I think most are aware of Habitat for Humanity, and if not then you probably know of a program like it. Essentially, those deserving folk who are down on their luck and need a place to live apply to have a dwelling built for them...with the catch that they must have certain qualifications, and they must put a certain number of hours in to the building of their home. It's a great program, one that's received a lot of warranted attention. So you probably can understand the outcry when you read
Another local headline, another news item about education, but yet this one strikes me as almost humorous. It has been reported that parents in the East Bay are suing the state. Why, you may ask? Because the state has not addressed the "broken" way that the education system is funded in the state, and these parents (as well as several school districts in the state, who filed a prior lawsuit in May) want to force the Governor and the Legislature to change and amend this.
So our society i
Well, one massive undertaking has been finished. I just went through all of the pictures I took in Rome. 3 days (well, 2 1/2 really), and over 500 pictures. Yikes. Ya think I was camera happy?
In all honesty, I did a lot in those 3 days. And, yes, I do wish I had more time to truly explore the museums, the hidden gems and the real essence of the Eternal City, I know that I made the most of my time there. (And, yes, I'm jealous of my parents, who tomorrow return home after a full week i
Yes, it's time to say...seeyas later. Yes, of course, I'm flying out here on the 24th, but I won't be back for sightseeing purposes for a while. The extremely small taste of this Eternal City has forever changed me...I'm in awe of the mix of modern, slightly modern, kinda old, really old, and ancient.
Yesterday's giratina saw me start at the Pantheon. When outside, I marvelled at how it has stood up over time, especially compared to the Area Sacra--where my bus dropped me off. The Area
Saturday morning, 6:40. The feline alarm clock is sounding...creeping up on me like those first few rays at dawn, and then full on. RARRARRARRARRARRARRARRARRARRAR You'd think her food bowl was empty. Oh, right, it is.
Eh, I was due to be up at 7 anyway.
I find myself at peace this morning. Quiet. Calm. I have some potential new clients to see this morning, a coffee date in the afternoon, and who knows what tonight. I have more work to do this weekend than I know what to do with
I had a confirmation of an epiphany yesterday. It was a revelation of something that I deeply suspected, but had been afraid to act upon for some time, and in truth I should have just bucked up and taken the reins and confronted this truth.
Ladies and gentlemen, I like salmon.
Trust me, this is a shock. For years and years, the only way I liked salmon was as sashimi...since raw salmon didn't have that pungent olor that put me off. And I do love other types of fleshy fish...everything
Baseball season is back! Wheeeeeeeeeeee! The grand spring tradition is here! Hey now, I love all sports (and I don't consider golf, bowling, or race car driving to be sports; they're amusements), but baseball always seems to tug at my heart strings a bit more. My Giants are 4-0--an amazing feat for a couple of reasons. One, well, they are the only undefeated team left (162-0, baby!...oh, yeah, right). But more importantly, compared to last year's DISMAL start, this is positively amazing.
This little ash-burst in Iceland has got some people in paranoid moods of late. Oh, I don't mean those who are traveling--honestly, if I was one of them, I don't quite know what I would do, and as I see it they have every reason to be pulling their hair out. No, I'm referring to the enviro-tards who scream at anyone who even has the audacity to place their plastic cup in the regular trash, instead of bringing it home and put in the recycle bin. Some of the people who take up the same general
The funny part about this blog is that I've meant it to be a writing exercise. I wanted to try and write something every day, or at the very least every other day, in order to not lose touch with that side of me. But the last few mornings, I haven't had much, and in fact I've been positively empty. Yet this morning I'm full...well, maybe not full...not quite even half full, but I do feel the need to write something today. It's kinda like being in an exercise routine, and then you have to tak
On Saturday I went out on a first date with a gentleman. It wasn't an eventful date--in fact, it was positively boring and did not lead to an acceptance of a second date--but it brought to mind something I find completely useless. This person told me he never cusses, hates cussing, thinks it shows the denigration of our society...yet will use an "eff" to replace the proverbial f-word (aka "eff this, I'm gone). I'm sorry, isn't that the same thing?
When I was a kid, my parents did everythi
For the completely ignorant, there is a vote going on...well, later tonight...regarding the institutionalization of a type of national health care system. To put it mildly, it's a hotly debated topic. We Americans have a very strong sense of "I am my own person"--basically, we are a wee-bit leery of people, particularly big governments, telling us how to live our lives. And yet we also are concerned with the "common good," such that we really don't want our fellow Americans to suffer and we r
There once was a point in my life that I really didn't care about going out. Well, that's what I thought...in reality I was lonely, but also in denial about said lonliness, so as far as I was concerned, hitting the town with friends was no big deal. Sure, it's fun, but I wasn't concerned that I was missing out on the grandest of times.
At the time, I was living in Austin, working on my degree and, frankly, not very happy. Oh, I loved the city, loved the university...just hated the state (
Well, I guess I should explain my absence and lack of participation. To say the least, I've been a very busy doc.
It breaks down like this: I've been doing more, although I haven't exactly been paid any more, but with the added responsability comes recognition and, hopefully, something more permanent. There were late classes thrown at me, various curriculum and planning duties. I do love it...I'm back to teaching an intro to linguistics class, which I haven't taught in over 10 years, alon
Thanks to last year's baseball excursion, I had a $300 voucher to fly anywhere in the continental US on American Airlines, and decided a while back to use it to go down to San Antonio and Austin. Outside of a trip back here 2 years ago to defend the dissertation--when I was so focused on that one element that I didn't do anything else--I haven't been back since I left 4 years ago. There are a lot of people here that I came to care about, and I wanted to visit them. And, well, Austin is an out
What is it about relationships that are so amazing, yet so unpredictable? I mean, you date for years and years...you make some connections, but nothing that sweeps you off your feet for the majority of the time. You put yourself into periods of drought...and then you meet someone who seems to understand you so completely, so quickly...well, things just seem to fall into place.
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My brother Matt proposed to his lady, a
Whew. I made it! Well, ok, it's not quite done yet; next week is finals week, and I still have plenty of work to do before I leave for San Antonio and Austin on 4 June, but one class is completely closed for the spring, and the other two will be shortly. I'm telling you, I didn't think I would get so slammed with work.
Just a couple of random musings:
[*]MSNBC is reporting something that I've heard rumors about in some of the publications I get, that more and more 'traditional' 4-ye
Don't you love it when you hear a song that you love, and it happens to fit your life in some way or another?
I was driving to work this afternoon when that lovely Smiths song came on. The funny thing about the Smiths (and Morrissey) is that I never am totally sure what the title of the song is, but I always end up singing the damned thing. Very good songs, very catchy...and very silly.
"Panic on the streets of London
Panic on the streets of Birmingham
I wonder to myself
Could life
On the island of Oahu there is so much to do, so much to see, but the one thing that is a must is to hike the Diamond Head Trail. Diamond Head is a crater from a volcano that blew many thousands of years ago, and is now by far one of the most spectacular views on the island. Sure, it's a bit rocky, and there are quite a few stairs (the US used it as a lookout in WWII), but once you get tot the top it's so worth it.
Today is my first full day here, and I wanted to really start my vacation her
Hmmm...perhaps the title should be instead: Mai Tai Ville?
Tomorrow morning I'm off for a 4+ day holiday to Honolulu...a long overdue return to that special place. Oh, sure, there are other areas in the Hawaiian Islands that I want to explore. Actually, to be perfectly honest, I want to see all of them. However, Dad's in Honolulu for 3 weeks, and I decided that I would join him.
This trip marks the first big trip of 2009 for me...and it won't be the last. I know I'll be going to Aust
Taking Bella to her yearly examinations is oh-so-much fun. Like many cats, she hates her carrier, hates car rides, and really hates the vet. Nevermind that her vet is very nice, gentle, and knows what she's doing. Nope, Bella will have none of it. She, um, always provides a fecal sample, shall we say? She's very clingy, and sheds all over the place. Nope, she's not a happy camper there.
Due to a clerical error, Bella didn't get her annual vaccinations at her exam, so we scheduled them
This week has been utterly brutal. Actually, the last few weeks have, and it wasn't until Thursday that it all came to a head.
I teach an 8am class 3 days a week, on a campus that's 25 miles away. For us 'round here, well, that's not much of a commute, and I really don't view it as being far away. But an 8am class, that means I need to be on campus by 7:30 to get last minute stuff done, which means I have to leave the house no later than 6:45. Originally I thought I had to leave the hous
March is an amazing month here in Baghdad-By-The-Bay. The weather is either rainy (but not cold...55'F or so) or gloriously sunny. It seems like we're done with the rain for about a week, so I spent much of the mid-morning and early-afternoon outside. Bella was all too eager to join me, and was ecstatic to be outside again. I don't know who had more fun: her going all over the backyard as I cleaned up the debris from the neighborhood trees, or me playing with her. She took several naps in t
Wheeeeeeeeeeee! Spamalot is coming to San Francisco!!! Oh how I've waited for this to happen! When Las Vegas got a hold of it, the deal was that the producers wouldn't show any version of it west of that happening light-tropolis, so that we would have to go to the desert and get bamboozled just to see our silly English knnnnnnnnnnigits. But no! I did not give in to temptation! (Mostly because Vegas doesn't do much for me.) And now I, like many others, have been richly rewarded--Spamalot w
Well, after more than 3 years of waiting, plus another year of paperwork SNAFUs, it's now official. I am both an Italian and an American, as are my brothers and my mom. I can proudly wear the red-white-and-blue and the tri-colori and not get ripped for it. I can go in the short line when travelling through European customs; I can stay in Italy and other EU countries for longer periods of time (watch out, European UNRV members!), and grant-funded trips to EU countries, from what I hear, will n
Maybe it's the weather, maybe it's the return to waking up at the butt-crack of dawn after 5 days to the contrary, but today I'm beat. I can't seem to stay awake. When driving up to work this morning, I could feel my eyelids getting heavier and heavier. Once I pulled into the parking lot, I had an extra 20 minutes, so I took a quick nap in the car. It did me well for quite a while, but now I'm in office hours having the same problem. However, unlike earlier, I don't have time for a nap, as
