adventures in packing

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I travel a decent amount, yet I have never quite gotten a handle on packing. (That's putting it nicely - I'm terrible at it). 

Packing gives me anxiety. It shouldn't, but it does. And packing for my upcoming trip is not going so well. 

Behold the mess:


It's a work in progress. Packing for two completely different locations (Ethiopia and Turkey) and completely different activities (field work vs. a conference) is quite the challenge! Plus I need to fit everything for five weeks in Ethiopia into a carry-on bag. See that backpack in the bottom, left corner of the picture? Five weeks in that bag. All the essentials in case my other bag gets lost in transit.

I leave Sunday- less than two full days to go. I guess I better stop typing and start packing!

happy first day of fall!

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Welcome back old friend, you were missed. 

Fall is by far my favorite season. I love everything about it. I even love the way it smells. Yes, fall does have a smell.

What's so great about fall? This infographic explains it all:

(All good, except for the roast beef)

Here are a few links to get you in an autumnal mood:

An open letter to pumpkin flavored seasonal treats by Ilana Abby Plen (I agree wholeheartedly with this letter)

Find a nearby orchard where you can pick your own apples.

Take a road trip to go see some fall foliage. So many colors! So beautiful!

This fall's trendiest color? Mustard. My favorite color? Mustard. How convenient.

Kick back and enjoy some fall flavored libations. Try a Bourbon Pumpkin Pie Milkshake, a , or a pumpkin ale. (Find even more here)

Roast some root vegetables and enjoy a tasty salad.

Throw on a tweed blazer, a striped shirt, and your favorite scarf and head outside to enjoy the weather! Go now while it's still here!

just one of those days

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Today has been just another one of those days.

You know the kind I'm talking about.

The kind of day where you're running late for work but can't seem to get ready any faster than at a snail's pace.

You're running so late that you don't have time to eat breakfast at home and grab a bagel on your out and then end up with a glob of cream cheese running down the front of your blouse.

And then, because your clothes haven't accumulated enough food/debris by 9:30 am you spill coffee all over your skirt.

Later in the afternoon, you try to beat the 3 o'clock slump by knocking your elbow into her desk as you rush down the hall to answer a question. You might have a bruise, but at least you're awake.

It's just one of those days, but tomorrow might be better.

little lamb

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I've been getting my craft on lately. Seriously getting my craft on. And as you may know, I like to dabble in things. I try something here, I try something else there, but I'm never fully committed to a hobby. That isn't to say I quit everything I do, I just sometimes drop it, try something new and then pick up again later.


Needlefelting is my newest venture into the crafting world. And who can resist when the end result is an adorable little fluffy animal?

Little Black Sheep
My first attempt at needlefelting

It's so easy it is addictive. You basically roll pieces of wool roving into various sized balls and stab the balls with a needle until the wool begins to felt and hold its shape. You then connect the balls/shapes/etc. together by the same technique.

It is also dangerous. Felting needles are ridiculously sharp. Make sure you know where your fingers are at all times or you just might end up stabbing yourself! Trust me, that part is not fun.

I bought a needlefelting kit for $12 from Fancy Tiger on South Broadway. If you don't live in Denver, you can buy them from their Etsy shop. It's fantastic!

What should I make next?

an object of beauty

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I recently read An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin.



Steve Martin? The actor Steve Martin? Why, yes, the very same one! He also wrote Shopgirl, which was made into a movie, and I've seen that (like it a lot) but I haven't read the novella yet (although I've heard very good things about it). 


An Object of Beauty is the story of Lacey Yeager, a young, attractive, ambitious art history graduate who moves to New York to work in the art world and quickly moves up from a lowly position at Sotheby's to owning her own gallery as New York City heads towards 9/11 when everything changes. 


The novel delves into the intricacies of the art scene, something I know very little about, and the book includes several reprints of famous works which are somehow incorporated into the story. I found that all to be very interesting, since I'm more or less ignorant on the subject. However, the storyline was less than compelling for me. I did finish the entire book, but I felt fairly neutral about it once I was finished. 


Overall, I'm impressed by Steve Martin's ability to do so many things well at one time, but this just wasn't a great book for me. 

goliath the second

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Bob Dylan is a smart man.  The issues he sings about in his protest songs (written almost 50 years ago) are still relevant today. Does history keep repeating itself or is nothing actually changing?

 "I want to sing you one song here, recognizing that there are Goliaths nowadays and people don't realize just who the Goliaths are. But in olden days Goliath was slayed and everybody looks back and sees how cruel Goliath was. Nowadays there are crueler Goliaths, who do crueler, crueler things, but one day they're going to be slain too, and people two thousand years from now can look back and say 'You remember when Goliath the Second was slain?'" 

- Bob Dylan - Carnegie Hall, New York City on October 26, 1963

Read more »

bossypants

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A few weeks ago I went to the library to check out a Hungarian grammar book and ended up checking out Bossypants by Tina Fey.

What a good decision.


This book is hilarious. I highly recommend you pick it up. As if the cover alone isn't enough to entice you to read it, the actual stories are just as entertaining as Tina Fey with huge, hairy man arms! She's like a real person, but funnier.

Just read it. This book needs no further recommendations.

where to next?

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Ethiopia!

Since graduation I've been volunteering before work (this is part of the reason I've been failing at blogging recently) at a local non-profit that works to improve maternal healthcare and reduce the occurrence of obstetric complications in rural Western Ethiopia. This October, I have the opportunity to travel to the Western Wollega province of Ethiopia with a consulting team to develop an in-country internship program, screen women and gather outcome data, and identify opportunities for sustainable development at various treatment centers.


Waking up at 5:30 am isn't my idea of a good time, but I'm really enjoying this volunteer position. It's very different from anything I've ever done before and I actually get to apply what I learned in grad school- imagine that! 

In less than a month, I'll be in Ethiopia.  I'll stay there for five weeks and before heading to Turkey for two weeks.  Somehow it worked out that it was cheaper to include Turkey in my flight than to just do roundtrip airfare from Denver to Addis Ababa. I don't get it, but I won't question it. I'll be in Istanbul for a work conference and I should have some time for a bit of sightseeing as well. Have you been there before? Any recommendations on what I should see/do? 


Time to break out the travel guides...


Internet access in Ethiopia will be sporadic at best, but I will try to update as often as possible. If not, prepare yourself for an overwhelming number of posts when I get back to the States! 

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