Bearshorty's musings

Happy New Year to everyone! I hope the New Year will bring only good things.

I’m back to posting and being back online consistently – it was nice to take a short break although I did still check email and watched videos online. I also just caught up to posting the last week on my journal. I didn’t want to overwhelm anyone’s reading pages so I posted them just on my journal, in case anyone wants to read it.

But here is a short summary of my Christmas/New Year/holiday week: I had a very nice Christmas with Bear’s family where I got four books among my presents (yay), including Stephen Fry’s latest autobiography, and a pocket watch so I could pretend to be in Doctor Who universe. Then Bear and I went to Montauk for a nice relaxing vacation with hiking every morning and even time at a spa! And in the middle of this vacation on a beautiful Waking Dunes hike, Bear proposed with a lovely ring, which I thought was just perfect for me. It has an art deco design on the sides. So I got to be a bit giddy and girly.

( 2011 A Year in Review in a list )

Today itself was a low key day. While Bear set up his laptop in my room and was doing some work I read Karen Armstrong’s article “Homo religiosus” which I will teach next semester. I do love her stuff but she is dense and complex. The students will certainly be challenged.

I did go outside to go to the bank with Bear but otherwise I stayed home and read.

Of course, in the evening I had to get ready for our holiday celebration. It was just my parents and Bear but since it is New Year, we all dressed up – with yellow and orange themes since next year is the year of the Dragon. So I’m wearing an orange shirt I got for my birthday, a black skirt and stockings with make-up and everything. I look more like a tiger. Mama made a delicious table of holiday food including a chicken and we took our annual holiday photos with the tree.

I hope 2012 will be a good year. That is the best part about the New Year celebration a hope of a new beginning.

( Some pictures from the last week: )

I had a doctor’s appointment in the morning which is always a good walk. My tests were fine but he still wants to do a bit more. Good thing I have insurance until September.

Since my parents were coming back from their vacation this evening, I spent all afternoon cleaning the house as thoroughly as I could. Mama is a stickler for detail and has very high standards and anything would have gotten a comment. So I vacuumed, washed the floors in the kitchen, living room and on the first floor and cleaned my bathroom. And I cleaned the kitchen too. I hate washing the floors, it is my least favorite chore, but since there was no comment about it, I consider this high success.

Parents back with chocolate and they brought me lots of stuff from their vacation:

1. silver Swiss coin (I have a coin collection)
2. magnet cow (moo)
3. pencil sharpener from Switzerland with cow on top (I have a dragon one from England - I have lots of little knick-knacks from everywhere on my bookshelves. One day I will take a picture of them and post it here.)
4. postcards! Lots of them! I always get postcards wherever I go and I use them as bookmarks. So Papa got me one from every city they’ve been in and they’ve been in a lot. (Saint-Paul, Lausanne, Monaco, Sanremo, Lyon, Luzern, Zurich, Cannes, Geneva, Bern, Nice, Marseille, Liechtenstein, Grasse)
5. Marc Chagall print (it is gorgeous)
6, perfume from Grasse, France
7. little gift set of soap and soap dish
8. skirt, belt and shirt for a French outfit.
9. pink necklace from France
And Chocolate!

Here is a picture of my new outfit:
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I was watching an episode of “Dead Zone” on Netflix called “Cabin Pressure” because Peter Wingfield is in it and the SFX recommended it but it would be nice if Netflix did not spoil some of the plot in the episode description.

I’m almost done with “Avatar: The Last Airbender”. I have two episodes left: Part 3 and 4 of “Sozin’s Comet.” Good set-up so far. The episode about a theater production of the adventures was a great way for writers to make fun of their own show; it was really amusing.

( Avatar:TLA S3E10-11 )

Today started with a bit of clouds and I was worried since I had guests coming who I wanted to take to the beach but the weather got nice, hot and sunny in the afternoon. In the morning, I walked to the grocery store to pick up some fresh vegetables for the evening stir fry. Bear came over just on time at noon and I did a bit of appetizer prep – some cold cuts, cheese, celery and baby carrots and then I got the text with the train time and we drove to pick my friends, Tjamke and Frederik, up at the train station. The whole day was nice and relaxing even with cooking and hosting. And since Bear got to grill, it felt like a birthday party too since in the past few years I would have a barbeque for that (can’t have one this year because of my friend and due-any-day-baby). My friends even got me “Revolutionary Road” book as an early present. Their birthdays were in the last two weeks too.

So we had burgers and turkey sausages for lunch for a proper Memorial Day grill – my friends are from Europe so we were making sure to give them a proper American celebration. Then we looked at the awesome pictures of their trip to California/Grand Canyon/Las Vegas/Yosemite Park on their iPad. I never really played with iPad before - it is a nice toy and very easy to use.

Then we went to the beach. It was nice and windy by the water which was perfect for a hot day. It is too cold for swimming but it was nice to lie there and read my book. I did go rollerblading for a little too since we were right there. I do love living close to the beach. I don’t really sunbathe but it is nice once in a while. And it was very relaxing.

( beach picture )

At six we went home since I had to cook dinner. I cut up eggplant, zucchini, pepper and onion and did a stir fry with Thai Red Curry sauce from Trader Joe’s. All that on rice. It came out really well. And then we had tea and banana bread. Overall, cooking was a success. Bear and I even managed to do the clean-up while chatting with our guests before we drove them back to the train after 9. It was really good to see them – they are heading back to Europe on Tuesday.

Bear and I planned to watch the second Pirate movie before going to sleep and we started it but I was too tired and my eyes were just closing. Since I really wanted to pay attention to it (I forget most of the plot points although it was coming back as we were watching it), we turned the movie off and will finish it tomorrow.

Another lovely summer day. I went for a walk to the bank around noon and I did an extra block loop since I didn’t want to go inside and just wanted to enjoy the sunshine. This weather certainly contributes to my good mood. And I got a little tan reading on the balcony again this afternoon.

In honor of summer, I painted my toe nails red. I’m not a girly girl, really – I don’t really wear make-up or bother much about my hair or care for shopping (shoes and clothes shopping bore me) but I love painting my toes nails especially in the summer for the sandals. That and summer t-shirts and tops make me a happy girl.

Last night I figured out why I prefer regular books to Kindle and why that is unlikely to change. Now, I don’t mind the Kindle, it is certainly easy to handle and fine for the eyes and I read lots of things on the computer (like fanfic) so it is not new technology but I can’t skim ahead with Kindle. The way I read, I start a book in a regular way and at some point I skim ahead a few chapters just to see what happens and then I go back and read it slowly. There are occasions when I restrain myself like with the last Harry Potter book when I peaked ahead just once. With Kindle I can’t really do that. And also while I can see on the bottom just much of the book I read and how much I still have to read, I really would like to see it physically. I have no actually sense of the book.

( Borgias Season One )

( Avatar:TLA S3E4 )

Cross-stitch: I’m done! I was cross-stitching for two hours this evening with TV on and I finished all the dark grey backstitch. I used every single thread of this color too. But since the little bear’s eyes also needed this color I did have to pull out my box of thread. And then I figured I just have stem-stitch (green for balloon strings) and French knots (eye sparkle and cuffs), so I might as well just get it done. It took another hour. I never done stem stitch before so that was interesting but I got a handle on it pretty quickly. And then I just did my cross-stitch signature and I was done. The baby is due any day so I made it on time. I do still have to wash it and make the backing for it and buy the fabric for that but the cross stitching portion of it is done. I started this on January 1 but almost half was done this month. Yay, I'm done

Here is the picture of it:

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Pope talked to astronauts today.

I was playing around in DW circle page – which I didn’t really see for two years (doh) and it is very easy to update subscription/access. Since I don’t really lock my posts I never needed to give access but I decided to update that in case I do need to lock something.

( Avatar: TLA S2E17 )

My parents left on their two week vacation in Europe. I’m really looking forward to cooking and having the house to myself. Although, I will probably get tired of that soon enough. And they will miss my birthday too, which usually doesn’t happen. Papa told me where to find my presents under strict instructions not to peek. I wouldn’t, since I learned that lesson as a child when I found my presents early and I realized that it is much more fun to get them on the actual day.

But having a house to myself means Bear can spend more time here on his days off from work, which happens to be tonight. Yay. I made my rice pilaf with mushrooms and onions, it came out really well.

( Doctor Who S6E5 )

I’m tracking my parents’ plane right now online – they are over the Atlantic. Sometimes modern technology is really amazing.

Cross-stitch: more backstitch, this time of the cute and the bunny.

Endeavor crew made their own space shuttle Star Trek poster . Awesome.

Season 8 of ‘House’ will not have Cuddy in it. This show is already sketchy in how it writes women. Well, at least in will be a change. I wonder if there will be new boss dynamic. I watch House for Hugh Laurie and his amazing acting but it will certainly be different.

Today I watched more Avatar: The Last Airbender and finished season one of “Queer as Folk US”. But the best thing I saw today was “Easy A.” That was a really fun movie and a comedy I can get behind. Nice crispy dialogue and very entertaining. I highly recommend it.

The guests are leaving tomorrow, so there is still lots of food every evening and more socializing than usual. A big contrast to next few weeks, I think, when I will get a house all to myself. I did really like Mama’s friend and her family and I have a standing invitation to Miami which I might actually take up sometimes.

Cross stitch: more yellow

I spent the morning cross stitching and hanging out with Olya (one of our guests, she is exactly three years younger than me. Her Mom went to school with my Mom) and talking about religion and things. Before I knew it, it was 1pm. I don’t know where the time went.

( Avatar:TLA S2E9 )

In the late afternoon we all got ready to go to Manhattan. Galina, Mama’s friend, is a music teacher so Mama thought they would really like a concert. She got tickets for everyone (my parents, our guests, Bear and I) to Carnegie Hall this evening. We drove to the city and then split up for a bit. I met Bear and we went to Central Park for a little while and then to get food. Then we met everyone else by Carnegie Hall. The concert was by Orchestre Symphonique de Monteal and it was called “The Evolution of Symphony.” There were Bach’s piano symphonies in all keys (I liked E-flat major) and also Webern (whom I found very creepy; I kept imagining I was walking in deep forest and things were jumping out at me) and Stravinsky. And the best part was Beethoven’s 5th. High tempo, the conductor was jumping even. Beethoven is always fun.

I got my jury duty deferred to be at the closer location. Yay. Not having to travel three hours one way is a good thing.

Cross-stitching: finished all the blue and started pink on one balloon. Just balloons left. The animals are done.

I woke up at 7:30 because I had a doctor’s appointment at nine. It was only about 25 minutes away by foot, so I walked there and back. Nice clear weather too with lovely blue sky. I’ll have to do another test at the end of May. Well, as long as I have the insurance I might as well.

( Avatar:TLA S2E3 )

( Game of Thrones S1E3 )

DW meme:

9. Tell me about your default icon.

I needed an icon so I went to Google image to find a picture of polar bears to reflect my username. And I adore polar bears. I had a few choices and then I picked the one I have with a big bear and a little bear since it could represent Bear and me.

10. Pick 10 random icons from your userpics and tell me about them.

I don’t have many icons, I had just the default for the longest time and then during Fannish Library Fest just this past month, there were so many awesome icons of books and libraries from TV shows and movies. Like Belle from “Beauty and the Beast” and Harry Potter ones and Buffy ones with the library and Giles. Then mar_see_ya made cool ones too just for me. So now I just have to remember to use other icons and not automatically just use the default.


Cross stitch: more pumpkin for the big bear’s head – that head is gigantic. Also some terra cotta for the head and light pink for the ears.

Royal Wedding Day! The hats were so much fun to watch. The dress was gorgeous. Really beautiful. Nice ceremony too. The carriage was just very princessy. I’m a historian of medieval England and I can name all the English kings in order, so, of course, I know a lot about the history of the royal family. This wedding was very interesting to me. I didn’t get up early to watch it but I did look at excerpts of coverage once I got up. When Mama came home after noon, we saw BBC America rebroadcast of it. I like all the traditional vows and the trees at Westminster Abbey.

It always amazes me that you can tell a student the same information many times and they still act like they never heard it before. I gave a handout and posted on website for class when students can pick up their folder next week if they miss the final office hour. I still got two emails about it. Frelling read!

( Game of Thrones S1E2 )

( Avatar: TLA S1E13 )

DW Questions:

How about when you’re not on the computer?

I’m on the computer most of the time lately. When I’m not, I cross-stitch, watch TV, read, teach and grade lots of papers. Now that the weather is better, I will start roller-blading again.

What do you wish people who read your journal know about you?

Nothing really comes to mind. Since my journal is about my days, I feel I put most of what I want people to know in it already.


cross-stitch: the rest of tan color

I maybe got at most five hours of sleep last night. This whole week, I’ve been busy so I would get 5 to 6 hours. I really need a day to sleep in. On top of all the grading I’ve been doing (and all I have to do), I know I need rest.

Today grading total – 14 papers for Writing class.

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Since it is Passover and I can’t buy lunch I brought my mazza and turkey sandwich with me to school. And a banana. And I decided to go buy French fries for my tired brain. So I did. I can’t have ketchup (it has high fructose corn syrup which I can’t have this week) but the fries were delicious.

Today was an easy teaching day. My students did evaluations for a bit and I got to enjoy the sun for ten minutes.

So a little while ago I checked out the first chapter of “Hunger Games” since I heard things about it and I figured I would pick up the book eventually this summer. I mentioned it to Papa that day in passing. We were in the car today, after he picked me up from work and having a conversation and sci-fi and books and he stared giving his opinion on “Hunger Games” after I mentioned it as something to recommend to a daughter of his friend. And I was like “did you read the reviews or something?” Turns out he downloaded it into his Kindle from some free Russian site and has been secretly reading it. He just finished the first book. He thought the author took the easy way out on some plots and I had to yell at him for not spoiling it. But he did like it enough to download the second one. So once my parents go on vacation in May, I will read it on his Kindle. My dad is awesome. We do have similar tastes in books and TV so those are our bonding activities. We watch “True Blood” and “Dexter” together and he watched “Buffy” and "Firefly" and “Farscape” and “Battlestar Galactica” and "Dollhouse" and "Caprica" with me. And read “Harry Potter.” He rocks. (although watching 'True Blood' gets a bit awkward occasionally at sexy scenes) We are going to try "Game of Thrones" tomorrow.

“Community” just reached a whole new level of awesomeness. I laughed so hard and so often. I love you, show. ( Happy random exclamations about the episode ) I have a feeling I will watch this episode a couple of more time this weekend.

( Avatar: TLA S1E8 )

As I started watching “Bones”, I realized just how much I couldn’t care. Especially as it is a backdoor pilot. So just watched the cold open. I think I might be done once this season is over.