lack of updates

I've been neglecting this space. Plenty is going on, but not much is interesting enough to blog about it. Workwise, I've mostly been focused on working on content for the new website. I think it's going to be really nice and, most importantly, usable.

So far summer has been hot and dry, with occasional thundershowers. I'm settling in quite well, but I'm really looking forward to visiting home and taking in all the green and the water--and the city!

Mostly I miss this:

West Seattle, from the Vashon Island ferry, August 13, 2005

And this:

Deception Pass, Summer 2004

Support Mississippi Gulf Coast public libraries!

I don't know why I didn't link to this sooner, but here it is. Pamela Ribon (pamie.com, Why Girls Are Weird) has been running online book drives benefitting public libraries and disaster-stricken communities since 2003. This year, she teamed up with David T. Cole (Television Without Pity) and launched the Dewey Donation System. The 2006 book drive benefits the Harrison County Library System, which was hit hard by Katrina. If you're interested in helping out, click the fancy button in my sidebar.

Edited to add: The button seems to have disappeared, but the code's still there. Hmm. Just use the link above, if you want to donate.

Every Day is Like Sunday

We got some very welcome rain this weekend. Yesterday, trying to capture the feeling of home, I holed up with steaming cups of chai and tried to get some work done. I'm not sure if the stormy skies were to blame, but the power kept going out intermittently and then totally went off for a good part of yesterday afternoon. After lying on my bed for a while, feeling sorry for myself because I couldn't cook anything, finish my laundry, play on the internets updating blogs and paying bills, talk on my phone (I only have cordless), or watch anything saved up on Tivo, I was surprised and delighted by the power coming back on at the precise moment my grad school bff, SJ, decided to call me up and plot our Bumbershoot plan of action.* Looks like we both want to hit Monday, but I need to confirm with my since-we-were-eleven bff, M. If any of my Seattle homies will be there, give me a shout.

Anyway, after my talk with SJ, I got off the bed and back to work, clearing up some piles of paper in my office that were threatening to eat me. Several more person-eating piles remain, of course--much like my office at work. Which reminds me that I have a journal article lined up for winter. I'm quite looking forward to this project and it sure will be nice to have a fresh publication credit ready for my first T&P packet next spring.

*longest sentence ever, not counting Proust?

Fourth of July

I hope you had a nice holiday. I had a good time hanging out at a colleague's home and watching the town's fireworks show.

Answers

Here are the answers to the music quiz thang, in case you're burning up with curiosity. My list looks a lot like it might have when I was in high school. I don't know what that says about me.

1. Anything you want/Everything you need
Erasure, "Don't Dance"

2. I've been lying here so lonely/I've been wishing you would telephone me
Dead or Alive, "Lover Come Back to Me"

3. I've seen the future, I can't afford it/Tell me the truth sir, someone just bought it
ABC, "(How To Be a) Millionaire" --V$

4. I know just what to say/It's just a game I play
The Assembly, "Never Never"

5. There's more besides joyrides/A little house in the countryside
Depeche Mode, "Get the Balance Right"

6. Flying, show me how it feels/As dreams go sinking clouds that must be real
Catherine Wheel, "Balloon"

7. I'll call you sister Carrie but I'll never say it/Mute it to a whisper
The Posies, "Solar Sister" --V$

8. You had something to hide/Should have hidden it shouldn't you
Depeche Mode, "Policy of Truth" --Gwen

9. I walked across an empty land/I knew the pathway like the back of my hand
Keane, "Somewhere Only We Know"

10. Squeaky swings and tall grass/The longest shadows ever cast
Death Cab For Cutie, "Summer Skin"

11. While you make pretty speeches/I'm being cut to shreds
Radiohead, "Like Spinning Plates"

12. I know you didn't mean it and you're sorry that i left/I'll go right on pretending i've got nothing to regret
Mirah, "We're Both So Sorry"

13. Only this (moment)/Holds us (together)
Royksopp, "Only This Moment"

14. Oh Mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head
The Smiths, "I Know It's Over"

15. It's three o'clock in the morning/Or maybe it's four
Cake, "Haze of Love" --Kim

16. Where's the harm in voicing your doubt/You'll find me in the lavatory
Sundays, "You're Not The Only One"

17. Our unsleepable friend/Gets the message on an ill-wind
Morrissey, "Disappointed"

18. Nothing's gonna save you now/No one's gonna change you now
Jon Auer, "Six Feet Under"

19. I want to kill this man but he turned around and ran/I'll kill him with karate that I learned in Japan
Ben Kweller, "I'm On My Way"

20. When I was young and full of grace and spirited--a rattlesnake/When I was young and fever fell my spirit, I will not tell
R.E.M., "I Believe"