Hello, 2012

Going and being home for Christmas break is always strange and wonderful.

I don't feel like my life is in Holt Michigan, anymore. I mean, it's NOT in Holt, Michigan any more. Few friends still live there, and when I go I'm transported back to my high school days staying at my parents house and sleeping in a twin bed. Only now, they have cable. In both scenarios I don't have a car so mobility is a problem. Not that I'd drive much, anyway because I've sort of forgotten how to drive in anything but sunshine and rain.

But I love being in Michigan. A big part of my heart is still there and most of the better parts of who I am are there, too. Plus, with a little creative scheduling and very nice parents, I managed to see quite a few people.

It wasn't nearly as snowy as I wanted--I think it was near 50 when I first showed up. I felt like I brought the Miami weather with me--and brought the Michigan weather back to Miami, unfortunately--which no one in Michigan was mad about. A little snow fell here and there, and I certainly spent a good deal of time being cold, so I guess it felt a little bit like Christmas. Downtown Lansing even looked a little festive.

Hello Capital City!

And here's the snow on our bush in the front yard, from later in the break. I thought it was pretty.

Winter wonderland, indeed.

I spent a good deal of Christmas break, as I said previously, watching rented movies and Netflix. I saw several "classics": The Deer Hunter (intense but amazing and Christopher Walken is the terrifyingly captivating), A Clockwork Orange (Di. Stur. Bing.), Amadeus (long but fascinating, despite the guy from Animal House playing the title character). I saw Young Adult in the theater which... wasn't what I expected but I connected with it anyway. There were some moments the resonated with me, but overall it wasn't as funny or witty as I had imagined it would be.

Christmas festivities were fairly traditional. Cuban side for Christmas Eve, ate some Cuban food, took the traditional cousin's picture (we look better every year, I swear), and loved on some family. Here are the Garcia girls.

Christmas Day with the Palos was also some good lovin' on family time. Both uncles were there, and two dogs (Bubba and Cody, Mema's dog) and a tiny tree, too. We had brunch and the traditional cheesey/bready casserole of joyous life, which is only edible once a year 'cause of how terrible it is for you. But it's so worth it.

Another aspect of Christmas I really love is the tradition: food, family, our own little twists and turns on the days that make my family mine. They're beautiful and probably strange to some, but they're mine. Ours. And they're comforting.

I also got to spend some quality time with my good friend Coot in A2, Ann Arbor. We went to a U of M basketball game against Penn State (I think). Here we are, pea and pod-like as ever. :)

The halftime show at the game was, like, Mr. Fantastic or something, a "magic" act of sorts. It was pretty cool--the guy and his assistant did some traditional tricks--making flowers appear, an endless hankerchief chain, but she also wore about seven outfits and changed into them in seconds (or second, really). That part of it was pretty awesome. Here they are after she has just shed her dark wig and long dress.

Christmas in our family isn't just about the birth of Jesus (although it is) but the birth of my father (Christmas Eve) and my Tia (Boxing Day). My Tia Maki was actually in from California this year, so that was exciting, and we took her out for lunch on her birthday, along with our traditional cousin's lunch. We went to Olive Garden, where I haven't been in ages, and I remembered the glory of those bread sticks. Hallelujah! Molto benne!

The other major festivity was my friend Timmy's wedding. It was on New Year's Eve. Normally, I head back to Miami for NYE, but this year I stayed for the wedding and it was a good life choice. Timmy's a college friend and VanCooter, so the wedding and ensuing reception was peopled with creatures I hadn't seen in ages, since I left Grand Valley in 2004. A NYE wedding is a GREAT idea, by the way--everyone needs something to do, and is looking for a good time. Blam, reception. Good times.

Here's a photo of our table (well, the most important people at it anyway).

Missed these VanCooters like crazy. I was so happy to bring in 2012 with them. :)

Upon returning to Miami, I returned back to school--both kinds. Teaching and taking. I'm excited about my sememster at FIU; I'm actually taking a sociolinguistics class, which is the aspect of linguistics I'm most interested in. Sure, structure is great and necessary, but it just doesn't turn my gears the way looking at actual usage does. So yeah... excited.

I've also had a bit of theater so far in 2012. I got tickets to see the musical Next to Normal from school on opening night. The musical won Tony's and two Pulitzers, so I was excited to see it, but when I looked up the synopsis I was struck--it's a musical about mental illness. Yep. A rip-roarin' rollick in the human psyche.

The music was great, though, and the story was good, but intense. I expect musicals to be a bit light--y'know, love story, some tap dancing, stuff like that. But this wasn't. It's extremely clear why it won two Pulitzers--the writing and subject matter are pretty great. The performances were great as well, and it's a small cast (only six actors, I think) so everyone was really cohesive and acted (and sang) their hearts out. I'm glad I read the synopsis before I went, though, because I was prepared for the intensity. Everyone around T and I was bawling (like, BAWLING) and we were fine. It was kinda funny... but not at the same time.

So far, 2012 has been treating me right! For all of my holiday photos, click here.

Much love.

The official birthday breakdown

You only turn 30 once. And, sadly, some people don't make it that far. So I figured since my 30th was this year, I'd better go all out. I'd gone back and forth on ideas for a party for a while. I wanted a prom, but then I thought a quince would be fun, and funny since I never had one, and then it somehow just developed into an 80's prom, which, it turns out, is the BEST birthday party idea EVER.

Some wonderful friends allowed me to use their house for the party, so I went over earlier in the day to set it up. We had a dance floor, food area, picture area, and even a gift table, just like a real prom. The theme was Vogue, like the magazine, and the invitation was a Vogue cover I made of myself, Vogue-ing like Madonna, with all the details. NOT gonna lie--it was awesome.

I also made covers for several of the guests, to use for decorations. We posted them all around and they were great conversation pieces (plus, I'm now a master user of PhotoShop, which is good for, y'know, a journalism teacher), not to mention witty and hilarious. ;)

Then came the photo area, set up like a Vogue cover, where the Prom Committe and I (complete with buttons) took the first photos of the night.

The colors, if you hadn't guessed, were silver, black, and teal. I dressed to match. The table for favors looked a little something like this, with the favors being slap bracelets. Totally 80's.

The dance floor was awesome--we just set up a projector to project crazy colors and crap on the ceiling, and some sweet 80s jams were rockin' all night. "Don't Stop Believin'" was a huge hit, along with "I Had the Time of my Life" and a little "Lady in Red." Classics, my friends. Classics.

No prom would be complete without a crowning of the King and Queen, so of course people voted on winners. I, to my chagrin, won Queen and my friend Matt won King, mostly, I think, because of his awesome hair. Here I am, celebrating my win...

Here are Matt and I doing our King and Queen dance, complete with Dirty Dancing-style moves...

And this is our official King and Queen photo.

The whole party was just so fun. People went all out in dressing up and we were just dancing and talking and taking random pictures all night. I highly recommend it!

Now, of course, it was a prom and proms don't really have cake, but this was a BIRTHDAY prom, and you can't have a birthday without cake, homemade carrot cake with cream cheese frosting! My favorite!

Themed parties are key to life, and this one was no exception. It was exactly how I wanted to bring in my 30's--smiling, laughing, and dancing until I hurt. Thanks to everyone who came to help me celebrate, even the randoms. It was awesome.

My actual birthday was on the following Wednesday, when I had class at FIU. I didn't really celebrate much on the actual day, but I did make birthday brownies for my class (even though I had to sort of ghetto rig them) and I called it good. Poor college kids are grateful, so that was happy.

The next weekend was Labor Day weekend, and I hadn't been home since, I think, Christmas, so I went home to see my family and pick up Lancelot, who was in Michigan at his "summer home" while I was in Italy.

I got in later than I was supposed to, but my Coot came and picked me up faithfully and the next morning, bright and early, we headed to the season opener for U of M when they played Western. It was a bit too hot to tailgate, although we gave it a solid try, and the game ended up getting rained out, but it was still great to spend time with my Coot and see some college football at the Big House.

The Big House has been redone since I was there several years ago for an exhibition GVSU game. Now it has lights (!!) and a new press box area.

It also now has big, clear, beautiful scoreboards, with closed captioning that can provide some funny commentray (if you read it) during times of boredom.

And, while I don't care much about football, I DO love tailgating and marching bands!

The game started slowly with Western scoring early, but U of M showed them who was boss at the Big House before too long. At one point, though, during the second quarter, it started pouring. I mean, seriously pouring--we all got soaked! Here I am with my seat buddies, after the downpour...
We still look cute, it's true. Eventually, the game restarted and I saw an awesome half-time show that was based on MTV. It was, however, slightly depressing because I'm sure most of the members of the band weren't even alive when the songs they were playing came out. Tra. Gic. Eventually, the rain started up again, this time with thunder and lightning, and they had to evacuate the whole place.

Coot dropped me off at a Panera, where my parents met me with Bubba and we all went on our merry way.

I spent the rest of the weekend bonding with my family and Bubba. I was so glad to see all of them, especially Bubba and my sister, whom I hadn't seen since Christmas. My family took me out to Mitchell's for a birthday dinner (scallops, YUM) and we snapped a quick picture.



All in all, I got to bring in my 30s with some of my favorite humans, both in Michigan and here in Florida. I can't really ask for much more. To even have had 30 years is a gift; someone in my graduating class passed away last year and that is a total mind cruncher. I am so happy about where my life is at this point that I don't even feel stress about "the big three oh." I'm just happy to have been where I have been, seen what I've seen, and experienced all I've experienced.

The week after my birthday celebrations, Frank Warren, founder and creator of PostSecret, a Sunday morning tradition as faithful and sometimes moving, as church, was speaking at the University of Miami and then, a day later, at Lynn University. The Weave got a friend and me a ticket, and we went to see him speak. Here's Frank, on stage at Lynn.

The event was moving and fascinating, and it just made me so happy. The best thing Frank said, and something I will probably always remember, is that, in Hebrew, the word "secret" means, "come closer."

Really, I think, that's what PostSecret is about--by sharing a secret anonymously, you connect yourself to someone else who feels the same way, or has had the same experience, and you realize that, for all our differences, we are really more similar than different. The world really is a tiny place, and each human is just a part of this interconnected, beautiful, fragile network of others. A good lesson to begin a new decade.

So here's to my 30's. I'm embracing them with my arms open, ready for whatever shows up.

Much love.

The In Between

After I got back from lovely, lovely Italy, I spent time longing to be back there. Italy changed me and it was hard to adjust back to normal life in Miami. The food here tasted gross for a while, and there was really no purpose to my days. I don't do well without purpose. Once I got back, there was about two weeks before meetings started up at school and I spent the days watching Netflix and knitting, mostly.

I went to the movies a few times, which is sort of different for me since I've sort of hated most movies for a couple of years now. First, I saw Stupid, Crazy, Love on a room mate date. I, as a rule, hate romantic comedies and movies about crap like true love and everlasting happiness, so I can't say I was a huge fan. However, the movie was worth the price of admission to see the scene where Ryan Gossling takes his shirt off. It's a thing of true beauty and I would like to personally thank Canada for their contribution to the world. Thank you, Canada. I want to hug you... and then Ryan Gossling. A lot.

I also saw Captain America for free ninety nine, which is exactly in my price range for movies. So it could have been a flaming pile of crap and I wouldn't have felt bad about it, but, as it was, it wasn't so bad. In general, I like comic book/superhero movies, and Chris Evans isn't too hard on the eyes, either. Plus Americans weren't portrayed as evil capitalists, or stupid money grubbers or anything stereotypical and negative. It was a little bit refreshing.

Harry Potter again was a good life choice, and this time I wasn't slightly distracted by the subtitles using different names for the characters. It was still pretty bittersweet to see, but worth it. I invested, like, ten years of my life into loving Harry Potter and all that that means, and now it's done. I know he will stand the test of time, but it's sad to know there'll be nothing new about him. And I also wonder what the next cultural phenomenon will be that affects so many people in that way--what will the next Harry Potter be? I certainly hope there will be one.

Midnight in Paris was a movie a friend told me about; she said I should see it due to the literary connections in it. I didn't really know anything about it except that it was directed by Woody Allen, whose work I could take or leave, and had Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams in it. It turned out, my friend was right. I really liked it! First of all, it's sort of about Paris in the 20s, when all of these amazing artists were centered there. Let me just say that I love me some Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald, and Adrian Brody's Dali was hilariously awesome. The movie also had a nice message--which you'll have to see to get, given I don't want to spoil it--and beautiful Paris scenery, which only made my heart ache to go back to Paris. Finally, it's sort of about what I love about traveling--going off the main road, and just seeing what's out there; finding the magic of a city beyond tourist destinations and photo opportunities. Anyway, definitely rent or Netflix it.

The last movie I saw was The Help. I haven't read the book, nor do I really have the desire too. Someone told me it was hard to get into, someone whose opinion I trust, and I just don't have time to read books it'll take me ages to get into. So anyway, I saw The Help and enjoyed it as well, but it was tough for me. Civil Rights stories are always tough for me because I just wonder... I wonder if I would have been strong enough to do what was right or if I would have just gone along with society and tried to find peace with myself, as if that could be possible. Thinking about that time in American history is just sad and intense, but also powerful. I wonder what it's like to fight for something like that, to believe in a cause, to have leaders so powerful and articulate.

Emma Stone is great one of my new favorites, and I love me so me Allison Janney, too. Not to mention that the entire style of the movie--the south, the costumes--was just beautiful. If I could look like a southern housewife in the early 60s every day, I would not be mad... Except for the big hair, which just seems like a lot of work. At the end of the movie, yeah, I felt all warm and fuzzy about how this little white girl defied society and made her little piece of the world better and all that wonderful stuff, but I think ultimately I just took away that the smart, independent, writer chick ends up alone. What a shocker.

In the in between of Italy and school, my Russian Ballerina friend celebrated a birthday, which turned out to be the last one in Miami for a while. She recently moved to DC to pursue her dream, and I can't begrudge her for it. She had a birthday dinner at a place called George's in the Grove, a spin-off or whatever that's called in the restaurant world, of Le Beuchon du Grove, where Eric, T, and I ate amazing French food last year. It's this, like, fancy French place that, all of a sudden, turns into a club complete with Black Eyed Peas and a smoke machine when they celebrate someone's birthday. Weird. But the food was YUM (you can probably guess what I had... Hint: it used to have a swirly shell) and I had lovely conversation with some new people, and lovely wine, and it was a lovely evening all around. August birthdays are the best. :)

o far, the school year has been just meetings with one Freshmen/Senior day with kiddos. I'm looking forward to it, though. I've got high level and low level English kiddos, and then my journalism kids too. It should be another good year. This year is the first I'll be teaching all classes and levels I've taught before, so that is also a relief... every other year I've had to prepare from scratch. No. Bueno.

Our new principal seems good, similar to Sr. Pat, who is now in Naples. It seems like several people are doing some strange posturing or just behaving awkwardly, but I just figure I'll keep doing my job the way I know how and everything will be fine. So I'm going with that.

My classroom, my little kingdom by the sea, is all set up and ready to go. I even have four new computers for journalism, which is SUPER exciting. I can't even stand it! I'm a little obsessed with my "Jrnalism corner."

The biggest drama in my life upon return has been FIU drama, of course. For about a week I was in a craze; I didn't know if I'd be able to take classes or not. But after talking to several people, emailing like crazy, and having calming, if not necessarily helpful, lunches with friends, something worked out, as things like that tend to do, and I'm taking two classes this semester. One is Intro, which I should have taken, y'know, FIRST... but who's keeping track, really? The other is going to be an independent study project, so that'll work out perfectly. Excited to start back.

Finally, as I return from Italy another friend is moving there. I only wish I'd had the tip on this job before I came back! But a friend in Boca, who is also on Team D, is moving to Florence soon and had a Harry Potter-themed farewell. The party was very well decorated, due to some awesome *ahem* fans and decorators, but the real triumph of the night was a recipe for alcoholic Butterbeer which was a TOTAL win. :)

I'm glad to be back but I miss Lancelot. I'll get him back soon enough, though, when I get to see my fam on Labor Day weekend.

Until then...

Much love.

Climb Every Mountain

Since New York, I've been entrenched in life once again, but have managed to have a little fun.

The Tony-Award winning musical In the Heights was here in April, and I really wanted to go. So I bought myself a ticket and took myself on a date. I got my ticket the day of the show, but it was still a great seat. It was, technically, and "obstructed view" but I could see everything fine. I think there was, like, a mic pole or something in my way. But the show itself was so great--I've had the soundtrack for a couple of years and I've listened to it some. There are a few songs I dig on, but it wasn't, like, life-changing for me, like Wicked. It seemed kind of cheesy--and not in that "all musicals are kind of cheesy" way but in a like, "Really? REALLY?!" sort of way. But it wasn't when I saw the whole thing. I just made me proud to be the daughter of an immigrant (well, half of me, anyway) and it made me miss my abuela.

Soon after the end of the semester at FIU approached, and I, luckily, had no actual final exams. I had one take home exam and a presentation, both of which, I think, went okay. I ended up with a B and a B+... I'm not thrilled about it, but I did what I could, I guess.

At the end of the semester, my professor had a little gathering at her house. It was a potluck, and it was fun to hang out with everyone outside of class. There was even a white elephant-style gift exchange, through which I got a game called Quiddler, a fun word game. And at 1 a.m. we ended up in the pool. It was pretty funny, and a great way to end my first year as a grad student.

I took my lack of exams as a sign that God Himself wanted me to get away and have an actual vacation, so I did. The Aussie, Tanya and I went to Curacao for a few days. All I wanted was a beach and a hammock and a beer, and I got all of that, although not at the same time.

Curacao is this little island off the coast of Venezuala, but is not Venezualan. It's part of the Netherlands Antilles, and it's linguistically fascinating because most people speak at least four languages if not more. I was having a ball! But that's nerdy news for another day.

We stayed at this little resorty place that was really lovely and had its own private beach, which we utilized on our last day there after exhausting all other beach options. Here I am at the resort...

Our itinerary was basically laying on a beach, snorkeling, eating, watching the sunset, and climbing a mountain, all of which were quite successful. Here we are the night I arrived, before we went to have a drink and watch the sunset. :)

That night we ate Indian food and everyone's was, like, one notch too spicy. Oops. But it was still delicious. Actually, we ate quite well in Curacao. I had THE BEST escargot I've ever eaten one night, when we went to the number one rated restaurant on the island. We were only the second party in the place, and the staff took really good care of us. We even got some freebies. Key. Another night, we ate at this tiny little place with an awesome vibe and I tried ox tail, which was different than I had anticipated. It wasn't bad but it wasn't amazing either... I did like it, though. The best part about that meal, though, was this...

I got my hammock! WOOTY WOO!

The downtown area of Curacao has a couple of distinctive features. There are the brightly colored buildings, which are apparently, like, Dutch architecture or something, this bridge that moves like a horizontal draw bridge, and this floating market, where people from Venezuela come over for the day with produce or what have you, and sell it. It looks pretty awesome... check it.


Let me discuss momentarily the mountain climibing situation and my lack of photos of said situation. My camera decided to be awesome and begin dying on this trip, so it was spotty which pictures I got and which I didn't. The mountain day, it decided not to work so I have no photos of the actual climb or at the summit. Let me say, though, that this was a LEGIT climb, not some hike uphill. Towards the top, we literally had to climb up rocks, hanging on to vines, trees, other rocks, whatever was there. It was kinda my favorite part. Climbing the whole thing was touch though, I can't lie. I struggled, but I made it! And it was so worth it at the top!

Poor Bree, though, decided to squeeze a cactus on the way down, and had spines in her hand for the rest of the trip and even after. Fail. But she still managed to use her magic brain GPS and get us all around the island, driving with an injured hand. Because she is amazing. Later that day we went to another national park and saw these natural water+rock formations, one of which was called La Pistola because it shot water up in the air like a pistol. Pretty cool! Again, no picks because of my stupid camera.

One day we took a trip to Klien Curacao, this even smaller island off the south bit of the larger island. It was so beautiful and the water was so blue, and there was even a shipwreck and lighthouse you could go explore if you wanted to. And we did. I wish I had pictures of it all, but again, my camera was experiencing its final, painful days of life.

Although Klien Curacao was lovely, it pales in comparison to the amazing sunset we saw on my second day. We went up north to Playa Kalki, and sat on the beach nearly all day. Then we went up to the restaurant at the resort there, and got THE outside table with a view. And we saw this...
It was out of control beautiful... This picture doesn't even begin to do it justice. It was really just perfect, and relaxing and wonderful, all of which I needed.

In other news, at work we put together a team for this year's Corporate Run, a yearly race in Miami. I didn't run, I walked, but here's just a little taste of how popular this run is...

There are people as far as you can see. And more in front of me. It was out of control. I wasn't in it to really compete, but I'm glad I did it. Our team did well, from what I understand, so that's cool too. All in all, it was really just a fun, bonding, healthy thing to do with colleagues and friends.

I also went to prom for the first time while working at ILS, but for some reason have no pictures of it; I think I just didn't bother taking my camera out. So I'll have to obtain some and then post them here. It was fun and lovely--the kids looked great and it was nice to see them dressed up and dancing and acting like kids for even a couple of hours. It was also fun for me to dress up and play pretty for an evening.

This post is so long overdue... I really just struggle with time to update, and waiting for pictures from other people and being lazy... Blah. I need to get it together!

Much love.

Holiday Happiness

Since we last met, I've celebrated Thanksgiving, finished a semester, and gotten into the holiday spirit, which is a rarity for me.

I spent this Thanksgiving as I did last year. Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in the morning, followed by cooking, and then a trip to FIU, where my friend and fellow piano bar lover and Michigander, Eric lives. Last year, he made a delicious Turkey and this year he did the same. There were a couple other misfits there--those who didn't or couldn't go back home to their families, and we shared a delicious meal together. Check out our spread...

There was beer bread, salad, butternut squash, rolls (which were really buns, lol) mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, green bean casserole, and, of course, turkey. I dunno, maybe it's because it's been my way for the past few Thanksgivings, but I kind of like spending the day with people who are bound by the similarity of not having a place to go; I like just opening an invitation and allowing any misfit or out-of-towner to come in. It's the second best thing to being with family.

After dinner, Eric and I played American Idol Karaoke on his Wii. Not gonna lie--it was pretty awesome. I feel a new tradition coming on... especially since I was pretty decent at it.

My semester at FIU ended much as I had hoped it would. I got a B and B+, which is really what I was aiming for. I think a B in two classes and a full-time job is more than remarkable, and I'm quite proud of myself. I did learn quite a bit, although it's sort of tough to work phonetics or language acquisition into normal conversation, but I'm working on it. Next semester I'm excited about the classes I'm taking; one of them is a historical linguistics class, which I'm so interested in I already started reading the text book. It's okay--I'm a nerd. I'll own it. :) Five more semesters to go!

The week of finals at FIU was stressful, but I had a few holiday gatherings to look forward to. First, I went to a "cookie party" which I'd never done before but turned out to be kind of cool. Everyone brings a dozen or so cookies and the recipe, and then everyone sort of trades. I made almond cookies, otherwise known as Mema's Best Cookies in the Whole Wide World, but they didn't turn out like hers do. It's okay, I guess, she DOES have several decades of practice that I don't have. I think my problem was the eggs... Here's hoping they're better next time.

Our becoming-annual Dadeland Family Christmas Party was the following week , plus the yearly Christmas luncheon, where I win booze. It's what I do. This year was no exception--I won eighteen Guinness (score!) and enjoyed some holiday merriment with friends I'm blessed to also call co-workers. I was getting to think I wouldn't win anything--it was down to the wire and all the Garcias had won, as had most of my department members, AND most of the people at my table, but luckily I pulled it out at the end. Yes!

The family party was a good time. All the usual suspects were there--beer and cheese soup, hot schnocolate, beer, Christmas cookies, pie... oh yeah, and some cool people were there too. :) It was a delicious and fun evening, and we even managed a bit of flippy cup, where, I believe, the girl's team was the big winner, although some may object to that.

Here's some of our reverie... Eric and Sparty, who made the rounds in his Christmas shirt and green bow.

And our annual picture by the tree, which turned out super cute thanks to an awesome photographer... ;) Don't we look festive and full of holiday cheer?

And I couldn't resist posting this, possibly the cutest picture of Lancelot that I have. He, of course, enjoyed the party, possibly more than anyone else, considering his big, brown eyes, still wield great power over other people, even if they no longer work on me.

The Aussie had a bonfire that same weekend, with all of her "Shakespeare" friends, but I joined in anyway considering my great love for the bard, my boredom, and my overwhelming desire to procrastinate instead of pack. I had met some of them already at other various gatherings, and knew I was in for a nice evening when I walked in and started quoting "Sassy Gay Friend" to a dog named Ophelia, and people knew what I was talking about. And then we made s'mores, and performed the monologue from The Sandlot in tandem with another guest, which was basically awesome. Too bad I smelled like fire for, like, three days afterward. lol

I left to come to Michigan on the 20th, and arrived with only one small incident. Chicago, which had been bombarded with what airline folks like to call "weather," had to re-route a few planes, which were sent to DTW. And arrived just before we did. And were taking up ALL THE GATES. For me, the worst part of any plane ride is the minutes between landing and getting off. I hate it. You're there, where you wanted to be, but you're still so far away. Needless to say, sitting in the airplane buckled in, on the runway, for an extra half an hour was NOT enjoyed by anyone on the flight, especially at 11:00 at night. Still, I arrived, I'm in Michigan, and all is well. I'm home for Christmas.

Since I've been home, I've been playing. Tuesday I saw Black Swan, which I still think I'm recovering from. Definitely worth seeing, and definitely stays with you for a while. I think I liked it; I certainly think the performances were outstanding, and I love Natalie Portman. That's about all I can say about it. lol. Yesterday, a few Holt kids went to Beggar's Banquet for 1/2 off bottles of wine and some nibbles and laughs. It was great to see The KG, who is a baller, and my sister as well. I'm looking forward to the rest of my time here, and a New Year's back in MIA.

Much love.

Birthtober

Hi everyone! I'm still alive, although busier than I've ever been. I know I haven't written in ages and ages, but i can never seem to find a moment to just sit down and do it. School and work are keeping me extremely busy. I've been studying and reading like crazy, trying to keep up with and ingest everything. Three years of this life is going to be tough, but, hopefully, worth it. I do like what I'm learning but I almost feel like it's undergrad again--I know what I want to study so why am I taking all the classes that aren't about that subject? I know that the knowledge all builds upon the knowledge before it, but yeah. Anyway, I'm content but busy.

So... Let's back way up. October was a month of birthdays for me. A co-worker and good friend had a surprise party for her big 3-0, and The Weave also had a birthday soiree for 10/10/10. It was pretty outstanding, except for the fact that I spent the majority of the party (at least two hours) dying on the couch because my blood sugar was super high and wouldn't come down. I later came to discover that my infusion set had come out, which is why it wouldn't go down. Thankfully, CW drove me back and I fixed the problem. Boo for parties ruined by blood sugars.

The next morning, though, we had a lovely birthday breakfast out, and, since my problem was now solved, I could thoroughly enjoy it. It was very festive, as you can see...



For Halloween I, of course, carved a pumpkin which I later brought into my classroom and lit up as I read my students "The Raven." Every year I think it's so awesome and every year I feel like the kids don't care. But, in a paraphrase of Mother Theresa, I do it anyway. So yeah, this is the pumpkin I carved:


It looked pretty cool, I must say.

Now, usually, especially since I've been here, I'm not into Halloween. It's basically all about girls wearing a bra and panties (or less) and calling themselves a "nurse" or a "cop" or something ridiculous like that, which, to me, is NOT okay. Just cal yourself a "bikini model" or a "stripper" but let's not pretend you're something legitimate. So yeah, no me gusta. But this year, a friend celebrated a milestone and so we threw him a party. It was a Halloween/zombie themed party because "the undead never grow older," which, let's be serious, is pretty brilliant. So I was a zombie for Halloween this year and it was a good life choice. Here are the birthday boy and I:

And here are a couple of hard up zombies who just need to feast on some flesh, human or not!

I looked pretty awesome and it was fun; much better than going out and having to deal with a Miami Halloween. No thank you.

The rest of my life is pretty much consumed with work and school, both of which are going well. I'm not going home for Thanksgiving tomorrow, due to time and money factors. It's one more in a line of a few Thanksgivings I've spent away, which actually seems to be the pattern at this point, but that's okay. I still have many, many things to be thankful for this year, and many people too--like all of you. Thanks for being in my life.

My next update will probably be Christmas break, when we'll find out how the semester went for me... Cross your fingers for me!

Much love.

Mysterious Miami

I think sometimes the wonders of Miami will never cease. Just yesterday afternoon I took Lancelot out for a walk--the sky was lovely and blue, a flew fluffy white clouds over head; it was hella hot and the sun was beating down something fierce. Not an opportune time to take him out, I realize, but some things need to be done. So we get outside, and I start to feel these tiny, wet drops on my skin as we begin to walk. Must be washing something nearby, I think. Maybe the 7th floor balcony or something. But the drops were a little too infrequent for that. I continued to walk and continued to feel drops. It can't be raining, I think looking up, it's sunny as anything! As I walked, the drops got bigger and bigger until it was legitimately raining...WITHOUT A RAIN CLOUD IN THE SKY. I felt like that kid in the YouTube video, "Is this real life?"

About two hours later, as I'm looking out over the mall and seeing a cloud that looks like it could usher in the apocalypse and hearing thunder and lightning, Tiffany asked me to take the dogs out again in case it started to pour before she got home. Funny thing was--IT NEVER EVEN SPRINKLED. I don't understand this place. For realz.

Then today we had an adventure to El Palacio de los Jugos (The Juice Palace, lol) where it was really like a different country. She and I both managed to get food, and a beverage. I went for the "muddle your way through some Spanish" plan of attack, and Tiffany did the "find a friendly native" approach. It was awesome. And we had some delicious blackberry juice for dessert. Yum!

In other news, I've been dealing with FIU and ILS stuff pretty much non-stop since I got back. I'm ready to start class on Wednesday, minus one book that will hopefully arrive Monday. I even have a parking pass and student ID after an epic morning of trying to obtain both.

At ILS, my room's set up, minus a few posters I can't get to stick to the wet walls, my syllabi and policies and written up, I'm ready to tackle another year of American lit and my first year of journalism. I'm excited for the challenge, but nervous that I won't know what the heck I'm doing. But it's cool--I can fake a whole lot.

This school year is going to be an exercise in balance and focus. I know I'm a good teacher, and I know I was once a good student, I'm just not sure if I can be both, at the same time. So pray for me, if you're so inclined, and if not, send good ju ju my way. I'll take both. :)

I'm glad to be back to my regular life, to see my clothes and shoes and bed again. I missed my friends here in Miami, and I missed my job. I'm glad to be back, which is a good feeling. Hopefully I'll remember what this feels like when I've had it with Miami.

I signed up for Netflix when I got back; it was a deal through one of the zillion emails I get. I've been watching movies practically non stop (while I do other things, of course) and I have to say it was a good life decision. I've watched everything from the Leondard Cohen documentary Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man to a season and a half on Dexter, which I have to take a break from because too much gives me nightmares. The "Watch Instantly" feature is pretty darn amazing. I'm diggin' it. So yeah... I'm back to the movie world in a big way, friends. Watch out.

Please forgive me if updates are even less frequent from here on out... I've got a lot on my plate. :o)

Much love.