More Joshua tree pics

For some reason, Blogger is giving me trouble loading photos... here are a few more:

Slacker!!!

So, I have let another unreasonable amount of time lapse since updating this blog. Not that it's an adequate excuse, but my life has been really boring of late. However, in April I took a lovely little trip to Palm Springs with my friend Jennie, with a stop in Joshua Tree. I have to say there's not much to photograph in Palm Springs (other than an extraordinary jutting mountain, but Joshua Tree was beautiful. I had taken a trip there in December, but I got to see even more of the amazingly diverse terrain this time. Thought I'd share a few of the pictures. In Palm Springs I had 3 glorious days of reading by the pool, a couple casino visits, and some nice warm weather (a welcome change from the unseasonably cool and rainy Santa Barbara weather). Sadly, Jennie was sick for 1/2 our trip, and missed some of the conference she was there to attend. She did recover in time to salvage the trip, though.

Dropped ball...

Well, it has been ages indeed since I posted anything here. Guess I lost steam and am really only good as an occasional blogger, not a full-fledged participant in the culture! It seems strange to be posting to my Santa Barbara blog as I plan to wrap up my Santa Barbara life, but I had some great pictures, so for that reason alone it seemed to be worth posting. I have officially completed my tenure as a student at UCSB this week. It has been a strange couple of days adjusting to yet another transitional period, especially since I'm not entirely sure what the next few months hold. Now it's some part-time work and concerted effort to sell the mobile home, as well as a mission to explore and enjoy Santa Barbara, something I have not done nearly enough of during the past months. From there, we'll just have to see. I wanted to post some of the pictures that have accumulated, and this Blogger program is quite stubborn about integrating pictures and text, so I'm going to post a couple of separate posts with pictures.

A visitor!!!!

Despite the resort location of my new home, it is far from most of the people I know, so visitors have not been aplenty. Unfortunately, even the Californians I count as friends and family have not been able to make it here. Both my parents have been here, which is good. I have a couple months left to host visitors, and my friend Jennie will be here briefly before we head to Palm Springs in a couple of weeks. However, my friend Carolyn made a marathon trip throughout Southern California (which was mostly cold and rainy at the time), and she stayed here for a couple days. Despite the lackluster weather, we had a good time (mostly food-centered, I'm ashamed to admit). Here are some highlights:

Lishka in love

Lishka has found herself a beau. Some of you may know that Lishka really could care less about other dogs. She loves people of any sort but generally runs from dogs. However, in Japhe she has found true love. When I take her near the car in the driveway, she goes nuts... and I know she thinks we're going to his house. She cherishes her visits. Like Lishka, Japhe has cat siblings. On our last visit I felt compelled to take some pictures of the whole menagerie.... here they are, in all their glory.

Surfing voyeur

It looks like I will not live in Santa Barbara long enough to muster my courage to try surfing. Not that I ever had any grand plans to stand up on a surfboard. Just wanted to try bodysurfing in the Pacific. Not going to happen on this rotation on the West Coast. However, I did find a classmate (a Midwest transplant) who has taken up the sport. I went to watch him surf on a private beach just south of Santa Barbara (someone famous has a house there, but I've already forgotten who). I couldn't really distinguish one tiny figure from another out there, but I did get to sit and stare at the ocean and breathe in the salty air for a couple hours. Got a couple decent pictures, as well...

Halloween

So, after much deliberating, I decided to make an appearance at the costume-mandatory Halloween party thrown by my youngster classmates (the three in the Alcatraz costumes). I was bemoaning the costume requirement until Rene (Wisconsin) seen below and in the picture to the left, suggested a brilliant costume. Unfortunately, the picture doesn't quite do it justice. I was chicken cordon bleu (chicken, cord on blue--get it?). Low maintenance, and now I have a rubber chicken for life! I stayed and watched the drinking games for a while and then came home before they went stumbling downtown to some bars. The party did allow me to get some pictures of my classmates, though, so here they are in costumed glory. Now those of you whom I've talked to about my classmates can get a visual of some of them. The picture to the right is of Rene, the one person I hang out with on a regular basis. She is in her naughty schoolgirl costume. There were 3 schoolgirls at this party of about 20 people! Aside from the slightly surreal party experience, I had a good day. I had been lamenting the fact that I had seen nothing of Santa Barbara other than campus and the inside of my house in weeks. So I took a walk downtown, window-shopped, ate some Thai food, and went to a park overlooking the ocean to watch some novice surfers.

By the way, Halloween is really quite an extravaganza here. The university has all sorts of parking rules for this weekend and encourages everyone in Isla Vista, the student area, to park their cars on campus all weekend for safety reasons. Apparently the undergrads go more extreme in their parties than ever, and nobody can drive in the streets, which are lit with giant floodlights. Here's an article from the UCSB newspaper detailing the police preparation. I have not ventured over there this weekend, afraid of getting caught in the throng. http://www.ucsbdailynexus.com/news/1969/3591.html

Alas, now I'm trying to finish some work before bed and then I've got early morning babysitting duty, which I think will involve dressing some children in costumes and taking them to a parade. I know it's been a while since I've posted here, but I try to post when something new has happened or I've gotten some pictures, and not much of that has occured lately. Hope everyone is well!

Not quite what I had in mind...

After a very long day yesterday and class this morning, I was ready for a break. Furthermore, I have been very disappointed in myself for going to the beach so infrequently. So, after taking the bus home from campus, I packed up a bag, got Lishka in the car, and we headed to the beach. Let me preface the rest of the story by saying that Lishka and I went to the beach last week and tried gradual introduction to the concept of being off-leash on the beach--she did a great job! Therefore, I was not at all worried today when I took her leash off. She stayed with me, sat next to me, chased the occasional dog--all was good. I took these pictures in the first few minutes. Then she took off...and ran fast. I tried walking at a non-panicked pace, but everytime she saw me behind her, she took off faster. Finally, I went the long distance back to my towel and decided to wait. After about 10 minutes, I could see the little devil prancing WAY down the beach in a group of people. I hoofed it back down there and she finally came to me when I called. A delightful woman wearing a t-shirt that said "Official Member of the Piss and Moan Club" told me that she had just called my cell phone # (on Lishka's tag), and that "I was about to take her home with me. She looked skinny and abandoned." Okay, anyone who knows me knows that this dog is SPOILED rotten. Also, the beach is a giant expanse of leasheless, running dogs. But my dog is abandoned and you were going to take her home with you??? In any case, I had been so flustered that I had not brought Lishka's leash with me from the other end of the beach, so I had to carry her in my arms like a baby for the 10-minute walk, while the woman proceeded to tell me that dog food is made from euthanized dogs and cats. Only in California, my friends. Lishka and I have just arrived home, where we have both collapsed for quite some time. More soon...

Bowling and beyond...so very California

So, I haven't had much to report lately. Classes started 1 1/2 weeks ago, and there's not much to photograph in the classroom! I do need to post some pics of the campus, though. So far classes are okay--nothing terribly exciting or stimulating, but it's still early. I'm definitely keeping busy with school work now, so I have much less time to sit around. I had not been participating in many of the first year student social gatherings due to schedule conflicts, etc., but I went to a 23rd birthday party of one of my classmate's last night. I feel so old! It was a fun evening, though, held at Zodo's Bowling and Beyond, a 24-hour bowling alley complete with a full bar, an almost gourmet snack bar, and glow-in-the-dark bowling. This tiny picture shows the bar. Here's the website: http://www.zodobowl.com/ . It does seem so very California. Off to write some papers. More soon...

It's like riding a bike...

Well, if it's possible to forget how to ride a bike, then that's what I have done... but now I am trying to re-learn this simple skill. As many people reading this entry know already, my amazing friends and coworkers in Virginia took up a collection so I could get the bicycle of my dreams. Until today, I had only braved the smooth, flat pavement of the Rancho Mobile Park. Today, however, Lishka was desperate for breakfast, and I decided not to be lazy. So I took the beautfiul orange cycle (as of yet nameless, but in dire need of an appropriate moniker) to the grocery store in search of kibble. And I made it without crashing! (I did have to walk the bike for a few minutes on the way back--not quite as flat as I imagined.) So, I had a successful ride, the dog can eat, and I was able to take a couple pictures of the bike to post here. My photos don't quite do it justice, but here's a link to the real deal at Raleigh:
http://www.raleighusa.com/items.asp?deptid=8&itemid=277&childid=433

Pea soup or bust!

Well, today I ventured out of the immediate area to Solvang, the quaint Danish village about 30 minutes from Santa Barbara. Those of you who saw the film Sideways saw the outskirts of the town in the film (including Ostrichland). I went with a new classmate (the only one I've met) from Wisconsin, who had not experienced the charms of the town. Sadly, when it's not summer and it is after 4 PM, there's not much to see. However, we did have the exquisite pleasure of dining at the "Bit o' Denmark" restaurant and sampling the tantalizing fare of the smorgasbord. Fortunately, pea soup was on the buffet! In addition, we saw the fine closed shops and bakeries (I missed my chance to buy the tasty baked goods before they all closed). We were amused by "The Mole's Hole", a rather large store sporting the eponymous mascot seen here. The brief ride along the Pacific and through the mountains was lovely, though, so I'll have to return for some pastries!

For more info on this funny place, see http://www.solvangusa.com