whippersnappers...
It's finally happened... the freshman in my classes were born in the same year I started college.
Jesus. I should really check around campus for wheelchair accessibility in advance.
Wednesday, August 31
alabama update...
We have it on good authority from both our realtor and our former neighbor that the house and property in Alabama are unscathed. We also hear that the prospective buyers are preparing a counter-counteroffer, although given the state of the power grid down there, we aren't holding our breath to hear from them.
Although... according to our neighbor, we had power back within 24 hours. Don't you think that should be added to our real estate listing? "Survived Ivan and Katrina without a scratch! POWER WITHIN 24 HOURS!!" Hell, I bet there are some people around there right now with no air conditioning who would buy it for that reason alone!
We have it on good authority from both our realtor and our former neighbor that the house and property in Alabama are unscathed. We also hear that the prospective buyers are preparing a counter-counteroffer, although given the state of the power grid down there, we aren't holding our breath to hear from them.
Although... according to our neighbor, we had power back within 24 hours. Don't you think that should be added to our real estate listing? "Survived Ivan and Katrina without a scratch! POWER WITHIN 24 HOURS!!" Hell, I bet there are some people around there right now with no air conditioning who would buy it for that reason alone!
Tuesday, August 30
tidbits from the weekend, in roughly reverse order...
TODAY: Woke up this morning feeling not-at-all well. Too much airport pizza and rest stop food. We didn't get home until midnight last night, and my intent was to catch a 7:30 train today, but I didn't want to leave the house until I was fairly sure I wasn't going to vomit. I managed to just make an 8:15 train, and I'm about 80% confident on the vomit factor.
PLANE: Even though the Southwest flight from Las Vegas was very full, my wife and I managed to score an empty seat between us. We spent most of the flight listening to our respective mp3 players (iPod/Lyra). For those of you who are not married, this is subtle body language for "It's been 4 days and I am DONE TALKING TO YOU!"
LAS VEGAS: I always forget about the slot machines in the Las Vegas airport, and how funny I find that. I not sure, but I'm pretty sure the Nevada state song is "beebooBEEE-boo bee-BEEEP-boo-beeBOOOP beedle-beedle-BEEEEEP..."
CULLY-FAWN-YA: Even after seeing and fairly actively disliking the movie "Sideways", it's hard to deny that the wine-y parts of California are pretty gorgeous.
WEDDING: The wedding was on a bluff overlooking the ocean on the coast near Bodega Bay... and as much as we mocked the bride beforehand for all the trippy-hippie touches, the ceremony was an amazing mixture of very personal elements and Jewish tradition. We take back all the mocking! It was really nice.
OUTDOORS: Between the rehearsal picnic, the wedding, and the reception, my wife and I attended three outdoor events in two days. We are pale northern-European folk. We got sunburned. In the FOG.
PERFORMANCE: I had been called upon to help out with a few performances... providing guitar accompaniment to a folk song during the ceremony, and then "Power of Two" by the Indigo Girls at the reception. It was one of those things... "Oh it's going to be really informal... don't worry about bringing a guitar, we have lots of musician friends..." Yeah. Which of course means that the day before the wedding, we had THIS conversation... "Did you bring a guitar? Was I supposed to bring a guitar? I thought Mike was bringing a guitar. Nobody TOLD me to bring a guitar..." Nice. So I had to make a few frantic phone calls and drive a half hour to Sebastopol to rent a guitar from some damned dirty hippies at "People's Music". (Hey Man, is that "People's Music?"... Yeah, Man... Well, TURN IT UP, Man!!)
Anyway, it cost me thirty bucks, but it was better than enduring a hundred calls back to San Francisco while everybody tried to find a friend they knew who played guitar. And in the end... the performances came off pretty well.
NERDS: As you might imagine, being the sort of hyper-educated nerdniks that we are, when we go to a wedding of a college friend, there are quite a few likeminded nerdniks to be found. At one point, my wife remarked - "Do you realize we are attending an event where the entire wedding party has Asperger's Syndrome?" We began a sort of informal poll as to which wedding guest was the most socially inept. In a way it was kind of nice to feel like one of the coolest people at the party.
HOUSES: We stayed with some friends who have a one story, 3 bedroom, one bath house... MAYBE 1000 sq feet, TOPS... located in Livermore, which is more than an hour commute to SF. They bought it for around $300k two years ago. It was recently appraised for $525,000. How the fuck do people live there? That's worse than NY, which I didn't even think was possible.
KATRINA: In case you've forgotten, (I know I'd like to) we still own a house in Alabama, which was sitting right in the path of a Category 5 hurricane all weekend. Meaning, we spent a good bit of our last night of vacation obsessively watching CNN. It looks like the area was spared the worst, and that while there is a fair amount of local damage and flooding... it wasn't much worse than Ivan. (Ivan was a smaller storm, but hit Mobile, AL more directly.) Still, we need to call our realtor and have him peek in on the house to make sure we haven't suffered any damage.
Oh also... I mentioned we got an offer. In a word...? Insulting.
I think that's as I have for now. It was a really nice weekend. But now it's back to work... I have some things I want to do on the train for a bit before I get in to the city this morning. I'm glad I decided to assemble a "reader" for my students this semester, since we just got an email informing us that we're no longer allowed to make more than three photocopies of anything. Oh! The glamorous life of a university professor!!
TODAY: Woke up this morning feeling not-at-all well. Too much airport pizza and rest stop food. We didn't get home until midnight last night, and my intent was to catch a 7:30 train today, but I didn't want to leave the house until I was fairly sure I wasn't going to vomit. I managed to just make an 8:15 train, and I'm about 80% confident on the vomit factor.
PLANE: Even though the Southwest flight from Las Vegas was very full, my wife and I managed to score an empty seat between us. We spent most of the flight listening to our respective mp3 players (iPod/Lyra). For those of you who are not married, this is subtle body language for "It's been 4 days and I am DONE TALKING TO YOU!"
LAS VEGAS: I always forget about the slot machines in the Las Vegas airport, and how funny I find that. I not sure, but I'm pretty sure the Nevada state song is "beebooBEEE-boo bee-BEEEP-boo-beeBOOOP beedle-beedle-BEEEEEP..."
CULLY-FAWN-YA: Even after seeing and fairly actively disliking the movie "Sideways", it's hard to deny that the wine-y parts of California are pretty gorgeous.
WEDDING: The wedding was on a bluff overlooking the ocean on the coast near Bodega Bay... and as much as we mocked the bride beforehand for all the trippy-hippie touches, the ceremony was an amazing mixture of very personal elements and Jewish tradition. We take back all the mocking! It was really nice.
OUTDOORS: Between the rehearsal picnic, the wedding, and the reception, my wife and I attended three outdoor events in two days. We are pale northern-European folk. We got sunburned. In the FOG.
PERFORMANCE: I had been called upon to help out with a few performances... providing guitar accompaniment to a folk song during the ceremony, and then "Power of Two" by the Indigo Girls at the reception. It was one of those things... "Oh it's going to be really informal... don't worry about bringing a guitar, we have lots of musician friends..." Yeah. Which of course means that the day before the wedding, we had THIS conversation... "Did you bring a guitar? Was I supposed to bring a guitar? I thought Mike was bringing a guitar. Nobody TOLD me to bring a guitar..." Nice. So I had to make a few frantic phone calls and drive a half hour to Sebastopol to rent a guitar from some damned dirty hippies at "People's Music". (Hey Man, is that "People's Music?"... Yeah, Man... Well, TURN IT UP, Man!!)
Anyway, it cost me thirty bucks, but it was better than enduring a hundred calls back to San Francisco while everybody tried to find a friend they knew who played guitar. And in the end... the performances came off pretty well.
NERDS: As you might imagine, being the sort of hyper-educated nerdniks that we are, when we go to a wedding of a college friend, there are quite a few likeminded nerdniks to be found. At one point, my wife remarked - "Do you realize we are attending an event where the entire wedding party has Asperger's Syndrome?" We began a sort of informal poll as to which wedding guest was the most socially inept. In a way it was kind of nice to feel like one of the coolest people at the party.
HOUSES: We stayed with some friends who have a one story, 3 bedroom, one bath house... MAYBE 1000 sq feet, TOPS... located in Livermore, which is more than an hour commute to SF. They bought it for around $300k two years ago. It was recently appraised for $525,000. How the fuck do people live there? That's worse than NY, which I didn't even think was possible.
KATRINA: In case you've forgotten, (I know I'd like to) we still own a house in Alabama, which was sitting right in the path of a Category 5 hurricane all weekend. Meaning, we spent a good bit of our last night of vacation obsessively watching CNN. It looks like the area was spared the worst, and that while there is a fair amount of local damage and flooding... it wasn't much worse than Ivan. (Ivan was a smaller storm, but hit Mobile, AL more directly.) Still, we need to call our realtor and have him peek in on the house to make sure we haven't suffered any damage.
Oh also... I mentioned we got an offer. In a word...? Insulting.
I think that's as I have for now. It was a really nice weekend. But now it's back to work... I have some things I want to do on the train for a bit before I get in to the city this morning. I'm glad I decided to assemble a "reader" for my students this semester, since we just got an email informing us that we're no longer allowed to make more than three photocopies of anything. Oh! The glamorous life of a university professor!!
Saturday, August 27
Friday, August 26
Wednesday, August 24
but dave likes to travel LIGHT...!
We're going on a 4 day trip to California and we need to plan for hanging out in Berkeley, sightseeing in San Francisco, an outdoor wedding and beach reception 2 hours north in Bodega Bay, and a picnic brunch and rehearsal dinner in between.
Between the 30 degree range in temperature, and equally wide range of "formality", I've calculuate that for this 4 day trip I will require eight outfits.
This sort of thing makes me ever-so-slightly edgy and irritated.
We're going on a 4 day trip to California and we need to plan for hanging out in Berkeley, sightseeing in San Francisco, an outdoor wedding and beach reception 2 hours north in Bodega Bay, and a picnic brunch and rehearsal dinner in between.
Between the 30 degree range in temperature, and equally wide range of "formality", I've calculuate that for this 4 day trip I will require eight outfits.
This sort of thing makes me ever-so-slightly edgy and irritated.
took my chances on a big jet plane...
The mother-in-law just arrived this evening, and the wife and I leave for California tomorrow morning at some ungodly hour. I'm usually not too bad about flying, but I have to say... it's especially disconcerting to fly during a month when planes seem to be dropping from the sky on every continent. (Even Canadia!) My wife especially hates the idea of both of us flying without the kids... she apparently prefers the idea of us all dying together. I'm not so sure. Either way, it kinda sucks...
Anyway... it should be an exhausting but fun weekend. Blog updates will be sparse until next Monday or Tuesday, when I shall return with all sorts of freaky hippie wedding stories.
The mother-in-law just arrived this evening, and the wife and I leave for California tomorrow morning at some ungodly hour. I'm usually not too bad about flying, but I have to say... it's especially disconcerting to fly during a month when planes seem to be dropping from the sky on every continent. (Even Canadia!) My wife especially hates the idea of both of us flying without the kids... she apparently prefers the idea of us all dying together. I'm not so sure. Either way, it kinda sucks...
Anyway... it should be an exhausting but fun weekend. Blog updates will be sparse until next Monday or Tuesday, when I shall return with all sorts of freaky hippie wedding stories.
Monday, August 22
a present! for me! FROM me!!
You know how sometimes you see something you don't really so much NEED but the price is just so good that you can't imagine NOT buying it?
FORTY DOLLARS!!!
If anyone needs me, I'll be in the bedroom learning "The Battle of Evermore"....
(PS> The black one. Duh...)
You know how sometimes you see something you don't really so much NEED but the price is just so good that you can't imagine NOT buying it?
FORTY DOLLARS!!!
If anyone needs me, I'll be in the bedroom learning "The Battle of Evermore"....
(PS> The black one. Duh...)
Saturday, August 20
i wonder how that would look on a business card...?
My wife insists on watching these shows, a subset of Reality TV that I like to refer to as "Trainwreck TV". Her latest bad habit...? "Brat Camp". I find it hard not to laugh at this show, because of the fact that any time they show a close-up interview with one of the kids, the have a caption across the bottom of the screen that reads something like...
I believe there is also a "Hostile Outcast", and one "Steals From Mom"... which just sounds to me like a punk-ass Indian name.
Anyway... it's a stupid show. If I wanted to hear a bunch of whiny punk kids, I would have never quit my HS teaching job.
My wife insists on watching these shows, a subset of Reality TV that I like to refer to as "Trainwreck TV". Her latest bad habit...? "Brat Camp". I find it hard not to laugh at this show, because of the fact that any time they show a close-up interview with one of the kids, the have a caption across the bottom of the screen that reads something like...
ISAIAH: 17Angry Punk
I believe there is also a "Hostile Outcast", and one "Steals From Mom"... which just sounds to me like a punk-ass Indian name.
Anyway... it's a stupid show. If I wanted to hear a bunch of whiny punk kids, I would have never quit my HS teaching job.
dangerous felon... by request...
Since so many asked... the problem was, the title to my car says "My Name" AND "Wife's Name", which means we BOTH have to sign all the forms. And even though I had my wife's ID and all the paperwork signed by her... there was ONE spot on one form without her signature, so the crabby DMV lady wouldn't let me file the form. Although she did assure me that if I went home to get my wife's signature, that I could just come back to her window without taking a number. (How kind.)
So I calmly left the DMV, drove to Barnes and Noble, had a cup of tea, forged my wife's signature, and drove back to the DMV.
Idiocy.
Since so many asked... the problem was, the title to my car says "My Name" AND "Wife's Name", which means we BOTH have to sign all the forms. And even though I had my wife's ID and all the paperwork signed by her... there was ONE spot on one form without her signature, so the crabby DMV lady wouldn't let me file the form. Although she did assure me that if I went home to get my wife's signature, that I could just come back to her window without taking a number. (How kind.)
So I calmly left the DMV, drove to Barnes and Noble, had a cup of tea, forged my wife's signature, and drove back to the DMV.
Idiocy.
Friday, August 19
celebrity time capsule...
I've been watching old episodes of "Late Night with David Letterman" on the cable network Trio recently. They are from around 1989, and I keep encountering this fairly creepy phenomenon where there will be a guest on the show who is now known for some other cultural association, and seeing them absent their modern-day cultural referent is quite jarring. Just this week, I've seen a pre-Parkinson's Michael J. Fox... a pre-9/11 Michael Moore... and a pre-double homicide OJ Simpson.
It's just weird to watch them and think... "Wow... look at them... they don't know." Or in the case of OJ... "DAVE! LOOKOUT!!"
Anyway... creepy.
I've been watching old episodes of "Late Night with David Letterman" on the cable network Trio recently. They are from around 1989, and I keep encountering this fairly creepy phenomenon where there will be a guest on the show who is now known for some other cultural association, and seeing them absent their modern-day cultural referent is quite jarring. Just this week, I've seen a pre-Parkinson's Michael J. Fox... a pre-9/11 Michael Moore... and a pre-double homicide OJ Simpson.
It's just weird to watch them and think... "Wow... look at them... they don't know." Or in the case of OJ... "DAVE! LOOKOUT!!"
Anyway... creepy.
Wednesday, August 17
Tuesday, August 16
more evidence that Macs rule...
Because NOBODY has ever beat anybody with a chair for a 4-year-old Dell, dude.
Because NOBODY has ever beat anybody with a chair for a 4-year-old Dell, dude.
Monday, August 15
heading to "work"...
I had forgottten that all the women who commute to the city from this far out just wait to put their makeup on when they get on the train. Love that!!
I also forgot how deafeningly rattle-y these old trains can be. And the best seats are right by the doors that conceal all the emergency equipment. I wedged a chunk of paper in there and that helped a little, but... it's time to bring out the noise-reduction headphones.
And I just now realized that the last (and only) time I took this train in, it was totally NOT rush hour. So I guess I should be prepared for a crowd. At least it should warm up in here once it's packed w/ people. These NJ Transit trains seem not to have any actual DOORS on them.
One last complaint... these pants are too slippery for a laptop.
Now... what's on the agenda for today? As I see it, these are the priorities...
That should be enough... right? I mean... that's more productive than I've been in the past 3 months.
I had forgottten that all the women who commute to the city from this far out just wait to put their makeup on when they get on the train. Love that!!
I also forgot how deafeningly rattle-y these old trains can be. And the best seats are right by the doors that conceal all the emergency equipment. I wedged a chunk of paper in there and that helped a little, but... it's time to bring out the noise-reduction headphones.
And I just now realized that the last (and only) time I took this train in, it was totally NOT rush hour. So I guess I should be prepared for a crowd. At least it should warm up in here once it's packed w/ people. These NJ Transit trains seem not to have any actual DOORS on them.
One last complaint... these pants are too slippery for a laptop.
Now... what's on the agenda for today? As I see it, these are the priorities...
1) Turn in reimbursement forms for my relocation allowance
2) Scope out new office and determine how many book-feet of shelf space I'm going to have
3) Meet with department chair
4) Work on course packet
5) Work on syllabi
6) Scope out yoga studios within 5 blocks of work (there are about 4!)
That should be enough... right? I mean... that's more productive than I've been in the past 3 months.
"Hail Mary, We Recognize Your Value As A Mythological Goddess Symbol..."
We went to the UU church again yesterday. This time they had the songbooks out. My wife the lapsed Catholic said, "I'm guessing they won't have a lot of my favorites in here, huh?" No.
But the Hippie Rainbow Peacenik Songbook was nothing compared to the "responsorial reading" on the topic of doubt. "Treasure your doubt, for doubt is the servant of truth..." or some such. I mean, not that I disagree, but I must say that reciting a CREED extolling the virtue of DOUBT seems to me a bit oxymoronic to say the least. Later my wife said she felt like she was in a Monty Python skit.
But they all seem very nice.
We went to the UU church again yesterday. This time they had the songbooks out. My wife the lapsed Catholic said, "I'm guessing they won't have a lot of my favorites in here, huh?" No.
But the Hippie Rainbow Peacenik Songbook was nothing compared to the "responsorial reading" on the topic of doubt. "Treasure your doubt, for doubt is the servant of truth..." or some such. I mean, not that I disagree, but I must say that reciting a CREED extolling the virtue of DOUBT seems to me a bit oxymoronic to say the least. Later my wife said she felt like she was in a Monty Python skit.
But they all seem very nice.
Saturday, August 13
dragging...
Man, I hate it when you take a nap and wake up an hour later feeling exactly the same as before. I could have spent that hour reading a book instead.
I know one thing... I need to get back to Yoga. My flexibility is shot, and I'm waking up with these twingey back things that I haven't had in a really long time.
I was supposed to go into the city yesterday, but I meeting I had got cancelled, and there really wasn't much reason to go in. So I'm going in on Monday... probably meet with my department chair, check out the new office (more on that later, I'm sure) and figure out how much of my junk I'm going to be able to bring in. Then later in the week I'll drive in with my vanload of stuff.
Today there is a community picnic at the park. Tomorrow we'll go to unchurch again. That's the weekend. Not much else is going on... cleaning, unpacking, installing shelves. The kitchen and office and boy's room are box-free. The living room and girl's room are close. The master bedroom and foyer and upstairs landing are still a disaster. We've been trying to get a handle on things, since we have houseguests staying next Friday, and then the Mother-in-Law the week after that.
I'm rambling now. Still tired. Must have caffeine.
Man, I hate it when you take a nap and wake up an hour later feeling exactly the same as before. I could have spent that hour reading a book instead.
I know one thing... I need to get back to Yoga. My flexibility is shot, and I'm waking up with these twingey back things that I haven't had in a really long time.
I was supposed to go into the city yesterday, but I meeting I had got cancelled, and there really wasn't much reason to go in. So I'm going in on Monday... probably meet with my department chair, check out the new office (more on that later, I'm sure) and figure out how much of my junk I'm going to be able to bring in. Then later in the week I'll drive in with my vanload of stuff.
Today there is a community picnic at the park. Tomorrow we'll go to unchurch again. That's the weekend. Not much else is going on... cleaning, unpacking, installing shelves. The kitchen and office and boy's room are box-free. The living room and girl's room are close. The master bedroom and foyer and upstairs landing are still a disaster. We've been trying to get a handle on things, since we have houseguests staying next Friday, and then the Mother-in-Law the week after that.
I'm rambling now. Still tired. Must have caffeine.
Friday, August 12
Thursday, August 11
the boy is strange...
The other day, the boy emerged from the bath, wrapped in his yellow bath towel, and stated... "I AM A LEMONTROOPER!! I shoot LEMONS!" (pause) "Do we have any lemons to shoot?"
I'm still not sure if he shoots AT lemons, or shoots lemons AT things. I was too tired to pursue the ambiguity.
The other day, the boy emerged from the bath, wrapped in his yellow bath towel, and stated... "I AM A LEMONTROOPER!! I shoot LEMONS!" (pause) "Do we have any lemons to shoot?"
I'm still not sure if he shoots AT lemons, or shoots lemons AT things. I was too tired to pursue the ambiguity.
Wednesday, August 10
Tuesday, August 9
dave harbors a few particular delusions, such as...
...believing that pairing this shirt (in purple, no lesss) and this blazer with a pair of jeans will instantly make him the sexiest and most popular college professor ever.
Ok, ok... maybe the co-eds won't be knocking down my office door, but still... tell me that outfit doesn't scream "Hip Young Urban College Professor"? Or at least "Under 40 College Professor Who Watches Too Much Queer Eye".
...believing that pairing this shirt (in purple, no lesss) and this blazer with a pair of jeans will instantly make him the sexiest and most popular college professor ever.
Ok, ok... maybe the co-eds won't be knocking down my office door, but still... tell me that outfit doesn't scream "Hip Young Urban College Professor"? Or at least "Under 40 College Professor Who Watches Too Much Queer Eye".
Monday, August 8
brief unitarian update/review...
First of all, the parking lot is full of electric cars and Green Party bumper stickers. Which seems like a good thing, but... I dunno. I still find it a little creepy, but for different reasons than I find real churches creepy. Instead of the glass-eyed GodTalk, there's a whole bunch of circle-time sharey-business that I could really do without.
Anyway, we're gonna give it a try for a while. Once Labor Day rolls around, they get their Religious Education and Nursery School staff back, so at least we can send the kids off and pay more attention to circle time without constantly digging them out from under the seats.
First of all, the parking lot is full of electric cars and Green Party bumper stickers. Which seems like a good thing, but... I dunno. I still find it a little creepy, but for different reasons than I find real churches creepy. Instead of the glass-eyed GodTalk, there's a whole bunch of circle-time sharey-business that I could really do without.
Anyway, we're gonna give it a try for a while. Once Labor Day rolls around, they get their Religious Education and Nursery School staff back, so at least we can send the kids off and pay more attention to circle time without constantly digging them out from under the seats.
Sunday, August 7
Thursday, August 4
it's pronounced like the brits pronounce "MANchester"...
My 6 and 2 year old were playing with stuffed animal pets, and I asked what the dog's name was, and the 6 year old (used to the expensive Beanie® Brand) naturally checked the tag, only to be met with a bunch of indecipherable fineprint. She stared at the tag for a while and finally said - "I think his name is Polchester"
No, honey... that says "Polyester".
It is a good name for a dog, though. Or a butler.
My 6 and 2 year old were playing with stuffed animal pets, and I asked what the dog's name was, and the 6 year old (used to the expensive Beanie® Brand) naturally checked the tag, only to be met with a bunch of indecipherable fineprint. She stared at the tag for a while and finally said - "I think his name is Polchester"
No, honey... that says "Polyester".
It is a good name for a dog, though. Or a butler.
Tuesday, August 2
Monday, August 1
gasp! what?? us?? WHAT DID WE DO...??
"Stop running or we're going home..."
"Guys, stop running or we're going home..."
"Seriously, if you two don't stop running or we are going HOME..."
"I'm only going to say this one more time... any more running in the store and we are going home..."
"OK... THAT'S IT!!!"
And then they both have the NERVE to look SHOCKED!!!
"Stop running or we're going home..."
"Guys, stop running or we're going home..."
"Seriously, if you two don't stop running or we are going HOME..."
"I'm only going to say this one more time... any more running in the store and we are going home..."
"OK... THAT'S IT!!!"
And then they both have the NERVE to look SHOCKED!!!
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