Today was the first day of class. Since someone *might* be curious what I will spend all semester doing, here is a breakdown:
1. Monday/Wednesday, 9am-1pm, LA 101: Fundamentals of Landscape Design
This is a design studio. It has 4 undergrads in it and you can probably guess that we are doing basic stuff. Today, we measured our bodies and have to draw them smaller to scale, and in 3/4 of an inch = one foot. This first exercise gets us ready to draw things later on in the studio that *actually* have to do with landscape design. I learned that I have a 2 1/2 foot walking pace and my armspan is only one inch taller than my overall height.
2. Monday, 6-8pm, LA 301: Methods of Teaching in Landscape, Environmental Design and Architecture
This is a workshop seminar for grad students that are or want to assist the teaching of classes in the department. GSI's (Graduate Student Instructors) are required to take this course at least once during their time at CED (The College of Environmental Design).
3. Tuesday/Thursday, 12:30-2pm: LA 170: History and Literature of Landscape Architecture
This is a basic history class all 3-year students have to take. My academic adviser is the professor. If I am lucky, I may be able to TA this course next year and get my fees paid for.
4. Wednesday, 6:30-9:30pm, LA 134A: Drawing Workshop
This is a fundamental drawing workshop that is taught by Walter Hood. I've heard it is very hard.
5. Friday, 8:30-11:30am, LA 134B: Computer Drawing Workshop
Here we learn the fundamentals of the Adobe Suite (Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop), SketchUp, and AutoCad. I am a little frightened about AutoCad. It looks like a rudimentary video game when you first open it. It's interface looks far from user friendly.
6. Day TBD, 3 hours per week, Thailand Studio Workshop
This course will meet through Sept and part of Oct. In this course, the people who went to Thailand over the summer to do field work will write up our final report.
7. Try to fit time in for fun, exercise, socializing, and doing errands.
Monday, August 28, 2006
Saddle Rocks!
Saturday night's festivities at the Saddle Rack in the belly of suburban Fremont, CA were an overwhelming success. The night almost got off on the wrong foot, however, when we were momentarilly lost in the large office park where the establishment happens to be located. We took a wrong turn at the Sysco compound and ended up going a half a mile or so out of our way, but no great error. We were hardly fatigued by the time we arrived at the door.
The large warehouse that IS the Saddle Rack offers a multitude of sensory offerings to please a variety of club-goers. As you walk in, you are greeted by the Beer Goddess. She has a large tub full of ice and domestic beers available for $4-$5 right away. You don't even have to stand in line at the bar.
The enormous dancefloor is framed by a central stage area (where the 80s cover band plays), a dance cage to the left, and a large video screen on the right. The video screen happens to play live footage of the people featured inside the dancing cage, by the way. Anywhere you happen to be inside the Saddle Rack complex you get a great view of women shaking their butts inside a steel cage. It's brilliant indeed.
In the back left of the warehouse is the mechanical bull and ring area. People sign up and pay a paltry $3 for a go on the bull. Watching a few rounds you learn the gist of how one is supposed to conduct themselves once mounted on the rigid beast. You can only use one hand to hold yourself up and you are supposed to wave around the other arm in wide, erratic circles to counterweight yourself as the bull jostles around beneath you. It's hard to believe that women in miniskirts are allowed to take on the bull, although they end up giving everyone a free peep show getting on and off (or getting thrown). One woman even thought she'd be able to ride the thing sidesaddle. It was ridiculous and she was promptly disqualified. Men on the bull tend to leave the ring cluthing themselves between the legs with a painful grimmace on their faces. Apparently, the ride tends to bruise those regions of the body quite easilly.
In the other wing of the warehouse is something called a "game room." I think there are some pool and fooseball tables there and people selling things like Club Nachos and Saddle Dogs for those with a latent hunger brewing.
The best part about the Saddle Rack is clearly the spectacular opportunity to people watch and people gawk. I declare, these people KNOW how to have some fun in the least likely of FUN places (Fremont). People come to dance, shake their butts, simulate sex on mechanical animals, drink terrible booze, and boogie until they can boo-gie no more. I guess Fremonters don't live those sleepy little existences that I assumed they did. Why would they when they have the diversions of the legendary Saddle Rack in their backyard?
The end of the night was wrapped up at the Hawthorn Suites where 14 of us slept in two hotel rooms. It was quaint indeed, and only $17 a head which included a continental breakfast in the lobby.
The large warehouse that IS the Saddle Rack offers a multitude of sensory offerings to please a variety of club-goers. As you walk in, you are greeted by the Beer Goddess. She has a large tub full of ice and domestic beers available for $4-$5 right away. You don't even have to stand in line at the bar.
The enormous dancefloor is framed by a central stage area (where the 80s cover band plays), a dance cage to the left, and a large video screen on the right. The video screen happens to play live footage of the people featured inside the dancing cage, by the way. Anywhere you happen to be inside the Saddle Rack complex you get a great view of women shaking their butts inside a steel cage. It's brilliant indeed.
In the back left of the warehouse is the mechanical bull and ring area. People sign up and pay a paltry $3 for a go on the bull. Watching a few rounds you learn the gist of how one is supposed to conduct themselves once mounted on the rigid beast. You can only use one hand to hold yourself up and you are supposed to wave around the other arm in wide, erratic circles to counterweight yourself as the bull jostles around beneath you. It's hard to believe that women in miniskirts are allowed to take on the bull, although they end up giving everyone a free peep show getting on and off (or getting thrown). One woman even thought she'd be able to ride the thing sidesaddle. It was ridiculous and she was promptly disqualified. Men on the bull tend to leave the ring cluthing themselves between the legs with a painful grimmace on their faces. Apparently, the ride tends to bruise those regions of the body quite easilly.
In the other wing of the warehouse is something called a "game room." I think there are some pool and fooseball tables there and people selling things like Club Nachos and Saddle Dogs for those with a latent hunger brewing.
The best part about the Saddle Rack is clearly the spectacular opportunity to people watch and people gawk. I declare, these people KNOW how to have some fun in the least likely of FUN places (Fremont). People come to dance, shake their butts, simulate sex on mechanical animals, drink terrible booze, and boogie until they can boo-gie no more. I guess Fremonters don't live those sleepy little existences that I assumed they did. Why would they when they have the diversions of the legendary Saddle Rack in their backyard?
The end of the night was wrapped up at the Hawthorn Suites where 14 of us slept in two hotel rooms. It was quaint indeed, and only $17 a head which included a continental breakfast in the lobby.
Friday, August 25, 2006
Observed today
The following I saw on the dry erase board of the real estate office I am working for this summer (and beyond I suppose, since I am only done with one of three phases of the project).
Oh, I should note that the company is owned by a Persian woman with 4-5 agents working for her.
*******************
Needs and wants:
1. Hours of operation
2. Phone #s
3. Mass mailer to all Persians in S.F.!
4. Easter promotion for next year, include hunt, eggs, prizes, clues, etc.
*******************
Is it me, or do #3 and #4 seem a little strange next to each other? Hmmm...
Oh, I should note that the company is owned by a Persian woman with 4-5 agents working for her.
*******************
Needs and wants:
1. Hours of operation
2. Phone #s
3. Mass mailer to all Persians in S.F.!
4. Easter promotion for next year, include hunt, eggs, prizes, clues, etc.
*******************
Is it me, or do #3 and #4 seem a little strange next to each other? Hmmm...
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Getting "oriented"
Tomorrow is orientation at Wurster Hall. In my two year history at UCB, I have been to one previous orientation (Fall '04). Last year I skipped it because I didn't really care about meeting the new first years in our program.
But now the tables are turned a bit. Because I am entering a new program, I am again a pathetic "first year". Lucky for me I won't be confused about how to do things, but unfortunately that doesn't get me out of attending the mandatory orientation. I don't really feel "un"oriented per se - I know the faculty, the gist of the curriculum, I know how to use the library, I even have the computer lab manager's phone number programmed into my cell already, etc. - but despite that I will be forced to become more oriented. Is it even possible?
Peer pressure and the risk of not making those critical connections with my future 14 or 15 classmates is the main reason I am going. And the class photo. We can't forget the class photo. Next year I will probably find myself going again, to help out or something. It's the same over and over. Now I know why the faculty all grimmace a bit about these functions. It really takes an immense amount of time and creativity to make these events seem at all different from the previous year's. Alas.
That said, things will become a tad more exciting on Saturday. A plan has been hatched to reunite a core group of city planning compatriots. Of all places in the Bay Area (out of our FREE choice) we have decided that THIS is where we shall descend. We are even organizing some slapdash hotel reservations so none of us have to drive home. So far, we have Mike, Julie, Tom, Eliza, Katherine, and Maureen enlisted to go. I hope more people jump on the party train.
I talked to Mr. Gougherty today and he confirmed that, yes, he will be riding the bull on Saturday evening.
But now the tables are turned a bit. Because I am entering a new program, I am again a pathetic "first year". Lucky for me I won't be confused about how to do things, but unfortunately that doesn't get me out of attending the mandatory orientation. I don't really feel "un"oriented per se - I know the faculty, the gist of the curriculum, I know how to use the library, I even have the computer lab manager's phone number programmed into my cell already, etc. - but despite that I will be forced to become more oriented. Is it even possible?
Peer pressure and the risk of not making those critical connections with my future 14 or 15 classmates is the main reason I am going. And the class photo. We can't forget the class photo. Next year I will probably find myself going again, to help out or something. It's the same over and over. Now I know why the faculty all grimmace a bit about these functions. It really takes an immense amount of time and creativity to make these events seem at all different from the previous year's. Alas.
That said, things will become a tad more exciting on Saturday. A plan has been hatched to reunite a core group of city planning compatriots. Of all places in the Bay Area (out of our FREE choice) we have decided that THIS is where we shall descend. We are even organizing some slapdash hotel reservations so none of us have to drive home. So far, we have Mike, Julie, Tom, Eliza, Katherine, and Maureen enlisted to go. I hope more people jump on the party train.
I talked to Mr. Gougherty today and he confirmed that, yes, he will be riding the bull on Saturday evening.
Monday, August 21, 2006
Wound
Today, I did this in a foolish, clumsy tripping incident:
While jogging around a man on the sidewalk, I sidestepped right into an area of the sidewalk where plants are supposed to grow. Basically, in front of a stranger, I tumbled on the sidewalk at least twice and landed on my hands and knees.
I was surprised this was my only wound because essentially i used my palms to stop the trajectory of my body down the sidewalk. Would have expected more gravelly skin scrapes.
The annoying this about this wound is that it occured in exactly the spot where my wrist rests on my keyboard. Therefore, I am leaving little bloody patches on the side of my laptop near the little 'Intel Inside Centrino' foil sticker most of us find on the lower right side of our keyboard area. That is, unless you own a Mac. You wouldn't find those stickers then. Although things are changing....
While jogging around a man on the sidewalk, I sidestepped right into an area of the sidewalk where plants are supposed to grow. Basically, in front of a stranger, I tumbled on the sidewalk at least twice and landed on my hands and knees.
I was surprised this was my only wound because essentially i used my palms to stop the trajectory of my body down the sidewalk. Would have expected more gravelly skin scrapes.
The annoying this about this wound is that it occured in exactly the spot where my wrist rests on my keyboard. Therefore, I am leaving little bloody patches on the side of my laptop near the little 'Intel Inside Centrino' foil sticker most of us find on the lower right side of our keyboard area. That is, unless you own a Mac. You wouldn't find those stickers then. Although things are changing....
Sunday, August 20, 2006
I've come full circle
It's week three in my new apartment set up on good ol' Martin Luther King Jr. Way. As I said earlier in a previous post, it is certainly a different kind of neighborhood. No more street parties for the kids on Hillegass Avenue. No more visits at my front door from 'Crazy Mike' with his radiation reader. No more views of Lew and Amy with their enormous earphones on. It's good in a way to be in such a different environment.
There is, however, one thing that remains constant in the short relocation to MLK Jr. Way. That constant, of course, is the presence of the infamous procyon lotor, otherwise known as the urban raccoon.
My encounters with the coons are to be different now. In my second floor apartment (I live in a small 3-unit building - two one-bedrooms on the ground floor, and our three-bedroom unit on the second floor) I do not hear their scrambling and carrying on in the crawl space. As well, since we have no pets or outside feeding dishes, I do not hear them pilfering Emily's cat food anymore around 1:45 a.m. Apartment life is good in that way...fewer foraging beasts to irritate you. However, my neighbors with free standing (and for a good part, disheveled) homes still face the same challenges to their management and abatement as I knew on Bateman Street.
Today, for instance, I was walking north on Ellis Street after a casual 3 mile run through Berkeley. Despite the overwhelming volume of my ipod device, I heard a familiar noise which caused me to take a pause and check my surroundings. The noise I heard was coming from two raccoons, recently trapped, sitting outside 3143 Ellis, a drabby beige Victorian with purple trim. They looked and sounded awfully dismayed. They were even using their tiny raccoon thumbs and hands to try and manipulate the door on the traps that caught them.
I decided that I would do the only thing a citizen of Berkeley, CA should do at that moment: call animal control and involve myself needlessly in a situation that appeared pretty much under control. I felt bad for those critters, and I was hoping I could find a way to assist their lawful release. Hell, now that I am on the second floor (safe from their wrath) I can now help my former enemy escape. Karma, people.
I called "Animal Services" and the dispatcher assured me an officer was going there right away. I asked if trapped raccoons are by default the responsibility of the City. She replied "No, not all the time." Therefore, the coons would likely not find freedom today.
An hour later I got a call back from the officer who did the site visit. Apparently, the coons were caught in humane traps by a licensed animal control company and they were awaiting pick up and release. She was kind of annoyed they were trapped and she told me she wanted to release them there but the tenant refused.
There is, however, one thing that remains constant in the short relocation to MLK Jr. Way. That constant, of course, is the presence of the infamous procyon lotor, otherwise known as the urban raccoon.
My encounters with the coons are to be different now. In my second floor apartment (I live in a small 3-unit building - two one-bedrooms on the ground floor, and our three-bedroom unit on the second floor) I do not hear their scrambling and carrying on in the crawl space. As well, since we have no pets or outside feeding dishes, I do not hear them pilfering Emily's cat food anymore around 1:45 a.m. Apartment life is good in that way...fewer foraging beasts to irritate you. However, my neighbors with free standing (and for a good part, disheveled) homes still face the same challenges to their management and abatement as I knew on Bateman Street.
Today, for instance, I was walking north on Ellis Street after a casual 3 mile run through Berkeley. Despite the overwhelming volume of my ipod device, I heard a familiar noise which caused me to take a pause and check my surroundings. The noise I heard was coming from two raccoons, recently trapped, sitting outside 3143 Ellis, a drabby beige Victorian with purple trim. They looked and sounded awfully dismayed. They were even using their tiny raccoon thumbs and hands to try and manipulate the door on the traps that caught them.
I decided that I would do the only thing a citizen of Berkeley, CA should do at that moment: call animal control and involve myself needlessly in a situation that appeared pretty much under control. I felt bad for those critters, and I was hoping I could find a way to assist their lawful release. Hell, now that I am on the second floor (safe from their wrath) I can now help my former enemy escape. Karma, people.
I called "Animal Services" and the dispatcher assured me an officer was going there right away. I asked if trapped raccoons are by default the responsibility of the City. She replied "No, not all the time." Therefore, the coons would likely not find freedom today.
An hour later I got a call back from the officer who did the site visit. Apparently, the coons were caught in humane traps by a licensed animal control company and they were awaiting pick up and release. She was kind of annoyed they were trapped and she told me she wanted to release them there but the tenant refused.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Why would anyone *so* pretend to be Annie Lennox?
Tonight, I was in the city having dinner at a very trendy spot to celebrate the late birthday of my ex-roommate Christina. At the close of dinner, two women entered the bustling restaurant and began attracting a great deal of attention (admittedly, mostly from me).
One of the women very much resembled Annie Lennox. So much that she was even wearing clothes that Annie Lennox probably has been photographed in before. She has the same haircut and facial features that Annie Lennox has. Mannerisms and gestures, slightly Lennox-esque.
However, it probably wasn't her because closer inspection of photos on the internet show that the *real* Annie has more wrinkles and is a little thinner than the *Annie* I spied at said establishment. It really made me wonder why a person would ever go to so much trouble to repeatedly and continually be mistaken in public for this singer.
It is very strange indeed. I think even the waitstaff at the restaurant thought it was Annie.
Anyway, I am still a bit miffed.
Such is the ending of my first SF-pseudo celebrity sighting.
One of the women very much resembled Annie Lennox. So much that she was even wearing clothes that Annie Lennox probably has been photographed in before. She has the same haircut and facial features that Annie Lennox has. Mannerisms and gestures, slightly Lennox-esque.
However, it probably wasn't her because closer inspection of photos on the internet show that the *real* Annie has more wrinkles and is a little thinner than the *Annie* I spied at said establishment. It really made me wonder why a person would ever go to so much trouble to repeatedly and continually be mistaken in public for this singer.
It is very strange indeed. I think even the waitstaff at the restaurant thought it was Annie.
Anyway, I am still a bit miffed.
Such is the ending of my first SF-pseudo celebrity sighting.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Last few days of freedom
Shit. School starts in about 13 days. Holy mother of .... I bester make these last ones count! I am filling in the calendar with things as they come to mind.
Tuesday, Aug 15: Lunch with Brooke Ray
Wednesday, Aug 16:
Thursday, Aug 17: Haircut at Barbarella, car appt at Karmakanix, dinner with Christina at NOPA
Friday, Aug 18: Snakes on a Plane premiere with 456 House
Saturday, Aug 19:
Sunday, Aug 20:
Monday, Aug 21: Dinner with Karen Mauney-Brodek in Hayes Valley
Tuesday, Aug 22: The Clientele
Wednesday, Aug 23:
Thursday, Aug 24: Wolf Parade
Friday, Aug 25:
Saturday, Aug 26:
Sunday, Aug 27:
Tuesday, Aug 15: Lunch with Brooke Ray
Wednesday, Aug 16:
Thursday, Aug 17: Haircut at Barbarella, car appt at Karmakanix, dinner with Christina at NOPA
Friday, Aug 18: Snakes on a Plane premiere with 456 House
Saturday, Aug 19:
Sunday, Aug 20:
Monday, Aug 21: Dinner with Karen Mauney-Brodek in Hayes Valley
Tuesday, Aug 22: The Clientele
Wednesday, Aug 23:
Thursday, Aug 24: Wolf Parade
Friday, Aug 25:
Saturday, Aug 26:
Sunday, Aug 27:
Monday, August 14, 2006
Trail riding, daith procurement & parking lot checking
Activity: Horseback trail riding
Location: Squaw Valley, Lake Tahoe
Date: August 11 (11am-1pm)
Horse: "Mustang"
Cost: $58 for a two hour ride
Grade: C-/D+
Summary: Trail riding is boring to me, and I never remember that until just *after* I've mounted and rode 15 minutes away from the stables. The ride was made challenging due to an exceptionally slow steed, immense amounts of dust particulates in the air, and the glare of the overhead sunlight. Also, the view you get during the entire ride is of the Squaw Valley Resort and Golf Club.
Activity: Ear piecing
Location: Braindrops, Hayes Street and Masonic Street, San Francisco
Date: August 13 (2pm)
Cost: $41 + $9 tip (includes cost of special cleansing soap for post-op care)
Grade: A/A+
Summary: I've been wanting a new kind of ear piercing for a while and I finally got it yesterday at Braindrops. Braindrops is not your average piercing/tattoo shop. It's appearance from inside looks more like a jewelry shop and spa treatment place - very inviting. There wasn't a wait at all, I got pierced within 15 minutes of arrival and signing my waiver. The person performing the piercing took great care with me and I *swear* it didn't hurt very much at all. My original request, for a rook piercing, was denied - my ears aren't the right shape for a rook. Therefore, I settled for the next closest thing to that, a daith piercing. I guess the shop has a pretty loyal customer base in the city. I can see why..I am glad I waited to come here.
So far, things are dandy in daith-land, except for the fact I have to stick my ear in a coffee mug of heated saline water for 10 minutes 2 times a day. I guess it's better than getting an infection...
Activity: Ground truthing the base map I have created for South Beach
Location: Area of San Francisco bounded by Market Street, The Embarcadero, King Street, and 4th Street (it's BIG!!)
Date: August 12 (4-6pm)
Cost: $6.30 (BART fare, roundtrip, from Ashby to Embarcadero)
Grade: B
Summary: Over the summer, I have created a base map for a large area in San Francisco using aerial photographs from 2004. This part of town has changed a lot since 2004, so after I created the first draft of the map on Illustrator, I needed to print it out and go check places I thought might have new buildings. Basically, in a nutshell, I spent a couple hours riding around and checking on the status of South Beach's many parking lots. Since 2004, many of these parking lots have been sold to developers who then build highrise condominium and apartment buildings and these buildings must show up on the final map. This activity was accomplished on my road bike on a lazy Sunday afternoon, in good conditions with hardly any street or foot traffic to irritate me.
Location: Squaw Valley, Lake Tahoe
Date: August 11 (11am-1pm)
Horse: "Mustang"
Cost: $58 for a two hour ride
Grade: C-/D+
Summary: Trail riding is boring to me, and I never remember that until just *after* I've mounted and rode 15 minutes away from the stables. The ride was made challenging due to an exceptionally slow steed, immense amounts of dust particulates in the air, and the glare of the overhead sunlight. Also, the view you get during the entire ride is of the Squaw Valley Resort and Golf Club.
Activity: Ear piecing
Location: Braindrops, Hayes Street and Masonic Street, San Francisco
Date: August 13 (2pm)
Cost: $41 + $9 tip (includes cost of special cleansing soap for post-op care)
Grade: A/A+
Summary: I've been wanting a new kind of ear piercing for a while and I finally got it yesterday at Braindrops. Braindrops is not your average piercing/tattoo shop. It's appearance from inside looks more like a jewelry shop and spa treatment place - very inviting. There wasn't a wait at all, I got pierced within 15 minutes of arrival and signing my waiver. The person performing the piercing took great care with me and I *swear* it didn't hurt very much at all. My original request, for a rook piercing, was denied - my ears aren't the right shape for a rook. Therefore, I settled for the next closest thing to that, a daith piercing. I guess the shop has a pretty loyal customer base in the city. I can see why..I am glad I waited to come here.
So far, things are dandy in daith-land, except for the fact I have to stick my ear in a coffee mug of heated saline water for 10 minutes 2 times a day. I guess it's better than getting an infection...
Activity: Ground truthing the base map I have created for South Beach
Location: Area of San Francisco bounded by Market Street, The Embarcadero, King Street, and 4th Street (it's BIG!!)
Date: August 12 (4-6pm)
Cost: $6.30 (BART fare, roundtrip, from Ashby to Embarcadero)
Grade: B
Summary: Over the summer, I have created a base map for a large area in San Francisco using aerial photographs from 2004. This part of town has changed a lot since 2004, so after I created the first draft of the map on Illustrator, I needed to print it out and go check places I thought might have new buildings. Basically, in a nutshell, I spent a couple hours riding around and checking on the status of South Beach's many parking lots. Since 2004, many of these parking lots have been sold to developers who then build highrise condominium and apartment buildings and these buildings must show up on the final map. This activity was accomplished on my road bike on a lazy Sunday afternoon, in good conditions with hardly any street or foot traffic to irritate me.
Monday, August 07, 2006
It's definitely a new neighborhood
Day four has passed on Martin Luther King Jr. Way. (Wow, that's a mouthful after using "Bateman Street" for the past two years!)
Today after returning from my brief jog around the neighborhood, for 90 minutes I observed (listened to) one of my neighbors beat the shit out of a punching bag from his yard. Let me explain some logistics: I have a second floor balcony that allows me to observe the activities of my neighbors around me. I can basically see for three parcels in every direction what my neighbors are up to. It's very interesting and I hope that my perspective allows me to learn a great deal from this lot of folks.
Another thing I learned is that our neighbors to the south have their computer station and a digital camera positioned directly in front of both our kitchen and our bathroom. Their computer area, upon closer inspection, appears to have a digital camera pointed toward our bathroom window area as well. This I discovered today as I was towelling off in what I THOUGHT was the privacy of my bathroom. Word of caution: never assume your bathroom privacy is sacred. Always assume someone is peeping. Most likely, this is the case. Do what you have to to safeguard your alone-time in the john.
Another slight disappointment to the move this week is that already I have lost some items. The woman moving out of my room, in the chaos of her own relocation, packed up some of my belongings with her kitchen stuff. Essentially, she swiped three dessert wine glasses. I got them at a yard sale, but I don't think that is adequate reasoning for her to swipe them so callously! I shall inform her of the crime and hopefully they will be fully restored to MLK JR WAY by the end of the week. I have some nice late harvest wine from DeLoache that really NEED those glasses, afterall.
Today after returning from my brief jog around the neighborhood, for 90 minutes I observed (listened to) one of my neighbors beat the shit out of a punching bag from his yard. Let me explain some logistics: I have a second floor balcony that allows me to observe the activities of my neighbors around me. I can basically see for three parcels in every direction what my neighbors are up to. It's very interesting and I hope that my perspective allows me to learn a great deal from this lot of folks.
Another thing I learned is that our neighbors to the south have their computer station and a digital camera positioned directly in front of both our kitchen and our bathroom. Their computer area, upon closer inspection, appears to have a digital camera pointed toward our bathroom window area as well. This I discovered today as I was towelling off in what I THOUGHT was the privacy of my bathroom. Word of caution: never assume your bathroom privacy is sacred. Always assume someone is peeping. Most likely, this is the case. Do what you have to to safeguard your alone-time in the john.
Another slight disappointment to the move this week is that already I have lost some items. The woman moving out of my room, in the chaos of her own relocation, packed up some of my belongings with her kitchen stuff. Essentially, she swiped three dessert wine glasses. I got them at a yard sale, but I don't think that is adequate reasoning for her to swipe them so callously! I shall inform her of the crime and hopefully they will be fully restored to MLK JR WAY by the end of the week. I have some nice late harvest wine from DeLoache that really NEED those glasses, afterall.
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