It was an absolute work of verbal art,

but the diatribe had an effect on me that was the auditory equivalent of a ride on Space Mountain.

Lectura

After a few long weeks of my eyes skittering over text without absorbing anything, I seem to be able to read again. Yesterday, Nosotras que no somos como las demás.

Author Lucía Etxebarria, like you and I, probably wasn't like the rest of the girls.

De la portada:
María acaba de sufrír un abandono sentimental. Raquel se ha visto torzada a dejar a su amante, un hombre casado. Elsa no consigue recuperarse del trauma de una violación ni Susi de la muerte de su hermano. Las cuatro viven solas, sin compañeros sentimentales, sin hijos y lejos de sus familías. Las cuatro se mantienen a sí mismas y comparten la misma ciudad, una aglutinación de colmenas y antros, donde conviven las mújeres de serie A y de serie B, donde nadie conoce a nadie y donde a nadie le interesan los problemas de cuatro mujeres solas. Esta novela plasma una mirada disi­dente sobre los roles tradicíonales femeninos enmarcados dentro de la lógica (o ilógica) de lo que se ha dado en llamar el capitalismo tardío: el papel sexual fernenino, las relaciones entre mujeres, la supuesta guerra de sexos y la reivindicación de la propia identidad en una sociedad empeñada en negársela, no sólo a las mujeres, sino a todos los individuos con sentimientos.

It's been a good year...here's hoping for another!

String of Lights cumple un añito hoy./Sarta de luces turns one today.

Ringtones you may or may not want assigned to you:

"Ow! She's a brick...house! She's mighty-mighty, just lettin' it all hang out."

"Why don't we get drunk and screw?"

"He's a cold-hearted snake...look into his eyes..."

"I got a girl, she lives on the hill. She won't do it, but her sister will."

If you're feeling comment-y, here's some questions for you to ponder. If I were to assign you a ringtone, what would you want it to be? And does knowing that you wouldn't be there to hear it make a difference in your choice?

I'll accomplish everything on my to-do list and yours...

...once I start using those extra hours gifted to me by the sudden onset of insomnia.

Distance: 3.69 miles Time: 7 mins

That's if you go by car and if you turn right instead of left coming out my house. I think you can take off 1 1/2 miles if you just get on Tuolumne. But if you're running to the Toyota dealership and wanting to go 41 minutes, you can add some land back into your run by going up on the hill where all the day laborers wait and by running on dirt instead of on the sidewalks on Admiral Callaghan that no one ever walks on. You could even startle a flock of black birds into flight and worry for a second that they might be a bad omen until they take off as a giant grid and you see the hundreds of red and yellow swatches on their wings that pick up the setting sun and warm everything from the retina to the soul with a glow that is welcoming even in 90+ heat.

In a diabolical subversion of a traditional Irish blessing,

the road rose up to taunt me.

Last week the young man who sold me my new running shoes asked me a lot of questions. Since being pulled over last month, I freeze up when anyone in uniform asks me a question. You should have seen the slack-jawed look and heard the accompanying inarticulate explanation of the origin of the sage bundle on the dash when I went through the Agricultural Inspection Station. The uniformed sales staff at Roadrunner Sports are almost as intimidating as those officers who interrogated me, and the questions were harder to answer. "How many miles a week are you running?" stopped me in my tracks. Since he was getting ready to spend time analyzing my step on a special sensor and my stride on a treadmill, I thought he deserved a real answer. "Um...it can't possibly be many...maybe 3 to 4 times five or six." He looked at K., who translated with an audible eye roll, "She goes 15-25 miles a week. I'll be at REI."

But since then, I have been giving it serious thought. So today I chose to run at the State Park because every 10th of mile is painted on the asphalt. That only helps if you remember why you went that way and remember to stay on the asphalt instead of going on to the dirt trail. So I still can't give the information most runners have at the ready when they're asked, "How far do you run?" I don't even want to know how not-far I ran today. I do know it was slow and didn't need that road sign to rub it in!

It's been quite the social wrrl

"This is the best day ever!"

Other than you and I, how many nine-year olds would have exclaimed this upon seeing performance art from across the street?

I apologize in advance...

...for any inconvenience or havoc that might be a direct or indirect result of my teaching Dad how to text.

My other blog...

...can now display polls!

From a hip wine blog whose url I forgot to trap.

Or my recycling bin.

Valerie is...

...appalled/loathe to admit that she has a FaceBook yet feels compelled to check it compulsively more than once a day.

...hoping that she won't start talking like this in real life.

Guest Blogger #4, or "Put down your plates and watch the Opening Ceremony!"

I asked my friend to write a few lines for me about the Olympics. Every two years she hosts an Opening Ceremonies party and I've had the privilege of attending all of them since moving to this area. The event starts with appetizers and dinner, guests are asked to bring food or drink from one or more of the continents. This year - some Chinese takeout and wine from Chile and Argentina were the contributions of my household. After dinner we watch the Opening Ceremony and the as much as the Parade of Nations as we can stay awake for. The light and symbolism of Beijing's ceremony were awesome - and I don't usually like the opening ceremonies! But my friend's enthusiasm for the games activates mine, and strangely enough, also evokes in me what passes for patriotism, though I don't always root for my compatriots. I often ignore events of world significance in my blog and in general and can think of no one better than N. to write about the events. Thanks!!!

Val: So, first things first. Thanks again for being my guest blogger today! Would you like to tell our reader about yourself and how you're associated with String of Lights and/or this topic you're writing about or should I?
You: I used to have the privilege of working with you (Val).
Val: Do you have a blog or special website that you think the reader should see? Would you like to put a link to it here?
You: I can hardly keep up with email, so no.
Val: What takes up most of your day?
You: Teaching and being a mom.
Val: What are you reading? (Thought it was more appropriate than “What are you wearing?”)
You: I'm embarrassed, but it's Tara Road by Maeve Binchy.
Val: I have to ask anyway. What are you wearing?
You: My favorite Mickey Mouse shirt and comfy jeans skirt.
Val: What is your favorite Olympic event? Summer and/or Winter.
You: Gymnastics and luge.
Val: What question would you have liked me to ask you? And what would your answer be?
You: Question: Who's the newest member of your household?
Answer: Annie, the cutest little black dog in the world.
Perfecto. On to your post!

-Editor's notes: 1. The privilege was mine! 2. My well-read, book-club belonging friend has nothing to be embarrassed about. Su servidora recently read Pimp by "Iceberg Slim", for the love of God! 3. Annie is indeed the cutest little black dog.

**************

Here're my thoughts (before they end -- the Olympics, not my thoughts):

I love the Olympics. In 1972 I was oblivious to the horrors that were happening in Munich; I was only seven and too busy cheering for Mark Spitz. During the 1976 Winter Olympics we had to put foil on our windows because the contrast on our black and white TV was fading quickly. We got a new set before the Summer Games. In 1984 the library where I was working closed early so we could all go see the Olympic torch pass through our town. I've been to Olympic stadiums in Mexico City, Los Angeles and Moscow; it still gives me chills to think of the powerful events that took place at those sites. Perhaps I'm naive, perhaps I'm just an optimist at heart, but I love the Olympics and the idea that the world really can come together peacefully, even if it is only every two years.

"You've already put over 60,000 miles on that car?"

The manager from the service department at the dealer really should have worked a bit harder at keeping the chastising, judgmental tone from his voice. So, I supplied his next line, "That's why you buy a Toyota!"

Every time someone asked me what I did today, I mentioned the 60, 000 mile check-up, but to cut them off before they asked the inevitable, "But didn't you just get that car, like, 2 years ago? Damn." I quickly added,

"WE GOT A NEW DOG!!!"

Kayla already had that name and seems to respond to it. And it sort of rhymes with...

Default Setting #9

Or, "Why Did I Give that Guest Blogger Such a Long Deadline?"

Escribo desde: el lugar de siempre/ one of these days, I'll write from somewhere other than my office
Estoy luciendo: el uniforme: tengo, tengo la camisa negra y Lucky jeans y botas
El tiempo: deliciosamente fresco, ventisca, luna casi llena

Estoy leyendo:El placer del texto de Roland Barthes y Nosotras que no somos como las demás de Lucía Etxebarría

Everyday events

Personal Medal Count

Grading and Returning Student Exams in a Timely Manner: Gold

Eating Breakfast: Silver*

Putting Garbage and Recycling Bins Back Behind Fence: Bronze**

Cooking Dinner: Gold***

Plating Dinner Before 8:00: Disqualified, tested positive for high BAC

*Had it been consumed at home rather than in the car, would've been a gold

**229 is just unbeatable

*** Old-school recipe for Coq au vin, which involved a roux, always tricky, but tonight, perfectly executed - sauce finished velvety smooth. Served over noodles and accompanied by a bright green and burgundy colored salad garnished with sparkling jewels and washed down with more vin.

Everyone brought home a medal in something today - what was yours for?

u and i

Looked up from iPhoto and unplugged my iPod for three hours this afternoon so I could focus on u. When Antoine finally finished installing and testing the AT&T U-Verse internet/cable TV package, he handed me a remote with more buttons than my first car had and a shiny pamphlet. "Here. This tells you your stations."

I stared, google-eyed at the long list. "Cool! Before there were 80, now there must be 200 channels I'll never watch..."

"I hate to interrupt you while you're working," you might have said.

And you would've had every right to possibly continue, "I know you needed a few weeks of faffing time after taking those three intense seminars last term. And that road trip was probably a good break from all that research you weren't doing in the first part of summer...But it's been a while since you've been back. And now you've got something like a schedule again and a good bit of your day is free, isn't it? I'm certainly not being sexist, but...do you think you could go 'round to the grocery store?"

"For what? I just got three bags yesterday."

"For food. In case you haven't noticed, the inside of the fridge is a veritable microcosm of Beverages and More."

"I think it's osmosis."

Indeed, there's something about staying here that makes you want to take pictures.

"So, which of your purchases do you like best?"

It would have been a strange question coming from a clerk in any retail store. Coming from my neighbor who was hosting the yard sale, though, I didn't mind answering.



"Well, all the books on Theory are going to be really useful...I've been meaning to read more stuff like this Durkheim and Simone de Beauvoir. But the best? Maybe this bright orange candle.

No, wait, definitely these foil stars!"

Those airline-sized wine bottles are just cute enough to get away with it.

Drinking straight from the bottle didn't feel as derelict as it looked.

"I said, put your hands on the radio and feel the healing power of the Lord!"

Does anyone else actually ever reach and and put their hands on the radio to feel the music or its message?



Social Distortion's "Ball and Chain" is nothing if not prayer.

Bulb out

Spent what little energy I had locating the daily trinity (keys, wallet, phone), thereby avoiding probable pre-work hissy fit tomorrow morning.

Another 8:00AM class...

...another empty promise to get to bed earlier.

I knew that in his own way, he meant it as a compliment.

"I know you could've gotten out of that ticket if you'd flashed your titties," he said sympathetically.

His obsession with breasts has always seemed a tad unnatural for a gay man.

Flirting my way out of it never once occurred to me. But now, I can sort of see how that might work. As the sheriff's deputy turns to walk back to his car to write me up...

Me: (in low, well-modulated tones) Just a moment, please, officer. I'm sure there's...(looking up seductively from under my lashes, finger tracing my necklace) some other way we could work this out... Oh, yeah! Wait! I forgot! Sorry...was I supposed to, um, offer you, um...you know um...I mean...(hanging my head and biting my nails) Never mind. Just go ahead and add the fine for "soliciting an officer" to my tab.

I hate to correct you, but...quite the contrary.

So, what do your names mean?

Upon leaving the Mirage Salon and Spa, I couldn't help but wonder,

"So, after spending several hours and the entire amount of that generous gift certificate, you mean to imply that this feeling of utter relaxation and anything beautiful about my appearance is merely a fleeting image manufactured by my dehydrated imagination?"

Stella still pulls.

I outweigh Stella by about a hundred pounds. She likes it when I'm at the other end of her leash because she can still, at almost 9 years old, pull me pretty far. It's really fun for her when I'm the one who takes her for a walk. She's so strong that at the beginning of the walk she goes so fast that I run to keep up with her. At the end of the walk she's so strong that she pulls us off course and we're out for a long time and I'm tug her leash more than I should, thinking she's being a bit of a pain. Then it hits me that it's not just her favorite part of the day - it's one of mine.

Just because I'm little and nice doesn't mean you can drag me around anymore!