I wrote this on the plane (SFO to ORD) on Friday 12/19. Sure, it needs editing, but that's not the kinda thing this blog is about.

Security at the airport was a different experience today. For one thing, I had to present my ID much less often than I’ve become used to in the last couple of years. I did have to take my shoes off, and belt too. Was rather odd putting my belt back on in the middle of the airport. Also, this is probably the first time since 9/11 that I haven’t gotten some sort of extra hassle; that first year I always got “randomly selected” for a carry-on and person search at the gate, and one time I had an expired license (so that was my fault, but then because of that AND I was brown AND I was running late I had to go through an extra extra search, but fortunately nothing invasive. Just a second pass through the hand-held metal detector. Of course that’s always a problematic search for me because I have tons of things in my pockets.

Today I was wearing cargo pants, but I didn’t have loose change, so that made things a little easier. Yup, I was there in cargo pants with my commuter mug and my messenger-bag/laptop case. Just like any normal person. A sheep in wolf’s clothing. Sentence fragments.

So security was not really a hassle and I was well on my way to the gate at 7:45am, but I had to get something to eat otherwise I wouldn’t eat until 1pm and I was feeling a little nauseous, anyway. Of course the line at Noah’s was long; it’s always long in the mornings. There was a second long line today, for the new Starbucks which has replaced the unremarkable coffee/pastry joint that once stood in its place. Anyway, I was becoming a bit anxious as the 8:10am boarding time passed, but I didn’t want to leave the line because I was getting near the front. The woman in front of me commented on the understaffing and I concurred, but expressed my time pressure. She said “Why don’t you go in front of me? I have until 9am so I’m in no hurry.” I thanked her profusely and did so. I rambled something to the effect of “it’ll come back to you” but had trouble not sounding too new-age. She said “Pay it forward, you know” or something like that, so we understood each other. I don’t know who she was or what was going on in her life, but I’m sending a “Thank You” out into the world.

There’s TV on airplanes now! Check that out. A few different channels even. Same crappy programming, though. Sitcoms WITH commercials. Jebus H. Christ.

But that and the Starbucks made me think again: The world around us is constantly changing. You can’t step in the same river twice, much less drink from the same coffee place. Businesses going up and coming down; some spaces in Berkeley I’ve seen go through several incarnations even in my limited time there. People coming into and going out of the world and people changing outside and in, the hardest to see.

I look at the world and I see that it’s turning

They played a couple of clips from the “Concert for George” on the AirTV, so it wasn’t completely useless. Don’t know why I can be entirely indifferent to Princess Di or Kurt Cobain and yet get choked up about George Harrison; ever since he died hearing “My Sweet Lord” gets to me. It was especially moving to see Paul and Ringo there for some reason. I don’t know, seeing Paul old gets to me too. To everything there is a season…..
His son Dhani Harrison was there too and OMG looked just like a young George; also looked sweet and well put-together. The antithesis of these Paris sisters I keep hearing about. That was good to see. Eric Clapton was interviewed about how the concert came about. He said all these people George had kept in touch with and they all wanted to come out and honor his memory by doing this concert. In that way I guess it was sort of like a wake. That is what I think got to me the most—the double whammy of the beautiful coming together of people and that even after superstardom real human ties on the one hand, and the loss of this “glue person” on the other.


When I landed it was 26 degF, which startled me; I've been living in California too long. The predicted low for that night was 19deg. There were only reminders of a now-melted snow, and no new snow, just the barren prairie. My sister had the flu, but she's pretty much over it now, thank goodness. My other sister left for India this morning.
Next episode: The Unchristmas aka My Sisters Are So Cool.
- posted by k @ 8:40 AM

 
New all-time high score on Rocket Mania: 72215 points, rank of Graduate. All the way through round 10. Previous high rank was Wanderer (actually, that might be a higher rank?, but I made it through more rounds this time)
- posted by k @ 12:30 AM

 
Here we are again. Midnight before a final exam, underprepared as usual (though this time I don't have that "If I only started studying earlier" feeling for some reason). Tomorrow at 8am I will take my last exam as an undergraduate. It would have been nice to go out with a strong finish, knowing I'd done my best and possibly better than I've done in the past. But instead I'll do like I usually do.
Still, I'm not giving up. I'm going to stay up and review a little more for the next hour--I guess I finally know what's meant by "the old college try." So watch out, I'm going to be studying and screw anyone or anything who gets in my way! (except it's usually me who gets in my way, so I end up screwing myself. And yes, then I have trouble respecting me in the morning).
- posted by k @ 12:03 AM

 
Hello again, world. I could blog about all the horrible interesting things that have gone on in the last few weeks, and I even started a post in my head about things I'm grateful for and why, but I've decided instead to stay true to the spirit of this blog. Bon Appetit!

You know what's weird? Some people think peas are gross. Or at least peas in things--peas by themselves are ok. I am not one of those people. I think those people are weird and missing out on a lot. Except lately, the last couple of months I have been finding myself icked out by peas in things. What is that all about? Maybe it started when I found out peas count as a starch and not a vegetable and I was trying to cut down on extraneous starches. But I'm sure that's not the reason for most people. I bet most people who have pea-issues also have raisin- and/or nut- issues. Thankfully, my position on raisins and nuts (and dried cranberries and anything you can throw in a fruitcake) remains unchanged (even though raisins count as 2 carbs b/c of all the sugar).
- posted by k @ 12:05 AM

 
hmmm...been a while since I posted. Likely to be another long while before I post again--that is if I'm smart. Week from Hell began a few hours ago: exams Wed, Thur, all-day interview Tues. Rehersal Tue, concerts Sat (2) and Sun (2--at different locations). So a week from today we'll see where I am. Plus I have to finish my house improvement hours by Sunday and OH YEAH we're supposed to be having our Special Dinner Sun. night. SHit on a stick.
After that, there's nothing to worry about except Final Exams. Yaaay! (barf)

Wow, I've been off caffeine (for the most part) for so long that this morning I just had a cup of regular black tea and I'm totally buzzed. Don't like the feeling, but I guess indicative of off-caffeine-ness?

- posted by k @ 11:48 AM