2017 – A List

This time last year I was impatiently waiting to hear about the results of my background check. One year later, I am employed with the seeker of that background check and live on a completely different coast.

What a world.

Each year I keep a list (just a few words; mostly of food and I rarely remember what the quotes are from) of things I happily enjoyed or experienced throughout the year.

Here was 2017:

  • WPSU Folk Show with Jim Colbert
  • “WTF is anime.”
  • “You’ll be dating a surfer dude in a year.”
  • “Pigs don’t live in holes.”
  • A REAL SWORD
  • “Leave the door open for the Maple Fox.”
  • WTNV 101
  • Montclair Art Museum with NJLA Member Services Committee
  • Secret Scumbag
  • “It was probably the best Madea movie I’ve ever seen; it was also intolerable.”
  • “…call the Piscataway Library.”
  • MBMBAM: Got dragged to hell/miracles can happen and angels do exist.
  • Welcome Bee Plant
  • Pub 199 with Louisa and Juan
  • Lego Batman (movie)
  • Library going-away party
  • LLNJ / BBWAB Instagram re-post
  • Snowtubing with Kaytlyn
  • Lancaster with Kaytlyn
  • LC climbing with the Pinhos
  • “Only tell me about large mammals and extra large reptiles.”
  • “All men are dumb.”
  • Dirty Dancing with Lauren and Gina.
  • Meeting Julia and Kaleb
  • Pinhos housewarming party + their new house
  • Jennie’s pep
  • Roosevelt Presidential Library / Hyde Park with Nancy
  • Shout-out on WPSU from Jim Colbert
  • 3755 San Remo
  • Nashville – Capitol Building
  • Bonuts and biscuits with gravy at Biscuit Love
  • Civil Rights Museum in Memphis
  • Draper James
  • IHop Day
  • Doubletree cookies
  • Fiesta parking lot mayor dog
  • Clinton Presidential Library
  • “Did you break the paper dispenser?” “…I did.”
  • Cadillac Graveyard
  • Stump Dog  / Indy in Flagstaff
  • Karla, Steve, Alex B. and Meaghan B.
  • Chaucer’s
  • The Harambe – air mattress – baby prank
  • Meaghan B.’s welcome package
  • Remove animal from hole. Fix hole.
  • Camput Point sunset
  • Tacos with Jody
  • Land Shark Night
  • Grass Mountain hike
  • Poetry with the Research Librarian
  • See’s chocolates
  • Friars in Goleta
  • Donuts and coffee at St. Raphael’s
  • Surfer on April Fool’s Day
  • “Okay, don’t act like you’ve never given yourself an aggressive pep talk in the frozen foods section before.”
  • SB toasted coconut cold brew
  • “Hidey-hole surrounded by garbage and broken dreams.” Colson Whitehead
  • Lunch with Hong
  • On the interview panels
  • Easter Mass with the McGowans
  • Moby Dick early bird steak dinner
  • Arroyo Burro / Hendry’s Beach
  • Boathouse sunset and soup
  • Katie and Conner and the Pacific Ocean
  • Kelp – the most dangerous thing in the ocean
  • Earth Day
  • Tribal Seeds in Ventura
  • Los Angeles Times Book Festival at USC
  • Jessica’s thank you note
  • North branches visit
  • Sandwich bread at Patti-Cakes
  • Founding Day – Folk Orchestra
  • Hendry’s Beach with RP
  • RP’s eastside encouragement
  • On the morning bus, Randy: “You are doing a great job at the library. So warm and happy.”
  • Seaside Story Time with Jace and Cassidy
  • Ira Flatow with RP
  • “I see you at your desk and I’m just happy.”
  • “You’ve got a bus to catch.”
  • “Where are you from?” “New Jersey.”
  • Tillie Matt
  • Goleta Pier at night
  • Octopus caught off pier
  • Tacos with RP
  • Goleta Beach
  • Devereux Beach
  • Hiking with Kaytlyn
  • McConnell’s ice cream
  • Tamales
  • I Madonnari
  • Wind Canyon hike
  • Gaviota Beach – first swim in the Pacific Ocean
  • “You’re a very pleasant person.”
  • “He’s wonderful and you’re wonderful.”
  • Nite Moves
  • TJ SB
  • Brent wearing sunglasses
  • Katie Ellen show
  • Korean BBQ with Hong and Justin
  • Islands over the marine layer
  • Summer Solstice
  • 4th of July fireworks
  • Saying hi to the Tamira owner
  • Shorts above the knee
  • Surfing at Campus Point
  • Everyone should have a nemesis
  • Yellow Belly / Jack’s / Wild Cat date night
  • Tamira and Uncle Chen’s owners
  • “Gruyere”
  • “How do you know how to say that word?”
  • Goleta Lemon Festival
  • When the time comes, kids
  • AG bros
  • Summer spent in Carpinteria
  • Jack’s bagels with lox spread
  • Cowgirl Blues (album)
  • Box of lemons
  • San Francisco Half Marathon
  • Siam Elephant
  • Sushi with LC and RP
  • Gilroy, CA
  • Greek Festival – gyro
  • MAC lipstick
  • Churros
  • Fiesta
  • Olguad
  • Jim the Volunteer
  • Palomas
  • Rodeo Night
  • Miami Beach
  • “Shrimp Heaven Now.”
  • Empire sushi roll
  • “You’re not a local until you run into someone on the street.” / Uncle Chen’s
  • Carpinteria Culinary Crawl
  • “Keep the squad goals attainable.”
  • Itsuki with the Ps
  • Boxing matches with the Ps
  • Thank god for Libby and the Way Back Machine
  • City Picnic
  • “Are you queuing?”
  • Dodgers vs. the San Francisco Giants – Dodgers win!
  • LA Dodgers birthday game
  • 9/27 – surprise ice cream with RP
  • Chumash pow wow
  • “You don’t need to show off – you already got the girl.”
  • Kaytlyn and Josh’s wedding
  • October weekend DTS with the family
  • Strawberry birthday cake
  • Faux Animal skeletons for Halloween
  • Sushi burritos
  • “Keep going weast”
  • Tweezing Tim
  • Ambassador of Fun
  • United economy plus
  • “You always have fun weekends”
  • Harbor fest boat ride + seal sighting
  • JLSB rummage sale
  • Lunch with Nicole and Hong
  • Pozole for the Day of the Dead
  • Father’s last sermon on love
  • CLA Annual Conference 2017
  • Friday night out and about with Stacey et al
  • Bev’s resourceful egg bake and bread pudding
  • RP’s  Friendsgiving
  • “Dropped food on the floor, made a ruckus, passed out on the floor in front of children – if that hawk is still alive, it’s definitely getting suspended.”
  • “Cats I gotta check on the cats”
  • Thanksgiving
  • Dumpster out of 10
  • Santa Barbara holiday parade
  • Burger at Harry’s
  • Venice and eggslut sandwiches and Philippe’s and Mexican hot chocolate and La Placita Olvera
  • Home for Christmas
  • 2017 holiday lights at Livingston High and the Landmark
  • RP wrap bracelets
  • Breakfast with Jennie
  • Princeton 2023 with Kaytlyn and Lauren
  • PJ’s Pancake House
  • Barstow with LC and KGW
  • Campus Point lemonade at Goleta Pier
  • Lunch with Bob and Dan
  • #gotghosted
  • Lauren’s promotion
  • The La Raza exhibit at the Autry Museum
  • My going away disco fries at the Hibernia diner with friends and family

Have a happy 2018!

What I’m Reading – 10/25

I didn’t know what to wear to my brother’s funeral | Racked

Work and the Loneliness Epidemic | Harvard Business Review

Dirty John (Series) | Los Angeles Times

It’s Tempting to Dump Your Grievances During a Break-up. Don’t Do It. | Washington Post

Nancy Meyers’ Favorite Movie Food Scenes Are Inspired by Ina Garten | Bon Appetit

Plus, Station Eleven (SB Reads 2017 selection).

 

Love List – 10/23

Winter Is Coming – The Steel Wheels

The Folk Show – Produced by WPSU and fine purveyor of the best folk music over the airwaves. I have an alarm set on my phone so I can spend Sunday nights with TFS even across the country because no other radio shows or playlists compare. 

Farmers Markets – On Sundays I visit a local farmers market and pick-up a bouquet of mixed flowers from my favorite farmer. It’s a great to mix it up in the community and see a part of town I don’t make it out to during the week. Plus, The bouquets are $6 and stay beautiful all week. This week I changed it up and picked-up a small bouquet of roses.

Meal Prep – Last month was bonkers with Big Read programming and I practiced some level of responsbility with making meals ahead — chicken cutlets, a pitcher of iced tea, and breakfast burritos. I wrapped the burritos and put them in the freeze. Now I can have a good breakfast (or maybe breakfast for dinner…) through the week.

Community Arts Workshop – An awesome space and organization, and this month I made a small clay pendant during one of their partnership exhibit Guatemala from 33,000 km: Contemporary Art, 1960 – Present with the Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara.

October 2017 Goals: The Secret of Maple Avenue

maple leafSome autumnal, birthday sweetness from LC.

A look back at September 2017‘s goals:

  • Plan East Coast trip + prepare for K+J’s wedding – Coming up this weekend!
  • Implement cleaning strategy – needs improvement
  • Implement new blog schedule (x3 per week) – needs improvement
  • Attend the Carpinteria Culinary Crawl Attended and it was delightful — owe a follow-up post
  • Enter the library’s picnic entry competition (long story) Entered, but did not make the city-wide competition.
  • Read 2 books – major fail
  • Celebrate Birthday! Surprise Dodgers game!
  • Get a manicure/pedicure Fun treat and not a usual thing. 
  • Finish work plan (for work) Completed

October 2017‘s plans:

  • Schedule doctors appointments
  • Post Birthday post, Carpinteria Crawl post, and East Coast trip post
  • Finish planning the Big Read activities for work
  • Refine cleaning and blogging schedule
  • Read 2 books (or should it be 4 books at this point?)
  • Implement letter and email writing schedule
  • Celebrate a special birthday
  • Do a Halloween Hustle run
  • Clean-up and reconfigure dining area (rug, shelving, and remove remaining boxes)
  • See Rocky Horror Picture Show, locally 

 

 

Love List – 10/2

Collapsible Laundry Basket – I thought it was time to upgrade from the net hamper-turned laundry basked from college and this basket is perfect. Also, Bed Bath and Beyond coupon bonus!

LA Dodgers – A friend surprised me for my birthday with a trip to see the LA Dodgers vs the San Francisco Giants. I’m trying not to be a band-wagoner, but I think of the Dodgers fondly by another name.

McConnell’s Ice Cream – The most excellent ice cream. While it is considered very hip and high-brow, this ice cream is simply quality, delicious ice cream from Santa Barbara. 

Duolingo – I am on a personal and professional mission to learn Spanish. 

Grief Relief 5K – The Grief Relief 5K is a special annual Fall event. The 5K serves as a fundraiser to support Comfort Zone Camp, a bereavement organization that assists children who have experience the loss of a parent, sibling or caregiver via camp programs that include confidence-building activities and aged-based support groups.. It’s a special program to me and my sister. By coincidence and connection, her sorority little is a major force in the CZC community and its been a meaningful few years getting to support the organization and participate.   

Family and Friends – This week I am traveling to the mid-Atlantic. My itinerary is ambitious to say the least: SB->LA, LA->NJ, NJ->PA, PA->NJ Shore, NJ Shore->Newark Airport, NJ->LA, LA->SB. But it is worth it. I am happy in California, but it about time I see some of my people and my home again. Social media and technology has kept most people in my life – but I have majorly failed with email and letters and keeping up with some other folks. I do enjoy talking to my friend Louisa most Saturday mornings, though. (The day and time allows for long calls, as we are wont to fall into and I love the fact that she worked on a project with my friend Tony Constaine, aka Dime Sleuth in the web-world.)

 

Lately – 9/29/2017

listening :: to the new Mastodon EP (the above is my favorite track – this is the live performance, where I think the three of trying to clap together is charming) and the Wonderful podcast with Griffin and Rachel McElroy; 

reading :: Duolingo, daily;

drinking :: a lot of water;

making :: meatballs and travel plans;

thinking :: about new routines and habits, and OPAC improvements;

loving :: these pens have been rocking my world and Trader Joe’s pre-sliced mozzarella;

looking ahead :: the Chumash pow-wow and KPCC Open HouseKPCC Open House this weekend, and traveling to New Jersey/PA for…K+J’s wedding!

What are you guys up?

What I’m Reading – 9/13

I am the reason that print journalism is still alive and I have happened to find the last place on Earth that it is mostly thriving in – as long as we ignore this thing. There are an array of local news and culture weekly newspapers. I read the Santa Barbara Independent, the Sentinel, the Montecito Journal, and the Carpinteria Coastal View. I feel like I am catching-up on my new community; learning the annual practices and events. Maybe this time next year I’ll have a more discerning palate, but for now I am eating it all up.

What are you reading?

Love List – 9/11

Texas Diaper Bank – The Texas Diaper has an Amazon wish list of items people they are serving need.

Big Read plans – My library is participating in the Big Read this fall. Yes – just the Fall. Usually libraries stretch Big Read campaigns over a year, but my library’s goal is to get it all hauled out between November 1st – December 5th. I am super excited for the festivities that we are cooking up for Station Eleven.

The Black Tapes S.3 – The best smartly spooky podcast around. Sad to see it wrap-up with this season, but looking forward to a few more weeks of crazy twists and storytelling.

Grub Street Diet – Though it makes me a little home sick to read, the New York magazine posts these weekly food journals. I reveal in mundane comings-and-goings of breakfast-making and brunches. Interestingly a lot of the journalers travel between New York and Los Angeles, so fortunately I am still getting some dining tips out of this.

A new Kitchen table and chairs – When I moved out here I purged and packed everything else into a POD because I have earthly possessions. While I’ve lived here though, I’ve done more purging as I’ve identified what works here and doesn’t. I

Best of Both Worlds – A delightful and brief weekly podcast about balancing life, time, and work with family. Laura Vanderkam and Sarah Hart-Unger are two of my favorite bloggers and I love learning little life tricks from them.

Yellow Belly Tap and Restaurant – I had a craving for chicken wings a few weekends ago and ended up here with a friend on Saturday night of LDW. I had been there before for brunch when Trevor and Jennie were in town – and dinner is just as excellent as brunch. It’s a cozy, neighborhood spot and there was live music. The buttermilk fried chicken sandwich was excellent. Will go again.

 

 

September and Fall Goals

New month, new music

I like September for multiple reasons. September is: my birthday month, the month school traditionally starts in the Mid-Atlantic (Hello, back to school supplies), and the month when pumpkins start popping up. In the spirit of a new school year, I am in a goal-setting. Here are my goals for September and the Fall season (September-November): 

September Goals

  • Plan East Coast trip + prepare for K+J’s wedding
  • Implement cleaning strategy
  • Implement new blog schedule (x3 per week)
  • Attend the Carpinteria Culinary Crawl
  • Enter the library’s picnic entry competition (long story)
  • Read 2 books
  • Celebrate Birthday!
  • Get a manicure/pedicure
  • Finish work plan (for work)

Fall Goals

Happy September!