Update?

[elvendoll]

Slowly, I'm starting to mellow out for the first time in I don't know how many months now - I'd been pretty stressed about moving since May, Burning Man only added to it, and then having my car broken into when I first got here kept it up longer. It feels very neat to finally lose some of it - I'm still having a hard time being open and chatty, but that's always been hardest for me anyway.
The weather here has been gorgeous all week. Sadly, the net access in the back yard isn't good enough to sustain me working from there, but I'm starting to make a point of going out there to stretch once every couple of hours.
This week has been pretty mellow, and I think the weekend will be more of the same - I'm hoping the hangers I got on ebay will come in, so I can finish unpacking my clothes and arrange my room. It'll still be hard to get everything in order, as my old room had more storage space, but hopefully it'll all work out.
Last night, sol3 and I drove up to San Jose to have dinner with ciani, and it was really nice to see her. We also made a stop to buy a bike rack for my car (I know, I know) and I picked up a little CD player boombox that can play MP3's as well - it's nice to be able to play music in my room again, and it'll be nicer still when I can burn back the music I lost to the breakin. The woman I bought this stuff from surprised me - apparently, she'd live in Virginia and NYC before, and found the people here to be less nice, and sometimes downright mean - enough so that she's moving back to the east coast.
I'm not sure if it's me or not, but I'm reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintanence and I'm having a hard time getting into it - I raced through the first 50 or 60 pages, and then it lost me. If I didn't just put down Another Roadside Attraction about a month ago because I wasn't getting into that, I'd be worried, but this is just a tad weird. For better or worse, though, I'll need to get back to school reading this weekend.

Comments

[tcb.livejournal.com]

yay.. I'm glad to hear that you're starting to mellow out.. I'm looking forward to having that happen for me sometime, too..

[elvendoll.livejournal.com]

Thank you; I hope it reaches you soon!

How're you liking your new digs?

[tcb.livejournal.com]

I like them a lot :) the place has some quirks that I'm getting used to, but I generally like the layout and the flow. and I'm enjoying going shopping and spiffing the place up :) (well, that and getting bare essentials like plates, shower curtains, and a broom :)

you?

[elvendoll.livejournal.com]

the little house is definately growing on me. i'm sad the wireless in the gazebo isn't strong enough to sustain the vpn, but go out and stretch in the back yard once every couple of hours when i'm working from home. did i mention it's full of greens, and flowers and an orange tree? once i get my room cleaned up, i'll take and post pictures : )
i think i should also pick up a new book and spend some quality time with the bathtub - it's gloriously knee-deep!

[kittypie.livejournal.com]

i've heard many people say the same thing about california - actually northern california in particular. its mostly people from the south who consider us a new breed of elitist yanks :) i dont really think theres much truth to that because its such a diverse population. sad thing is a lot of people refer to the diversity as one of the main causes of "meanness" - something which i dare not delve into. haha.
damn, i couldve given you my bike rack. oh well.
i think its really cute that you got hangers off ebay.
+ i never got into zen either so i started but never finished it. do you like paul auster at all btw?
xo

[elvendoll.livejournal.com]

what kind of bike rack do you have? i got one that goes into my trailer hitch...

and i haven't read any paul auster yet...

[kittypie.livejournal.com]

ah. i just got some random one off craigslist that holds on to your trunk. i havent used it on the camry but it worked just fine on my old mazda.


+ i think you'd <3 auster.

[elvendoll.livejournal.com]

dan has one of those - the problem with them, though, is that they can be cut off from your car...
of course, who knows how muhc longer i'll have a trailer hitch to play with.

[kittypie.livejournal.com]

well ive used it for many years and no one ever stole it from my car. of course i wouldnt keep my bike on there while im not there - ive used it primarily for bringing the bike to places where id want to use it so theres never really time that the bike isnt on the car while its driving - therefore nobody can really cut off the rack/steal the bikes!

[threadwalker.livejournal.com]

Realy surprized that she found people here mean. It could be a culture clash sort of thing. Hmmmm. Glad you're settling in. I look forward to that stage- though less dramatic moving within the city. I came here a year ago and now it fully feels like home (the city not my house). Glad you're here and I hope it feels more like home to you soon.

[elvendoll.livejournal.com]

*nods*
I find the people here to be much friendlier and outgoing - it's part of what made going to HS in CA such a huge life-changing experience for me.

Glad you're here and I hope it feels more like home to you soon.

Thank you - I hope your residence feels more like home after you move!

[klingonlandlady.livejournal.com]

FWIW, i had the same reaction to Zen and the art of MM.

[frobzwiththingz.livejournal.com]

I also just finished reading Z and the A of MM. I got through it, but probably only because i find the sort of mental wanking that is Philosophy to be OK in small doses. (Heck, i was a Math major...). But it certainly did continue to bog down as it went on, and i'm not entirely sure i would have finished it had i not brought it on the plane with me to Burning Man. Much of the time i kept wishing i could say to the main character "You're thinking way too hard about this.", and "Quality is a measure of how well something lives up to your expectations. Thats all. No Kant or Hegel or Aristotle or Socrates needed. Now get back to your life, OK?".

Glad to see you're settling in. I'd like to get out there sometime and visit.

[catness.livejournal.com]

Agreed with all of you. I love motorcycles, I like wrenching, I dig philosophy, I loathed that book. Boring as all get out. Unbelievable that someone could take so much I like and create something utterly disinteresting out of it.

[elvendoll.livejournal.com]

I don't think it's the philosophy itself, and more his style of explaining/describing - which I tend to react to with a "How did an editor let this by?!", but was still wondering of it was me.

I'd like to get out there sometime and visit.

sol3 and I would love to see you, just let us know when : )

[tcb.livejournal.com]

"You're thinking way too hard about this."

that's really funny coming from you, Mr. OverEngineer ;)