Pumpkin Carving 2011

Another picture post! My awesome pumpkin: My cyclops design: Carved cyclops, the saved seeds, and the guts destined for the trash. I DID find a recipe for pumpkin gut cupcakes, but I don't eat cupcakes nor do I have all the ingredients so I decided to bin them. Lots and lots of seeds! Testing him out in the kitchen: Setting him outside: Isn't he a cute lil cyclops?! He is now facing the street so I hope passersby can see him. I should really go down and take a look. Plus the pumpkin was only $3 so I don't have to feel remotely guilty about buying it, especially since I'm going to roast the seeds for a healthy and nutritious snack. I LOVE Halloween so much! Happy Halloween everyone!

Halloween Weekend

Ow. Ow. Ow. I am in PAIN. Before I get into that, here's the story of how this weekend went down:

So this has been a crazy weekend.

Friday I worked from 9:30 am - 4:30 pm (which means I get up at 8 am) and the
"tire low pressure" light was on in my car so I drove to work in fear and trembling one of my tires would go but I got there fine.
Work hurt my feet per usual.
I get out, go get my tires filled at some tire place my gps directed me to, and finally get home (normally a 14-20 minute drive) an hour and ten minutes after I left.

I went home and passed out, woke up at 8, ate, put on makeup, get dressed and went to my girlfriend's Halloween party (my first time out since the last date I had in August), partied til 2 am, got home at 2:30 am, went to bed at three and was stuck in a non-REM vegetative state ALL NIGHT so I wasn't rested at all, and was consequently feeling very ill Saturday morning.

Here's my costume:






The party was a LOT of fun, I talked to a lot of people, ate a lot of candy, ate Judy's delicious tacquitos, drank some beer, and even had a Sexy Lady Nerd teach me how to dance. Everyone said I did a really good job, and I'm quite proud I didn't trip and fall considering my sari kept slipping. I have to give Indian ladies a hand, how they can wear saris every day and get stuff done is beyond me. Well done ladies, well done!

Saturday morning I felt like hell, so I took dayquil, dragged myself to work, suffered through 7 hours of directing people to the bathroom and to turn the flash off of their cameras, rushed home, took off my uniform and went straight to bed. I had to get up again at 6:30 so I could eat dinner and put on some makeup so I could go see War of the Worlds (the Orson Wells radio version) at the Richard Goad theatre.

Their website:
http://www.lbshakespeare.org/

I went to see it last year and loved it so much I decided I had to do it again this year. This year was a little different though; for one thing they accidentally oversold the theatre so there was a huge scramble to get seats for everyone (it like comfortably fits thirty, I guess at least 40 people showed up), and also this year they had an expert on Mars come in (he used to work for CSULB, and now works for the Planetary Society - and is friends with/works for Bill Nye the Science guy!!) and give a little lecturette on what people have known about Mars through the ages.

Then there was the actual performance of Orson Wells' radio rendition of The War of the Worlds, which was even better than last year with more actors portraying the voice characters, and live sound effects (it was so cool seeing them do it live) and one of them was playing the piano too...I loved it. I got chills - ones totally unrelated to the fact that I was sitting under an air conditioning vent.

But if you guys follow that LB Shakespeare link they're going to broadcast the performance live on the internet at 7 pm PST on Monday night (they've actually done it for every performance - I hope they keep it up even when I move away, because I LOVE it so much!). I think you'll like it :)

So I got home, utterly exhausted, took off my makeup (I looked SO pretty and I'd spent two seconds putting my makeup on! What does it say about me that the more time I spend on makeup, the worse I look?) and showered before collapsing into bed.

I had work today, and my right foot was so sore I finally took a good look at it and I have a GIANT blister right on the end of my pinky toe which Dave (one of the heads of security) helped me bind up with a supersized band aid to provide some padding. I was in so much pain though, I had to keep stopping and crouching to take the pressure off my foot (I was in the TerraCotta exhibit from 2-4 pm, and you really can't sit down in there, which sucks), and then my muscles were so tight from the fact I didn't work Monday-Thursday but I DID work Friday-Sunday that I managed to pull a muscle in my knee and THAT is why I am in so much pain right now.

Sitting down and standing up are NOT comfortable right now. That is the ACTIONS of sitting and standing are not comfortable, being in either state is okay. And my toe still has that honking blister on it.

I'm going to get up earlier than I want to tomorrow (read: before noon) so I can go shoe shopping. I'm going to get squooshy skateboard shoes at least a half-size too big so I can wear big socks and won't get blisters!!!!

I have a lot of stuff to do tomorrow...yuck. I emailed Dr. Lipo tonight about my thesis proposal. I'm praying I have finally absorbed the finer points of theory so my proposal can be approved, I can get my measurements, run my statistics, and get down to writing my thesis and miraculously be able to turn it all in February and defend in March and graduate in spring and go on to a PhD program that I still need to start applying to (but that costs so much money argh!) and just everything needs to fall into place so I don't freak out and go crawl under a rock and just stay there until someone drags me out.

I think it's bedtime...night all!

Phone Home

I'm really glad I called home tonight. Even when my day really stinks and I'm tired and I don't feel like I've done anything worthwhile, calling home makes me feel better.

I really miss being home. Is it Christmas yet?

Picture Post!

Picture number one:


Now that is what I call a sunset! Sometimes there are compensations, even in California.

Picture number two:


Picture number three:


Picture number four:


Beef. It's what's for dinner.

A Sneeze In Time

So time is still rushing by violently - great big dollops like the Edy's Double Fudge Brownie ice cream I no longer buy :(

I don't know what I've even done in the past week...I've gone to class and read and done assignments, I've cooked dinners and cleaned and gone to work...I will say that my eyes have been itching abominably and I'm really getting worried because the last time I had my eyes checked Dr. Pearson said to monitor my left eye very carefully because the pressure was rising in it and glaucoma runs in the family anyway. Itching isn't a symptom of glaucoma, is it? I hope not :(

I now seem to work Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the museum which really sucks in one way because I was hoping for one day of grace when I didn't have class or work. On the other hand, I'm freaking out about money and everyone has had to take a cut at work (I was working 4 days a week when I started) so I'm VERY glad I get the number of hours I have.

I made a to-do list today and I actually did about half of it, which is unprecedentedly productive of me...I normally just stare and my computer and grouse and groan about how incredibly STUPID my thesis looks. I'm not working on it tonight - wrestling with BeachSync (which took hours) completely exhausted my mental resources. I'll go to bed early and work on it tomorrow morning before class.

Does anyone know the way to the Wizard of Oz? I need some high-quality Concentration Potion...or perhaps Brilliance Pills, or a Solution Salve. If only I knew a real witch who could provide me with such daily necessities!

I have been sneezing all over the place for the past few days, and have been hit with some serious headaches out of nowhere. I really hope I'm not badly ill. I can't afford to be sick!

On that note...night all :)

Where has all the time gone?!

I can't imagine what happened to it; there used to be plenty to go around!

So my big toe is still extremely displeased with my shifts at the museum and is visibly protesting my involvement like so:


Luckily, it hurts a lot less, although my lower half in general (and my back too, sometimes) still get really sore at the end of a 6 1/2 hour shift. Mom says when she starts teaching again after a summer off she's in pain too, and it just takes time to get back into shape. I'm jealous of her, she at least gets to sit down and take attendance every class period!

Classes have been going a little better: my first remote sensing test didn't go so well (I got an 82, le sigh) but I blasted through two labs today so I'm now ahead of the game and am very excited about that.

Naturally, I got an excellent score in my Anthro test (a 95), even though I was convinced Dr. Lipo wouldn't test on the sites at all and therefore barely glanced at them; I'm sure you can imagine my horror when I found there were three sites on the exam! Fortunately, I pay attention in class so I got two of them, although one was from the textbook, and just glancing at site data once does NOT qualify anyone other than a genius/flypaper memory to get that question correct on a test.
Apparently everyone else in the class did really badly - the average score was a 60 or something awful like that. It's slightly reassuring that my Cum Laude BA really did teach me something.

One of the things on the test that made me really laugh was that we were tested on prehistoric environments and one of them has "Riparian" in the name. If you're a fan of Keeping Up Appearances, you'll know that Hyacinth invites some "select" friends to a "Riparrrrrrian Dining and Entertainment" also known as a "riverside picnic".
It came up on the test as well as in the study guide, and it took all of my self-control to not bust up laughing. A vision of Hyacinth on the telephone calling Elizabeth to inform her of the Riparrrrrian Entertainment, and Elizabeth and Emmit's faces when they realize it's a riverside picnic...well I'm giggling now, and I'm sure you can appreciate how HARD it was to NOT laugh.

I think I was sniggering though.

The thesis is still kicking my ass. I'm making dinner now (that is, it's in the oven and almost ready), and watching the news, but once BBC World News is over, it's time to get back to the grindstone.

One day, I will be retired and sit back and think, "Yes. It is now time to relax." and I will immediately begin writing a new book. Or something!

New Photosynth!

So a few days ago Mom sent me a box full of my magazines, some Halloween candy, and a couple of murder mysteries to peruse when I have time. (I have an awesome mommy!) The box ALSO had a Halloween window cling thing in it, which is now hanging in my window, like so:





Hehe...I LOVE Halloween! I'm dying to go to the dollar store and load up on spooky stuff, but it's just silly when I have to move soon.

I also finally figured out why my left big toe has been KILLING me ever since my marathon stand-a-thon at the museum this weekend: I had a blister UNDER the nail! I figured this out when I accidentally popped it while cleaning my nails. I was just cleaning the toenail and suddenly my hand was all wet and I was like..."Don't I normally bleed red, not clear?"
Then I realized it was a blister hiding under my nail - I had no idea that was possible!
Now that the blister is popped, my nail/toe is hurting a lot less, but I had to wear sneakers today because of the rain, and it hurt a LOT...I'm now a little afraid of work this weekend!

The lovely bruise now under my nail...I really hope it doesn't fall off!


Anyway.
I woke up this morning and it was raining AGAIN! It was so nice, and I opened the windows so I could really smell the nice fresh air smell. Then I grabbed my camera and took a bunch of photos of the rainy day.
Then I had to stop because I had to study for the test I had this afternoon, but now that I'm home and fed, I turned them into a photosynth.

http://photosynth.net/edit.aspx?cid=8a0f8fed-7aca-483f-9d14-b90c5aceb776

It's pretty cool...not as synthy as I aimed for, but you still have a good idea what it looks like, standing in my doorway.

I'm taking tonight off - I've had SUCH a busy week. So, it's time to work on my novel!

Heh...a woman's work is never done!

Oh the weather outside is frightful...

When I woke up this morning (at 6 am) I realized it was RAINING outside! When I lived in Florida I took the rain for granted, and I took hearing it for granted. The roof here is made somehow that I can't hear the rain pitter-patter on it, which I find very sad.

But anyway, I was so excited I bounced out of bed and stood at my door in the rainy chill for a few minutes, until I got too cold and went back into bed until 9 am, luxuriating in the fact that I COULD stay in bed that late.

Then I got up, showered, and started studying for my remote sensing test this afternoon. I read my notecards on the way to class, and took the test...I'm not sure how I did. I really didn't study enough for it - between everything that went down Friday, and all the hours at work on Saturday and Sunday, plus all the AGSA stuff I had to get done, the test kind of got pushed to the bottom of the pile.

I have another test tomorrow, in Dr. Lipo's Native American cultures class, so I'll have to stop writing soon and get back to studying for that, but I wanted a little break.

The morning was very gray and cloudy, which I liked, it makes me think of England. It cleared up some and got sunny in the afternoon, so it was warm walking to and from class. When I got home I opened my windows to air out the apartment (something STILL smells funny, no matter how much I febreeze everything), and now the tall windows facing the street are open, but the rest are closed, except my kitchen window which I keep open all day.

Now it's very dark and chilly outside, with a few clouds scudding along the skyline; the traffic noises outside are familiar now, and I can see the tree branches waving in the wind through my kitchen window. It's the sort of night where a copper moon should rise above the trees, and a witch should whisk by on her broom, where goblins should peep from their caves, and black cats with great golden eyes should slink silently among the shadows.

Did I mention that I LOVE Halloween? And Thanksgiving? And holidays in general? I love cooking, and family celebrations, and parties and casual gatherings with friends...something about nutmeg and cloves and the warm smells of baking and roasting...

Speaking of, it's time for me to start thinking about what I'm doing for Thanksgiving dinner. Mom wants me to invite people over, but my table is for two so I don't know how that would work unless I bought a second table and some extra chairs...goodwill?
Anyway, we'll see about that.

But planning my menu is one of my favorite things to do all year...it's so much fun, even if I don't do one hundreth of all the recipes I look at! I think this year I really have to make bread. Do I make Ovo's recipe? Do I make cornbread? Do I make muffins? Do I make a baguette and make my own garlic bread? Or maybe I should do garlic rolls?

I love cooking! I love holidays!

But for now, it's time to get my butt back to work...le sigh.

Day at the Museum

So I don't know if I mentioned this, but I did get a job! I am officially a security guard for the Bowers Museum! It is SUCH a relief - I should get enough work to pay my rent, my bills, and maybe even have a little money left over for shoes and sushi. In case I don't get enough hours for fun money though, I am still searching for agents for my novels...I have to catch a break in that department eventually, right?!

I got the phone call from Kathy on Thursday afternoon, saying that I'd gotten the job, and could I please come in on Friday morning to sign the papers. I totally meant to, but when I woke up on Friday I remembered I had the mandatory "classes" - orientation and fiscal - that I need since I'm president of the AGSA at 10 am til noon.
So I showered, walked to campus, yawned through the sessions (I've taken them before, so I know what's in them, but you have to take them every year), then rushed home and microwaved a quick bowl of chow mein before jumping into my car and rushing down to the museum. I signed all my paperwork, took a quick tour, and then started off on a crazy shopping trip trying to get all the pieces I'd need for my uniform.

Security guards at Bowers wear:
- gray pants
- black shoes (comfortable)
- black belt
- white shirt with a collar
- red tie
- blue blazer

I pulled out my trusty Garmin (Seriously, Dad, thank you. That was a brilliant gift!) and found the nearest Ross, and drove on over where I acquired pants, shoes, belt and tie with no trouble - they reimburse us for the purchases too, so that was a huge relief. I also, in a separate transaction, got myself a cute new purse in a deep rusty red to replace the white purse I've carried for the past five months because it's starting to tear and I can't figure out how to repair it.
Plus this new purse has TWO pockets with zippers (and two without) so I will finally be able to keep my makeup separate from my wallet/Garmin/pens/pad! It may not sound like much to you, but it's a wonderful thing for my OCD.

My next stop was a mall so I could check out Macy's, JC Penny, and Forever XXI for the shirt and blazer, but would you believe it, there wasn't anything decent at any of them for anything under $100!!! I meant to get some extra white undershirts at Forever XXI because I only have the one here, but I totally forgot. I should go to the one near here sometime this week to get a couple, because I really can't wear a black or bright pink undershirt with my uniform!!

After that I was starting to get a little worried so I called Mom, and came up with the idea of checking out Burlington Coat Factory. Garmin to the rescue again, and I headed on over as fast as rush-hour Friday traffic allowed. (I hate traffic. I hate traffic. I HATE TRAFFIC!)
But the Burlington I went to was a real disappointment - they had some cute things, but they were all expensive, and they didn't have a blue blazer for women in that entire store. I was desperate so I went to the mens' department but all of THOSE blue blazers were not only ten sizes too big for me, but they were all $300 too. I did get a white button-up shirt there, which was a relief, because most womens' shirts stop buttoning way below the collar and you can't wear a tie with those...at least not that I've seen.

Finally, tired, feeling desperate, and freaking out over the fact it was getting later and the stores would start closing soon, I went to the Ross near my apartment, and heaven bless them, they had two blue blazers (the same, but different sizes) that were absolutely perfect. I tried them both on, got the one that fit me better, paid, and headed on home.



Once home I realized I didn't have anything for lunch at work, so I walked to Ralph's and bought some yoghurt and sundry portable eatables for the purpose.

Saturday I was up bright and early (which I seriously dislike, I am the Princess of Night Owls), got dressed, and drove to the museum. I ended up being 7 minutes late (although I was coming in half an hour early) because of an awful traffic jam 1.7 miles short of my exit (everyone was gawping at some road workers...really?!), and then I took the wrong route off my exit (whoever planned that exit was either stupid or diabolical) and had to rely on my Garmin to find me another way there.

Once I was there, however, things went better. I was given my headset and sorted out where to clip all the bits and pieces (I am not cut out for the Secret Service or anything like that - that ear piece is the bane of my existence), and given a quick rundown of my duties.

First, I went over the whole museum with Bea, who showed me how to turn on and set up various audiovisual media around the exhibits (my museology course from undergrad made me look at the whole process in a totally different way than I might have otherwise) and turn on lights and open doors and things.

Once guests started arriving at 10 am (when the doors opened) I was stationed at the "bridge" or the exit from the special Terracotta Warriors of China exhibit, making sure no one entered that way (you need tickets and can only enter that exhibit from the front), and directing people who needed to know where the bathrooms were.
For the second rota (we switch around every two hours or so, so no one goes insane) I was in the middle room of the exhibit (which gets boring after the first hour, not one glittery thing in there), and after that rota I got to have a lunch break - and I was so ready for lunch!!!
Then, since it was a very quiet day, Dave (one of the security heads) took me on a tour of the museum, telling me about parts of it, when it was built, where security needs to be careful, and where the best air-conditioned spots are. We shut down the museum at 4 (when it closes) and I went home and threw my clothes off, put on the loosest, most comfortable and soft dress I own, and watched football half-asleep until 11 pm when I went to bed.

I have to say, I'm heartbroken over the Gators' loss...but with Brantley hurt...I'm sure this isn't the last loss of the season. I knew this was a rebuilding year...but still...ouch.

Sunday was much the same as Saturday; I had a better idea where everything was, and my feet got sore a lot quicker, but I was posted in the front room of the exhibit (it has the biggest warriors and a really awesome horse that I want a replica of for when I have a garden of my own), and I got to say sternly every five seconds, "THERE IS NO FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY IN THIS EXHIBIT!"
What really amused me was that every person under the age of 15 knew this instinctively and not one under-sixteen had a flash go off - not even the three year olds who had cameras!!! - but it felt like a good quarter of the over-sixteens had their flashes go off. One couple was frantically examining their (as it turns out, brand new) camera so I went over, introduced myself as an amateur photographer, and showed them how to switch their flash off. I mentioned it to Dave and he laughed and said that was always the case.
Then I was posted to the bridge, and then I was on roaming duty, and then I was on bridge again.
My feet were SO SORE that at four o clock when everyone was gone I just took the damn things off and helped shut down in my socks. I just couldn't take it anymore.

I don't know what's wrong other than that they were new shoes, but my left big toe is really really sore and I can barely touch the nail without yelping. Of course, I didn't have any vaseline in the apartment, but I remembered the external analgesic Mom gave me, so I ripped the place apart until I found it in my purse (last place I would've thought to look...just looked out of desperation) and put it on and it helped a little. My toe was still throbbing like crazy when I went to bed last night and it made sleeping a little difficult. I also have a huge blister on my right pinky toe.

I don't know when I work next, but it'll be Thursday at soonest, so my feet have a few days to heal.

Today I got up late on purpose (ah, 10 o clock being late...I'm officially an old person), cleaned, went grocery shopping (worst part of working on Sundays is I can't go to my favorite farmers' market anymore), came home, ate, and went to class. Came home from class, got my purse, went to CVS for some necessary items, ran into Jake and commiserated about graduate student life, before getting back to my apartment, turning on BBC World News, and trying to get everything set up.

And now it is 8:30, my dinner will be ready in a couple minutes, and then I have to get back to studying for my exams Tuesday and Wednesday. I am NOT looking forward to them...terrified of stupid mistakes...

Such is the life of a grad student!