I have nothing to blog about lately.. I don't go anywhere, and when I do, it's not that amazing or interesting.. or not anything that I can post pix of.. hmmm. That makes it sound much more fascinating than it is. *evil grin* Ah,well..
If I ever get around to getting out there on my bike I may find something postable but I'm up to my knees in Math homework and history.. and I got a horrible headache from hitting my head on the windowsill in the house yesterday.. I'm keeping track, as if I suddenly black out we'll know why, right? The point is, I feel awful & not in the mood.
I've been volunteering when I can.. I purposely have been trying to cut back because I'm torn between being a pest, a permanent fixture, or running out of happiness credit. No, I don't know what that means either. But I do know I don't want people to be sick of seeing my ugly mug every morning. I keep thinking I'll do a post about the stuff I come across in my project(s) but then I think.. I don't work there, so it wouldn't be anything legitimate. Best to leave it alone for now. ;)
I find lately I miss my long walks more and more.. I miss the annual "Great LA Walk" our friend Mike puts on every year. I was thinking when the Spring session is over I'll have more time to go 'hiking' and maybe head up into the hills, or bus to Tilden Park or west to the Berkeley Marina and walk back.
The weather has gotten so lovely, the bike is desperate to be utilized. One of the things Berkeley is fortunate to have is the Bike Station- sort of a bike valet.. I was advised by a clerk there that BART pays for the space, probably to encourage commuting.. Since my U-Lock got busted last Fall I haven't bothered replacing it. If you leave your bike parked in the Bike Station, you don't need your U-Lock. Pretty neat huh?
I find I also miss the LA bike meander.. A friend of mine would have downtown LA neighbor/friends gather outside his loft in the Arts District on Sundays and the half dozen or so of us (whoever showed up) would ride around, meandering through the streets of LA/Boyle Heights and beyond. I was always at the back of the pack but I always had fun. It was definitely not one of those intense rides you see around the city. Just mellow.. If you can't pay attention to traffic & chat at the same time, you're going too fast.. "It's not a race.. it's a meander.." I'm so freaking out of shape at this point I don't know if I could handle a meander.. but it'd be worth it to find out. =)
Berkeley doesn't have an art walk.. Oakland has something called "First Fridays" but I've not gone. I remember when we first moved back to the Bay Area there were some issues with it, and I stayed away. I'm honestly not crazy about crowds anymore.
If I can get my act together (caught up with life) I'd like to start attending the Poetry Unbound events at Art House again. It's the first Sunday of the month I want to say.. The first 15 minutes is like an open mic and then they have some scheduled poets reading their works. It's pretty laid-back, comfortable and there's a good mix of funny, moving, romantic, emotional stuff being read. I never read my own bad poetry.. (because it's BAD poetry!) ;)
Then there's the whole history thing. I'm taking an online class right now, which makes me think it'll be the last online class I take for a while. As cranky as other people's bad habits make me (showing up late, eating, wandering in & out to use the bathroom) I miss the lecture aspect.
So here was a post about nothing. I guess it doesn't matter as I have no idea how many people actually show up & read this stuff anymore; probably not anyone I know these days! ;). (I realize I'm not writing about the Historic Core of LA. Oh, do I knew that!) I wish I had something to say, to share.. to enlighten, but I don't.. It's not a good time for me right now.. Maybe I should call this "Overwhelmed Pt 2" ..things aren't hard or difficult, just busy: I don't get out much and I miss friendly, familiar faces. Oh, and my head hurts.
Holy cow it's hot out here.. Hotter than my phone says, I'm sure of it!
Mirror of the World.. it will be my best friend today.. We will have many adventures.. and then I will move on to something else hopefully.. a bit of reading for US History.
Wedging relationships with various books between other things on-going, and going on. I feel I am abusing the books and not giving them the attention they deserve, but what can you do? I think that often is the way with education. So much to go into the process, everything gets granulated into the mix to form tasteless biscuts of facts. This is where the love for learning is lost. This is where I wish I had 30hrs in a day to tell you how much everything is truely connected to each other.
The age of reason and art. Truth no matter how ugly. Passion and storytelling. Love with no illusions. Justice.
It's the closing of the year & time to make a new list of stuff that I probably won't accomplish.. but that's the point right?? We try to do better.. sometimes we do... sometimes it's just wishful thinking.
Some previous list items that are #done or almost there:
01. READING. This year I did fantastic with the 'reading at least ..2 books a month' challenge.. I managed 53 (& counting!) I think I'll stick with that same challenge for 2015 since I also know I don't read as many books when school is in session. ;)
a few of the books I plan to read or re-read or currently reading for this next year..
02. "Getting Home more." We are home. We are in Berkeley. so #happycamper right?? ;) SO..
2b: getting back to SoCal to see friends now & again would be good!
03. Walking/Biking/wii fit.. I did better since 2011.. I'm walking every day! I get my 10k+ steps in almost every day.. and I joined the Y a couple months ago & am hitting the pool once in a blue moon.. the next step is to make an appt. with the trainer so I can use the equipment (the rowing machine especially!!) properly!
3b. Bike. When the weather gets better.. Back on the bike! Be brave! Hit those Berkeley streets & hills!
04. Join some of the Berkeley Path Wanderers walks.. There's a couple coming up on the 1st and the 10th.. The latter will be a Little Free Libraries walk.. so you know that's right up my alley! ;)
05. Passport.. I have a new copy of my birth certificate, so. um.. yeah. Get that thing! I wants to go on a cruise or run off to Canada & see friends one day. ;)
06. Back on Program.. I'm on, I'm off. I got down to about 172 (from 190+ lbs in Feb.) and back up to about 180 this holiday.. so I'll start tracking my food again after the new year.. My ultimate goal is 140 with a plateau of 150.. ;)
NEW STUFF:
07. Each day is a new day. I am going to try & treat each day as a new opportunity to try things again.. Not let people or things get me down for too long.. If someone dissapoints me, I don't want to let it pile up.. Maybe they were having a bad day & took it out on me? Maybe it was me that did something wrong, but no one told me. Who knows? ..I got to not let that tear me down or hurt me. It's a bad habit I have, and it piles up or re-visits me at the wrong times.
08. Along that line.. I can't say I'm going to be Pollyanna.. but I do realize no one loves you when you're down & out. With that in mind.. I'm going to try & not verbalize my misery so much. Not only does no one give a rats, it makes me look like I can't handle my junk & I'm a whiner. I can totally handle it but I'm definitely one of those people that verbalize more than I should.. Honestly, I get over stuff pretty easily.. So if something bugs me one minute or day, I might be over it an hour or a day later. Maybe. ;) So yeah whining about something that I end up letting go of within minutes makes me look pathetic.
09. Clear the clutter. We downsized but didn't downsize our stuff so much. So getting organized is probably the biggest thing that's going to have to happen this next year.. I know it's not all on me.. but I need to be the instigator! ;)
10. Continue to be proactive in learning about & involved in Berkeley & California.. whether it's through my volunteer activities, attending Bancroft Roundtable events, book festivals, readings, other historical society (California, OMCA, BAHA, Berkeley) events.. Keep learning and growing.. and keep reading and looking for more opportunities to gather knowledge.
The Neverminds:
10. Creative Writing class. I've returned to school.. and at some point I'll be taking English 5: Critical Thinking in Reading & Writing course.. so.. yeah. Plus the history classes I'm taking require papers so writing is something I'm doing as part of the coursework. My thought is that I want to key in on how I'm writing & encourage my instructors to hopefully give me feedback whenever possible, (so many of these folks have heavy loads & I don't expect them to have time to really talk to me, let alone give me tips or constructive criticism.. but I can ask right??)
11. No longer looking for bio siblings. People who were looking found who they were looking for. I do want to learn about Native American orphanages of the early half of the 20th Century and how they worked and why they even exisited. Not in a rush.
I'm actually in a pretty happy place in my life. When I look through my list I don't see anything that jumps out at me as difficult or not doable. I think of other things I'd like to do.. like getting out in the parks again to continue my photo tour of Berkeley City parks, or returning to the hills to walk.. these are things I just need to allocate time for. They aren't challenges so much as things I enjoy that I've been putting on the back burner. My main focus recently has been school and the volunteering.. Finding balance between the things I need to do and what I want to do (often these are the same things!) could be proabably be a 12?
Happy New Year!
Unseasonably lovely weather to be had Monday.. Cool, but not cold.. the sun wanting to burn through.. The fog creating a blanket obscuring the sun in South Berkeley..
Ashby near Wheeler... beautiful Berkeley.
Walking to the library Wednesday Morning.. the fog was misting over the hills. On some of the side streets off Shattuck, the leaves were coloring the neighborhood south of campus..
Beautiful Berkeley..
Today was the holiday book sale at Heyday Books.. They were offering 25% off books online as well at their HQ on University. Added bonus was a table with selected titles at 75%.. Of course I had to go! I was hoping to pick up a couple books for my 'keeper' shelf..
today's book purchases..
A couple I've previously read & loved.. and a couple are newly published work I'm looking forward to reading for the first time. =)
We're rather limited on bookspace these days, so I have to be careful about what books I invest in. Heyday has so many fantastic titles though, it was difficult to narrow down my selections! I have several of their books already and I've enjoyed every one. I think I would have gladly picked up another half dozen titles if I thought the spouse wouldn't be annoyed with me for going crazy at the sale. ;) We have a pretty good California travel/history shelf but I'm always looking for titles I can adopt and keep forever.. things that will be of pleasure and a useful resource as time goes on. I think I managed to do that, and I picked up a couple titles to be inspired by perhaps. All books are fun (the pleasure & knowledge one acquires from the process of words).. even moving, inspiring and intense books. I already have a large selection of books I would like to finish reading (re-start at this point) and now I have several to add to the list..
As an aside, I'm so grateful for publishers like Heyday.. While I'm persuing lower level studies at the City College, I still have access to really great writers of California history and cultural studies whom I can read at my leisure (even while I wait to take the type of classes I really want to take.)
With the Fall Semester winding down (or cranking up if you think about all the stuff that has to happen in the next week before the winter holidays begin) I've been very distracted from writing anything that doesn't involve school. I have so many things I'd like to post or write about and have yet to really find the time to clear my head and get it down.. Maybe after next Tuesday.. It's not as if I've not been anywhere lately..
Places I've eaten & would love to post about:
-Elevation 66 (Albany)
-Sconehenge (Berkeley)
-HandleBar (Berkeley)
-Imm Thai Street Food (Berkeley)
-Saul's Deli (Berkeley) (although I go here pretty often.. It would have to be a new angle besides food)
-Triple Rock Thanksgiving (Berkeley)
Other ideas..
- Thanksgiving in general.. although now that I think about it.. meh.
- a random piece about coffee makers and the style and need of coffee..
- something about how freaking awesome maps are & why people might love them so much.
- National Adoption Month/ Day came & went.. I was thinking about writing something semi-coherent about that. oh well.
- something about social media & its varied uses. although..
- books.. books I'm reading or have read.. or things that are of interest to me.
- Heyday is having a sale on the 6th.. that would be something fun to post about. I guess we'll see.
- Bicycling around Berkeley.. if I ever get back to it.
- My "Y" experience maybe.
- Death Indexing.. not so much the indexing but some of the fun things I've come across in the Berkeley Daily Gazette while looking for death notices & obituaries.
- Hiking up into the hills on a nice day.. or heading to a nearby park. I miss my favorite tree. (ok it's not mine but it's a pleasant place to read and feel the breeze and the earth & see the sky for a bit) There's still other Berkeley Parks I've yet to photograph.
- Take a bus up to Tilden Park to spend an afternoon walking around.. I'm usually too worn out by the time I get up to Euclid & the Rose Garden to want to walk any further than back down to Vine Street Peet's (lazy, I know!)
They all seem like interesting topics when I think of them in the middle of the night.
When I can't sleep I make lists of things I should have done or need to do, things I wish I'd said to people, or not; things I want to accomplish the next day. Somewhere in there, blogging ideas pop up and I think "yeah that might be intresting" but then I fall asleep and forget about. At least I fall asleep. If I can't, I start reading.. ;)
