Halloween

We’re handing out doughnuts to the students today, and I was forced to have a costume. Heh.
Suddenly I am exhausted. I could barely drag myself out of bed this morning. I think I’m finally over the conference, etc.

Here’s what’s new at my house:

• The plumber came and the bathtub now drains and, miraculously, there is water pressure in the shower!
• Lucy has taken to sleeping in my down vest.
• We’re having stones laid along the side of the house where there was a tiny mud path. I think this is going to be nicer than I thought. Too nice, K. said. The very cheapest stone happened to come from Connecticut. I’m from Connecticut! This made me happy, while simultaneously appalled that we’re using stone dragged across the country. But what could I do?
• I’m leaving work early to carve the pumpkins. I was too exhausted to carve them last night. Sleep. Pumpkins. It is important to have one’s priorities straight.
• I read a good book, Send in the Idiots, and am reading another, On the Noodle Road. I read the first a month or so ago, so can’t give a great review off the top of my head, but it’s a good book — one of the autistic people the author interviews is a Democratic speechwriter, and it’s quite interesting to think about the difference between democrats and republicans from an autistic perspective. The Noodle one I’m not quite through. It’s more a sort of travelogue of the silk road rather than an actual study of the origins of the noodle (which I would like to read), but it’s interesting nonetheless from her unfiltered reactions to various cultures. Central Asian cuisine is pretty boring (plov). It’s pretty unpleasant to live in a country, like Iran, where everyone is spied upon. (And China isn’t like that — also interesting.) Not terribly deep, I think, but still interesting.
• Hathi hathi hathi ho.

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Chrysanthemums

When N was home, which is now a month ago, she noticed the chrysanthemums. This is a kind of sad batch at the local CVS. There are nicer selections elsewhere. She was pleased to see them. She hadn’t noticed them here before, but they have them in Maine. She noted how they suddenly appear in the fall. “I like them,” she said, and it made me realize that she’s a grown up, now, with whole formative experiences in other places. She’s come to an appreciation of fall chrysanthemums all on her own, somewhere far away.

I am missing her. She’s far away again, having all kinds of experiences, and I realize I am just eager for her to get somewhere and stay put for a while. However, it seems not to be up to me. Sadly.

It really is fall here, now, finally. We’ve had a few fires in the fireplace, and this morning I had to go up to the attic to get some corduroy jeans and a long sleeved shirt. Too cold now for the linen pants which were the only ones I could bear to wear last week.

Wrapping up all the reimbursements and reports and evaluations from the conference. It really is nearly over. (Yay!)

Oh, I am back

(More squirrels from M)

So.

The conference that I have been planning for about a year and a half — really, almost two years — happened. I think it went well. (Here’s a review!). My committee was great in the end — they showed up early and stayed until the end. They noticed things and fixed them. They really pulled together and were great. The place we held it is great — everything works and things run very smoothly. It really all worked very well. And I think the speakers were great. It’s kind of a shot in the dark — you think things will work. You hope you’ve picked good speakers. Actually, thinking it over, I might have moved a few things around 9or maybe not, actually), but as it was I think it worked pretty well. I think we had a good mix of theoretical and practical, big-picture and close study. I think it was a success, and now it’s over. Phew.

I sort of can’t believe it.

I met a bunch of interesting people, too, including some of the speakers and a young librarian from SF with whom I discussed binge tv watching. She recommended Buffy, Breaking Bad and Battlestar Galactica. Ok.

I’m celebrating by sitting on the couch.

It’s a perfect fall day, and I ought to go out for a walk and do some stuff in the garden. So maybe, in a bit, I’ll do that.

Look!

It’s a planet, of some sort. Well, honestly, it’s Venus, and what I could see, but the camera couldn’t, is the star Antares, right below and very red.

I love fall. I love walking home in the dark evening.

Apparently N is out of the jungle, and M is sending reports of clear crisp days and delicious rainy days from Ohio.

It’s nice to be home.

More squirrels

(from Maddy)

Sofa!

Tada!

The new sofa.

I’ve left the pillows oddly placed and the crap all over the coffee table just for that air of hominess. After I took the picture, of course, I straightened the pillows and put all the books away and mailed off that zappo’s box — you know, the way we normally live.

(It’s very comfortable!)

Squirrel

The squirrels are acting all, well, squirrelly. They climb up the toyon to get to the rose bush, where I guess they are eating the rosehips.

They make a great deal of noise, and take great offense at my questioning them.

They’re awfully cute, though.

Here’s what’s going on —

Work: Ridiculously busy. Insanely so, which is not all bad.
Gym: Well, suffering the consequences above. But I am walking a lot.
House: The new couch came! It’s lovely.
Life, generally: Well — sad that N is gone. Too busy to do much of anything. Generally okay, though. Holidays — the holidays are looming out there. Just looming, though — not actually present just yet. I will be happy to see M, and sad to not see N, but it’s still a long way off . . .

Okay! So that’s that.