The Desert of My Dreams

Just a quick update (in case you didn’t catch this in my Twitter stream) - Sarah McLachlan has released a new single today (listen here). It is supposed to be available on iTunes but I couldn’t find it this morning. I really hated it at first listen but it seems to be growing on me. I’m not a fan of the txtspeak though - U Want Me 2.

I’m heading to Yosemite with my friend Erin this coming weekend. Having grown up in Southern Illinois, neither one of us has ever been there and I’m a bit overwhelmed trying to figure out what we must visit while we’re there. We’ll only be there for 2 days/one night so we won’t have time to see everything. If you’ve been there, what would you recommend that we see/do/hike during this first visit? Also, I’d love any suggestions for restaurants in the area, guide books, and places to see along the way (from Mountain View).

Just a quick note for those of you who like keeping up with my fragmented lifestreams - I recently switched from Bloglines to Google Reader. I’ve been using Bloglines for several years and I mostly made the switch because I like the Google Reader UI better (and I’m bored with seeing Bloglines’ very ancient interface). If you’re curious about what I’m reading and what I find interesting, you can check out my shared items. In the past, I used to share such items in del.icio.us but this feature in Google Reader has allowed me to shift my behavior - temporary items that I want to share will be in Google Reader and stuff that I actually want to keep for future reference will be stored (and shared) in del.icio.us.

I have a bunch of items floating in my head that are unrelated on the surface but I’m starting to see as following a common theme. Here are a few decisions and cravings I’ve been pondering over the past few days:

• my apartment lease - my lease comes up at the end of August and I’ve decided to renew my lease for another year, which is exciting news because I’ve moved every single year since 2004. Some years I even had multiple mini-moves - like the summer of 2005 when I interned in LA (moved my stuff from first Ann Arbor apartment to storage > moved a few items with me to LA > moved said few items back from LA to Michigan > moved all stuff from storage unit to second Ann Arbor apartment). My current apartment isn’t perfect - it is too cold in the winter (and the baseboard heating is inefficient and expensive), it is too hot in the summer (no A/C and my four fans aren’t much help when the temperatures go over 90 degrees), and the office and maintenance staff are nice but fairly incompetent (they seem to mean well but things never get fixed the first time around). But no apartment is perfect and aside from those factors, I really do like my apartment and the apartment community. My apartment is well-priced for the area (even after the 5% rent increase), I have a washer/dryer and dishwasher in the unit, the interior of the apartment was recently renovated and all of the appliances are fairly new, there are lots of trees and vegetation, I rarely hear my neighbors, I get plenty of sunlight (hence the heat in the summer), all of my windows overlook trees (Mulder hearts that), my corner balcony is huge, the pool is pretty nice and usually deserted, and it is a short commute to work/freeways/shopping. I’m relieved that I don’t have to pack up my stuff and move yet again or look for a new place (especially after last year’s exhausting search in the city) but there is still a part of me that feels weird about making a decision about an entire year. It’s funny because I’m usually pretty impulsive and come to such decisions pretty quickly (I don’t do the self-doubt/questioning thing as often as some of my friends). I keep thinking, “Wow, this is where I’ll be living for the next year. Another whole year of the same thing. This is my life right now and this is what it will be in the next year.” I crave change and I do have a love/hate relationship with moving/apartment hunting. I like looking at new places and changing my environment, but I also hate wasting time looking at dumps and the hassle of packing/unpacking. Even last night (when I was pretty sure that I don’t want to move), I stayed up until 1 am looking at apartments in Mountain View and Palo Alto on Craigslist.
• my ten year high school reunion - my 10 year high school reunion is coming up in August and I’ve decided not to go. When I was in high school, I had always planned on going to my 10 year reunion and even though I really hated high school, I was really looking forward to our ten year reunion. At the time, I always thought that by my 10 year reunion, I would have accomplished a lot of what I set out to accomplish with my life and it would be my way of getting revenge (in the logic that I-may-have-been-an-unpopular-dork-back-then-but-I’ve-accomplished-more-with-my-life-so-now-I’m-better-than-you). Even after ten years, I still haven’t matured and that (getting revenge by having the last laugh) is really about the only reason I would want to go (yes I am cocky enough to believe that I’ve fared better than many of my classmates). As I started thinking about it more, that really didn’t seem like a good reason to go - especially being that Southern Illinois is so far away from California, I don’t have another reason to go in August, and I’d rather spend the $600-700 expense ($400 airfare + $30-$60 airport parking or taxi + $65 reunion ticket + $200 new outfit) on something more important to me. It just seems silly to go all the way out there to prove a point, mostly to myself (and I already know where I’ve been and what I’ve done).
• planning a trip to Kauai - The whole reunion thing got me thinking about vacations and that I haven’t had a real one in a long time. I spend a lot of my vacation time and travel money going home to see my family. I love my family and value spending time with them but I also love travel and there really isn’t much to do or see when I’m in Edwardsville or St. Louis. I’ve decided that for my 29th birthday (March 12, 2009), I’m going to spend a week in Kauai (the oldest of the Hawaiian islands). I’ve never been to Hawaii so it was pretty overwhelming trying to decide which of the islands to visit. But after reading up on the islands, Kauai seems like a good fit - lots of hiking + beautiful scenery + beaches. I’m really craving this vacation and wish I could go right now (this very moment) but I’ve got plenty of planning to do before then. And partaking in such a treat only seems right to do on my birthday. I’m thinking I might stay at this Sheraton resort; it has good reviews on Yelp and Travelocity offers a well-priced hotel+air+rental car package. I’m planning on booking my trip sometime in the next month or so - as soon as I clear all of my boring expenses (renters/earthquake/auto insurance, routine auto maintenance, etc). This Kauai trip will be my first vacation alone and I’m so so excited!
• learning to swim - Despite always enjoying being in the water, I never learned how to swim as a child. I’ve always wanted to learn but various things got in the way (not enough time/resources, not wanting to wear a swimsuit, etc). I figure there is no way I can go to Hawaii without actually learning how to swim so this afternoon I took the first step. I went into the nearby YMCA and got some more info about their private swim lessons. I was ready to sign up but they made me fill out an “interest card” so I’m supposed to be hearing from them soon. I’m excited but nervous about it. At the same time, it is one of those things that I want to conquer and always thought I’d get done before I turned 30. I now have an extra incentive (the Kauai trip) to keep me motivated.
• buying an iPhone - I’ve been craving an iPhone ever since it came out last year and several of my coworkers and friends started carrying them. I never got one last year because I was stuck in a 2 year contract with Sprint and $600 seemed ridiculous for a phone, especially one that couldn’t connect to my Exchange (where my work email and main work and personal calendar lives). I still have about 9 months left on my contract with Sprint but after considering sunk costs (I have 9 months of Sprint service to pay which is actually more than the early termination fee) and utility (I’d get more utility by using an iPhone than my Razr), I’ve decided that I can’t wait another year - especially with GPS and connectivity to Exchange, which according to one of my coworkers is seamless. I was going to head out to one of the Palo Alto Apple Stores tonight (Friday) to get one but the lines were 2 to 3 hours long at either store (somehow I don’t feel right about making this purchase at an AT&T store). I’m disappointed that I couldn’t get my hands on one tonight but I’m going to try tomorrow afternoon or Sunday. It seems like things should finally quiet down by then.

My friend Sarah has challenged me to a walking competition on Walker Tracker. We’re competing to see who will walk the most steps in July. There’s not much at stake other than bragging rights and the loser having to write a blog post of shame. So far, I’ve had a good start to the month and I’m winning!

I just got this email from somebody whom I don’t know:

I want to use those cool pictures / graphs of the blog stuff for the header in a paper. Is that OK?

Please and Thank you

Ummm, first who are you? Second, what are you talking about? By “blog stuff”, do you mean the thesis that I spent well over a year of my life toiling over?

Why are people so stupid/rude?

I’ve decided to start writing about stuff that I don’t want the entire Internets to read so I’ll be password protecting posts that I feel are more private in nature. Please leave a comment or email me if you’d like for me to email you the password.

1992 (?) - 2008

So apparently my parents had to put OJ to sleep in March. They just told me. I don’t blame them. I’ve known for a while that things were coming to an end. I just wish they had told me then. I’ve been sensing for a while that something was up - they never mentioned him when we talked and seemed evasive when I asked about him.

Ugh. This sucks. I knew it was going to hurt but I didn’t know it was going to hurt this much.

OJ was a great cat - my first cat. We adopted him from the Humane Society in the fall of 1994. I was 14; he was two. I remember when I first saw him in his little cage, I knew he was my cat. There was something about the way that he was standing in his cage. He looked like he didn’t belong there. He was somewhat shy and introverted and I somehow identified with him. My parents thought I should consider adopting a kitten but I wanted the big fat orange cat. You know the one that looked like Garfield. When I adopted Mulder, I adopted him because he looked like OJ. Except not as big or orange.

OJ loved tuna. And black olives. He loved playing fetch with his little cotton mouse (he would actually bring the mouse back). He liked chirping at the birds outside. He hated other cats that encroached on his territory. He liked licking my mom’s hair, as some sort of odd feline grooming behavior. He liked sleeping under the covers and waking me up in the morning - I’ve awoken many times to a set of whiskers in my face.

When I’d come home from school, OJ would follow me to my room. If I was too busy with homework, he’d stand up on two legs, resting his head against one arm of my chair and nudge me with his paw. How could I be too busy to play with him? Whenever I was doing homework or studying for an exam, he’d jump up on my bed and sit right on the page of the book or binder I was reading. Clearly, he deserved more attention than whatever it was I was doing.

It is going to be weird to go home and not see him. At the same time, I know he was suffering during the past year.

He will be missed.

I have neglected my blog. Again.

I hate neglecting my blog. There’s an odd sort of guilt associated with it. A bunch of factors are to blame - my various microblogging/social networking efforts (Twitter, Facebook, flickr) and my desire to sensor myself (if only I’m as audacious as I used to be at 21). I’ve been thinking lately that I may try the private LiveJournal route (gasp! LiveJournal?!? Have I sunk *that* low?). There’s a lot happening in my life right now but most of it isn’t the sort of thing I readily want to share in public. But it is the sort of stuff I want to share with my close friends. At the same time, I hate making things private (except with flickr) - I always worry about making my friends use yet another service to keep track of me. And I feel weird about having another place to write, when this has been my place to do so for so long. And I really love the WordPress UI. So I’m a bit conflicted tonight about it all. And I can’t seem to write whole sentences that don’t start with so or and (my high school English teachers would be utterly horrified).

I suppose I could always try the private post feature in WordPress.