mary chapin carpenter

one of my more annoying habits to people who live with me, i think, is that sometimes i really just like listening to songs on repeat.

tonight, it's "stones in the road," by mary chapin carpenter.

i have liked this song for a very long time. and every once in a while, it just hits the spot.

g is sick. over half of my office is sick. apparently, there is a crud going around juneau. gawd, i hope i don't get it.

ugghers.

next week: my first ever trip to the big city ("town" as the hoopers in bristol bay [ironically, not hooper bay!] know it): Anchorage. wahoo! its my work's annual conference & i'm helping lead the youth leadership institute.

and a weather update? snow seems to be well on its way here in juneau! gotta be better than all this rain:)

alaska insurance

tomorrow it happens, y'all.

i switch over the cars to alaska insurance. if not state farm, then progressive. and then?

alaksa license plates! only a few more days of massachusetts license plates are in my future.

next in line: alaska driver's license.

that's right, ladies & gents, i'm trying to become an alaskan. make it official & all that.

here's trying!

cell phone antena

for a day, yesterday, i was without my cell phone. seems like no big deal, right? i don't actually use it that much & i am the new renter of a landline for our DSL (thank you, stupid acs). just a lazy saturday afternoon on my agenda.

but i felt kind of naked without it. like i wouldn't be able to do something if i needed to.

for example, i was at fred meyer buying some supplies for having dinner with a couple people last night. g needed some basil for the delicious ginger squash soup. but they didn't have it, so i wanted to call him to see about a substitute...and i couldn't!

little things, huh?

anyway, turns out the antena just fell out. found it on the floor this morning & replaced it.

felt like i replaced by sturdy black t-shirt.

and just 4 years ago, i thought cell phones were ridiculous.

tables

what do you think about this table? my husband long ago promised to build me a kitchen table just like the one i had to sell in boston. despite the new home depot that opened in juneau last month, i'm getting doubtful. so i'm tempted to buy this one. whatdaya think?

in other news, finished "into the wild." thank gawd, i was kind of transfixed by it. anyone eager to chat about the pull of that particular story, call me. or at least email:). happy weekend, gators.

wood stoves

i am being a stereotype. i don't know how to chop wood. i don't really know how to start a fire in the wood stove. and, quite frankly, i'm kind of content to just have greg do it.

what??!!! that is terrible. i can hardly believe myself. if i lived in the alaska bush, i would be a threat to myself.

but i live in juneau.* and it is oh so true.

let the record show: i organize a mean file cabinet. and i fancy myself good company (especially when i'm not in grad school:))

(p.s. check out the funny "Dugan-Skinner" thing in the background. three cheers for my cousin kathy for getting the names right!)

*an interesting note on the "Alaska bush." the term technically means towns that are not on the road system. well, juneau isn't on the road system. we have about 20 miles of road up & down the gastineau channel. and you can't drive here. but we aren't the bush. the definition of "Alaska bush" must also include something about population, but no one comes out & says that!

internet in alaska...

sucks. that's all there is to it. its expensive, slow, & they expect you to have a phone line and/or television & think you're crazy when all you want to do is watch a little streaming video online. and they have TERRIBLE customer service. i have NEVER waited less than 30 minutes for a "customer service representative." i think they should call it "customer disservice."

rant rant rant. i know. turns out i got a bit spoiled by the big city internet for $17.95 at super-speed.

though, do love at&t alascom. had to disconnect with move b/c of moving to mountain ridge. oh well.

no viva acs! no viva gci!

into the wild

okay, okay. i know its a cliche, but i've recently picked up jon krakauer's "into the wild." a captivating bit of journalistic writing, if i do say so myself. i am slightly embarrassed to admit i don't think i'd heard of neither this story, nor the book.

i can't quite figure out why i'm so drawn to it. is it that i have met, chatted with, & had beer with a good handful of would-be chris mcclandesses?

whatever the draw, i find myself interested in the religious undertones of it. i do think its interesting how he seems so drawn to experience something bigger than himself, something outside his bounds. almost like an evangelist's quest for God (note the capital G). or a Buddhist's quest for enlightenment. pilgrimage, maybe. but of a notched up sort of quality. i think its fascinating how we quest for things beyond ourselves. god, euphoria, nature, whatever it is. the quest, the idealization of that "it," has such similar qualities.

so i recommend it. haven't seen the movie yet; not sure i will. the old time alaskans at work have heard that sean penn really romanticizes & makes a hero out of chris.

maybe when it makes it to netflix:).

the fall

technically, this is the 2nd time i have moved to a place known as “southeast.” north carolina was the first. and now this part of alaska is referred to, in shorthand, as “southeast.”

as a midwesterner, i grew up with a deep love of the fall–the crisp air, crunchy leaves, blue skies, & the lingering wifts of cross country meets. i would wait out those long, dank, summers all in hopes of the lovely fall that always slipped a bit too quickly for me into winter. in southeastern u.s., fall came late and stayed until early december. by the time it finally arrived, i was already a puddle of humidity.

here in southeast alaska, i seem to have missed it. perhaps it was the 2 weeks we were gone for the wedding, but it seems winter is here. the temps are topping out in the low 40s and i am scrounging for scarves, hats & mittens. without me noticing, all the devil’s club turned bright yellow & the occassional oak leaf is clinging to its branch; just barely.

it pours rain here, and people say: “oh, fall is here,” with a disappointment in their voices. what!?! fall is the best time! but people here love the summer. and as i think about it, summer was a lot like a midwestern fall. and it looks like fall might just be the rain before the snow.

this may very well be the first place i have ever lived where i love summer.

p.s. i certainly hope the irony of a resurging blog being kicked off with a post about the weather has not been lost on the primarily midwestern audience of this blog:)

(photo credit: Lance McVay, http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=2755352)