Arghh

I walked around the lake this morning for my weekly farmer's market visit, and it was lovely as usual except for one factor: the dueling protesters. On one sidewalk were the Women in Black against the War and In Favor of Palestine and Ending the Gaza Occupation, etc etc. On the opposite sidewalk were the cluster of people waving the huge Israeli flags and signs reading Peace With Security and pointing out that Israel makes good software (relevant?). So there they stand, waving their flags and shaking their signs and otherwise not saying or doing much at all. It feels like a bunch of tourists have brought their conflict and dumped it on my cheerfully diverse and down-to-earth Saturday celebration.

This is not about apathy or wishing that the difficult and scary things in the world never intruded on my privileged Bay Area bubble. I respect the difficulty of the conflict in the Middle East, and the last thing we need is more self-righteous glaring. Are these two groups of people really incapable of intelligent dialogue? Is this the best thing they could be doing with their time? Are there not activities that would better contribute to both their goals? If there is one thing I really can't stand, it's a self-indulgent waste of time masquerading as social justice.

Birthday Week!

I turned 25 on Tuesday the 1st, and I have decided that I get a birthday week instead of just a single day. So happy birth-week to me for another 4 days! I'm not having much of a reaction to being 25, except to fervently hope this year is better than the last one was. One day at a time I suppose.

I bought myself a microwave which my grandmother has promised to pay for as a birthday gift. It's a silly thing to be excited about, but as a person living alone let me tell you: leftovers are much more likely to get eaten if you don't have to dirty as many dishes warming them as you would to make a new meal. I reheated something today and it was GREAT. Small pleasures, folks.

Also, sometimes miracles of modern technology really do feel like miracles. On my birthday I got a surprise phone call from two dear friends I never see, one of whom is in Cairo and another somewhere in Germany. They were on the same cheap phone call with the wonders of Skype. It was the best birthday gift ever.

On Second Thought...

I have been meaning to post for days on my culinary school experience (this was the first week). So I just sat down to write and realized I am freakin' exhausted. Maybe not so much with the detail-heavy posts tonight. Eventually I hope to blog a bit about each class, to solidify the content in my mind and share the secrets of pastry chef-ing. Coming soon!

Sometimes I Miss My Old Job

It has come to my attention that ARCs (Advanced Reading Copies) of Warren Ellis' new novel are soon to be distributed. Once upon a time I managed the SciFi section of my local independent bookstore, and I might have qualified for such an object. I would have written a newsletter review and made a special sign and obnoxiously recommended it to every poor soul who happened to wander into my section looking for the sports biographies...but alas. I no longer work in a bookstore. Some of my friends still do. But they will not give me their ARCs. Fuckers.

Pastry School Here I Come!

I went down to Santa Cruz last weekend to visit my mom, and formally signed all the papers for my student loan. I walked out of the bank on Monday with a check for $9,000. Wheee! I am now fully capable of paying for the Tante Marie Pastry Program, and I start next Monday. I'm also now fully in debt, and trying really hard not to worry about it. I think the worry will fade behind a mountain of delicious food and fantastic mess. I wonder who my classmates will be?

The syllabus is crazy, they pack a huge amount of content into 16 hours a week. I realize I don't actually have any idea what they will teach me. How much chemistry, how much practical lecture, how much plain practice? Updates will follow, I'm sure.

This is Your Brain On a Head Cold

I appear to have caught one of the various viruses going around. I beat something into submission right before I left for Puerto Rico, and now I may be paying for it. My thought process is very slow and floaty. It actually has some of the detached feeling of an anti-anxiety med. Odd, but acceptable. I've been watching the new Terminator series on my laptop, because that's about what I'm good for today. Is anyone else faintly disturbed by the similarity in the programmed kill-bot roles of Summer Glau?

That's That

Follow-up to Friday Night Blues: The casual thing is now a former casual thing. I wanted more, he didn't, and the only notable part of the story is that even a casual thing can't end casually. Instead of tears, this just ended in awkward. C'est la vie. Back in the pool.