La Vita Nuova

Well, it’s a new life out here.

Since I’ve had a lot of time off to twiddle my thumbs since I’ve been home, a few very random things have popped into my head:

- The daddy long legs is one of the world’s most poisonous spiders. Its venom could kill an elephant in half a heartbeat. And yet the daddy long legs is not even remotely as frightening as the black widow or the brown hobo spider. Why? Because the daddy long legs has no delivery mechanism for its powerful venom. It can’t even pierce human skin. I kind of feel sorry for the daddy long legs. It has the potential - but not the follow through - for greatness.

- The leading cause of death among beavers is falling trees.

I’ve been reading a lot too. I tore through Meg Wolitzer’s The Wife and am now on to Isabel Allende’s newest novel, her take on the story of Zorro. I’m about 70 pages into it and already all aquiver with excitement. Diego de la Vega, will you marry me?

We’re Done

I love you all. Bye bye birdies!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yesterday, my 22nd birthday, was the best birthday ever! First, Andy took me to the climbing gym, where I got a free leading lesson - which means I can now clip into the caribeners as I go up the wall, instead of needing a top rope clipped in. This is a much more fun and challenging way to climb, even if it is more dangerous.

Incidentally, today, I tried to lead a 5.10c on the ceiling and failed miserably, but it was hella fun. I was also told by a woman at the gym that I am “an amazing climber” and that I have “a really natural grace” when I climb. I didn’t feel hit on, so I can only take it as a real compliment, which feels really nice
Anyway, back to the birthday. After climbing, I came back, had a shower, and then 13 of us drove over to The Yard House in Pasadena for a fantastic dinner. The wait was an hour and a half (they don’t take reservations) so Andy bribed the Maitre’D. I was SO impressed. Then he gave me his present, which I totally was not expecting: a gorgeous Tiffany heart chain bracelet engraved with our names and the words “love forever.” SO romantic!

The things I usually value about Andy are his honesty and sense of fun and communication skills and kindness and decency (I could go on). I don’t place a tremendous amount of weight on his ability to arrange the perfect evening, bribe maitre’d and pick out exquisite jewelry. Anyone who has met Andy knows that his forte lies more in the substance than the style. But when he make style happen of his own free will, I think it’s about the sexiest thing on the planet.

The nicest thing about the dinner was just looking around the table at my friends and feeling so wonderful. I just kept looking and smiling and smiling. I realized that these people have become my family. I love them all so much!

People brought me prezzies, even though they didn’t need to. I got some gorgeous earrings from my sister in-law to-be, Susan (who is such a sweetie for coming!) and a set of peurple beurzday (don’t ask) balloons from Debbie & Jules, plus a purse and some other fabulous goodies. My Dad, Cheryl and the kids sent me some really cool books from Amazon.com - and my mom is buying me climbing shoes when I get home. Thank you one and all!

Then we came back and went to parties at Mudd and Pitzer, watched an episode of That 70’s Show all cuddled up in his room, and went to sleep. What a perfect birthday!

That, and this David Horsey cartoon was published on my b-day:

which just makes me happier, since it’s such an appropriate diatribe for me.

From Yom Ha-Shoah to the Sudan; The Pen-Pals Visit

Today is Yom Ha-Shoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day.

In Israel, air raid sirens blared for two straight minutes, as the entire country came to a standstill. At Auschwitz, visitors made a two mile trek to Birkaneu, where Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon gave a speech telling the world never to forget. First Lady Laura Bush gave a speech on the South Lawn of the White House - telling us to bare witness and to remember, so that such an atrocity can never happen again.

And yet right now in the Darfur region of Sudan a brutal genocide is taking place, and the Bushes aren’t doing anything about it. We haven’t learned anything from the Holocaust if we can’t stand up and save these people. It seems that the American government is only interested in saving the victims of genocide if they are white.

I was listening to a wonderful program on NPR today, where a survivor of the Gunskirche camp in Austria was reunited with his American liberator. They shared their experiences of that day, 60 years ago tomorrow, when the Americans rolled into Gunskirche and saw the emaciated dehumanized prisoners with their own eyes.

Martin Weiss, the survivor, says that he thinks young people respond to the story of the Holocaust, but Edgar Edelsack, his liberator disagrees. “They’ll listen,” he says of my generation, “but they don’t really hear.”

Growing up, I didn’t feel terribly connected to the Holocaust. It seemed so long ago. But as I grow older and begin my life as an adult with the man I love, I can begin to imagine what it would feel like to have it all ripped away from me. And only then do I begin to understand.

Click Here to find out more about what you can do to help in the Sudan. And Click Here to hear the NPR story of which I spoke.

So Close!!!!!

A math final tomorrow at 2:45 and an 11-18 page paper due Tuesday at 1:15 are all that stand in between me and graduation.

The final should be pretty doable - I *heart* Pitzer College for its math courses. I’ve got 6 of my 11-18 pages written for Tuesday, so I feel like I’m in good shape.

And yet all I can think about is…Rock Climbing.

Andy and I went again this afternoon and though I bruised both my knees and ripped a callus on my hand, I came away from the wall having conquered the second hardest 5.9 the gym. The climb starts at the base of one wall, with several tricky lungy moves required to make it past that stage. Then it transfers to a perpendicular wall as you go under an underhang that has you almost parallel with the ground below. The last part of the climb has you hanging down from the slanted wall on top of the overhang, trying to grab for handholds you can’t see on the opposing side of a 90 degree perpendicular wall. Making it to the top was one of the best moments of my life.

God I love climbing! At 4pm on Tuesday, after I walk out of Verlyn Klinkenborg’s Writing Nonfiction - my favorite class EVER - I will get in my car, head to the gym, and boulder all afternoon. Then I’m going to come back and party with my girl Michelle.

Please God, make Tuesday come soon!