Who are the people in my neighborhood?

I think that this might be an ongoing title, as I see fit to fill y'all in on the type of people who surround me at school, at play, at the library, on the street, etc.

Today I'd like the highlight the very honest students of the University of Washington who used the Post Office on University Avenue. I had purchased a compiled text made up of lots of different articles from the local copy stop on the Ave (University Ave is affectionately known as the Ave here at UW), and then had to run quickly up the block to the post office to drop something in the mailbox, and then run and make it to my two-hour afternoon class. When I got to class I realized that I didn't manage to bring back have my newly acquired ($32) text, and that most likely it was going to be gone when I went back to retrieve it after the lecture. Much to my surprise, the text was still there, and still in the same place I had left it two hours before. This post office is super busy, and I wouldn't doubt if a hundred or so people hadn't passed through it during that time, and yet my so-brand-spankin'-new-you-can-still-smell-the-fresh-forest-in-the-paper-stack was just waiting for me to come and find it, completely unmolested.

So here's a great THANK YOU to the honest and kind people who used our country's national postal service today in Seattle!

Acronyms and George Foreman

Well...it has definitely begun! School is in session and I can already feel the squeeze of the quarter system. My first year at the U I had the quarters, which I remember really loving, and I know I'll love them again, too. After Albania the U had switched to semesters, and I got used to it, but by week 12 or 13 of a semester I would always start losing some steam. With the quarters, I won't have time to lose steam...it will be Christmas before I get a chance to even breathe!

The first two days of this week were spent in a nice dream-like state sitting through two lovely days of orientation. Nothing was brain busting, we went over lots of procedural and house keeping stuff, we engaged in a lot of nice get-to-know you activities, had a lovely dinner on the waterfront of Lake Washington, chatted with the professors, had long lunch breaks, etc. Monday and Tuesday were great.

Today, was baptism by fire. Wow! My day started with classes and instruction at 9:30 AM, and I honestly didn't stop going with reading, lesson preparation, meetings, etc. until 7:30 PM. I was smart to bring a pear and plum along with me that I somehow managed to wolf down in three bites somewhere around 3. Last week I was sleeping in till 10, going for a morning run till 11, cooking lunch till 1, taking a walk till 4, napping, lounging, calling friends, etc. Those days, as far as I can see it, are pretty much gone till next September. Sayonara!

The biggest observation I have to make about today is the amount of acronyms and abbreviations that go with ANY job or ANY study. Speech-Language Pathology is certainly not the only field or career out there that enjoys shortening long phrases (medicine, law, science, business, etc.), but it is also one that I think does it almost to a fault. I wouldn't be surprised if there were acronyms for acronyms somewhere along the line in my graduate career. I've been inundated with a deluge of HIPAA, IPA, PIP, POEC, ASHA, PLS, PLSE, MWIT, PICA, WAB, MLU, SPHSC, CCC, AAC, AAA, PVT, PPVT, EVT, and about a million more. Even typing them all makes my brain scream from pain. And, I'm sure that I'm only a the TIP of the iceberg.

I get to start seeing a client next week who is seeking some articulation instruction from the clinic. Luckily that will be the ONLY client that I'll have this quarter...some of my friends who are starting new grad programs have three or four already, so I do consider myself very lucky. One is a nice number to work with and ease into the clinical aspect of school.

So, after a long day of being given binders full of papers and workbooks, and running around the Speech and Hearing Clinic like a chicken with its head chopped off, I retired to my humble abode, and grilled up a nice breast of chicken with carrots and peas on the side. I would like to be known as having said publicly in my life that I just LOVE LOVE LOVE devices that do about 90% of the cooking for you. Mom and Dad have equipped me with two such contraptions that have kept my mind sane and my stomach satisfied. One, the George Foreman grill, two being the Yan Can Cook steamer (more on that in a later post!). My dinner preparation consisted of plugging in the George Foreman, taking a frozen chicken breast and placing it on the grill, and closing the lid. 15 minutes later I was eating a surprisingly juicy and quite tasty dinner. I wish I could say that I picked the peas from a vine peeled the carrots myself, but I actually just bought them from the freezer section and boiled them to death. Yay for simple cooking!

Muriel's Wedding

The night before classes started, I decided to watch one of my all time favorite flicks, "Muriel's Wedding", it ALWAYS puts a great smile on my face no matter what. The movie is full of classic lines, but this is probably my favorite.

When I lived in Porpoise Spit, I used to sit in my room for hours and listen to ABBA songs. But since I've met you and moved to Sydney, I haven't listened to one ABBA song. That's because my life is as good as an ABBA song. It's as good as Dancing Queen.

Oktoberfest

One goal that I have while working on my master's is to volunteer more than I have in the past. And since I haven't been doing a lot of that generally, a few hours a week will be a really huge improvement. I read in the Seattle Weekly last week that the Fremont Oktoberfest was looking for volunteers, so I took it as a nice way to jump start my goal and in the mean time experience something that is very "Seattle" or "Fremont" (a neighborhood in Seattle). I had the time (it's going on this weekend), and I love working events, so I thought I'd put in my application. I got a call back, and after looking over my application, the volunteer coordinator assigned me to...drum roll please...TICKETING! Shocker! I wasn't all that surprised, and in fact would have been a bit insulted had they not pegged me for that job. So I worked my shift last night which ended up working the entrance gates for about 5 hours. It was actually really fun, I didn't have to handle any of the cash (being just a volunteer and not on staff), and I just got to hand out the beer mugs and tolkens to people as they came in after they paid, and the wrist bands and tickets for people who were DDs (designated drivers), or for people who didn't want to drink and just came for the festival fun. It's the biggest Oktoberfest in Washington, and they say the 9th most popular in the world. They get tons of entertainment for the weekend, have lots of tents and vendors, and lots of stuff to taste. Attendance was REALLY high last night and everyone seemed to be really happy. It was fun, and I met some really cool other volunteers and staff. Not to pat myself on the back, but I was told I handled myself very well under pressure, and most of my co-workers were very complimentary. I confessed that I had a few years of working ticketing and festivals (Olympics, Sundance) and while I was explaining that, a customer overheard me and offered me a job on the spot as a manager for some arts festival somewhere in California. So....I'm quitting grad school and moving south, NOT! It actually felt REALLLLLY good to look her in the face, thank her for the offer, and then tell her that I was a grad student, and just wouldn't have time. It felt nice to be recognized for a job well done, but it felt even greater to know that it's not the path I'm following for the rest of my life. At that moment, it really hit me...I'm truly moving on, and it feels wonderful!

And since I volunteered, I get to go over today and get in for free!

Bogart

Today (after my sweaty run) I've been reading a blog written by this guy close to my age in Salt Lake who has a cat, and I was suddenly overcome with a heavy dose of sadness. I really miss my little friendly Bogart who used to curl up with me in bed, do backflips when chasing the pen light, run up and down the stairs of the Swallows, purr in my lap at night watching the Daily Show, dart out of the litter box after taking his morning dump, and insist on licking me at 6:57 am sharp EVERY MORNING. I could use a little Bogart in my life right now, and it bums me out the think that he's not here with me right now. I know this isn't the only time I've blogged about losing Bogart, but it's still something that I have a hard time coming to terms with. Sometimes when people ask me about it, I just give a short answer and change the subject. For being someone who likes to talk, this can be a topic of conversation that I don't always enjoy. But, I do think of him often, and miss our all-too-brief season together. I only got to have him for 6 months, and I was honestly planning on enjoying him for a good 15 or 20 years. So, for all you pet owners out there, please take advantage of the little furry/scaly/slimy/what-have-you creatures and just be thankful that you have them around.

Hope you're doing well with a new set of healthy kidneys, my little friendly.

I don't glisten...I SWEAT!

I fondly remember being at the cabin and having Brian and Julie, my brother's-in-law family (making them my "shoestring" family") up for a nice fall evening and Brian making us laugh and snort with his rendition of the Saturday Night Live's "I don't sweat...I glisten". Brian has great comedic timing and is one of the best story tellers I know.

I've always thought that was such a great saying, and sadly one that doesn't apply to me in the least. One quick lap around Princeton Avenue will get a single stream of sweat running down the side of my cheek....and a mile? Forget it, it's over! For some reason or another, the sweating gods have given me the deep end portion rom the pool of the perspiration gene. In a weird "in my dreams" sort of way, I was hoping that my ability to sweat on demand would change since I would be living at sea level here in Seattle that my excessive sweating might be different. You know, it's easier to breathe (which it is, I might add) and therefore I won't be taxing my system as much. Well, dear readers, that very wet side of my life hasn't changed a bit. Not that it's gotten any worse, luckily it hasn't. But, it has definitely not improved either. Nope, I still sport the totally flushed skin, red faced, unmanagable hair look, film of perspiration located everywhere I have skin. I'm afraid if someone were to photograph with a flash, I might reflect too much of the light and just be a big bright blur.

Now, I like running and exercise, for many reasons, one because it helps my body look good, but I certainly am not expecting to attract any Prince Charming in the actual process. Sometimes I see cute guys and think, "this is really killing your cute appeal, Derek, and probably not impressing anyone". But, since that's just one reason I exercise, I just keep going. I've had to come to the realization that Yep, I think I'm stuck with it.

Fortunately in my life, I don't have the problem of sweating in everyday activities, sitting in a chair, taking a flight of stairs, etc. That other type is a whole other kind of sweating, and one that isn't necessarily any easier to deal with from day to day. I guess I have hyperactive sweat glands, but ones that only really over do it when I'm really exerting myself. There are a lot of people out there who have a whole different kind of sweating problem than I.

The funny thing is, even though I'm sweating like a pig when bouncing around a gym or whatnot, it doesn't mean that I'm more or less tired than the jogger next to me. Comments have been made to me like, "you look exhausted", and "don't you think you need to take it easy?" It's sort of funny, because it's when I really get my blood pumping and the sweat pouring that I get more into my groove and rhythm of what I'm doing. Growing up dancing at CDT was proof of that more than anything. I would sweat, people would stare, but I was always dancing and keeping up just as well as the person next to me. Same goes in an aerobics, kickboxing, spinning, whatever class. I've just learned to be polite and bring a sweat rag to keep it to myself. So, if you happen to see me along the path, sweating up a storm, I'll just look at you if you're one of those "I just ran a 10K and I'm slightly damp around the temples" and cuss out the sweating gods when you're not in earshot.

The reason I bring this up is because I've happily found what thousands of other Seattle-ites have been enjoying for almost 30 years now, the Burke-Gilman trail. It's a bike and pedestrian committed path in urban Seattle that runs about 17 miles or so from Redmond (Bill Gates-ville), down like Washington, and along the shipping canal to Ballard. I live a mere half block off it, making it hard for me to ignore and making it easy for me to get motivated to get out and participate. Most people run or bike, and since I don't have a bike yet, I run. I'm a mile's jog from Gasworks Park, offering great views of Seattle from Lake Union, and I'm mile's run from a nice stretch of path with trees that are honestly eighty to a hundred feet tall above me. I love that even in Seattle, you can still feel you are in the woods. The trail is what is left of the Seattle Lake Shore & Eastern Railroad. When the need for rails decreased, the city of Seattle decided to use those paths as pedestrian/bike paths. Seattle has 90 miles of dedicated bike paths throughout the city. I love it, and it reminds me a lot of the hundreds of miles of bike paths through Cambridgeshire and East Anglia.

Here are some pics (again, none that I've taken, it's much easier to just steal others photos from Google Images) of the trail.





This pic is near my apartment



This one is right in the middle of campus, making UW a very accessible school for non-drivers. Luckily I just walk to school, but nice to know I could bike if I wanted to.

Blown out tire

This picture really should be looked at when reading my earlier post "i AM the slow truck". Sorry to be chronologically impaired here.



Why, you may be wondering, am I sticking out my tongue here? I've asked myself that already. At the time thought it would be funny. Whatever. You get the picture, very little tire left, Mom and I on the road in the middle of nowhere Idaho. Good times.

Jordanelle '06

I think this picture is even cooler because it's blurry. We went up to Jordanelle resevoir before I left for Seattle, and had a mighty fine day on the water.




I don't know what I'm trying to do here, but I think I'm channeling my inner Arsenio.




This one is a little more, "Look ma, one hand!"

I was very pleased with this trip...I hadn't been on skis for more than four years, and I was able to shoot right up and have a blast. My goal for next year is to get up on Slalom again...it's been years since I've even tried.

Rofte Gjuha Shqipe!

So Wikipedia, pretty much my favorite website and a crutch that I have leaned on for the past five years, has a new splash page, and so I decided to see if they had Albanian up, and sure enough they DO! Here's a link to the main page in Albanian if you'd like to see for yourself!

CLICK HERE

And for those of you who don't know, I'd like to take this opportunity to explain a few basic terms in the Albanian language. Albania, like Germany, Greece, Hungary, Japan, China, and I'm sure a lot of others, is a country that is known internationally as "ALBANIA", but to Albanians there is a whole other set of words for their country's name, language, etc., just as Germany really is Deutschland, and Greece is Ellas, and Hungary is something I can't remember right now, and Japan is Nihon....allow me to introduce you to things "Albanian".

Albania=Shqiperia
Albanian (person)=Shqiptari (m)/Shqiptarja (f)
Albanian (language)=Shqip

These are all derivatives of the word 'shqiponja' which means 'the eagle'. Albania is the land of eagles, hence the name. And, furthermore, Albania's flag shows the double headed eagle, symbolizing the two main groups of Albanians (North and South, basically) who were united hundreds of years ago by their national hero (kind of like our Washington or Lincoln), Skenderbeu.



I'd be more than happy to continue this discussion if anybody has any questions. You know how to reach me.

Seattle realizations and things learned

1. It's already fall here, no more last warm days in the 80s
2. Pasty skin is in (the jury is still out on how I feel about that)
3. Buildings here are built in warm colors (tans, browns, deep reds, etc.) to keep the soul inspired during the grey months of winter
4. Food costs considerably more here that in Salt Lake.
5. Everyone bikes, EVERYONE. I need one.
6. I live near the Seattle Peace Park which displays a statue of Sadako, and also has a Public Peace Garden which is right next to my building. Very serene.
7. People like their socks and sandals. Barf.
8. Sometimes I think I'm the 21 year old I see on University Ave, but I'm not. I'm the 27 year old.
9. Seattle-ites like their garage door openers....seriously! Just like they show in the movie "Singles". If you have a parking spot, you've got in made.
10. Caffeine isn't just a nice thing to consume in the morning, it's a city-wide pastime.
11. I'm going to be very wet.

This and a million other thoughts have been floating around in my mind, just thought I'd share. a

Some pics of UW

As some of you might know, not only is UW a fine school, it also is situated on a gorgeous campus. Here are some pics that I can find online.


The Suzzallo Library (the graduate library on campus)


The Graduate Reading Room inside the Suzzallo Library (anyone can study there, I think maybe at one time it was reserved for grads, but not now).



Denny Hall, the oldest building on campus, used for Administration


The Liberal Arts Quad in spring


Miller Hall (on the Quad) in Fall


Aerial view of Library, Red Square, and Quad


My building, Eagleson Hall


Drumheller Fountain and Mt. Rainier


Other side (looking up from lower campus) of Drumheller Fountain


Sunset over Gerberding Hall


Aerial overlooking UW campus, views of Husky Stadium and Lake Washington

i AM the slow truck....ugh

We made it, and luckily in one piece. I don't have internet access at home yet, so sorry for the delays in writing and getting back to you if you've written. I can get on really easily on campus, so I'll be able to keep in pretty good contact with y'all from this point on.

Well, my goodness. That trip was fun and absolutely took EVERYTHING out of me. Mom and I got up at the a** crack of dawn and headed out. We were on the road by 6:30 am, which was good because it gave me some time to be on the freeway with less congested traffic and get used to driving my 18-wheeler. No, not really, but for someone who usually zips around the city in a teeny tiny Nissan Sentra, I might has well been commanding the Titanic--and without a rear view mirror! That was the hardest to get used to. And speaking of icebergs and other obstacles, after two and a half hours of easy and pretty pleasant driving, we had our first (and luckily only) major problem...

On a quaint little stretch of road on I-84 between Tremonton, Utah and Twin Falls, Idaho, Mom and I started to hear something that just didn't sound right. I looked into my rear view mirror only to see the back of the cab I was sitting in (oh right...that doesn't work, duh!) and then over to my side mirrors and saw little bits of tire dragging off and tumbling across the road. Although startled by the sight, nothing seemed wrong with the car, the wheel wasn't leaning one way of another, and everything else felt fine, and so I figured that I had just driven over a blown out tire that had been close to the side of the road (because of COURSE I was driving by the side of the road, when you are driving a U-Haul and towing a trailer, you don't actually DRIVE anywhere, you crawl). Mom heard the same noise, and looked out her side and didn't see anything wrong and said, "Do you think that was our car?", to which I replied, "I don't think so, and if it were, some driver would SURELY try to be getting our attention". And literally as I was articulating that last syllable 'tion', I heard the warning semi-truck horns that I so eagerly worked to hear as a child on road trips (you know...you pass a truck and mimic pulling down on the cord to get them to acknowledge that they too are bored out of their minds on a long expanse of road in the middle of nowhere). I turned to Mom and with a laugh and said, "See what I mean?". We followed the truck driver and pulled over at the next exit, #263, the Juniper Road Exit for all you curious readers, and safely parked our car and took a deep breath. The kind and concerned driver got out and showed us that indeed WE had blown a back tire on the trailer the car was loaded onto. All that was left was a mere 6 inches of tire, we had basically been riding on the rim for the last mile. Besides the tire, everything was just fine, so we had a lot to be grateful for. I had cell service, so the truck driver left and Mom and I were stuck in the center of Idaho. I called U-Haul and they sent some nice guys from Tremonton to fix the tire. The whole scenario only put us out two hours (thankfully), and soon enough we were back on the road again.

I had already slept pretty poorly the night before, and with the tire malfunction, I was maybe one of the most alert drivers on the road. Luckily I-84 is not the most traffic heavy thoroughfare, so I didn't have that headache to worry over. My goal, even with the delay, was to get to the state of Washington before we stopped for the night. Luckily we made it a lot further than just in the state. We stopped in Yakima, which is pretty much in the middle of the state. We were welcomed with the smell of sweet grapes, as Yakima is known as Washington's wine country. I think from the time we stopped in Idaho to fix the tire, to the moment we pulled inot the motel parking lot I had not had a moment's feelings of relaxation. At dinner I felt my body finally give into the softness of the padded booth bench, and it took all of my strength to eat my food. After dinner and a nice long shower, I zonked out for about 10 hours. I finally slept really well.

The next day we only had two and a half hours drive to Seattle, so we were able to sleep until 8. That drive was gorgeous, winding in and out of the Cascades. Besides not being able to use a rear view mirror, the other aspect of driving that I never got used to was not being able to pass the slow trucks. I WAS the slow truck. Every once in a while I would come up behind a truck, going about 65, and turn my blinker on and start the process of passing. About half way through I would catch myself and say, "I am NOT driving the Suburban, there's no way I can pass this thing". It happened A LOT, and each time it did Mom and I would laugh harder. You'd think that I would have learned, but as you drivers know, there is a sense of passiveness when taking a road trip, and you start relying on auto-pilot responses. Needless to say, after two days on the road, I have a new found respect for those who drive large cargo types of vehicles. It's hard work! Glad I don't have to deal with that for a long time.

Seattle or Bust!

Sorry my posts have been so freakin infrequent. We loaded up the U-Haul yesterday, and after a really crappy night's sleep....WE'RE OFF!



Here's the route, if anybody cares to know. Do you think I can make it on two tanks of gas towing my Nissan in a gas guzzling van? Pray for me!

Once I get settled and online, I'll let y'all know how the move went. Much love!