And I'm getting my degree in technology?

Well, I just finished my first class at SLAC. It all went fine, except for the fact that I taught without my notes or my powerpoint. Sigh. You see, I didn't make a backup for class today, since I was assured that my classroom had a computer hooked up to the projector. Thus, I didn't need to haul my laptop in. And, well, it did have a monitor and a projector. But for the life of me, I couldn't figure out where the "box" for the computer was, nor how to turn the damn thing on. I could clearly see the DVD player, a VHS player, and the monitor and keyboard. I could even see the laptop hook ups (but left the laptop in my office so I wouldn't have to haul it around as noted above). So, well, luckily, I've given and listened to the day 1 intro to basketweaving so many times that I didn't need my slides. But, I won't do this again for awhile. I'll make sure to print my slides from now on!

Oh, and the computer "box"? It was one of these. No wonder I didn't know it was the computer.

More later once I've driven home.

Done (with more to do)

So today is the deadline for my preliminary exam (which around here isn't actually your typical exam - but rather a collection of papers I've written that will be assessed by the department). I finished last night, printed the last piece of paper this morning, and submitted the sucker at 11:00. One whole hour early.

I don't know whether it'll pass, but it is done. I'm am grateful for that. And for my lovely family who listened to me blabber incessantly during those times when I JUST NEEDED TO TALK! And my husband who made lots of dinners (and kick ass waffles for dinner last night YUM). And to my academic friends who actually understood what I was doing and talked me through it all.

This was my desk this morning:
The massive stack of books. The funny (or some other adjective here, I'm too tired of writing to come up with something more appropriate) thing is that I used very few books in my actual writing. The stack of pdf journal articles would be 3 or 4 times more. Sis and I did the math last night and the total set of papers I wrote is about 60 pages.
Here are the final documents, all neatly bundled. Not super impressive looking. And Miles is there in the corner, keeping my chair warm. He contributed a great deal to the writing process.

Reproduction

Along with all of our many gardening projects, we also have two "accidental" plantings to contend with. The potatoes came up from some sprouted, wrinkly, forgotten potatoes that we had over the winter. We tossed them in the ground and voila, potato plants!

We were fascinated to discover not only potatoes but also potato fruit (see here). While googling these, I discovered that you can keep potato seed and use them to plant in the spring. Even cooler, I discovered that you can make your own breed. That's right, in a couple years we'll have our very own Stuck in the Middle TM breed of potatoes. We just need to plant several varieties we like and allow them to cross pollinate. By planting those seeds each year, we'll end up with new varieties of potatoes, and can pick the ones we like.

So today, I picked the little potato fruits, diced them, and covered them with water. In a day or two, the seeds will sink and the fruit will float, making it easier to separate the two. Then we'll dry them and put them in the tornado shelter to wait for next spring, when the breeding adventure will really start.

And in squash news, that squash plant is going nuts. Peter weeded around the plant, exposing more of the seeds from the rotten shell. We now have a gazillion teeny plants.
I'm thinking I might try to save seeds from the squash as well... it just sounds like fun. And I'm sure the Irish and Italian ancestors would be proud.

Easier said than done

So many adventures, so little time to write. Today you get to join me on a grand shopping adventure. Mexico is an interesting blend of Old World (each shop selling one thing and one thing only) and the Us (WalMart, Costco etc).

Join me as I search for contact solution....

Trip 1 (giant mega grocery store a la Fred Meyer): I wander around the Farmacia section and finally discover the eye care. Hooray! My excitement is short lived as I discover that they don't sell me brand (I wasn't really expecting them too) AND they don't sell saline.

Trip 2 (downtown to the land of tiny shops): I stop in the first farmacia I pass. I tell the young woman that I'm looking for liquid for my contacts. Hmm, does 'solucion' mean contact solution in español? We negotiate a bit and then she points me to the selection. Same as at Megastore. Oh well. I move on.

Trip2b: Optical store. This seems promising! They sell glasses and give eye exams, they definitely must have what I'm looking for. Same conversation ensures (but I learn how to say 'multipurpose'!). I enquire about 'salina' for my eyes. The young woman gives me an odd look. No, she says, we just have this. Ok, I reply, do you know where I can find 'salina'? She directs me to the next farmacia down the street.

Trip2c: Farmacia. We start over with the conversation. The young woman directs me to the display of eye care. Hmm, again, not my brand and no saline. I ask her, do you have 'salina'? Strange look on her face. You know, I plunge ahead, water and salt? Like tears? Why do you want that she asks? Well, I say, it put it in my eyes sometimes. You don't want this multipurpose stuff? she wonders. Well, I use a different brand and I don't think I want to mix them. Hmmm... this conversation is getting strange. She consults with an older woman and then goes to the back. She returns with a clear bottle of liquid. This is salina she states. I look at her funny. Hmm I say. She explains that the salina is used to give IVs. Oh, I exclaim, that's not quite what I want! I begin to wonder if I have a vocab problem. I explain that in the US, the companies that make the multipurpose liquid also sell salina in the same boxes just for the eyes. They look at me like this is the weirdest thing they have ever heard. The older woman says that this bottle is just water and salt, so I should be able to use it, if I want to experiment. I laugh and say that I'm not quite ready to experiment on my eyes.

Trip 2d: Another optical store. I've resigned myself to not finding anything, but now I'm just curious. People here don't use saline? But it's so cheap! And this is a fairly dusty place, you'd think that people othe than me would want to wash their eyes from time to time. So, another optical store it is. I've gotten comfortable with my topic, so I know that I can express myself. I confidently walk in and explain what I'm looking for. The young woman explains that no, they don't have my brand or the elusive saline. But, she confidently explains that I should have no problem switching to a new brand, just maybe a little irritation at first (!). I sigh a little, express my thanks, and head off to my second mission (where the hell is the post office and how can 5 people not know?)

Trip 3 will probably be to WalMart (sigh). I've never been inside one, but I should probably check. Just because no one else has encountered the mysterious saline, does not mean that it doesn't exist.

Patience is indeed a virture.

¡Soap Opera Stars!

Sometimes you just happen to be in the right place at the right time. Mostly, for me, the opposite of this is true. But very occasionally, I happen upon some pretty cool things.

While in Guanajuato, we happened upon a large group of people, hanging out outside the basilica Saturday night. This is a fairly unusual thing to do. Certainly, people go to chuch at night. So that wasn't weird. But these crowds were outside the church, lolling on the steps. And there were the Federales, the National police (kinda like the national guard I guess). They were hanging out too, watching the people. And there were the guys with the little doodads in their ears wearing suits... they kinda looked like Secret Service guys. Hmm, we starting thinking. Something is going on here! So we waited to see what would happen. Cuz, really, clearly something was up.

And we waited and waited and passed the time telling stories of ... well... nevermind. Lets just say we waited.

And THEN! Some people began leaving the church! By this point we had deduced that there might be a wedding (the sounds of mass giving us this idea). And the fact that there were news reporters with video cameras and microphones around led credence to this theory. So, we wondered what famous person was getting married. Clearly, someone important and interesting (and, yes, this is the long version of the story, I want you to appreciate the suspense we were under). So, FINALLY, people were leaving. And this quite attractive guy walked out (alone) and the girls started screaming 'Geraldo' really loud in that Elvis or The Beattles sort of way (and no, not that Geraldo). He posed and smiled for the cameras (everyone's cell phones were snapping photos) so we took pictures too, of course. He pushed his way through the crowd, walking right by us and touching us!! Woo hoo (granted, we had no idea who Geraldo was). A girl ran past us and grabbed him and kissed him. Clearly, he was the heartbreaker of middle Mexico.

We watched the rest of the wedding leave, the bride and groom posed for pics but weren't as popular as Geraldo. And then we wandered off to find beer and dinner (beer as the reward for finding our way home as described in this post). Later, I recounted the story (en español) to my friend from Paraguay. She didn't know who he was, but when I showed her this picture

She exclaimed 'Oh, he's from the telenovela!' So, it turns out that Geraldo is a famous soap star. Isn't that exciting?

I Will Soon Be Very Sick of Eating Tomatoes

Here at our housing complex run by Farm U, you can sign up to get a community garden plot. Since our existing outdoor space consists of (1) a concrete, fenced-in patio almost completely screened of sunlight; (2) a concrete patio that is regularly terrorized by the neighboring dogs (so much so, in fact, that we can't really use it at all - dog poo smells terrible); and (3) a small patch of land that I commandeered from our former neighbor that doesn't really belong to us, and which I already planted with sunflowers [Quick sunflower note: most of the sunflowers I planted in that spot died, since I waited too long to put them in the ground and they were all weak and falling over. I started some new sunflowers inside and planted those earlier. They are now flourishing], we jumped at the chance for a community spot.


After the-longest-winter-in-the-history-of-the-middle*, the weather finally calmed down right after Mother's day enough for us to go investigate our plot. We had asked for half a plot (about 8' x 16'), so were surprised when we were given a full plot (16' x 24'). We weren't sure what we were going to plant, but now we could plant even more of it.


Our first task was to put up a fence, since the rabbits around here are fruitful (and cotton-tailed cute) and deer live right next to our plot. After a trip to the local chain hardware store for supplies, we constructed a pretty sweet fence, using plastic stakes, wooden stakes, wood lathe, and 3-foot chicken wire. We're pretty confident that the fence will keep out rabbits, since we staked it down to the ground, but we're pretty sure the deer could just walk through it or jump it. We have some home remedy type ideas to keep them out, but we haven't done anything just yet - please let us know if you know of anything that might work.


After constructing the fence and raking out all the hay, we drove over to our local, actually local, plant nursery, which was super cool. We ended up buying a bunch of starts and seeds, most for about $1.50 each, some $1.50 for 3. That seemed cheap to me.


A couple days later, we got down to the plot, fence still standing, and put everything in the ground. We have lots of good stuff, too much of which to list, so here's the schematic we drew up after we planted:

(click on the picture to actually be able to read it)

And corresponding photo of the actual planted garden (looking southwest towards the big pumpkin):


Anyways, within 2 days of planting everything, we left town for a week to go to a wedding in Arizona. We were worried that everything would die from lack of water, but the opposite happened. It rained almost everyday we were gone, and now things are looking good. We already have some cayenne peppers that are maturing. The beans and peas are all coming up. The tomatoes look happy and we've had to pinch a few flowers already (although one of the Romas is dead, I think). The sunflowers are already ridiculously large. And that 'Big Pumpkin' - it's supposed to grow to 100-lbs. Only the watermelon doesn't look so happy right now. It's pretty exciting.

The only thing is that Kimberly left for Mexico today. She'll be there for 2 months, leaving me in charge of all garden matters, including pruning, weeding, eating, and (potentially) canning if the Romas decide to mature really fast. And as if to taunt me, we are having insane thunder storms right now, with the same predicted over the next few days. I'm a little worried that everything is going to drown now, rather than get killed by drought. This gardening thing is nerve wracking.

Anyways, I posted some pictures on Flickr and I will try to keep the blog updated as things progress. I also just got a call from a friend that he's been given permission to plant some stuff on a vacant lot near work, so I might put some more stuff in there, like more 100-lb pumpkins or huge watermelons. Because if there's anything I'll need, it's more produce.

*verified by real Midwesterner

my answers

Since I'm in desperate need of a break (why won't the papers write themselves?!), I thought I'd also answer the meme. Interested in providing your answers but don't have a blog? Go ahead and put your results as a comment to this post. (Of course, it's always a good idea to exercise a little internet caution as Peter mentions in his post below).

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. bank teller
2. natural food store manager
3. English teacher
4. wine and cheese buyer

Four movies I would watch over and over
1. Say Anything (swoon)
2. Pretty in Pink (or Sixteen Candles or any of the Molly Ringwald 80s flicks)
3. Sound of Music
4. Doctor Zhivago

Four places I have lived:
1. Portland, OR
2. Eugene, OR
3. Queretaro, Mexico
4. Ames, IA

Four TV Shows that I watch:
1. What Not to Wear (not that it helps much)
2. NCIS
3. The Office
4. any crappy show on reruns while I'm grading

Four places I have been
1. Cambodia (Angor Wat)
2. Craters of the Moon
3. Chaco Canyon
4. City of the Rocks

Four People who e-mail me (regularly):
1. cranky students
2. desperate students
3. my sis
4. my mom

Four favorite things to eat:
1. sushi (particularly salmon and unagi)
2. any pasta made by Peter
3. refined Mexican a la Nuestra Cocina (you all in Portland REALLY need to go there)
4. lamb

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. Grandpa's forest
2. exploring a ruin
3. learning a new language
4. in bed

Four friends I think will/should respond on their blogs or in the comments to this post:
1. Sissy
2. Mom
3. Kari (who started this whole thing but, like Em said, should add hers to her blog)
4. anyone else?

Four Things I am looking forward to this year:
1. Summer (Mexico!! Woo hoo!)
2. finishing year 1 of my PhD
3. getting to meet all the new babies
4. canning the products of our garden

what should I be when I grow up?

An online career test is making the rounds of the internets, so I thought I would take it. I think the results are rather interesting.... (in fact, I'm thinking if this teaching thing doesn't work out, maybe I should investigate career option 8!). Interested in doing the test yourself?

check out careercruising.com
username: nycareers and pw: landmark

*****note that the login/password no longer seem to work******

1. Professor
2. Sport Psychology Consultant
3. Foreign Language Instructor
4. ESL Teacher
5. Computer Trainer
6. Sign Maker
7. Anthropologist
8. Locksmith
9. Addictions Counselor
10. Foreign Service Officer
11. Psychologist
12. Print Journalist
13. Security Systems Technician
14. Furniture Finisher
15. Writer
16. Picture Framer
17. Humanitarian Aid Worker
18. Market Research Analyst
19. Upholsterer
20. Translator
21. Tailor / Dressmaker
22. Technical Writer
23. Activist
24. Communications Specialist
25. Bicycle Mechanic
26. Political Aide
27. Public Policy Analyst
28. Musical Instrument Builder and Repairer
29. Gunsmith
30. Autobody Repairer
31. Dental Lab Tech
32. Cabinetmaker
33. Electronics Assembler
34. Pet Groomer
35. Industrial-Organizational Psychologist
36. Coach
37. Carpet and Upholstery Cleaner
38. Community Worker
39. Funeral Director
40. Glazier

Chris Dodd Missed A Great Ending

A couple weeks ago, we were invited to go to the biggest event in Iowa not called the State Fair: the Iowa - Iowa State football game, often referred to as the Iowa Super Bowl. This is a big time rivalry, with the coveted Cy-Hawk Trophy up for grabs (ISU is the Cyclones; Iowa is the Hawkeyes. I suggested it be called the Corn Trophy, the Pork Chop Trophy, or at least Trophy on a Stick(my favorite), but no one seemed to like any of these ideas). Recently, ISU has been winning in the rivalry more than they should be, even though Iowa is a superior football team with a longer tradition of success (Iowa won for like 15 straight years before 1998; Iowa has won like 6 of 8 since). This year, they played at ISU, where wewe live a short trip from the stadium.

The tailgate area, full of custom RVs and buses. People here really
like flags, as you can see.

I was pretty excited, since I went to a school that got rid of its football program over 30 years ago (or as we like to say, 'Undefeated since 1974'). And Kimberly never went to a game as a spectator, even though her football team was pretty good and went to the Rose Bowl. So going to our first football game, and it being a rivalry game, was pretty exciting.

On a perfect crisp fall day (although Kimberly thought it was cold; she'll learn soon enough), we headed out to our pre-game tailgate party, which some friends invited us out to. The game started at 12:30, so that meant we HAD to start drinking at 10; it had been a long time since I drank before noon and I wasn't sure how I would hold up. On top of the early start for drinking, the event turned out to be a party for the Democratic Party of Iowa, which promised to be a happening place, what with the Presidential caucuses coming up and the candidates needing to take advantage of every opportunity to show off their 'everyman' persona.

[One interesting thing that we've touched on a couple times here, but should probably expand on at some point, is that Iowa is the first state in the Presidential whittling-down process, so there's always news of one of the candidates having an event close by. It's very interesting]

The tailgating scene was pretty crazy. Apparently, this is the biggest tailgate of the year for the ISU fans; they aren't so good at football and really get up for their big rivalry game. I think that the tailgate at big football schools like Texas, Oklahoma, the Florida schools, and most Southern universities is probably bigger and crazier than this, but people were definitely living it up.

'Official' ISU tailgate tents. Notice the eye-catching color combo.

We started out with some cheap beer, that stayed nice and cold due to the outside temperatures, masking the lack of taste. And we stuffed our faces with over-cooked hot dogs and hamburgers. There was some potato salad, but I was disappointed there were no casseroles or jello salads (I was informed I need to go to a Lutheran church gathering to fully experience these culinary delights; and I use the term delights loosely).

Our fearless authors, a few beers in. If you'll notice, Kimberly has a winter hat on. In
September. I fear she may turn into a popsicle in February.

Our Iowa friends who invited us to the party; guess who they were rooting for
(hint: The U of Iowa's colors are black and gold)?

I have to tell you, it is pretty strange to be drinking a beer at 10 am while you're talking to Chris Dodd.

'Isn't that guy running for President?'

Yup, Chris Dodd. Senator from Connecticut. Democratic candidate for President. He was there, as were representatives from some of the other candidates' camps.

After we were petitioned by several candidates' camps and they started making sense, we decided we had had enough beer and it was time to head into the game.

On the way into the game, we noticed a pretty good split in the rooting interests of the fans. We were at ISU, so there was definitely more Red and Yellow in the area (ISU's colors are Red and Gold, derisively referred to as Ketchup and Mustard by the Iowa fans). But the Iowa fans had a pretty good showing, with at least 25-40% of the crowd sporting the Black and Gold (Iowa's colors).

The ISU Stadium is named after Jack Trice, the first black athlete ever at ISU in the 1920's,
who subsequently died during a game.

We really didn't have any rooting interest in the game, even though Kimberly attends ISU. We decided we would hope for a good game and let the people surrounding us try to convince us who we should root for.

Apparently at Iowa, they let the convicts out to cheer on their team.
Actually, for some reason the striped pants, and especially the striped overalls,
are really popular for both teams.

This ISU fan looked lost. I think he was looking for the 'Food on a Stick' stand. This may
be my new most favoritist picture ever.

Once we got inside, we were pretty evenly surrounded by both Iowa and ISU fans.

These 2 women, who were sitting behind us, were very 'hands on' in their support of Iowa. The one on the left told me 'If i get excited, I might grab you, so be prepared.' Um...

The two of them were ringing cowbells the entire game. Here I am right before I threw it away since it was giving me a killer headache.

My 'Iowa Great State Map' T-shirt got rave reviews from the crowd.

They were less touchy with Kimberly. But they did offer her beads, which she politely declined. I would have taken them; those things are valuable, especially during Mardi Gras.

Chris Dodd also came in to watch the game. He was stuffing his face with hot dogs pretty much all game. Then he left in the third quarter. He missed a pretty good ending.

'No really, I'm running for President. I'm such a regular guy
I don't even bother ironing my pants.'

At first, I was disappointed that he didn't have on jeans and a plaid shirt, so he could be a 'regular' guy. But then I realized it was kind of nice he wasn't posing and went with the 'relaxing day at the yacht club' look of khakis, loafers, and a Member's Only jacket you might expect of a Connecticut-ician. The weird thing is his pants were not ironed and the cuffs were all frayed. You would think a Presidential candidate could afford an iron, no?

So behind us, we had the loud touchy Iowa fans. In front of us, we had the way too nice ISU fans. They were resigned to the fact that their team was pretty terrible, and if they were to win this game, it would be quite the upset.

Everyone's nice in Iowa, even when their team is generally terrible. Check the
overalls on the guy on the left; he's apparently the pediatrician from
some small town of 7,ooo people. He snuck in Vodka in a water bottle.

All the fans were actually really nice. This picture was taken as Iowa was about to lose to a team that isn't very good. As you can see, people are still generally happy.

So, as for the game, ISU was leading 12-0 at half time, with 4 field goals. Iowa came back to take the lead at 13-12 with about 4 minutes left in the game (Chris Dodd was gone by this point). Iowa fans were pretty happy at this point, because they were going to win a game they should win.

But then ISU took control and marched down the field. With 5 seconds left, they lined up to kick the winning field goal.

By this picture you can probably guess how the kick worked out:

I remember when Red Sox games used to make me feel like this.

After the field goal was good, Iowa had one last chance to run back the kickoff. The kick returner brought it back pretty far, but eventually ISU was able to tackle the guy, and the game was over. Resulting in:

The ISU Students rushing the field. Some people were taking chunks of the
turf. I guess it would kind of be cool to have 3 square inches
of turf from a football field. I guess. But really, who am I to talk - I have a paint chip from
the old Boston Garden that I used to carry in my wallet.

As the guy in front of me explained that ISU is an engineering school, so they know
better than to rip down the goalposts like other schools.

The ISU players, surrounded by some students, carrying away
the unfortunately named Cy-Hawk Trophy.

So ISU upset Iowa in the Iowa Super Bowl even though they couldn't score a touchdown. It was a pretty big deal in the sports world, as Iowa was on the verge of being ranked after earlier impressive victories. Now both teams will be forgotten.

The ISU crowd around us was real happy, but weren't jerks about it. The Iowa and ISU fans all talked about what a great game it was and wished each other good luck. Being a child of the Red Sox - Yankees rivalry, this 'good sportsmanship' was a new and novel idea to me.

The students were understandably jubilant walking back to campus. I'm not sure if there was any rioting, but I'm pretty sure the parties were pretty good. I can imagine a lot of headaches and hangovers this morning as a lot of people were partying from early yesterday morning until the wee hours of last night/this morning. 24 hours of drinking can really take its toll on the body.

More pics from the big game here, and in handy slide show presentation here.

[Edit: As I look over this post, post-publishing, I realize that the ISU colors really clash with our blog formatting. That's a big strike against them]

Shooting Moose in an Iowan Bar

Last Friday night, I went Moose hunting with a member of the Iowa State Legislature.

Weird huh?

Over a few pitchers of Miller Light (so tasty), I was introduced to Big Buck Hunter. The game is simple: shoot the male rams, deer, antelope, or moose (easily identifiable by their horns) and the critters (scary things like cougars, and really scary things like song birds and squirrels and raccoons and skunks); don't shoot the females. [Interesting Iowa Side Notes: there are so many deer getting fat off the corn growing here that you can get a license to shoot does. Although I'm not 100% sure of this, most other places I know about allow only the shooting of bucks: the more points the better!]

Who knew shooting things could be so much fun?!?!?! All the glory without having to get blood and guts all over me. Or having to field dress them (I don't have a big enough knife anyways).

Unfortunately, I also don't get to take the meat home. Or mount the antlers on the wall. Or use the skins for a rug (oh, so warm to cuddle up on in front of the fire on those long Iowa winter nights).

I spent probably $10 playing this game; $5 more than I spent on a pitcher of that Miller. And boy was it worth it.

The State Legislator guy offered to take me real hunting, but I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet. That field dressing thing seems kind of intense. Although I guess if I just killed a giant deer I would be so full of adrenaline that I'd probably rip the thing apart with my bare hands. Now there's an image for your morning.

State Fair Pics

I put all of our pictures from the State Fair onto Flickr (they're not in their own group, because I need to fix my Flickr account; I may have some time to get that done this week). A lot of them are below on the previous blog post, but there are some new interesting ones for your viewing pleasure.

Not to be too narcissistic, but I really like the picture of me eating the corn dog, even if it is a picture of me eating a corn dog. Me with my stylish sunglasses that I bought for 2 Euros (about $2.50) in Italy.

Speaking of Italy, since I am currently unemployed, I am going to try to start uploading pictures and telling stories from our trip. I figure that will be more fun than looking for a new job.