Frog Earrings

Today I am wearing green copper frog earrings. They are about 1.5 inches long, and they're very detailed. When I was in the fifth through 7th grades, we lived in Rhode Island, which is where my mom is from. We would regularly go for hikes in the Norman Bird Sanctuary in Middletown, not too far from the beach where my mom grew up. The bird sanctuary would have a fall festival with arts and crafts and pumpkin carving contests and the whole nine yards. It was always so much fun. One year, just Mom and I went and we had a blast, walking around the grounds, looking at different rescue birds and hiking up to the peak. We shopped at the art festival, and my mom saw these copper earrings and bought them for me in an instant. I rarely wear them anymore, not because frog earrings aren't cool, but because these silly earrings make me think of my mom all day long, and I can practically taste the hot apple cider that they sold at the sanctuary.

5x800

When I was a kid, I wanted nothing more than to compete in the Olympics as a swimmer. To this day, every Olympic swimming or running match I watch makes me cry big giant crocodile tears. For some reason the sheer glory of such accomplishment moves me to a weird nostalgic place.

I ran with Gilbert's Gazelle's this morning. Gilbert is an Olympic athlete who trains anyone and everyone to meet their full potential for a marathon. He is a genocide survivor, a Tutsi originally from Burundi where 250 of his high school classmates were burned alive by Hutus. He escaped, literally on fire, and somehow survived and managed to move to the US and become a NCAA champion. Running today, in the pitch black, oppressive 90 degree heat of the 5:45 morning, I felt invincible. I was in the slowest group, I nearly passed out, and yet I was exhilarated. I felt like an Olympic athlete and it was thrilling. For three minutes and thirty seconds.

I want to be in Austin.

ATX

I'm just comfortable in Austin. It's not that Cleveland sucks; it doesn't. But I can't seem to get comfortable there. Austin is like an old easy chair, all worn in and comfy and complete with throw pillows and an afghan. Cleveland is like a stiff-backed chair that is the wrong height for the table. It serves its purpose, but you can't really nestle in. Or at least I can't seem to. If I could just do the job I'm doing in Austin, all would be well. How about if the Rock Hall opens an annex in Texas? That would be perfect.

Stupid Nostalgia

So I just got back from a lovely weekend in Nazareth, PA where my dear friend Sonia had her American wedding. She married a wonderful Indian gentleman named Nikhil and they first married in India in December (hence the double celebration). (She's half Indian / half Scottish for what it's worth.) The wedding took place on a beautiful property that belongs to her family friends, and they have a garden so huge that it's basically a farm. They live almost solely from their garden and they also stock their local food kitchen to boot. It was just breathtaking. Reuniting with old friends and making new ones was the theme of the weekend, and I have not danced that much in ages.

The drive back was tough because I was tired and I got lost in East Cleveland. Don't ever get lost in East Cleveland unless you're feeling like being severely threatened by big men with guns. It's so SO not fun.

The title of this post is "Stupid Nostalgia" and that is because it is 60 degrees and cool outside; it feels like fall. Now, I like fall. I think it is a beautiful season full of hot apple cider and comfortable running. But I don't like it to pop up in August and I always hate the beginning of it because it makes me feel nostalgic. And horridly depressed. And I feel like I'm on the verge of tears. I miss my mom and I miss my childhood and I want to be somewhere else but I can't think of where. It sucks and it's painful and I have never been so excited to be in 100 degree weather. ATX, here I come.

A billion years

So it's been a while since my last post, and for that I am regretful, although I was kind of in the dumps for a bit there (oh ye dissertation of great pain and agony!), so it's probably better that I didn't share. In the meantime, a few tidbits, here and there, of the past few months.

1. I am currently in the Lakewood Public Library, an independent library about 15 blocks from my house. It was recently renovated, and it is absolutely gorgeous. I'm here because my trusty Dell, which was never really that trusty, has failed once again, and is currently in the Dell hospital, hopefully being shocked into remission. Uniquely, its absence has made me far more productive on several realms. No longer faced with facebook and hulu in the evenings, I come to the library to dissertate and then annotate at home on a typewriter. Yes, I am stuck in the 19th century, but sometimes, when the thought or inspiration or motivation hits, take advantage! Progress is being made, and I hope to defend on October 3. That's the new plan anyway.

2. New York! I went to NYC to visit Sonia Plant a week after inductions. It was magical and lovely and magical and lovely, with just enough lovely weather, snarky hipsters, flower stands, delicious food, Sonia, and other old friends to make it still ring clear in my mind as a magical time and place. Just lovely. Visiting Elise, Sonia, et. al. also inspired me to pair down a bit - they live with so little because they just don't have the space (because it is SO expensive), that I decided that my crammed-full 1200 square feet must be cleaned out. I am making progress and it is good.

3. Inductions were great. I met lovely people (above all Daryl McDaniels of Run-DMC and Elizabeth Kucinich of Dennis Kucinich fame) and worked my ass off. The show was great, the after party great, and the after-after party...I'm too old for this! Regardless, I am looking forward to November's American Music Master's, which is a huge program that my department is in charge of, where I met Les Paul and Lenny Kaye last year. Woo!

4. Spring has sprung and it is just beautiful! I still miss the heat heat HEAT of Austin, but seeing the neon green of trees and flowers and plants just burst on the scene in full force is pretty damn cool. I run the Madison Marathon next week and couldn't be more excited to see Michael and Julia and Mary. Hooray!

5. Did I mention that I want to defend in October? That means getting it done by August, working on the draft, and turning it in by September. Whoa. We'll see if it can be done. ;)

6. I head to San Diego in two weeks for the IASPM conference, then to Mexico City in November for my birthday and the SEM conference and Thanksgiving and then to Spain for Christmas. Hooray!

And so, a billion years later, she writes a slightly more interesting blog.

Must write.

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Retro.

Disneyland, California ca. 1985.