An open letter to my itinerant friends

Dear Friends,

For years, I've made your acquaintance, you lovely people from Wisconsin and Ohio, Texas and New Jersey, and we've had a fine time getting to know one another and becoming friends.

And then, just when I've gotten attached, you've gone. Folded up your couches and taken off - sometimes to return home, other times for greener, cheaper pastures elsewhere. While I've been supportive of your opportunities in far-flung cities, and raised glasses in toast to your new jobs, new homes, and new cars, I have to be honest: it really sucks to lose you.

Because no matter what your vows, or how often you promise to write or visit, it's just not the same.

So I've made a vow: as I seem to be losing friends at a greater rate than I'm gaining them, I'm swearing off the transient ones. You might be a wonderful person, who I've just met on the bus or at the bar or on the job. But if you're not planning on staying, I'm not putting the effort into getting to know you. Because I really hate saying goodbye.

Fondly,
Clair

Haitus

Due to the unfortunate and untimely demise of my ibook, clairnation will be taking a vacation of undetermined length. Please, do not let the disruption in service dissuade you from being a loyal reader. I promise to be back up as soon as the Geniuses at the Apple store can fix my laptop for very little money.

Barring that possibility, I estimate enough money in the budget in about 4-6 months for an upgrade. I am heartbroken, and your kind thoughts during this difficult time are greatly appreciated.

Now approaching the last straw

My head hurts. I'm still not sleeping really well - despite having increased the frequency and intensity of my workouts. I can't eat all that much. I'm getting cranky. And there's that choir performance this weekend - with the additional rehearsal time it requires - that I'm pretty much over right now. Can I take a vacation from my life for a little while?

But the monthly birthday breakfast starts in a few minutes. Yay for bagels!

Birthday Blogroll of Honor

Big birthday shout-outs today to my sister and my dad. July 23 has always been a busy day for my family. Sadly, today my sister has to spend the day at work, and my dad's in and out of the doctor's offices.

Maybe they can celebrate better tomorrow. Feel free to pop over to my sister's site and spread some birthday cheer.

Comfort food

I've worked out. I've run errands. I took a nice walk in the sunshine. I've slept a lot and eaten well and read good books. And I'm still pretty cranky.

So I gave in to a bunch of cookies and a big glass of chocolate milk. And I think I'm feeling a little better.

4.2 at 4:42 am

Last night was the first night all week I'd slept. I'm pretty stressed out, I've had a nasty migraine, and I haven't been able to sleep or eat all week. I finally found the right combination of relaxation techniques and drugs that by 11:30 pm last night - a good two hours after my normal bedtime - I was sleeping soundly.

Until 4:42 am, when an earthquake jolted me awake and rattled through my apartment. I don't particularly like to feel the ground shaking and my bed swaying, and it turns out living on bedrock, as opposed to sand dunes, doesn't make too much difference when it comes to feeling the ground move.

And then my upstairs neighbor, the one who keeps strange hours and often sounds like she's rolling bowling balls across the floor late at night, started her late-night keg roll routine. I have no idea what she's doing up there, but it involves lots of late night and early morning banging.

So now, instead of being refreshed, well-rested, and headache free, my head still hurts and I'm tired and cranky. And now I feel compelled to spend the evening assembling my earthquake kit.

But this is probably a good time to refresh your memories about my earthquake notification plan. When the big one happens, my parents will definitely know my status and whereabouts. I'll try to get in touch with my brother and sister too, depending on phone communication. I'm happy to pass on those numbers to anybody who wants them.

Disoriented

I got to bed way too late last night, and sort of overslept this morning. When I woke up, I could hear the sound of water streaming up through the wheels of the passing bus. Rain? But it's July?

I was very confused. It felt like summer, all humid and sticky, though breezy and foggy with temps in the 60s, but it was raining.

Welcome to December in July. Don't forget your umbrella

Almost famous

My choir was on the ABC news on Sunday night, in the background during a report on the Archbishop of Los Angeles' apology to sex abuse victims. Apparently, all of the person-on-the-street interviews were done in front of St. Dominic's.

And I missed it, because I was out of town and therefore not singing on Sunday; and I was in the airport and then trapped on the plane, so I couldn't have turned on the tv.

What if this was my chance to be discovered, and I missed it?

MUNI haiku

Waiting for the bus
An hour is way too long
MUNI makes me mad

Sunburned in Seattle

Nobody leaves Seattle with a sunburn. Unless it's 85 and clear when you're visiting. And you're hiking at 6,000 feet. Or hanging out on the beach. Which it was - and I did. The weather was fantastic, I had a blast visiting Cat and everyone else, and Cat's surprise party went off without a hitch. I swear I WILL NEVER AGAIN go four years without visiting her, even if it does mean heading to Pittsburgh.

I took so many photos this weekend that I think I'm going to have to pay for a full Flickr account. I'll try to get the pictures downloaded soon. Stay tuned.

Trinity West is losing a resident

For the past several years, the western contingent of Trinity alums has included two in the Pacific Northwest and a couple of us in California. Sadly, Cat leaves beautiful Seattle next month. I haven't visited in years, which makes my trip this weekend somewhat bittersweet. When we lived close enough to see each other regularly, neither of us really had the money to travel.

Now, just as my financial situation is improving, and I could manage the occasional weekend trip, she's leaving. For Pittsburgh, PA, no less, and graduate school. I'm thrilled for her, don't get me wrong. And I know MM is pretty psyched to have one more of us back on the East Coast (though I hope she's not holding her breath for me to join the crowd), but Pittsburgh? Not tops on my list of travel destinations.

So I'm off for a reunion of sorts, with the hope that the next one's not four years away.

Coyote sighting

While driving home through the Presidio last night, a friend and I saw a coyote; a smallish, grey one, standing on the side of the road. At first my friend thought it was a dog. I was about to tell her it was probably a fox (common in the city's parks) when we got a good look at it.

This was definitely no fox. I'd heard rumors about a pack of coyotes in the Presidio, possibly an offshoot of the Glen Canyon pack. But to actually see one was very exciting!

Vacation is awesome!

Until this week, I haven't had a real vacation since the summer of 2002, and that was a vacation forced by having quit my job (after some ugliness with the managing editor) a month before grad school started. Since then, most time I've taken off has been to visit my family. Though that's wonderful, it's not really the ideal vacation destination.

Until last year, when I started my current job, any time off I'd taken in the previous four years had been unpaid. That never really enticed me to head to Hawaii.

Let me tell you, this vacation thing is really amazing. Think about it: my employer has paid me as though I were working all week. I did a little travelling, checked out some cool new bars, played tourist, went shopping, and supervised my sister's reorganization of my apartment (which now everyone has to visit, though the bring your own chair policy is, sadly, still in effect).

I'm kind of sad it's over. When can I do this again?

Vacation is hard

Two breweries
Four bars
An outdoor concert featuring a Rolling Stones cover band
One shopping spree
An apartment reorganization
Lots of beer
A day at the Wharf
Sun burn
Some more beer

And still three days to go.