Author: cheerfulchaotic

Fabulous company was had at my place for dinner. Eric, , Nick, and came and ate and talked. The menu was:
mushroom-tempeh pate and havarti with whole wheat and white baguettes
vegan cream of asparagus soup
mixed baby greens with apples and goat cheese (raisins, almond slices and balsamic to taste)
egg beater, cheddar, seitan, and mixed vegetable casserole.
sweet dark cherries for dessert
wine, raspberry kefir, or chocolate soy milk to drink.

I rather enjoy putting these things together. The casserole could have been done better but was still not bad. I think the rest of it came out really well.

~ 15 miles of biking (yay commute by bike, you take so long. If only there were some place I could shower near work without paying $50+/month.) I also swam over half a mile in lake michigan (cold). Did therapy with the shrink lady. (this session’s homework: contemplate why teenagers get pregnant, other than “oops, I fucked up”.) Came home and made tempeh mushroom pate for tomorrow’s dinner I’m hosting. Fun times. Now I need a nap.

New ideas for the tattoos I’ll probably never get: on one deltoid, a large meeple. On the other deltoid, a circle of dancing abstract androgynous figures holding hands/arms over shoulders. I’m pretty sure the image I have in my head for the latter is straight from my older sister’s () artwork circa my time in high school.

That’d definitely bring in the guys. But in terms of symbolic significance, that really speaks to me.

This weekend I ran 6 miles on friday (listening to this american life and the center for strategic and international studies podcasts) and biked about 15 on saturday (spread out across several segments).

Today I biked into work, and if all goes according to plan, I may do some open water swimming this afternoon on my way home. Here’s the rub with that plan: there’s no place to lock up my valuables near the open water swim area.

It’s maybe 1/3 of the way home from work, a very short walk from navy pier. I can handle keys, ID, a twenty and my driver’s license (yay ziploc baggies). But my shoes and my clothes? (trust?) My cell? My mp3 player? (Leave those behind at work?) What a hassle.

I’m heading out to SF this friday. I will be staying through the following weekend. If I’m not staying with you, and you want to see me, leave a comment, and we’ll see what we can work out. Maybe I should bring board games… =)

So, I went downtown to try on a wetsuit. I thought maybe to buy one before I got to the store, then I saw the price tag: $600. *boggle* Um, no. There was a cheaper model for a mere $300, which I didn’t try on. There is nothing to make one more conscious of every ounce of extra fat on one’s body than trying to shimmy into a wetsuit. I did find one online for $150. I’ll probably go with that. [ETA: I put it on backwards first. It fit better the right way. The post title is what the salesperson claimed about the sport. I doubt it’s the most expensive, but it sure ain’t cheap]

Then there’s the bike question. For the race itself, I have a rental lined up in Vancouver. But my current bike sucks. I think the bearings in the front wheel are going. And it’s heavy. I intend to use it as an errands bike (I’ll probably replace the front wheel if/when it gets worse). But really, for longer rides, I’d like something nicer. I just get paranoid about leaving any bike purchased for more than say $200 locked up in public, because I fear that it won’t all be there when I get back.

Friday I ran over 6 miles (6.5 at a guess) in an hour and 6 minutes.

Adding up all my biking (so far) today, it totals 15 miles-ish. I have a coworker’s bday party to get to soon. Not sure if I’m biking or cabbing. How much of a cheapskate am I feeling like being… =) Probably nicer to arrive non-stinky, so I’ll keep that in mind.

Why the hell are there no decent adult gymnastics classes (except in Manhattan, where I’m not prepared to move, sorry)? It’s like the moment you hit 17, you’re supposed to give up and accept that you’ll never be capable of turning a cartwheel decently, let alone doing handsprings. Maybe if parents could do fun stuff themselves, they wouldn’t force their kids to do it. =)

I had a dream that I had a rather large tattoo covering my midthigh up to my abdomen, and it was basically the rules summaries and player boards from some of my favorite board games. I immediately felt bad because my online profiles were misinforming people about my tattoo status. I also felt that this misinformation explained why I was ignored in the great relationshopping process.

Okay, so I have a couple more possible paths outlined for my future. Two involve staying at gao for more than a year longer, two involve leaving gao in the next year or so.

Option 1: suck it up, stay in chicago, stick with healthcare; it’s been good so far, if you don’t press your luck, you get no whamies.

Option 2: switch to gao’s physical infrastructure team (which does mostly transportation, and some telecom, construction, and postal work) and move to either dallas or LA (I.e. Move to LA) if I do end up leaving gao, this gives me experience more in line with my interests. It also involves a fuck of a lot of travel (both plus and minus there)

Staying with gao has a few advantages. Staying another year (3 in total) ups my vacation time for any future federal service, vests me in the federal 401(k) equivalent, and burns no bridges. 4 years means I don’t have to pay back my student loan benefit, 5 years means I could get more student loan benefit and the federal pension (n% of the average salary from my three highest paid years, where n is the number of years working for the govt, for the rest of my life). Also I can continue with at least one stable element in my life. However, it gives me very limited control over my research subject matter and, in practical terms caps my salary at modestly upper middle class. I’d also climb the ladder a bit and I think I’d be a good manager and would enjoy it.

Option 3: bail out, find job in cali doing enviro policy. (Probably sf). Con: welcome to the world of entry level position, again. Salary wouldn’t change much, but living expenses would increase.

Option 4: screw you guys I’m going to grad school. Who doesn’t love a good phd program and eventual professorship? More choice in research topics, sorta. I would likely develop an expertise and, if I understand the dance correctly, end up researching almost entirely within that. Apparent freedom of choice, but they will make me dance for the grants. (Technically not incompatible with options 1-3)

Um, yeah, so what do you think?

Stability v what I think (or at least thought) I want(ed) to do. =)

I’m staying right next door to the green lantern. I could trivially walk out and head in. I don’t especially want to drink, but it’s more social than sitting in the hotel room. Alternatively, I could get a good night’s sleep. Decisions, decisions….

Many thanks to for introducing me to this snippet of history from the goblin defense fund.