blue

I got a roll of pictures back today and every one of them was blue. Not just a little bit blue, but it was as if I had a blue filter on my camera. They were indoor shots with the flash and I wonder whether I had something on my settings off. I use a manual camera, which I generally love, but every once in a while, it comes back to bite me.

About ten years ago, my friend Emily was moving to Seattle from northern California. She had a disposable camera to use on the trip and I insisted that we use my manual camera, since it took much better photos. Well, my wonderful camera did not advance the film properly, so we had a whole roll of black. It was awful. We had taken wonderful pictures of a mementous trip and have nothing to show for it. I have never argued with a disposable camera again.

And so I have my second roll of ruined pictures. Fortunately they were pictures that I can easily retake, once I figure out what was going on with the camera. And at least it only happens every ten years. I can live with that.

Just a picture

april, I get it

I used to bug my friend April all the time (she would agree) to write in her blog. Now I only bug her about it occasionally. In the future, I shall not bug her at all, I don't think. She's also working and in school (law school at that) and is a TA for a class. Sorry for all the grief, April. I developed empathy. Lucky you, eh?

I have been running around a lot this week and have had barely a moment to breathe. Work, school work, internship, work, work, work.

The picture was taken at Pacifica in the South African garden on campus. It was a lovely sunny day in Carpinteria. I look forward to my next trip, which will be the first weekend in December. We will be on the other campus, which will be odd. I will be a good sport about it, however, since they have been very good about keeping us on the main campus as much as possible. Then, I will have final papers to write (due December 26) and perhaps a week off from schoolwork between Christmas and New Year's Day.

the scrabble bug

For the last couple of years, I have been playing Scrabble online thanks to my Grandma. She introduced me to the site and I've been playing ever since. It is a great little site, created by a man in the midwest. He wanted to have a way to help stay connected to his father and to help him pass the time while he was terminally ill a number of years ago. So, he developed the site. After his father died, he decided to enhance it and open it up to the public so everyone would be able to enjoy it. He thought it would help others stay connected with family and friends who lived apart. He was right.

In short, after you set up the game, you can play a turn and write a message to your partner. That person then receives an email that says that it is his or her turn. Your partner goes to the Web site and does the same. It is passed back and forth until the game is complete. It has a bit of a "cheat" built in &mdash there is a dictionary that will let you know when you place a word that doesn't exist. You can find the Scrabble Bug Cafe here.

rerun

I was back at the Jung Society Library today. Apparently I am the only volunteer who is dependable and always shows up, so they have been asking me to come a lot lately. I enjoy being there and always get some reading or writing done, so it is a pleasure. Today there was a workshop down the hall and so I had a lot of foot traffic. I always feel like such a voyeur when checking out books to people. I try to avert my eyes from the titles. I feel like I'm picking through their personal belongings. I love that the public library has a self checkout so I don't have to hand over my books to a stranger to look through. Yes, I do consider myself a private person, in case you were wondering.

reward

I took this picture off the back of the ferry on the way to Port Townsend a few weeks ago. Since I won't give up using film and go to digital, my pictures are always a couple of weeks or so behind. I thought I would dread getting up at 4:30am once a week. It isn't the easiest thing I've ever done, but I do love the quiet mood that time of day. And once on the ferry, I can enjoy a lovely sunrise and listen to the lick of the water on the boat. If that weren't enough, the work I'm doing over there is certainly worth getting up for.

more

Props to Kyle, who introduced me to this little short movie. It is called More and I share his excitement about it. You can find it here. In Kyle's words, "Watch it already."

psychedelic daisy

My friend Mark took this picture and I just love it, so I'm sharing it with you today.

That is all.

deer, again

On my drive home today I saw another deer. She was standing next to the road in the pitch black. I was quite concerned that she was about to dart in front of one of the many passing cars. What came out of my mouth? "Oh, dear!" Again! Either I am quite vulnerable to the power of suggestion or am becoming Piglet (Oh, de-de-dear, dear).

stream of unconsciousness

On the bus yesterday I was sitting across from a woman who probably has some form of schizophrenia. She boarded the bus and sat next to a woman who was on her way to work. She began to talk and I began to write down what she was saying in the back of my book, Psychotherapy Grounded in the Feminine Principle. Here is what followed:
"My name is Teri. At 17 I robbed three banks with Patty Hearst. Patty sits on the end of my bed knitting and follows me to the bathroom. I tell her to leave because I can't go when she is in there and she waits for me outside the door. She doesn't like to be away from me. I write poetry and read the Psalms. Not all of my poetry is original but no one knows that. I think about Patty all the time. I wonder how she is. She should put on something that is lime green and orange. She spent 45 days in the closet. She liked me. I am not sure why, but she did. He's kind of an elaborate person. Fans, lamps, TVs, VCRs in his house. My birthday was in November and my party was a big deal. So how are you, Penny? Tvs and stereos are on. I'm never going out there again. Caroline, my cousin, came all the way out from West Seattle to Ballard to see me. I'm getting off here."
And she got off the bus. It was as much poetry as it was the monologue of a woman who is rather ill. Her face lit up when she talked about Patty Hearst. She loves her and does wonder about her, I think. I wish I could arrange a meeting between the two. I think it would mean a lot to Teri.

hiatus

I got back from my school weekend last night and finally have a minute to write something in the blog. I was doing so well for a while, but I missed almost a week. My apologies.

I had my first meeting with my thesis advisor this weekend and I know only one thing for sure...the thesis-writing process will be an amazing capstone experience to this interesting journey. I don't know what I will settle on for my topic and don't know how I will manage to put on paper what has less of an affinity to words but rather to the scent of vanilla beans and orange peel.

Now, back to the books. I have a lot to do this month and don't want to fall behind. Thanks for reading...I'll try to be more faithful.

let it snow

It looks like there is already more snow at Stevens Pass now than there was all season last year. It isn't like I have a lot of time and money to go snowboarding, but I do want to hit the mountain a couple of times this year. I wish I could live the student's life and quit my job. A season pass is cheap for full-time students. If I could study and ride and do nothing else, I'd be in heaven.

The picture is from today's mountain Web cam.