artyartie

Tomorrow I'm off with my Nana, up north, and so my Internet access may be very, very sporadic for the next few weeks. It's uncertain when she'll get DSL service, so it may just be once a week when I can get a day off and get to Panera or my uncle's house.

*deep breath* As much as an Internet break would help me be more productive, it's a scary thought!

My nana is doing better every day, though I know she's been a bit sad about the move. Moving is a fairly emotionally draining experience, but hopefully once we move up there, she'll meet new people, even if we have to drag her and her walker out to do so. She's a fairly reserved person, but I think with all her family encouraging her, she will get out a little more.

As for myself, I'm doing fairly well, though today, packing up the last of her stuff, I know I was hitting the end of a rope - when I get stressed, I feel queasy and my legs turn to leaden Jello, if that makes sense. Unpacking will probably be fairly stressful, especially considering my mom will be there. I just hope everyone can be civil - if not, I'll ply them with margaritas until they are.

See, booze makes diplomacy easy - unless it turns it into a complete mess.

So, take care of yourself, everybody, and I'll try to get on when I can. Take care!

I'm currently circumventing certain state laws, and have, oh, about eight hours to kill (they think people read so damn slow online), so I have no excuse not to post!

This weekend was rather good, in retrospect. I went with my Nana and Mom to a small family gathering, and ended up talking to one of my mom's myriad cousins who is quite the amateur astronomer. We ended up chatting about Shoemaker-Levy (he knew both Shoemakers and a friend of Levy's), comets we have loved, lunar astronomy, and the Hubble Deep Field, among other things. We were both happy to find someone who could share our interest and enthusiasm - ever since I was very young and my parents gave me a telescope and The Astronomy Handbook, I've been enamored with the heavens.

Sunday my mom, dad and I ended up going to a Dodger game, and though we missed the first two innings due to LA traffic, and thus most of the scoring, it was a fun game, despite the heat. ainsley, I took some pictures, and even bought you a little souvenier! Afterwards, we went down to Santa Monica to kill some time, eating at a wonderful restaurant on the Promenade, watching 1408, and doing a little shopping. Borders was open late, thankfully, so I ran in and bought Roman Blood by Stephen Saylor, the first in his Roma Sub Rosa series featuring Gordianus the Finder, who is quite the character himself. I'm 90 some pages in and its a wonderful book, and it makes me wonder, again, about the writers of 'Rome.'

What the hell did they have against Tiro? Everyone else certainly fangirls him madly. He's the speaker of Imperium, Robert Harris' wonderful novel, and everyone loves him. Cicero, Tullia (in an absolutely adorable scene), Caesar, Crassus (in a rather disturbing scene) - everyone wants their own piece of the good secretary. Just from the first section I've read, Saylor has wonderfully captured Cicero and Tiro's early relationship, and even while the young Cicero is haughty and fussy, he has a gentle regard for Tiro, who is described as a lovely man with a mellifluous voice (unlike his master at this point). And Tiro? Oh, he certainly has his fun in a most amusing section around page 80.

And so again, what was up with Batboy!Tiro in the second season of Rome? I know they were out to portray Cicero as negatively as they could, especially in the first season, but why, oh why, did they have to do this to his intelligent secretary (who had been freed long before Cicero's death) who was probably more handsome than his master? It just makes me more angry the longer I think of it. So from now on, any stories with Tiro will be with a Tiro of my own choosing - because these books are starting to make me a Tiro fangirl, too.

And in happy academic news, my adviser finally e-mailed me back in response to my update - and all is good! I rather can't believe it, though he isn't the type to just say everything is fine when things aren't. Now that it's almost the middle of July, England has been on my brain every day - today when I was walking home I was imagining walking down the lush green lawns of Greenwich, beneath the cool columns, besides the Thames. Only two more months! But now I feel more prepared, academically. If only the finances will improve in the next few months...

Last night, my sister, cousin and I spent the night at my dad's (technically my sister's dad - we have a lot of remarriage in my family so it's a bit complicated), in the town where we lived for a few years with my maternal grandparents, Simi Valley. I usually don't care for suburbs, but with this connection, I've always held a special love for it - and while this hometown has gone to pot (as I told my cousin, at least we haven't had any shootings within a five-block radius since I got here), Simi Valley has stayed rather beautiful.

And it's added some fun places to shop.

We trekked to the new outdoor mall, via the bus, and after testing a Tempur Pedic matress and looking in Anthropology, I wished I was going into a field that had a little more money. But I did buy one very practical purchase - an international adapter for my MacBook charger thingy. It's a small purchase, but it makes me excited, just buying it.

Speaking of the British Isles, on Sunday I could say I was perhaps vaguely within the proximity of Ioan Gruffudd - we might not have seen him while we were at Universal Studios, but hey, I was standing where he might have stood a few hours later! But we had a great time - there were no lines, and we tried a new 'ride' of sorts - it's a haunted movie set walk through where people hide in the dark and jump out at you. At one point, we were screaming just because the people in front of us were screaming. But my sister did nearly beat the crap out of some mummy who leaped out at her. Those people must take a bruising.

Tomorrow we're headed to my nana's - I'm bringing my Scrabble board and my insanely difficult reading with me - it's legal theory, and some of it is rather dense and time-consuming to navigate. My update for this week is going to kind of suck - I'll only have two books and one article read, but I have some strong thoughts on an alternative research question - one with more sources than my primary question, sadly. My advisor is away until the end of the month, so I hope by then to have quite a bit more done. The process of the worth ethic continues.

Changing to daylight time today and jet lag is *killing* me. But my sisters and I went to Universal Studios and had a pretty fun time - I will try to post more about it when I'm, say, coherent! Just wanted to let you all know if it takes me a little longer to reply to your posts/comments, the fact that I'm home is why - though one of our wonderful neighbors has open wireless!