Blistering Barnacles

After a wild weekend (you can see the exhaustion in my eyes in this photo taken Saturday night), a Sunday run with Club Northwest and Dim Sum for Sunday brunch with friends, I set off to Orcas Island to search for a boat. If you ever go to Orcas Island, or any island really, make sure that you check the ferry schedule beforehand. By blind luck I made the 3:30pm ferry, otherwise I would have been stuck waiting for two hours and missed getting to see the boat I was going there to look at. Also, if you’re going to Orcas Island, leave your car on shore. After we got there we discovered that they have mopeds for rent right on the ferry dock. At the marina, the boat seller, a sailory looking man with a white beard and a red nose, launched into a description of the engine before we had even gotten to the dock. I was there with Stark, and even though I was asking the questions, the owner assumed that Stark was the one buying the boat since he’s a dude and he directed a steady stream of boat-speak at him. After several minutes of this, Stark said, “Actually, she’s the one that’s buying the boat, so you should talk to her.” The boat owner grunted and continued to address Stark as I took notes in my tiny moleskine. Or rather, I pretended to take notes (I was actually just scribbling random words that the seller was saying as well as a few doodles).

I was a little nervous because I wasn’t sure what to call the parts of the boat I was looking at. I tried to look knowledgeable and skeptical, so I asked about the “beam” and the “draft” as well as the fuel-line, but that pretty much exhausted my boat vocab, so I just shut up and poked my head around the boat. It probably wasn’t necessary for me to feign knowledge however, as the beers he had been drinking had made the owner honest. “It needs about $5,000 worth of work,” he admitted, pointing out the leaky chainplates and rotten wood on the cabin.

Far from discouraging me, the trip made me excited to learn more about boating. I imagined the gentle rocking of the boat underfoot becoming part of my daily life. Waking up on the water, sailing the boat into the sunset, learning how to wire my own outlets with waterproof cables, the constant smell of diesel and wd-40, having to use the bathrooms at the gym when the head stops working, not being able to cook because I can’t get the alcohol burners to work on the stove, freezing in the winter because the propane stove breaks down, dying of carbon monoxide poisoning because the cabin is isn’t properly ventilated - ah, it’s the sailor’s life for me! Seriously, it sounds amazing!

Besides all of these perks, sailing has by far the richest vocabulary of any sport. I just took checked the book “Sailing for Dummies” out of the library. I’m going sailing tomorrow night, so I have to read up on my sailing terminologies so that I sound like an expert. Here is an actual phrase from the book: “If the boat is not equipped with jiffy lines, begin with the luff cringle. Secure it to the boom by catching the grommet on a hook on the boom or by inserting a reefing hook into the grommet and tying it to the boom near the gooseneck. You can also tie the cringle to a cleat on the mast. This creates a new tack. Tighten the halyard to secure it.” And here is an actual phrase that I can say as a sailor: “Secure the luff cringle to the boom grommet! Avast ye scurvy seadogs!”

Luff cringle, luff cringle, luff cringle! I could say that all day long! I’m surprised that more people don’t become sailors based on the vocabulary alone. I can’t wait to start my sailboat racing course next week so that I can say these words to people who will know what they mean (as opposed to spouting them off to random passing strangers.)

Prioritize.

For me, the line between insanity and boredom is about as thin as dental floss. Ever since I added my facebook events to my Google calendar (it's actually very simple - just go to your Facebook events page, click the magnifying glass, click "export events" and copy the link that pops up, then go to Google calendar and where it says "other calendars" just paste the link) my calendar has so much overlap that it looks a bit like a Mondrian. If I miss an event or barely make it, this can leave me feeling over scheduled, double-booked, and burned out. At the same time, if I actually do fulfill all of my obligations I feel energized, fulfilled and like a boss. And since this is such a good feeling, I continue to overbook myself. If I have two or three events in the same block of time I get kind of stuck and waste time deciding which one to attend. I’ve always been sort of a jack of all trades (master of none), but I’ve decided to prioritize my life for the month of May so that I can get better at just a few things. So here is my priority list:

My number one priority is work. I am so lucky to have my job and I want to do great work. Getting to work relatively well-rested (5+ hours of sleep) and on time every day is non-negotiable. My number two priority is sailing. This weekend is opening day for most of the local yacht clubs, and I also have several sailboats booked to look at. I’ve decided that if there is a sailing event and another event, the sailing event will always take priority. I feel very fortunate to have met the wonderful sailors at the Corinthian Yacht Club and I want to make sure that I don’t come across as a flake by bailing on any events. I also want to devote at least half an hour each day to learning more about sailing. My number three priority is running, although I’m not sure that this counts as a priority, since I think running is a necessity like eating or sleeping. I’m counting it as a priority, however, because I want to run more than just maintenance this month so that I can get ready for the Rothrock Challenge. If I have to make a choice between running and going out, running will come first (unless it’s my off-day). My number four priority is socializing and networking. This one is really going to be a challenge (not!). My number five priority is learning to code. Unfortunately, I’m already lagging behind in my computer science course, and apparently there are new code academy lessons that I haven’t even seen yet. I should designate time to this on my calendar each day to make sure that it actually gets done. I’m kind of up in the air about whether this should come after socializing or not, but since this is my third week in Seattle and I want to forge some good friendships I think I’ll leave it as priority 5.

Now that I have my priorities set out, I can color-code my calendar events accordingly so that I know which overlapping event takes precedence.

"Networking"

After work on Friday I had to taper immediately into the weekend. As we know this is always a difficult task if you haven't been practicing. Luckily, I had been practicing since Thursday and was quite warmed up. Still, it was challenging, especially since I was overbooked.Drew, my awesome coworker and neighbor, drove me back to my apartment, where I debated taking a taxi and taking the bus across town to The Corinthian Yacht Club. See, I have already made yacht club friends. I didn’t even need to read a boating book in conspicuous places, or jump out at unsuspecting customers in a boat store. All it took was a bit of networking. And by networking, I mean rock climbing (I love the word “networking” because it can mean anything. In fact, I spent most of this weekend networking). Our guide, Mountain Man Matt, had friends from work who had lived on a boat since 1996. He connected us, and I spoke to his friend Marge on the phone. She invited me to the Yacht Club’s Membership Drive.  “I’ll be there. What do you look like, so I know who to look for?” She asked. “I’m about average height, short brown hair. And really really ridiculously good-looking.” I spent the half hour after getting home from work stressing about how I was going to get to the Yacht Club by 7pm and then to downtown Seattle by 9pm and still have time to get changed for the Bonza Bash. I ran around getting absolutely nothing done and finally decided to just throw my dress in a bag and call a cab. I still don’t have my address memorized. The company called me to tell me that the first cabby had ended up in Ballard because I had given him the wrong directions. So I tried again, and this time the cab showed up and whisked me over to Shilshole Marina where the Corinthians have their club.

I was a little nervous walking in, especially since I was still dressed in my work clothes and carrying a big bag containing my formal dress and shoes for Bonza Bash. The first thing I did in the club was get a glass of wine, since that’s what everyone else seemed to be doing. I tipped the bartender a dollar, and he handed me my tip back. Then I realized that he wasn’t a bartender. He was a club member who was volunteering as a bartender. Oops.

Of course Marge recognized me immediately from my description. She introduced me to some very helpful sailors, including Al and Lou, who are an encyclopedia of boating information, and Bruce, who is teaching Rookie Rally, the boat racing course that starts in two weeks. I signed up and will be learning to race boats starting Monday, May 7th. Don’t worry. When I am a member of the Yacht Club I will still talk to my friends.

The Corinthian Yacht Club is primarily a racing club, but there were several people who had lived aboard. They were fun, friendly and helpful. In fact, they were so helpful that I accidentally stayed and talked until 9pm. Thankfully, a couple of sailors dropped me off downtown, where I put my dress and shoes on in five minutes in my friends' bathroom, left my street clothes at my friends’ house, and rushed over to Bonza Bash, the most formal party in the tallest building in Seattle.

I had planned to meet some other Seattle people in the Polar Bar, but when I walked in, the place was empty and a bartender told me that they had just left. I asked the bartender how to get to Colombia Tower. “It’s one block up the street. Also, it’s the tallest building in Seattle so you can’t really miss it.”

I have to say, the view from the Colombia Tower bathrooms is amazing. Each stall has a spectacular picture window. Helicopters flying by must also get a great view inside.

Seattle’s Social Whore was there, wearing a classy hat and chilling with a group of beautiful ladies. Except that according to this video I must now call him “Seattle's Social Light.” Also, for your viewing pleasure, here I am. Ok, that’s enough of that.

Don't worry. Even though I am famous I will still talk to you. And you can follow me on twitter @houston_monica. Alright, that's enough networking for the weekend.

How Not to be an Adult

I really feel like I’ve gotten the hang of being an adult. For instance, I’ve remembered to brush my teeth almost every day this week. Wednesday night I didn’t do anything wild. Instead I looked into boats and boat mortgages for four hours. I was feeling very mature until my Mom sent me an email on telling me how unwise I was to seriously consider pouring my money into a hole in the water. “You need to face that you are addicted to adventure and try and curb it or find other less financially destructive ways to be adventurous.“That’s something to ponder I guess. Is there perhaps a gainful employment for people who are addicted to adventure?

I pondered it for a bit while waiting for Stark to pick me up from Bothell Bike and Ski, where I had taken my bike for a tune-up. While sitting in an Adirondack chair on their front deck of the shop I made a list of boat-buying pros and cons (reasons to buy a boat? I said I would. Reasons not to buy a boat? my Mom told me not to) and did some more math (if I buy a $20,000 boat now will cost me roughly $100,000 over the next 10 years. Does that sound right? Whatever).

Stark and I planned to do an early lap around Green Lake to start planning for startup weekend on May 18th. Yes, we’re business partners. We plan to invent a way to travel through time while river tubing. And that’s only one of our ideas.

We caught the Seattle Anti Freeze Runners for another lap around Green Lake and then beer. There was a good number of us - maybe fifteen sweaty runners- and we barely fit in the bar.  Nathaniel* from climbing was there, as was Seattle’s Social Whore (Matt objected to the fact that his name was not changed on my blog, so from now on I’ll refer to him as Seattle’s Social Whore, or SSW). I also met the beautiful Salka, the wonderful Allison, and Adrian, who is kind of French. And of course my fellow accidental runner Tony was there.

Somehow we got on the topic of naked races (that may have been my doing. I mentioned that I’d seen a flyer for a nudist race when I was in Road Runner Sports last Thursday). Then the topic turned to skinny dipping, and then somebody joked about jumping in Green Lake, and before I knew it, Stark, Tony, Adrian, Allison and I were standing on the dock by the Green Lake Stadium, removing our sneakers and extra clothes (this is another reason to always wear underpants). Stark bet me a beer that Tony wouldn’t jump in. But Tony tore off his shoes, shouted “what are you all waiting for?” and cannon-balled in. I hopped in after. It was cold. I hopped back out and sprinted several laps around the dock area.

Stark of course had to invite us all back to his apartment’s hot tub so that we could get the full sauna experience. Unlike Sunday night, I accepted the invitation this time. I’d been wise and had a good work ethic for almost four days, so by Thursday I thought I could let my guard down. Also, the trick to being ready for Friday is to start tapering for the weekend on Thursday. It takes some training, but practice makes perfect.

Since Stark now owed me a beer, he was eager to win it back, and he suggested that we make another bet. Through the window of the hot tub room we could see a dedicated, lone runner plugging away on the treadmill. Stark bet me that I couldn’t get her to join us in the hot tub. I was feeling cocky, so I walked into the gym and signalled to her. She took her headphones off and slowed the treadmill down. “Excuse me,” I said. “Would you like to join us in the hot tub? I just made a bet that you would.” “Uh, ok,” she said. “I’m training for a marathon so I need to do five more miles, but I can come in for a bit.” “Thank you! You deserve it. It’s very refreshing and great for sore muscles.”

Stark was too amazed at first to realise that he’d lost the bet. He just sort of sat and stared with his mouth open as the runner took her shoes off and got in. She was very friendly (I had gotten lucky) and mentioned that since she moved here from Vancouver she hadn’t found a good running club. So of course, we invited her to Saturday morning’s run in Queen Anne. So now Stark owes me two drinks.

Finding a Boat Part 2

Now that I have my boater's safety card it's time to move on to steps 1-5 of getting a boat. Step 1: Learn how to sail

I've decided that this step doesn't necessarily have to come first. I can live on a boat and learn how to sail it simultaneously. A user poll suggests that if I do this I have only a 50% of crashing and sinking my boat within the first week of owning it.

Step 2: Hire a boat surveyor

I'm working on this right now. It looks like the average cost for a marine survey is $350. I plan to look at some boats on my own first just to rule a few out and when I find one that I like, I will come back with the surveyor.

Step 3: Take boat surveyor to look at boats

I have a couple of boats lined up to look at this weekend. So far I know that I want something 30ish feet that is comfortable to live aboard yet easy for one person to sail. It should have as little outside wood as possible so that I won't have to be constantly staining it and a propane stove.

Step 3.5: Apply and Qualify for a Boat Loan

This doesn't seem too difficult, although boat loans are harder to get and have higher interest rate than other loans because there is a greater risk of a boat buyer disappearing with their new boat than there is for, say, a homeowner disappearing with their new home.

Step 4: Find Moorage

This is one of the most complicated steps. I will probably write a more detailed post about this when I actually know what I'm talking about.

Step 5: Buy a Boat

Self-explanatory. As they say, the second happiest day of a boat owner's life is when she buys a boat. The happiest day is when she sells it. At least I'll have something to look forward to.

First Day

Ça y est. Je viens d'y naitre. J'sais pas ou je vais, ni ou j'suis,  Mais tous veulent y être.

That's it. I was just born there.  I don't know where I'm going, or where I am,  but everyone wants to be there. 

Today was my first day of work. It felt a bit like my first day of school. Grade school. I played games with the other new hires out in the parking lot and ate a lot of snacks. Like, a really lot of snacks. We actually watched a video about work etiquette and not eating a lot of snacks, but I did it anyway. I think I've always been a rebel.

I also sat in a massage chair with controls in Japanese. If you pressed the yellow button and then pressed the button with the sun on it it would massage your whole back, but if you pressed the button with the moon on it it would massage only your butt. That kind of makes sense.

It was a beautiful day, and a great first day. A good day for a fresh start.

Chances Multiply if You Grab Them

There are two paths in life. One can either have friends or one can have a blog. I now have three or even more people in Seattle who I am happy to call my friends because they say things like "we should hang out," or "we should totally get together sometime," or even, "you guys should take Monica rock climbing instead of me because I'm going to be too tired to go." Which is what someone actually said last night when I was out drinking with said friends at a posh hotel called "The Edgewater." One of these friends, Stark, is a member of the running club that I accidentally joined, and Saturday morning he had been cleaning up Alki beach for Earth Day with his roommates when he ran into Max walking on a tightrope on the beach. He asked to try the tightrope and somehow both of them realized that they both knew me. Amazing - only a week in Seattle and I'm already known by two people who meet by chance. Which is how I ended up drinking with Stark and friends at The Edgewater Saturday night.

Which is why I woke up at 6:30am on Sunday morning so that I could throw some clothes in a bag and get a ride to Leavenworth. My new friend Stark arrived promptly at 8am to pick me up, an hour after the planned arrival. His friend Pierre, in the front seat, assured me that he's always late because even though he's a rocket scientist he doesn't realize that driving takes time. We met up with five other friends in Ravenna and loaded the gear into the cars (well, they loaded the gear into the cars. What are friends for?). We also took in another passenger, Nathaniel*.

On the two hour drive to Leavenworth we shot the shit about a million topics, ranging from electronic music to Pierre's past involvement in French gangs, to Nathaniel's semi-past involvement in being a geek. The topic turned naturally to sports, and Stark regaled us with his kayaking exploits, such as going over a twelve foot waterfall.

"But it only looked like it was ten feet because there was a lot of foam at the bottom," he said modestly. "Do you still kayak?" I asked, intrigued. "No, I decided that I wanted to devote more time to tubing."

Yes, tubing, a much more hardcore sport. To help him get better, Nathaniel and Pierre drafted a tubing conditioning program for Stark, which included exercises such as floating in his hottub in an inner tube, and perhaps even attempting to hold onto a cooler full of beers with the hottub jets turned on.

Finally we arrived in Leavenworth and drove along Icicle Creek to the climbing area, an outcropping that overlooks the creek and looks up at the snowy peaks of the "Sleeping Lady." After another hour of dilly-dallying, including a trip to the gas station for snacks, we were ready to climb. We grabbed some gear (even me this time) and made our way up the slope to our start point. When I say that "we made our way up the slope" I mean that after wandering around in the brambles for slightly less time than it took Israel to get to the Promised Land we finally found a path to the desired outcropping.

As a Pennsylvanian, even just getting to the foot of the rock face felt higher than I usually go in the chair lift when I'm skiing. I mean, we were looking down at the birds. Not that I'm afraid of heights, I'm just afraid of falling off of them. We were thankfully with our seasoned guide, Mountain Man Matt, so there was nothing, or not much, to be afraid of. Matt and Nathaniel fastened the rope to our first climb. I don't have my own shoes, but thankfully someone had shoes my size, a harness my size, and a helmet that fit my small brain perfectly (my brain is one of my favorite body parts so I choose to protect it).

When it was my turn, I was strapped in and tied up and I started up the rocks as my belayer, Stark, shouted "you're doing great" (I told him to encourage me). There was a ledge, and then a second, steeper rock face. I couldn't get my foot up onto the second face, but thankfully Mountain Man Matt used his brute force to haul me into the air from above (I thought Stark was doing it, but later found out that it was Matt) and I finished the ascent. I scratched my knees up pretty bad while climbing and I'm sorry to say that my days of being a knee model are over.

After that I climbed once more and there was a lot more shooting the shit, eating, and lying around getting a tan before we called it a day and went back to Leavenworth center for delicious Mexican food and beer.

Stark suggested that we all join him in his hottub for some tubing exercises but since tomorrow is my first day of work I decided against it. This is possibly my first wise choice as an adult.

*names in this story have been changed to protect the innocent

P.S. I am drinking tea and I just saw that my tea bag has a quote on it. It says "Chances multiply if you grab them." I like that and I'm going to use it as the title.

Running Clubs of Green Lake

One of the things I was most worried about when leaving State College was leaving the Rec Hall Regulars running group. How would I be able to find a group of goofy, immature guys (and girls) who run fast enough to push me but don't leave me in the dust? On Saturday last week I went to my cousin's track meet in Pasco (a tiny town in eastern Washington nestled among sagebrush and velvety grey hills) and my cousin's coach suggested I try Club Northwest. They meet Wednesdays and Saturdays for tempo and track workouts, and Sunday mornings for a long run.

Sunday morning I met them at 9am in front of Super Jock and Jill and we did 13.2 miles around North Seattle at a brisk pace. There were about 10 people running, mostly younger guys. Everyone was very friendly and they sold me on the perks of the club - pay a $50 yearly fee and get a free Club Northwest t-shirt, discounts at local running stores including Super Jock and Jill, enter races at a discount, get a free stride evaluation, and get to run cross-country against other clubs. The runners seem to be pretty hardcore and focused on improvement. After the run I lay in bed and ate chocolate the rest of the afternoon and didn't even feel guilty about it (not that I ever feel guilty about it).

Tuesday night I decided to try the Green Lake Running Group, which I'd found on meetup.com (seriously, this site is a lifesaver in a new city). They have runs around the lake every day of the week except Sunday, and two track workouts on Mondays. Basically, no matter what time of day you are free there is a run for you, and since there are over 1,000 members you will never have to run alone again. Some of the perks include 10-25% discounts at Road Runner Sports and special First and Third Thursday runs where they drink beer afterwards.

Even though it was raining Tuesday night there were about 15 people there at 6:30pm, and we took off to do three miles or so around Ravenna Park, with an optional extra lap around Green Lake (three miles) at the end. They divided into different pace groups as we ran so that there was something for everybody.

I skipped the tempo run with Club Northwest on Wednesday night and went bouldering instead. Shout out to Max if he's reading this!

Thursday I showed up for Green Lake Running Group's special "Thirdsday" run at Road Runner Sports. They were raffling off running gear so I put my name in the hat.   It was raining again but there were still at least 50 runners meandering around the store. One group took off for a 5 mile 6:40 tempo run. I didn't do that, but I did do a five miler past the Zoo with Tony, another runner from Tuesday. At the end of our five miles we stopped to stretch and chat in front of Green Lake Bar & Grill with the group. It was a smaller group, about 16 people, but very friendly. They asked how we had found their group and we said we'd seen their meetup. "Oh," said Matt, a guy who seemed to be in charge, "we don't get many runners from meetup. Usually people find us on our website." "I didn't know you had a website," I said. "Yeah, it's just www.seattleantifreeze.com." He said. I wasn't sure why it had a completely different name, but I didn't ask.

"Where are we drinking?" I asked. "Tacos Guaymas," answered Matt.

At Tacos Guaymas, as we were chatting and sipping our beers and eating our nachos, I asked about the raffle. "When do we find out who won?"

"Raffle?" Asked Lauren, the girl sitting next to me. "What raffle?"

"You know, the Road Runner Sports Raffle...?"

"Uh...I think you ended up with the wrong group."

It was true. We were drinking beers with the Seattle Antifreeze Runners. They are part of the greater club, Seattle Antifreeze, whose mission is to disprove the "Seattle Freeze" phenomenon (when people from Seattle seem friendly but never call you back). They run on Saturdays and Wednesdays. There's a lot of overlap with the Green Lake Running Group, and they said they also join them for their special Thursday runs.

We had a good laugh. In the end it was a great mistake. Matt, who described himself as "Seattle's biggest social whore" promised to make it his mission to introduce me to as many people as possible, and Lauren invited me to see a Johnny Cash cover band, "Cash'd Out" tomorrow night. Looks like I won't be spending my evenings talking to plants anymore!

How to Win Friends and Influence People (when you don't even know your own zip code)

You might think that a library is a really good place to meet friends, but it isn't. I visited Seattle's main Public Library yesterday - a dizzying structure made of glass and steel - mostly glass. I somehow found my way to the 10th floor through a series of stairs that felt like a rat maze. At the top I looked down over the low railing at the people in the 2nd floor lobby. I felt kind of nauseous. A lady was waiting for the elevator nearby. "This is a dizzy building," I remarked to her.

"I can't wait to get back to solid ground." She agreed.

"I think I might puke," I said.

But thankfully I didn't. She was the only person I spoke to in the library. Everyone else was too busy reading. I went downtown and talked to the guy in the information booth in front of Pike Place Market. "Hi," I said. "I'm new to Seattle and I don't know anybody and I don't have any idea where I am or what I'm doing."

He took pity on me and gave me all of the Seattle literature and explained the map of Seattle to me in detail. So at least now I have a map.

The library actually isn't the worst place to meet friends. If you stay in your room and read in bed all afternoon like I did today (except for a brief excursion to Whole Foods, where I bought "organic bath tissue") you are guaranteed to not meet anybody. It was great reading-in-bed weather though, and I had stocked up on books at the library.

Now I think I'm going to head downtown because Greyhound just called to tell me to come pick up my box as soon as possible. Apparently the box is leaking strange fluids. Hopefully it's not bike lube. Or art supplies...

Finding A Boat Part 1

I think I've told everyone by now that I want to live on a sailboat, so by popular demand, I'm now going to go over how I plan on doing this. First of all, I just passed my boater safety test online (necessary for all Washington state boaters under age 30 operating a vessel with 14 horsepower or greater) so congratulations to me. Now there are just a couple of steps left:

  • learn how to sail
  • hire a boat inspector
  • look at sailboats with a boat inspector
  • buy a seaworthy sailboat that meets my requirements (28-36 ft, nice galley, adequate head, comfortable berth)
  • find a place to moor said boat - probably in Lake Union since they don't allow live-aboard boats on most of Lake Washington
  • Sail the boat to its new home

The only problem is that learning how to sail, finding a boat, and getting moorage are kind of a catch-22. In order to learn how to sail you have to either own a boat or know people who sail. In order to meet people who own boats and know how to sail you have to be part of a yacht club or own your own boat. In order to be part of a yacht club you usually have to own a boat and know other boaters. It also helps to be part of a yacht club in order to get moorage because sometimes there are discounts and other perks.

So somehow I have to meet people who are part of a yacht club. I'm pretty sure that hanging out near the yacht club with a sign that says "Please let me in your club" won't help. Instead, I'm going to hang out in a boat store and accost random people to get them to talk about their boats if they walk near me. I also got a book out of the library about boats that I am going to pretend to read in conspicuous places until somebody who is a boater comes by and sees our common boating interest and talks to me. Or else I'll just wait until July when the Seattle Yacht Club offers sailing lessons to the public...

P.S. - I went to the store to buy myself a plant friend but unfortunately they were out of aloe plants.

West Coast Monica/East Coast Monica

I've been in Seattle for a total of five days now and I haven't quite gotten my head around the concept that this new city that I barely know will be my home for the next year and maybe the longer future. I imagine that perhaps I am just the West Coast version of myself, and there is still and East Coast Monica back in Pennsylvania, doing all of the things East Coast Monica likes to do. East Coast Monica is taking advantage of the East Coast heat wave and getting a suntan in the backyard, while West Coast Monica flits from coffee house to coffee house, turning paler and paler as she searches for sunshine in a cup of java.

East Coast Monica is still looking for film jobs in Philly, while West Coast Monica has finally discovered that she has a left brain and is in geek heaven browsing the massive Computer Science section in Seattle's public library.

East Coast Monica plays coy, hanging with the friends whom she's known for a hundred years and ignoring strangers who beg for her number (in her imagination). West Coast Monica wanders the streets hoping that she will find another human being to be her friend. Or a stray cat. Or a bug. Even a plant would be nice. I think West Coast Monica is planning on going to the nursery to buy an aloe plant this afternoon.

Someday soon, the two Monicas will have to meet and merge and accept that they are now both West Coast Monica.

I Love Pinterest. So?

I got on facebook in 2006 (back when you had to have a .edu email to sign up) and even though I declared that I hated it at first, I secretly loved it. Same story with Twitter. I signed up shortly after they started, but didn't post a single tweet for two years because I thought it was dorky (I'm kind of glad about this - god knows what I would have tweeted about as a college freshman). But now I am unabashedly sharing my love of Pinterest. Do you like looking at pictures online? Do you like taking/drawing/making pictures? Do you like looking at magazines but not subscribing to them? I do. Pinterest is a limitless way to share political views, market, buy/sell (yes, you can add price tags to your pins), and of course, share recipes, images of domestic bliss, and fashion plates.

I mentioned to a coworker how much I loved Pinterest.

"Have you noticed how the demographic is 80% female?" he asked. I could tell by the tone of his voice that he meant to say, "have you noticed how the demographic is 80% stupid people?"

"Er," I said, thinking of ways to excuse my gender. It's true though - of the 91 people that I'm following, only 12 are guys. But so what? Even if it is a "girl's club" I still like looking at neatly sorted collections of pictures online. So far, most of my friends seem to be split between posting images of domestic bliss ("Hairstyles I want to try," "Perfect Desserts," "Easy Home D.Y.I") and feminist comics that make fun of images of domestic bliss. Some of girls post both, perhaps evidence of the confusing cultural pull on young women to be both "feminine" and feminist. Can you be both? Of course you can be! And can straight guys use Pinterest? Why the hell not?

A Note About Posterous

I'm still on Posterous, and you can still find my writings and translations (and my bicycle trip) at http://monicahouston.posterous.com. I've decided to make my own blog - mostly because I am a control freak and partly because it's just safer to have my content on my own site if Twitter ever decides to get rid of Posterous (not to be alarmist - I don't really see that happening soon).

How to Be an Adult Contest

So, after writing about how to be an adult I want to hear from my readers. What do you think it means to be an adult? Submit your essays, short fiction, poetry, or lists that are 500 words or less on the topic "How to Be an Adult" by June 21st.

I would love to hear from readers of all ages. The winners will be announced on June 30th. First, second, and third place will have their writing published on my blog.

Submit your original pieces to monica [at] houstonfamily [dot] info.

First place winner will get an original artwork, Second place winner will get an original signed comic, and Third place winner will get a worthless doodle or something. Because third place really isn't a winner. But good luck! I hope to hear from you soon!

How to be an Adult Part 1

I think that there are a lot of things that nobody tells you about being an adult that you don't learn in college. I tried googling "how to be an adult" and there really wasn't much information. It's a topic that's been on my mind for a while now, so I sat down with some friends and came up with a list of how to be an adult. This is the list of things you do when you're an adult:

  • Tip well and even when it’s not expected (and no less than $2)
  • Be able to choose a wine at dinner (actually, if this is true most people aren’t adults)
  • Be resourceful enough to navigate a city by yourself and not freak out
  • Always pay for yourself. Have enough in your bank account every time.
  • Pay on time.
  • Have something edible or drinkable in your abode in case guests come over
  • Know how to take care of your vehicle (boat, car, bike?)
    • change your tires.
    • change your oil.
    • register your vehicle.
  • Know your rights and be civically active (vote!)
  • Give back to the community somehow
  • Go to the doctor's for a checkup at least once a year.
Then I realized that being an adult is more about the little things than the big things.  So I wrote up a list of little things that adults have to do that kids and college students usually don't think about.
  • Little things like:
    • change your sheets once every two weeks
    • change your razor heads
    • brush your teeth
    • change your underpants
    • wear underpants
    • separate the lights and the darks when you do laundry

This list is far from comprehensive, so I'd appreciate your input. In fact, why not have an essay contest? I'll include the details in an upcoming post so stay tuned!

And for some more information on how to be an adult, here are some great links:

 

Lucky Flight

This is the story of how I ended up flying first class to Seattle. Last week when I found out that I hadn't gotten a driveaway I sadly bought the cheapest ticket I could find to Seattle. It had layovers in Detroit, Kansas City, and St. Paul. I had packed my bags to take as much weight I could possibly carry. I love flying but this seemed like it was was going to be the flight from hell.

I got to the airport at 5am this morning after sleeping maybe one hour. I was checking two suitcases. When I weighed my first suitcase it weighed 58 pounds. Delta's weight limit is 50 pounds. Luckily the other suitcase weighed 42 pounds, so I just transferred the heavy stuff from one to the other.

On the plane I got to sit next to my friend Barb. Everything went smoothly and we got to Detroit early but my next flight was delayed because of technical problems. I waited for an hour and worked on Eloquent JavaScript because there was no free WiFi (coincidentally, I finished four lessons in one sitting. Maybe not having internet is a good thing). Around 10am they informed us that the plane repair was not getting anywhere and gave us all meal vouchers for our patience. I told them that I'd just missed my connecting flights, so they gave me a first class ticket on the next direct flight to Seattle at 3:30pm. I hypnotized myself by walking back and forth in the magical Detroit airport tunnel until I was tired enough to take a nap.

The next flight was so full they asked us to check our carry-ons, but I still got to sit first class (I think I supplanted some people who were waiting for first class seats hehe). I've never ridden first class before so I wasn't really sure what to do. If this ever happens to you, just so you know, the tray is hidden in the armrest and you can ask for as many snacks and drinks as you want. Also, the meal is free. Don't worry about eating too much because there is lots of extra butt room in case you gain weight. I told the guy sitting next to me about my job and he gave me some good financial advice.

"It's as easy to love a rich guy as it is to love a poor guy. If you ever meet a guy you want to marry, save some money and send it back to your parents to save for you. Don't tell the guy. If you make it to your 25th anniversary you can break it out then and have an awesome second honeymoon."

 

"Save, save, save, and invest, invest, invest. Make sure you save some money every month, and start saving now. I'm sure you'll do great!"

I'm sure I'll do great too! I got to Seattle early and found out that my bags had gotten lost somewhere on the four flight changes they had done without me and weren't due for another hour. For the "inconvenience" they gave me some more meal vouchers. Cool.