Catching Up With Conor

It's been awhile since I've had the time to really pay attention to what Conor's doing, and even longer since I've reminded all of you what he's up to. He's moved to Kathmandu and opened a children's home, and he's also back from his first trip into the poorest region of Nepal in order to find the families of the kids they're rescuing from the child traffickers. It's all amazing, and when I caught up with his blog and newsletters yesterday I was just in tears in front of the computer...

If ever you're looking for a good cause to support, I'll put in a good word for Conor and his NGO, Next Generation Nepal. What he's doing is absolutely inspiring, and it makes me really proud to think that I've contributed at all to the successes he's already had. To catch up in just a couple of posts, here's the one about his trip into Humla (the poorest region of Nepal) and here are some photos from that trip. The shots of the women in the villages are just stunning, and the pictures of the parents seeing their children's faces for the first time in months (if not years) are tear-jerkers. Be warned - have tissues handy, and be prepared for your heart to expand a few sizes.

Sia - "Colour the Small One"

There was a time last summer, I think, when I heard Sia's haunting "Breathe Me" and had to have it. Had to. It was a need, you see, not unlike breathing or eating.

At any rate, I'd been sustaining myself with that song ever since - until Christmas, when Chris' sister kindly gave me a copy of Sia's "Colour the Small One" CD, which includes (but is not limited to) "Breathe Me." I've been listening to it on repeat, non-stop, for the last week.

It's a lovely collection of songs, ones that somehow continue to sound new and wonderful to me even after repeated listenings. It also has two remixes of "Breathe Me," a song I think is the very definition of perfect in its original incarnation, and yet the remixes don't annoy me. They're quite different from one another and from the original (except for the use of the same vocal track for all three versions), and offer completely different takes on the song.

What I'm saying here is that if you don't already own "Colour the Small One" and you have any affinity whatsoever for "Breathe Me," get the album.

Pictures of Snow

PICT1897
Originally uploaded by andiamotutti.

This was the view from our living room, looking up the hill, on the morning the snow first started falling. The two cars in the distance are stopped on the sides of the road, abandoned, because the hill was too steep for them to go any further. The SUV that's in the foreground was just turning around to go back the way it had come. They closed the road not long after this picture was taken, and it never did get plowed - the snow just finally melted enough on Wednesday night that the road was visible again.

I only took a few pictures, but you can see them all here.

Light Flurries? Not So Much.

My husband is, at this moment, outside shoveling not just our driveway but the driveways of all our neighbors. He's spent the last hour or so shoveling the main drive into our complex, and is now working on each individual mini-drive. I also watched him help a woman walk down the slippery street to the complex next to ours. He's earning all his Good Samaritan points for the year today.

They closed our road this morning after cars were sliding trying to get up it, and running into one another. The sand truck came through, which only means there are ball bearings on top of the sort-of-compacted snow. I didn't have to go anywhere today, but I have two reasons to leave the house tomorrow - I guess we'll see what it's like by then.

I took some pictures of the snow and the resulting chaos, but will have to wait to upload them until I have a bit more time to spend doing "fun" things instead of "work" things at the computer.

The Principle of the Thing

A recent airline commercial has me thinking... So I'm sharing with you... At what point does the argument "It's the principle of the thing" become nothing more than a rationalization for making yourself uncomfortable?

On our holiday flights to and from the East Coast last month, we got only a little bag of snacks (maybe twice per flight) and some beverages - everything else, including a more "full" meal and a personal movie player, cost extra. Now, if you're able to plan a bit ahead, the lack of "free" food (though it's hardly free when you've paid for a plane ticket) isn't a problem. You bring a few granola bars, pack a sandwich, pick up something at an airport shop before you board the plane - no problem. If you're not able to bring your own sustenance, however, the hot meals on the flights I've taken lately run anywhere from $3-5 each.

It used to be you could count on a movie to distract you from at least a couple hours of a long flight - and even if it was a movie you weren't interested in seeing, you'd strap on those headphones anyway. Now, it seems rare that there's even a bad movie on offer. Instead, you're given a chance to pay roughly $10 for an individual player that has several recent movies and TV shows pre-loaded on it.

So, to get back to the title of this post - on principle, I refuse to pay for these "extras." I feel like I've paid enough for my plane ticket that I ought to get more than a bag of peanuts for a five-hour flight without paying even more. I feel like if they've already got a bunch of movies and TV shows in a machine, they ought to drop those little screens and let us all enjoy them. As far as I'm concerned, it is, as you can now guess, the principle of the thing. And I'm starting to think now that's a stupid argument.

People seated around us on our flights both ways sprung for both the hot meal and the movie player, and even though I had snacks and plenty to read, I was - naturally - envious. Did the flight go faster for them? I have no idea. The one thing I did realize, however, is that the "principle of the thing" argument really only ends up hurting the one who's trying to be principled.

Expat Efforts: Phase One

Okay, who am I kidding? The title of this post makes it seem like there's some kind of road map here which one can follow and find the key to a foreign apartment at the end of it. Fat chance. Suffice it to say I feel like even with all the research in the world, this will feel more like a case of good or bad luck than anything else.

Chris returned from Las Vegas yesterday, so our version of Phase One starts now - he'll finish working on his resume (his first update in nearly a decade, I think) and then get it translated into Italian. He's found a few jobs in Italy listed online that he'll be applying for, and we'll both start reaching out to the people we know who might be able to help with information or contacts or both.

On the language front, I began teaching this term's level one class on Wednesday and on Thursday Chris & I went to the conversation group Chris was a part of last fall. It's a good group, and I seriously need to get back into speaking and thinking in Italian - I'm already feeling what little skills I had begin to slip, and that was only after taking five months or so off. Not good. The conversation group should help me feel like I'm not losing it entirely. At least I hope it will...

Saying Goodbye to Fur People

Winken (L) & Bear (R), Xmas 2006
Originally uploaded by andiamotutti.

It wasn't looking good at Christmas when we last saw my mom's pair of 20-year-old cats - Bear had recently gone stone deaf (or nearly so) and was at six pounds (down from a lifetime high of close to 20), and Winken was having trouble moving around much and was hardly eating - and she weighed less than the other one. Mom had taken Bear to the vet last week and found out she probably was going through kidney failure. She'd gotten quite immobile in the last few days, had stopped eating, and last night her breathing became more and more labored.

Well, this morning my mom had them both put down. I talked to her last night and this morning - she was crying both times, as was I. Even though the brain knows that they had good, long lives and were loved and that this was the right decision, the heart still aches. For my part, I gave my trio of fur-children a little extra love last night and this morning. I know the day will come when Chris & I will have to go through what Mom just went through (and has had to do before with other cats), and I'm dreading it. Without children to compare it to, the cats are our children - and it's just awful to consider life without them.

So I won't. At least not right now.

If you've got a fur-person (or feather-person, or scaled-person for that matter) in your life, give them an extra treat or hug now and then so when the time comes for you to part ways, the only thing in your heart will be grief and not guilt as well.

New Avenues

So, I spent most of yesterday afternoon and today getting a few posts into one of the new blogs I'm going to be writing for... The other one has a few posts, but it needs more work. Despite their newness, I'm going to post links to them here so y'all know where I am when I'm not here.

First up is the Cycling Logue - some of you may remember last year when I stopped writing most cycling stuff here and was writing for the Tour de France Logue. Well, I managed to convince my boss that a logue devoted to more than just one race on the calendar would be much better (not to mention easier to sell ad space for), and voila! Cycling Logue was born. It's a slow time in the cycling season right now, which is why the logue is a bit sparse at the moment (I only got started on that one this afternoon). I'm hoping to spend more time with it this week to get at least a few things going in each category so that bloody "Help Wanted" post can go away.

Next up is the Italy Logue - I'm extremely excited about this one, and it probably shows in the sheer number of posts that are already in it! I'd been collecting useful links in the weeks prior to the logue going online, and was eagerly awaiting the day when I'd get to start writing it... I think I'm going to have to make writing those posts my end-of-the-day rewards when all the rest of my work is done, or I'll spend all day writing Italy posts and get nothing else accomplished! In addition to the newsy bits, I might also go back to my trip notes from the three times I've visited the country, and talk about my experiences there. It's such a popular tourist destination, and I think I've managed to figure out how to do a few things more efficiently there, so that seems like a good thing to pass along.

At any rate, I'll be busy populating (as the kids say) those blogs for awhile, so if you haven't seen me 'round here for a few days, check those links to see what's been on my mind! I'll add them to the links at the left soon, too.

I Wish I'd Patented This When I Was Twelve

Except back then none of them internets existed, so it wasn't possible.

Anyway, the "it" I'm talking about is communicating with people via their license plate numbers - which apparently is something people are doing now (I feel old when I hear this stuff and raise an eyebrow, like, "is that what the kids are doing these days?"). When I was 12 or thereabouts, I thought it would be genius if we could talk to other people based on our license plates. Of course, at that point I was thinking more along the lines of the plate numbers being phone numbers of some kind, and yes, at that point getting in touch with someone via their license plate would have meant writing it down, pulling over to a rest stop and using a (choke, sputter) pay phone. But still. I'm glad to see someone's finally using my grand idea.

Back at Work, and Buried

Naturally, the whole being-on-vacation thing leads to more work upon returning from said vacation... And the holidays are no different. So, I'm back at work today and playing catch-up - not to mention that this is the busiest time of year anyway. I'll be posting more about this when it's official, but there are a couple blogs for which I'll be writing sometime in the next month or so as well. All this to say that I'll probably be writing here less.

I did do a smidge of housekeeping here, though, in that I cleaned up the links menu on the left - I hadn't paid attention to it in ages, and it was pretty out of date. The list of blogs I read has shrunk considerably in the last year as I don't have the time to read them anymore, so you'll note the changes there as well.

So much to do, so little time... Ah, well, at least that will never change. I suppose, in a way, that should be comforting. It's not, but it should be.

Happy New Year!

The weather in Chris' folks' neck of the woods has been unseasonably warm the past week... And now, on the one night of our trip that we actually want to be standing outside at midnight, it's supposed to rain. Boo. So, it's likely we'll be "celebrating" the old-fashioned way this time - cracking open a bottle of Asti at midnight, taking two sips and then going to bed at 12:30. Oh, well.

Don't let the potentially inauspicious start to 2007 fool you, though - this will be a year of changes for us. A big year. I'll do my best to keep you posted.

I hope you're all having a great holiday! May 2007 be good to all of you.

Letters from the Past

A gift I got back in Oregon that I forgot to mention - and wanted to call out especially - is something my uncle brought from Connecticut. I opened a package from him to find a small pile of airmail and "V-Mail" letters. Turns out it's part of a collection of letters my grandparents wrote to one another when my grandfather was stationed in London during World War II. I'm about halfway through Grandma's letters to him, and haven't started on his letters to her yet. I'm absolutely over the moon about the pile, and my uncle says there's more where those came from. Obviously, most of their lives they were together and so weren't writing to each other - but there were a couple periods where they were apart, and I'm ever so glad Grandma was a meticulous record-keeper! I'm going to have to spend some time next year figuring out the best way to store and keep them. In the meantime, I'm just thrilled to have them.

The Holiday Midpoint

We're back from Holiday Phase I, and leave for Phase II tomorrow morning... We brought my uncle back with us, as we're all flying out tomorrow morning at about the same time, and he's now out for a walk. Chris is at the office, and I'm catching up on work in my "office" as well, at the same time as I'm doing a last minute load of laundry before repacking tonight.

It was a lovely holiday down at my mom's; it was low-key, like Thanksgiving was this year, and none of us ended up with tons of loot we don't need or have space for. Well, except for my nephew, of course, who raked in the gifts like they were goin' out of style. We've eaten like kings for the last few days, too, including a homemade French onion soup Chris made, and last night's prime rib dinner. Dee-lish!

So, once again, it'll be quiet around here until after the new year... I hope everyone rings in the new year in style - safely and in the company of loved ones. Chris and I could be in for quite a ride in 2007, and it starts next week. Could be interesting.

Happy Holidays

This is my last day online for a few days, so I'll take this opportunity to wish all of you a very Happy Christmas. May you be surrounded by people who love you, this day and the rest of the year.

Holiday Chaos

Chris & I leave on Saturday to visit my mother for Christmas, and then we fly back east next week to spend New Years with Chris' family... I'm finally done with shopping, but does the to-do list ever get smaller this time of year? I don't think so. One thing gets accomplished (after which, if you're anything like me, you do a little victory dance) and then four more things get added to the list. What is up with that? Anyway, the pre-Christmas craziness is winding down, as there are fewer and fewer days left in which to get anything done. And, as frenetic as that makes me feel, I'm glad it's almost over.

In other holiday news, the splitting-a-water-buffalo idea is spreading - I know of two more Heifer International gifts which have been given as a result of hearing about what Chris & I decided to give each other this year. That makes me feel great, and is the perfect antidote to the long lines and congested roads.

We're Bad Jews

Last Friday night I went to my dad's to kind of celebrate Hanukkah. I say "kind of" because there was ham on offer, and that's not really (ahem) kosher, and because - as I pointed out to the gentiles that evening - we're bad Jews. (And I mean that in the best possible way.)

At any rate, we did light the Hanukkah candles (all of them at once, like we did when I was a kid), which was nice. The rest of the pictures from the evening are here.

So, I'm a little late, but Happy Hanukkah, everyone.

Stormy Weather

After the nasty wind storm last week during which much of the area lost power (my mother, who lives out in the boondocks, is still without power nearly a week later), there came a torrential hailstorm. It lasted only a few minutes, but came down with such ferocity that it actually had time to accumulate and look like snow.

Vatican Soccer

Yet another example of how passion for sport can transcend, well, The Passion. Read more here.

Transition Problems

So, I switched from the old Blogger to the new "Blogger in Beta" recently, and only this weekend finally ran into problems with it. I can't seem to post pictures the same way I used to - through Hello - even though I uninstalled the program and reinstalled it. It still has my old login information, which is no longer valid. Yeesh.

It's a shame, as I've got pictures of the brief but exciting hailstorm we got on Friday last week, as well as pictures of the Hanukkah celebration at my father's house Friday night. I'm hoping I'll figure out the whole shebang eventually, and if anyone's got any insights I'd appreciate them.

When candles aren't just for romantic dinners

I left the BootsnAll office at 5:40 last night after talking to Chris and finding out we had no power. I heard I-5 South was a parking lot from 405 to 205 (in other words, the entire length of what I'd need it for, and then some), so I opted for what is normally a reliably quicker back road. Silly, silly me. I forgot that "back roads" have stoplights. And stoplights need electricity. So, almost the entire drive home was completely jammed.

Oh, and to top it all off, I started the journey with only a quarter tank of gas, and the "empty" light came on when I was stuck in the middle of nowhere with no gas station in sight. Lovely.

I made it to a gas station by detouring slightly from what I thought was going to be the least tree-ridden way, and it turned out to be the quicker way home, I think. As it was, I didn't pull into my garage until nearly 7:30 - and this is a drive that normally takes me 25 minutes. Egads.

I came home to a well-lit house, so the power had come back on. Hurray! I got to heat up some leftovers in the microwave for dinner. Hurray! We settled in to watch some television programs we'd recorded when - just like that - the power went back out again, and stayed out for the duration. We lit candles all over the living room, and read magazines by flashlight until bedtime. Thankfully the power came back on sometime in the night.