Saturday, January 3, 2015

#36 - Read 30 Books

On 11/11/14, I thought I had finished this item because in my head it was 20 books.  So I had to fit in 10 more.  Special thanks to Evelyn Sommariva for some last-minute loans.  Where I took notes, I have included a favorite quote.  Where I did not, I included the first line so I wouldn't spoil anything.  Funny, the books I finished were mostly school-related (though mostly still very enjoyable) or pretty...  well, easy, popular reads.  I guess that's what I needed.  I had hoped to finish Confederacy of Dunces, The Book Thief, When You Are Engulfed in Flames, and Mockingjay, but I just couldn't keep the pages turning during the turbulence of my last cross-country flight.  They'll be at the top of the list in 2015.  I also think I finished The Location of Culture and Communicating in the Third Space, but somehow I didn't record those, and I suppose it doesn't actually matter because either way I reached my goal!

My year in books... minus 2 that I couldn't find...
1.  Darkness Visible by William Styron
1/4/14, gifted to me by Kathy Krone & Jerry Krone
Currently misplaced

2.  Dharma and Development by Joanna Macy
1/5/14, assigned to me by Cheryl Getz
"Even if, after it is all over, the village seems to revert to business-as-usual, it is never quite the same; for the experience of sharing and working together is not forgotten, nor are the skills acquired in organizing the event erased." (p. 52)

3.  Tea Time with Terrorists by Mark Stephen Meadows
1/10/14, assigned to me by Cheryl Getz
"If terrorists were dangerous enough to provoke sweeping changes in our federal laws, I felt, then they were dangerous enough for me to try to understand them." (p. 29)

4.  The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson
1/25/14, loaned to me by Kathy Krone & Jerry Krone
"An estimated 600 women served during the American Civil War." (p. 3)

5.  Buddhism at Work by George D. Bond
2/1/14, assigned to me by Cheryl Getz
"The Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement represents one of the earliest expressions of what has come to be known as socially engaged Buddhism." (p. 1)

6.  Suckers Portfolio by Kurt Vonnegut
2/1/14
Current misplaced

7.  Divergent by Veronica Roth
2/18/14
"There is one mirror in my house." (p. 1)

8.  Presence by Peter Senge, Otto Scharmer, Joseph Jaworski, and Betty Sue Flowers
3/10/14, assigned to the class I TA'ed by Zachary Green
"'I worry much more today about unquestioned answers than about unanswered questions.'"

9.  Insurgent by Veronica Roth
3/18/14
"I wake with his name in my mouth." (p. 1)

10.  Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge
?, assigned to the class I TA'ed by Zachary Green
"Colleagueship does not mean that you need to agree or share the same views.  On the contrary, the real power of seeing each other as colleagues comes into play when there are differences of view." (p. 228)

11.  Allegiant by Veronica Roth
?
"I pace in our cell in Erudite headquarters, her works echoing in my mind: My name is Edith Prior, and there is so much I am happy to regret."  (p. 1)

12.  Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
4/29/14, assigned to me by Fred Galloway
"People tend to assess the relative importance of issues by the ease with which they are retrieved from memory -- and this is largely determined by the extent of coverage in the media." (p. 8)

13.  Outdoor Leadership 
5/14/14, assigned to the class I TA'ed by Mark Ceder
"This text takes a core-competencies approach to understanding the practice of outdoor leadership" (p. xiv).

14.  127 Hours by Aron Ralston
5/15/13
"He was a better boatman than a cowboy, a better cook than a train robber, but John Griffith, with the distinguishing mark of one blue eye and one brown eye, became a favored extra hand with the Wild Bunch, Butch Cassidy's gang, during his time in the Robbers Roost country of eastern Utah." (p. xi)

15.  Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire
5/18/14, reread after being assigned to me by Zachary Green
"This is as obvious as affirming that a person learns to swim in water, not in a library." (p. 137)

16.  Looking for Alaska by John Green
6/7/14
"'...Takumi, you gotta stop stealing other people's problems and get some of your own.'"  (p. 43)

17.  Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
8/4/14, loaned to me by Kevin Robitaille
"'We should start back,' Gared urged as the woods began to grow dark around them."  (p.1).

18.  InterViews
9/14/14, assigned to me by Paula Cordeiro and Lea Hubbard
"Give your whole attention to the person interviewed, and make it evident you are doing so" (p. 45).

19.  Paris Was Ours, edited by Penelope Rowlands
11/7/14, gifted to me by Kathy Krone
"We had passionate, terrible arguments, about time and space and other Kantian issues, until finally it became unbearable to stay."  (p. 237)

20.  A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin
11/12/14, loaned to me by Kevin Robitaille
"The comet's tail spread across the dawn, a red slash that bled above the crags of Dragonstone like a wound in the pink and purple sky."  (p. 1)

21.  Hunger Games by Suzette Collins
12/8/14 (for the 3rd time)
"When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold" (p. 3).

22.  Leadership and the New Science by Margaret Wheatley
12/21/14, mentioned enough by Zachary Green that I couldn't resist anymore
"What if we slip out quietly along the curvature of space, out into its far reaches?  What if, once there, we adjust our eyes to the invisible?  There, instead of emptiness, we will see a richness of organizing energies.  We once were made secure by things visible, by structures we could see.  Now it is time to embrace the invisible.  In a world where matter can be immaterial, where influences move among us unseen, why not contemplate the influence of fields?  For such a little act of faith, space awaits, filled with possibilities" (p. 58).

23.  Catching Fire by Suzette Collins
12/25/14 (for the 3rd time)
"I clasp the flask between my hands even though the warmth from the tea has long since leached into the frozen air" (p. 3).

24.  Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crocket Johnson
12/28/14, loaned to me by Evelyn Sommariva from the collection of Leo & Garrett Sommariva

25.  Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
12/28/14, loaned to me by Evelyn Sommariva from the collection of Leo & Garrett Sommariva
"One day, Little Sal went with her mother to Blueberry Hill to pick blueberries."

26.  Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
12/29/14, loaned to me by Evelyn Sommariva from the collection of Leo & Garrett Sommariva
"In the great green room there was a telephone and a red balloon and a picture of --"

27.  Humble Inquiry: The Gentle Art of Asking Instead of Telling by Edgar Schein
12/31/14
"Here I also have a choice.  I can either not commit to tasks that make me dependent on others, or I can deny the dependency, avoid feeling humble, fail to get what I need, and, thereby, fail to accomplish the task or unwittingly sabotage it.  Unfortunately people often would rather fail than to admit their dependency on someone else" (p. 12).

28.  Excuse Me: A Little Book of Manners by Karen Katz
12/31/14, loaned to me by Evelyn Sommariva from the collection of Leo & Garrett Sommariva
"Mommy says, 'Do you want peas for breakfast?'"

29.  All by Myself by Mercer Mayer
12/31/14, loaned to me by Evelyn Sommariva from the collection of Leo & Garrett Sommariva
"I can get out of bed all by myself."

30.  Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin
12/31/14, loaned to me by Kevin Robitaille
"The day was grey and bitter cold, and the dogs would not take the scent" (p. 1),

Friday, January 2, 2015

#66 - Help Someone with Her List of Goals

Well, this was convenient.  Casey Jordan had "shoot a gun" on her list of goals too, so that last one was a two-fer!  I finally got to help someone else with their list.  I'm looking forward to checking more things off with Casey next year!  (And I'm also hoping to meeting up with Sarah and Molly!)



#25 - Shoot a Gun


Getting some instruction
I sneaked a few extra list items in the last few days of the year just for good measure.

When I posted a draft of my new list, my brother said I was welcome to come over and shoot a gun while I was back visiting Michigan.

So...  I drove the 10 minutes over to the other Krone house in Ann Arbor.  We walked a few dozen yards back into the property.  And we shot cans off a bucket.

I nailed a can on my first try but after that was fairly inconsistent.  I could at least consistently hit the bucket.

It was fun but not so crazy fun that the pacifist in me will probably override any long-term hobby.

It was a quick trip and activity, so I'll keep this post short too.



The can I killed.

Thanks, Chris & Casey!

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

#43 - Snorkel Somewhere New



I had also forgotten that snorkeling somewhere new was on my list.  Thankfully, on day 2 of our trip to Catalina, Vanessa Vadnal brought it up as something she wanted to do.  Erin Gillespie and I jumped on board quickly.  Laura Masters thought she was just going to hang at the beach, but she ended up joining us in the water too.


Laura's wet suit was super awkward.
We suited up, snorkeled up, and awkwardly walked over the very rocky beach to the water.  Then we awkwardly put on our fins.




The water in Catalina is incredibly clear.  As soon as we put our faces in the water, we could see clear to the bottom as well as fish in every direction.  There were bright orange garibaldi, the California state marine fish everywhere.  We swam further to a kelp forest where bright and muted fish darted in and out everywhere.  I swear I saw a purple-ish orange angelfish in there somewhere.  It was definitely the deepest I'd ever swam in an ocean.  If that were still on my list, like it was last year, I would have checked yet another one off!  At one point we were probably swimming above water that was 16 or so feet deep.  (No, that's not that deep, but somehow the deep ocean really freaks me out even though I'm a strong swimmer.)  I had to turn back once we got to the clear, deep area because my motion sickness set in.  On the swim back there was this huge school of fish that was barely phased with 4 humans swimming around them.

I pulled myself through the rocks to a half wall, tried to keep myself from retching, and waited for the game.  I'm still really glad we went, and I hope I can find some motion sickness solution for snorkeling because it's so exhilarating!


Tuesday, November 25, 2014

#93 - Go to Catalina

I'd suspect the ladies who attended this year's birthday celebration of relentless competitive drives, but none of us remembered Catalina was on this list until we were heading home.


Seriously, how did we not take a picture of all 5 of s in the sunshine?

Every year for my birthday, I leave town.  It can come off as one of those indulgent, self-obsessed birthday things.  However, it started because I had 6 or 7 birthdays in a row (starting at 17) where someone made me cry.  (By the way, never pretend to forget a 17 year old's birthday, when her friends have all just moved off to college, only to throw her a surprise party over a week later.  I now appreciate the effort but, damn, I was devastated that all of my friends had moved off to college and forgotten all about me stuck back in high school.)  I still seem to have a lot of bad luck complicated by anxiety about bad luck leading up to my birthday.

After that series of bad birthdays, I became completely preoccupied with who showed up to my birthday... or really, who didn't show up.  I was so focused on who wasn't there or who showed up late or who left early, that I didn't appreciate the people who were there.  I was so afraid of being hurt by the people who had better things to do, more important people to see, that I couldn't be present and enjoy the company of those physically around me, the people who made time to just be with me.  Then I realized I was not just doing that around my birthday but in the rest of my life too.

In 2009, I decided to try to break my miserable tradition of being miserable.  That year, I planned a Vegas trip and invited anyone who wanted to come along.  My birthday is at an inconvenient time of year being so close to Thanksgiving, so I didn't expect many people to come.  Eventually the group became 2 friends and a friend of a friend, 4 ladies total.  We were already having a fantastic time when 2 of my favorite people of all time drove in from San Diego to surprise me.

The tour has included
2009 - Las Vegas: 4 of us
2010 - Louisville: 8 of us
2011 - Kalamazoo: 3 of us
2012 - Hollywood: 2 of us
2013 - San Juan: 5 of us
2014 - Catalina Island: 5 of us

Every trip has been filled with memories that are truly special to me.

This new tradition allowed me to truly release my expectations of all of my loved ones and at the same time truly enjoy the company of those who were around me right then, in that moment.  I have no trouble accepting that most people can't just take a weekend trip so close to Thanksgiving because of their family obligations coming up or work constraints or financial constraints or whatever.  So I never have any expectations that any one person should go.  In fact, no one person has always gone -- though Laura Masters has come close.  Once I let go of those expectations, I can just be present with the people I am with.  I am no longer preoccupied with people coming and going and having more important things to do.  I just am, exploring a new place, finding some new adventure, with new and old friends alike.

So back to the original intent of this post, this year we went to Catalina Island, 22 miles off the coast of Los Angeles.  It is a truly beautiful island that is apparently bumpin' in the summer with tourists but just as lovely in the late fall with tourists and townies.

I had my usual string of bad luck and was very concerned I wasn't going to enjoy the trip for once.  I wasn't able to leave work until around midnight and had to pick up Vanessa Vadnal at 6:30am to drive to Long Beach the next morning where we would be picking up Laura Masters, so we could catch the ferry.  I also get extremely motion sick, especially on very little sleep.

I eventually picked Vanessa up around 7:15am and we made it to the Long Beach airport about 30 minutes after Laura landed.  The 3 of us had a great brunch in Seal Beach before boarding the ferry.  It was a pretty rolling ride, but we managed thanks to Dramamine.  Oh, and the Catalina Express gives you a FREE ferry ride on your birthday!  Including the return trip!

We arrived on the beautiful island and checked into our place, which far surpassed my expectations.  The view was beautiful, we had plenty of room, and we had a roof deck.  Laura & I had a glass of wine on the roof deck while Vanessa walked around.  Then Tara Edberg arrived.  Then we started a puzzle.  Obviously.


We had a great dinner at the Lobster Trap and then headed out to the Marlin Club and the Locker Room, both outstanding establishments that reminded me of what Chicago dive bars would be on an island.  My kind of places.


Laura & I slept in the next day.  Tara & Vanessa went for a hike.  Erin Gillespie arrived.  Then we finished the puzzle.  Obviously.  Then Erin, Laura, Vanessa, & I went snorkeling while Tara shopped.  I have never seen water so clear.  I mean, I've only been snorkeling once before, in La Jolla Cove, but still.  It was incredible.  If only it weren't for that damn motion sickness, I could have drifted nervously in that water all day.  I say nervously because it's incredible, but I don't think I'll ever lose my awe of the ocean.






Then we had Bloody Marys, champagne, and watched the sun go down... or at least the shadow of the sun go down because the town of Avalon faces east.  The sky was still beautiful.  We then watched Step Brothers because you can't not watch Step Brothers if you're on Catalina.  We had a great dinner at the Seaport Bistro, where I had some really fantastic fried chicken -- oh, and you must specify that you want the LOBSTER mac and cheese, though the regular mac and cheese is super fantastic anyways.  Then back to the Marlin Club, obviously, El Galleon for some karaoke, obviously, and back to the Locker Room.  (We killed "Total Eclipse of the Heart," in case you were wondering.")


In the morning, we kind of went our separate ways.  Vanessa & I had breakfast with Erin and some friends nearby.  Tara and Laura shopped.

Laura, Vanessa, and I rode the ferry back together, and this time, we scored some clutch seats upstairs and outside.  I had forgotten how much I love boat rides.  I loved the wind, the ocean spray, the view, all of it.  We even lucked out with a great lunch at Alien Sandwiches, which is staffed by the greatest little group of people.  Next time you're in Long Beach, go there.  And take all of their suggestions, even if you have no idea what you're ordering.

This trip really lightened my heart after a stressful couple weeks.  I am very grateful.

Also, I really love McClure's pickles.  They are magic.

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

#8 - See Cristiano Ronaldo Play Live

When I added this to the list, I thought it was pretty far fetched.  I make a grad student salary (negative), so unless the best player in the world (yep) happened to find his way nearby with an affordable ticket, I was out of luck.

But then.  There was a rumor.  And then it wasn't a rumor, it was an announcement.  Real Madrid and Manchester United were playing

AT THE BIG HOUSE!

(That's Michigan Stadium for those of you who don't worship the gods of college football.)

Cristiano Ronaldo and friends would be playing against my team in my hometown, in my home stadium.

Then I feared I wouldn't be able to get tickets or they would be too expensive.

Wrong again.

Reiko, Nicole, & me loving life

$35 got me a seat with a chunk of friends who were as excited as I was.

Then there were the injury rumors and the absolute FAIL of a World Cup for both Spain and Portugal.  But I held on.  He'd be there.  Right?



Gareth Bale before his penalty kick.
Then the roster came out and there were a lot of names missing from the list...  Sergio Ramos, Casillais, Chicarito...  AND RONALDO.  NOOOOO!  I'd already seen Rooney  play.  I wasn't flying all the way to Michigan to see Rooney.

But then a few days later, an article came out that said he was injured but would be meeting the team in LA but not playing (good thing I didn't buy one of those tickets) and then would be off to Ann Arbor to play at the Big House.

Ann Arbor got pretty jazzed up, like it did for the NHL game in December.  Shut down Main Street.  Stages, bars, food...

The Krones had dinner at Aventura Friday night.  Our server told us they were on hold to host REAL MADRID later that night.  I freaked out a bit.  We gave up, knowing we'd get kicked out if they showed up anyways.  Rumor is they did eat there later that night.  I ate at the same restaurant as Ronaldo just an hour apart!

So happy that Billie & Steve made the trip too.  That was a nice surprise!
Saturday was magical.  I got up a little late, headed to the tailgate my lovely friend Nicole set up, played some games, saw some friends I didn't expect to see, and headed to the game, ignoring the texts from Al that Ronaldo would not be playing and what a "jerk" he was.  (I'm giving Al credit for being there even though I never saw him.  He texted me when he was outside my gate but I was already in the stadium and there was a line to get back into the section.  He didn't want to wait in the line and risk missing first touch.  I didn't want to go out and then have to wait in the line and miss first touch.  That's real friendship there.  Live on different coasts but would never expect the other to miss a minute of a soccer game at Michigan Stadium.)

Whatever.  Ronaldo was there.  In my stadium.  The closest I'd ever been to him.

Nicole and I were on Cloud 9 from the start.  I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Ronaldo walk across the field.  Luckily my Ma lent me her binoculars...  which also made me look a little silly because I started freaking out about subs walking across the field until I could fully communicate that it was RONALDO.  He sat in the stands and I have to admit, I watched him almost as much as the game.  Whatever.  I was there to see him, playing or not.
Brother hug

The Fray played at half time.  That was random.

I walked down a few rows to visit the brother and friends.  Walked back up.

Then... it happened.  A cheer went across the crowd.

RONALDO WAS WARMING UP.



That's Ronaldo.  At midfield.  Ready to sub in.  At Michigan Stadium.  Ahhhhh!


And warm up he did.  For real.  I watched it.  Through the binoculars.  Oh, at this point, Rooney and Bale had scored some goals.

Then he was at midfield.  Then the referee let him in.

Ronaldo ran around.  Did a little fancy footwork.  Chicarito scored a goal.  Ronaldo jogged a bit.



It was bananas fun.  Life changing.

I miss him already.

Chicarito cooling down with the "winners" of the game.  I say "winners" because obviously I and the others freaking out all day were the real winners.













Sunday, June 15, 2014

#61 - Don't Eat Out at All for at Least 7 Days

BONUS item!  I finished my list early this year, so I might as well check off some more.
This one isn't the most exciting to write about, but there was one fun event: Kassi invited me over for lunch and we cooked channa masala, rice, and creamy spinach.  And by "we," I mean "Kassi" while I listened to directions, chopped up a few things, and then cried for a good five minutes because I somehow got onion or something spicy in my eyes.  It hurt a lot.  

But, it was worth it.  Lunch was delicious and Kassi even sent me home with leftovers that I ate for dinner the next day.

I am hoping making myself cook at home and bring lunches/dinners to work/class helps me make that the norm and eating out an every now and then exception.  I'm giving myself a little slack with the World Cup but I have already been just assuming I'll eat at home or pack food these few days after this week.