Crawling Out From Under the Apocalyptic Rumble

Well, I finally finished my semester yesterday at 5:00 pm. Hurray! I'm glad it's over and I'm glad I have the whole summer to build myself back up. It's been over a hundred for the last week or two and I haven't even gone swimming. That's how busy I've been. I was working on my seminar paper, which only served to remind me how out-of-shape I am writing-wise. I'm hoping the professor doesn't read the non-translation part too critically. It was a really interesting topic (a little-studied apocalyptic scripture--medieval Daoist apocalypses are the best apocalypses) and I'd like to do more work on it in the future. It fills me with grand plans...charts on walls, databases...I might still be a little obsessed with it.

Anyway, I also "summered up" the blog here. I think it looks nice, bit more summery and beachy. Oh, and I added the kitten because seriously, bathing kittens? Hilarious! Almost as funny as thug puppets.

Why Won't It End?

Why won't this semester end already? I'm sick of papers and knowing there are finals that should be studied for. Why can't we end it here? Whatever I have, I have. Typing until midnight or one in the morning has lost its charm.

Hey Man, Can You Spare $25?

Perhaps some of you have noticed the little logo in the right corner, you know the one that says "Kiva: loans that change lives." I put it up around Christmas. My mom had asked for some kind of charitable donation as a Christmas gift this year, something like Heifer International. I don't quite remember how I found Kiva (Mary, I think). It's a person-to-person micro-lending organization. It's so awesome I can't clearly explain it, so go to www.kiva.org for the basics. What I love about it is how you can pick precisely to whom the money goes. If you want to support women expanding their clothing-making business in Ghana to pay their children's school fees, you can do that. And trust me, you'll have multiple choices. I personally focus on Central Asia (Team Tajikistan represent!), but that's just me. Another thing I like is that it pools money from multiple donors for a single loan. It's super-hard knowing that $600 or whatever could change a family's life, but how many people have that much lying around? Now how many people have--at some point in their lives--$25 they could spare? And the best part? You get your loan back at the end of the repayment period. That's right, after the loan is paid off, you get your $25 dollars back. You can take the money, you can give it to Kiva itself (to cover overhead), or you can lend it to someone else and start the cycle anew. It's like the $25 that keeps on giving.

In conclusion, micro-lending is awesome, Mother's Day is coming, what would Mom like more than making the world a better place (and maybe some flowers)?

Earth Week Adventures

Oh, I'm sorry, you thought there was only an Earth Day? Not when you attend a university with a college of global sustainability that runs on wind power. I get a weekly e-mail called the Grist about various ways I should be saving the earth. (Stop eating sugar and start using organic, fair-trade agave nectar instead.) On campus, there was even a solar-powered concert. (It was exceedingly lame. Solar-powered men in capes are still men in capes.) Add to that the proliferation of what Paul calls "smoked-some-bad-granola hippy" grocery stores. Periodically, it gets even to me. Me who:

Recycles everything recyclable (except styrofoam because they don't take here)
Uses her own bags for grocery shopping
Filters her own water (I'm actually okay with tap, but it tastes dirt here)
Lugs a reusable water bottle around
Replacing the lights with CFLs as they burn out
Has a "sensible" (my view)or "Nazi-esque" (Paul's) policy of energy use
Heck, even my cat eats food that contains "no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives, rendered meat, poultry or fish, animals or plant meals."

But still, because I am not an agave nectar-consuming, locally-grown produce-eating vegan who bikes everywhere, I am an eco-failure. Sigh. Is there no middle-ground?

Today's My Birthday, Well Yesterday Anyway

So it's my birthday again...or it was yesterday anyway. It was a pretty chill birthday, mainly because I am so busy right now. Birthdays should not fall between Mondays and Wednesdays this semester. Don't they know I am extra busy those days? Anyway, Paul insisted on a dinner not made by us and presents at the least. So he ordered take-out from P.F. Chang's which we eat while watching Bones. (Squeeeeel! That was an excellent birthday present! And there's another one on Thursday!) Paul got me a new purse and some DVDs and a CD, but the big new is that he's taking me to Tuscon for our anniversary in May! He picked out three B&Bs and now I get to pick the winner and plan a little vacation. He even did a bit of planning himself and found a decked-out Spanish Mission style cathedral with tours and a state park created around the ruins of three other mission churches. This is amazing, because as you'll remember, Paul hates travel. (Why go somewhere when you have a home? You know, that place that has all of the stuff you want.) He also hates bed and breakfasts (he doesn't eat breakfast and especially hates eating with strangers) and looking at a bunch of the churches in similar styles (they all look the same, what's the point of seeing more than one?). So you see, it was really quite the sweet gift. Of course, that's what happens when you have really quite the sweet husband.

I'd like to thank everyone who called or sent their birthday wishes. It's always nice to hear from you.

A Bummer of an Easter

It's been a bummer of an Easter. First, it's the last month of the semester and the last two weeks particularly were extra-busy and stressful. And now I'm sick. Not the low-level cold I've had since who-knows-when, but a nasty one that beats me up and takes my lunch money. I move at a slug's pace and I'm so congested my nose whistles when I breathe. Seriously, there's no excuse for that at my age. I was valiantly pressing on though because I wanted to have a little fun in the little time I have before I go under again. Paul suggested we go to a Russian Orthodox midnight vigil because they're interesting and fun. Unfortunately, there is no Russian Orthodox church here. Oh sure, there's a Serbian Orthodox and a Romanian Orthodox, Bulgarian Orthodox, Ukrainian Orthodox, possibly Macedonian Orthodox, and multiple Antiochian Orthodox churches, but no Russian. None of them were very close and the vast majority seemed too small to really be busting out the mosaics of which I am so fond. So we went Greek Orthodox, of which there are many. They're large and fancy and brand-new and everywhere, so we picked the closest and investigated. It's a good thing we did. Apparently, they've been infected with a horrible Protestant sparseness. Maybe it's the practicality (haven't raised the funds for lavish decoration yet, but that's no reason not to start using the building), but there were no mosaics. Just white walls and a big crucifix. There wasn't even an iconostasis. How can an Orthodox church not have an iconostasis? It was very disappointing. Paul was surprised and disappointed by the presence of benches. (True Russian Orthodox churches--which this obviously wasn't holding itself out as--don't have benches. Sitting shows a lack of commitment.) Anyway, we gave up on a midnight vigil and returned home. I didn't even get to go to our own Easter services this morning because I was too sick and apparently a snoreosaurus in the morning (given Paul's fleeing to the couch). I found an Easter talk from President Hinckley, which was nice but not the same. I downloaded the Easter hymns and tried to sing alone but it didn't have enough of a voice. It was really pathetic-sounding.

So, it's been a bummer of an Easter. Now, I have to go take more dayquil.

The Further Adventures of Piper McGee

While I try to press through the last month of the semester, I offer adorable kittyness to tide the disgrunted legions over. Miss Piper McGee, as our cat is formally called, has two great passions in life: the Xbox and the printer. She likes to knock discs out of the tray of the Xbox as she "pounces" it and will even anticipate you turning it on. If you sit down on the right side of the sofa, she will sit in front of the Xbox. If you turn the Xbox on, she will come running at top-speed from anywhere in the house. She does the same thing with the printer, except she attacks the arm or whatever the part that moves the ink is called. So far the printer has proved hardy, which is fortunate since she does not hold back. I've added some pictures for your amusement/daily dose of adorable catness.

This is Piper playing dumb. "La la la, I am completely unaware of the printer."


Now she is plotting the printer's imminent demise.


Sad after I've prevented her from slaughtering the printer.