weekend physical fun

katy and i did our second yoga class together yesterday. it was pretty manageable - the pace was good for those who need to ease into practice, and the instructor and her assistant were very attentive and thoughtful. we even did handstands against the wall, which was a first for me and highly entertaining. my guts are all sore again, which i see as a good thing.

it was an active sunday for me. stretching and strengthening, followed by an afternoon cross-country ski adventure in new hampshire. nate and i avoided the crazy multiple personality weather system that raged in the sky and ended up in the sun, on skiis, traipsing around a snowy golf course. crisp air, wind in hair, lot of layers making me sweat, families out and about on snowshoes and skiis. i went down a few small hills, blazed a few new trails in fresh snow, and had a great time.

there is almost no evidence of my weekend warrior nature (nate did manage one shot from his iphone of my ski trails along some fresh snow). most of the proof is in my tender hamstrings.

the least interesting weekend activity had the most effect on me - i wrenched my back good and proper carrying my older ikea coffee table a couple of blocks to dave's house. i took ibuprofin and did a few modified moves in yoga, and tried to treat it gently. it's still tender, but the stretches and the skiing may have helped work out some of the muscle pull. dave better use that g.d. thing every day.

every. day.

super tuesday vote-tacular

Project Vote Smart
non-partisan research on the background, voting record, positions, and campaign finances of elected officials and candidates.

Register to Vote
Information about registering, and voter education.

The League of Young Voters
for all the whipper-snappers out there.

MA election information

The League of Women Women Voters, MA

MA League of Environmental Voters

missed the start

we were assigned reading for the first class. i had no idea. first class in and already i'm behind. i hate that crap. maybe this is a sign that i made the right choice to take this class no-credit.

oh dear.

i think it's all the dried apricots and cherries i ate today.

growls about parking permits

huge. mental. block. getting between me and a 2008 visitor parking permit issued from city hall. i have now stood in line twice at 8:30 in the morning only to realize i have illegitimate proof of my residence. yesterday it was the magazines - no magazines allowed. why not? they are dated. in fact, one of them is a weekly, and would definitely be delivered within the month. and i didn't check carefully enough yesterday, but all the mail i had with me (and in fact, all the mail i have received and haven't recycled yet) is undated. they all are pre-paid postage pieces with no postmark.

what the hell happened to my correspondence? i just corresponded to myself from work. hopefully i'll get my incredibly depressing self-sent mail within the next couple of days.

my favorite moment in this minor struggle was the comment i got from the city clerk when i suggested they make the rules more explicit on their website: "lady, do you know how long our website would be if we posted every possible rule?" here's a guess: just long enough, asshole.

as dad quipped, that's what i get for trying to fight city hall.

future almost perfect

my hemming and hawing is over. after much internal debate i have decided to take a class on museum studies. i'm taking it for no credit, mainly because the idea of doing it for credit scared me too much. i was getting all anxious and skin-crawly whne thinking about being graded on it. not quite sure why that is, but think it has to do with it being close to my undergrad major and a potential career path of mine which i abandoned.

the final exam for social psych was on friday, and now i have my fridays back. big sigh of relief. i enjoyed the class, but i will enjoy so much more the ability to relax immediately after work, and the ability to make plans to be out of town on weekends.

i definitely have my job until march. past march everything is undetermined. not that my future where i work isn't being considered by others - there is just no firm vision of what my role will be and what i can expect as an offer. stay tuned for more.

brief conversations about possible 2008 vacation ideas for me and nate have begun: i suggested a bike tour in croatia, or italy, or france. nate's not sure he wants to do an organized tour. nate suggested egypt. i have internalized paranoia about being conned and ripped off at national monuments there, based on honeymoon stories my parents told me. (stories from 1968, mind you.) i've also been thinking about spain and morocco and algeria. feedback is highly encouraged.

today

recently i heard someone wishing for the "aughts" to be over soon because they are a pain in the ass to say. i happen to like them, maybe even more so because saying "aught-eight" sounds so incredibly old-fashioned but, look! it's the two-thousands! strange? maybe, but not for me - i generally like anachronistic things: handwritten letters and calendar books; ladies fashion gloves; despite it's debatable charms, the music of my youth; typewriters; the future as its depicted in the past. and yes, here we are, now fully a week embedded into '08 and i'm knee-deep in anachronisms - wearing slips and hand-kneading my cookie dough (though secretly envious of grace's new kitchen tool.)

without completely losing sight of the old or the present, i have some forward thinking thoughts for this year. and of course, many more resolution-type ideas than may be good for me, at least according to this entry over at the nytimes. the overarching themes include general health and wellbeing goals, as well as more consistent efforts at enjoying home, hosting, and home-made goodness. a week into the new year and all that still seems perfectly manageable.

grandma believed that there was no point in wishing for tomorrow before today was over. the earliest memory i have of hearing that was during a beach walk when she and grandpa still lived at seaplace. i couldn't have been older than six or seven. if i can continue to enjoy today for what it is, and not skip it in my search for a better future, then i think those resolutions for the year will become my everyday actions. it's a way of seeing the world and my place in it which can always be improved upon. and there is my one true guiding principle for this bright and sparkling new year. funny, it comes from so long ago.

final score: 173

i just won scrabble by turing "id" into "idolatry" and leaving only a blank tile in my rack.

final score:
me - 173
gil - 171
dad - 127

a christmas miracle

today i drove stick shift for the first time on real roads, from medford to lawrence: about 23 miles. i'm still getting the hang of the gas and clutch dance that starts groovin' at every stoplight and rotary. it was a somewhat stressful experience, but i was smiling as soon as i stepped out of the car, and stopped feeling shaky about ten minutes after we arrived. according to nate, i had the same expression on my face the entire time:

("hoooooooooooooly crap")

bag #1

i made it!

which is sadder?

1. at my volunteer gig i was asked to create a sign, which i did in a very simple way - all words, no pictures, straight to the point. i used markers. i was highly praised for my skill set. i was told my verbiage would be used in an email and asked if i wanted to be credited in said email. it was the most praise i received for my work all week.

2. alone at home a few nights ago i watched 28 days, starring sandra bullock. actually, what i did was select it from amongst all the free On Demand features to watch. and then i watched it. the whole thing. and was only moderately disappointed with myself for spending almost two hours of my life doing so.

you know what has been amazing recently?

saying no >> saying no to trusteeship for two more years. saying no to more volunteer desk-time after work. saying no to all my flight instincts, and instead, remaining engaged through a tough conversation.

leeks >> specifically, in the mediterranean vegetable dish for which they were procured. and then, again, slightly browned in a frying pan before topping a pizza.

taking personal days >> even though i ended up staying at home, sick and lethargic, just the decision to take off a few just-because days for myself felt really good.

feeling vulnerable >> and saying so out loud.

bobbins and threading >> i finally filled a bobbin and threaded the sewing machine all by myself.

finishing sewing projects >> for real! i made napkins for nate - both because he needed some and because i needed practice before making some as a wedding gift for some beloveds. and, a tote bag.

flannel sheets >> and flannel blankets.

telegram, september 16 1915

"instructions to the government of aleppo [city in northern syria]: it was at first communicated to you that by order of the jemiet, "the ittihad committee" had decided to destroy all the armenians living in turkey. those who oppose this order and decision cannot remain on the official staff of the empire. an end must be put to their existence however criminal the measures taken may be, and no regard must be paid to either age or sex or to conscientious scruples."

.sent by mehmed talat pasha, turkish minister of interior affairs from july 1913 to october 1918.

snaps of turkey: the fairy chimneys

nate, ann, and i biked through some of cappadocia and visited the famed fairy chimneys. two different layers of volcanic rock have eroded at different rates, leaving unique formations in the sandy, rocky landscape in the center of turkey.





d.i.y. diplomacy - we talk travel with some people visiting turkey from iran.

snaps of turkey: avanos

avanos is known for it's pottery. the nearby riverbeds are rich with various clays, and the town with various pottery shops. after wandering up one street, we are met by a runner and quickly sheparded into one such shop filled with beautiful goods in the front. and in the back...


...the Hair Museum. locks of hair, all from women, line several rooms. most accompanied by a name, town and country. some with all manner of contact information. the creepiest phone book ever.


one of a million or so submissions.


nate trying his hand and foot at the potter's wheel.


nice ashtray, nate.


this way.

snaps of turkey: goreme

morning in goreme.

cave church



exploring some carved dwellings



ann, totally relaxed after her time at the turkish bath house.



downtown goreme.

snaps of turkey: antalya

want a hint that you're in antalya? look for the famous fluted minaret. it's a dead giveaway.


view from the roof balcony of our second try at digs. after a night in a less than satisfactory hotel, we find a grandmotherly type running this place, and decide to stay with her and the lovely view, despite the ceramic figurines of dolphins and cherubic black boys lining the shelves in room number 7.



yummy coast.


we go to the pebble beach. arrive in the late afternoon and hang out with the locals.



look past nate's spectacular farmer's tan - see the droplets of water on his skin? proof nate went swimming in the sea! hooray!



you can lead a horse to water... a lady brings a horse to the sea, apparently trying to get it to go swimming. it's more than reluctant. after trying a few times to see if the horse will change it's mind, they start to leave, delayed by several kids who run up to say hello.



when special people came to visit our household when i was growing up, we might make a special dessert or perhaps take our honored guest out on the town. if you were emperor hadrianos, you had a massive monument in stone made and named after you. hadrian's gate is a good landmark for entering or exiting the old city of antalya. within the old city walls, small and personalty-filled cobbled streets lined with buildings restored as hotels and shops as well as ruins. outside, a bustling modern city, complete with fast food chains, internet cafes, and boring office building landscapes.

nate's pictures from antalya

snaps of turkey: kayakoyu, a ghost town

inside the church. indicative of the rest of the town, anything removable has been removed. no efforts to repair or restore evident. and, like the rest of the town, no part is off limits. climbing, scrambling, and generally playing adventurer raises no eyebrow. the town is described as having been first populated by people whose ancestors were christian greeks who were then relocated (perhaps they were "relocated"), and replaced by a population of muslims from macedonia, who decided they prefered their own, more fertile, lands better and moved back.



detail from mosaic flooring outside the church, made from black and white stones laid on their sides.



the steep road paved with large stone slabs running from the flat of the land near the church up to some of the highest-placed structures. nate soldiers on ahead.



on the highest hill is a lookout tower. on one side of the hill you can see all the many structures dotting the land of this town once inhabited by people of greek descent. and on the other side...



...the uncleared land leading down to the clear blue mediterannean sea, and other hilly parts of the shoreline. follow the hillside down for about 2 hours and you would make it to the oludeniz beach, a destination in it's own right for many of the other tourists who crossed our path.



lots of thistle on this hilltop.

snaps of turkey: fethiye

i love visiting local grocery stores to get a feel for the food priorities of a place. in fethiye we discovered high concentrations of olives ( all varieties, most available fresh at the deli counter), much cheese, lots of yogurt and fresh produce, as well as plenty of bread baked on the premises. also interesting, this special deal: 2 bottles of coca cola with a free package of coca cola branded rice.



at the waterfront promenade people-watching and snacking on sesame-covered breadsticks and fruko soda, so potently carbonated we were belching like big rigs.

nate's pictures from fethiye

snaps of turkey: ruins at efes

sitting in the theater and looking out to a wide avenue lined with columns.



from inside a covered passageway into the theater on the hill.



too bad i don't know that dude on the hill, would've been the perfect shot. nate kindly took my direction and climbed around, but i made a mockery of that shot, so i refuse to show it.



one small detail of carving from the entire city site.



beautifully restored facade.




the site at efes is a paltry few kilometers from selcuk. to get there we took a dolmus (shared minibus with low prices that go around and between towns). on the way back, we walked. armed with water, head coverings, and the tree-lined main drag, we survived the heat of the day. we also stopped to watch the herding of some cows.

nate's pictures from efes