Let us go then you and I

It is wrong to title this post with a Elliot quote and then go about the actual writing Kerouac-style but that is just what I am going to do. These last few weeks have been hard. I found out I had been waitlisted at the University of California in San Diego and denied from the University of California in Los Angeles. No matter the cause, there is a definite hit, a smashing, a pummeling of the ego involved in news of this sort. That is being dramatic but its true. I only share it because I have restricted the readership of this journal to friends and family, people who would find this out eventually. I have been reeling from this defeat and in general, spewing imprecations and stewing in the new questions, Why and what Now. Now holds new possibilities, which is nice, as in, Now that is a nice thing. Why was a bit more troublesome, pernicious and meddlesome. Why prompted me to ask it to the Universities. Los Angeles was very kind in its reply. The reason for the denial decision on your application is inadequate preparation for the major.  Though you have a competitive GPA, you have a BS in Engineering Physics and M.A. in Architecture and you are required to complete the following remedial courses prior to starting the program CEE 108,130,135A,135B, 141 or 142. San Diego was the same but slightly better. Your application is excellent the only portion that is of concern is your degrees not being in civil engineering. I will bring your file up to the committee again. Which is great, I have two open paths. Only. Only I am feeling kind of foolish to think that I could have applied with such gargantuan gaps in my preparation. Only I am feeling very foolish for troubling these Universities when I really only want another. No, I still have not heard from Irvine and no, it is not unreasonable to think that it will be a No. But I can see it is wrong to think that No can't become something else. In the very least it can become an incorrect utilization of proper nouns and poor appropriation of beatnik writing. 

The Spring When Everyone Left

 A few more pictures for posterity:

 Drew's going away party

 Christy, Nate and I go to the Goleta Bluffs

Alice (Matt's fiance) comes to visit

Artsy photo, artisan water, proof that I am urbane

Our Disconsolate and Dying Italian Parsley

Two weeks ago Evan bought a small Rosemary plant for our kitchen. I really liked the idea and a week later bought two ceramic pots and an Italian Parsley plant. It did fine for the first few days, until we actually tried to supplant the Parsley from the plastic pot it came in to the white ceramic one.

I've never seen something with less will to live.

New Roommate

I look forward to breakfast. When I lay down at night, I get excited about it. Breakfast is one of the few consistently good motivators for waking up early. When I have a box of Quaker Oat Squares or even better, granola + fruit + yogurt, I go to sleep like it is Christmas Eve. Of course the corollary to this is that when I am out of milk, cereal or yogurt, I dread the new day.

I had such a night a few days ago.

That is why I was ecstatic to walk out and find three Starbucks paper bags, filled with pastries. There were croissants, blueberry scones and petite vanilla scones. There was a whole bag of coffee cake and cinnamon crumble cake. There were three different types of bagels.

Reed, our new roommate, works at Starbucks and had closed the night before. Apparently they have to get rid of their pastries each day.

Pat and Sandy

The admissions office is located inside Westmont's Kerwood Hall. If one enters the main entrance, it is only a few more steps to the department's door. "It is the second door on the left" - we are constantly reminded by Lexi's instructions to visitors.

From the main hall one can look through the office, straight into the formal gardens. Well, almost. There is a six-something foot tall guy at a computer blocking the view. Lexi, the Campus Visit Coordinator is inside just to the left. The first right is where all the tour guides and students workers hang out. After that, the Admissions Counselors are in cubicles to the left and right. Jodi, the Associate Director of Admissions and my boss, has an office, made from steel framed opaque glass, in the far left corner. Joyce, the Dean of Admissions has a similar office mirrored on the right. Of all these people, I am the only one you can see from the hall proper.

Back where I sit is a large, shared workspace. The inhabitants of such, include myself and two women, Pat and Sandy.

Sandy is the admissions counselor for foreign students as well as Joyce's assistant. She is a Santa Barbara native, is about 5'2" tall, has long, black and wavy hair, and recently her daughter-in-law gave birth to Sandy's second grandchild. Her husband, Bruce, is a nanotechnology engineer (nano-engineer?), loves cookies and Los Agave's mexican food. When Sandy laughs, it is the best thing that happens in the office. When she laughs she maxes no noise, slumps in her chair, straightens her back, each of her limbs and holds onto the seat. If I can make her laugh, it has been a good day.

Pat, or Patricia, is a bit older than Sandy, of a similar height and has completely white hair. She works for the admission's office only nine months out of the year and returns to Salem, Oregon for the remaining three. Anytime a town, city or municipality in Oregon is mentioned, Pat's face lights up. "I know exactly where that is." Consequently, she loves Kari. Pat is also, possibly, the most caring woman in the world. She is sincerely interested in how I am doing and always willing to lend a hand when I am inundated with applications.

We spend a lot of time at our desks and a lot of time together. In the office, I feel more kinship with them than with my roommates, who are a part of different crew all together. They are always willing to answer my questions and sometimes do so with a wink (insider information, don't spread).

The other day Sandy came back to her desk, relieved that whatever task she had just completed was over. "I like working with you two back here."

OMG I DO TOO!

My Peanut Butter is Tachy

I have got great news for everyone! If your one complaint about my blogging is that it doesn't happen enough, then I am happy to introduce you all to a brand new vegan foodie and blogger. This blog is a suitable supplement to mine as its author and I have many shared experiences. In fact, I feature prominently in many of her posts!

The blog is called My Peanut Butter is Tachy and can be found here.

February Update

Hey all,

Sorry for the lack of posts. Things have really picked up in the last week and a half. Drew made definitive plans for New York. He is leaving in two weeks - though, if you know Drew and also read this blog, pretend you don't know when he tells you. We are now in the process of looking for a new roommate and helping Drew out in any way we can.

We also just returned from a fabulous February weekend trip to Carmel-by-the-Sea. Joe and Becca Foster, Eric, Arisa, Drew, Evan, Kari and I all drove to Salinas last Friday. We stayed at a friends that night and went strait to Monterrey the following morning. After breakfast we drove down along HWY 1 until we hit Big Sur. We did a short hike there before turning around and heading to our house in Carmel. The house we rented for a significantly discounted rate (way to go Eric) and was amazing! Sometimes I use "amazing" a bit to liberally but in this case, it is completely justified. The house was both spacious and quaint. It had new hardwood floors, a huge kitchen, large marble fireplace and incredibly cozy furnishings. On top of all that, it was a block and half from downtown!

I will try to post pictures later but first I have to procure some from Eric or Kari, who both have better cameras than I and who I deferred to for the weekend's photo taking opportunities.

A Weird Place

Ok, I am in a weird place right now. It is transitional, it is temporary, it is not a bad place, it is just a weird place.

Drew (roommate) is undergoing some fairly significant changes. He just went Apple crazy, bought a macbook pro, an iPhone, cases for both and even some paid apps (getting real crazy). This is even more unsettling as for the past three years Drew has been among the small number of people who contested Apple's superiority. He would have heated arguments with people he barely knew about how much better a PC was and how people only bought apple to be seen with an apple.

This change of Drew's is however, shadowed by the still larger move he plans to make to New York. These plans have rapidly accelerated in the past few weeks and we are now talking about him moving out at the end of the month. (Note for mutual friends: don't freak out, Eccl. 1:2)

Evan (other roommate) is undergoing similar changes. He also recently became the proud owner of an iPhone and is also contemplating the future in serious terms.

These major developments have put a timeline on our little Country Club Commune and have accelerated my anxiety about the near future. This anxiety will subside. Even though applications are submitted I still have a substantial list of things to be doing in the meantime such as pursuing new creative outlets, planning for summer, becoming an amateur ornithologist. I also have to continue training for a half marathon, go to the bank, order contacts, get groceries, and do countless other menial tasks just to maintain life.

Still, I can't help but feel unsettled when so many things remain in the air and new tasks are constantly arising.

Laundry! I always forget about laundry. The worst part about always forgetting laundry is occasionally remembering. Occasionally remembering laundry is always remembering an impending underwear shortage.

Watch out it's a LACMA!

Last weekend we

While still having time for

Not to mention

At first things were

Then they were

But they were also

and definitely

So overall it was

And it all ended very

Recently

Last weekend Ryan came to stay with us. It was awesome.

(Ryan - Sorry I forgot to text you back to tell you how awesome it was but sometimes I forget about text messages and how people like responses, just ask Kari, but hopefully saying that it was awesome in my blog will tell you, if you still read my blog, how awesome it was and though I am oversimplifying and possibly stripping the word of its meaning, it is all just to say that your presence in Santa Barbara was felt as much as your absence, which is a lot.)

We had many wonderful, peaceful, comfortable, humorous moments but I have to say that my favorite was Saturday morning. I woke up early, woke Ryan up and we both headed down to Backyard Bowls for breakfast. We both had the steel cut oatmeal with fresh fruit. We talked for a while and when Evan joined us we walked out to State, deliberated left or right, and headed right to the beach. Then, walking out onto the Wharf we came upon a small crowd cheering on a line of kayaks racing into the harbor. Only, it turned out to be kayaks, canoes and paddle boards all competing in one odd, completely underwhelming race.

Still it was fun and I took it as proof of my latest theory, "cool stuff doesn't happen unless you leave the apartment." The basis of this theory is the presupposition that if a kind old person is ever to donate a million dollars to me after our encounter in a coffee shop, I have to be in a coffee shop first. Which, I realize that even in Montecito, is kind of worse odds than the lottery. Still, it gets me out of the apartment.

Anyways, the weekend was really fun and quite a blessing.