Deviant Dispatches

I painted a watercolor in a one-day art class, back when I was in New Mexico. It turned out really nice, and I was proud of it. But a painting of an adobe church isn't really the kind of thing I would hang on my wall. So it stayed in a pile of papers for years. One day, it occurred to me that the person who would appreciate this most was Spousal Unit's mom. She adores all things southwestern. So I found a matte and a frame. I think it turned out pretty well.

Among our many adventures during the recent 3-day trip to New Mexico was a visit to an antiques shop. Rough Rider , in particular. They had a gorgeous 5-setting tea set that Spousal Unit and I wanted to cram into our luggage. Seeing as it was very, very delicate, that would have been a bad idea. On top of that, this gorgeous set - complete with creamer and sugar bowl - would be for display only, and we have no china cabinet. Something would have been broken in transit, and then we would have been sad. Luckily, we found a teacup and saucer all by themselves. The best thing about this? When you hold the cup up to the light, a geisha's head appears at the bottom.  So pretty. Plus, Spousal Unit and I like the color of this one much more. An awesome find.

This weekend, Spousal Unit and I went back to New Mexico together. While it was wonderful to see our friends there again, we came with a different purpose in mind. On Friday, he defended his thesis. He's a great public speaker, and he's even better at explaining complex ideas to people outside the field (like me) without making you feel like an idiot. Below, he explains the difference between two skulls to a group of psychology students, who came to see what a defense looks like. He did an excellent job, and after a nervous wait in the hallway, Spousal Unit's thesis chair came out to shake his hand: he passed, and he's getting his Master's this semester. "So," said the thesis chair, "I guess this means you'll be calling him 'master' from now on." Fat chance. But I am very proud of him.

This weekend, I'm going to Vegas. And now I have to clarify. I'm not going to Las Vegas, New Mexico, where I lived for several years. I'm going to the one in Nevada. The one with multiple neon signs and gambling that doesn't happen in tents on the side of the road. The one with a big street someone thought should be named "The Strip." Really, who thought that  was a good idea? There are two super-exciting parts of this trip for me. One is getting to stay in an amazing hotel with a view of the mountains. The other is going farther west than I've ever gone before. A little at a time, I will make it all the way around the world. At this rate, it'll only take me another 30-60 years. WAIT. I have one more thing to look forward to. The Beatles Cirque du Soleil

Dear New Mexico, I'm sorry to tell you like this, but I'm leaving you. I'd hoped to tell you in person, but all the lines are far too long and it takes forever for them to move forward. You know how it is. Besides, I have a feeling you would have just blown dust in my face if I showed up in person. Look, don't take it personally. It isn't you; it's Colorado, Nebraska, and Iowa, who've all come between us. They've gotten in our way from day one, sabotaging our chance at a healthy relationship. And you, New Mexico, aren't helping lately. Every time I express affection, I get nothing but dry eyes in return. Really, really dry eyes. I'm just hoping for something more, I guess, which is why I'm leaving you for Wisconsin. It has green hills, trees galore, and small rodents in each of its parks. Don't get me wrong, New Mexico - you have some great landscape. But it takes more than gorgeous eye candy to make a relationship work. Did you know that...

Today is my last day of work. I've had an amazing job at the bookstore. The last two and a half years have been many kinds of excellent (for me personally and for my resume). I've learned a lot about a different aspect of the book world, and I'm particularly thrilled I had the chance to work with kids - something I never thought I'd like, but I loved it dearly. I made signs and tombstones, using my artistic abilities on the job. I wrote reviews. I got to read advance copies of books (and had to wait that much longer for the second book in the series to come out). The intellectual opportunities were exactly what I needed. I met wonderful people. I can honestly say I like all of my coworkers right now, something very important when only ten people are working together to run an entire store. Not to say everything was always hunky dory; we butted heads from time to time, but the counterargument was always an intelligent one. We came out here with no family and no friends. ...

I'm going to miss many things about New Mexico. One thing in particular is the weird beauty I didn't expect to find out here. When I first came to visit, I was expecting desolate desert and not much else. I forgot about mountains. Mordor mountains (Spousal Unit saw these), in Las Cruces I forgot about the Rio Grande, which is so much more amazing than this picture shows. Though, this one does pretty good at showing how terrifying it is to look straight down from the bridge. (By the way, this is where Spousal Unit and I got engaged. Romantic, huh?) I had no idea how beautiful a run-down pueblo could be before I came out here. Taos Pueblo I'd never seen a real cactus before, let alone one with fruit growing on it. They have a resilient beauty to them. Just outside of Carlsbad Caverns And I had no clue that Los Alamos really was that hard to get to. It's hard to get there even now, with a modern car. I can't imagine getting there with the old-school caravan they had ...

This weekend, Spousal Unit and I decided to climb Hermit's Peak and throw the ring into the fiery pit of the volcano at the summit. Er, wrong story. Let's try this again. We've been meaning to climb it together since we've been out here. Spousal Unit made it to the top with a friend before I moved out here, and we tried it once about a year ago with no success - a thunderstorm made us abandon our efforts, lest we get crispified by a lightning bolt. Our second attempt did not start off very well. For one thing, I was not terribly happy in the morning. Yeah, like that. Spousal Unit wanted brie and a baguette to munch at the top, and I would have none of it. We had a bottle of wine and regular cheese would do just fine. But according to Spousal Unit, "If it's not brie, it's not cheese." Considering where we live, he may be right. Things seemed to look up for us when we ran into The Donkey. He was a very friendly donkey, who told us his owners hadn't b...

Some of you may have been wondering what that beautiful fiery creature worked into the banner above has to do with my blog, and where it comes from, and why. Even if you haven't, you're going to find out now. That creature is Zozobra, or Old Man Gloom, in his death throes and screaming in his evil way for mercy. But he shall have no mercy. Zozobra is a festival held every year in Santa Fe. People write down terrible memories or events from the previous year and put them in the Gloom Box, which is dumped as a whole into Old Man Gloom's massive paper-mâché body (he is fifty feet tall). He leers at the crowd from his place on stage, still as death, until the sun begins to set and he starts roaring like a madman. And roar he should, because the whole crowd begins to shout, "Burn him! Burn him!" Zozobra is burned to send all those bad memories of the previous year up in smoke, to send the bad on its way in the past and make room for a new year ahead (and a chance to c...

Sunset from last week. There have been high winds and lots of dust in the air, hence lots of good sunsets lately. View this one larger - it's gorgeous.

Last night, Spousal Unit and I went to a wonderful concert. He'd had his eye on Slide , the band, for a couple of weeks, and wanted so much to see them that we actually wrote it on the calendar. (Usually, the only things on there are birthdays and Spousal Unit's thesis achievement stars - bronze through gold.) They were well worth the wait. The five guys are from various parts of Ireland, and they are incredibly talented, playing at least ten instruments between them during the show, including several flutes, a concertina, and lots of stringed stuff. At first, Spousal Unit and I didn't see any percussion - not until someone started playing the bodhrán, an Irish hand-held drum. They didn't play it for every song, and didn't need to; other instruments kept the beat quite well, along with the audience's clapping. About 20 minutes into the show, they asked us each to make our "special noise" for them - "You know, everyone's got that one noise they...

Friday night, I made my first protest sign since before the Iraq war began. When I participated in that protest, Congress had already decided to go to war, so I was registering my dissent more than anything else. I knew my protesting wasn't likely to make a difference in the outcome. This time, I have more hope. I keep thinking that Gov. Walker's got to get it at some point - but then I remember how stubborn he is being and it kills me a little. That didn't stop us from showing up in Santa Fe on Saturday. There were protests in every state capitol this weekend to show support for Wisconsin. This blog shows pictures from many of them. It takes some time to load, but the images and links are worth it, especially if you in Wisconsin are starting to get depressed about all this. Some of the signs at the protest in Santa Fe were more serious. Some were less so. (Warning: there's a photo coming up with questionable language. Protect your children / hide from your boss if you...

Somewhere between Carlsbad and Roswell, October 2010.

I've decided not to work today. Okay, my boss decided that. Because it's cold outside. It's cold enough to freeze your beard just by breathing. My Midwest friends are saying, "Yeah, so?" My New Mexico friends are saying, "Holy crap! Frozen beard!" This may be in part because last week, we were wearing t-shirts outside. Thanks for catching up with the rest of this hemisphere, New Mexico. It's winter. Really, the wind chill this morning was -27, so I decided to stay in today. After going to the chiropractor. And the bank, and the grocery store. And to take out the recycling. Okay, so now I'm really not going outside again. Instead, I'm working on this. It's one of five bajillion quilt squares I need to make. (Actually, it's #18 out of 45.) I've been working on this damn thing since last spring. As you can imagine, quilt squares have the potential to get boring. So I tend to project-jump. If you don...