Phil's Life in Pictures

Austin: World of Fantasy

2011-12-20T23:59:00.000-08:00

Austin Texas! I went to Joanna and Toshia's apartment, a 3-minute walk away from this:

Inside they had Japanese Batman t-shirts, santa-hatted Hulk, and the stop-motion Ben Franklin special that they don't show in Canada for some reason:
We went out for Tex Mex right quick, as one should in Texas. I'm surprised it took me this long to take my first picture of this little darling:
We couldn't finish our meals, which is also pretty America. But Freebirds' takeout boxes reminded me that I was in a safe and supportive city:
It wasn't enough Tex-Mex, of course, so we went to Baby A's for dinner and Everclear purple margaritas. I agree with Rockin' Spanish Santa:

Uncertain Origin

2011-12-19T23:59:00.001-08:00

Bengali woman on the plane: "This is a nice pen! Where is it from?"

Me: ... [don't say Gallifrey don't say Gallifrey don't say Gallifrey]

Travel Day

2011-12-19T23:59:00.000-08:00

Travel days used to mean waking up at god-awful o'clock, until I just stopped sleeping. The day wasn't bad, though, and I ran into a couple of Facebook friends of mine on the sky shuttle:

The Metro

2011-12-18T23:59:00.000-08:00

I always think "aw man! The Metro always play the movies I want to see when I'm out of town." Then I remember that they always play the movies I want to see all the time.

Almost Home

2011-12-15T23:59:00.000-08:00

Neil, Nijmegen's tour guide extraordinaire, also pointed me to the best place to layover in O'Hare:

He was right, of course, a byproduct of the fact that he appears to know everything. The beer was tasty, and the bar was a good place to stage this photo depicting le chat losing one of his last legs:

Silly Things in Amsterdam

2011-12-14T23:59:00.001-08:00

Here's how Madame Tussaud thinks of our President - not far off?

Here is what, for the love of God, a SHOPPING MALL looks like in Europe.
Finally, we have found it:
This is not the steepest staircase I saw, nor the steepest staircase at a place of intoxication:
Here's one of Holland's pervasive bicycle attack zones:
If it takes you fewer than three days of almost getting hit to remember how to pick these out, you're a better traveler than I am.

Amsterdam Picnic

2011-12-14T23:59:00.000-08:00

My plan was to spend my last 28 hours in Holland awake and wandering the streets of Amsterdam. Luckily, Pud could spend the first 7 or so hanging out in Amsterdam with me. We managed to do everything we wanted, including grocery-store cheese and The Other Heineken, which we enjoyed at a canal-side picnic:

Where we managed to fend off a concerted attack by the local pigeons:

Research Party!

2011-12-13T23:59:00.000-08:00

I gave my talk yesterday (comments: "That was the fastest talk I've ever seen"; "You've reached the point where you don't know what you're doing any more") which meant today I could just chill like Broca and Wernicke over here:
I also got to explore the posters at leisure, and they were mostly delightful:Afterwards we headed downtown, spotting our only Dutch windmill from afar:

APhL closed out our journey together with a putative lab tradition (and longstanding Pud tradition), special tasty pizzas.

Edutainment

2011-12-12T23:59:00.001-08:00

Our hosts took us out for a night on the Nijmegen, where we got to see what I want all of my walls to look like:

...while visiting the museum built around Nijmegen's oldest wall-slash-cesspit:

They had pretty scary monster statues, too, except they turn out to be plague-doctor statues:

Then it was off to dinner at the armory, where everything comes with goat cheese and every beer is Belgian:
Then a few of us went out to chase bikes to a 600 year old pub. I can think of few better descriptions of Holland.

The Hajj

2011-12-12T23:59:00.000-08:00

Today we made our first pilgrimage to one of Psycholinguistics' holiest sites. I can only barely believe that it's real: A federal-level research institute in my subfield. Hosting a conference on my thesis topic. It's hard not to think of it as research paradise.

Favourable Exchange Rates

2011-12-10T23:59:00.001-08:00

If somebody on the street asks to buy a cigarette off me, I usually just give them a cigarette. If some people on the street offer to give me a beer for a cigarette, well....

Nightlife

2011-12-10T23:59:00.000-08:00

Charlotte and Tyler are here! I showed them the winter wonderland/nightclub district near the hostel, where all the bars were packed. And all the chairs on the street were packed:

... because it turns out that the soccer game the high Australians invited me to watch was kind of a big deal. Fortunately Tyler and Charlotte passed a nice quiet street-corner cafe on the way to find me, so we went there to catch the rest of the game. And to have smoooooooth Belgian beers. Yes indeed.

Leaving the World

2011-12-09T23:59:00.000-08:00

Amsterdam! Which I've been left to explore on my own for 36 hours. Few photos of this period have turned out to be postable. But here's one of the surprising store names:

And here's a store that I've seen _as often as McDonald's_ in the entertainment districts:And here's the bar-hotel-coffeeshop I wound up at later in the evening. Someone from Amsterdam, tell me this is a place where the hipsters go. I walked by not thinking about it, and suddenly it was like an alarm went off. A hipster alarm. I went in. To investigate.

Loyalty Rewards

2011-12-07T23:59:00.001-08:00

I got this latte for free, maybe because I spend more time at this cafe than some of the employees. Also, at Transcend 'latte' doesn't just mean you spent too much for that coffee. It means you spent too much for that coffee and it's f*cking delicious.

Collector's Edition

2011-12-06T23:59:00.000-08:00

Saw The Muppets again! This time with Chris and Olivia. We stopped by Indigo afterwards, in case we needed a toy version of Kermit the Frog encased in carbonite. Or in case we needed to actually play yahtzee, presumably by rattling dice around kermit's empty shell.

Farewell for now

2011-12-02T23:59:00.000-08:00

Antti Arppe's been recalled to Finland to share his quantitative linguistics goodness with the home country, but I'm sure I'll get to see him again. Until then, I'll have to make do by telling anybody who interviews me that they should hire him instead.

Like a Star on High

2011-11-29T23:59:00.000-08:00

After weeks of panicking, 24 straight hours of collecting, writing, revising, printing, and photocopying, two buses, a train, and the bleak, impossibly muddy sidewalks of south Edmonton's industrial park wasteland, suddenly there it was: the place I could take my job application at 4:30 pm to get it 3000 kilometers away by the next morning. I almost wept.

This one's for Chris

2011-11-25T23:59:00.000-08:00

I laughed, at first, at the fact that all-around rockstar Chris Cox's alma mater is the place to go if you choose your University by "best chance for admission". Then I realized that I would go anywhere that could make a person jump like that. Then I realized that we ABSOLUTELY MUST RECREATE THIS PHOTO.

Hearth and Home

2011-11-24T23:59:00.000-08:00

Paula was kind enough to have the department over for an American Thanksgiving potluck full of delicious food, warm friends, and good conversation. And so her cat could video-tape our butts.

A Mare Usque Ad Mare

2011-11-22T21:00:00.000-08:00

It is GO TIME.

Endurance

2011-11-14T23:59:00.000-08:00

Graffiti that's still readable after a coat of paint? I'd say so.

Light Minutes

2011-11-10T23:59:00.000-08:00

I only ever go to observatories by serendipity. Tonight it was when the PhD Comics movie was cancelled just in time for the Physicists' five-story Foucault pendulum to lure Chris, Olivia and I onto the roof.

Mars Returns!

2011-10-22T23:59:00.000-07:00

Martha came to town! For, let's say, Sullay's defense party. She and Mary are better at vogueing than I am at using my new camera.

Sever the head, or destroy the brain

2011-10-02T23:59:00.000-07:00

Michelle came to visit! I asked her what she wanted to do at the largest mall in the hemisphere. She wanted to do this:

It was frightening, the gun shooting. But not because of the zombies, who were easy to address:

The Italian Centre

2011-08-11T23:59:00.000-07:00

POPPYSEED MASS: WITH DELICACIES. AMT is deeply uncertain.

Lenio-Nentwig

2011-07-23T23:59:00.000-07:00

The first Lenio wedding! An honour to attend. And I don't remember who caught the bouquet, but at least one of these women got engaged before I could post this.

A New Day

2011-07-22T13:38:00.000-07:00

George and I got to the airport a little early, which gave me a chance to play with my new camera.

Tee hee hee

2011-07-19T19:17:00.000-07:00

New camera is in the mail. For now I'll have to make do with juvenille random forest humour.

Wishful Doing

2011-07-10T23:59:00.000-07:00

My chapters would be done, I was sure, in time to take a weekend off in early July to go camping. What I'm sure of now is that I can't take any more weekends off. Oh, and also that if you capsize a canoe with a camera in your pocket, you'll need to find yourself a new camera.

Wrongcuts

2011-07-08T23:59:00.000-07:00

It turns out my shortcuts tend to turn out to be long-messy-painful-cuts when I'm steering a canoe, too.

New ground

2011-07-01T23:59:00.000-07:00

I forgot whether I took this before boarding at YEG or YWG, so I had to look it up. I was surprised.

Yeesh

2011-06-26T23:59:00.000-07:00

We get it, Jasper. You're beautiful. Yeesh.

Edith Cavell

2011-06-25T23:59:00.000-07:00

I went fifth-wheeling in Jasper this weekend with Steve, Kristen, Lisa, and Sorin and had a great time. We got to camp, whitewater-raft, and check out a few glaciers I hadn't seen before. All on Saturday.

Not awake, not sleeping

2011-06-22T23:59:00.000-07:00

Here's another self-portrait that didn't make the cut, despite how much it looks like the way I spend most of my time.

Calgary Comics Expo

2011-06-18T23:59:00.001-07:00

Went to Calgary for a comics thing with Trev. I recognized this handwriting and got VERY EXCITED:

Also I took a couple of potential self-portraits for sixsee:

Hard Day

2011-06-18T23:59:00.000-07:00

You'd start smoking too if you had this kind of sh*t to put up with.

Locked out!

2011-06-17T23:59:00.000-07:00

Trev and I went to check whether his art had been laser-etched into the sidewalk as part of 118 Ave's revitalization project. On the way, we found out that they take this Canada Post lockout pretty literally.

Bad news good news

2011-06-16T23:59:00.000-07:00

I was sad when I saw that the Garneau was closing, until I heard that by "closing" they mean "showing even better films"

Nonplussed

2011-06-15T23:59:00.000-07:00

Trev's in town! Here's how we reacted at the exact moment Game 7 finally ended.

Self-Portrait

2011-06-14T23:59:00.000-07:00

I joined another photo project, and our first assignment is to take 4 self portraits within an hour documenting said hour. Which means I'll be spending the next week or so walking around like this:

Staying Grounded

2011-06-02T23:59:00.000-07:00

No summer job means no routine, which means my sense that I have a reason to be in the world is unraveling. Which is why it's always good to spend time with friends.

Georgetown

2011-05-28T23:59:00.000-07:00

At Trev's suggestion, I stopped by Georgetown on the way to the airport. I picked up a surreal comic book at Fantagraphics and a deeelicious coffee at All City Coffee. I also went to a music shop, where they let me noodle on a resonator, a banjo uke, an archtop, and a 60's guitar made out of doors and leather:

Local Music

2011-05-27T23:59:00.001-07:00

Easy Street Records had Pearl Jam and Nirvana in the "Local" section, which made me guffaw. I didn't think that kind of band should count. But then I meandered into the film festival and saw the drummer from Hole introduce the documentary about her journey from celebrity drummer to crack whore to sober, married dog-walker:

The hostess asked the crowd: "How many of you have played in a band with Patty?" and 5 or 10 people raised their hands, and people cheered when the film mentioned her high school punk bands. So I guess Hole counts as local.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

2011-05-27T23:59:00.000-07:00

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sights and Sounds

2011-05-26T23:59:00.000-07:00

Today was your standard conference-mix of meandering in search of strange foods and interesting places:

And poster viewing:

Unlikely coincidence

2011-05-25T17:31:00.000-07:00

I was glancing around while eating at a food court, and I saw a sign that I was pretty sure I couldn't have read correctly:

It turns out some metalsmiths got tasked with making some steampunk artifacts, and they came up with some neat designs. Iridescent personal nuclear reactor neclaces:And copper crayfish:
Among them

Because it was pretty?

2011-05-24T23:59:00.000-07:00

Advice for poster design: Don't add a chart that you will realize, when you tack your poster to the board, that you forget what the chart means, how you made it, and whether it has anything at all to do with the rest of the poster.

Seattle Seafood

2011-05-23T23:59:00.001-07:00

I wound up at a seafood restaurant on the Sound with a bunch of engineering students, which would be fine if I got paid like one. Still, good view, and good company.

oy

2011-05-23T23:59:00.000-07:00

When you design anything - anything at all - please, for your own sake, show it to a 12-year old boy before you show it to the general public.

Cataloguing

2011-05-20T23:59:00.000-07:00

I figured I'd take a picture of this sign when I suddenly remembered that it wasn't normal.

Looking Good, Feeling Good

2011-05-18T23:59:00.000-07:00

We waited until the day I left, but we did finally make it to the Lotus Tea House. It got pricier, lunchwise.

The Solomon Douglas Swingtet

2011-05-16T23:59:00.000-07:00

The Lindy Hop scene in Waterloo looked pretty solid, though it may just have been the live music.

Makeing Blinkybugs

2011-05-15T23:59:00.000-07:00

We finally put together the blinkybugs I got for my birthday! Like, my last birthday. They blink!

Time... is marching on. And time.... is still marching on.

2011-05-12T23:59:00.001-07:00

Chau and Jason's friends all happened to be coming from out of town at the same time. Hence Billingsworth. Jason appears unmoved, but it's a front.

Freeman Frigging Dyson

2011-05-12T23:59:00.000-07:00

Freemon Friggin Dyson! I've whined wistfully a little about Waterloo changing, but bringing Freeman Dyson and Stephen Hawking to my little hometown are the kinds of change I am ALL FOR.

The Brothel

2011-05-11T23:59:00.000-07:00

I took Mii on my latest pilgrimage to the brothel. It looks like some student housing company owns it now, so I guess the Koops won't have to keep fixing the bathtub, and the deathtrap attic staircase has probably been altered. Oh well.

Air and Space

2011-05-07T23:59:00.000-07:00

"The" Smithsonian is actually more than a dozen museums. Dad's pointing to the one we're in here:

We chose Air and Space, for obvious reasons. That is: you get to TOUCH THE FUCKING MOON LIKE YOU WERE A FUCKING GOD:

Plus you can see a bunch of firsts up close, and stare into the cockpit of a couple of Apollo Command Modules:

And they keep a couple of ICBMs there, in the lobby:

And if you happen to get there on space day, you get to watch a bunch of schoolchildren call the International Space Station:

Sightseeing

2011-05-06T23:59:00.000-07:00

Why take photos of things that everybody's seen zillions of pictures of anyway? How do you make yourself care? The easy way is to stick your face in them.The slightly less easy way is to wait for them to be so ugly that no-one's taking pictures of them:
The best way is to forget about them and take pictures of other things. Like the shoe trend I hope will be sweeping the nation OR MY CLOSET:
TEDDY BEAR SHOES. CAPITAL LETTERS OF AMAZEMENT. Also: Muckrakers for evil:
And parents! And the meeting of parents. And the parents' meeting of parents. Eek.

1 out of 3 is real

2011-05-05T11:59:00.000-07:00

I wondered for a while if NIST would have The Foot or The Metre or something, but they don't. They have a Kilogram, but it's a replica, and it's in their museum. It's near the first ever commercially displayed neon light:

And The Bat, the first ever guided missile:

It's official

2011-05-04T23:59:00.001-07:00

I knew the nation's capitol hadn't forgotten why the nation was founded, but I didn't know it was on the official license plates.

NIST

2011-05-04T23:59:00.000-07:00

I'm at NIST for a conference, and the conference includes a tour. They showed us $19 000 lightbulbs:

3000°K Russian blackbody sun-simulators:

2°K optical-power-testing laser chambers:

Futuristic consumer lamps:
And research-purpose disco ceilings:
Science!

Standards

2011-05-04T09:27:00.000-07:00

This courtyard at NIST has scalloped-roof architecture and a sundial from 1948, which makes it the easiest place I've been so far to pretend I work near Richard Feynman. Also, it has geese.

Pho & Grill

2011-05-03T23:59:00.000-07:00

I was sleeping or driving instead of taking pictures on the often-charming drive to D.C., so this is all I've got: Pho comes with jalapeno peppers in Maryland.

Realigning Election

2011-05-02T22:50:00.000-07:00

This is what it looked like at the last moment that I thought I understood what was about to happen.

Angie's Brunch

2011-05-01T23:59:00.000-07:00

I'd like to get everyone who has a favourite post onto the blog, so I was sad that this was the only usable picture of my new favourite Kryptonian.

She was air-singing 80's songs, too, when I had forgotten my camera. Gah. Anyway, Jason and Chau came for brunch too. But Jason only eats babies.

Lighting

2011-04-30T23:59:00.000-07:00

Mii's father measures light, so his shop is full of spheres. She pointed out that they don't have to be spheres, but I guess the shop floors aren't strong enough to hold the kind of mass you'd need to pull all the light into an easy-to-measure point.

Keeping it in the Family

2011-04-29T23:59:00.001-07:00

This Lenio-Nentwig Stag and Doe is totally the reason I came to Waterloo. The Lenios handled the MCing, and the winning of prizes.

Special Volunteers

2011-04-29T23:59:00.000-07:00

When you take someone special to your hometown you get to show them all the places you remember from being a kid. But what if they're from your hometown?

It turns out you go by accident to where you sort of met. Just to make sure it was real.

Happy Day!

2011-04-26T20:36:00.000-07:00

I love this old cloth bag. I keep my knitting in it. It makes me want to found The Happy Day Knitting Corporation. I promise I'm not delirious right now. Probably.

Democracy!

2011-04-25T14:40:00.000-07:00

I _did_ get around to voting. Just so you'd know that I'm not a total degenerate.

Agnes with Lamb

2011-04-24T23:59:00.000-07:00

For part 2 (3?) of my Very Mary Easter, she had me and her boss over for asparagus, ceaser salad with homemade dressing, mashed potatoes, mushrooms, knitting, and this leg of lamb.

Holy Week Indeed

2011-04-23T23:59:00.000-07:00

Twice in three days I'm in church! There were way more songs at the vigil, though. To keep it interesting, every reading and psalm seemed to be performed by someone who was either a non-native speaker of English or totally gay. Or both. Hard to be sure. Great times.

Democracy Inaction

2011-04-22T23:59:00.000-07:00

The original plan was to head downtown to vote, but Mary texted to remind me to observe day-beer day. I can vote tomorrow, right?

Holy Week

2011-04-21T23:59:00.000-07:00

I went to mass today to hear Alex sing. It's been quite some while since I've been to a washing of the feet.

Fine Work

2011-04-20T23:59:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, this sleeve is much too large.

How Rude

2011-04-19T21:12:00.000-07:00

Excuse me, insta-blizzard, but I was trying to make a post about how it's sunny. Would you mind?

Hot and Cool

2011-04-18T23:59:00.000-07:00

I guess Marshall McLuhan was born in Edmonton. I got to be a part of his exhibit at YEG:

Also, if it didn't have his name across the top, who would you think this was a picture of?

Information Entropy

2011-04-14T21:42:00.000-07:00

Yes, thank you, I'd noticed.

Fireside Chats

2011-04-13T23:59:00.000-07:00

Rachelle had a pretty literal housewarming party full of foresters and artists, though not very full of Rachelle. It was also a last-day-of-class party, and as an instructor I felt moved to dress for the occasion:

miracles

2011-04-12T20:00:00.000-07:00

So then, what was your science before? And I have a follow up question: TEINT MIRACLE? Natural light creator? Bare skin perfection? This is a joke, right?

Don't study at the Remedy

2011-04-11T20:51:00.000-07:00

So! I've finished my dissertation work for the day. What to do next..... what to do.......... hmm....

Seasonal Affect

2011-04-10T18:48:00.000-07:00

It's 6C out, which is apparently warm enough that hardier souls than I can sit outside to drink their coffee.

Digging In

2011-04-09T23:59:00.000-07:00

You really feel like a local when you get invited to a house party in the suburbs for the first time. Alex was a delightful host, providing these home-made cupcakes, tiramisu, Mexican dip, veggies, grape-almond-cilantro salad MY GOD, and more wine and Lychee Martinis than one should drink.

Ha.

2011-04-08T15:41:00.000-07:00

Great work, Canada Post. Thanks for telling me yesterday that a package arrived for me over a month ago. The package that I called you about two weeks ago when I found out that it was already being returned to sender. What a happy 1000th post surprise.

Sigh

2011-04-07T19:05:00.000-07:00

I can't tell whether Stephen Harper has just bitten the head off of your child or is about to pop your spouse in the mouth, but I can tell you that Liberal bias is just as annoying as Conservative bias. I also think that if American conservatives came to Canada they might finally realize that the institutional liberal bias that they're fighting in U.S. media is actually institutional bias against the batshit insane.

Quick Turnaround

2011-04-05T19:41:00.000-07:00

It's really happening! I'm going to Winnipeg! For about 90 minutes, sure, but I still get to check off another province.

Jolie et Courageuse

2011-04-03T23:59:00.000-07:00

They picked the right person to put on top of this stack of cards, I'll tell ya. Also note:

Starlite

2011-04-02T23:59:00.000-07:00

I think if I got to play at Starlite I would feel like I had made the cover of Rolling Stone. The Provincial Archive did a damn fine job as usual, and the quality of their music probably made them at least a few dozen new fans.

Half Measures

2011-04-01T17:39:00.001-07:00

I'll bet everybody in a long distance relationship does this: find the place half-way between you and imagine visiting it together. We all know that it's romantic and foolish, since we could probably get two separate visits to each other for about the same price. It's too bad - I'd love an excuse to visit Winnipeg.

2011-03-31T18:58:00.000-07:00

"Man," I wondered, "Why is Dallin acting like he doesn't know me?" Then suddenly SWEET JESUS TWO DALLINS:

Living in a Powder Keg and Giving Off Sparks

2011-03-30T17:56:00.000-07:00

Popular love songs are like new age spirituality: Supremely cheesy, which makes it that much more annoying when you find out that some of them are accurate descriptions of important things. They're unlike new age spirituality in that these days I _can_ _not_ _get_ _enough_.

Let's stick with "Cash Monet Caravita"

2011-03-29T19:41:00.000-07:00

Apparently 12 visitors to my blog were sorely disappointed. They bounced pretty quick.

Deals

2011-03-29T17:46:00.000-07:00

Any time you want me to wait in line to buy us some food that you'll pay for, you go right ahead and ask.

That Time Of Year

2011-03-28T19:42:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I still haven't had an excuse to talk about the flyest way of calling an election.

Fine Arts

2011-03-26T23:59:00.000-07:00

Arts Days with Dad continued Saturday. We started at the market, where we found the best balloon artist I've ever seen. If I'd had $5, I'd have asked for a set of wings for myself.

Then back to the Art Gallery, for the Lawren Harris/Walter Phillips/Emily Carr goodness that we had saved for today. No pictures allowed, except when you're having restorative coffee to prepare for the next round of beauty:

The Dad's Visit

2011-03-25T23:59:00.001-07:00

My Dad is in town, to attend the My-Dad-Is-In-Town Conference, obviously:

He's kind of a big deal. You can tell because all of those Dr.s are, like, Doctor-Doctors. I took him to see the AGA, which we got in to for free!

The AGA is currently hosting a series of exhibits with the following theme: "Give Phil Stendahl Syndrome." - Brian Jungen, Lawren Harris, Walter J. Phillips, Emily Carr, and some seriously magnificent carved Haida art objects, along with modern works that Robert Davidson created using what he calls the traditional grammar of Haida art. I died.

Then we went out for apple-mango-tofu, which Dad avoided bodily.

Guh, the world.

2011-03-25T23:59:00.000-07:00

This is the line for people buying coffee. It extends past a table at which Engineers Without Borders will offer to give you free fair trade coffee. I am disheartened.

Go Go Gadget Music!

2011-03-24T18:04:00.001-07:00

Having a place of solace or excitement along my commute can make a huge difference. Moonlit Waterloo Park is out, here, so I'm glad I have the Fine Arts Building.

Onigiri for 日本

2011-03-23T14:09:00.000-07:00

This is the highest-energy bake sale I've ever seen. Most people don't hold the signs at all, let alone run around shouting happily while holding them over their heads. And when they find out you're their Japanese-speaking Linguistics sensei, they go APESHIT with the 礼s and gozaimasses. They'll be back Friday, if you'd like some of that.

No plan at all is not the plan

2011-03-22T23:59:00.000-07:00

Getting across this bridge wasn't always easy. But after 7 years, 1 psychiatrist, 5 counselors, 5 types of antidepressants (from three different classes), more doctors than I can count and more destroyed relationships and wasted life than I can stand to think about, I found something that actually works. Believe me as someone who's been through it, and who knows that it's usually impossible to believe: Getting happy is possible. And being happy is worth it. I promise.