Magic Beans

Monica: (About the credit card company on the phone) Look, they just wanna see if you're okay.

Rachel: They wanna know if I'm okay. Well, let's see, the FICA guys took all my money, everyone I know is either getting married, or getting promoted, or getting pregnant, and I'm getting coffee! And it's not even for me! So if that sounds like I'm okay, okay, then you can tell them I'm okay, okay?

Monica: (She pauses. On the phone) Uh, Rachel has left the building, can you call back?

It was one of those days. Luckily, when I turned on my car radio, the Friends theme song was playing, and I realized that, like Rachel, I will be fine.

I've got magic beans.

*I realize drawing comfort from Friends episode is pathetic and heretical, but I take inspiration where I can get it.

In lieu of a Christmas card

I have never sent out a Christmas card for a couple of reasons:

• The first is that I am single, and I often assume that no one wants a Christmas card with just me on it.
• The second is that I think it is hard to write a Christmas card without taking yourself too seriously, and opening yourself up to the mocking and ridicule of the people you send it to. A few years ago, my friend Tracy was telling me about how her brother and sister-in-law decided to write a Christmas card in third person (which, often, they are), and have the non-existent third-person narrator talk about all of the things he/she was doing, like bungee jumping, writing a novel, etc. It made for a confusing card for all of their relatives, but it was a good example of a Christmas card that didn't take itself too seriously.
• Third, it takes an enormous amount of effort for me to mail anything.

So, I thought I would put up this blog post recapping my year, for anyone who is interested or bored or whatever:

• 2010 has seen just about everything in my life change. I finished up a 24-year career as a student, only to find myself back at my alma mater working as a professor. To say it's not what I thought it would be is a huge understatement.
• I left Texas and moved back to Utah, and now live ten minutes away from my sister and her family. I miss Lubbock more than I ever thought I would. I recognize that the next step in my life required leaving, but I'm surprised at how much it felt like home when I left.
• I wrecked my Toyota in November (no one was hurt, but my car looked bad). They totaled my car, which was surprisingly emotional for me, as that car has been with me since I was working on my master's, has made moves to Seattle and Texas and back, and sustained several mysterious dents that I never wanted to talk about. After a lot of unpleasant dealings with insurance companies, I now have a Mazda3. It's pretty and fast, but, mostly, I'n excited that works.
• It was a year for finishing things: my dissertation, my Martha Stewart cupcake project, and the Top of Utah Marathon. However, the realization of one's goals is never the end. This next year will find me continuing to bake, trying to run, and attempting to get my dissertation published so that I can keep my job.
• As 2011 begins, I am wondering what it will bring, and, more importantly, what I will do with it. The reality of having a grown-up job is setting in, and I am still trying to figure out how that fits with who I am. It seems like a high-class problem to be worried about doing what you love, or what you are supposed to do. I'm pretty sure my pioneer ancestors didn't worry about that.

As with any letter, I hope this one finds all of you safe and well, and that 2011 brings you closer to God, your dreams, and the people you love. I don't do a great job of keeping in touch with people, but know that you are often in my thoughts and prayers.

Megan

Thought for the Day

From The BIg Bang Theory.

Sheldon: Leonard is upstairs right now with my archenemy...the Dr. Doom to my Mr. Fantastic, the Dr. Octopus to my Spiderman, the Dr. Sivana to my Captain Marvel...You know, it's amazing how many supervillains have advanced degrees. Graduate schools should do a better job of screening those people out.

I can't tell you why I thought it was funny, but I did.

Taking a Break

I love TV shows that get canceled to soon. Pushing Daisies and Sports Night have to be at the top of that list for me. Sports Night was a little show about sports anchors on a national nightly sports news show, and the production staff around them. It ran for two seasons in the late 90's before it was canceled. In one of my favorite episodes, the two anchors, Dan and Casey, have this little exchange around a moral issue going on with their show:

Casey: Hey, you want to get involved with this?
Dan: I so don’t.
Casey: Didn’t you used to care about these things? And it wasn’t that long ago that you did.
Dan: No.
Casey: I mean, it was like yesterday.
Dan: Right.
Casey: Now, when I say yesterday, I’m not speaking metaphorically. It was yesterday! What happened to your values?
Dan: I find that maintaining them is a lot of work. I take a day off now and then.
Casey: You take a vacation from doing the right thing?
Dan: Yeah. I don’t loot store fronts or anything, but once in a while, when I consider the effort it takes to diligently adhere to a moral compass I take myself out of the line up and I rest for the next game.

There are times, as a therapist, when I feel like that. And, increasingly, there are times as a professor and a supervisor when I feel like that, as well. Doing the right thing takes a lot of work. It does not make you popular. If you are in a position of power over someone, as a parent, a teacher, a therapist, etc., the people in the low power position will question whether or not you are REALLY doing the right thing, which will make you question it yourself. After awhile, that will start to make you crazy. And you will want to go home, curl up on your couch, watch Friday Night Lights (another wonderful underrated show that inexplicably has managed to stay on the air for four seasons) and hide.

But after a few minutes of ranting in a blog, you will take a deep breath, and go back do doing what you are supposed to be doing, which is helping people who don't think they need to be helped with things they think they are already experts on.

This one's for you, parents of small children and teenagers, police officers, CPS workers, elementary school teachers, small claims judges, and junior high assistant principals. Keep doing the right thing.

Tales from September

I miss blogging, but every time I sit down to write, I am reminded that:

a) I don't have much going on in my life beyond work.

b) If I write about some of the stuff that goes on at work, it might not be appreciated.

c) When I do have things going on besides work, I typically forget to bring my camera.

Here are some of the undocumented moments of my life as of late:

Stephanie came to visit. She spent about four days with me. We ate at this restaurant, and she got me to buy several wardrobe items that are too fashionable for me to have considered by myself. We had one of the most bizarre experiences I have ever had as a therapist, which Stephanie described in her blog. We also saw this group live in their only concert appearance of the year. For guys who are in their mid-thirties, and who, as far as I can tell, had to get regular jobs, they put on a pretty good show.

Following Stephanie's visit, I caught a mild cold, which forced me to take it easy for the rest of the week.

A week ago Saturday, Melanee and I completed the Top of Utah Marathon in Logan. I am not going to lie: there were times I thought I might die before I finished. To make a long story short, I was having some physical issues that were standing in the way of running the way I had trained. Also, we were very close to not having a place to stay the night before, but, thanks to some smooth-talking by my brother-in-law, everything turned out okay.

I just returned this afternoon from a visit to Atlanta, Georgia. While most of the week was devoted to professional development, I did manage to do some cool things:

• I spent some time with Tracy, Elliot, and Graham in Decatur. While with them, I visited the Cake Art store that Bakerella loves. I bought a lot of sprinkles. An embarrassing amount, really. Particularly when I add them to my already excessive collection. Something tells me I am going to have to do some more baking in the near future.
• I also visited this donut store, which I also found through Bakerella. I got a dozen. I ate many more than I should have.
• Tracy and I had burgers at this place, which was featured on Man V. Food. Don't judge it by the skull entrance. The burgers were great!
• I had lunch with some colleagues at this place, which rotated around for a panoramic view of Atlanta.

I booked a flight home this morning so that I could catch Sammie in her first Primary program. Before we got too far out of Atlanta, the gentleman next to me pressed the flight attendant call button, and informed the flight attendant that he was feeling very sick. I assumed that meant he was about to throw up on me. The flight attendant asked if something was wrong with his heart, but, by that time, he was unresponsive. I found myself standing up and moving to the first vacant seat I could find to make room for the oxygen tank and the medical doctor who happened to be sitting a few rows in front of me.

Fortunately, the man was okay. Unfortunately, they decided to land in Memphis anyway so that he could deplane. It took us an hour to get back in the air, which put me in Salt Lake too late to make it to Sammie's program. I'm told she did a great job.

Last Lubbock Post

The week before I left Lubbock was absolutely insane. I probably should have planned better, so as to avoid quitting work, graduating, and moving out of my apartment in the same week. I didn't.

At the same time, there are so many important people that I was saying goodbye to, that I spent a lot of time with them during that week, rather than saying, "Sorry, I have to go pack." Consequently, it was left to my family to help me with some of that stuff.

One thing I couldn't turn down during the last week was the chance to ride around town with Ryan, saying goodbye to all of our favorite Lubbock sites. Or, in some cases, saying hello to them for the first time, and then goodbye.

Our first stop was a park where Ryan assured me I would see prairie dogs. When planning this outing, we discussed going to Prairie Dog Town (a real place), but Ryan, who has actually been to Prairie Dog Town, said I was more likely to see prairie dogs at here.

In sixth grade, I won my school spelling bee and went onto the next round. Prairie was one of the words I missed.

I swear there was a prairie dog right there, but he ran away before I snapped the picture.

Our next stop was the Buddy Holly Museum.

Buddy Holly grew up in Lubbock, TX. So did Mac Davis, who wrote a memorable song with the line, "Happiness is Lubbock, Texas in the rearview mirror," and Natalie Maines, of the Dixie Chicks, who wrote a song called "Lubbock or Leave It." Lubbock has a rich history of birthing singers who go on to write disparaging songs about their hometown.

The only pictures we could get of the Buddy Holly Museum were of the outside. The museum itself consists of two rooms. One room housed a traveling exhibit, which consisted of Buddy Holly's bedroom furniture from his teenage years. It might have seemed more spectacular had I seen it in a year that hadn't included trips to New York, Chicago, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, San Francisco, and about 1,000 LDS Church history sites. It just didn't stack up that well to the giant Seurat.

We had planned to drive to Texas Tech campus next, but Ryan remembered that the radio station managed by our friend Jess was just a few blocks from where we were. A quick phone call later, and we showed up at TrueCountry 105.3 to watch Jess (J.D. as they call him on the radio) perform his D.J. duties.

One of the things I will miss about Lubbock is turning on the radio, hearing Jess's voice, and having the thrill of going, "I know that guy."

We then ventured to Texas Tech Campus, where we got about 100 pictures of various statues around campus, along with some other campus landmarks:

This is a statue of Will Rogers. Legend has it that the rear end of his horse is pointed toward College Station, as it is the home of the Texas A&M Aggies, rivals to Texas Tech. Ryan, ever the engineer, pointed out that it was a very small point from which to derive an angle toward a point 450 miles away.

Here is a shot of the Masked Rider, the TTU mascot.

I have always been a fan of the bizarre benches scattered over campus that are shaped like punctuation.

Or these hands.

We took a short detour to McDonald's to re-hydrate before heading to our final destination:

vvv

The Windmill Museum.

After the Buddy Holly Museum experience, we opted not to pay more money for what we could snap pictures of through the fence.

Across the street was McKenzie Park, where I finally snapped a picture of a prairie dog:

Thanks for a great final tour of Lubbock, Ryan!

* This picture was taken at the party we had the night before graduation. I should probably blog about that. Therefore, this will probably not be my last Lubbock post.

Really Tired

It occurs to me that if I say too much about my job on the worldwide web, it might not be appreciated. If everyone on Facebook could learn that principle, fewer people would get fired.

This has been my first week functioning as a faculty member. It has meant waking up at 6:30, being on campus by 8:00, and wanting to be in bed by about 7 p.m. but needing to work on things like syllabi and research ideas.

I'm enjoying it a lot, thus far.

However, school doesn't start till Monday.

We'll see how I feel after that.