Galapagos Lists

I just spent a week in the Galapagos Islands.  My aunt was in charge of photos after my camera died, so I don't have any to share just yet, but until I do here are some lists.

Things I Already Miss About the Galapagos
(this list is, as always, in no particular order)

1. the vast, vast Pacific Ocean
2. looking out the window to see Galapagos Sharks swimming around the ship
3. catching sight of a ray leaping in the distance
4. the Frigatebirds circling above
5. the way the ship rocked gently at night
6. plantain chips (yum)
7. swimming with Sea Lions and Green Sea Turtles
8. the scent and taste of the sea air
9. the way everyday brought a new excitement or discovery, even for the people who lived there

The Animals I Saw There (Off The Top Of My Head)

1. Galapagos Sea Lions (lots--many while snorkeling)
2. Fur Sea Lions (2)
3. Blue-Footed Boobies (lots)
4. Red-Footed Boobies (lots)
5. Nazca Boobies (also called Masked Boobies) (lots)
6. Land Iguanas (9)
7. Marine Iguanas (lots)
8. Waved Albatross (1)
9. Galapagos Dove (these are the prettiest) (a few)
10. Swallow-Tail Gull (lots)
11. Short Eared Owl (6)
12. Galapagos Hawk (1)
13. Smooth-Billed Ani (1)
14. Flamingoes (3)
15. Great Blue Herons (5 or so)
16. Black-winged Stilts (a few)
17. Green Sea Turtles (5--2 while snorkeling)
18. Golden Rays (4)
19. Sting Rays (2--both while snorkeling)
20. Spotted Eagle Ray (1--while snorkeling)
21. Galapagos Penguins (18--1 while snorkeling)
22. Hammerhead Sharks (10--all while snorkeling)
21. White-tipped Reef Shark (1--while snorkeling)
22. Black-tipped Reef Sharks (3)
23. Galapagos Sharks (a few)
24. Giant Tortoises (lots)
25. Lava Lizards (lots)
26. Great Frigatebirds (lots)
27. Wild Goat (1) (this was randomly very exciting)
28. Sea Cucumbers (lots)
29. Moorish Idols (a few)
30. Porcupinefish (1)
31. Pufferfish (2)
32. Parrotfish (lots)
33. King Angelfish (lots)
34. Yellow-tailed Sturgeonfish (lots)
35. Brown Pelicans (tons)
36. Sally Lightfoot Crabs (a gazillion)

I've run out of animals, but not out of love.  I have so much love for that place, though.  I would go back in a second (the honeymooning couple on our boat put ideas in my head), but next time I think I'd do this trip and check out Peru, as well.  And I would do during the Albatross mating season so I could see their ridiculous mating dance.

Ha ha ha, listen to me talking like I have money and can afford to travel!

(Thank you, Anne, you are the very best aunt a poor, travel-addicted could EVER HAVE.)

In Which I Am Resolute

Three New Year's Resolutions

1. Read Moby Dick.
2. Get a job.
3. Learn what an f-stop is and how to use it well.

That's all I ask of 2011.  You won't begrudge me that, universe, will you?

painting is by the incredible Kelly Reemtsen.

Music, Music, Music

I've always been the sort of person who listens to the kind of music I like but doesn't purport to know anything about music in general.  But last year, I started doing periodic posts about the music I was listening to over on the other blog, and reviewing them, I realized I've listened to a lot of new music this year.  Something about the combination of walking dogs for a living and then moving to the middle of nowhere, I don't know.  So, here's your penultimate list of 2010: my top albums.  Note: they weren't all released in 2010, they're just what I listened to the most.

Twelve Albums I Enjoyed the Heck Out of in 2010:
1. Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes - Up From Below
2. A Fine Frenzy - Bomb in a Birdcage
3. Noah and the Whale - The First Days of Spring
4. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Greatest Hits
5. Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More
6. Hans Zimmer - Sherlock Holmes Soundtrack
7. MC Frontalot - Zero Day
8. Edith Piaf (not my album, but close)
9. MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
10. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
11. Sleigh Bells - Treats
12. She & Him - Volume Two

Clearly most of these are older, because I am, as always, late to the game.  The list is in no particular order, but my number one album is definitely Mumford & Sons' Sigh No More.  Number one single was far and away "F**k You," by Cee Lo Green.  Nothing holds a candle.  Honorable mentions go to The Black Keys and the Avett Brothers, which I adore but only discovered, like, yesterday (this is an exaggeration, but only slight).  I am also really, really enjoying Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger's Acoustic Sessions.  They will all probably be on next year's list.  If there is a list next year.

I think this years biggest discovery was how much I love film scores.  I've bought one or two in the past, but realized this year just how much of a treasure trove they are.  They, along with video game scores (many of which are exquisite, they really are), are about the closest my generation comes to embracing new classical music, I think.  Hans Zimmer is my favourite film composer by far, but I also love Dario Marianelli.

One more list until this year is done.  It's going to be a short list, and it's all about resolutions.

Cinema Overdose: Christmas List

I'll be spending Christmas in a place where there are movie theatres.  Not just one, or even two, but several.  I feel like spreading myself out and catching shows in multiple places, just because I can.  The AMC, Cinema Arts, E Street, Bethesda, Old Town.

Movies I Want To See (In No Particular Order)
1. Wild Target
2. Black Swan
3. The King's Speech
4. Tron Legacy
5. True Grit
6. Tangled (yes, again)
7. Waiting for Superman
8. And anything else I can think of, really.  (The Tempest, maybe?)

So.  Freaking.  Excited.

photo by La Tur

Sunday Mysteries

My roommates had a party on Saturday night.  I was involved, but only peripherally, in the sense that I live in the house and was therefore present.  Don't get me wrong, I know and like the people who were gathered, and I like the concept of a tacky Christmas sweater party.  But the house is really small, and I get nervous when there are lots of people in my little house.

I've mentioned that I'm a bumbling mass of neuroses before, haven't I?  Because--hoo boy!--am I ever.  So I was at the party, but in and out.  I've been pouring my soul into writing short stories lately (which I kind of want to share here because I'm ridiculously proud of them, but probably won't because the subject matter is SUPER DUPER NERDY), and spent most of the evening curled around my laptop, tapping away.  I drove the last of the guests home around 3 am, collapsed in bed, and naturally assumed that life would return to normal, all of my mental ducks back in a row, on the morrow.  Instead, I was confronted with a series of mysterious events over the course of the day.  They went something like this:

1. Why are there people shouting in the kitchen at 8:30 on a Sunday morning?
2. Why are there people shouting in the kitchen at 10:00 on a Sunday morning?
3. Who unplugged the mini-fridge?
4. Where'd this gigantic amp come from?
5. Why is my bathroom hand towel in the kitchen?
6. Why are people shouting in the kitchen at 1:00 on a Sunday afternoon?
7. What was that crash in the next room?
8. Why does the shower smell overwhelmingly like feet?
9. Why is the yellow ducky bath mat on the far side of the living room?
10. Why is there a fellow playing a bass guitar in the middle of the kitchen?
11. Why are all of the DVDs on the rack turned around backwards?
12. Why does the dog have bits of broken candy cane stuck in her paws?

So many mysteries.  Most were solved over the course of the day, though I still haven't figured out where that amp came from.  OR why it took precedence over the perishables in the fridge.

Anyways, on the upside, I got a full three chapters written over the course of the party and the next day, and feel very good about that.  Later this week, probably: posts about snow and Christmas.  In the meantime, here are recent posts from my other blog, about Christmas music and how to buy gifts for nerds.  Enjoy!

If anyone is at all interested in reading my super nerdy thing, let me know and I will send you the link.  But, a warning: it's super nerdy.

Why Yes, I Am A Natural Blonde

20 Things I Forget
1. Where I put my glasses
2. To eat breakfast
3. To eat lunch
4. To eat dinner
5. That I am a human, and thus need food to survive
6. Where I put my checkbook
7. Where I put my camera upload cords
8. To pay bills until the day they are due
9. To put my clean laundry away
10. That I do not own a snow scraper
11. Or gloves
12. Or snow boots
13. That last week's leftovers are still in the fridge
14. That a bottle of Diet Dr. Pepper is not actually a meal
15. That my car has almost no gas
16. To return library books
17. That I have an advent calendar
18. Oh my gosh, I have an advent calendar!
19. I have so many days of chocolate pieces to catch up on!
20. That I'm still writing this list

True story: I started the list and then forgot about it.  I remembered approximately the same time I recalled the advent calendar.

Post-Turkey Stupid Disorder

I think the turkey broke my brain.  I'm completely serious.  It's as if I went to North Carolina a reasonably intelligent person able to walk and talk and feed herself and have returned with the brain of a sea cucumber.  The winter dark has completely baffled my body clock, and it wants to sleep all the time, except for when I want it to, at night.  So I've had a 4 am night and a 3 am night this week.  The following mornings have been hellish, to say the least.

I am hoping to move up from my current enchinoderm-level to something better fitting of a homo sapien, but it's looking to be a slow process.  So far I have forgotten to eat for so long that I only realized it when I tried to determine why I felt so ill not once, but twice.  Lists to the rescue!

Nine Activities Which Apparently Amuse A Sea Cucumber
1. Watching Iron Man 2 (Twice.  Okay, twice and change--I totally watch the kiss over and over.)
2. Watching movies with Will Arnett in them (unintentionally, both times, but not unhappily)
3. Watching movies featuring ladies wearing aprons and nothing else (this has also happened twice, also unintentionally)
4. Listening to the Tangled soundtrack on repeat.
5. Searching out sweet and sappy videos on youtube.
6. Receiving surprise globes in the mail from awesome folks.
7. Dusting, vacuuming, and mopping at 11 pm.
8. Getting smacked in the face by my dog first thing in the morning (once by her paw, once by her face)
9. Having dreams in which my postman beats people up and then gets a concussion.

Ah, and now it's time to sprinkle some leftover turkey on Vista's dinner and restart the old Tangled soundtrack.  Come on, brain.  Come back to me.

I Also Have This Other Blog

Eight Awesome Things I Have Recently Blogged About


1. A stop-motion cardboard tribute to Star Wars
2. Graphically succinct posters
3. Amazingly beautiful hats
4. Gorgeous abandoned subway station
5. Art Nouveau doorway
6. Paperback covers by Edward Gorey
7. T-shirts by Marc Johns
8. Images inadvertently captured by Google Street View cameras

Enabling My Hoarding Tendencies

Eleven Things I Collect On Purpose
1. Vintage globes
2. Smooth beach stones
3. Records to play on my broken record player
4. Antique illustrated story books
5. Very small snow globes
6. Snails and whales (duh), but mostly whales
7. Dia de los Muertos art
8. Art in general
9. Photobooth strips
10. Pressed pennies
11. Vintage Pyrex bowls

Six Things I Collect On Accident
1. Festive holiday socks (gifts from my mother--I've come to love them)
2. Paperback novels (I don't mean to collect them, I just buy them and then...never get rid of them)
3. Old, well-loved comforters (the oldest was bought when I was 2)
4. Decorative pillows (people give them to me, I guess?  Anyways, I have them)
5. Gigantic art books (hazard of being an art historian--can be stacked for use as a small table)
6. Striped shirts (can't seem to help myself)

Five Things I Would Collect Were I A Millionaire
1. More art
2. Dogs
3. Pottery
4. Video game consoles
5. Art Nouveau furniture

In Which I List My Most Favourite Apps

Seven iPod Apps I Use Everyday (Or Thereabouts)

1. Crosswords - It costs $10, but you get multiple new puzzles everyday.  Worth it to a word nerd like me.

2. Unblock Me - This was the first app I ever downloaded, and I still play it.  Classic slider puzzles.

3. Kindle - My mom and I live in separate states, but thanks to this guy, we share a Kindle.  It's actually handier here than the physical Kindle, which uses Sprint to sync wirelessly, and Sprint has no reception in the county's quiet zone.  And yes, I read whole books on that little screen.

4. Weather - I could probably wax poetic about the weather app, but I won't.  It's the first thing I check in the morning.  It's accurate and tells me the weather.  Came with the ipod.

5. Nonograms - These are the only number-based puzzles I enjoy.  I can only do the simplest 5x5 grids, but I play the free version, so that's alright.

6. Scopa Lite - Scopa is a fantastic Italian card game and I love it.  I like that this app applauds when I win a game, though I dislike that it also boos when I lose.  I've got the free version now, but will likely end up buying the pro, as it has more options.

7. Echofon - My preferred Twitter app.  I find it enormously intuitive to use.

I love my iPod Touch, in case you couldn't tell.  :)

Photo is by Renz Costillas.

Two Instances In Which Vista is Very Silly

Told you the first list was short.

1. Please forgive the shaky-cam aspect of this.  She was spinning, I was spinning.  There was a lot of spinning.

2. Telling Vista to "Go run!" usually gets the sort of response seen in the video above.  But not always.

This list is dedicated to Laura, who loves my fuzzy little freak far more than she loves me.

Self-Portrait As Pathetic Immune System

On Monday, all of a sudden I could smell again.  "Emily!" I cried to my roommate in my deep and husky man-voice, "What's that in the toaster?"  She told me it was just her lunch.  "But I can smell it!  What is it, exactly?"  It was toast, covered in pesto.  Another VISTA had given her a great deal of basil, and we're currently drowning in pesto.  Which was when I realized that yes, I could smell, but I could only smell pesto.  I hate pesto.

Still, it was a stepping-stone, and later that night, joy upon joys, my ears unpopped for the first time in days and I could hear unmuffled again.  These things combined with the fact that my dreams were 50% less bizarre and I was able to think relatively clearly convinced me that come Tuesday morning I would wake up well and hale!

I am remarkably stupid for a college graduate.  Doggedly, I went to work anyway, pockets stuffed with tissues.  I made it until about 11:00, at which point I had gone through all of my tissues and half of a roll of paper towels, to boot.  Only Vista was feeling happy.  I stumbled home, defeated by my own shoddy immune system, and spent the rest of the day wrapped in a comforter on the couch, feeling feverish once again, as my body had apparently decided to punish my foolish tip-toe forward by shoving me two steps back.

And yet, here I am at work again.  Today I brought a whole BOX of tissues, chugged some cough syrup in addition to the usual morning Advil Cold & Sinus, and am sort of actually feeling okay.  I have no illusions about making it past lunchtime, however.

And now, because it makes me happy to make lists, here are the things that have kept me sane (sane-ish?) through this wretched whatever-it-is.

1. The Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan
2. Replaying Windwaker (though to be fair I started it before catching the plague)
3. Emma
4. General Winston's Daughter by Sharon Shinn
5. Avatar Book 2
6. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (this came from the library, which has been a GODSEND)
7. Gas station pizza (which, as it turns out, makes excellent balm for a sore throat)
8. Candy corn
9. Hulu
10. Frequent (and increasingly angry and pathetic) calls to my mom and Laura, gleeful Appa-filled texts to Chris.

In Which I Continue to Grow

Another from this impromptu shoot: goofing around with my two favourite globes.


As of September 15, I will have been here for 4 months, or a third of my tenure as a VISTA.  I've been thinking lately about what I've learned--about myself, this place, and the universe in general--since May 15th.  As per usual, I made a list.

Things I Have Learned, or Weird Habits I've Picked Up in West Virginia
- Taking laundry off a clothesline after it's clean and dry is one of the most calming exercises I've found. Seriously, try it.  It's all very zen.
- I can no longer go to sleep if I have dirty dishes in the sink.  A little voice which sounds suspiciously like my mother's gets to harping on me and next thing I know I'm back in the kitchen.
- When driving up or down a mountain, if you see a sign telling you to slow to 25 miles an hour, do it.  If it's advising a speed of 10 mph, you might as well stop.
- My brain now translates the words "Thrift," "Goodwill," and "Salvation Army" to SHOPPING SPREE!  And I'm totally okay with this.
- Netflix is God's gift to rural communities.
- A trip to the swimming hole turns any blue day bright and happy.
- I may not be able to fix the broken toilet, but I can apparently diagnose it.  Just call me the Toilet Whisperer.  (Seriously, that's awful, please don't do that.)
- Sometimes a skunk will wander into your yard.  There's nothing to be done except to close the windows, crank up the fans, prepare for an unpleasantly stuffy night, and pray it doesn't take exception to anything while its out there.
- Living without air conditioning, a dryer, or contact lenses has not killed me.  Living without the internet did not kill me.  Luxuries are pretty much just that.
- I really, really love arugula, and hummus, and good Italian cheese.  I had no idea how much until I was denied access to all of it.
- Not having cell phone service is not the end of the world.  In fact, it's often kind of nice.
- I love drive-in movies just as much as I thought I would.  Vista remains undecided.
- I do not mind giant bugs.  I really, really hate cobwebs.
- A good flannel shirt is worth its weight in gold.

That's all for now.  Goodness knows how this list will grow once the snows descend upon us.  I'm already shopping for boots.  In August.  I guess that should go on the list, too.

In Which I Have Apparently Angered The Universe

The three days since I left the beach have been eventful.  Here, I made you a list of reasons why (surely you've realized how I feel about lists by now):

- My car is in the shop in Vienna, and my mother's (which I've been driving for a month) decided to have a melt down in North Carolina, so I drove my father's Suburban, which is easily twice the size of my little Jeep, back here.  The combination of the unfamiliar (and MASSIVE car) and a new, supposedly easier route had me lost in Norfolk for an hour and a half and turned a 5-6 hour drive into 8.

- The bag of dog food I brought back with me protested being removed from the car and retaliated by exploding as I lifted it, leaving me covered in several pounds of kibble.  I'm sure the local bears were THRILLED by that development.

- Today at the shop, something was tickling my hair, and when I reached up to dislodge it I inadvertently angered the bee that had apparently taken up residence there.  My reaction to this was so extreme that Mrs. H worriedly demanded, "Are you allergic to bee stings??" to which I maturely replied, "I am allergic to PAIN."  Then I went home and spent the rest of the afternoon alternately cradling my aching arm and whimpering, and standing with my hand in the ice box.  I may or may not have called my mother to whine in the middle of the afternoon.  Now, hours later, the pain in my arm has ebbed, but only because my thumb has swollen to twice its normal size.

- Also this afternoon, my father called to tell me my cat has been in the hospital since yesterday.

All I can think is, if this is the universe's response to my taking a vacation, then the above photo might actually have to last me the rest of my life.  I don't think my car, pets, or fingers (not to mention my wretchedly low pain tolerance) could take another three days like these.

(Random--rare--awesome tidbit from today: my supervisor paid me a visit, during which I discovered that he had accidently stumbled upon Martin Luther King, Jr. giving his famous "I Have A Dream" speech while interning in Washington, a story he followed up with a casual mention of having seen The Beatles in concert, the very last time they performed together.  How ridiculous is that??)

Another Happy List

This has been an interesting week, full of sleepless night, broken cars, torrential downpours, and bored, destructive dogs.  That says it's time for another happy list to me.

the light-up globe
my covered-with-clouds, supersoft bathrobe
promising new shows
wonderful, tragically cancelled shows
arriving tomorrow best friends
live recordings of Flight of the Concords
leftover carnival cotton candy
Mom's zucchini quiche recipe
my flowering cucumber vines
making plans to swim in the river

Okay, that's plenty of happy for today.  Should tide my over until Laura (the aforementioned best friend) gets here tomorrow!

In Which I Think Happy Thoughts

This is the view from my "desk" in the front window of the shop, and it never fails to make me smile.

There are certain aspects of my work which are endlessly trying.  Aspects which have me wanting to smack my head against the gorgeous maple trestle table I sit at.  So, a few days ago I whipped out my trusty Moleskine and started a list of random things which make me happy.  Over the week it's grown.  This is how it stands now:

Route 11 Pickle Chips
Nerdy podcasts
the Furminator
Stephen Strasburg (the new pitcher for my home team)
Western romances
Documentaries on Netflix
Getting mail
Singing along to Disney songs
Standing in the creek
Naps

It will get longer, don't you fret.  It's a one of a few things that keeps me sane sometimes.