Je m'assieds sur un rocher râpeux et j'ai mal au cul. Le ciel devient plus profond, du bleu californien à l'indigo clair avant que la nuit sans lune s'avance. Les derniers rayons de soleil s'entendent sur les feuilles de chêne qui dansent sur le vent. Les ombres s'agrandissent en rébellion silencieuse contre le plus fort de l'été. De la crête des ( Read more... )

Mmmkay ... so I'm supposed to start a new study at my church. And the first day is Thursday. And today is Thursday. But, as I discovered, this Thursday is not the Thursday for the study. It's next Thursday. It would have been better if this life-changing epiphany had occurred before I wandered all over the church grounds, rattled on locked doors, ( Read more... )

I suppose that I have things to gripe about:
-- Recovering from strep throat.
-- Feeling not quite 100% from the meds for strep throat.
-- Trying not to feel like a flake for calling in sick on the second day of class.
-- Dealing with a flat tire the day after returning from the ocean.
-- Swallowing an almost $800 bill for tires (all four of which ( Read more... )

This blog is 100% pity. Pure. Unadulterated. Uncensored. Pity.

This is no cold ... this is full blown strep throat. When the doctor examined me yesterday, she took one look in my mouth, gasped, and immediately declared that I have strep. No need for a closer examination. No need for a strep test. It's pretty far gone.

I have been this sick only once ( Read more... )

During a phone conversation the other day, I was describing my powerhouse immune system. I have never had the flu (or I had a version that was so mild, I mistook it for a cold). I don't get sick very often at all ... maybe a cold once a year or so (usually around the start of the school year ... unless my nieces/nephews transfer some evil monster ( Read more... )

Saturday - With the Boys
Checking into the hotel room with Dante and Blake.

Chuckling at the young children who wonder if the boys' cage is for a bird and at the hushed "Eww!" from the parents who realize what's really in the cage.

Sleepless at o'dark thirty and hoping that the relentlessly screaming baby in the next room will rupture a ( Read more... )

Earlier today, I was planning out the next few weeks before the semester starts. I was growing panicked because, for this, that, and the other reason, a solid window for escaping to the ocean was getting more and more unlikely. I had planned on a camping trip with a few friends next week; I wistfully thought for a moment that I could easily squeeze ( Read more... )

Earlier this evening, I talked on the phone with a man I met online. He said several times that talking to me was cheering him up and like a breath of fresh air. The feeling was not mutual. This is why:

-- He was born with some kind of disease that hadn't killed him yet, but he was uncomfortable talking about it in detail.
-- He had a long-term ( Read more... )

Everyone who knows me knows that I'm vegan. It's not necessarily something that I advertise any more than I advertise that I'm a college English professor. But being vegan is a part of who I am, just as much as my choice of life profession.

This is why I haven't told anyone at my church that I'm vegan. It just hasn't come up. Not yet, anyway. ( Read more... )

Since late March, I have been walking. First I walked to work in the mornings, three days a week, just under 4 miles round trip. After the semester ended, I walked in the park down the street, about 3 miles round trip, 4-5 days a week.

My goal is to do in Chico what I did in Paris: walk myself back down to slender. You see, in terms of geographical ( Read more... )