Earthquakes, Hail, and lots of Boars

Wow, it has been a crazy two weeks in Northern California. First of all, there were two earthquakes!! Neither of which I felt.



Then there was this crazy hail storm.



That turned everything white for like two minutes.



And then it was Chinese New Year!



2007 is the year of the Boar



So, there were little piggies everywhere!



Really, everywhere.



The night ended with a parade.



I am a sucker for a good parade. I love them. This one was really good. It was filled with so much color and movement, my camera couldn't keep up.



This is when part of the dragon's tail (there were many dragons) flew right over me. It was very exciting.







Here come the piggies!



Shakin' their rumps.



Happy New Year from SF!

Welcome!

Elsa Danielle Jarvis was born last night at 5:30 EST. She weighs 6lbs and is 19" long. Overcome with joy and emotion, Elsa's Grandma Sarah described her to me as, "One of those skinny bitches."



These are her fingers...



And these are her toes!



They are so wrinkley!

Newborns are funny like that...to me they seem prehistoric like Turtles, or E.T.



They also seem very wise...

Traveling Light

I haven't been losing so much lately as I've been letting go, and Elizabeth Bishop was right -- it isn't really that hard to master. Cities and houses. T-shirts and friends. Saying goodbye is no real disaster.

Holiday Recipe

1) Frosted neon rainbows
2) Speared citrus' on a stick
3) Friends you cannot live without

My First Trip to Wine Country

Last month I visited my friends in northern California. It was really fun. We ate lots of sushi, walked up lots of hills in inappropriate footware, and drank lots of wine. The best part of the trip was the day we spent in Sonoma.


The weather that day was perfect, and the autumn scenery was breathtaking.....


Beautiful.


Gorgeous.


Wish you were here.


Our tourguide, sniffing the bouquet....


I think we went to eight different vineyards that day. This picture is taken at the third or fourth....


Here is where things start getting groovy...


Sometimes, the beauty was too much for us to handle.


Like wine, old friends are the best kind.




Everywhere you look in wine country there is a view....And then you just stop looking, because you know you're exactly where you're supposed to be.








I really liked it there.

Pleasantville

I may never pull off Joan Didion, but I make a lovely Stepford Wife.

I Left My Heart

Did You Know?

That this week is Banned Books Week? I didn't. But now that I do, I'm really into it. Visit the American Library Association website for information about challenged books and protecting your Intellectual Freedom. If you happen to be lucky enough to know a kid, why not take them to the library this week?

The Summer of Magical Thinking

This is a picture of me doing my best Joan Didion:



And this is a picture of Dryfus doing his best Joan Didion (imagine a highball of scotch between his paws):



Here is Kyle doing his best Joan Did (at least i think that's what he's doing-- it's totally possible that this is simply kyle doing his best kyle):



And finally, Joan Didion doing her best self:



Joan, your prose may be icey, your blood a little too blue, but lady-- you know how to take a picture!

htm-hell

well, thanks to blogger having a bad day, i finally figured out how to add pictures to my blog using only html codes! jen, you should be so proud. anyway, there are new pics posted below. visit these blogs for more pics and to view much better images and descriptions than my own:

Some Cupid Kills

The Map-Makers' Colors

Southern Gothic

One night in August we gathered to honor Carson McCullers, fried green tomatoes, collard greens and a few other Southern notables. Naturally, it was really hot outside.




This is a picture of me of reading "One Art" by the magnificent Elizabeth Bishop.



The art of losing isn't hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster.

Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.

Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.

I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three loved houses went.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.

I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.

--Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident
the art of losing's not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.





i'm really great at the keys part...it's just everything else i've yet to master

Sometimes...

all you need in life are good friends, a little presecco, and a good, old-fashioned, erasure sing-along.

The Big One

Happy Birthday, Tai Shan!!!




Pandas Rule

1/1/06

There are ten seconds left of 2005. The countdown to 2006 begins. You rush to get champaign from the bar as the crowd gathers. The countdown reaches six! and you're not back. The numbers continue to cascade. Why so fast? Slow it down, asshole. M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I- three! M-I-S-S-I two! M-I one! "Happy New Year!" I shout and hug the others. I turn around. You are elbowing through the crowd, a plastic flute in each hand, both half empty. Your wide eyes shift, quick and hurried. Faker. You missed it. You did not stand next to me.

Thesis Post-Mortem

So, after three months and absolutely no social life, my thesis is finished. I sort of feel like I've given birth. But without the baby. I would post a link, but if you really want to read it, you'll have to go hunt it down in the NU library. The official title is "The Road to Reality: Ideological Misconceptions of Nelson Algren and Jack Kerouac." Happy reading, suckers. This whole experience has taught me the following:
1) I do my best work during the hours of 9 am to noon and 8 pm to midnight and the concept of a 9-5 workday is stupid.
2) All university administrators, no matter how prestigious the institution, are idiots.
3) Americans are suckers for romance.
4) Jack Kerouac is kind of a douche.
5) "Demolition" by Ryan Adams is genius.
6) I have a fucking master's degree from Northwestern University.
7) My paycheck should be muuuuuuuch bigger.

Bark in the Park

Hi Friends,

On Saturday, May 6th Dryfus and I will be participating in Bark in the Park, a 5k walk for people and pups along Lake Michigan to raise money for the Chicago Humane Society. You can help me support this organization by visiting my donation page and making a pledge. Because, don't all dogs deserve a loving home where they can dress like pirates and not be judged?

Thanks,
Regina

A Couple of Things...

A series of unrelated events has forced me to re-enter the blogosphere, and make contact with all three of my faithfull readers.

1. r's harrassment

2. jami's sweet new blog with my own personal character profile

3. a hot new quiz

4. my quiz results: Full-on Dork (Severe/Profound) –

There is basically no hope for you. You are the guy/girl that is constantly laughing at yourself. In fact, you’re probably doing it right now. You can’t listen to someone in conversation without trying to work over what they are saying in your head to come up with some sort of witty comment or a way to relate it to real life situations, sit coms or a movie you’ve seen at least 35 times. You enjoy practicing responses to seem spontaneous and quirky, but the levels of effort and awareness of your own awkwardness are off the chart which places you in the Full-on end of the Dork Spectrum. I’d say that you should think more about what you say before you say it, but you’d probably just be thinking of something witty to say and not really listen anyway. My best advice is to find someone who is just as Dorky as you and hold on to them. You will never find a better match than with another Full-on.


i have to admitt, i was a little disapointed with these results. i was expecting to be a little dorky (i do always laugh the hardest at my own jokes), but severe/profound?? come on! i answered 'never' to watching tv cooking shows! i thought that answer would buy me at least a little cool cred!
anyway, i'll let you guys try your hand...let me know your results!

Ga Ga for Grammar

I am in the middle of writing my thirteenth and (hopefully) final grammar lesson and I just wrote the following sentence:
"An apostrophe is a big tool wrapped in a little package."
This amuses me a great deal. It'll probably get published. My advise to anyone who reads this blog and has children--take a second look at home schooling, seriously.