A Glimpse of Clarity!

Yesterday, while zoning in the trance-like state I am able to achieve while monitoring recorded phone calls for quality control, I suddenly found myself struck by an odd sense of clarity. This clarity, as you might have guessed, concerns my BIG question, What Should I Do With My Life.

Fortunately for me, Mom had given me a book for Christmas with this very title. I've only started reading it this past week, but I've been impressed by two points already. First, I've been scared that I just don't want anything, that I have no more passion. That it has been beaten out of me. Not true! I learned that people who struggle always have passion - if they didn't care about anything, there would be no struggle. So that's important lesson number one.

The second thing I've realized is that I need to have fun. And that it will be possible for me to do this in my career. Basically, in applying for all these government jobs, I've been barking up the wrong tree. I've always gotten everything I've truly wanted, and the reason I've been getting NO reponse to these applications is probably due to the fact that I don't really want these jobs. In the past, I've truly enjoyed working - with animals, with writing, with being creative, with interacting with people while educating, with art. And there are jobs out there like this! For me!

So, I've decided to pursue a career in conservation education with zoos, museums or aquariums. There are lots of jobs posted on the AZA website, and several sound interesting. A couple even pay pretty well! I'll be able to educate, entertain, utilize my creative talents, and work for a cause that I believe in. AND, I won't be abandoning my education (Brett, if you're reading this, those manuscripts are STILL on my list of things I want to finish - keep the faith!).

Well anyway, it was just a glimpse. Tomorrow the clouds might come in and I might decide to pursue telemarketing from a tiny, dark cubicle for my career. If that happens, either shoot me or point me to this blog entry. Thanks!

Ho ho ho (hey - are you talking about me???)

'Twas a quiet Christmas this year: the warm glow of a muted TV, the happy hymns of James Brown's Funky Christmas playing softly in the background, the smell of apple cider and cinnamon air freshener wafting through the air...and oh yeah...our mayhem-otic zoo of animals trying to destroy each and every present as we tried to unwrap them!!! Chaos reined in our living room, the cats shredding anything with ribbon on it, spacing out on catnip, the dogs trying to see if each package had a squeaky in it. Teddy Bear whining for more dog treats, Michael squawking to get out of the cage, and Leo...lurking in the back room just daring anyone to disturb him while he plotted...plotted for destruction.

Actually though, it was good - Mom and I got lots of great gifts; I think my favorite was an Indo Board that kind of simulates surfing or skateboarding - you have to balance on this roller thing and try not to kill yourself or damage the walls in the house when you fall off and the board goes careening out from under you. I'll be posting pictures of me with broken limbs shortly...But I also got some PJ's (thanks for supporting my lounging habit, all), and a watch jewelry box (woohoo! A nice organized home for my Swatch collection!), and various other fun things. After opening all the presents, Mom and I went up to Uncle Danbo's house where he had bought and prepared a fabulous feast for us - turkey, green beans, cranberry sauce, candied yams, and cornbread. Yum! It was in fact the easiest holiday ever - no cooking, no cleaning up. Merry Christmas to us!

Anyway, we went to see "Memoirs of a Geisha" on Christmas Eve - excellent flick, you should go see it. It's a little long and the book was better, but still outstanding if you like that sorta thing. And just so you can get a picture of how my weekend went, here's a photo montage of Zoe during her reign of terror as we opened presents (yes, her eyes naturally have an evil glow about them that the camera captures quite nicely; this, my friends, is the horror I live with daily):

Oooooopss! Here are some pictures I forgot to post!

Ok, so last in the beginning of November Miranda and her friend Aron came with me to the Wild Animal Park for a little bit of fun. While I'm working, there are a lot of parts of the park I don't get to see, so I caught up on all the goings-on that I couldn't check out while I was on the clock. We went on the 3D simulator ride, the carousel, spent some time in the petting kraal, and then went up on the hot-air balloon that takes you 400 feet up above the park. Here's a picture I took of the campsite from above (it looks better at ground level, I tell you):

Here's a frisky Desert Bighorn Sheep, and me with a little (actually quite fat) gazelle named socks.

Hakuna matada, man...hakuna matada.

Yesterday I went to see the Lion King with Bre and her family for her birthday. It was such an amazing show - it was performed live in downtown San Diego in the huge "broadway" theatre, which I had never been to before. The costumes and sets were absolutely incredible - they had antelopes, elephants, a rhino, zebra, and giraffes which were operated by people walking on all-fours using stilts! The costumes were a combination of makeup, clothing, and puppetry - the people actually had the body shapes of the animals, after they were all made up. We had seats in the very back, about as high up as you could possibly go, but it didn't really matter because it was such a good show (although I wish I could've seen the detail on the costumes a bit better). It has been a while since I've done something cultural like that, and I'm so glad Bre invited me to go with her - we got all fancied up, and I liked seeing all the little kids there in their cute little outfits, too. Bre's mom treated us to drinks (try carrying two full glasses up to the third floor balcony amidst screaming kids and women waiting in line for the restroom without spilling...) and dinner afterwards at the Olive Garden. I had my standard sausage and peppers with penne pasta - yum!

Thought you'd like the update - oh - and I finished my Christmas shopping for the year, too! But don't get too excited - I'm rather poor this go-round, so I didn't have very many presents to buy :(

Back to work...

Enough with the recorded phone calls...

Woohoo! They've finally decided to expand my duties at work, letting me climb out of the pit known as "listening to recorded phone calls for eight hours per day". Someone in the department was let go, and they've decided to keep me on for a while so that I can pick up the slack. I'll be trained on monitoring consolidation phone calls (yes, recorded ones...), but I do have a fun project that involves creating an intranet website. Because I'm working in the Quality Assurance/Compliance department, I've decided to call the site "QuAC Net" - on the home page there's a rubber duck, and the whole site has a subtle (or not-so-subtle, as the case may be) duck theme. It's pretty funny, and the boss likes it a lot!

In the meantime, I've applied for a few more jobs - I'm really excited about an application I put in for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife as a communications coordinator. Lots of fun educational, writing, and media projects - I think it will be a good fit, if they decide to consider me. So keep your fingers crossed for me -

Yours truly,
Milto--I mean--Marci :)

Alright Already!!!

I know, it has been a long time since I posted on my blog. But, seeing as how I'm a regular Joe Blow now with my regular Joe Blow job, I don't have time for all this fancy high-tech frivolity. Work, tv, sleep. Work, tv, sleep. Work, tv, sleep. Oh yeah, and my internet connection has been on the fritz, too. And it's still not completely fixed - for one, right now I'm connected with a rather short cable to my DSL modem, which is pretty darn inconvenient when you're used to being wireless. Plus, my neck gave out this past week - I was essentially immobilized on Tuesday and missed work because I was having sharp unbearable stabbing pains in my neck and shoulders with every fraction of a movement I made. I went to the chiropracter for the first time ever on Tuesday and man, those were some scary sounds my neck made. Cracky, cracky!

Ok, so there's the short update. I'll write more when I get some time - I have some pictures to post, but in the meantime, here's a good one for you, a little something called "I guess I could do worse and have this guy's job" (compliments of Brenda):

Vroom vroom vroom...

I finally got around to taking my car in to the shop after three weeks of staring at my "Check Engine" light and nervously sitting in traffic for an hour and a half every day. It turns out that my temperature sensor was off, and my car was actually running a little bit cool. So, my garage guys replaced the temperature sensor, and I had them replace my fuel filter because I knew it needed to be changed. I also had them check all my belts to see if they could figure out the squealing noise I always hear, but they said everything looked fine. So, $271 later, my car seems to be in pretty good shape. And I'm about to pay off my car next month too! Woohoo!!!

I really like my garage - D. Mac in Escondido. I found them on the Car Talk website (you know, the NPR guys) and they had excellent comments in their listing. There was a huge opportunity for them to totally rip me off, but I really sense their honesty and integrity. If you're in the area, definitely check them out!

What, again with the temping?

Sigh. I'm on my lunch break right now, trying to decide if I should let all of my friends with prestigious positions and careers know if I've taken a temp job (well, I guess I just decided). Yes, I'm temping again. The same thing I was doing ten years ago (and hating), only this time around I've got A LOT more debt under me.

It's not all bad though - I'm working full time as a "Compliance Quality Control Specialist" at a company that consolidates college loans. You know how when you call a company and you hear the recording "this phone call may be recorded"? Did you know that someone actually has to listen to those calls? Well, that someone be me, at least for now. Basically, I have to analyze calls to see if loan consultants comply with Federal Do Not Call regulations. Fun fun fun. And at least I get to listen to phone calls of some people who have a hell of a lot more debt than I do. But, I will say this: the people that I work with are really cool, and they are amusing to work with. And if you ask me, the people make all the difference in whether you like a temp job or not.

I'm still applying for fishery-aquatic-ecology-biology type jobs, and I'm still getting nowhere. Rejections galore. No interviews, even. What's going on? Is this some crazy joke that everyone else is in on except for me? Is there a higher power trying to tell me that I'm trying the wrong direction? Should I be focusing on another type of career? Egad! The questions, the questions! I'm open to any kind of advice, folks!

Blast from the past!

A couple of weeks ago I got the craziest email - I discovered that my old friend from Virginia lives only about 15 minutes away from me. What a small world!

Tina McKay (now Gomez) decided to look me up and she found my website online. She lives in Rancho Bernardo with her four kids (two girls and two boys) and her husband, who moved out here three years ago when Compaq merged with HP. Tina lived next door to me from 4th through 9th grade, and I haven't talked to her since I moved to California in 1989. So we had a lot of catching up to do!

Tina invited me over to her place for dinner, and Chris grilled us up a fine meal. We looked through her 1992 Robinson yearbook and I saw people I hadn't even thought of for years. She has kept in touch with a lot of people and was able to get me updated on who was married and how many babies everyone has. I've often wondered what Tina ended up doing; she seems happy with her family and is doing a great job raising her kids. Something that would be a tough job for me!

Tail-End of the Camping Season

Saturday night was the last night of the Roar and Snore camping season at the Wild Animal Park. And because it was so close to Halloween, we all decided to wear cat ears and tails (that's my tail in the middle). And, to end things with a bang, we had probably the rowdiest group of kids of the entire season! Worse than girl scouts, and dare I say it, even cub scouts! It was bittersweet - after an entire summer of giving the same tours over and over again, I think everyone was ready to move on. But, it was sad saying goodbye to my new friends (really, my only friends here in CA) and my employment at the park. I'll be able to hang onto my employee ID for a little while so that I can continue to visit the park for free, and enjoy the new balloon ride and the Glacier Run simulator and get down to the zoo.

I really hope that we can all stay in touch. My friendships with the people on the night crew are so important to me, and whether or not they realize it, they've given me a lot during a rough time in my life. I'll probably always look back on this job as one of the funnest I'll ever have; it has given me some great ideas of what I'd like to do with my life, shown me some of my strengths, and given me a boost in confidence. I'm so fortunate to have had this opportunity!

Inevitability

Grandpa was brought home to Mom's house Sunday afternoon, and peacefully passed away yesterday morning around 6 am. I took Monday off of work to be with him and Mom, and we spent all day just waiting for the inevitable. Grandpa was pretty much unconscious the entire time he was home; hospice workers were there the entire time and kept him comfortable with medication. Monday night I slept on the sofa, listening to his breath all night. Early that morning, Mom came out from her bedroom to check on things; we were joking around on the couch, were laughing about how tough Grandpa was in the fact that he just kept hanging on. I'd noticed that since Mom entered the room his breathing slowed down quite a bit, and all of a sudden, he was gone. He didn't move, gasp, or struggle. He just didn't take another breath. I'm glad that he waited for Mom that morning - two minutes after she came out to the living room he finally let go, and I can only imagine that he was cheered by us laughing and playing with the dogs in his final moments.

It was Mom's birthday yesterday, and she saw his hanging on until her birthday as a final gift.

Today Mom and I went to pick out his urn; we were originally going to get a simple wooden box, but I spotted a beautiful porcelain-like urn that Mom connected with right away. It was bright red and orange, and had autumn leaves on it outlined in gold. Grandpa's favorite color was red, and he especially liked autumn. Mom has fond memories of taking family car trips in the fall, going up to Vermont to see the leaves change color. And, I found an urn for me, too! It's really cool - mountains, trees, hills, and a waterfall in all the colors I like. So keep that in mind for my wish list, ok? Just kidding about that last part!

What a relief though - not only for us, but I'm sure for Grandpa, who had suffered these last years with back pain, sickness, and a deteriorating mental state. I'm so glad I had this past year to get to know him, and am happy that we were in each others' lives even for a short time.

I'm so very tired!

This week has been a blur. But for those of you who are interested, here's where I'm at:

The "Check Engine" light came on in my car.
Teddy Bear threw up and diarrhea'd in my living room and the smell won't go away.
I worked 15 hours yesterday (I started a 10-week full-time temp job, and then I had to guide for Roar and Snore).
No one came to my little get-together on Thursday due to traffic accidents and hospitalized people and sickness.
I have no food in the house, and neither do my pets.
Zoe keeps licking my hands until they bleed, and I can't stop her because she's too damn cute.
Grandpa's condition continues to worsen.

So let's update you on that last part. I haven't gotten to the hospital for the past couple of days because I've been so exhausted, so I'm getting all this info through Mom, who struggles through each day (and with a nasty head cold at that). Apparently two days ago Grandpa lost his ability to swallow liquid and food, so he's now getting nothing but hydration through an IV. Mom had to make the very difficult decision to not give him a feeding tube, and came to that decision because he would a) just try to pull it out, worsening his condition and b) continue to linger on in this horrible state he is in for who knows how long. Recovery doesn't seem like an option right now, really, and it's just so hard to watch Grandpa go through this. His dementia is very bad, and when he's awake he's hallucinating, yelling, and trying to rip out his tubes and his gown. So they've had to sedate him not only with morphine and valium, but now with thorizine, which is used to calm people with hallucinations and the general crazies. I imagine that today he'll go to a skilled nursing facility, but if he's not eating or drinking, I'm not sure how long he'll linger there. I'll write more when I know more; in the meantime, thanks for your support and thoughts.

Update on Grandpa's Condition

After four days at the hospital I needed some time to myself, so I'm sitting here this morning and updating my blog. After the doctor's grim report on Sunday, we had Grandpa moved to an intermediate care unit and put on comfort care. Amazingly, his bleeding has stopped, and as of this morning, his blood count is up, his blood pressure is good, and his pulse is back to normal. Last night I suggested we put him back on an IV (because we knew the bleeding had stopped at this point), and I think that helped. So, the doctor said she'd like to keep him at the hospital for another 24-48 hours to really get hydrated, then they'd move him to a nursing home facility for recovery. Now don't get me wrong, I really don't know what's going to happen with him - I think his condition could go either way. His dementia is really bad right now, and we've had to restrain his arms because he keeps trying to rip out his IV, air tube, and yank his hospital robe (yeah, I saw that once and didn't want to see it again!). Everything's kind of up in the air.

But thank you all SO MUCH for your kind words and thoughts - Mom and I both really appreciate your support right now. It's been a really tough time, and we don't know how this will turn out yet. But you know me - I'll keep you posted!

Long day at the hospital

Whew! It's hard spending time at the hospital. They're kind of like airports, where there's this strange smell in the air and everything is decorated in a "designer-generic" kind of way. Today Mom and I spent almost 12 hours in the hospital with grandpa, but by the time we left this evening he was finally asleep.

Grandpa was brought in by ambulance on Saturday morning and was diagnosed with a GI bleed. We were told he would probably be ok, but they took him to the Critical Care Unit so that he could get scoped the following day. So yesterday, the doctor told us that they had tried to repair the large ulcer in his stomach but that he would probably continue bleeding unless he underwent surgery. Unfortunately, his chances of surviving surgery would be very low, and even if he did survive, he would probably be put on a ventillator, and the recovery time would be very long, very painful, and very frightening for him. Due to his dementia and the pain he was in, he had been yelling his head off for about 48 hours in the CCU. He'd yell out that he needed water (which we couldn't give him), that he was tired, that he wanted to go home, and "George Pataki" among other things.

We needed to make a hard decision. We decided that his chances of surviving surgery and the recovery were really low, and that it would just prolong his suffering. So, we had him taken off his treatment (blood transfusions, because he was losing so much blood through the ulcer) and opted for comfort care. We were finally able to unhook all the monitoring equipment and tubes, give him what he wanted to eat and drink, and make him comfortable with morphine. He stopped yelling, took a couple naps, did a lot of smiling, made much more sense when he talked, and now has no pain and is comfortable. We moved him to an intermediate care room, where hospice is overseeing his treatment. Everyone we've met has been so attentive and compassionate, has given us much-needed support, and we feel like we made the right decision.

Grandpa will continue to receive morphine and valium (to help with his anxiety and to relax him) as needed. Because he is losing blood at a rate of about a pint per 6 hours, he will probably pass away sometime tomorrow afternoon or evening. There's always a chance he could stop bleeding, but I'm not expecting that to happen. I'm just glad that I can spend some time with him so that he's not so afraid, and that I can be there for Mom. This has been tough on her, but I think we've done the best we can do. Think good thoughts for all of us - it will be another long day at the hospital tomorrow!

Gee, my hair looks terrific!

Today my friend Miranda took me to her hair stylist. And I definitely needed some style - my dye job had turned kind of orangy, my roots were showing, and my grey hair was on the move. Further, I hadn't even had a trim for several months, after Mom accidentally chopped off all my hair.

But today I got the best cut I've ever had in my entire life - it's a little shorter, and I got it dyed a very dark brown with purple undertones. And it has lots of little layers in it that flip out after Joanie (the stylist) straightened my hair with an iron. I love it! Too bad I know nothing about styling hair, besides how to run a comb through my mane. Hopefully Miranda can show me how to keep this style. Does this mean...I'll have to...invest in a...hair-drier????!!!

What a week...

Whew! A lot happened this past week. Ok, first of all, I know you're all wondering about my job search - my application for the Army Corps job (mentioned in the previous post) fell through, so now I only have two applications out, both of which are long-shots (and not really want I want anyway, truth be told). It's so much work hunting for jobs that I'm kind of getting discouraged by all this rejection and am wondering if I'll ever find a job.

In the meantime, I signed up with a temp agency, which will hopefully keep some money rolling in for me while I'm job hunting. I also signed up with Arbonne as an Independent Consultant, so you can look forward to me pestering all you friends and family out there to buy their stuff from me. Seriously though, Arbonne sells really great skin care products (all botanically based, no animal products, no animal testing), and they're the only products I've used so far that have been able to help me with some of my dark spots and fine wrinkles (yes, I'm getting wrinkles!). If you're curious, ask me about it.

And it's weird how people come and go in life. I broke up with Bob this week, but also this week, my old childhood chum, Tina Junk, wrote me an email from out of nowhere. It turns out that she lives only about 10 minutes from me! She's married, and a stay-at-home mom with four kids. We're going to get together on Wednesday for lunch.

My grandfather (on my mom's side) went into the hospital yesterday, and was diagnosed with a GI bleed in both his stomach and esophogus. On top of that, he has pneumonia, which isn't very good. He had surgery earlier this morning to fix his stomach ulcer, and I think he'll be ok, but we're keeping our fingers crossed. And Teddy Bear had a cold this week too - he won't even eat his wet food! But I think he's getting better.

That's about it - I have some exciting things planned for this week, so just you wait for the next installment!

I don't want to jinx myself but...

Woo hoo! I looked up my job application status for the Army Corps of Engineers today, and among all the "rejected" notices, there was actually one application that made it to review! This is the first time that I've seen this message, so I think I might have made it past an initial hurdle of some sort. The position is for a Fishery Biologist in Portland, which would be great. I might even end up working with my bro!

So, to recap, I have four applications in consideration right now: one for the EPA, two for the USGS, and one for the Corps. Needless to say, keep your fingers crossed for me! Thanks!

Yeah, it was one of those weekends.

Here's how I felt after dealing with private school brats and Satan's personal minions, a.k.a. "cub scouts", all weekend:

Always an adventure...

I just returned home from my first night covering security at the back gate at the Wild Animal Park. The good news is that I managed not to curse over the radio. The bad news is that they didn't give me a gun. I suppose this was good thinking on their part, but with a gun I might've actually had something to do. Let me tell you, not a whole lot goes on at the back gate between five and eleven pm. I think I saw a bunny cross the road, but it was pretty dark out, so it was hard to tell.

On the way home, as I was about to cross a very busy intersection, I saw a rather large dog bounding confusedly down the road. I pulled over my car and called the dog over, and lucky for me, he was pretty friendly and very cute. I then noticed another large black dog that was with him, but no owner in sight. I managed to get Pete (the first dog) into the trunk of my car so that I could read his tag - luckily, there was a number on it, and Pete's owner answered right away. They'd been looking for the two dogs frantically for the past hour and said they'd be right over to pick him up (the black dog had headed down the road, across the intersection, and I couldn't go after her). Unluckily for me, as I was securing Pete in my car, I slammed my trunk hatch down on the bridge of my nose, which proceeded to spill blood from the cut. Good thing I'm so prepared and had a first aid kit! Well, the owners drove up right fast, and the guy was an EMT so he checked me out to see if my nose was broken; alas, it's just ugly. The woman took my name, address, and phone number, and I didn't even ask her why as my head was still spinning from eight hours of mind-numbing boredom followed by a swift crack to the ol' noggin. Anyway, they loaded up Pete and I hope they were able to track down the other dog. They were very friendly and very thankful that I called - they both seemed quite distressed, but relieved, too. So I'm glad I could help.

What do you think? Should I tell everyone at work tomorrow that I got cut in a fight at the back gate when I single-handedly stopped lion thieves from getting into the park, or should I just tell them the sad, sad truth? Hard-core, huh?

It's Alive!!!

Yippee! The electrician that came over today took nearly 7 hours to find, diagnose, and fix the problems of yesterday's turmoil (see post, below). The good news is that my tv was not fried! Unfortunately, the dvd player, vcr, and stereo did not make it. So I had to go out today and buy new ones! I got pretty good deals (I won't tell you where I went because I'm so ashamed of myself, but it rhymes with "Almart") on a combo dvd/vcr and stereo. So I'm good.

And now here's something to cheer YOU up:

So my tv blew up today...

Sad but true, I came home this evening to partake in my usual Sunday night VH1 Celebreality extravaganza (a triple treat consisting of "The Surreal Life", "My Fair Brady", and "Breaking Bonaduce") and discovered that my entertainment center (a.k.a. my entire world) was on its way towards self destruction. I pushed the power button on my tv and nothing happened. That's odd, I pondered, my tv has always been such a reliable friend. Goodness - my vcr, dvd player, and stereo also all appear to not work. I figured I must have blown a fuse so I called Mom over to show me where the fuse box was.

While I waited for Mom to arrive, I strolled out into the living room, only to see that an evil poltergeist was turning on some of the lights in the house, making them brighter than usual, then turning them off after a few seconds. Odd indeed! By that time, Mom was at the door.

Pop pop bang bang!!! We went into my bedroom and found my stereo and vcr smoking. I quickly unplugged the whole power strip and momentarily mourned the loss of my stereo. Well, it was cheap anyway, so no terrible loss there. And my vcr had been eating my tapes, so as far as I was concerned, it deserved an inferno-like demise. But what about my tv? My dvd player? They did nothing wrong - they were innocent victims of some evil eletronic surge that sought to rip all that I love in my life right out from under me...oh, the humanity!!!

The SDG&E repair guy that hustled out disabled the circuit, so I sit here blogging to the light of two candles. I have electricity in the living room, dining room, and most of the kitchen, but I'm under black-out conditions everywhere else. I get to call some electricians out tomorrow to fix the problem - pray, please pray, for the safety and well-being of my tv and dvd player. I'm certain the stereo and vcr are toast, but if the others are fatally injured, I...just...don't...know...what...I'll...do............

Will somebody please hire me already???

I mean, come on! I keep applying for these government positions, and I haven't heard anything (except for the one job I didn't get). It's such a pain applying for these jobs - enough already! Someone just give me a job! I'm smart, right? Creative, am I not? Provide color in the work environment, yes? I know the speed at which the government works, but I'm getting a little impatient here.

I need money! I need benefits! I need my own office that I can decorate with Sea Monkeys and Life In Hell cartoons (ok, I might even settle for my own cubicle). I want to move out of my uncle's house before he comes back and discovers that my cat has been peeing on the carpet in his hallway!!! I can live with being an aquatic biologist or ecologist or even a fish-type scientist, but if you know of any position opening up that pays really well and involves petting cats and watching tv, please let me know! Because clearly this is what I'm most qualified for... (and those darn government hiring people know it!).

Maxfield Parrish - Master of Make-Believe

Last Sunday, Mom and I went to Balboa Park where we caught the last day of the Maxfield Parrish exhibit. Parrish was an artist who lived in the early half of the 20th century, and is one of my all-time favorite artists. We were able to see many of his very famous works, including "Daybreak" and "The Lute Players". His use of color and light is amazing, and it takes me to a wonderful world of magic, beauty, and serenity. One of the reasons I have such a fondness for Parrish's work is because as a child, Nik used to tell my brother and me stories he made up from the Parrish prints he had in our home. They were wonderful stories, true to classic Nik form - I wish he had written them down for me to remember now! Below is "Daybreak", and a re-enactment done by Mom and I in Balboa Park outside of the Museum of Art.

Dodging Hurricanes in Miami

Last week I went down to Miami to see Bob over Labor Day. It was hot, muggy, and hurricane season (as we all know)! Sunday night, after my flight got in, we went to Bongo's (Gloria Estefan's restaurant/dance club) where I had Cuban food for the first time. It was good, although not as spicy or saucy as I thought it would be. On Monday, we spent the afternoon at the Fairchild Botanical Garden - it was beautiful (see picture below), but the mosquitoes had a field day feasting on me - I think I had about 40 bites on me by the time I left! Bob had to work the rest of the week, so I spent the days on his boat with Brie (his kitty). We went to Coconut Grove every night where we shopped and saw a couple of movies. The Wedding Crashers was very funny, but Skeleton Key was somewhat disappointing (oh well, I didn't really have high expectations of the movie anyway). And of course, the food was outstanding - we ate at the Cheesecake Factory, and the Green Street Cafe, which served up an awesome salad and goat cheese pizza. Yummy! I had a very relaxing trip, but I did pick up a nice little head cold from some sick person on one of my flights. Sniff sniff!

Mom's in the doghouse because...

She's got a new dog! Yesterday, Mom went to Petco to buy her cat some stuff and came home with a new dog (which indeed is not the "cat stuff" she originally intended to buy). His name used to be Poncho, but Mom is renaming him Bailey. He's two years old, some sort of border collie mix (I think maybe with Australian sheep dog or something), and seems to be fairly well trained and obedient. A bit goofy, too.

Of course, Leo (Mom's cat) can't stand him, and Michael (Mom's parrot) has already crafted a handful of plans resulting in Bailey's demise (which mostly involve a lot of pecking and biting). I introduced Teddy Bear to Bailey in neutral territory - the grass island on Fairway Park - and things seemed to go pretty well - Teddy growled, they sniffed each others' butts, and then ignored each other. However, when Mom brought Bailey into my place, Teddy went ballistic and ran out from under the bed, barking, and charged Bailey. Zoe, my cat, puffed out immensely. Ok, so we have some territory issues, but that's ok. Things will work out well between the two of them, I think!

Mom seems to be very excited with her new companion, and I hope it works for her. Her house is now officially a menagerie of animals (all of whom hate each other), and if Teddy and I ever stay with her again it's going to result in some real chaos. I guess we'll cross that bridge when we have to!

Wwwwaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!

Today I found out that I did not get the Department of Energy's Fishery Biologist position. Boo hoo! I really had gotten my hopes up about that one, but apparently, my application was not among the "most qualified" out of the many that they had received. Bastards!

Oh well - I'll keep applying. My brother told me to not be discouraged, so I'm trying to take his words to heart. At least I have a better idea of what I'd like to do in the next five years (i.e., get a good paying government job in the Pacific Northwest and pay off my debt). So keep your fingers crossed for me - I evidently need all the luck I can muster!

Stumpy's on the move!

I finally received word from MonkeyToes...Stumpy will be sent off to his next stop tomorrow to...(drum roll here)...Olympia, Washington! He's been patiently waiting the journey, stuffed in his box now for a couple of weeks. After Washington he'll finally be sent back home. This little guy certainly has made the rounds, and he deserves a nice homecoming. Way to go Stumpy!!!

That's no woman, that's a MAN, man!

Bet you're wondering what's going on in the above picture, huh? From left-to-right, that's Jessica, Mulva, and me. On Tuesday some friends from work and I went to Lips, a drag club in Hillcrest for dinner and a show. I'd never been to a drag club before but it was pretty fun - we got there entirely too early (we were expecting more traffic), so we had a few drinks before dinner. And drag queens can actually serve up some pretty good chow, let me tell you! There were two shows, which each consisted of a "hostess" and three drag queens who each lip-synched to a song and gave random people in the audiences lap dances. It was a very mixed crowd - people celebrating birthdays, a table of old ladies, and us. Not bad for a Tuesday night, eh?

Teddy Bear's glamorous new look!

Last week I took Teddy Bear in to the groomer's (The Cold Nose), and he looked so cute I just had to post these pictures. He always looks like a new dog after he gets groomed, and with the hot weather, I'm sure he appreciated the shave. It's funny - when I take him for walks now, people ask me how old my puppy is. They're pretty shocked when I tell them he's 12 years old!

In Escondido, cats do grow on trees

Last week I finally purchased a cat tree for Zoe and Jesse. It took them a little while to get used to it, but they now consider it to be the center of their universe. While Jesse (the declawed one, of course) has figured out the "scratching pole" aspect of the tower, Zoe still prefers to claw on cardboard scratchers. Both of them have figured out that they can jump up to the top perch, where they like to spend the greater portion of their day. Zoe prefers to nest in the tube part, while Jesse likes to sit on top (although the pictures I took today are exactly opposite of that). Aren't they cute???

Stumpy the Traveling Sock Monkey Visits Escondido!

Stumpy the Traveling Sock Monkey arrived at my doorstep last week for his visit to the San Diego area. He has been vacationing around the country, staying with families and enjoying outings with them. Stumpy is actually part of a postal letterbox, and each of his host families has to take him to some place interesting, snap a picture of him at said location with a disposable camera (which he brings with him everywhere he goes), and then mail him off to his next destination. Stumpy has already been to a ton of places, including Colorado Springs, Houston and Dallas, Illinois, a renaissance faire in South Dakota, Georgia and South Carolina, and toured many of the historical sites of the East Coast. He really gets around, for a creature made out of socks!

I took Stumpy with me to work at the San Diego Wild Animal Park. My co-workers were able to confirm their suspicions that I am in fact a lunatic (carrying around a sock monkey with me and asking for people to take our picture didn't help much). But Stumpy had a good time - he saw lots of wild animals and even visited his cousins in the gorilla exhibit. After that, I took him to the carousel where he really proved his bravery by riding the lion.

I was hoping that Stumpy would arrive while Bob was here, but he just missed him. Oh well! Maybe on his next vacation circuit he'll visit Miami. Anyway, I'm still waiting to see where Stumpy will be sent next - he's already squished into his cardboard box, along with his camera and a suitcase that carries punk-costume accessories. Until I find out his next stop, Stumpy's saga will be continued at a future date....

On my way to working for da' man...

Today I submitted my first application for a real job, since finishing my degree in December. I applied for a Fishery Biologist position with the Department of Energy up in Portland, Oregon. I have mixed feelings about this - first, it would be a good job with stability and a nice pay check. I'd be doing something to possibly help endangered salmon. I'd be very close to my brother Paul and his wife Anne. Rent is about half of what I'd pay living in San Diego. I could say goodbye to much of my debt. I have a couple of friends in the area that I met during grad school, all good things. But I wonder - will I like working for the government? Will it allow me to express the creative side of myself, or will I feel like I've sold out, turned my back on my desire to teach, entertain, and do something I really love (even though I don't know what that is yet)? Will I be able to handle a 40 hour a week research job? Will people pass me on the street and call me a career slut? I'll let you make that decision next time I see you.

Actually though, I am pretty excited about the prospect of working in Portland, at a real job. It might be just what I need. I might even really like it! Keep your fingers crossed for me, and send along any extra luck you don't know what to do with. Toodles!

A fine day at Point Loma

During Bob's visit we went to Point Loma, which overlooks San Diego and the bay. It was a beautiful day - a nice cool breeze with lots of sunshine, and the views from the point were amazing.

Point Loma is part of Cabrillo National Monument, which commemorates Cabrillo coming to southern California and claiming the land for Spain in the 1500's.

In the 1800's, a small, squat lighthouse was built on the top hill at Point Loma. Unfortunately, fog and clouds often hid the light from the lighthouse, so it was eventually decommissioned and another lighthouse was built near sea-level, so it would shine below the fog. But the original lighthouse still stands, and you can see how the lighthouse keepers and their families lived.

Later that day we visited Old Town San Diego, which I had never been to before. It's modeled after the original settlement near the Presidio, and has some very good Mexican Food. I had difficulty walking out of the candy shop without buying anything, especially the hand-made salt-water taffy. We had dinner at Casa Guadalupe, and a word of warning: the large margarita is boat-sized, and you practically have to climb in and drink your way out of it.

Is this my day off?

My cousin Hanna, on her way to attending school in L.A., is staying with my other cousin Beth for a couple of months. I invited both of them to come to the Wild Animal Park so that we could catch up and enjoy the 100 degree weather.

I was able to take Beth and Hanna down to the tiger stairs, where we had a great view of Malacca enjoying her weekly rabbit. Yummy! We walked the rest of the Kilamanjaro Safari Trail, ate lunch at Heart of Africa and saw the cheetah, hung out at Lion Camp, and rode the train around the field exhibits. But I think my cousins' favorite part of the day was visiting Lorikeet Landing and feeding the birds - Beth and Hanna were covered with them, and were only minorly covered with their "leftovers" after they flew away.

On to the next (less smelly) chapter...

Today was my last day with the elephant department at the Wild Animal Park. I definitely learned a lot about the elephants, and it was really cool being able to get so close to them. Initially I was worried that I wouldn't be able to physically handle the work (intense physical labor in 100+ degree heat), but I actually enjoyed it. It felt good to sweat and feel like I was really doing something, as opposed to manipulating data on a computer screen or shuffling paper around on my desk.

At any rate, I am still guiding two nights a week for Roar and Snore, but that leaves me with the need for more moolah. So, I'll be spending much more of my time searching for a job. It's funny - I have no desire to take the jobs that would pay me well enough to cover my expenses, but at the same time, I can't afford to take the jobs that I would actually enjoy doing because they don't pay enough. So if anyone knows of a position that will pay $50K+ per year and includes playing with cats and coloring with crayons, please let me know. I'm willing to share my experience in these (and similar) areas.

On a good note though, at least my schedule has opened up so that I have more time for watching Cosby Show reruns (at least six episodes per day!) and catching up on my scrapbooking. Now, if I could only keep the dog from eating out of the litterboxes, I'd really have something to write about. Keep your fingers crossed for me, won't you?