Run to the hills

Well, I was away in the high country of the Sierras for the past week, and it was amazing. A detailed (and filled with beautiful pictures) post to come soon, but in the meantime I will just say that:
-a week without hearing cars is lovely
-sleeping on the ground makes your hips hurt like hell
-Japanese robo-kitty flashlights rock
-when you go to the bathroom in the woods, mosquitoes will bite your butt (as Mr. Monster put it, "nature's tramp stamp")
-carrying 40 pounds on your back for 6.5 miles is not as easy as it sounds
-a week of beautiful nature and amazing people can send you spiraling into withdrawal once it's over.

More soon!

Beach bunnies

Perhaps taken a bit too literally?

The lifeguard made her put it away. (In its pink carrying case, no less.)

Burnout

I think that's what I've got. On the one hand, such a life of privilege I lead! With the sun and the sand and the myriad entertainment options and the generally good quality of life a person of some means (and those don't have to be a lot of means) can enjoy in LaLaLand. On the other hand, I just haven't felt like writing lately. Here, or elsewhere. Probably because I haven't had a real "away from it all" vacation in some time now -- although that's coming up. And probably because I spend so very much time in front of the computer, what with all the reading and the writing and the e-mail and networking and everything. I think my internet cable will soon just plug directly into my belly button -- and having said that, I suspect we're not that far away from real wetware. Which I'll be avoiding.

So that's the reason for the extended silence. Sure, lots of fun photos to share. Sure, lots going on to report, not to mention wry commentary on the oddness that surrounds me. But just haven't been feeling much like it. And, to be honest, the stuff I've been really thinking about, which is what I'd want to write about if I were writing about myself, isn't really what I want to put out there right now. I've been doing some deep thinking, kind of metaphysical, really, about myself and my place in the world. And while I'm really pleased with some of the insights that I've been guided to (e.g., I was recently made aware that I generally think of myself as invisible except for clearly defined situations where I know myself to be in the public eye -- this really explains a lot! How did I never know this about myself?), I don't see this as that sort of venue. Since blogging in some respects feels so navel-gazing, and so asymmetrical in terms of revelation to boot. Blah blah blah.

In the less metaphysical and more practical realm, some advances on the work front. As of last week I'm consulting one day a week for a local start-up, a recent off-shoot of a university research center, and will be paid well for my time to boot. It's nice to feel valued! And to think about a savings account that can start building up once more. On the less-renumerative front, I am starting a new side project that I think will be pretty interesting. And local. And in English! And practically cost-free to do, so no worries about grant writing. And with people who should be fun to talk to (since they are professionally fun for a living) (and no, I do not speak of clowns here). So I'm feeling somewhat excited about that, with of course the downside that I am right now filling out endless, ENDLESS forms for the review board in charge of protecting human subjects. For example, I thought I was done with Form 1, was reaching the end, when suddenly in Section IV they hit me with a Protocol Summary that has 26 parts. 26! And some of those subparts have their own subparts to boot. I am over this "Seriously, I'm not a Nazi or Tuskegee Doctor" process, even though I see their point.

So back to work on that, and we'll see if my upcoming back-country hiking/yoga/meditation week in the Sierras leaves me refreshed, rejuvenated, and reblogging.

Finally, I leave you with my favorite, if rarely frequented, aisle in my local Ralph's supermarket: