Recent Entries Garion born; thinking of doing video logs - 2012-09-01 I'm married, I'm a prospective father, wow I never update - 2012-05-22 Got the job at the NIA; mother complicates wedding plans - 2011-10-13 Scrawl - 2011-08-05 It's never been better - 2011-06-02
|
End of vacation and an extension; photograph 2004-03-29 - 2:58 p.m. 
The last day of vacation was typical: petting the hoons, snuggling Bugweeeeee and enjoying Dork's CD collection. Seester had phoned much earlier that morning, mentioning she and the husband were on rocky ground at the moment, and if I needed to be picked up and dropped off. I figured generosity and good company are intertwined creatures, so Dork and I thought what the hell: let's see the three of us to the airport. I took some last minute shots of Bugweeeeee and made my farewells.The last goodbye with Dork and Seester felt good. I felt loved and missed--and I had enough animal hair on my clothes as a souvenir for a few years to come. I also accidentally packed one of Dork's sweatshirts. I guess he might have to come over to LA to get it. The plane trip was the usual fare: 4 1/2 hours of reading Sun Tsu's "The Art of War", playing on mom's gameboy and learning of the bizarre variations Tetris now had; I think I got a nap somewhere in there as well. The only downside was first class being overrun by pampered college students. Not regular college students, I'm talking the upper class drink-all-night types, the wild boys (and girl) sporting names like "Schneider" and "Chaz". The chickita proudly proclaimed about every 10 minutes that she was married and how some guy macking on her didn't have a chance. She squealed and giggled. So there they were, the Las Vegas poster children born from some adult Archie comic. Around touch-down the guys were wildly plotting where the nearest airport bar was, and the casino after that. Wankers with their parents' money. Feh. Meeting up with Mom was great as usual, though. We sarcastically jabbered about this bullshit or that, sliding past three lanes of traffic in a daring maneuver to get onto the 405-S. LA seemed like a CPU with a new tower case: fresh, vibrant, humming, but familiar. Eventually we got around to the subject of food and, to my credit, I stuck with what I'd been craving for days: sushi. I'm obligated as a "coast dweller", after all, to have Democratic sympathies, eat sushi and wear sandals whenever possible. "Fusion Sushi" itself was grand as usual food-wise; I've kinda gotten used to the perfunctory feeling the staff gives me. ---- As for major highlights during the last several days, I went out with The good captain to see 'Eternal Sun of the Spotless Mind', an exceptionally interesting and well-done film from the guy that did 'Being John Malkovich' and 'Adaptation'. I'd highly recommend it, considering that it's David Lynch Lite: intellectually appealing without needing to see the movie 5 times to work out what happened. Not a bad thing, David Lynch, just a pound-cake where sometimes a quarter pound-cake will do. The Captain himself is in good spirits. He has a job interview this coming thursday for an LAUSD high school teacher position. I wish the man the best in getting it; it sucks being in Limbo with only your navel and pasttime interests to occupy you. Over dinner at Ruby's (which is our traditional dinner place), I gave him my own spiel about another thing that'd been concerning me: accepting the Madison offer for graduate school. Mostly I just wanted to hear if my own reasoning seemed sound, since the only thing keeping me back has been the tentative reservations my prospective advisor has. The Captain had read the advisor's letter and thought the guy was just trying to make sure his lab is what I wanted. It made sense to me, but at the time I still wasn't 100% certain. ---- Second to last, there's been some annoying paperwork/job stuff I've been taking care of. For instance: *In order to complete my financial aid package, I need to fill out a Federal Application for Financial Aid (FAFSA) form. I ended up sending mom into a rage when I went downstairs to ask her some questions about stuff to fill out for the parent. She'd been trying to relax, but I wasn't expecting her reaction. I guess she'd had a hard day. She yelled and bitched hatefully at nothing in particular at the other end of the house; slamming a door or table continuously for about 5 minutes; on the verge of screaming about Robert (my father) and his taking all of his paperwork (since I was asking for his social security number). It made me feel like pure shit for a few hours after that. I was tempted to call T to talk it over, but it was late over where she was. On the positive side, though, mom calmed down and I only need her to give me three more pieces of information. Thank the gods/god(dess)/etc. for her 1040-W is all I've gotta say. ---- Now you might be wondering how the madness is going over at Discordia since I was away. Well, I'd completely forgotten: I'd had holiday during finals week and spring break. Almost nothing had happened. Even better, Dr. Zivago told me that nothing would be happening until next week when the new quarter was upon us. I casually mentioned just coming in next week and taking this week off. He was grading papers but it looked kinda like he nodded. I'll confirm it via email, but hot damn! A whole week off after two weeks off. ---- Photography I've got a stash of a dozen shots to do! My balls recoil and bounce in delight. Here's the first: Comment: Someone described the scene as a "banal subject, but a f**cking great shot!" Sure, it's an alleyway, but people don't really focus on the things much--let alone at night. I took this in Madison during my 7 hours of walking and scrapping my heels raw. It was worth it, especially here: crouching low, wearing mostly black, comforted by the electronic silence and steady darkness of the place. Much more soon!
|
