Message from the Great Abyss…

I’ve been reluctant to post of late, mainly because I was either too tired, had too much to do, or didn’t have the time to write what I really felt like writing. The extent of my involvement with the blog in the last few weeks has been to watch in amazement and amusement at how badly folks seem to want to get rid of U3 on their flash drives (nearly 350 hits on that one in the last 30 days, and I’ve only had the blog for a few days longer than that – are you guys listening, SanDisk?) or the stupid Actiontec ‘web activity log’ (210 hits)). I only posted that stuff out of my own frustration with commercial products, but it seems to have been useful for someone, so I guess I’ll keep doing that occasionally. In any event, this post will be less information and more blather, mainly meant to let friends, family, stalkers, and accidental readers (hi guys!) know what’s going on from here.

First of all, let me just state again that we love Denver. More to the point, since this blog is my little spot of vanity on the web, I love Denver. While it’s true that after Los Angeles, I probably would have found Yankton, South Dakota a pleasing and exciting place (this may be a lie – I’ve been to Yankton and, um… it’s main advantage over Los Angeles is that it isn’t Los Angeles), Denver is particularly wonderful. The area we live in is right next to a huge, lovely park, which in many ways reminds me of my beloved favorite park anywhere, the Vondelpark in Amsterdam. Biking is easy and, more to the point, supported by the infrastructure; this is particularly important, since we don’t really want a car here. People are really quite friendly (after a year of trying to avoid eye contact with crazy and/or evil people walking down the street in L.A., I have to admit that I probably look like a deer in headlights when someone says “Hi!” to me on the sidewalk, but it’s nice anyway…), and the basics of life are all nearby. And it doesn’t hurt that our house just happens to rock – all for less than it cost to live in our one-bedroom in L.A. So let me just say that as a well-known (involuntary) nomad, this is a place I could stay, thankyouverymuch.

For the most part, we’re finally settled in to the new house. I haven’t been working on the garden much of late, due to an insane case of hay fever and a whole lot of research reading to do, but Christian’s been out there keeping an eye on the berry bushes (and mowing the lawn, and watering the plants, and… ok, so he’s been taking care of the garden). They’re not doing terribly well, but they’re not dead yet, so we have some hope. What’s surprised me is how the nearly dead rosebushes that were out there (that I, quite frankly, thought we might have to get rid of) have blossomed since they’re no longer dying of thirst and some of the weeds throttling their roots are gone. They’re quite lovely, actually. I’ll post a picture if I ever get around to it, but I think that next year, the garden will be a really pleasant place to be.

We’ve been here almost a month now (I’ve been here for 3 weeks of that, due to my trip back to Wisconsin and Indiana to get the rest of our stuff), and the house finally feels like home. My study is still a mess (there are boxes and boxes of half-unpacked things still sitting outside my door instead of in the study so that I can work), but I love having my own space again. This is probably more room of my own just for work and play than I’ve ever had, and it’s making a gradual but marked difference in my demeanor. I don’t know what it is about me that requires a sanctuary, but as it comes together, I’m really liking it. I’m also getting more research reading done with a quiet, comfortable place to do it, and it’s an unbelievable pleasure to be able to listen to music without worrying about the neighbors. (Note that I probably worried about it more than I ever should have in the first place due to the fact that I grew up with a mother that has seriously amazing supersonic hearing; growing up in her house, I got rather used to having to take extreme care not to be loud. I am trying to break that habit – it’s so stifling!!!! – but it’s amazing what you take with you when you leave home, even more than 15 years after you left!)

Research is starting to kick into gear as well. I’m doing a lot of reading and idea-crunching for my prelim paper; while at the moment, it does feel a whole lot like I’m trying to grab threads from all over linguistics to figure out how to weave them together, there are moments where I really feel like what I’m reading is zeroing in on something crucial for synthesis. This is what I missed most when I was working in industry – and what I love most about the scholarly life. Say what you want about the White Tower; being intellectually engaged rules.

Anyway, more when I get to it. Enough for now