tokyo rose

ohwarai @ 2009-05-15T15:07:00

2009-05-14T20:07:10Z

do i ever post here anymore? i can't remember the last time.

recently:
-non stop work
+warm weather here at last
-bad haircut
+almost growing back
+just bought tix to LA

and now: food

my current life

2009-02-10T23:33:29Z

wake up
data collection
type field notes
eat dinner
sleep
repeat

lately

2008-12-17T16:08:01Z

-bureaucratic nightmares
+warm gray socks
+sticking to my budget
-having to fail a student who is now contesting the grade
++++happy, healthy family
+/- uncertainty about future career plans
+completing tasks
+perspective

latest edition

2008-12-05T20:47:23Z

+real christmas tree smell
-changing my lifestyle to match my wallet
-knowing that so many people are having a rough holiday season
+taking joy in ritual
+down comforter
-negative eleven fahrenheit today

ohwarai @ 2008-11-14T20:41:00

2008-11-15T02:41:24Z

i am trying not to be sad.

it's going to be ok

2008-11-06T21:11:56Z

+two loaves of fresh bread out of the oven
+sitting in my corner of the office with the lamp on, raining hard outside
+the prospect of something with bacon in it for dinner
-avoiding social interaction with people who are probably very nice
+perspective

calculus

2008-11-03T21:27:53Z

+fall weather
-cutting all sorts of stuff out of the budget and still coming up short
+honeycrisp apples
+purging the closet of unworn clothes
+preparing for costa rica jan 09
-ritualistic questioning of life goals
+holding my friend's 4 week old baby
+new down comforter
-impending midwestern winter
-missing having go-to friends

deja vu all over again

2008-09-30T23:36:58Z

+planning costa rica in january
-friend drama
+fall weather
+apple and pumpkin picking this weekend
-nothing to eat for dinner tonight
+running along the lake in the morning light
-kitty waking us up at 5 AM every single freaking morning
-economic uncertainty on a worldwide scale
+halloween is coming!

discoveries

2008-09-22T21:36:59Z

-if you leave your okra plant alone long enough, beautiful ivory flowers with magenta centers will bloom.
-new york is still both as awesome and as awful as i remember.
-once in a while, a frozen pizza and a cold beer are very important parts of an evening.
-i did not think getting married would make me feel different, but it did.

so

2008-09-16T21:33:11Z

we're married!

home

2008-09-02T00:20:18Z

friday:
-dinner at fancy schmancy restaurant
saturday:
-visited mike's mom and ate lunch and dairy queen
-got to state park, set up camp
-watched sunset while drinking wine on ice
sunday:
-hiked big time
-foraged for berries and mushrooms (success on both counts!)
-identified some edible plants
-canoed 5 miles off the mississippi
-cooked hotdogs, potatoes, squash and peppers
-smores
monday:
-drove through the driftless region
-stopped at every historical marker on the way home

ohwarai @ 2008-08-04T11:14:00

2008-08-04T16:23:22Z

getting hitched in 39 days.

ohwarai @ 2008-06-18T13:20:00

2008-06-18T18:28:10Z

man, i am tired.
woke up at 7, downed a coffee in the hopes of it carrying me through teaching until 11:30. did some paperwork after class, trudged home. now i should be working, but all i can do is sit here blankly staring at my screen.

ohwarai @ 2008-06-17T17:17:00

2008-06-17T22:26:54Z

work in full swing. work work work. teaching, writing, reading, editing.

but also: repotting my little pepper plants, baking bittersweet chocolate chip cookies, slowly ridding our apartment of things that we don't need or want.

100 days

2008-06-04T20:05:45Z

100 days til m and i get married.

summer isn't quite here yet in madison. there have been some 80 degree days, but this morning i needed jeans and a rainjacket on my way to work. i kind of like it.

thinking about summer plans is simultaneously exciting and overwhelming. the days go really fast and i'm trying to cram a lot of pleasure in before august comes. august means my big exam and two weeks of doing nothing but writing, teaching, writing, no sleep. sigh.

note to self

2008-05-28T21:39:15Z

just be happy

today

2008-05-21T18:33:53Z

+woke up early, ate yummy maple cereal
++crawled back in bed for a second sleep
+bought scallions and a lilac bouquet at the farmer's market
+enjoyed a leisurely coffee while watching preschoolers hoist each other up a [very small] tree
+ran a few miles
-witnessed girls being mean to each other at the gym
+ate an impromptu miso-based lunch
+shower with homemade sugar scrub
+thinking about possibilities for the rest of the day: walk, nap, clean

xoxo

people make choices

2008-04-30T18:48:57Z

instead of being glum about my backlog of work and my 7 measly days in which to get it all done, i'm going to celebrate the ache in my legs from yoga and the delicious hot beverage sitting on my desk.

ohwarai @ 2008-04-27T16:29:00

2008-04-27T21:35:19Z

i am tired and annoyed and this weekend did not turn out the way i expected.

distress call

2008-04-14T16:30:50Z

i am a person who appreciates winter. i usually prefer snow and wind and red noses to sweaty summer. BUT, after months and months of the most brutal winter in recent memory, i must protest! i am starting to feel like if i don't get some healing rays of warmth from the sun, i will freak out.

home again

2008-03-30T18:44:26Z

so i was in new york during the second half of this week for a conference. we flew in late on wed, i presented a paper early on thurs, and then the idea was to hang out and see people until we flew out early on sat. but as always, too many people, too little time, too much to do and in the end we left tired and kind of unsatisfied.

more and more when i leave new york i am happy to come back to madison.

but: it was nice, as always, to meet with people we love, eat delicious food at inappropriate hours, watch interesting/hilarious/scary people walk by, etc. etc.

worst

2008-03-26T02:23:29Z

i am sick in a way that i have not been in years.

melancholia

2008-03-21T17:48:54Z

i am nearing the end of my vacation from school/work. this weekend we had planned to drive up to m's parents' house for easter. a combination of issues, both personal and weather-related (it's snowing here again), has put some wrinkles in our plans and we may be staying home. either way, i'll be happy: ham and easter egg hunts up north, or cozy home times in my newly-cleaned apartment down here.

foxy lady knows which one she prefers:

speaking of which, i was a crazy woman with the spring cleaning this week. threw out tons of old junk, clothes, stuff that i never even knew i accumulated. i even ventured into the dark corners of my closets, which usually harbor dust bunnies and some t-shirts i forgot i owned. now: all tidy! i did a lot of furniture rearranging, too, which always makes me feel refreshed for a little while, until i want to change it all around again.

so next wednesday we head to nyc. i'm presenting a paper on thurs morning, but other than that we are there to play! and eat! and see people! we were just there at the very beginning of january, but it was so very cold, and we made the mistake of trying to see far too many people in far too little time. new york is weird. every time i go back i feel an odd combo of excitement and dread because i don't live there anymore, and i don't wish that i did. the latter is perhaps the biggest surprise of all.

domestic

2008-03-18T15:29:42Z

yesterday was our anniversary, the last before we acquire a new one in september (although i am tempted to keep celebrating both).

++++i'm on spring break, so i was sleeping in when i was awoken by a little plastic egg being pressed into my hand. inside was a ferrero rocher and a clue! eleven eggs later i had a whole slew of little treasures: earrings, jelly beans, gift card....it was great.

-the rest of the day i spent cleaning (i'm doing the mini apartment therapy cure because my house is a pit) and could not get over how much shit i accumulate.

++we went out to dinner and had 21b with two stars and tofu, came home, watched tv and went to bed. the end.

--and now today: i tackle the closets.

quick trip

2008-03-16T01:31:10Z