Rocky Mountain High

Sorry I didn't respond on Tuesday or update my status. I felt better after I took a nap in the afternoon. I just needed that to relax I guess.

I took a photo of where I was and what a wonderful view for a meeting. I'll get that up next time. Two of us however got altitude sickness. It was not pleasant. At least mine became better after the first night - the other person had to leave and go down to lower altitude she was so sick. And she felt better within two hours.

Saw an old dear friend after the meeting. I have known her for 30 years! Amazing. I read what I wrote in the high school yearbook - I was quite eloquent. And in there I also wrote that I'll never forget the time I made her cry. And, um, I forget.

So, this week is crazy as I leave Thursday for NJ to do the moving reconstruction cleaning blitz. I hope to check people's blogs but may not be able/willing to comment as I have to sign in with my other account and haven't trusted to do that. So, take care and be safe and have fun and all that.

Toos day

take my breath away
anxiety, busyness
deep breath does wonders

Going to CO tomorrow for work.
Realized just now that my three bosses and I were going to share a 2BR condo.
NUTS
So last minute scrambling for me for a cheap hotel room.
I gotta be able to sleep, and get away.

Didn't get as much done for job search done this past weekend as I should have.
But did go to my networking meeting today. Yay.

Keyed up. Will go outside and bike to get my car.

Saturday, in the park,....

This was what I did on Saturday. I went with a group of people to hack away at foliage around a trail and build up the middle of the trail that had been dug out by rain water going the wrong way. It was hard work but nice people. The fog was around us all day, sometimes misting in our faces. I worked mainly with Mickie (you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind...). His accent was strange yet familiar, so I asked where he was from. Rhode Island! So we spend a few minutes talking about Rhode Island stuff. Nice guy. And, the trail maintenance organization has been around since 1983. Someone looked at that and said - the year before I was born! Ugh. The year I graduated from high school! Sigh.


The beautiful pitcher sage plant that I hacked up by the roots. I was so sad to get rid of it. One of the park workers later took home a plant, and I tried to find this one in the rubble to give to him, but alas, not to be.


Plants below I found when I went to pee. I squatted by them. And then later we stored some blocks of wood near there and they were trampled to death. Alas. But they live on in the photos.



60 degrees in July. This is nuts.

listening

I celebrate that I am listening to myself. I had the opportunity to go to Tuolumne this weekend, but I am declining. I want to do other things, like volunteer on a trail. M is going with my friend R, and will have a great time I'm sure. As long as they can get in since the reservation is under my name (Yosemite is rightly so instituting a policy of having to show an ID - people were scalping camping permits, when you get them for $20 a night.) It will be nice to have a weekend at home. And plus, I'm not doing enough for my job search, and must spend some time on that!

I hope you all have wonderful weekends!

LOL Out Loud

Driving home yesterday from my networking meetings (which were really quite good, thank you very much), I had to drive around a guy pulling a treadmill behind him in the middle of the street. Odd enough sight as it was.

As I was parking, he passed me, and a car stopped. The woman inside talked to him, I thought either trying to make up for an argument or telling him something was dragging.

He walked over to the car, sat on the trunk facing backwards holding the treadmill, and she drove off down the street, the sound of the treadmill wheels on the ground, his face stoic staring in front of him, but behind her.

Ear Worm

I remembered the song on the radio that I referenced in my last post. I wish I hadn't remembered it because I haven't been able to get it out of my head. Actually I take that back since I was networking all morning and it was gone, and now sharing it with you it's back. Sigh. There are worse songs though.


FYI, will likely be headed back home end July to help move my mom out of her apt. She's staying in assisted living which is a good thing. She's found two friends (one is 95 and one is 100 I think) and so feels good. We just have to find a way to get her to the thrift store to volunteer.

Music sweet music

Liberace. Have any of you even heard Liberace play? Here you go.

I remember at a very young age going to one of his concerts. The trademark candelabra on his piano. His extravagant clothing and personality (similar to Elton John, and hey, surprise surprise, he was gay too). And I believe I enjoyed the music...though the memories are tenuous.

Also at a young age I went to the symphony. I remember most two things about it - sitting up towards the front and being able to watch the string instrument players closely. And wearing my long dress with the puffed sleeves (in calico, not a princess costume) with my special belt made of metal 'coins' that you linked together.

A song that stuck in my head my whole childhood (ok, from 8 or so onward) was the refrain from the following. In the years before the internet I had no easy way of figuring out what it was. Then one day, I realized the internet could help me. Thankfully, it doesn't stick in my head now like it used to.


There's a song that I have blocked out of my memory that has an event associated with it that I remember clearly. I was sitting in a car with two high school friends and a teacher and we were driving somewhere. The song came on the radio and I started singing along. "You like this song?" someone asked me. And by the tone, I knew it was not cool... So for a while (oh, just years) I was hesitant to share my feelings about a song. Eventually as you know I came to the point that I didn't give a crap what people thought...

OK, I'm done. I just heard Liberace's name and it brought me back...

Secret on the Radio

So, I'm letting my secret out. I'm taking a course to learn how work in a radio station. One that plays stuff like WFMU. So, basically anything that you normally would not hear on a normal radio station. I thought about getting my own show eventually (which would take a year) but the time commitment might be too great. But I will definitely do fill-ins. Before you get to that point though, you have to do graveyard shifts - 13 of them to be exact. It makes sense, because that's the time when most people aren't listening and so there's more room for mistakes. Of course, with a station like WFMU, everyone's listening all that time so that would be quite intimidating. Still, there might be a few people in Australia listening to this station, who knows.

I'm actually quite excited! Next week I learn how to produce and have to record a spot saying my on-air name, and why I chose it. Now that's another story. I've been brainstorming with M and some others. It's pretty important because that's how people end up referring to you at the station, and if you get any listeners, that's who you will be. I don't want anything directly related to my name, and perhaps want something that's not me. Like, for example, Sunshine. Just to have people with "Hi Sunshine!" We'll see what I settle on - Unfortunately I likely won't share here...but you are welcome to make suggestions!

That is my big news. I love music - all kinds of music - and this will keep me involved. I'll be learning something new, and hopefully having a great time. Now I have to go do my homework - how to file albums. Not a joke - apparently there's a more complex that you might think system on how to file. Like if there's two artists you do both last names and then the first names. And if the band has a number in it or some symbol, you have to figure out how they say it and file it that way. We'll see how it goes!

Pt. Reyes 4th

Hi there - we jumped on to my friend's camping reservations at Pt. Reyes this past weekend. It was beautiful. We had to bike our stuff in, which is always nice because it reduces the flotsam and jetsam. Surprisingly there were a number of families with small kids!

Speaking of small kids, we were with our friends with two small kids. The ones I was with at Yosemite. It's amazing that kids really don't seem to feel cold. She was wearing a bathing suit when we all had our shirts and sometimes pants on due to the wind. A kid moment: the youngest smashed his head against the picnic table and started producing a nice egg - so his dad took the only available semi-cold item and put it against his head - a can of beer. Of course I documented the moment...

Morning light looking towards the point.


Looks pretty but apparently the grass is invasive English grass.


We only stayed one night because once you are at the campsite you can't bike and M wasn't up for too much hiking. So we left and went to the lighthouse. Windy!!!! but gorgeous of course. M at first didn't want to walk down the stairs to the actual lighthouse, but we did. Below is a sample log from when the original keepers were there. Very interesting -hopefully you can read it!


So we walked down the 300+ steps and it was great. We were almost all the way up when a ranger started down and said he was opening the actual lighthouse to see the 100+ lenses which projected the light. Much discussion but I pushed for seeing it and we went down. Well worth it! Not only to see the lenses, but also for the exercise on the way back up!

Since many of you won't be able to go, here's a shot of the inside.


And just think, you don't need to climb back up these stairs. Twice even.

happy 4th!

I'm making these today. They are great, though a little work to prepare the marinade... From Bon Appétit.

These powerfully seasoned chicken breasts grill up smoky and moist. Serve with minted iced tea and Asian beers. For dessert, offer mango sorbet with pineapple.

Ingredients

* 1/3 cup finely chopped fresh basil
* 1/3 cup finely chopped fresh mint
* 1/3 cup finely chopped cilantro
* 3 tablespoons finely chopped peeled fresh ginger
* 4 garlic cloves
* 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
* 1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce (nam pla)
* 1 1/2 tablespoons canola oil
* 1 1/2 tablespoons (packed) dark brown sugar
* 1 serrano chili, stemmed, chopped

* 6 skinless boneless chicken breast halves (about 2 1/2 pounds total)

Preparation

Combine first 10 ingredients in processor. Process until well blended, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally.

Arrange chicken in 13 x 9 x 2-inch glass dish. Spoon herb mixture over chicken, covering completely. Cover dish; chill at least 2 hours, turning chicken occasionally. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled.)

Meanwhile, prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Grill chicken until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side.

Three cheers for the red white and blue

'cause a duck could be somebody's mother...
Oops, joined two different lyrics. ;_0

It's July and the bushes are blooming.

Honeysuckle bush
Sort of, not quite, but fragrant
Lingers in the air

Off to Pt Reyes National Seashore tomorrow. It should be great weather. Now I need to not get burned..

Enjoy yourselves!