May Cause Drowsiness

Hi, Internet. Why am I posting at 3:00 AM? Well, because I just finished a paper and I'm not quite ready to go to bed. My scheduled is jacked lately. Two nights ago I couldn't sleep until . . . 5:00 AM. I think it's equal parts homework and anxiety, with a big scoop of poor nutrition and several to do lists sprinkled on top. I keep trying to turn things around. The twisted thing is that no matter how late I stay up, I don't sleep in. I know. This will not end well.

I'm disappointed that I haven't posted more in the last month or so, but life got all crazy with the job thing and the school thing. Why did I go and do all that?

Huntington Beach comes up for his birthday next weekend, starting Wednesday night. I had this awesome thought a couple hours ago that I should get my tree and have my apartment all decorated for Christmas before he gets here. Could you work on that, please?

I had an emotional but really nice Thanksgiving with J, my very close friend, and some of her family and friends. I missed my family, and the surf report sucked, and I had a hard time making myself go anywhere, to be honest. But once I was there, I was just grateful to have a place where I was so welcomed. I ate the yummy food and mostly kept quiet so I wouldn't get choked up and blurt out how much I missed my sister making our Grandma's fruit salad, or my mom knitting quietly in the corner, or my brother's grateful hugs. Most of all, my nephews' soft hair, sticky hands, and totally unselfconscious laughs. I could have used a big dose of each. But two of J's three boys (5, 6, and 7 when we first became friends; now 24, 25, and 26) were there, and it really was enough to just feel welcomed and have a place to go. It was a good holiday.

There are only three more weeks until winter break from school. I can hardly believe that's true. I was trying to jam almost all of the homework assignments from the next three weeks into this weekend -- wasn't that a good plan? -- but I'll have to settle for just making good progress.

Remember last summer when I didn't have a job and I surfed whenever I wanted and I would tweet pictures of my feet in front of the pool every day? And I was going on all those first dates? Well, I've been kind of ignoring the dating scene since September because I'm too busy to see people I actually know and care about. But about two weeks ago someone from an online site messaged me and said some clever thing or the other, and he really caught my eye. We had our first date last Saturday -- big success, really fun time -- and date number two is tomorrow night. Get this: he's a teacher. I'm kind of excited about this one, but trying to not put too much thought into something that's still at the I-wonder-if-he's-an-axe-murderer stage. But, you guys: 6'2". No kidding.

I like my job. There are shitty parts, but I like a lot about it. Weird, huh?

There's more, of course. There's always more. And I'm going to tell you all about it soon. But right now I'm really going to try to hit the sack.

I Hope

I Can Tell That We're Gonna Be Friends

In early October, so just about a lifetime ago, on a clear Sunday evening, I drove up to the amphitheater in Vancouver and went to my first Jack Johnson concert. It was a really incredible night, front row didn't hurt, and I've never felt so like I was surfing without being cold as shit.

Zee Avi opened - really great - and then G Love was next. About six months ago I got matched online with a guy who was really into G Love, and at the time I'd never heard of him. When this guy e-mailed me, I listened to a couple seconds of G Love and decided it was grounds for ending communication.

G Love was fantastic and I now have Booty Call on a permanent loop during my commute to and from work. Blues Music? Soft and Sweet? Yes, please.

Jack was a dream. Mellow as hell and a little shrimpy guy, too. I should have known -- all the surfer dudes are. I had no IDEA Zack Gill would be there, too cool, although they didn't play my song. Jack did play my two favorites, Constellations and Breakdown. Something about the ukuleles and memories of really great times in Hawaii and all the drives to the coast for surf days listening to his music. A commenter on the YouTube vid for Breakdown wrote, "Whenever I hear that song, I forget all my effing problems and relax." I mean, that's it.

It was an amazing night for me. I've probably thought of it every single day since, just trying to let the mellow vibe and the message of his music stay with me and work little bits of magic.

My latest favorite from both Jack and G Love is Rodeo Clowns (below). I think I could play that song 100 times a day and not get sick of it. I'm also loving this one. That first part? Aw, yeah.

Just What I Needed

I had a pretty much blissful Saturday yesterday. With four hours of sleep, I flew to class (late, as usual) at 8:00 AM. Saturday classes are such a drag, but we just started a new one (510 - Human Development) and this might be the best professor I've ever had. My hand still hurts from basically transcribing every word he said during those four hours.

After school I met a friend for coffee and caught up for a couple of hours. I haven't done anything social (no, really) for weeks and weeks. I've had tickets to four theater shows and one movie outing planned, and I've canceled them all. Phone conversations have even been few and far between. So this leisurely (ish) meet up with my girlfriend was awesome.

After that I came home and got in a quick run. A few days ago I went for a run and it looked like this:


Yesterday it was grey and crappy, but only started to rain just as I was lacing up my sneakers and walking up to the track. Perfect. Not the best running conditions, but I've only been able to make it about 2 or so miles lately, so I wasn't out there long. And it always feels good to get out there no matter what the conditions are.

Then I came home and got to my homework. I did a few other things throughout the night - unloading the dishwasher, throwing in a load of laundry, writing the weekly note to Grandma - but mostly focused on getting my reading and assignments done for class on Wednesday. Next weekend is a three day weekend for me (Halle-frickin-lujah) and I'm going to try to get the next couple of weeks of homework done then, so now I only need to focus on getting myself caught up through this Wednesday. I almost made it, and probably could have pushed myself, but decided to leave a little reading and one short paper, and I made it to bed just after midnight.

It was such a good day!

Last night I slept a solid nine hours (unheard of, by the way) and now I'm headed to work to start my week. I love my Sunday - Thursday schedule, and we get to wear jeans on Sundays and the office is empty except for a couple of small teams, so it's a pretty easy day and I always get a lot done. It's a great way to to start out the week.

I don't quite have the whole work/school thing down (ok, not at all) and have been wondering if I ever will, so I really needed a good, productive, relaxing, encouraging day. I'm really grateful that I got one!

Hero

I'm still shocked tonight hours after learning of the death of three-time world champion surfer Andy Irons. I have several vids of Andy that I've watched for inspiration over and over this past year of knee rides and black eyes and wipe outs.

Andy's style is fast and smooth. He leaves a wife who is 7-months pregnant with their first child, a son. Really sad.

Billabong has a beautiful tribute to him here.