"Is this outfit too dominatrix-y for the office?" she asked her friend and then did some weird half-pirouette. When she saw me she startled, but recovered quickly. "Heehee...oops...heehee."
"Really now," I admonished her. "If you have to ask...well, what you really want is attention for saying something naughty in line at Starbucks. ¿no?"
02 January, 2010
I knew this calorie-counting app was going to be problematic...
So, the word "app" should indicate that I have a iPhone. I've had it almost 2 weeks and I haven't really looked up from it since.
First things first; I'm not going to go all Apple Apologetic. I love it, and even confess that I've had an attraction to it for about a year. But I had misgivings and hesitations; "Too expensive", "Too much phone for me-I've reached a learning dead end.", "Why do I need all that if I already have a ____?" etc. And these arguments kept me from seriously considering it. But ... there was always an underlying tech-y sort of lust seething underneath. I'd never wanted an appliance so badly. The iPhone made me completely forget the Dyson vac. No, all the Dyson vacs.
My fellow grad student G. was the first person in my world to get one. We bumped into each other at the ARC. I'd just finished using the ab workout thingy and we decided to meet to work out together next time. "Let me get your number," she said and pulled out her phone. "OMG! Is that an iPhone? Can I touch it?" She backed up a few steps, "Uh, no...not really." "It's OK, I understand," I replied. "I wouldn't let you touch my MacBook." "Let me take your picture, Val. And if you call me, your pic will pop up on the screen." "Oooh! It has a camera! I mean, of course it does. No, don't take one! I just worked out, for God's sake...wait...yeah, take it, it'll be like having witnesses that I did something fitness-y!" I asked her how it would be for running outside and she mentioned that her waterproof case wasn't really that waterproof. "Oh, I wouldn't have a problem with that. I'd put it in a Ziploc!" "Um..."
Which was one of the reasons I thought I might not be worthy...
The second person in my world to have one was one of the students in my favorite UCD class ever. I saw him sitting outside of Sproul after our last class of the quarter eating some of the food he'd brought to our fiesta but hadn't had a chance to eat during the class period. I sat down and thanked him for his generous and surprising gesture. He thanked me for the class. I noted that everyone in class had really bonded and that it made a really nice atmosphere and said I'd miss them all very much. "We'll stay in touch. You have Facebook, don't you?" he asked. "Uh...yeah." "I'll add you now," he said, pulling out his iPhone. "Oooh, you can Facebook on that?" "Yeah. It has internet. And another thing you'd like, it can keep track of the mileage on your runs." (They remember what I say in class?) "Cool! What else?" "You can get an application for it so you can hold it up to a speaker and it will tell you what song is playing." "Oooooh..." I thought he'd say no, but I tried anyway, "Can I touch it?" To my surprise, he handed it over. I looked down at it in my hand and declared, dismayed, "It might be too big for my grip." "Um..."
But then my shorter-than-me officemate got one. And then we did some research...
And now I totally get it. I know why people are constantly pulling them out of purses and pockets or not even bothering to put them in there to begin with. It's really kind of addicting.
But I'm trying reallyreally hard not to be douchey. I pull over on the side of the sidewalk if I get a text or want to send a text. I put it away at lunch...unless, of course, I'm lunching with another iPhone user.
And speaking of lunch...
I don't have many apps. I got Facebook first thing and for free. And from the iPhone I got up the courage to put a "like" on the wall of a writer I hold in high esteem. I also got Pandora, but can't make it work. I got a word twist game. It's a battery suck. The LiveStrong calorie counter was my last app purchase, on Monday. It has everything in it! I've dedicated the first week to "calibrating". The first day I over-consumed by about 400 calories. Yesterday was under. Today I ate my weight in sushi at lunch and ended up having popcorn and Sauvignon Blanc for dinner and still went over! And I didn't run. It was supposed to help me be healthier, but I don't think being so involved obsessed with it is healthy. Nor is the self-castigation that's already starting to happen. It's bothering me quite a lot because the whole counting calories is something I never wanted to do.
And it's so totally not something I evereverever wanted to write about!
First things first; I'm not going to go all Apple Apologetic. I love it, and even confess that I've had an attraction to it for about a year. But I had misgivings and hesitations; "Too expensive", "Too much phone for me-I've reached a learning dead end.", "Why do I need all that if I already have a ____?" etc. And these arguments kept me from seriously considering it. But ... there was always an underlying tech-y sort of lust seething underneath. I'd never wanted an appliance so badly. The iPhone made me completely forget the Dyson vac. No, all the Dyson vacs.
My fellow grad student G. was the first person in my world to get one. We bumped into each other at the ARC. I'd just finished using the ab workout thingy and we decided to meet to work out together next time. "Let me get your number," she said and pulled out her phone. "OMG! Is that an iPhone? Can I touch it?" She backed up a few steps, "Uh, no...not really." "It's OK, I understand," I replied. "I wouldn't let you touch my MacBook." "Let me take your picture, Val. And if you call me, your pic will pop up on the screen." "Oooh! It has a camera! I mean, of course it does. No, don't take one! I just worked out, for God's sake...wait...yeah, take it, it'll be like having witnesses that I did something fitness-y!" I asked her how it would be for running outside and she mentioned that her waterproof case wasn't really that waterproof. "Oh, I wouldn't have a problem with that. I'd put it in a Ziploc!" "Um..."
Which was one of the reasons I thought I might not be worthy...
The second person in my world to have one was one of the students in my favorite UCD class ever. I saw him sitting outside of Sproul after our last class of the quarter eating some of the food he'd brought to our fiesta but hadn't had a chance to eat during the class period. I sat down and thanked him for his generous and surprising gesture. He thanked me for the class. I noted that everyone in class had really bonded and that it made a really nice atmosphere and said I'd miss them all very much. "We'll stay in touch. You have Facebook, don't you?" he asked. "Uh...yeah." "I'll add you now," he said, pulling out his iPhone. "Oooh, you can Facebook on that?" "Yeah. It has internet. And another thing you'd like, it can keep track of the mileage on your runs." (They remember what I say in class?) "Cool! What else?" "You can get an application for it so you can hold it up to a speaker and it will tell you what song is playing." "Oooooh..." I thought he'd say no, but I tried anyway, "Can I touch it?" To my surprise, he handed it over. I looked down at it in my hand and declared, dismayed, "It might be too big for my grip." "Um..."
But then my shorter-than-me officemate got one. And then we did some research...
And now I totally get it. I know why people are constantly pulling them out of purses and pockets or not even bothering to put them in there to begin with. It's really kind of addicting.
But I'm trying reallyreally hard not to be douchey. I pull over on the side of the sidewalk if I get a text or want to send a text. I put it away at lunch...unless, of course, I'm lunching with another iPhone user.
And speaking of lunch...
I don't have many apps. I got Facebook first thing and for free. And from the iPhone I got up the courage to put a "like" on the wall of a writer I hold in high esteem. I also got Pandora, but can't make it work. I got a word twist game. It's a battery suck. The LiveStrong calorie counter was my last app purchase, on Monday. It has everything in it! I've dedicated the first week to "calibrating". The first day I over-consumed by about 400 calories. Yesterday was under. Today I ate my weight in sushi at lunch and ended up having popcorn and Sauvignon Blanc for dinner and still went over! And I didn't run. It was supposed to help me be healthier, but I don't think being so involved obsessed with it is healthy. Nor is the self-castigation that's already starting to happen. It's bothering me quite a lot because the whole counting calories is something I never wanted to do.
And it's so totally not something I evereverever wanted to write about!
05 November, 2009
I like it when Election Day is on Mom's birthday.
03/11/09
She went to rough neighborhoods in the 60s-70s to register voters. She always called me before to remind me to vote and after to verify that I had, even after the first time when she talked about voting being a hard-earned right for minorities and women. Her words for me somehow imbued the action of casting a ballot with the solemnity of a sacred rite. It must have been from her that I formed the idea that present-day voters exercise our right do so with a sense of responsibility to those who made it possible for us.
I voted for the first time in the Presidential election of 1988. The conversation was typical.
Mom: Did you vote yet?
Me: Not yet. I'll go after my Latin American history class.
Mom: Did you know that Ecuador granted women the right to vote before Spain did? Or was it Uruguay?
Me: That's cool! I'm gonna raise my hand today in class and say that!
Mom: Good. And while you're at it, remind your little school friends to vote. And your young man, too.
Me: Um...ok. My "young man"?? God, Mom! Did you vote yet?
Mom: Of course.
Me: Who'd you vote for?
Mom: As you know, in this country we have a right to a secret ballot and even though I don't have to tell you, I'm choosing to. And this is not to try to influence you to vote the same way I did. You can vote for whoever you want. I voted for Dukakis.
Me: Good job!
Mom: So...who are you gonna vote for?
Me: I don't have to tell you.
Mom: Damn right you don't! Good answer, kid.
Me: Thanks!
Mom: OK, but seriously this time...what are you gonna wear?
I'm not sure my answer to that one garnered the same approval. Besides, I was always pretty much convinced she could see me through the phone.
She went to rough neighborhoods in the 60s-70s to register voters. She always called me before to remind me to vote and after to verify that I had, even after the first time when she talked about voting being a hard-earned right for minorities and women. Her words for me somehow imbued the action of casting a ballot with the solemnity of a sacred rite. It must have been from her that I formed the idea that present-day voters exercise our right do so with a sense of responsibility to those who made it possible for us.
I voted for the first time in the Presidential election of 1988. The conversation was typical.
Mom: Did you vote yet?
Me: Not yet. I'll go after my Latin American history class.
Mom: Did you know that Ecuador granted women the right to vote before Spain did? Or was it Uruguay?
Me: That's cool! I'm gonna raise my hand today in class and say that!
Mom: Good. And while you're at it, remind your little school friends to vote. And your young man, too.
Me: Um...ok. My "young man"?? God, Mom! Did you vote yet?
Mom: Of course.
Me: Who'd you vote for?
Mom: As you know, in this country we have a right to a secret ballot and even though I don't have to tell you, I'm choosing to. And this is not to try to influence you to vote the same way I did. You can vote for whoever you want. I voted for Dukakis.
Me: Good job!
Mom: So...who are you gonna vote for?
Me: I don't have to tell you.
Mom: Damn right you don't! Good answer, kid.
Me: Thanks!
Mom: OK, but seriously this time...what are you gonna wear?
I'm not sure my answer to that one garnered the same approval. Besides, I was always pretty much convinced she could see me through the phone.
"I can't wait until exam season is over!" I'd exclaimed.
27/10/09
Yes, I certainly wished that for most of the summer when I was going through my own exams, but the first time I uttered this was over a year ago after I'd pushed the visitor out into the hall and shut the door without letting it hit him in the ass. Our panicky litter sibling had stopped by the office on his way to his oral exam, asking what the horse and other things in a poem by Lorca symbolized. He knew perfectly well, but when we tried to calm him by telling him this, he just snapped at us.
I turned to my officemate and complained, "Why are they like this? They're all being just awful!" My littermates were taking Master's exams, but their tension, insecurity and anxiety were no less intense and no less dominant than those that gripped me when I was preparing for the Ph.D. qualifying exams. Sooner than I wanted to, I found out exactly why they were being "like that".
I owe my friends and family more thanks and apologies than can fit on this page.
We all are "like that" to some degree. As the last of my litter waits to take his oral exams this week, I can't help but reflect and remember how the stress did affect each of the people who were "exam-ing" during my time at UCD. And they were affected, altered. Certainly it wasn't the worst experience any of us had ever had, but perhaps it was one of the hardest things we've chosen to do. And the process really brought out a bit of the worst of us. Even the ones who can discourse profoundly on anything, anytime, anywhere were worried about what they were going to be asked. Even the ones who never seem rattled by anything had that look in their eyes and fast heartbeats.
And even though it's been a few weeks, I still feel anxious...I'm fully anticipating nightmares akin to those where I have to go back to high school because one of the classes I took all those years ago "didn't count". Though one of the strange circumstances surrounding my oral exam actually could discount it, I'm pretty sure they won't take away my title. Sometimes I'm glad it went down the way it did, but in other ways, I think a "do-over" without the extraneous worries might actually let me show more of what I know.I guess I'm still "processing" it.
When those who have yet to take the exam ask me for advice about the process, I sometimes don't know what to say. Telling them that they shouldn't worry, that they will do fine does absolutely no good. All I can do is express my confidence in them and try to mention practicalities that no one told me about.
"Should I eat? I don't want to eat too much in case I get so nervous I puke! But then, I should eat something...I might get hungry and I really don't want my stomach to start growling en media res."
"Wow, your 2 years of Latin is really coming in handy!" I complimented him and suggested, "Yeah, you could have a snack before." "Did you?" "No, but they say maybe something like a whole wheat bagel and some apple juice could give you energy without filling you up..." I replied.
"Do you think that your oral would've gone better if you had that?"
"No. I think mine would have gone better if my snack had been a Fioricet and a nice Pinot Noir."
Yes, I certainly wished that for most of the summer when I was going through my own exams, but the first time I uttered this was over a year ago after I'd pushed the visitor out into the hall and shut the door without letting it hit him in the ass. Our panicky litter sibling had stopped by the office on his way to his oral exam, asking what the horse and other things in a poem by Lorca symbolized. He knew perfectly well, but when we tried to calm him by telling him this, he just snapped at us.
I turned to my officemate and complained, "Why are they like this? They're all being just awful!" My littermates were taking Master's exams, but their tension, insecurity and anxiety were no less intense and no less dominant than those that gripped me when I was preparing for the Ph.D. qualifying exams. Sooner than I wanted to, I found out exactly why they were being "like that".
I owe my friends and family more thanks and apologies than can fit on this page.
We all are "like that" to some degree. As the last of my litter waits to take his oral exams this week, I can't help but reflect and remember how the stress did affect each of the people who were "exam-ing" during my time at UCD. And they were affected, altered. Certainly it wasn't the worst experience any of us had ever had, but perhaps it was one of the hardest things we've chosen to do. And the process really brought out a bit of the worst of us. Even the ones who can discourse profoundly on anything, anytime, anywhere were worried about what they were going to be asked. Even the ones who never seem rattled by anything had that look in their eyes and fast heartbeats.
And even though it's been a few weeks, I still feel anxious...I'm fully anticipating nightmares akin to those where I have to go back to high school because one of the classes I took all those years ago "didn't count". Though one of the strange circumstances surrounding my oral exam actually could discount it, I'm pretty sure they won't take away my title. Sometimes I'm glad it went down the way it did, but in other ways, I think a "do-over" without the extraneous worries might actually let me show more of what I know.I guess I'm still "processing" it.
When those who have yet to take the exam ask me for advice about the process, I sometimes don't know what to say. Telling them that they shouldn't worry, that they will do fine does absolutely no good. All I can do is express my confidence in them and try to mention practicalities that no one told me about.
"Should I eat? I don't want to eat too much in case I get so nervous I puke! But then, I should eat something...I might get hungry and I really don't want my stomach to start growling en media res."
"Wow, your 2 years of Latin is really coming in handy!" I complimented him and suggested, "Yeah, you could have a snack before." "Did you?" "No, but they say maybe something like a whole wheat bagel and some apple juice could give you energy without filling you up..." I replied.
"Do you think that your oral would've gone better if you had that?"
"No. I think mine would have gone better if my snack had been a Fioricet and a nice Pinot Noir."
Súbeme paso a pasito, no quieras pegar brinquitos.
22/10/09
I saw the strap suddenly rise up and start flapping. A second later, the ladder jumped from the white construction truck's bed and bounced a few times on the asphalt. As it end-over-ended its way toward me, I slowed to let a few cars go around me and to avoid running over the ladder. The closer I got to it, the more it drifted to the shoulder, where it eventually settled into a position parallel with the road.
As quickly as my car slowed to avoid the ladder, it again sped up and I was able pull up alongside the white truck, catch the driver's eye and gesture to the back. His eyes widened when he saw his ladder was missing. He waved a thanks, but also followed me when I made my usual exit. I pulled over and sat looking at the grapevines until he caught up. He wanted to know if the ladder had hit any cars. I told him it hadn't, that it just bounced off the road and was lying there, just before the Woodland exit. He was shaken up. I wasn't.
I saw the strap suddenly rise up and start flapping. A second later, the ladder jumped from the white construction truck's bed and bounced a few times on the asphalt. As it end-over-ended its way toward me, I slowed to let a few cars go around me and to avoid running over the ladder. The closer I got to it, the more it drifted to the shoulder, where it eventually settled into a position parallel with the road.
As quickly as my car slowed to avoid the ladder, it again sped up and I was able pull up alongside the white truck, catch the driver's eye and gesture to the back. His eyes widened when he saw his ladder was missing. He waved a thanks, but also followed me when I made my usual exit. I pulled over and sat looking at the grapevines until he caught up. He wanted to know if the ladder had hit any cars. I told him it hadn't, that it just bounced off the road and was lying there, just before the Woodland exit. He was shaken up. I wasn't.
20 October, 2009
"My high school friend mentioned me in his Facebook update!" I bragged. 18/10/09
Then I read it more closely. "But...he asked me about pork on Mexican restaurant menus. I wonder why."
I thought Karl was going to reply, "Maybe because you love cooking." But instead he declared, "Well, maybe because for most of your friends from the rez you're the closest thing they've got to 'Ask a Mexican'."
I may be the "closest thing, but I'm a pretty far cry..."
I thought Karl was going to reply, "Maybe because you love cooking." But instead he declared, "Well, maybe because for most of your friends from the rez you're the closest thing they've got to 'Ask a Mexican'."
I may be the "closest thing, but I'm a pretty far cry..."
At least I looked like a grown-up. 08/10/09
The cashier at 7-11 in Elk Grove looked down her nose at my purchase. "Don't you want a drink or some chips or a sandwich to go with that?" I just shook my head and said, "Not this time." I wanted to rant and rave and then burst into tears but it wasn't her fault that:
I was scrounging though a wonderfully kitschy yet minuscule coin purse to come up with 86¢ so I could pay for the overpriced banana that, at 13:26, would be the first thing I'd put in my mouth today other than coffee because I'd not only forgotten my whole wallet at home, but also the $10 bill that Karl had left for me on the desk in the kitchen this morning was in my school bag that I left in my office (which I probably don't even deserve to have because my writing's so bad, but that's a whole 'nother rant) before hitting the road where, on auto-pilot, I took the 5 and ended up all the way in Elk Grove before stopping for banana at said 7-11, then turning around to get back to 50 so I could exit onto 99 at high speeds (but speeds not high enough to be pulled over and cited for driving without a license) to avoid being late pick up my dad after his cataract surgery and I couldn't even call to say I might be late because my phone battery was dead, but fortunately I wasn't that late after all; I arrived just before they wheeled him out the door and despite his post-surgery state, I had to regress to childhood and ask him for lunch money!
I was scrounging though a wonderfully kitschy yet minuscule coin purse to come up with 86¢ so I could pay for the overpriced banana that, at 13:26, would be the first thing I'd put in my mouth today other than coffee because I'd not only forgotten my whole wallet at home, but also the $10 bill that Karl had left for me on the desk in the kitchen this morning was in my school bag that I left in my office (which I probably don't even deserve to have because my writing's so bad, but that's a whole 'nother rant) before hitting the road where, on auto-pilot, I took the 5 and ended up all the way in Elk Grove before stopping for banana at said 7-11, then turning around to get back to 50 so I could exit onto 99 at high speeds (but speeds not high enough to be pulled over and cited for driving without a license) to avoid being late pick up my dad after his cataract surgery and I couldn't even call to say I might be late because my phone battery was dead, but fortunately I wasn't that late after all; I arrived just before they wheeled him out the door and despite his post-surgery state, I had to regress to childhood and ask him for lunch money!
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