Three Years? Wow.

January 20, 2009

After watching the inauguration this morning, it feels a bit like I’ve taken a rubber band off my head that’s been there for the last eight years. How strange it will be to have a president that doesn’t make me cringe and turn away whenever I see him on the television or hear him on the radio.

We’ve just returned from a quick trip to Oregon to make up for missing Christmas on account of the weather. We had three full beautiful days in Oregon, and half of another beautiful day yesterday before we came back. Except for the first day, which was foggy, it was clear and cold and lovely for our entire trip. We spent some time clearing storm damage to the trees and walking around taking photographs. I also scanned a few images from the family photo archives. The first one is a photo of my grandmother and her brother, the other two are some random photos of me around two years of age.

Yup, that’s a teddy bear and a chicken, too. I like this photo because they look like lost urchins in some kind of migrant worker shantytown.

Here I am concentrating very hard on a truck. I still get that look sometimes.

This one didn’t scan or clean up too well, so I got a bit creative with the editing. I like it because I appear to be just accidentally flopping through the edge of the photo, looking somewhat tragic and harried.

December 14, 2008

I’m still basking in the glow of the good news received last week. On top of that, the weather has turned “wintery” here in SoCal, which means it’s cool, cloudy, windy, and a little rainy. We actually turned the heat on yesterday for the first time, and I’m about to really enjoy a nice warm bowl of oatmeal and cup of coffee (which I’ve only recently started drinking in small amounts). It’s funny how much better days like this make me feel after days and days and days and days and days of the same bloody thing. I never thought clear, sunny skies would get tiresome, but boy, do they ever. I know, I know, most people wish they had that problem, especially this time of year, so I’ll stop bitching.

It feels so good to be moving forward with my dissertation. The fact that I now have some distinct goal and some good feedback is really wonderful, and it has really energized me to get things done. Not just diss things, actually, but it makes me want to make progress on all my projects. I guess nothing succeeds like success, right?

I’m about to head off for Oregon for a couple of weeks, and I’m getting together what work I want to take with me. It’s nice to feel like there is actually a reason to work while on vacation, instead of just some vague mandate to get stuff done. Of course, it will also be wonderful to just relax in Oregon, a place which has the much-appreciated ability to take my mind off of just about all of the everyday stresses and worries.

Vaux’s Swifts in Portland, OR

Yet another reason I wish I was back in Oregon.  Hmm.