Life Updates of a Larger Magnitude

I don't know if it's spring or what, but I miss my house. I actually miss my Virginia life. Well, everything but the Navy. :) I miss having a place that was ours. Our very own house. Each project was a piece of us, a declaration that would last through the years and beyond. And I miss our neighbors. They were all entrenched, solid people living solid lives, who welcomed us with conversations and tools, dogs and kids. It was the first time I'd lived among people that didn't expect to be leaving shortly, and therefore took the the time to care. Now I'm back in the impermanence of apartment living and it makes me cranky, no matter how big and fun it is. And I still love Somerville and the whole crew, I love the old familiar patterns that come so naturally, I love rediscovering connections and making new ones. I enjoy the ease that comes of shared history. And one part of me is thrilled with the swift pace and plentiful entertainment. There is surely never a...

To the Honorable Michael E. Capuano: It seems like in this big country, even though we have elected representatives to be our voices it's still impossible to be heard and to make a difference. For the most part, I don't weigh in on the affairs of Congress because I figure there is no point. But I'm so frustrated now that I need to at least write this email, to know that I tried. For the past 4- almost 5- months all I have read in the papers about Congressional affairs is that the Democrats and the Republicans are in a standoff, namely in the form of Congress versus the White House. About the big "showdown". It makes me incredibly disillusioned and heartsick. Are we paying your salaries so that you can gleefully stick it to "The Man"? So that the first Democratic Congress in years can show how mighty they are by challenging the President at every step? It seems to me counter-productive, and a huge waste of money. Where is your allegiance to the o...

A few factors coalesced, if you will, converged, came together - to form quite a fantastic weekend. First and foremost, the weather finally cooperated. In fact, the rest of the weekend probably would have been great no matter what just due to that fact. It went from 50s to 70s in the space of a day, and the mini skirts finally broke free from their stuffy winter hiding to make a stunning appearance. Saturday morning Matt,Shakes and I went for a run down by the river to check out the spring attire and get a little sun. We then decided to make the road trip up to Murphy's bbq, which Shakes assured me would take around an hour to get there, leaving us an hour or so to hang out and then come back in time for the evening's festivities. The only problem was that the hour math came from a car on a highway scenario, and instead, we hopped on Justin's motorcyle and meandered up Rte 1 - 3 hours later we arrived, only so that Matt and I could hop into his car and return immediate...

today i went to prison. and it was just as scary as i thought. good thing i got to leave. this week i'm down in the harrisburg area for work, checking out 2 of my projects. one being a state office building, the other being (of course) a prison. both full of crooks. (haha.) all in all, it's my first foray into the construction side of noresco, and it's pretty neat to be at the beginning of a project and not just picking up the pieces after all the things have been built. strangely enough, being in the prison yard reminded me of the aircraft carrier - tightly controlled anarchy that could (should the masses band together) rise up and cause a stir.... i just put on my "LT" gameface and was good to go. i was definitely shaking on the inside though :) my walkthroughs only took me 2 days instead of 3, so tomorrow i'm going to wander around the penn state campus, do a little shopping, grab myself a nittany lion hoodie to add to the collection. that's of...

Last night Malinda, Anne, Joy, Nick (he swears Joy made him go) and I partook in an amazing phenomena. A Buffy the Vampire Slayer Singalong. Now, for those of you uninitiated in the ways of BTVS, there was one sterling episode that was actually a musical. Fabulous. And of course, being the cult hit that the show is, it's inspired a whole Rocky Horror Picture Show-esque scene. At midnight in some random Indie theatre, they show this episode on the big screen, along with distributing select props to make the whole experience that much more interactive (think bubbles, noise makers, kazoos, fake fangs, finger puppet monsters)... along with subtitles to make the singalong, well... a singalong! Following the showing we moved up to the ballroom area where Buffy trivia ensued, punctuated by 80s and 90s hits and a lot of white kid dancing. Alas, at 3 am I had to call it a night, but I can't wait for next year. :)

Move in together. Sell a house/car/bike to. Train for a race with. (There are, of course, exceptions to these rules, but you have to search hard for them.) So, I have now run 2 half marathons and am training for the 10 mile Broad St run. After each one I swear to myself that I will not do any crazy such thing again. Not because I can't do it, but because I am tired of people talking me into it and then quitting. Think of how pissed I get when people promise to do go to an event with me and then bail. Now imagine that anger building slowly through every missed training, through every flimsy excuse. This isn't just a missed night out on the town. This is WEEKS of preparation. It's just too much for a Beka to take. At the start of every training season, there is usually one, sometimes 2 or 3, that say "Wow! That looks so awesome! I can totally do that! Let's sign up." And so, being naive, I agree. I think that their enthusiasm will somehow overcome th...

So, I'm having an inner dialogue that could use some commentary. I have decidedly fallen away from Catholicism, just in that - I don't really care or feel much of a connection. The main connection I have is more for sentimental reasons, it reminds me of home and family. As for the belief in Catholicism (not God, I'm sure He exists), I'm pretty blah. Now I just realized that Naomi's birthday celebration is this coming friday - Good Friday - and we have plans to go out and be merry, and I'm torn. I would like to be a shining example of Christianity, but.. on one hand, I understand observing a day of silence and reflection as a tribute to the sacrifice made on our behalf. But that only holds water if you really feel indebted, grateful. And I've fallen into this generation of apathy. I feel not much of anything. Maybe it's the point I'm at in life. Maybe it's because I married an agnostic. Perhaps if we made it more of a point to make this ...