back, baby!

My best friend's back. Yippee!!!

Kafka on the Shore by Murakami

Well, I finished reading this a little while ago. And I guess I had no strong urge to write up about it because I was a little bit disappointed. I enjoyed reading it. It grabbed me pretty early on and held me in throughout. But in the end, it felt way too science-fictiony. And that is one of the genres I really do not like. Not in books, not in movies, not on tv.

So, should I leave it at that? Speak up! The truth is that it felt too contrived, for one. He seemed to sort of know what would sell, and he told a story based on a formula. And it didn't really seem to come naturally. Secondly, he himself talked about how things have to stay vague to be able to capture the full meaning- yet he goes against that. Let me explain. He is talking about the subconscious, and while he usually keeps it very vague, in this book he defines a space where you can enter that world (based on an entrance stone) and totally deflates the grand notion of the subconscious as something you can, well, be conscious about.

Not sounding so good. Enough rambling. Anyone out there read it?

yummy cake

This is the cake I'd made for Anne's baby shower. It's a three-layer lemon poppy seed cake (really nice cake) with white chocolate cream and strawberries. It came out pretty yummy. Love those strawberries! Luckily there were some leftovers... mmmmm  

first step

Well, I thought just to be fair, I should keep everyone updated on what happens with this Northwest Airlines fiasco that took place- if you'd really like to be caught up, check out the first few days of the blog.

Anyway, I received a check saying that they were reimbursing me for my airport hotel room. And that they were sending my letter along to the next office for review. And I got some frequent flyer points. Good step. We'll see what happens next.

I met another Alaunde

First of all, check out Alaunde's blog: Alaunde's blog .

Secondly, we met Alaunde at a New Year's Eve party, and we were instant friends, just like instant oatmeal. Without a doubt. Right, Alaunde?

Thirdly, I met another Alaunde today on the train! Same size, same humor, only Slovakian and not Celtic/Scottish/Irish(?). We talked and talked on our prolonged 5 hour train ride! And Shoshana was her name-o. Ok, there were definite differences, but she just reminded me so much of Alaunde!

One thing I liked was her telling me about getting married a year or so ago. She said, it's so much fun. It's hard, too, because when you get mad you can't run away, but it's just so much fun. Basically, your best friend at home. I tell all of my friends to do it.

Nice attitude.

She liked the baby blanket I'm crocheting for my friend. And she talked so loudly, I think everyone around us heard. And since we talked about everything, everyone heard everything. And because the train kept stopping for repairs, everyone suffered together, and as my history professor in college pointed out, that makes people bond. And so by the end, everyone was commenting on the blanket. Well, maybe not everyone, but the ones sitting around me. I'll show you when I'm done. It's actually rather pretty.

farewell, Lois Lane

Superman's wife died this past week. And it's sad, not because she was a celebrity (who was she?), but because she was with an amazing man, she did great things, and she died shortly after him, not having time to really enjoy life. Breast cancer, I think, and she was only 44. She should have been rewarded after all of that, she should have had time to find a new love, to sit back and enjoy a normal life, if that's really possible. Maybe she didn't have any energy left in her. Lois and Superman, they fought some good battles. My respects.

so good it hurts

When the weather hits a certain temperature, when you walk outside and can't distinguish where your skin ends and where the air begins, when it feels so perfectly right outside, there is a pain that is ever so slight that settles in. The sensation is similar to what you feel when you have a fever, when the lightest touch on your skin hurts so good. And when the air is perfectly still, it feels that everyone is holding their breath at once, the earth itself holding its breath. And if you held your breath so you don't drown out the sound that you're waiting for, you'll be able to hear the whispers that everyone else is waiting to hear, if you would only tilt your head and lean your ear up a little closer.

Above all, at these times, a feeling of nostalgia overwhelms me. Where does it come from? What am I nostalgic for? The only explanation that comes to mind is that a part of me is nostalgic as a forethought, that at that perfect moment, a part of me is already missing the passing of that perfect moment, already nostalgic about a time in which I lived in that perfect moment. It is not a sad nostalgia, more of the romantic kind. At one and the same moment, I seem to be living and looking back at myself living. The making of memories, I guess.

beautiful, beautiful

Oh, these are the most beautiful flowers I've ever gotten! Happy Valentine's Day! (I realize it's late, but I'm still catching up with photos.)

going to all that trouble

Ok, since I'm on a roll of putting pictures out there, I wanted to share this. It seems to me someone thought that this fire hydrant would be bored if it did not have a little window to look out from- being cooped up might be too much for it? I just liked that they were so considerate. It's the simple things in life that make me laugh out loud- I love my walks to work for all of these little details.


 

and one more, as promised

Oh, and here is the hand dryer that says do not touch with wet hands- see the little sign? Funny. 

as promised

Here is the photo I took in the Amsterdam airport. As I had promised, I put it on the blog as soon as I downloaded it- yes, a month later. It takes me a while to get things set up with my new computer, etc. I'm becoming technologically up-to-date. Not technologically advanced, mind you, just catching up. Even though I'm a scientist, my home life is led more like a bohemian. Who likes to have Martha Stewart-style dinner parties. Martha in hippie clothes surrounded by hand-me-down furniture. Imagine that.

So, this is the toothbrush-ready-to-go-with-toothpaste dispenser I had mentioned. Pretty cool. How does it come out, I wonder. Wish I had tried that out. Enough to attempt that airport again? Perhaps (perhaps, perhaps).