Song of the Week

Smokers Outside the Hospital Door (The Editors)

Someone turn me around
Can I start this again?
Now someone turn us around
Can we start this again?

We’ve all been changed
From what we were
Our broken parts
Left smashed off the floor

a goddess

Yeah. I try to get out the door no later than 6:15, which will be painful, but good. [03:25:30 PM]

I received the above text from my roommate, Caitlin, yesterday afternoon. She had been reminding me of plans to go swimming this morning. Now, Caitlin didn’t used to do things like skimp on sleep so as to not miss her workout … but now she does so with vigor (and yet still manages to remain healthy and usually sleep enough: this boggles my mind). I’d just like to say that she is AMAZING (and not just because she’s been faithfully training all summer to do a triathlon this fall). She is hard-working, beautiful, persistent, and generally, a goddess. And, she got me out the door at 6:12am this morning to swim laps.

R

I listen to the wind / To the wind of my soul

I am presently listening to a collection of songs arranged by Frederico García Lorca, a Spanish poet, playwrite, and sometimes avant-garde who was shot by Nationalist militia in the 1930s. The songs are sung by a lovely baritone, to a classical guitar.

The music breathes sobriety with an undertone of playfulness.

It is difficult to say goodbye to physical space. Memory is tied down to rooms, to scarves, to topless statues from Bali, and to a little box of a house on Stanford Road. Perhaps this is why we wear wedding rings? We, as bodies in time and space, need objects in time and space in which to locate commitment (God became man that we might know God; we are nourished by the physical sacrament of bread and wine, of flesh and blood).

I fear leaving the space, and forgetting the memory.

I am midway though the first volume (Swann’s Way) of Proust’s In Search of Lost Time; it is a book of memories, memories that twist and wind through the mind, affecting our vision of the present world; these are memories so tangled amongst each other that only long sentences with numerous clauses can possibly separate the threads, as we [together] pull the strands apart before pushing the thin colors through the needle.

Rebecca

Free Summer Entertainment

Another summery Orange County event, for those who are in the area.

Fox Theatre in downtown Fullerton hosts free outdoor movies once a month. Locals bring lawn chairs (I bring cookies) and blankets and spread out over the back parking lot of the theatre. Movies in the past have included Hitchcock’s The Birds, Casablanca, and American Graffiti. Next Thursday night (8/7) they’ll be showing Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Here is a link to directions and other information.

R

Shakespeare By The Sea

One of my summer traditions is taking a picnic to terribly acted, free, outdoor Shakespeare performance. Picnics are always enjoyable and bad Shakespeare is still funny, if a little painful. In accordance with this tradition I met some friends at a park in Laguna Niguel for Shakespeare by the Sea’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

And, contrary to my expectations, it was quite good. The acting was solid, with a couple high and low points, the direction was clever without being too heavy, the set was ingenious, and Puck was appropriately bawdy.

There are only a couple performances left, but I highly recommend finding a way to see it.

Aug 1 (Lomita)
Aug 3 (Newport Beach)
Aug 6 (Lawndale)
Aug 7 (Glendale)
Aug 9 (San Pedro)

Directions to the various locations are here.

Rebecca

Off to the Glen!

One of the oddest things about working full-time is the fact that summer does not mean vacation; summer means the same routine executed in higher temperatures.

However, I am taking one solid week of vacation this year to attending the Glen Workshop in Santa Fe, NM. It’s the same art conference I helped facilitate as an internal with Image Journal last summer and this year, I get to study drawing under the illustrious Barry Moser. I am unbelievably excited!

Unfortunately, I drove up to Burbank at noon today so U—- could tell me I had to get on a plane at 9:00pm at LAX, due to some “Complications.” So, with a bit of delayed anticipation, I’m about to head out… I’ll be sure to post pictures (of Santa Fe and my work) when I return.

cSc

No. IX

Death be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for, thou art not so,
For, those, whom thou think’st, thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures bee,
Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soules delivery.
Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy, or charms can make us sleep as well,
And better then thy stroke; why swell’st thou then;
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.

Double-check your figures!

A mile is 5,280 feet.

Alternatively, a mile is 1,760 yards.

Hence, a half mile is 880 yards.

A pool is 25 yards.

But wait! Is a pool length or a pool lap 25 yards??

Turns out a length is 25 yards.

Which means I need to swim 35 lengths for a half mile. Not 35 laps. Which had been my goal up until last night, when I explained to Beck I could only swim 27 laps in 40 minutes and she explained that I only needed to swim 18 laps. At which point I put my face through our glass patio table.

So, while I still can’t do 18 freestyle laps without breathing breaks, I am SO MUCH CLOSER to my goal than I was.

Also, I ran three miles in 39 minutes yesterday and biked 12 miles in 45 minutes today.

Now, I just have to put them all together!!

        Sincerely,

             The Happy Idiot

These days

The internet is presently not inhabiting Caitlin’s and my house, giving us a wonderful excuse for spotty posting as of late.

Also, summer is the time of the year for running and swimming; for running errands on your bike and eating dinner on the front porch; for long novels, movies, picnics, and concerts; for long dinners stretching into even longer after-dinners, and weekend outings. This summer is also the time for friends’ engagements (making me think that next fall will be the time for weddings).

Also, I just started summer school at CSUF, and Caitlin sprints into the last two weeks of her third quarter. Textbooks, lists, papers and notebooks threaten to bury us in the backroom of the Joyous Gard.

Really, what I am saying is that summer is not the time of the year for computers. And I’m not really sorry for taking a brief hiatus from writing about the life that I am so unbelievably happy to be living.

Rebecca

My Itty-Bitty Triathlon

Two years ago, I couldn’t swim to save my life, got on a bike only when necessary and running was something I only did in the face of danger.

About a year ago, I began exercising and Becky got me excited about the idea of a “sprint triathlon” — 1/2 mile swim, 12 mile bike ride, 3 mile run. Sounds do-able, right?

Today I decided to see what I could do… Turns out I can swim 350 yards, bike 4 miles, and jog 1.5 miles in a row without passing out. Which is not bad, but I only have 8 weeks to get myself ready for the race.

I am more than a little nervous.

cSc