I've decided to start doing something about the dead tree in my backyard. In the middle of the night last summer, it fell... it cracked like a gunshot, and I was sure that my ceiling was caving in. My landlord doesn't seem to inclined to do much about it, so while I wait, I've been sawing the branches apart. Nonstop says he'll use it for firewood.
Last night, saucy brute: you know how people are about wanting sex? well, I'm that way about babies.
Song of the day: Go! Team- We Just Won't be Defeated
Surly barnacle, roller derby queen, the Duluth Mexican, tesla, and me went to a rugby match yesterday. Surly Barnacle has been thinking about joining, and he piqued my interest as well. It turns out there are a handful of rugby guys who are about my size (i.e., tall and thin, like the guy in black in the foreground right), so I think I could actually do it. I can definitely handle the post-match beer drinking, bar-hopping on the team bus.
#1 and I went thrift store shopping today to get the equipment for our "found sketchbooks." This idea comes from #1's art class, but I thought it was so cool that I decided to do it too. The found sketchbook is a cheap used book which you both use as a sketchbook and paste pieces of other cheap used books inside. In my case, I'll be taking images and mostly words from books about U-boats, American history, quail hunting, and oceanic life and putting them into my found notebook: a women's prayer book. I'm thinking of a theme of I am a man, and let me tell you why I'm more interested in people than God.
At the thrift stores I also found an awesome camel-hair blazer. I'll have to take it to a dry cleaner, but I like it. Ever since I saw Kicking & Screaming I've been wanting to look like a college kid in 1995.
On our way home, some crazy-eyed guy tore across a crosswalk pushing a shopping cart with several cases of Bud Lite.
Song of the Day: Rilo Kiley - Accidental Death
The photo may be a contrived metaphor, but it explains well my favorite part of the day. I don't have to explain it, I can just show and be.
Song of the day: Neil Young - Till the Morning Comes
Left Hand Milk Stout is one of my favorite beers. I should drink it more often, and I should also make more milk stouts of my own.
Here are some shots from the Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks show on Tuesday night. Because I am a pirate, I stole them from here: www.tucsonscene.com. On the left is the Entrance (the opening band): notice how the left-handed frontman plays the guitar upside-down. On the right, note Stephen's molestor-stache. Speaking of which, mark your calendars: International Mustache Day arrives on April 20. Several participants are rumored to be preparing mullets for the occasion. I'm not man enough for a mullet, so I'll just have a mustache.
I had my first TA experience today. It (a) gave me new hope for loving my job, and (b) reminded me of the best parts of being a camp counselor. I have held only the following 3 jobs: camp counselor (5 summers), canoe guide (1 summer), astronomer (2.5 years). Sometimes I wonder if maybe I should have tried some other things somewhere along the way, just to see if maybe I'd be good at something else. When I was younger, I thought about all sorts of other jobs, like being a minister or a mapmaker or a novelist. Maybe I sort of naturally fell into what I do, without really thinking about it too hard, but I've done pretty well: about 85% of the time, I love being an astronomer. Now my job includes teaching, which was a significant part of why I loved my other two jobs so much.
I went out and saw Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks last night. I rate the show as "pretty good," and I liked the opening band, the Entrance. Also, the Jicks bassist is gorgeous... though I think I've always had a thing for female bass players. Even when I used to see orchestral performances, I'd love the girls playing the stand-up string bass. Joey Burns (of Calexico) was at the show too, and right after the Jicks finished playing, he made a beeline for the bassist. (the hater: Who does he think he is?!?) The first time I saw Calexico, just over 2 years ago, k-luv introduced me to Joey after the show... it was comical to watch his eyes, and see how clearly he didn't care who she, or especially I, was, once he saw that she was with a guy. k-luv also told me stories that her friend dated him off and on for a while, and he treated her like garbage. That's probably what you get for dating rock stars (note to self)...
Last night I was thinking that it's a shame it doesn't rain more often here in Tucson... rain is especially useful in reflecting one's mood. (Playing blues harmonica works in a similar way.) I think that rain lends a stability to depression, and it's the instability, the way that almost anything can knock you back down with an ill-connected thought, that is my most hated part of depression.
Lo and behold, when I left work today, I had my wish... as you can see in the photo above.
Last night, at 80s night, a real estate agent asked me what my typical day is like, as an astronomer. 90% of the time, this is it. This ought to be a busy week for me, but mostly I've been waiting for collaborators to send me things. And my motivation is pretty low, due to distraction and the lingering siren call of vacation. However, no matter how little work I'm getting done lately, my office remains unassailably cool. Cool shit, from left to right:
1. photos of cool places I've backpacked / paddled and beasts I've slain
2. itunes... it, and web-surfing, are mostly the only things I do with my (work-bought) laptop. crucial to my sanity.
3. pirate flag
4. ship's wheel, netting, plastic sea creatures, starfish (the real thing, dried, as it turns out)... these were part of a valentine's day gift from k-luv, and are probably one of the most well-thought gift packages I've ever received... though I still haven't figured out what to do with the giant sail she also made me
5. plastic skull (from #1), holding a sound-making monkey pen (from my mom) and booty (from k-luv)
6. coconut monkey head from puerto rico, a gift from lady of the lake which was the first decorative element in the office.
Unfortunately, my chair has begun to emit a noticeable odor. (I grabbed it from someone else's office six months ago, so it's probably not entirely my doing.) If anyone knows how to clean a chair in a way that doesn't involve hosing it down outside, let me know.
Surly barnacle & I started a new batch of coffee stout yesterday. It's sitting in the bucket on the right, under the protection of the Happy Beer Buddha I brought back from China. The jug on the left is a honey mead we started back in September. We had our first taste of it yesterday, and voila: it tastes like a honey mead! (It still has a bit of a white wine flavor, but this will almost surely mellow out in the next few months.) We're probably going to bottle it in March.
