and again

somehow Jeff and I have become the family kiddie birthday entertainment. but what are you going to do? we're just so cute.

Belly up, belly up to the bar boys

Andrew says every musical has a brothel scene and it makes him really mad. No matter what the musical is about, when act two starts, the curtains open and BOOM: we're in can can skirts, singing something uncomfortably ridden with innuendo

This is not a brothel scene. this is my last two weeks in Provo. It's a weird transition, to start missing what I have. anticipating what I've been missing. I don't think my brain really knows what to do with it. my heart always seems to know what to do. but may or may not share that information with the rest of me.


I'm grateful for brothel scenes. Or I guess I mean, I like Debbie Reynolds' raspy voice.

Not to toot my own horn...but

I'm looking pretty fierce today

Happy Mom's Day, mom

owies

don't know what's been up lately, but I keep getting hurt.
my poor left hand alone has suffered a whole range of injuries in the last few weeks:
kitchen knife to the thumb
key slash to the palm (mandy trying to defend herself)
some more slices to the thumb thanks to my cracked flat iron
series of slices to the pointer finger from raw ends of my guitar strings

a few nights ago I took a hard knee to the quads (basketball) that left me limping.
last night andrew and I were trying to reenact the break dancing scene from the end of Ocean's 13 and I landed my hip full force on a bar in our couch I didn't know was there. it knocked the wind out of me and today I have this mini-me hip on my hip.

I guess it's a little kid urge in me to display my wounds to everyone and ask for sympathy.
Today teaching kindergarten during our 5 minute "talking time" I asked the kids to tell me about their worst owies. It was great. everyone kid had a story.

My hands are shakin
From carryin this torch
From carryin this torch for you

My lips are bleeding
From kissin you goodbye
From kissin you goodbye every night

My sheets are tearin
From sleepin in too long
From sleepin in too long with you

My hands are shakin
From carryin this torch
From carryin this torch for you

My head is where
It's always been
If only I knew where

My feet can't stand
their ground no more
It seems that I don't care

My hands are shakin
From carryin this torch
From carryin this torch for you

My lips are bleedin
From kissin you goodbye
From kissin you goodbye every night

My heart is poundin
yes yes yes
My mind just second guess
My love is so
articulate
But I am such a mess

My hands are shakin
From carryin this torch
From carryin this torch for you

My lips are bleedin
From kissin you good night
Oh kissin you goodbye
It's all that I do

My sheets are tearin
From sleepin in too long
From sleepin in too long with you

My hands are shakin
From carryin this torch
From carryin this torch for you

(Sondre Lerche)

ERIN

clumsy, curious
Relative of sturdy pioneer women, stalwart Florences and stormy Becks
Lover of kiddie space pajamas, white, bowie
Who feels it all (I feel it all)
Who gives strange mementos; unsolicited advice; love tokens: rocks & leaves
Who fears jr high students, eternity, 4 am
Who longs to see pyramids, squids, temples, new lands, strange fish, you by my side
Resident of everywhere. nowhere. not sure

BECK

The Shapes of Leaves
by Arthur Sze
Ginkgo, cottonwood, pin oak, sweet gum, tulip tree: our emotions resemble leaves and alive to their shapes we are nourished. Have you felt the expanse and contours of grief along the edges of a big Norway maple? Have you winced at the orange flare searing the curves of a curling dogwood? I have seen from the air logged islands, each with a network of branching gravel roads, and felt a moment of pure anger, aspen gold. I have seen sandhill cranes moving in an open field, a single white whooping crane in the flock. And I have traveled along the contours of leaves that have no name. Here where the air is wet and the light is cool, I feel what others are thinking and do not speak, I know pleasure in the veins of a sugar maple, I am living at the edge of a new leaf.

AWOL

man I'm sorry. I've been a little bit distracted.

what more can I say

sub sub subbing along at the bottom of the beautiful briney, slippery shiny, beautiful briney sea!!

hello friends and fellow bloggers. today I am writing from Mr. Cox's high school geometry class. substituting is a funny job. a lot of power that I don't necessarily feel responsible enough to handle.
subbing is a moral dilemma.
when I'm strict I feel like I'm betraying my younger self. I feel as though if she saw me now she would shake her head and spit her gum out at my shoes.
when I'm totally lax my sense of duty kicks me in the pants "they're not paying you to be a bum. show some kaputz!"

you'd think I could just middle ground it, but it's a hard line to walk when working with high school kids.
add to it that I think public education in general is dum. D-U-M. dum. I know that not everyone can educate their own kids. not all kids can educate themselves. there has to be some kind factory line to send the kids down. mass education. but I don't know, is this really the best we've got? there is so much busy work. there is so much silliness. I sat through years of it and didn't retain anything. what a waste. I could have been tending sheep. apprentice to a shepherd. be doing something with my life

this ship has sailed

I just found an old mission friend on facebook. we were good friends on the mission and saw each other a few times afterwards. It's been a while since we've talked and now I see that he's married. I keep seeing these guys lately. that are married. that I thought about giving a chance to and didn't. friends I flirted with, that flirted with me. who knows if it would have worked out with them, but I still feel some regret. A little worry I may be screwing up all my chances.
I've been telling people I wasn't interested in getting married since I was a little girl. that's half of the truth. the other half is more complicated. It involves a whole bunch of weird relationships, crushes, wishes, narrow escapes. It involves wanting to give my brothers a brother-in-law to play video games with. wanting to even out this female heavy family. It involves wishing I could just make what I have work.
some days I feel pretty optimistic about the situation. I go charging out like I'm leading a battalion on my horse. I flirt. I tweak out dates. I garner referrals. But it never takes long before I'm charging back the other direction. retreat! get the heck out of there.
I used to tell myself I could marry the Charles river. he's very attractive. fun during the day, romantic at night. you know the type. I don't know though. I don't think he'd be the best brother in law. at family functions he'd stand off by himself. get the wii all wet.

our moab race

this saturday mom and andrew and I went to moab for the canyonlands 1/2 marathon. in case the photos don't give it away, it was the most awesome, inspiring scenery I have ever run through. the first 11 miles were in Hall Canyon, running right alongside the river, with red rock towering over us. the weather was ideal--a little too cold in the morning while we stood around freezing waiting for the start, but besides that warmish, cloudy so we didn't have to battle the sun, which only popped out just after I finished racing.
mom and andrew did the 5 mile race, where andrew made awesome time and mom came in 8th in her age category!

I love racing. I love my pre-race grouchies and obsessions over what I eat. I love the middle of the race where my mind zens it, running in and out of other people's conversations, feeling completely free. the last mile or so where I become aware of how tired I am and I want to die. the final sprint with someone cheering me on. scarfing down bananas and rolls and whatever they've got at the post-race spread. battling lines to check my actual time. that crazy endorphin high. my sleep last night. my achy knees today. I love it!!!! I love it all.

I feel alive. really cool. and happy. who's up for battling the boston marathon next april? I've got a futon you can sleep on.

10 things I prefer

[snobby cats
watching people eat their boogers
a papercut
discovering a typo after you've printed off the final draft (on good paper)
chapped lips with ne'er a chapstick in sight
artificially induced wedgies
regular wedgies
when the roof of your mouth goes raw from too many bowls of sugar cereal in a row
a herd of deranged, rabid wildebeests
mail that won't come]

to teaching jr high

a little early a little late

this happy baby Charlotte was born last week. two weeks early, but not a second too soon (for me anyway).

Congratulations Jeff and Nicole. I love you

Happy 3-year Anniversary

to me.
3 years ago today I got home from the mish. what a trip. It feels like someone else's lifetime. like stories someone has told me so many times I can tell them like they happened to me. but they didn't.
Tonight Andrew told the family stories about his mission, which of course sparked stories in me. Stories I didn't know I had. they just sprang out of me: Spring!
People I have loved and almost forgotten. Or some I will never forget. As buried as they may be, they surface. time and again.
I have been good. and bad. I have been so many things since my mission. But I am happy today, that I am on the road to being the woman my missionary self would have admired. I'm happy to find that the gospel of Jesus Christ has so much depth, even in the simple things. That faith and forgiveness. Redemption. all have expanded meaning for me compared to then, even at that spiritual peak.
I hope that when I'm 85 (oh for goodness sake, if I'm not dead yet!) I can wish myself a happy 60th anniversary from some even loftier vantage point. Sana. Sa awa ng diyos.

5 reasons to fall in love

.












happy valentines

oh man, what was I thinking

so, I have finally found some employment, in the form of substitute teaching. Last Friday was my first time and I got to work as a substitute librarian. Pretty nice, albeit a little on the quiet side. HA! the thought that I ever complained about that makes me laugh like a prima donna, first lady of the hour.
BECAUSE, today I substituted for jr high history and it wasn't quiet anymore. It was pretty much full-on insanity. just like the movies--teacher leaves; cut to the sub, head down on her desk in despair while ADD ridden cretins run around the room yelling. At lunch (30 min.) it was all I could do to sit there dumbstruck after the bell rang and the last hellion had filed out of the class. I think I sent out a few distress signals.
help me. I've been swallowed by a whale. a pre-teen whale.
I've always been a teacher that didn't have a firm grasp on discipline. I remember now, that would sometimes frustrate me with my missionaries and with my anatomy students. But this is on a totally different level. this is nuts.
I'd say 50 bucks isn't worth a day of this strange hell. but I already had to put so much money upfront (14 bucks for my TB test; 15 bucks to run my fingerprints), plus my pride/desire to be master of all I see. I mean, here I am handed a weakness on a silver platter. shouldn't I make a go at making it a strength? but I may die trying. Really. I may die.

Dog love

I dream about Frank several times a week. and I have a theory that he is in all of my dreams. just not always in an obvious way. Sitting there in a dream corner, he's the rug or part of the light fixture.
sometimes the dream is all about him--dying all over again, or barking away faceless trouble just outside my door.
Or else being cute and warm on my bed when we've both just woken up. fat belly up, hair guinea-pig-matted from sleep
sometimes I am aware of him in the background--being walked, or crouching down on his front paws, taking note of the crazy dream-play going by.
It's been 3 years. do you think I'll ever shake him

old friends

I'd prefer you as a memory, a point of interest on my travelogue.
wouldn't we like it distant and always perfect? You can remember me hazy. a photograph from the forties, blurred until we are beautiful. I'll make you a mood. those new boots in Winter. the night's thrill of crunching snow.
We could be a poem. clean, concise, efficient. leave out the vulgarity of insignificant details: your bathrobe on the floor; the hair on this carpet

Does Amanda Bynes have ears?

something fishy is going on.

sunday thoughts on a monday morning

Oh Utah altitude. eat poo and die.
Does anyone know how to spell pooh? I like mine with an H, but someone told me that only goes for the bear.

my stake president promised us in sacrament meeting that if we would read at least 3 pages of the Book of Mormon everyday for the rest of our lives, we would be exalted in the Celestial kingdom.
I believe him. Not because he had power to grant us some once in a lifetime fairy blessing or genie wish. but because the Book of Mormon has power to change us. That book is from God and when you study it you can't help but become like Him.
When I read it I feel my heart soften. It becomes easier to separate out the cares and philosophies of the world from those things that are eternal.
I am filled with the desire to know God; to be close to Him through obedience.
Oh, it is delicious to me. It is perfecting me. I think that if you had been visiting our ward that day, he probably would have still offered that promise. to you.

so let's get on it Holmes! I don't want to be up there alone ;)

my sweet ride

Well, it's a cuter. what can I say.
what a great week I've had with my family.
I have decided that provo (in all its glory) is one place I come to get strong again. like Lenk on the Legend of Zelda game and those crazy caves where fairies fly around you and fill up your power hearts. give me some P town and I feel ready to bump into jumping spiders and get hit by those fireballs the dude in the water spits out at you.
I know soon enough I will grow antsy,
because I am a rover. hiked a hundred highways and never found my home.
but for now it is sweet surrender:
david's hugs, madison's wet baby kisses
jenny's cooking
andrew's insanity
and jeff's conversations
mandy's nooks and crannies (!)
mom in general

and that's just my family. they soothe that nag for other places and other people who I have loved. who I love now. and give me space to rejuvenate without too much missing.
one day, you know, we will never have to miss again. because that is my heaven and where I hope to head

I am so Mormon

I believe it all.

sorry to be vague on that point.

I'm a little nervous

about being unemployed
about preparing for the MCAT (6+ years after taking the pre-reqs)
about my new phone--can't figure out the text messaging. HELP!!
about RM Andrew

and apostate Erin
about leaving old friends
and seeing older friends
about driving in this snow
about the way my voice sounds on tape
about the old milk
about this orange blog

Blog-xiety

Hey buddies. well, to cut straight to the meat and mayhem, I have had more than a few nervous inquiries into the future of my Boston blog since I am, dun-dun-dah!!, no longer in Boston.
Well, you better believe I've thought long and hard:
I thought about giving it up
thought about dedicating the blog to one subject, like fly-fishing
or Narwhals
thought about pretending I never left

But I finally decided the other day, checking out the crazies in maroon aprons unloading my car at the DI drop-off, that Provo can be a pretty fascinating place through the right eyes. and why not through mine? I've been away and maybe gained some perspective. and, when push comes to shove, I'm still as Provonian as the joggers on 9th east. as Cafe Rio knock-offs.
as the one homeless dude who always hangs-out outside of mi ranchito on center street asking for your leftovers.
so, yeah. let's do this thing mariah! it's temporary. so what do we have to lose
no more than your precious time
erin

Fighting Poetry with Poetry

Your Catfish Friend

If I were to live my life
in catfish forms
in scaffolds of skin and whiskers
at the bottom of a pond
and you were to come by
one evening
when the moon was shining
down into my dark home
and stand there at the edge
of my affection
and think, "It's beautiful
here by this pond. I wish
somebody loved me,"
I'd love you and be your catfish
friend and drive such lonely
thoughts from your mind
and suddenly you would be
at peace,
and ask yourself, "I wonder
if there are any catfish
in this pond? It seems like
a perfect place for them."

Richard Brautigan





Lullaby


Lay your sleeping head, my love,
Human on my faithless arm;
Time and fevers burn away
Individual beauty from
Thoughtful children, and the grave
Proves the child ephemeral:
But in my arms till break of day
Let the living creature lie,
Mortal, guilty, but to me
The entirely beautiful.

W.H. Auden

Season's Greets from P-town

Oh, what?
yeah I'm in provo. Here's the weirdest part so far: it feels like I just left provo yesterday and yet a year and a half has definitely passed--I see it in people's weight and wrinkles, and babies that are toddlers and big crazy buildings that sprouted up over night. It makes me feel like Rip Van Winkle, if you can know what I mean. and it's a little unnerving.
good news: the mountains are constant.
and andrew has been away the whole time too, so at least we are sharing this wild dream together
Provo is lovely. my family is big and beautiful. the sky is so big now, without my boston trees. my hair dries fast:)
but I miss you Boston already. my shiny city and my crazy streets. my wilderness.
you've definitely snuck into my soul
and bothered my sense of home
I know we will be together again. I'm just not finished with you baby
Merry Christmas!! God lives and loves you. I love you.
erin

It is such a treat to have you back in my world
Hallelujah and every kind of praise

my Boston Down

well my days are numbered in this city of bean dreams and willa billas. on the 21st I will be back in provo to celebrate Christmas and Andrew's homecoming.

my plan is to hangout there for at least a semester before my last great semester of classes, which I will take at the University of the Philippines in Manila (Fall of next year).

Today is my first last day: my last Saturday here in this crazy eastern state

In honor of this boston count down, I thought I might offer a little listing over the next week of delights that Boston has given me, offered me, and thrust upon me. TY Boston. ur da best!

today's shoutout goes to:
*the way true Bostonians say my name ("Aaa-ren"--heavy on the "Aaa")
*the unexpected, but great, incentive to bust out my professional babysitting skills again (after a 10 year hiatus)
*the T (how I love the T!!!!!)
*funny things that squirrels do
* my charles

It's coming

One week peeps.

and our Elder Beck is back home. Kind of shocking. but soooooooooooooooooo great.

"They look so much dang like the same person, I say 'you want icecream?' both of them say 'yes'

'What in the heck?'

'They are tweens, that is why.'
'What the heck"

from a happy place

well, I am writing tonight from one of my happy places--the Kitterman home--where I am pulling an overnighter. Kids are asleep (FINALLY. it took no less than 8 picture books), cats are asleep-ish, the place is cleaned up. and it's just me and my jammies playing like I own the place. I've been thinking a lot about families lately. What makes them so great and what I would have to do to make mine even greater. blame it on all these family-themed movies that have been coming out: the Family Stone, Dan in Real Life, Little Miss Sunshine, Meet the Robinsons (just watched that one tonite with the kiddies, actually). The Grapes of Wrath, which did not just come out, but which I am still reading.
Our families are these mini-worlds. we make laws and patterns that don't necessarily reflect reality. I think of the world my mother created when I was little--where saying "shut-up" was next to murder & where there was some kind of second-wave depression going on so we had to wear our clothes until they wore out (regardless of fit or fashion) and use spatulas to eek out the last scrapings of peanut butter in the jar.
(sidenote: I still fight a wave of guilt any time I throw away a ziplock bag instead of cleaning it up and reusing it)
In my mom's world it wasn't weak or naive to be tenderhearted (which all of my siblings are)--something she taught us crying over stories she read to us from the Friend, and at the deaths of our pets.
I don't mean to disturb anyone, but I think families are more than that traditional kind. I think they are wherever we are at and with whomever we choose to be with. it just takes two people choosing to believe in the same thing--two people willing to play the game. I don't know, maybe for some people it only takes one. or one and some cats or something.
In my family I want a place that is open. sharing (most people who know me well know my sense of possession is kind of...blurry). A place with lots of food and people and music. I don't want anyone ever to be shushed. I want a little love-shack. like dancing with the girls earlier, until we were worn out and huffing on the floor. like people who aren't too scared to admit they need eachother
I know that kind of family requires those same things out of me. you know, I have to be the amerigo vespucci of that world. that new world. but I am willing to work on that
anyways, those are my thoughts tonite from my happy place. I love my family. let's face it, you don't make it that hard ;)
sweet dreams.
erin

Happy Birthday Mama Mia

I love you!!!

I made it to the Canada

today we are going to see FEIST!!!!!!!!!!!!! woot!woot!

I know you're all jealous, because I have been eating french fries with gravy and cheese curds and drinking my milk from a bag...but I'll be home soon, eh

my girls

Here are three of the girls (Amanda, Brianna and Jasmen) I have been working with on my digital story telling internship. Hmmm...so far I have been unsuccessful at explaining to anyone what exactly it is we are doing, so I'm certainly not going to try here. You'll just have to wait for our finished projects (which will be online near the end of December). But for now, aren't they cute?!

happy T day

Yeah, I made that beast with my own two hands and a pair of bamboo needles. The big question is: If you were a dude, would you wear it? actually, Would you pay to wear it? I made it for our ward's sub for santa auction, but I don't know, I look pretty hot in this picture (pjs at 1pm, no surprise there) so if the bids aren't high enough I may just sneak it on back home.
Well happy thanksgiving. Last year I wrote a big ole list of gratitude and for my sacrament meeting talk this last sunday I pulled a similar stunt (having not written anything useful up until 10 minutes to blastoff), so THIS year my loves, I won't bore you with any of that nonsense. Instead I'll just offer a simple story of thanks:
hmmmm.
I forgot it, so I guess I'm not all that grateful after all. what a re.
well, love you. keep it real: eat turkey. For those of you who I will see in less than a month: see you in a month. for those of you I won't: how sad :(, maybe you should see me?. and for those of you who see me all the time, but are reading this blog illegally: stop stalking me. in the spirit of T day, however, I love you all. regardless of your current status. ingats: erin

100 things about me (who else)

1. I like my yolks runny
2. And my toast well done
3. My ears are totally different from each another
4. I like my socks mismatched
5. Or not at all
6. My favorite color has been blue, green, yellow and red
7. But never pink
8. Right now it’s white
9. My favorite month is October
10. I’ve never seen a UFO
11. Or a ghost
12. Or a moose
13. I am secretly superstitious
14. I have had the most pets of all my siblings
15. And the least fillings (0)
16. I’m Dado’s favorite granddaughter (or so I’ve been told)
17. I cannot surf
18. Or snowboard
19. Or cook
20. But I plan to learn eventually
21. I am a loyal friend
22. And a horrible backseat driver
23. I’m a gentle kisser
24. I have a collection of pens that won’t work, but still have ink in them
25. I can’t stand to throw them away
26. My hope springs eternal
27. I’ve eaten a lot of weird stuff, including: octopus tentacles, cow stomach, rattlesnake, pig ears & brains (mixed with mayonnaise), dog, balut, beetles, and cow poop soup
28. I have never eaten rabbit
29. I have a mad crush on Christopher Walken
30. Sometimes I am politically incorrect
31. I like to eat my food with chopsticks
32. I’m attracted to wit
33. But turned off by guile
34. I love handwritten letters
35. And I never throw away a good one
36. Music is my heroin
37. I’ve had my heart seriously broken, at least once
38. Maybe twice
39. I have never broken a bone
40. But I’ve had stitches on my chin twice
41. And had surgery 3 times
42. I hate eggnog
43. Black licorice
44. And green pepper
45. But every once in a while I eat them just to shake things up
46. George Harrison is my favorite Beatle
47. Come Come Ye Saints is my favorite hymn
48. Thursday is my favorite day
49. I can sit and think for hours without getting bored
50. I hate being alone at night
51. I admire ascetic lifestyles
52. I find beautiful people hidden in unlikely places
53. I laugh when people fart
54. Once I love someone I don’t ever stop
55. But earning my love can take years
56. I dream about Frank, my dog, more than anyone else
57. Merran Owen is 2nd
58. I suck at lying
59. But sometimes I lie anyway
60. I can’t talk about anatomy or physiology without geeking out
61. I used to be crazy scared of spiders
62. But now I like them (they eat bugs)
63. Except when they jump
64. I hate flying cockroaches
65. I don’t remember my Father
66. Except for his funeral
67. I have a crap sense of direction
68. And always make faulty first impressions
69. I can’t do a straight cartwheel
70. On good days I am a believer
71. I write songs and poetry for my ears only
72. Stranded on an island I would read Les Misrables
73. Eat pizza
74. Listen to the Messiah
75. And take Andrew Colin Beck
76. I love paintings by Vermeer
77. I have studied Russian, French, Swahili, Tagalog, Ilokano and Spanish
78. But I have forgotten most of it
79. I like horizontal stripes
80. Even on fat people
81. When I’m alone I talk to myself
82. And argue with the radio
83. And dance wildly
84. I don’t take hints, as a rule
85. I keep a messy room
86. I have never voted
87. But this year I registered for the first time
88. I think I’m a democrat
89. Or a libertarian
90. I never met a piece of sushi I didn’t like
91. But sake nigiri is my favorite
92. In my experience, to understand someone is to love them
93. I believe in love at first sight
94. But some of my greatest loves started as great loathes
95. I hate flossing
96. I have bad posture
97. Dogs and kids bring out the best in me
98. Unless they’re mean
99. I chew on my pens
100. This is my 100th post on my blog

sushi strike

our happy halloween

the 66

Leslie and I are going to be Leslie and the Lys for Halloween. I guess that automatically makes me the "Lys". We spent several hours last night shopping for rhinestone sweaters and waiting on the 66.
Bus 66 is my lifeblood right now because it connects me (home & Les) to work, church, school, Abs and coolidgecorner. too bad it's always running late. it's supposed to go every 10 minutes but lately you'll wait half an hour and then it will come with 2 or 3 buses in tow. man that bus. I think I'm going to start a 66 fan club. It's okay 66, you're doing great. I love you

Obama and me in Kindergarten

what's a girl to do

when she suddenly finds herself alone after two incredible weeks with two of her best friends (the mom and Tanya)?? it's a hard life.

Actually that's what I wanted to talk about. I was thinking of something the beautiful Becca Smith wrote once on her blog, which was that everyone seems to be going through something hard right now. this year there has been so much sickness, death and war. lately I feel like so many of the people I love have been carrying the weight.

I am ready for everyone's lives to go back to boring old "fine". But if things don't, I want you all to know that I love you and I am here to send you pics of me in fake mustaches when you're sad and blackmail-worthy scandalous pics when you doubt my love, and over the top cheesy emails pretty much whenever. Because I love you, dang it, And I'm going to love you come hell or highwater. so get used to it.

That's it. have a happy week! have a fine week. you are beautiful ;)

erin

the mom is here

good times. I have had two back to back guests and though poor Leslie is probably ready to not have a bum living on the couch, I am happier than a dirty shirt

Two pics hiking with the mom in the NH white mountains

Mom, me and Leslie Looking pretty great after the Tufts 10K (which mom smoked!!)

dude love

tan

the new place :)

kind of lame, but at least you can see where I live






bonus footage :)

our new place

standard and fantasy color

Isn't our view sweet. I don't have a camera, but I'll use Leslie's later

Hey Merran Owen!!

ps

sorry that's my only digital pic of you and your birthday was on the 23rd, but happy bday anyway! shout out to the prairie.

THIS IS IT! for now

Hey dudes.
I am back in boston and things are a little nuts
so you can count on more Boston it Up DELIGHT!! early September. and it's going to be delightful!, so, as Yoda always says, HOLD ONTO YOUR BUTTS!

peace out
no doubt
ben stout

Top 5 Mysteries of Mexico

5. No Catcalls
(as opposed to constant harrassment in the other countries I've visited)
4. Refridgeration?!!
they have refridgerators, why don't they use them? I don't get it.
3. Horrible/complete lack of Water Pressure
Like, showering in a trickle and flushing 3 times (everytime) to get everything down. I don't know, this is pretty typical for outside of the US, so I guess the real mystery is Why is the US's water pressure so good...?
2. People who actually understand my Spanish (sometimes)
I always feel like I'm getting away with some kind of deception, like a kid making up a fake language, like it's always shocking when people can actually understand and give an appropriate response (and then sometimes I understand THEM and it's crazy!!)
1. Where are all the Burros??!!!!!

this silly little story about my soup

A quick one. Back in Cuernavaca (I'm in Taxco now, which is so much better) it was always such a pain trying to get food. Well I had spent a whole day climbing up and around these pyramids on just the 2/3 of a mango that Fanny, my 80 yearold landlady, always gives me in the morning. When I finally got back to town (after waiting 2 hours for a bus that supposedly runs every half hour) it was late enough that I had to hurry and take my minibus home where there are lots and lots of cheesy ceramic animal shops, but not a lot foodwise. I was so exhausted, but I was also so hungry I kind of slumped around town looking for food. Finally I found a restaurant open and I was so happy. I sat down and they handed me a menu and since I didn't understand any of it I just pointed to something and hoped for the best.
So the waitress brought me a bowl of basically hot chicken water with a few sad carrot slices and cilantro leaves. At the point I started to wonder if maybe I had ordered a meal, like the people next to me and like I've had before here--where they give you little courses and soup is the first course. Afterall I think I pointed to something on the menu involving chicken and surely that meant whatever it was had to actually have some chicken in it. So my dilemma was do I eat all my soup and lots of the free tortillas, assuming this will be my only meal, or do I just eat a little and hope this is only the first course. (You would think I had another option, which is try and figure it all out with the waitress, but my exhaustion and the 80mph spanish of the waitress at this point wouldn't let me).
In the end that sad soup was the only thing I got and if I had known I would have at least eaten all my free tortillas.
That's the whole story. I think Pat and I had very similar experience one hungry, and frustrating, night in Zanzibar. Yeah for world travel and confusion.

Bob Esponja

is Spongebob Squarepants in Spanish

SONETO XLIV

Sabrás que no te amo y que te amo
puesto que de dos modos es la vida,
la palabra es un ala del silencio,
el fuego tiene una mitad de frío.

Yo te amo para comenzar a amarte,
para recomenzar el infinito
y para no dejar de amarte nunca:
por eso no te amo todavía.

Te amo y no te amo como si tuviera
en mis manos las llaves de la dicha
y un incierto destino desdichado.

Mi amor tiene dos vidas para armarte.
Por eso te amo cuando no te amo
y por eso te amo cuando te amo.

Pablo Neruda