It's 1:24AM my time, and it's obvious that I'm not going to be getting to sleep anytime soon. Garrett is snoozing away peacefully in the other room, and he makes a great sleeping subject for pictures. :)


So, it's been about a week since I posted last (these posts seem to naturally flow at that pace), and it's been a fairly uneventful Monday-Friday. I've mostly been spending my days lazing around on campus reading, riding my bike, walking into Urban Outfitters and American Apparel and drooling over all the things I cannot afford... fun stuff. It's been so nice to be able to be carefree and relaxed. I'm starting to feel a little like myself again after all the hell I put myself through at the old job.

Tuesday involved a dentist appointment at a totally crappy clinic here in Tucson. My dental insurance ran out yesterday, and I felt like I should probably make the most out of it while it was there and get one last cleaning. That was an ordeal if I've ever been in one. I mean, there's no point in making an appointment at a clinic if you're going to have to wait 2 1/2 hours past your scheduled time to get in to see someone. Ugh. Well, after that I just ended up going to 1702 for pizza and beer and screwing up all the work the dentist had done on my teeth. I'm starting to see where my cavities must come from...among other things, chocolate and beer. Yup. 1702 was followed by drinks and pool (man, I suck at pool) at a bar called the Shanty on 4th avenue. Biking home after too much beer in the evening can be awfully fun. :)

Wednesday was mostly uneventful except for Garrett's and my climb up to Tumamoc Hill. It's a research area for U or A students, and so during regular working hours the hill is closed for observation. We took a short walk halfway up that hill around dusk, took some pictures and enjoyed the view and the cool night air. We even got to see some Javelina on the way back down. Supposedly they like to come out at night and rummage through trash that's out on the curb, but I have yet to see or experience this.


Thursday, I stayed at home for part of the day then left around lunchtime to go and pick up a roll of developed tungsten slide film from the local photo store. I'm officially in love with slide film. It isn't entirely practical, but it's beautiful to hold the little individual slides in your hands and admire your work. I totally loaded some Fuji Velvia 100 slide film into my Minolta yesterday, and that's going to be the main roll I take with me to the Grand Canyon.

I went to the local Goodwill store that afternoon to shop around. The store was ridiculously overpriced and badly organized, but I did manage to find a cute hat to block some of this bright Arizona sunshine. Now the trick is to keep it from blowing away when I'm riding down Sentinel Peak in the morning on the way to U of A.

That evening, Garrett and I rode our bikes downtown to the historic Rialto theater to see the premier of Wilco's new documentary "Ashes of American Flags." It was an amazing show, and if you like Wilco I'd have to highly recommend that you check it out. The great thing about the movie was that one of the five venues that they chose to showcase their music from was the Cains Ballroom, and that was just totally spiffy. Watching the video made me a little homesick, and aching to see a concert. Wilco is playing at the Rialto in the middle of June, and I so wish I was still going to be here to see them live. Oh well. Maybe I'll be able to procure a ticket for one of their LA shows in July.

Friday I ended up going to the Aveda Institute and getting my hair cut. I had a wonderful stylist who did an amazing job, and it's so wonderful having my hair off the back of my neck for the first time in over a year. I always miss my short hair when it's gone, and I'm beginning to wonder if there's ever going to be a time again in my life when I enjoy having somewhat longer locks. Possibly not.

Garrett and I met up for lunch at Subway, hung out in the grad lounge for awhile, then went out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant with a couple of his friends. I must say, I am completely saddened by Mexican food anywhere in the US now that I have tasted the splendor of Mexico City cuisine. I've really set the bar way too high this time. I'm afraid no margarita or enchilada will ever be as good again. ::sigh:: ::puts head in hands:: Following dinner we came back to campus to meet up with a few more people at Gentle Ben's, a popular bar on University that serves some great locally brewed beer.

It's pretty much way past my bedtime now, and typing this blog entry had its desired effect on me...I'm ready to go to sleep. A great weekend starts tomorrow morning, and I'm still counting down the days until the Grand Canyon. :)