Hmmmm... way too long since posting to this. It even feels dusty. But what better time than right before I depart for the tropical paradise that is the Yucatan Peninsula. (At least, this is what I have been told, although no one will verify that it is still a paradise after the hurricane that ripped through it last autumn.)
I survived the semester teaching. Great class. In the end I realized that perhaps I successfully taught them something and that they didn't think I was a total bore. (Personally, I find that the boring professors rarely said much that stuck with me past the final exam, whereas the exciting, hyper-active ones that had little knowledge to disperse (i.e., myself) often said things that still haunt me to this day. For example, my old Estonian professor who showed three hours of slides he took of polar bears devouring seals on icebergs that were floating by his boat near Svalbaard, Norway -- to find Svalbaard you must look about five hundred miles straight north of Norway toward the North Pole. (I digress again.) The point is... I had a blast teaching, even though some mornings it was a struggle to get up and out of bed to lecture about migration, which on a whole is a topic that I do not find 1/100th as interesting as many of the human geographers in our department seem to think it is. But what do I know, I'm not even sold on the fact that urban geography is a real subdiscipline. So to hell with it...
Where was I? Ah, yes. The holidays. At least, that is where my brain is now after watching four bowl games in a row, albeit passively, and eating and drinking continuously, although not necessarily excessively, for the past two fortnights. Birgit and I spent Christmas in two places at once again, going up to Duluth the night before Christmas Eve and hanging out with my family before racing back down and celebrating Christmas with her family for two days. Birgit's sister has a birthday between Christmas and New Year's, poor soul, completely lost in the holiday melee, which we celebrated on the 27th and 31st with two parties. Or what... I'm getting confused. I don't even know how to write about the holidays they were so busy and I was so out of it. I'll dissect them by paragraph -- Duluth first, everything else second.
We went up to Duluth. I had a great time hanging with my Mum and Christ again in front of the gargantuan fireplace. I had a good heart-to-heart with my parents and Birgit. Then went and tried some weird Shokra thing to make my Mum happy, who is always worried about me being depressed. This time she might be right. I haven't been feeling overly even-keeled in recent months, partly because I'm not sold on the fact that what I'm doing is a worthwhile endeavor -- geographic research, that is, not teaching, as much as I dislike 9 a.m. chats about migration, teaching is most often quite rewarding. So while debate the merits of going to see a therapist about life, the universe, and worthless, low paying careers, my Mum thought it would be good for me to go see her homeopathic therapist that is trained in the ways of Shock-Ra or something. (I never really did catch how to spell this mystic inspired thingy; I just always assumed it meant they used electric shocks, which freaked me out to no end.) So after nearly a bottle of wine I blundered into having myself scheduled for a meeting with “the Shock-Ra lady” the next morning.
This is not normal for me. I’m kind of a cynic about everything – organized religion and pagans both. Supernatural beliefs and science – inclusively. But it was the holidays, and I figured that making my Mum happy would be good karma – not that I believe in that… well, whatever…
So the next morning I awoke with a splitting headache and Birgit grinning at me like a skatergrrrllll watching her friend attempt an ill-advised ollie off a grain elevator. Shock-Ra… well, what can I say. It was therapy with a foot massage. No electronic shocks and no real therapy. Not really a message either. More gentle than I remember Paxil being – during my teen angst years I had a stint with the ol’ anti-depressants – but also less long lasting. So I am still kind of suffering from holiday stress syndrome, but my feet feel refreshed. I am not sold on Shock-Ra, but it was an experience that will hopefully make for a short story someday. All I remember is almost laughing when the Yanni music came on, but I kept my composure.
Christmas at my folks was more fun than it has been in recent years. I am kind of over any anger I had with my sister. She seemed more civil this time too. Perhaps more confident in who she is and what she is doing. I don’t know. Maybe I am… but I doubt it, as I am the one dabbling with Shock-Ra or whatever. I met her new partner, Becky, who seems very cool. Far more real than any recent partners I’ve met of my sister’s. My niece, Clair, loved the Hello Kitty doll house Birgit and I bought her. She mostly received furniture and other rather boring stuff – at least in the eyes of a five year-old – so we were totally on her A-list the entire night. As is typical with my family, it wouldn’t be a get-together unless something bizarre happened; so one relative once removed was arrested on the way to pick up salad dressing. There was a slight delay in dinner plans as my sister and her partner went to bail this person. This person isn’t a relative, and wasn’t even originally going to stay for dinner, but because we felt guilty for sending him to go get the salad dressing for us, I think my parents copped the money to bail him out and fed him anyway. Duluth… it is surreal!
Came back to the Cities. Christmas at the Muehlenhaus house (say that 10 times for fun) is always a good time. They have a really nice house for hosting, with a pool table, fireplace, bar, and plenty of vintage vinyl from the 60s & 70s. A lot of Neil Diamond and Gordon Lightfoot, as well as some German classics that Birgit’s dad brought with him back in the day. Birgit’s cousin, Thorsten, was in town too. I hadn’t seen him since he came to visit me in Budapest. It was good to hang out again, even if mostly we just shot pool and drank wine while shouting over Dire Straits or whatever Birgit’s had on at the time.
Birgit and I had been mulling getting an Airedale for sometime. We had written breeders and the whole like. Birgit’s parents just got a new little golden lab. It is cute, I will give it that. It is even good for a couple of smiles. But after about a half-hour, it gets a wee-bit annoying. After an hour… it won’t stop chewing on people’s hands, feet, toes – it even got a piece of Birgit’s dad’s nose. It’s a crazy little devil. More terrorist than teddy bear right now, as it is teething. Needless to say, Birgit and I decided not to get a dog at this point in our lives. It didn’t help that every time Birgit touched it giant welts would form up and down her neck and arms, etc. She is more than a little bit allergic, unfortunately. Merde!
Christmas ended and so is this lame ass blog entry. Who really cares? But I just felt the need to dust this thing off. As alluded to at the beginning of this, I’m off to Mexico on Thursday with one of my best friends ever and his really cool wife. Originally we planned a trip to paradise at 4 in the morning at a Hungarian pub on the street where the #6 tram goes by. The whole point was to meet up with these guys over Christmas and New Years so we could avoid all of our in-laws and families, etc. But tickets were too expensive then, so we decided to go to paradise after dealing with our families, etc. It is kind of harebrained, but hey, the last time I was in Mexico – at my roommate’s wedding in the middle of the Chihuahua province, which is really nothing more than a very high altitude desert with nothing to drink but beer, tequila, and for those that are most adventurous, cactus juice – I had quite the experience. I can only imagine that camping in a malarial forest will not let me down!
More news if I survive… until then, Happy New Year ya’all…
If I had more energy, I would have given you a specific run down of the Shock-Ra lair. It was priceless. Maybe when I get back, if I feel like it.
# posted by IanM : 09:06
