In the City

Yesterday John, Bridget and I met Jen, Brian and Mike for lunch in San Francisco. Jen and Brian had to get back to the South Bay in the early afternoon, so the rest of us went to the SFMOMA. There was a Chuck Close exhibit of self-portraits that John really wanted to see. I really enjoyed learning about the complexity of his process. He first takes a self-portrait with a Polaroid camera and makes a grid on top of an enlargement of it. Then on canvas, matching the grid, he paints shapes of different colors in each square or rectangle. If you look closely, the colors and shapes seem a little chaotic; but looking at the whole picture you're able to see the broader image. It was amazing to see the huge paintings in person up close, to see how he uses color.

It was great to have John as my own personal tour guide. I think I learned a lot more than I usually do at art museums, where I usually aimlessly wander around. It was a lot of fun to be able to recognize the names of different photographers and painters that John's been studying.

After the museum we went to Mike's place for dinner. We got to see the Olympics speed skating - one of my favorites. It was a real treat, since we don’t have tv. It did, however, make us want to go to the Elfstendentocht, aka “the mother of all skating tours”, which covers about 124 miles of frozen canals through eleven cities in Friesland.

Swim Fever

Yesterday I went swimming on my lunch break with my friend Elaine, who's training for an Olympic distance triathlon (Wow!). It was so nice to escape from the office and enjoy a little water and sunshine.

I couldn't remember the last time I had been swimming. I've never really been a swimmer, besides when I was a kid growing up in Arizona, where it was practically mandatory. I didn't learn any strokes then- I was just content to swim around pretending to be a dolphin or mermaid. I adopted the breast stroke as my only way to get around any sort of long distance. So yesterday that was what I mainly did. I tried to freestyle a little, but felt like I was flailing around, finding a more effective way to get water in my nose. Then Elaine showed me a few tips, which helped a lot. I love the feeling of gliding through the water and feeling the weight of the water under my palms when I propel myself forward. I think that I'm hooked.

Paper Gowns & X-Rays

This week I had my physical and dental exams for the Peace Corps. My experience with my regular doctor was less than perfect, to say the least. What is it with doctors that make you wait to sign in, wait some more in the waiting room, then the exam room, and then blame you when it's 20 minutes past your appointment time when they actually make it to you?

My doctor had a very hard time filling out a few elementary forms. You would think she deals with paperwork all the time, but she acted like I was asking her to hang the moon. I think anything beyond 2 checkmarks would have been too much for her. Every time a new question came up, it was "Ack! Why do they need all this for?"

So the next day I prepared myself for a similar experience with my dentist. But Dr. Jack was efficiency personified. If he thought the forms were a pain in the ass, he didn't let me know. He poked around in my mouth, took a gazillion x-rays, and even gave me some friendly traveling advice at the end (pack light!).

Next week John gets his dental exam, and then we're all done- I can't wait to get all of our stuff off in the mail!

Go Hunting With Dick

A coworker sent this to me yesterday. See how well you do.

The Magic of Editing

Mock trailers are all the rage.

Brokeback to the Future

Sleepless in Seattle

For more trailers and the full story: Digital Culture on NPR

Blast From The Past

When was the last time you played Memory? This version has dire consequences if you don't finish in a timely fashion:

Noah's Ark

A Hard Stick

I recently found out that I am what's known as a hard stick. In other words, it's hard to get blood out of me. This morning I went to get some labwork done for the Peace Corps medical exam, and I needed to fill 4 vials. Disaster was averted though, as she bypassed the digging around in my arms for a vein (which is what usually happens) and went straight for the hand. It worked. I don't know how so much blood comes out of such a tiny vein.

Also, John and I have a theory that it's the large, tattooed, biker guys that are most likely to pass out while giving blood.

Squirrel Mania

Since Heather and Bridget have shared their squirrelly experiences, I thought I'd add mine.

One morning as I was walking to my car, I heard a strange screech/scream that sounded like a mix of a small animal (maybe a rabbit) screaming bloody murder and a baby crying. It didn't stop. At first I looked around at the balconies, looking for a baby in distress. Then my eyes moved to the trees. I finally picked out a black squirrel sprawled out on its stomach, clinging to a branch with its four little clawed paws. I wasn't sure what the squirrel was screaming about- if it was trying to call out to another squirrel, or if it was simply rabid and would come flying through the air aiming for my face in the next second. So I left. After this incident I've seen this type of thing happen maybe three times.

I had never seen the elusive black squirrel (which is completely black) until I moved to Northern California. According to urban legend, they were the result of a Stanford University science experiment gone awry, and were accidentally let loose.

Has anyone ever heard the blood curdling scream of a squirrel? I have yet to hear it outside of the trees surrounding my apartment complex.

In The Wild

Sunday John and I had a movie day, which had the unintended theme of nature-related documentary. We watched March of the Penguins and Grizzly Man. I liked them both.

If you haven't seen it yet, March of the Penguins follows Emperor penguins in Antarctica as they go through great lengths to create adorable little baby penguins. Penguins have always been one of my favorite animals, mostly because of their cute little waddle. When I was watching the movie I forgot that penguins are relatively small. I was sucked into the world of some kind of super penguin- the giants of the penguin family, towering at 6 feet. The cute little waddle turned into the labored step of a large man or a big animated over-stuffed sausage with impossibly short, stubby legs. But my perspective could be totally off, because John said he though they looked small. Anyway, If you haven't seen it yet, it's definitely worth the while.

Grizzly Man is a film by Werner Herzog, about a man named Timothy Treadwell who spent 13 summers camping alone in the wilderness of Alaska (without any weapons), getting to know his bear "friends". He and his girlfriend were eventually killed by a bear. He left behind massive amounts of video, including the audio of his own death (which thankfully wasn't played in the movie, only described). This was an entirely different look at nature and a big departure from the heartwarming penguins. The bears aren't glorious-looking, but downright scary. Every interaction he had with a bear made me nervous, and even when he is pictured alone in a wide, empty expanse I was waiting for a huge scraggly bear to come bounding in and tackle him. The music was really good- it had the sort of raw, free quality that I think captured what drew Treadwell to the wilderness of Alaska.