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So yesterday, I was thinking I might write a post about how Amazon now sends me suggestions for books like: My Life as a Night Elf Priest: An Anthropological Account of World of Warcraft (Technologies of the Imagination: New Media in Everyday Life).  And the best part about this is that when I get these suggestions, I don’t think, “What the heck?”  I think, “Oooh, sweet!”

But then, Dan went to go run to grab some groceries because I needed to get on a conference call with a professor and… he couldn’t find the car.  Where was the car, anyway?  Oh, crap.  See, Saturday night when we got back home from the Veggie Institute, there were no parking spaces where we normally park, so we parked in front of our house.  This is okay on the weekends, but on the weekdays (for some bizarre reason) you can’t park there from 7-9am each morning.  Well, Sunday came and went and we didn’t ever leave the house.  Then on Monday, I walked to work at 7am (I leave through the back door) and Dan works from home (and also sleeps until 8am).  So, there the car sat and we forgot that we needed to move it.  Apparently at 7:10, it was towed.  This is funny to me because when there were a bunch of cars that were illegally parked in our lot, we couldn’t get a tow truck here to save our lives, but ten minutes past 7 and we are towed.  Anyway, we made some phone calls and found out that the impound lot was closed until this morning at 9am.  I freaked out a little because I had to leave for a meeting out in the suburbs at 11am and I had no idea how long this process would take.  It was also crappy because we REALLY needed groceries.  Don’t get me wrong, there are two grocery stores within walking distance, but it kind of sucks to have to carry groceries more than a few blocks.  Dan was nice enough to walk down and grab us just a few items for today while I took my call.  This made me think, again, about how good we have it, even having one car.  Many people have to take the bus or walk much further to get their groceries all of the time.  It’s hard to remember how spoiled we are (Dan and I generally, but probably most in this country).  I mean, it was inconvenient to get our car towed, and the $210 fine was crappy, but, in the grand scheme of things, it was a minor incident.

Luckily, Ben didn’t work until 11am today, so he picked me up right at 9am and took me to the impound lot.  I paid the fine and the guy at the desk sent me out to the gate where I had to press a little button and give another guy my license plate number over an intercom.  He told me it was in row 4.  I told Ben that I would be fine, so he left.  I found my car in row 4 with some white numbers written on the driver’s side window with white shoe polish (which was impossible to get off later).  As I walked toward the car though, the same voice from the tiny intercom came over the much larger speaker system and, in a deep raspy drawl said, “To the lady at the gate, PULL ON THE HANDLE.”  I stopped for a minute, not sure if it was for me, and looked around.  Then, I saw some lady who apparently couldn’t figure out how to get out of the gate.  So, I kept walking and a truck came up behind me.  I tried to get out of its way, but I think he was confused about where I was headed.  He finally drove up beside me and a mechanic-type in the front seat shouted, “Did I scare you?”  “No, sorry.”  I said as I made my way to my car.  I opened the door and threw my purse in, but I wasn’t sure if I could just leave, so I shuffled my feet and looked around, sort of hoping that The Voice from the intercom would tell me what to do.  It didn’t, so I finally got in the car and started to drive slowly (I think I was afraid the police were going to jump out of nowhere and tackle me).  I opened my windows and got to the end of Row 4, but had no idea which way to turn.  I sat for a minute and finally, “To the lady in the white Honda, you need to make about a 180 degree turn.”  I craned my neck and saw an open gate waiting for me.  This was getting kind of creepy.  I felt like I was on the Starship Enterprise, except the impound lot was talking to me.  I headed toward the gate and just as I was leaving, “Thank you for visiting the Columbus impound lot.  Have a nice day!”

Oh, and I made it to the suburbs in plenty of time.

Today was kind of a crazy day.  I met with a professor early to work on one of my exam questions, then with a friend who is also a grad student to chat over coffee.  I then had to walk in the rain all the way to Tuttle (a small hike) to print my posters for a conference I am attending next weekend, only to find out that I should have emailed the files to them.  Then, I had to go home and grab a bite to eat before I went out into “the field” to interview a teacher.

The interview was in a nearby suburb, and it felt really nice to just be in a school again.  I miss it.  It felt like, I don’t know, regular… like I was in the real world.  I’m so used to reading theory all day and taking classes where we argue about power, that it was nice to be in the real world for a minute.  And guess what?  The walls of the school were lavender!  It was also nice to talk to a teacher for a while and listen to his thoughts about technology.  It’s funny now, being a researcher and all (I think I can say that), that while listening to this teacher talk, I don’t just nod and smile and share my own stories too.  Instead I listen carefully, encourage him to say more about juicy tidbits that are rich with future insight, all the while my brain is going a mile a minute interpreting what he says through the lens of several different theories.  It’s exhilarating in the nerdiest sort of way.

Two funny stories from the last two days that I have to share:

1) I went to Target yesterday to return a dress and as I was walking by the card aisle, there was a little boy about 4 or 5 picking up all of the cards that play music, opening them and then dancing to each song.

2) Today, I get an email from my sister-in-law with coupons for a FREE bag of Doritos EVERY MONTH for the REST OF THE YEAR!  Haha!  Does she know me or what?  Thanks, Jess!

Yesterday I worked from home, then had my two classes.  Today, I worked on school work all day and I’m feeling kind of behind.  Though, it probably doesn’t help that I kept getting distracted by judge shows… Jeanine Pirro, Alex, Joe Brown, Judy.  I mean, once you hear the problem, you have to hear the verdict, right?  Right.

Check out the first piece to my new office/bedroom, to be at least partially unveiled on Sunday (fingers crossed).  Beautiful, no?

My new chair*

*A special thanks goes to Dan who picked this up at Ikea for me on his short trip to Cincinnati.  He’s so nice.

Yesterday was a good day.  I got a bunch of schoolwork done and then I went to the grocery store in the afternoon.  I bumped into a fellow grad student there and chatted for a few minutes.  This is happening to me more and more now, running into people I know in Columbus.  On the way home from the grocery store I calculated that I have taught about 200 students here so far and have been in classes with another 150 (maybe?).  Then there are professors, secretaries, ODE coworkers and people that I’ve met at conferences.  When we first got to Columbus, I could go practically anywhere knowing full well that I would not run into anyone I knew, and I liked it.  I like to be anonymous.  I like to go about my business and not feel like I have to remember a name or think of some clever bit of small talk to discuss.  But, I’m not going to lie, it’s also nice to feel like I’m part of a community and that when I look up now and again I spot a friendly face.

It reminds me of moving to Cincinnati just after undergrad.  At first, I could go to the grocery store, pick up some tampons and a family size bag of Doritos and not worry for one minute that there might be an awkward moment with an acquaintance.  But, slowly that changed.  Each year, I met 125 new students, their parents, their siblings, etc.  So, by year five, there were 625 students and their families lurking at the end of every ice cream aisle in West Chester.  One day, Dan and I went to Lowe’s to look at getting some shelves for our rec room.  We were in the back of the store and I hear a voice from the front shouting, “MISS RICHARDS!!!!!!  MISS RICHARDS!!!!!!!”  Then came the thumping of little high tops and the big smile of a former student, let’s call him John.  Out of breath with wide eyes, he says, “Hi Miss Richards!  How are you?”  I love this kid.  He has the most joyful spirit and his family is super nice.  I also had his older brother, who was very bright, and we would play chess sometimes during indoor recess.  I look up to see John’s parents and brother walking at a normal pace, also wearing big smiles.  His dad says, “Wow, it’s kind of like you’re a celebrity, isn’t it?”  Yes, it is.  I’ve thought about that often since then.  Being a teacher is sort of like being a D-list celebrity, but without the offers to do Lean Cuisine commercials or the hope of a reality TV show.  The lack of anonymity you have as a teacher is surprising sometimes, and it can be annoying, but it’s also kind of nice.  So, moving to Columbus was like wiping that slate clean and it took awhile to get used to.  But now, as I run into more and more friends and fellow students, I’m only a little disappointed that none of them will ever scream my name and dash down an aisle to greet me.

It was such a nice day today.  This morning, I ran and then after lunch, I walked up to campus to run some errands.  I went to the bookstore and picked up a few books for my class.  The books are upstairs at this particular bookstore and when I got to the top of the stairs, what did I see?

Patience, Iago.

Then, I went to the new Ohio Union to pick up David Sedaris tickets (he’s a regular on This American Life!).  It’s a really nice building that just opened yesterday and you can sort of see in the picture that the alma mater is carved into the walls. There are also a few places to eat that were ridiculously packed with 50,000 students (approximately).

Carmen Ohio

Then, I went to my favorite coffee shop, Brenen’s, and did some work until it was time for me to stop by my advisor’s class, for which I am teaching an online lab.  I was just there long enough to show everyone how to log in and get their work done.  Then, I walked home, stopped at the grocery store on the way to pick up some popcorn (I hate being out of popcorn!).  Once I was home, I watched the sunset glowing on the Catholic church right across the street from my house.

Oh, Spring, I love you.

And I hear the next three days will be in the SEVENTIES!  DID YOU HEAR THAT?  THE SEVENTIES!  YAY!

Changing behavior with fun?  Manipulative, but I still like it.  Check out their site here.

This one was my favorite:

Yesterday, we only went out to go to the mall for a bit.  It was good.  And, for some reason there was a power outage at midnight that finally forced me to stop reading.  Also good.

Today, Dan and I headed home.  It was chilly and there was some snow on the ground, which hadn’t been typical of the week.  Dan usually drives the whole ten hours, but he had a work call around lunch time, so I took over for awhile.  When I drive long distances, I like to use cruise control.  I like to get in the right hand land, set the cruise to 70mph and then just let my feet rest while I steer.  This is a fine idea, but it doesn’t last long because, inevitably, someone is going slower than I am and then someone else is in the left lane going too fast for me to pass without turning off the cruise for a bit.  Or, traffic increases and cruise is just impossible.  Or, a cop is monitoring traffic and everyone slams on their brakes.  I don’t know why, then, I keep on setting the cruise hoping that I’ll be able to rest easy, because it’s never going to happen.

I get it from my Dad.  Although, he set his cruise at 72mph because he heard from his state patrol friend that he could go up to 7mph over the speed limit without getting pulled over.  And, that was gospel, let me tell you.  It was a funny thing, the way my dad would use cruise (and by funny, I mean irritating, death-defying, unpredictable, as was most driving with him).  He was so intent on keeping the cruise on, on never having to veer from that perfect 72mph, that he would nearly hit cars in front of him before varying his speed.  He would yell, he would get all worked up because, gosh darnit, he wanted to maintain a level speed.  He would also criticize anyone who was incapable of maintaining speed.  If he were going to pass them and they sped up, that was outrageous.  If he got behind them and they slowed down, they were imbeciles.  Maintaining a perfect speed on long highway trips was, to my Dad, perfection.

As I was trying to use my cruise today, perhaps in a slightly toned down mode, I started to think about that idea of wanting to be able to maintain some set speed and not to be interfered with.  It’s like life, right?  We’re all on this road, thinking that things are going well, wanting to check things off of our list, wanting things to go as planned, when bam, someone slows down right in front of you and severely impedes your progress.  Maybe you have this plan that you’ll get a fellowship to prepare you for your dissertation, the fellowship is perfect, the category is so aligned with your dissertation that it couldn’t be any better, you spend hours preparing the application, it is honed, it is spotless, and then, rejection.  Bah, you brake, cancel cruise, and figure out how to get around this car before you start cursing life.

As I was walking to a cafe this afternoon to do some work (and loving it).  I started to think about how when I lived in the suburbs, I had to drive to get everywhere and I started thinking about the differences between a city and a suburb.  Here’s what I came up with so far.

There are things I miss about my old house… space, a garage, a quiet deck.  I also miss the safety.  I miss my group of friends, the comfort and familiarity of similarity.  Right now though, today (and tomorrow I’m sure since it’s warming up), I am loving the city.  Even the dirty, cramped noisiness is nice.  It’s less contrived than a suburb.  It’s a beautiful bricolage of people, buildings, and eras past and present.  I love to walk around and notice the different architectures of the buildings and watch the hum of the buses, crosswalks and cyclists.  A city feels more alive and I feel like it has something to teach me.

What else am I missing though…

In my Vegetarian Times that I picked up the other day, they interview their contributors with a few fun questions.  One of them, I like very much: Write your memoir in six words.  Here is what the various contributors said:

She thought, she cooked, she entertained.

A man who suffered from wanderlust.

Row, row, row your boat gently.

At first this was fun to think about, but it quickly became poetic.  I thought of three so far (which I realize is now 18 words, but oh well).

Just one girl, too many dreams.

Gray world turns pink and purple.

Lots of cracks, finally broken open.

Leave your memoir in the comments.  Come on, you know you want to!