JOB SEARCH, or NO I AM NOT GOING TO BE A PROFESSIONAL POTTER

I officially started my job search on Tuesday. *sigh* real life beckons

People often ask if I'm going to become a potter. Umm, no. This evening I was reading the latest Ceramics Monthly (from the wonderful subscription provided by my sis Hol) and came across this joke ad... I think it pretty much sums things up. MAYBE I SHOULD APPLY.

WANTED

Highly motivated individual with exceptional spatial and aesthetic sensibilities. Superlative motor skills, hand-eye coordination and physical dexterity required. Must have workable understanding of inorganic chemistry, as well as a willingness to experiment with the same. Thorough understanding of the cultural and sociological context of objects in daily human ritual preferred. Successful candidates will demonstrate an emormous capacity for endless testing of raw materials and experimentation with form, while at the same time performing repetitive physcial tasks that require intense mental concentration. A high level of productivity and tolerance for long work days are musts. The ability to control and monitor fire and various other physical and chemical phenomena on a regular basis will be key. Must pay attention to small details and have the ability to contribute something to your culture that will last for thousands of years.

Compensation not necessarily commensurate with experience.

I'm BACK

After experiencing all this...

55 days of nearly continuous travel
18 places of lodging
12 major cities
6 US states
4 countries
8 airports
10 train stations
4 siblings
4 nieces
4 nephews
1 unborn neice/nephew
6 days in a row without a shower (only once, thank goodness)
2 zoos
too many museums to count
1 mountain hiked
3 state parks
36 straight days without seeing rain

... I'm finally back in Boston.

sleeping in my own bed and taking a shower in my own bathroom today was QUITE nice

Regarding my last post

turns out I'm 1/4 Slovak, not Czech. Darn you, political machinations of the former Czechoslovakia!!!

On a not-related note, my travels are almost over... I go back to Boston in 3 days. Scary.
Anybody want to give me a job? :)

I am so proud to be 1/4 Czech

thanks to Brett for exposing me to this masterpiece of my cultural heritage

Los Angeles doesnt suck after all ... who knew!!

I'd heard a lot of crap about LA and kind of expected to hate it, but I had a great time there!

THE HIGHLIGHTS:

- indie rock concert at the Troubador

- the Disney Concert Hall (right,) which looks like a much sleeker/cooler/sexier/less-annoying/non-fugly version of the MIT Stata Center (below)

- Swimming in the backyard pool of a hollywood director who shall not be named

- Being verbally harassed by gross men all over LA County (wait... that part sucked, never mind.)

- Helping Brett shoot a short film for a competition (I held the fan and pinned some curtain. I'm basically a world-class production assistant now)

- Walking 6 miles from a museum to meet my friend after looking at a map and thinking it was going to be about 2-3 miles. Uh, yeah, turns out LA REALLY IS f*ing huge

- Going to a bon-fire party on the

beach with a bunch of Industry people (I felt like I was in "The O.C."... AWESOME)

- People-watching on Hollywood Boulevard, including a woman with huge dreadlocks, each a different pastel color, piled on to her head and with the entire bottom half of her head (top of ears downward) shaved. LA Rocks!

I want to hurt Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens

I have seen High School Musical 2 approximately 6 and a half times in the last 48 hours. WHY ARE CHILDREN SO OBSESSED WITH CERTAIN MOVIES?

At least it's a good break from Dora the Explorer...


in other news, tomorrow I go to LA. And will attempt to survive there for 3 days almost exclusively on the public transit system. HA. HA. ha. ha. (oh crap)

I'm not really into the idea of "celebrity sightings" but if I run into Kathy Griffin I am going to explode with insatiable merriment. Or cower in fear in a nearby alley. We'll see.

picture from Bootie saturday night in SF

CUTE

rose.sam.mitra.sunita@bootie


ps still monsterous amounts of children here

with an army of children

omg so many children at my brothers house

Mashups

we went to Bootie last night in downtown San Francisco (SoMa) - umm, most delicious night ever.

for a hint of the experience:

and

i heart napa

the last two days in condensed form: more than 40 wines tasted, 9 wineries visited, 3 games of croquet played (with full white attire,) 1 county campground camped in, 1 vineyard picniced in, 1 overlooking-the-valley mansion visited, and endless fun had. napa is pretty darn nice.

favorites:
croquet
frank family vineyards
milat vinyards
the schneider houshold

life doesnt suck

a premonition about my trip to Napa in 3 days...

toothpastefordinner.com

AR/CA

I'm back! sort of.

was in Arizona for the last two weeks, and now in california. A summary, day by day:

April 17: plane to Seattle. I'm so sick of planes. and yet, I STILL love airplane food. what gives?? Babysat my 3 year old niece while my sis and bro-in-law went out for their 4 year anniversary
April 18: took my sister's dog for a run (ie let it take ME for a run.) Errands to help prepare for the trip.
April 19: drove through Washington State, Oregon, Idaho, and into northern Utah. HARDCORE.
April 20: drove through Utah and into northern Arizona. Saw hippy commune in southern Utah off the highway. as my sister and her husband put it: "we're just weekend/yuppie hippes. they are REAL hippies."
April 21: Sedona! saw the town and got a FREE Vortex map at one of the 100s of new-age stores there.
April 22: went for a hike at Bell Rock and walked by an Energy Vortex... which we could not detect. Darn you, elusive vortices!!! I was really looking forward to recharging my crystal!
April 23: went to Slide Rock state park and dipped in the stream for a little bit. My niece took a spill and had a puffy lip for about 5 days... poor baby! figured out why it was called "slide rock"
April 24: drove south to Tucson, i.e. the hottest place on earth. listened to the Beatles song where they mention Tucson, rocking out in the car.
April 25: chilled out in Catalina State Park (north of Tucson) and went for a short walk/hike. and drank a bazillion gallons of water.
April 26: more hanging out
April 27: went for a 5 hour, 8 mile round trip, 1000 foot elevation gain-and-loss, 90 degree heat, 125 ounces of water consumed hike into the Catalina Mountains. Got needles stuck in my hand by both Prickly Pear Cactus and another unknown type of cactus... ROCK ON!
April 28: My niece needed a break from the heat/desert
so we went to the Zoo. Tucson Zoo = TINY, but at least she got to feed the giraffes
April 29: the fam decided to get out of the heat (with a pregnant woman in her third trimester and a 3 year old kid, who can blame them?) and we drove west through LA and then north on the way back to Seattle. Slept in a very sad RV park
April 30: drove north and was dropped off at an exit between SF and Sacramento. My delicious friend Joanne (of Kenya/Peace Corps fame) picked me up and brought me so generously to her home in Saratoga CA.

so i'm back in civilization! with quite a good tanktop-tan, by the way