiday season. Most of all their love and support, but also their great gifts! We had an early Christmas opening session before we left for San Diego to enjoy all the great things they gave us...
Del can't believe his dog eyes at the bones and toys.
Jim is a bit excited about his fleece vest!
Why yes, I AM a Charger's fan who shops at the Gap!!! Egads!
The Giants fan in him was a WEE BIT giddy at the sight of this shirt. He danced a little.
I never call, I never write
I used to update my blog almost every day. Now I'm lucky if I do it once a month. All of my creative energy is headed into my very special book project right now. All of my typing coordination, finger strength and brain energy is pouring into that book and since I'm in the process of trying to hook a very special agent to represent it, to unleash it on the world, I'm hoping that you will be able to read it soon.
I went through this whole thing about a month ago where I wanted to share the sample chapters with people and get opinions and edits. But then I got to the point where the sample chapters were done and I realized I didn't want to share. I wanted to keep them to myself until they were polished and perfect. I'd heard musicians say this about their albums before, but I never truly understood it. This piece is cohesive and requires the full context to sufficiently understand it's breadth. (Same as a good album, I would suspect.) So I'm keeping it to myself until it's polished and shiny and ready for consumption, which I'm hoping will be in a few months. My goal is June to be finished completely with all 90,000 words of the thing.
In the meantime, I'm feeling so lucky. Lucky for a beautiful husband ad two amazingly hilarious dogs that keep my entertained every day. Lucky for my health and my youth. Lucky for the beauty of where we live. Lucky for a roof over my head, clothes on my body and food in my mouth. Lucky for exercise and walking in fresh, unpolluted air. Lucky for doing work that makes me feel fulfilled and spiritually satisfied. Lucky for being alive.
What do you feel lucky for today?
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
When Wildlife Attacks! (This is probably owned by Fox)
J and I continue to move further to the fringe every year. I started in LA. Then it was off to San Diego. A year later we found ourselves in Boulder and now we are settled at the foothills of the Rockies in Golden, CO, a town known more for its Western charm and Coors brewery than for any metropolitan culture or well-to-do.
And it's not just our geographical location, either. We enjoy the fringe of culture, arts and music. We shop for clothes at a thrift store (sometimes out of necessity, but mostly out of the adoration of anything with a well-worn story). We experience the fringe of media consumption, especially television and film. We are fringe-dwelling people.
I wonder about the deep psychological cause of this fringe-dwelling. Are we secretly rebelling against something I can't pinpoint? Our families live thousands of miles away so we're done rebelling against them. Could we possibly just be enjoying this "place" on the edge simply because we just don't like people? Stay tuned, but I'm thinking the answer is no. As I prepare a book designed, essentially, for mass consumption, I'm hoping a little bit of my fringe instincts make it through to the finished product.
XOXO
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
For moms
We had a massive new year's cleaning and reorganization this week. It felt great! I'm usually a spring cleaning gal because being in Denver means it's freezing when you're moving things outside and in the garage but I'm so glad we got motivated to do it because our living room is SO much bigger now! Don't know what it is (CDs on a different wall? TV on a new-to-us stand?) but we like this organization much better. Granted, this explanation and these photos are mostly for mom, but anyone else reading can take it for what it's worth.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Holiday letters and multiple career paths
My official freelance website has been down for about two months now. It was a hard decision but that wasn't my official focus anymore, so I just shifted the link to this blog. With that shift came a kind of identity crisis that someone in "quarter-age" shouldn't necessarily be concerned with. It was a career crises (what to do? WHICH one to do? how many careers can I pull off at once?); it was a personal crises (will I need therapy now that my therapy [writing] isn't my focus any longer?); and it was a financial crisis (how will I make money now?). But with those crises has come a new renaissance for me, a rejuvenation of priorities and interests. But those interests are starting to spiral out of control a bit.
Right now, my energies are focused on four things:
- Adjunct teaching at Metro State College Denver (fun! rewarding! pays nothing! yay!)
- Freelance writing (very sporadically)
- Pet sitting (CCPC is still quite a fun distraction from being around people)
- Writing a book (this can't necessarily be considered a job right now, but it is a hope)
With Metro on break, I am focusing nearly all my energies on the latter three, especially writing, in the hopes that I can get my book picked up by an agent in the new year. It's a lofty goal and quite a new challenge for me. I don't necessarily see it finishing at any point, but I do see a book coming out. I am trying to imagine it, to make it a reality. Visions, to some, are a bit maniacal, but if it gets me to print...
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Suicide in the news (again)
How do we CHANGE what is happening to our young people? This is an epidemic. Suicide should not be a choice for talented, bright, accomplished college students.
Check out the Colorado Daily story here.
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