just laura

While I really like to travel, I don’t kid myself about being that well traveled. I’ve been through North America and parts of Europe, Latin America, Asia, and India. At last count, I think I’ve visited 19 countries… which is a mere 8% of potential countries to visit. (At last count: Austria, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Monaco, Panama, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City).

Hmmm… guess this means I should get to work on the other 92% of the world’s opportunities. :) Map courtesy of World66.

Shilpgram, India

Unrelated: Last night I dyed my hair pink (with help from Caroline). :)

Unrelated: Mary and Dale celebrated their 2nd wedding anniversary today! Can’t believe it was just 2 years ago on 2/2/02 that I was in snowy WI for the wedding festivities. What fun memories!

“Now what possessed you to do that to your hair?!” (one gray haired woman at the office)

“Oh my god… I love it!!” (every other woman in the entire office)

“Hmmm… have you changed something?” (our new Executive Director… the only male in the office)

“So is your hair purple or pink?” (a kid at the tutoring center)

“My friend has brown hair” (another kid at the tutoring center)

My self portrait of my pony tail isn’t the best, but it gives you an idea. :) Love it or hate it? Feel free to add your own comments. Either way it’s semi-permanent so it’ll wash out in a few weeks…

Bharatpur, India

Had a dream this morning. It’s rather unusual to know I’ve had one. It actually came with visuals instead of a narrative script, which was kind of cool and rare. In the dream, my old roomie Kathy (from my Greenlake apartment) was driving in her Honda to Florida (that’s where she’s from). I was just along for the ride (sunny weather would have been nice), but knew I didn’t have a week’s vacation time to waste. I figured I’d just get out after an hour or a day, or in Montana or something, and take an Amtrak or Greyhound back to Seattle. (Or, depending on how far I got, I thought I might just get out near MN and say hi to Jens since we’d be passing near there anyway). But, turns out her plan was to drive diagonally from WA to FL, and not go across then down. And once I realized this, I knew it made sense but I was still kind of bummed so I decided I should get out and find my way home. However, out of nowhere all of these huge alligators appeared along side the road, spilling into our right lane of highway traffic. We screamed, Kathy had to swerve, and we still ended up running over some of their tails. We we lucky we didn’t plow right into one or we’d have had quite a wreck! And then I woke up.

Just thought I’d share. Anyone else had any good dreams lately?

In the last 2 months I’ve been extremely fortunate to receive four care packages… not a normal event for me! Alyssa’s package was a GF bonanza of foods, Mary’s was a full breakfast package, Meg’s had socks and a teddy bear, and Jens’ was full of CDs. :) However, now it’s my turn to send one. My cousin is heading to Iraq in less than a week and I’m going to put together a care package for him this weekend. According to the internet, good items generally include DVDs, playing cards, spices, wet wipes, magazines, etc. If any has ideas or other suggestions about what to include, or if anyone wants to donate items, do let me know. Thanks!

Bharatpur, India

Tomorrow’s First Thursday. If anyone wants to join me for free live music and free admission till midnight at the Seattle Art Museum, let me know. I’ll probably be down there around 6 or 6:30 and meet up with my old roomie Kathy.

Never mind. I think I’ll probably be working late again tonight. :(

Deeg, India

I was gone for most of November and December, have now been back in Seattle for almost a month, and am already heading out again on Monday for another business trip. This will be my fourth Baltimore trip this year. Last time I went I gave myself a lovely weekend layover in Boston. This time I’m heading to Minnesota afterwards for a lovely Valentine’s weekend layover. :)

Jaipur, India

Fun Fact: In the last 24 hours, I’ve had over 1,000 visitors on my website. (Needless to say, that’s a bit higher than normal).

Another Fun Fact: Airline tickets between Seattle and Austin are only $163 right now on Travelocity! While that is the cheapest I’ve ever seen them, I just used up most of my vacation time in India so I don’t know if I’ll get to take a trip back right now. However, I’m all about giving my couch to visitors if anyone wants to come to Seattle!

In Other Exciting News: Yesterday I burned popcorn and flooded my apartment and surrounding apartments with nasty black smoke. It was really quite lame. Honest.

Jaipur, India

This morning I participated in the WA state presidential caucus. It was my first time being a part of a caucus and was quite educational. I’ll have to post more later… for now I need to get breakfast and run errands. :)

Posted new pictures: I leave for Baltimore today for another business trip, and realize that I haven’t even posted pictures from my last Baltimore business trip (or my trip to Boston that I did the weekend before). So, check out the new Boston and Baltimore pics if you’d like. It was a good trip: I saw ex-boyfriend Chris and his wife Aimee, my old college roomie Matt, and college friends and coworkers Sameer, John, and Laura. :) Sadly, this trip to Baltimore won’t give me any time to see friends as I’ll be staying at a retreat center an hour outside of town.

Mr. Destructo (a very cute and naughty little boy)

My flights to Baltimore were uneventful… on my leg to Atlanta, I took a whole row to nap in, then watched a bad George Clooney movie (Intolerable Cruelty… I think they were talking about the film’s effects on the audience). Started reading a new book on the leg from Atlanta to Baltimore: “The Day I Turned Uncool: Confessions of a Reluctant Grownup.” It was much more entertaining than the movie was and so I entertained myself with that instead. :)

In the New Tibetan Camp, these shoe shine boys followed me around for a few hours… first asking to shine my shoes, then becoming more bold and asking for photos and kisses.

re in Baltimore is going well. Monday night went till 1am. Yesterday went till 1am too. This morning I’ve got lots of meetings, and tomorrow I get to lead two workshops (not quite excited, but a part of the job I guess). What is exciting is the wireless internet the conference center is equipped with. Also exciting was the email Jens sent yesterday… apparently he’s going to cook for us this weekend! Sounds fabulous to me! :)

Happy (belated) Birthday to Caroline! It was on Monday and while I forgot to post the birthday wishes, I definitely thought happy birthday thoughts on the plane! :)

Yesterday was lots of group bonding here in Baltimore… and it was good. :)

Servant at our hotel (a very sweet boy)

a good day at the conference. Last night I took my team out for a night on the town (ie. lots of drinking) and ended up pretty tired from the lack of sleep. However, while I wasn’t too excited about leading the workshops, they both turned out really well. The evals were all very positive, and the only “area for improvement” was that they wanted more time in the workshop. Not bad, eh? It was a good end to a good conference. Only sad part about these are all of the friendships and connections made with amazing folks around the country where you know there’s slim chance you’ll ever see any again. Kind of sad, but still incredibly worthwhile. :)

At 4am, I’m leaving for the airport and heading on to MN. Wohoo!

Sweet kid in Shilpgram, India

Made it to MN okay after tons of wrong turns on the way to the BWI airport nearly made me miss my flight. :) It’s about 12 degrees here in the Twin Cities (brrr!) but the sun and blue skies make everything lovely. Spent yesterday lounging with Jens, drinking coffee, and watching Spellbound (great documentary on the national spelling bee!). The kosher food at the retreat center wasn’t very gluten free, so I ate very little decent food all week (iceberg lettuce for lunch, banana for breakfast, etc). Happily, in St. Paul I had real food for the first time all week… excellent Thai for lunch and fabulous Mexican for dinner!

Today is my last day in MN visiting Jens and this morning the sky has gone from bright blue to dull gray in honor of my return flight back to Seattle. However, I can’t really complain. It’s been beautiful all weekend with sunny days, bright blue skies, and lots of nice folks. I got to see Mike and Elizabeth (many thanks for a lovely creme brulee party). Got to hang out with both Lukes and their fun, assorted friends (many thanks to Luke R for ticket’s to NPR’s Talking Volumes where we saw a great reading by Neil Gaiman. And, of course, I got to hang out with Jens (which was fabulous). :)

Me and Jens in Minnesota (self portrait on 2-16-04)

“Is this love that I’m feeling? Is this the love that I’ve been looking for? Is this love, or am I dreaming? This must be love… cause it’s really got a hold on me.” Whitesnake was confused by love back in 1987, and they weren’t alone in their struggle with this difficult question. Lucky for us, scientists from Emory University have taken over where Whitesnake left off. They’ve just pinpointed the science of love and might now be capable of answering that age old question… as published last month in the Journal of Comparative Neurology, and now republished for our ease in a condensed article on economist.com. Read on to learn all about fun and exciting stuff like vasopressin, oxytocin, and sex. :)

www.gaypenguinforamerica.com: could he be the candidate that will beat Bush?

Many times in life we’re too busy or too distracted by all kinds of stuff that we’re unable to objectively look at our own lives. You find yourself one day wondering where the months have gone, how you’ve lost touch with someone, how things got to the place they did. Other times, however, we’re actually able to stand outside of daily life and look back in. I’ve recently found myself feeling more and more distant from one friend and I can track each week how we’re becoming even more and more distant (it sucks, btw, but I don’t feel I can do anything about it). At the same time, I’ve also recently realized that two random, casual friends have opened up a lot lately and are sharing more and more about their previously private lives. Isn’t it odd… when you feel yourself losing one friend while unrelated others somehow open up more in their place? While I appreciate this opportunity for some clarity in my life, I wish it were something easier… something less painful… something more superficial.

Wednesday night was the Blogger meetup at Bauhaus and there were lots of familiar faces. (Many thanks to Jake for compiling the URLs). Folks that go way back include…
Anitarowland.com,
Burningpaper.net,
8bitjoystick.com,
phillustrations.com,
Thenyoudiscover.com,
Flipdingo.com,
buffoonery.org,
Jerrykindall.com, and
Beans For Breakfast. New folks or folks I’ve only talked to a few times include… Wiredfool.com, Blether.org, Jack, Ted Leung on the air, Seedlings & Sprouts, jpstewart.org, Radicalcongruency.com, Miscmedia.com, Ajarn’s SQL Corner, Dream tomorrow, and Lion’s Den. I think that’s most of the list. Ted & Julie had their kids there too… but I don’t think the girls had blogs yet. :)

Scott and I at Austin’s Carnaval in 2/2000

Carnival happens around the world in February and this Saturday Seattle will be doing it’s thing. I’m hoping to attend the Show Brazil Carnival celebration happening this Saturday evening… though it doesn’t look anywhere near as elaborate as the Austin Carnaval. Apparently the Seattle crowd doesn’t even dress up… no costumes, no giant puppets, no all-night dance-till-dawn party. Seems kind of sad, but still feel I should do my part to celebrate where I can. :)

I recently finished watching the complete boxed set of My So Called Life on DVD. :) The show was out in the early 90s and it’s been just as powerful for me now as it was back when I was an impressionable, emotional teenager like everyone else growing up in the Gen-X, grunge, flannel, post-Curt world. It’s been pretty great… I think I’m reliving my crush on Jordan (and a bit of a crush on Angela). :) Anyone care to admit who they had a crush on in ’94 (or have a crush on presently)?

Last night Vlad and I went out to dinner and he passed along a fun little fact: the Seattle Art Museum does free film screenings. Today they’re showing “Spirited Away” from 1:30-3:30 in the Plestcheeff Auditorium. We’ll both be there… anyone care to join us? :)

“Someone exploded another bus this morning, just a block from my apartment.
Like last time, I’m shaken, but safe. Please keep the victims, both the
murdered and the local residents, in your thoughts today. Their suffering
is unwarranted. Much love, J”

This email is from the same college buddy of mine living in Jerusalem studying Judaism that I mentioned a few weeks ago. We can ready daily articles in the news about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and we can look at the bloody aftermath pictures, but knowing someone living there right now really brings home the issue for me. Today’s suicide bomber killed 8 innocent people and injured 59 more in a bus explosion. Body parts and shattered glass were scattered across a two-block radius. Can you imagine not even feeling safe riding the bus? It’s something so basic I take for granted getting to work, going to dinner, heading to a movie on the weekend. My friend won’t take public transit and instead rides a bike everywhere b/c he fears being killed by a bomb on the bus. And it’s not an unwarranted fear. It’s a real life threat for people living in Jerusalem. The last bomb happened within 2 hours of him being outside the Prime Minister’s house . This one happened within 1 block of where he lives. Sad world we live in some days…

And I’m taking my book and a blanket to Golden Gardens. :)

Saturday: Spirited Away with Vlad and friends was much fun. As Manny said, it was a good escape for a few hours. After the movie, we wandered Pike Place (which is always therapeutic for me). I picked up some produce, decided to skip Carnival, went home and cooked some coconut lentil soup and made smoothies. I figured staying at home would be preferable to going to a Carnival event that had reserved seating (how can you dance?).

Sunday: Beach was sunny and wonderful and I got a little pink on my cheeks and nose. Sunday night I took my team to go see the Sonics play at the Key Arena. We beat the Celtics by about 20 points and everyone seemed to have a good time. :)

Happy birthday wishes go out to Charlie, Kat, and Andy this week! :)

Today the printer was slacking off… not printing envelopes right and sometimes going a little skimpy on the ink. I didn’t want to make any assumptions about the decreasing quality of it’s work or about the printer’s motivation for slacking, so I knew the only solution was for me to have a little heart to heart with the toner. Be open, honest, and give the toner a little pep talk. I’d be supportive and open minded, but would remain firm in my expectations for high quality printing. Sadly, the pep talk backfired and the toner exploded at me. Well, more specifically, exploded all over me and down the leg of my only “nice” khakis… you know, the one pair that actually fits nice and looks acceptable for wear to work? Well, now they’re just stained with angry black ink. Damn me and my attempts at being communicative and supportive. You just can’t win with some printers…

Last night I posted pictures of my most recent Baltimore trip. I made a stop by Minnesota on the way home, so there are pictures of that too. Speaking of… I’ve gotten a bunch of questions after I posted 2 pics of me and Jens last week, so I might as well give some answers. Some questions were subtle (“The boy in the photo… is he a nice boy?”). The other 7 or 8 readers to question me were more direct with questions like “So he’s your love interest?” or “Who’s your young man? He looks quite dapper.” Anyway, for those that had questions: his name is Jens, and yes – he’s a nice boy, and yes – it’s true that I’ve got a crush on him. We met in MN, hung out together for a few weeks in India, and then hung out in MN for Valentines. Sadly, you guessed it, he lives in MN so I don’t really know where that leaves us, except half way across the country from each other. There. Now you know as much as I know. :) Additional questions? Thoughts? Comments? Advice? Observations? Want to see photos?

As we approach the end of February, let’s pause to reflect. This is a month of anniversaries for me…

3 years: my anniversary of my move to Seattle (and anniversary of the Nesqually Quake and Mardi Gras riots)

2 years: my anniversary at my job (and 2 year since my trip to WI to be in Mary and Dale’s wedding)

1 year: my aniversary of buying a car (and anniversary of a loved one’s suicide… very sad memories there)

And happy Leap Year Birthday to Mrs. Klimpt, my 4th grade teacher! She was gray haired and celebrating birthday 9 or 10 back in the mid-80s when she was my teacher. :) And I thought having a birthday right before Christmas was lame… how much would it suck to only have one every fourth year? Anyway, I’m off to a party and a play. Take care!