Topic: the Weather (or I'm hot! Are you hot? it's hot!)

I'm in Atlanta and the blog is way overdue for a post. Sadly, I am in the local library which has given me thirty minutes in which to check in on my life online. (mom has dial-up -- very sad). However, the library, due to the Patriot Act, will not let me check out books on my mother's card. They will also not let me check out books because I'm not local (ha! and my first job was working at this library when I was 16). Since I did not bring many good books with me in order to keep my baggage weight down (currently 47.5 pounds), I am unhappy and find mself reading mysteries that my mother has lying around. My mother reads some sick stuff.

Anyhoo, it's hot here... and smoggy. I went to Dave and Buster's with my family yesterday and when we walked outside, it just about knocked us down. The "air quality" is also very poor -- dangerous for the very young, the very old, those with respiratory diseases and people like me who smoke a lot. This is the number one reason I think will not move back to this city. Let's put some better public transportation, people.

Yes, boring post but some previews to keep your warm -- Alaska wrap-up, including a hilarious rendition of moi in a vaguely sporty situation; celebrity sighting in first class from JFK to LAX, and a review of the Dark Knight which I saw Friday night (I'm sure that most of you geeky people out there have seen it already but bear in mind, I was watching it after living and breathing pop culture for three weeks. I was in high academic mode and I could not fully "geek" out without Gene there). And perhaps I'll have the details of my interview from last weekend. No, no news yet.

Shoot Me Now -- Or Wait Until We Get Home?

I've been stressing out all week over the logistics of something I thought I should have been able to do and then I just found out that it's not going to happen (nope, still flying home this weekend for a different situation). I'm sorry to be so vague but I have to keep names out of it for obvious reasons. I have to say that my reaction to the news surprised me because I felt so defeated.

Fortunately, to raise my spirits, I have been thinking about the film I saw last night in Santa Monica -- Mongol, the sensitive coming-of-age story of a future world raider. It's the first of a trilogy so I'm on the edge of my seat to find out what happens next. Cinematography was great and the costumes were tres cool. Plot a little thin although I liked his foil in the movie. I went with Kate's pal who has been the most awesome hostess. On Sunday we went tourist, by going to Hollywood and down the walk of fame and the Chinese Theatre and plenty of buildings dedicated to Scientology. I know you, too, would have been tempted by the exhibit on the life of L. Ron Hubbard. I successfully resisted. We also went to Amoeba records and there, too, I resisted purchasing anything (given that my luggage already almost weighed the limit at 48 lbs, I didn't want to tempt fate. Plus I have been in the "let's give things away" mode for the last month.

Class has been going extremely well and I say this not even because I confided in my students that I had a blog because I don't think it will hold their interest long enough to find it. The true blog confession was in theme with our subject for today -- public, private, and virtual space. I had given them an essay about how truly evil (no, really) DisneyLand and DisneyWorld is and they were quite up in arms. By the end of the session, I got a few "the author's right but does she have to be so mean about it?" I think I'll show them Simpsons in Itchy and ScratchyLand:

Marge: what are you doing in jail?
Homer: I'm a political prisoner!
Marge: How are you a political prisoner?
Homer: I kicked a giant mouse in the butt, do I have to draw you a diagram?

Anyway, took the kids on a "field trip" where we examined public spaces on campus. Though it had been cool in the morning (and then cool in the evening), we seemed to have selected an hour in the afternoon where the sun was especially bright and there was no shade. I got doubly sunburned. By the time we had to head back across campus, it was like the Bataan death march. Poor kids!

Speaking of weather, I think I actually felt a few sprinkles of rain as it quickly evaporated in the air. It does rain in LA!

Then I had a delightful dinner where I talked to someone who must have read every Faulkner novel a couple times. (he could place all the obscenely funny scenes that I could remember). Then we then diverted to discussing Werner Herzog films which made me very happy.

And since I don't have TV to distract me, I have had many songs stuck in my head during the day. For a few mornings straight, I had the theme from Working Girl (that Melanie Griffith/Harrison Ford flick) which I have no idea where it came from. I also had some contemporary rap music and finally, blissfully, the Ramone's Blitzkrieg Bop and the theme from the Banana Splits. I feel comforted by the juxtaposition of these last two.

Long Story but...

I'm flying to Connecticut this weekend and then back to California on Sunday. Anybody up for a dinner Saturday night? Or a ride to the Hartford airport on Sunday afternoon?

I'll give you the skinny later. But I guess it's good news, and not an emergency...

And I'm this freakin' close to being a "real" frequent flier with the privileges of such. I have to stop flying.

California -- Still Sunny

I am patchwork tanned. Since I arrived on Thursday, it's been meeting, meeting, orientation, work, nap, walk around. And I have different shoes -- I even have a pair of flip flops. As a result, the tops of my feet are criss-cross tan and my arms are already brown -- just from walking around.

Otherwise, things have been going smoothly. What a difference a year makes. Last time, I didn't know a soul here and though I was very busy, I was a little lonely. This year, I get a lot of "hey! I recognize you" and "it's good to see you" so I feel more welcome. Perhaps it's also because I'm more confident of what's expected of me.

First day of class and it's hard not to compare them to last year's kids. But everybody is different (and a few of my kids are back taking another class).

We watched cartoons today. It's a good life.

In La-La Land

Alaska will have to be on hold for a bit (I'm gearing up for the big "kayaking" drama to entertain you all). I've just arrived to my teaching gig in LA. It is with disappointment that we are not staying in our fabulous apartments that we had last year. In fact, these dwellings are, well, underwhelming but they will be serviceable. At least I was able to connect to the wireless (when will Kalamazoo do that??). I did walk over to the area we lived last year to look at birds. What did I find but the same mockingbird in the same tree, singing its little heart out. Makes me very happy though a little sad that I won't hear him outside my bedroom window on those full moon nights.

That reminds me that one of the interesting birds I saw in Anchorage was a Black-billed Magpie which is a beautiful bird with a very long tail and flashy white patches on its wings. Picture is from All About Birds website.
Impressive, yes? Although not as impressive as Chris spotting Scissor-tailed Flycatchers outside his new digs in Kansas.

Anyhoo, enough about the feathered creatures. Orientation starts tomorrow and I'll have to think about teaching. Nothing much else happened today. My flight was uneventful (which is always good).

Juneau, ya know?

I'm all packed for tomorrow and the house is reasonably clean. The cats were running around frantically as I took away the things they sit and sleep upon. I also left a three page instruction manual for my wonderful cat-sitter who will be here throughout. I think Pumpkin pissed him off last year by "christening some of his stuff." I have bought "cat grass" hoping that will help with her digestion. Sometimes I think she believes she's in a competition with someone -- like an Olympic event.

Can I also complain that it is wicked humid today?

Okay, back to non-humid, cool Alaska. After a half day in Ketchikan, we left port around 1:00 and headed for Juneau (which is the state capital for you geography buffs -- are all following me on the map?). Again, the next morning, I wake up to a beautiful sight:
You can see that other cruise ships have headed into town. Well, we split up for our tours (we can do more damage that way). My sister and niece went whale watching. Mom and I went on a tour of a rainforest. Surprised? Yes, it was a temperate rain forest and very beautiful.
We lucked out by going later in the day because we were a tour of four as opposed to the usual busload. Our partners for the day was a rather taciturn couple from Perth. Turns out our tour guide who took us in a golf cart up the side of a mountain was going to spend a semester in Perth, surfing. That's what I like about all the summer kids who come to Alaska to make some money. They are all a well-scrubbed, shiny-faced, let's go climb that sheer rock face lot. Makes me feel my age.

Our guide pointed out many amusing ways one can die in the wilderness which I greatly appreciated. Though my mother looks like peaches and sunshine, she has a dark streak. When we did the obligatory practice drill for if the boat hits an iceberg or something, we gathered at our meeting area with our life jackets. When told how to jump off the boat (don't jump, rather, step off), my mother commented that the water would kill you anyway so what's the point of doing all this anyway?

Back to the tour. I learned some interesting facts. Like, when bears wander into the town and get in trouble or keep coming back, they are sent to an island where all the bad bears live together (sorta like Battle Royale with the furry set). I also learned that when a bear comes out of hibernation, they eat a lot of skunk cabbage (they need something, as my guide put it, "to pull the trigger."). But don't try this at home, because it will kill you. See that weed -- it's called "Devil's Club" and it will make you wish you were dead if you get caught hiking in it.

I also learned from our lovely tourbus girl two stories. One was about a sea lion who had discovered a fish farm and gorged himself. He wandered off and took a nice snooze right in the middle of the road. Since these guys can weigh half a ton, they had to re-route traffic around him until he decided to wake up and waddle off.

I also learned why there is a statue of pelicans in front of it (and for those of you keeping score at home, there are no pelicans in Alaska). The Juneau folks had ordered the appropriate eagle statue for the capital -- and believe me you can't throw a ball without hitting a bald eagle there (and then go to jail because they are protected and a national symbol). At the same time, Florida put in their order for a statue of Pelicans from the same business. They switched them. Florida kept the eagles and Juneau had to settle for the Pelicans. Now, mind you, I did not see the state capital and the pelicans and on more than one occasion did I hear contradictory information from guides so take everything I write with a grain of salt.

And then after all this, we went shopping. Mom bought a bear.

Dropped the Ball, Again

Here I am busily preparing for my trip to Atlanta then LA and I realize that I have yet to finish my Alaska trip (which believe me, is more of a record for myself than necessarily written for all of you nice people). When I think about working on the blog, more interesting things happen to me. For instance, my friend, Ken, came over and we ate pizza and I made him watch weird anime as I am wont to do. Then we flip around cable channels because he doesn't have cable and he strangely enjoys the commercials. Anyway, on IFC, I notice that Dead Alive has just started and it's just about up to the custard scene. So, I said, "Ken, you have to see this because it's the most disgusting scene and when I first saw it, I was eating at the time." Why not share the delightful agony of stomach churning?

Well, we watched it and then he wanted to finish the movie, which is a fine, funny, gross film if you have not caught it (early Peter Jackson -- I wonder if the people who handed him all those millions to film Lord of the Rings caught this flick and said "that's our man!"). I am sincerely glad that we had finished the pizza beforehand (Ken even said that he didn't want to take his share of the leftovers home because the film was so gross and pulpy but I made him). I had completely forgotten about the zombie guts that chased after the hero. You get a sense that the make-up guys and Jackson laughed their butts off through the entire thing. Thanks, Kate for another gem (now if I could only get this film out of my memory, but I digress).

Okay, back to the boat and to the pictures. To answer Kate's question, "did we even feel that we are in a boat?" Yes, I could feel the motion. That first night we sped our way up the coast and I could feel myself slowly sliding in the bed. Thankfully the fam has strong stomachs (see above). Perhaps the coolest sensation of cruising is when one wakes up to the boat docked in a different world.
You will see a lot of pics off this back deck (and yes, they had a smoking area there). Since we opted for cheap accommodations (inside cabin), we were fortunate enough to be at the rear of the boat and one flight up was this wonderful deck. In the morning I woke up to green mountains to gaze at over coffee and smokes (and all the coffee you can drink. This deck was also home to the 24 hour buffet). You can see a pic of the back of the boat here. Look for the flag to see where I was standing.


It seems like all these Alaskan port cities are mostly accessible from air and sea. Not so much by car (how absolutely un-American). Our tour off boat was the cheapest and the most wheelchair friendly, the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show. I know you are all amused by the picturing me in a place where I am actually witnessing outdoor sports like log rolling and various chainsaw events but you will get no such pics. Here's one of my sister, freezing her patootie off.
As the above link tells you, watch and marvel at "rugged professional timber athletes." Indeed.



Too bad I couldn't take one of them home for a souvenir. [insert obligatory sex joke here]