In four days, I will turn 23. This is particularly delightful for me because the numbers add up to five, and I’m always quite pleased at this occurrence. Really, I should be all set for a great birthday—Chester has been talking about how it’s going to be “the best birthday ever”, though I’m interested to see how he will top the receipt of a (real live) horse on my 12th birthday.
The problem this year is that my birthday is on a Monday. I wrestled for quite some time with whether or not a 23rd birthday warrants a day off of work. Then we started the particularly dreadful Project Docket Check which involves me sitting in front of a card catalog (yes, like libraries used to have) for over two hours. That settled it, and I asked for (and got) the day off.
So now I have my Monday birthday off…but as everyone here will be working or in school, and everyone else I know lives over 3 hours away, how will I fill my day? I’m imagining a day filled with adventure and magic, but the truth is that I’ll probably go for a run, do some cleaning and study. If I’m feeling crazy, I might ride my bike around and enjoy the lovely weather we’ve been having. I say, as long as there’s no Docket Check and cake is involved somewhere in the day, that sounds good to me.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Memorabilia...Sort Of
This Link action figure was one of my favorite presents to date--my little brother got it for me for Christmas, one of those rare gifts that you didn't even know that you wanted, though someone else did. I was very fond of this toy, maybe because it's something I would have loved to have as a kid for playing purposes, or maybe it's because this is one of the few video games that I enjoyed enough to play through to the end (albeit with the help of walkthroughs).
It met its demise last year due to my dog's teeth, which didn't discriminate against my treasures (including a first edition of a hard-to-find paperback version of Zilpha Keatley Snyder's Below the Root). Even though it's just a thing, I found myself missing it. On Sunday, I took matters into my own hands and Bought It Now via Ebay. I had mixed feelings about buying it again for myself; part of the charm of the original was that it really seemed like a gift selected especially for me.
When I got to work and picked up the mail this morning, I was delighted to see that my package had already made its journey into my ownership. I admit that once I opened up the box and the toy was in my hands, I felt no less excited (perhaps partly due to the rare cup of coffee I indulged in this morning) than I did the first time I opened up a package and was greeted by the plastic versions Link and Epona.
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Productivity
I have spent the time since I graduated from high school, until recently, flip-flopping between what I want to do with my life. I've considered math, accounting, law, psychology, veterinary and medical, among possible other things. The career path that's made recurring appearances is the veterinary one, although it's gotten pushed aside for careers that have the potential to make more money, or to garner more prestige.
Although it's always been fairly clear to me, I made the conscious decision that I will be most happy with a career that lets me work with animals and people both. I'm going to continue on the psychology route (since I already have quite a few classes under my belt in this area) and also include the classes I need for a zoology/veterinary degree. My big dream is to have a center of sorts where people who can't/don't have pets can come and interact with all kinds of animals. We'll see how it goes.
A month ahead of the game, I have e-mailed different people requesting they write letters of recommendation for scholarships for me. I also figured out which classes I need to finish at the two-year college I'm at, and which college (in the spring of 2008) I'm going to attend for the rest, and start getting things in order there. I can tell a difference in my motivation from having a clear path to follow, rather then expecting to be distracted by every class that I enjoy. I'm glad I had the opportunity to get these things figured out, and am looking forward to the work it will take.
Although it's always been fairly clear to me, I made the conscious decision that I will be most happy with a career that lets me work with animals and people both. I'm going to continue on the psychology route (since I already have quite a few classes under my belt in this area) and also include the classes I need for a zoology/veterinary degree. My big dream is to have a center of sorts where people who can't/don't have pets can come and interact with all kinds of animals. We'll see how it goes.
A month ahead of the game, I have e-mailed different people requesting they write letters of recommendation for scholarships for me. I also figured out which classes I need to finish at the two-year college I'm at, and which college (in the spring of 2008) I'm going to attend for the rest, and start getting things in order there. I can tell a difference in my motivation from having a clear path to follow, rather then expecting to be distracted by every class that I enjoy. I'm glad I had the opportunity to get these things figured out, and am looking forward to the work it will take.
Monday, March 13, 2006
Lions and Tigers...and Giraffes?
I made my way to the Como Zoo this weekend, following my usual every-other-Saturday schedule and looking forward to my usual task of cleaning the mice cages (for eventual devouring by the snakes and raptors, but I tend not to dwell on that). I did not know that what was in store for me was a special viewing of the new, three week old, nameless (they hold an auction for the name--the last one they did resulted in a giraffe named Jenny to the tune of $10,000) and not yet on public display baby giraffe. She's pretty shy and stuck close to her mom.
The zookeeper that was kind enough to take the time out of his day to show me around (Roger, who's been there for 39 years, testifying to the fact that this is the kind of job people hang onto) answered all kinds of questions for me, including the answer to the question of the baby giraffe's paternity. To sum it up, this picture says it all--every inch of this 14-foot, cracker-loving guy (whose name I did not commit to memory...maybe I was just as distracted by the crackers).
He wasn't sure about me at first, so Roger got some crackers...
...and we became fast friends. I lucked out that I had my phone with me (and I scoffed at the idea of a camera phone, especially considering my delightul Christmas Kodak), and that I figured out how to get them onto the computer.
After the photo shoot, I got close to his legs (which were safely in his stall and not near me...giraffe legs are much bigger than they look from afar; they make horse legs look like toothpicks) to get a sense of the size. When I turned around, he was bent over me to see what I was doing and I came face-to-face with his chin.
And people laugh when I say I clean the mouse cages at the zoo!
The zookeeper that was kind enough to take the time out of his day to show me around (Roger, who's been there for 39 years, testifying to the fact that this is the kind of job people hang onto) answered all kinds of questions for me, including the answer to the question of the baby giraffe's paternity. To sum it up, this picture says it all--every inch of this 14-foot, cracker-loving guy (whose name I did not commit to memory...maybe I was just as distracted by the crackers).
He wasn't sure about me at first, so Roger got some crackers...
...and we became fast friends. I lucked out that I had my phone with me (and I scoffed at the idea of a camera phone, especially considering my delightul Christmas Kodak), and that I figured out how to get them onto the computer.
After the photo shoot, I got close to his legs (which were safely in his stall and not near me...giraffe legs are much bigger than they look from afar; they make horse legs look like toothpicks) to get a sense of the size. When I turned around, he was bent over me to see what I was doing and I came face-to-face with his chin.
And people laugh when I say I clean the mouse cages at the zoo!
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Sunday Night
So here is my new blog, everyone! Did you know Nubs (from the NOFX song) has her own Myspace site? I was just surfing and found it.
I have some cool stories from the weekend, but they'll be better told with some accompanying pictures; be patient and I'll try to get something up tomorrow, so check back! And keep checking back, because I will try to keep this thing updated.
I have some cool stories from the weekend, but they'll be better told with some accompanying pictures; be patient and I'll try to get something up tomorrow, so check back! And keep checking back, because I will try to keep this thing updated.
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