Weird Lunch

The other day, I had a weird lunch while at work, weird in two ways:

First you should know that I made a peanut butter sandwich in the morning. Later, when I opened my Tupperware to enjoy it, the peanut butter had all slid to one edge of the bread, and the jam had stayed in place. Now, obviously, the sandwich had been resting on its side, but what's going on here? Peanut butter, widely recognized as one of the stickiest foods going, slides COMPLETELY over to the side while the slippery ol' jam stays firmly in place? WHAT!? It just doesn't make any sense.

As I try to understand the sandwich mystery and right the wrongs done to my lunch by gravity, there is a guy playing accordion next to me. I noticed that he was breathing like he would do if he were playing trombone, trumpet, clarinet, bassoon, or anything else that you would have to blow into to play, what I recognize as wind instruments. Or, I should say, what I used to recognize as wind instruments. Now, I have noticed other non-wind players breathing in this way, but there are also many players who do not. His breathing, though, was quite pronounced, so I asked him about it. I said, "I noticed that you breathe like you are playing a wind instrument as you play. Why is that?" I was expecting an answer along the lines of, "It helps me to keep rhythm." However, he immediately and enthusiastically corrected me, "This IS a wind instrument, actually!" As soon as he said that, I knew what he meant: the "squeezebox" is squeezed in order to force air through it. I said, "Oh yeah. But I was wond-" That's when he interrupted me and gave me a dissertation on the workings of accordions, his and others.
"Listen to this. Did you hear that? That's sound is made because................."
"Now if I were to take this piece off, you would see................."
"But some people have it tuned like......................"
Each of those themes was explored in many aspects of the instrument and at length. He never answered my question.

So I was stuck. My jam was stuck. Everything was stuck except my unusual peanut butter.

No Title

I'm not being as productive as I would like to be, but I am doing some things.

I sent a thank-you gift from Harry and David to my Iowan saviors. I hope they like it. Sending gifts was rewarding for me, too. I got to look at all the exciting things that you can send through the mail. If anyone is wondering what to get me, just take a quick look at zingermans.com and go to the olive oil sample gift. I decided against this one for M and L, because I thought it was less universally appreciated than fresh fruits. I considered sending an ice cream of the month thing (because they gave me ice cream), but it is extremely expensive, presumably due to the shipping cost. I sort of all ready knew that because of my Boulder Ice Cream problem (which is that I'm not in Boulder all the time).

I took my first guitar lesson yesterday! It was pretty good, but seemed very short. 1) because it's only half and hour, and 2) because we used some of that time for introductions and chatting a bit. My teacher seems fun, and that's important. All should be well since I am mentally and financially committed to practicing regularly. I'm working on Jane Says by Jane's Addiction and Take Me Home, Country Roads by John Denver.

I saw Dre yesterday. We went out for tea, ran an errand at Great Harvest and I got a look at her fancy new Hydrapak. She got the pack because she will be participating in a three day walk to raise money for breast cancer research etc. You should donate to the cause at www.the3day.org or email me if you want to donate specifically to her so I can tell you how. I also saw Brandon yesterday. All was well, except for the fact that I can't seem to remember not to order Cajun food this far north. I guess that's what I get served for my boundless hopefulness...

This morning, I signed up for an ultimate league. It is open to beginners and sounds like fun, so there you have it. I will start playing in June.

I have to issue an apology to my good friend Jacko in this entry. I finally broke down and bought some Crocs, since I am on my feet so much at work. They really are quite comfortable and help relieve a lot of stress in the lower legs and feet. I like them; I really like them! In fact, they are comfortable enough to make you start thinking they aren't that ugly (my original complaint). Sorry I made fun of your Crocs so much, Jacko.

Hey! Follow the Pictures link on the right to see some new ones.

Once Again

Remember all those changes I mentioned in the previous post? Yes, well, you can imagine how those would affect my blog posting regularity. I've also lost my reliable internet connection and am back on the "hope it works" method.

First Oregon. I went there and checked the place out. Everything looks good. I was not accustomed to so much green (grass, trees, flowers...), and it was refreshing. Another thing I wasn't used to was the rain. It rained a lot, as it will do all winter when I am living there, so I'd better get used to it. Overall, I think it will be good. Corvallis is lovely, complete with quirky little stores and an independent movie theater to rival the State (although minus the flashy facade). Best of all, I found a lovely place to live, close to the essentials, which include a bike path to campus. Yay!

Now I am home in Michigan. It is funny how much the same things are here in town. Or maybe it's funny that I expected them to change. I am working at the coffee shop, and it's the same old gossip I remember. With different people as subjects, of course. It is nice to see so much of people that I had been missing, but I still have more folks to visit.
Speaking of visiting, I visited Ann Arbor the other day. It's so wonderful. Better than Boulder in a lot of ways, I think, mostly in terms of city personality. It just goes without saying that Boulder wins in location and weather. Ann Arbor is hard to leave behind, but I think that I will really like Corvallis, kind of a small town meets quirky college town thing going on there. We shall see.

Upcoming events:
My first guitar lesson!
Canoe race!