Category: things I like

  • Back there again…

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    A few days ago I slept in for a few hours. It was delicious (and lazy) after days of going going going like the energizer bunny. This month there is just no time built-in for me to slow down. I have such precious few hours to be in the archive to finish my dissertation and I’m carrying on with all of the end-of-the-semester busy-ness at Chapman University, too.

    However after I slept in I took a spin around the Chinese Garden before settling into my research. What pleasure. It reminded me so much of my travels to Suzhuo and Hangzhou. And for awhile I was back there again.

    My one regret from China was that I never found a bookshop with a book of poetry about those regions in translation. I wanted to read the words of the poets who had seen and felt the same things that I had…

  • a soft landing

    I feel like the universe has offered me a soft landing space from the trauma of the past 2 weeks, in the home of a new friend in a new city for me to explore.  Here are a few images from my current life…

    Sunlight and spectacular gardens all around the space where I’m working:
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    An enclosed garden porch, perfect for relaxing/reading/contemplating:
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    Oh, and just-so-coincidentally, one wall of that porch is outfitted with climbing holds:
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    And the bedroom where I’m sleeping more soundly than I have in a very long time (note: there’s a gorgeous print to the right of the bed called “Persephone” that I find particularly charming):
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    Other little serendipities include a persimmon tree, two cozy kitties who are keeping me company, nearby train tracks, morning light through tall windows, a new evening hangout cafe, and the comfort of knowing that I’m getting my work done despite the emotional drain of the divorce.

  • strolling at lunchtime

    strolling at lunchtime

    One thing I enjoy the most about working at Chapman University, is the neighborhood around the campus.  It suits my historical sensibilities quite well…

    The streets have artful lamp posts:

    And there are lots of antique shops to peruse.  Today, for example, I came upon this vintage quilt all made of necktie squares:

    And then I return home to my office in Memorial Hall, one of the loveliest buildings on the campus:

  • My favorites!

    Me and Shunn, originally uploaded by mind on fire.

    Here are two of my very-favorite SF authors, Bill Shunn & John Remy! If you aren’t familiar with Bill’s writing, I highly recommend his podcasted memoir The Accidental Terrorist (about his LDS mission) and his futuristic short story “Inclination.” John Remy’s latest publication is a short story about zombie gourmands in Rigor Amortis. If you want a signed copy of the latter, drop a comment here–I’ve got an inside connection. :)

  • better than coffee

    clouds
    Today I woke up at an all-too-early hour to join a before-work outrigger practice on my one-person canoe (she was more than a little dusty when I pulled her out of her berth, having sat unused for the past few weeks).  It was still dark when I was assembling the connecting pieces between the main part of the boat and the outrigger.  I fumbled because I couldn’t see what I was doing, and some of the other paddlers gave me a hand.  They commented a bit on my boat (she’s older, but a classic).

    When I launched into the water of the Back Bay everything was glassy and quiet.  The moon was full and high in the sky, and Orion was overhead.  I paddled out about a mile to the PCH bridge before I joined the other early-morning stalwarts.  I was the only female and the only morning-practice n00b–so I knew I’d be a lot slower than the others.  We did 3 sets of pyramid sprints around Lido Island (my very favorite loop in the harbor), pointed straight at the moon as she was setting on the horizon.  By the time we came around the far end of the island, the horizon was all aglow with the sun rising on the other side of the sky.  The view of the palm trees and hills framed by waves of deepening color was breathtaking.  I counted the white heron that flew directly in front of me as I passed Spider Island a good omen.

    The guys gave me a bit of a lead on all the sprints and we finished nearly every piece together (I suspect that they were being easy on me, and I am grateful for that).  As I washed my boat and headed back for a shower, I realized that my love for outrigger paddling just grew to whole new level.

    I now have the best reason ever to get out of bed early every morning (and a paddling wake-up call is so much better than coffee).

  • on Walden Pond…

    While I was in Boston, I has just enough time (and some willing friends) so I could squeeze in my annual jaunt to Concord and Walden.  It was a bit chillier this year than last, but I still had a fabulous swim across the pond.
    As I swam I reflected on my many joys of this past year.  It’s been a good one.  I feel so fortunate.

  • ruins


    Furness Abbey, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

    Furness Abbey was one of my favorite spots that we visited on our trip. It’s much like the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey and Peel Castle that we’ve visited on past trips to the UK. I don’t know why I enjoy wandering around castle ruins so much more than real-life working castles, but I do. A ruined castle has so many more stories to tell, perhaps. Wordsworth seems to agree with me on this point, too (note: a railway runs along one side of the abbey):

    AT FURNESS ABBEY

    WELL have yon Railway Labourers to THIS ground
    Withdrawn for noontide rest. They sit, they walk
    Among the Ruins, but no idle talk
    Is heard; to grave demeanour all are bound;
    And from one voice a Hymn with tuneful sound
    Hallows once more the long-deserted Quire
    And thrills the old sepulchral earth, around.
    Others look up, and with fixed eyes admire
    That wide-spanned arch, wondering how it was raised,
    To keep, so high in air, its strength and grace:
    All seem to feel the spirit of the place,
    And by the general reverence God is praised:
    Profane Despoilers, stand ye not reproved,
    While thus these simple-hearted men are moved?

    ~WIlliam Wordsworth
    June 21, 1845.

  • vintage

     


    dancing shoes, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.
    I’m fortunate to be working within a few blocks of a several charming antique stores, that I can wander on my lunch hour. I love looking at the wares and imagining who they belonged to in years past. The hats, gloves, and lacy linens are particularly enticing to me. They have such stories to tell. 

    As much as I embrace the modern, I’ll always be the kind of person who longs for aged wood, impossibly wrinkly lace pillowcases, the scratchy whisper of needle hitting a vinyl record, the crack of an old book binding, and the clothing styles of an era-gone-by.

  • Busy-ness

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    Friends:

    This week and next I will be unusually busy. I look forward to catching up with you when I return. I will be full of adventures to share–including some details of a trip to the East Coast! :)

    If you are in New Haven or Boston and you want to meetup this weekend, please drop me a line. It will be a whirlwind trip, but I hope to find time for friends!

  • a few of my favorite things…


    tea rainbow, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

    I keep a flickr photo set I call “pretty,” that’s filled with some of my pictures that I’ve chosen simply because they make me happy when I look at them. Most have vibrant colors or they commemorate a special moment. If I’m having a hard day I’ll click over to that file and browse for a few minutes. It rarely fails to cheer me.

    Do you have any similar photo folders or things you do to cheer yourself?

  • el dia


    farmers market flower seller, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

    I saw big bunches of marigolds at the Farmers’ Market flower seller yesterday and remembered that El Dia de los Muertos is approaching. I wanted to buy an armful of them, but instead bought practical things like onions and apples and cucumbers.

    I got up extra early this morning, wanting to spend my daylight savings hour doing something memorable. So I greeted the sun in a quiet house while reading poetry. The poem below reminded me of my friend Alana, who dressed as a spider deity for Halloween. She told us that she keeps a strand of spiders on her wall year-round–they remind her that one’s daily work is to spin a web, even knowing that it will probably be destroyed, but to get up each morning and continue spinning anyways.

    At our little Halloween gathering we did brief tarot readings of each attendee. Some of the cards were affirming, promising prosperity and success. Some were sobering reminders of one’s priorities (dissertations, anyone?). I pulled the Three of Swords, which is not a happy card–signaling betrayal and pain like a stab in the heart. But as soon as I saw it I was delighted and knew it was mine. It felt right to have an open wound acknowledged, to speak of my hurting.

    A Noiseless Patient Spider
    by Walt Whitman

    A noiseless, patient spider,
    I mark’d, where, on a little promontory, it stood, isolated;
    Mark’d how, to explore the vacant, vast surrounding,
    It launch’d forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself;
    Ever unreeling them–ever tirelessly speeding them.

    And you, O my Soul, where you stand,
    Surrounded, surrounded, in measureless oceans of space,
    Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing,–seeking the spheres, to
    connect them;
    Till the bridge you will need, be form’d–till the ductile anchor
    hold;
    Till the gossamer thread you fling, catch somewhere, O my Soul.

    I think my soul is truly surrounded in measureless oceans of space. That phrase captures so much of what I feel and where I am. Thank you, Walt.

  • in the city of the saints…this weekend!

    I’ll be speaking at this conference in Salt Lake City on Saturday and would love to see lots of my readers there. We’ll certainly all go out to dinner together afterwards, too, so keep your calendar open. :)

    Please don’t be shy about coming up and introducing yourself–I love meeting folks from the pilgrimsteps community!