Carbon Copy

Otterbein

On Saturday, Erica and I made a little sidetrip to Otterbein in search of a car. We had heard there was a little dealership that had some great deals, and since we had never been to Otterbein, we had to go.

First of all, the little dealership was very litte.

Second of all, the cars were pretty much all salvaged. We didn't find any good deals. But we did find lunch. Right across the street was a great little take-out place called The Dugout. Mmmm... Corn dogs and cole slaw. But I was less than pleased when they handed me a can of Caffeine Free Diet Pepsi for my drink.

It makes sense that the only place to eat in Otterbein would be named for baseball, since the town is known for its Little League champions.

Otterbein was a little sad. Every road led to a dead end. There were rows of available parking spots all down the main street. And buildings like these:

I was happy to see that there are some new business settling in Otterbein, like this bakery.

I also liked this for some reason:

So that's Otterbein.

Cure for a Bad Day

Seriously, if you are ever having a bad day, you should crank up some music and dance like no one can see you. It's a panacea, I promise.

My Shrunken Universe

I just found out (from CNN) that Pluto is no longer a planet. For some reason, this leaves me feeling a little pensive.

Various and Sundry Items

Well, I've been a little busy what with starting school and teaching and stuff. That doesn't mean I haven't had time to have fun and take pictures. It just means I haven't had time to write about it on my blog. Until right now, that is. But of course, now everything is all disjointed, and I have to throw it all together into one of these miscellaneous types of entries. Sure, it's convenient, but it just doesn't have the narrative cohesion I try to maintain in my blog entries. (Can you tell I'm back in school? Time to whip out the academic vocab.)

That's enough of an intro. Let's get started with pictures.

Erica and I had to run some errands the other day. I took advantage of her presence to go to Good Will and drop off some bags of unwanted things. See, I have never dropped off anything at Good Will, and I wasn't really sure about the procedure. Stuff like that makes me nervous when I'm all alone, so the bags had been in my trunk for about three weeks. Anyway, we dropped off the bags and I noticed this sign:

If only they had a sign like this at the DI in Utah, some members of my family could've avoided some unpleasantness.

We also went to about five stores looking for a cute teacher tote since we are now teachers, but we couldn't find anything. Although, the sky upon leaving the stores was pretty.

Then we went to Wal-mart (don't judge me) so Erica could get a new TV. We were pretty tired at this point because we had also been car shopping.

On Sunday, I went to a church thing at the Low's again. I really go there just for the drive for the most part. (Socializing is ok, too.) As I was leaving, there was a fantastic sunset. I started to head towards home but ended up turning around and heading west instead.

Sometimes you're headed in one direction and it's beautiful but then you turn around and realize that it's just as beautiful.

I kept driving west until dark and then I turned around. I had to stop by Erica's to pick up some much-needed index cards for the first day of school. She lives by this bakery that I keep meaning to visit. Mostly, I just like the neon sign.

Anyway, the first couple days of school have gone well. I'm already sick of waking up at 6 a.m., but at least the drive to school is pretty. I get to see the sunrise and there is mist hanging over the cornfields. 'Tis lovely.

Cicadas

Cicadas are an overwhelming presence to me. Last year when I moved here, people told me I would eventually get used to them. I never have. I am still distinctly aware of them all the time. This afternoon I was lying outside on the grass reading and all I could think about were how loud the cicadas were. People back home don't understand this, and I've often wished I could record them. Well, this afternoon I realized that I could. I had my camera with me that records sound, so here you go. It's not crystal clear, but you can still get a sense of the constant buzzing.

Cicadas

I even saw some of them on the tree.

I used to think that Of Montreal's song, "Lecithin's Tale of a DNA Experiment that Went Horribly Awry," was wildly fantastical, but now I know that it might be entirely possible for cicadas to eat little children.

Self-Discovery

Today I discovered that I am a half-empty person masquerading behind a half-full smile.

Orientation

This week is orientation, which actually pretty much sucks. I thought it would be all fluff, but it's not. It's lots of brainstorming and thinking and even, gasp, homework. But one awesome thing about this week is getting know all the people in my mentor group. I totally love them (which makes me nervous because I could end up really hating them). Today I made them take self-mastery pictures of themselves.

Carpe Diem, My Friends

When I lived in Lafayette (a whole 2 weeks ago), I used to take 9th Street home quite often, and I would always drive by this building. I have no idea what it was for, but it had a Pac-Man window painting that made me smile. I always meant to take a picture of it. Today after I dropped Erica off, I drove by the building and alas, it's empty and the windows were washed clean. Just a reminder to sieze the day because you never know.

A Little Bit Country

Sometimes I daydream about living in the city. It seems so attractive. The hustle, the bustle, the public transit, the things to do all the time, the concerts, the plays, the art galleries... this is sounding better and better. But the point of this is that sometimes, like tonight, I would really miss living in semi-rural America. I love driving at night down open roads, the windows rolled down, the music turned up. Nothing (but corn) is around. There are fireflies. It is misty and perfect. Yeah, I would really miss that.

Making Faces

One of the benefits about my surprise visit home was that I got to overlap for a day and a half with Mike and Amanda's annual visit back to the Old Salt. We spent last Wednesday getting a family portrait taken, eating lunch, lounging, barbequing, and making faces. It started with Claire. Claire's really into monsters right now. Either pretending to be one herself or making us be one. Here are her best mean faces:

Then Claire showed me her chubby face:

Which she forgot to change when I asked her to show me her sad face:

We took a picture together, too.

And then we turned the camera on Amanda and Mike and told them to make a mean face:

A joyful face:

Which then promptly transitioned into sad:

When we asked Mike and Amanda to show us their chubby face,

we discovered that Mike does a really good monkey face:

So everyone showed us their monkey faces:

The best and most exciting news, though, is that in about 8 months, Amanda and Mike will have a monkey of their very own! Yay!!

Deck Chairs

The best thing about visiting Salt Lake is, of course, seeing friends. I got to chill with Tanker a couple times and sit out on his deck overlooking the Salt Lake Valley. It was beautiful.

We even got to see the moon rise.

Seriously, is there anything better than a summer night with a good friend? Ok, it might have been better if Tanker hadn't been feeling tired and sick.

But we still had a great time. He even let me take a good picture. And that's saying something.

It's hard to leave Salt Lake.

Song of the Last Several Days

I've been listening to this song a lot lately. I love it.

Fiery Furnaces - Benton Harbor Blues

Lyrics:

As I try to fill all of my empty days,
I stumble round on through my memory's maze;
of all my past, only the sadness stays.

I went moping down by the bridge;
I rode a bike in the snow to the mini-mart;
I thought of the ways that I've broke my own heart.

It's not for me to fill the blue sea with tears,
but when I think back on all the wasted years
all the good cheer and all the charm disappears.

I wore the exact same clothes for five days;
the bailbondsman gave me a smile;
I was thinking of only my sins all the while.

As I try to fill all of my empty days,
I stumble round on through my memory's maze;
of all my past, only the sadness stays

Mistaken Identities

For the longest time, I thought this was the same actress.

Molly Stanton:

Anna Faris:

I'm really disappointed that it isn't because I was so excited for Molly Stanton. She used to play Charity on my favorite soap opera, Passions. Then I saw who I thought was Charity in Lost in Translation, and I was like, "Wow. She is really making something of herself." I mean, I knew it was kind of a throw away role in Lost in Translation, but still... Then I just went and saw My Super Ex-Girlfriend with my brother (don't laugh!), and she was in that. Again, I was like, "Good for Charity!" But then I came home and checked imdb (which I love!) and found out they were two different people. Oh well. At least Charity has that show on the WB, Twins (not that I've ever watched it).

Daja and Claire

Yesterday, Isabelle and my mom dropped me off at Kylie's house for a sleepover. (I totally didn't think I'd write that sentence past junior high, but here I am. Hey, that's what happens when you don't have a car because you're just in town visiting. And your best friend's husband is out of town for work.) Everyone wanted to say hi to Kylie, so they came up to the door. Claire was very happy about Daja. They had fun playing together for a little while. And I had fun taking pictures.