This past weekend I went to my first ever high school football game (remember, I was homeschooled). I love football but watched very little of the game because I was mostly entranced by the culture - I had never seen real-life cheerleaders up close. Longball’s dad announced the game from the booth, while sitting next to an ancient, translucent man who watched the plays with binoculars and told Papa Longball who made the play. They fired a homemade cannon from the hill across the field for every touchdown and I jumped out of my pants every single god-damned time.
Longball sang the fight song and I realized I would have had a crush on him in high school too.
Living in a small town and going to college again, and especially by participating in all the activities that accompany them has introduced me to a lot of the fun community things that I missed not only by being homeschooled, but by being a morose young person who shunned fun. I read too much Duras and Hemingway and thought by being unhappy I was being important. I regret a lot and feel both lucky and bittersweet that I get to sort of relive youth by being here.
Most amusing to me was the Pullman High Pep Band.
Amieable: “I’ve noticed that as far as the band is concerned, the drummers play beats and then occasionally someone yells something, but mostly everyone stands around gossiping like it’s a big party.
Longball: “Ha, yeah. Kind of like the Rolling Stones.”
I am just as dismayed as you by the lack of my blog posting frequency. Many truthful excuses can be made, but first and foremost we live in a black hole of technology.
Here is the phone that I am currently working with:
Yes, that is an avocado green rotary phone from the 70’s. It’s my grandfather’s sister’s phone and it’s adorable. It also fits in beautifully with the decor of our house. It, unfortunately doesn’t work. It accepts calls most of the time but refuses to dial. So I just have to send out smoke signals when I want to talk to people and hope they can read them. I then sit by the avocado phone wearing a backless Halston dress, smoking a cigarette and drinking a martini while I wait for people to phone me.
You may ask about my cell phone. We live in a stucco house with lead walls, and our cell phone only works if we stand in the south-east corner of the living room. Currently that corner houses the Landshark’s scratching post, which if you approach within three feet you get bitten to death. We have given up on our cell phones while in the house. Outside of the house garners a little more success, but let’s be honest: I have no idea where the nearest cell phone tower is, and I’m pretty sure it’s built out of an erector set.
Which brings me to our internet, and really the "point" of this little post (if I may be lose with the term "point"). Our internet is powered by five little hamsters that we are pretty sure the cat just ate as she is looking mighty fat and sassy. Well and our internet doesn’t work anymore.
I have had a great summer and have much I’d like to share. Currently I am back in school (taking two classes) and working. I have lots to say, and I’ll be posting more frequently now.
As soon as we get back from the pet store with some new rodents.
After more than a year of not working full-time due to his surgery, and after seven months of non-stop looking for a job, Longball has finally procured an awesome job. Obviously I can’t go into detail here, but he will be writing and raising money for a not-for-profit and working on furthering his career.
We are proof that you can quit the rat race and work toward something you care about. Our hare-brained plan of moving to a small town and starting over is finally working!
Although I can’t share much about his job, I can point to another one of his new ventures. He used to routinely comment on a WSU football blog and apparently the authors of the blog liked him and asked him to be a regular feature writer! You can check out his inaugural (and subsequent) posts here. Football fans will know what he’s talking about, but anyone can instantly read his wit and writing style.
Another vignette from our trip to New York:
Amieable and Longball sit at a Brooklyn Cyclones (Single A baseball team for the Mets) game.
Amieable: “I think I might have a hotdog.”
Longball: “I thought you might.”
Amieable: “It’s like church. I mean people don’t refuse the wafers and wine.”
I know, I know. I disappeared. I crammed for my Health Psych final and then promptly went on vacation. After a week in a cabin in the woods outside of Cooperstown without internet or cell access (glorious!) I am at my sister’s apartment in Brooklyn.
After living in a small town for three months, New York is overwhelming. I’ve been here a number of times but the abrupt change was jarring. I keep looking around thinking how cool and diverse NY is and how lame my new little town is. I’m struggling a bit with the grass is always greener syndrome.
But I hope I can put everything into perspective and remember why I love where I live. Remember that I can love where I live AND at the same time appreciate other places. Small-mindedness is not allowing that other places and other choices are valid - thinking that there is only one way to be happy and experience life. I would bristle if some New Yorker scoffed at my adventure of small-town living (and most certainly would) but I am not going to beat them to the punch and scoff at myself. I’m trying too be happy with my choice of pursuing a PhD in a rural town instead of a high paying job or big-city living or children or whatever else other people are doing. I’m trying to enjoy my life instead of someone else’s.
I’ll be rocking this - my - party eight days a week. And for this weekend it’s in Brooklyn, USA.
My goal is to share some of the more interesting facts I’m learning in my Health Psychology class. I have a whole bunch stored up but have been crazy busy studying; I have a test tomorrow. Here’s a fun fact I’ll share for now, a fact some of you may have heard.
We are learning about pain management (something close to Longball’s heart). There are opiate receptors in our brain that are triggered by opiods. There are two types of opiods - Endogenous which naturally occur and there are Exogenous: drugs (morphhine, oxycontine, codene, etc.) Opiods help alleviate pain by reducing the transmission of pain and producing happy feelings.
The Endogenous (naturally-occuring) opiods are released in response to stress and pain. They are also released by eating certain foods like CHOCOLATE and CHILI PEPPERS!
Longball and I are lucky enough to have found “Aztec Chili Chocolate” at our food co-op. But you too can play along and increase your happy feelings! Go get some Mexican food and follow with dark chocolate. Throw in a Margarita if you please.
Speaking of - my friend Jennie loves Margaritas but she will have to abstain for awhile! Yep, “She Likes Purple” is in the pink. Jennie - too bad about the Tequila but enjoy chilis and chocolate in celebration. Congrats!
So there was that day of winter in mid-June. And then I woke up one morning and was looking for something in my office when a funny-looking dog walked down the street. “That’s a funny-looking dog,” I thought to myself. “It looks sort of like a miniature wolf.”
“Wait.”
“That IS a miniature wolf!”
A coyote was just trotting down the middle of my street like he was grabbing his morning coffee on the way to work
Permanent winter and strange animals. Where am I? I will not be surprised if I sit next to a faun on the bus tomorrow.
Well thanks to Tim I finally have my new theme implemented. I downloaded a free theme from Shazia Mistry and then made some of my own little CSS edits.
You will see a “photo” page which so far just has a link to my Flickr account and an Eastern Washington photo album. Also new are “About” - which is a general “about,” “contact amieable” and “About: year three.”
I have more updates to make, such as fixing some CSS bugs and adding my links. These updates will slowly trickle out. But I wanted to put it out there because the old Wordpress theme was depressing.
OH and my new address is actually www.infiniteregress.org/amieable so update your books!
I am currently working on my new design here. You may have come here in the middle of things looking goofy. I am ALMOST ready to push us live. In the meantime, check out my new favorite song and video.
