weekend recap

intern, life, local first, poor yorick, The U, volunteer, weekend, What I'm...

I just had one of the busiest weekends I've had in a really long time. There was everything from shopping to volunteering to working. And school starts tomorrow! No time for sleeping in anymore, it's all business from here on out!

My weekend started Friday with a coffee date to Nobrow Coffee and Tea, a fun little local shop. I had a 3.5 mile run to complete that morning so I decided to run to the shop instead of getting up earlier and running before. I'm so glad I did! It was a fun little experience. And the coffee was great! We went specifically to try a local roaster, La Barba, and it was wonderful. I'll be looking out for them in other places too.

Friday afternoon I met with the roommate and her boyfriend at The Leonardo, a museum downtown for an after hours event. They shared some interesting information linking information overload and science with visualization. Not stuff I would normally seek out, but it always turns out to be interesting. After the presentation we headed over to Squatters, a local brew pub, for beer and dinner and it was so yummy. I've never really had anything there that I didn't like. It's a definitely must-visit if you are ever in the SLC area.

My favorite summer sandals while waiting for our table.

Saturday morning started with a bike ride to yoga and back. My legs and arms are sore a day later and I love it. Shortly after I got back from yoga the roommate and I went to Poor Yorick Art Studios to help set up for the Local First “I Am Local” photo exhibition. I'm the media intern for Local First so it was part work part volunteer hours. The exhibit turned out really nice and it was fun to get all dressed up and head back in the evening to shmooze and chat up interesting people from the community.

Open studio event posters from Poor Yorick.

Me and the roommate at the party.

Between Local First appointments I covered a story for the Salt Lake Tribune. It was a home invasion self defense class taught at a karate school in Sandy. I had never been to a karate class before and it was pretty interesting. I don't think I'll start taking any classes myself, but I would totally be interested in any future bambinos being involved. I really liked the things they teach kids about self-esteem, confidence and focusing on defense instead of offense.

The teacher is on the left. The kids loved jumping on each other when it was time to partner up.

After the Local First photo show I went with a good friend to his cousin's birthday party. We drank too much and stopped at Burger King for cinnamon rolls at 1 a.m. They were wonderful. Totally not paleo but so worth it.

Sunday brought early morning errands, a hangover headache, getting the last of my school supplies and grocery shopping. A volunteer meeting for the Beer Fest next weekend and my first day back at The Daily Utah Chronicle for editing and work for our first issue of the semester. It is still smokey and hazy here, we really need a good storm to blow all this nasty air away. But it was all sunshine and the mountains still look beautiful.

I'm very much looking forward to school starting tomorrow. I'm excited to get into the flow of the newspaper and classes and homework. It's going to be a busy semester and I just can't wait.

Working hard, iPad style

dachshund, iPad, life, student, The U, wiener dog, work from home, work-at-home, writer

This summer I became part of the work-at-home population. I find that I don't mind it so much, but I really do miss the social I-see-people-at-work part. The solitude is nice, we all know this about me, but after about three days in a row of working at home, I get super restless and, so help me, I have to get out of the house.

I have always been comfortable and productive while working at a kitchen table. It's been this way for as long as I can remember. And I'm good with it. But my iMac is not good with it. You see, it's not so portable.

On a side note, if I could go back to my 25 year old self I say, “Self? I know you think you're doing the right thing by not getting a laptop, I get it. But do yourself a favor and get one anyway. I promise you'll love it. And your 28 year-old-self with love you for it. Mmkay? Thanks.”

Since I didn't want two hard drives, etc., I picked up and iPad and keyboard as soon as I realized that's what I had been wanting/looking for/waiting for since I got my iMac. (see previous paragraph.)

I take this baby with me everywhere. It fits in my purse, which is not one of those Mary Poppins-esc carpet bags. (Though I did have one of those for a while and it totally rocked my socks.) I do web-surfing, note taking, article writing, calendar keeping, email checking, blog posting, fantasy baseball maintaining, news reading and time wasting work on this thing. I keep a hefty stash of AAA batteries on hand for when the keyboard dies so I don't have to type on the glass, heaven forbid.

So while I work really well at the kitchen table, I've been able to discover that I also work pretty well in coffee shops, diners, at the park, in the library, on the couch while watching a baseball game and in bed with Ellie snuggled next to me.

Because, seriously, does it get much better than this? I think not.

too much time to not think

life, The U

The past four weeks have been interesting. I couldn't really tell you what's been happening since I don't really remember. But I know there has been reading, writing, driving, bus ridings and scant moments of arithmetic.

Eww. Especially the arithmetic part.

But this session of summer classes is flying by, there are only 2 weeks left. And I'm hoping by the end of it all I will have absorbed some fraction of economics. For some unknown reason I'm sure is silly.

The problem is this: I can't remember things because there is too much time. There are things I should be thinking about and keeping track of but I don't because I have lots of time to do it. You see, I really operate better when there is too much to be done. I'm a master procrastinator, avoider, and otherwise putter-offer.

Big sigh.

In the mean time other things are shaping up nicely. I'm steadily getting more busy which is a relief. It sorta takes care of the too much time to think about nothing problem. The sun is shining and that makes my skin pink and me happy. With plenty of reading to get done and writing to do I've been scouting neighborhood coffee shops and found one within walking distance that has the most wonderful tea.

I finally wrapped up the May photo challenge from Fat Mum Slim. Yesterday on June 3 to be exact. I sorta agreed to jump right in to June, but instead of using my phone and Instagram to capture and post the shots I'm using my big-girl-camera. Which means I'm supposed to be carrying it with me everywhere and being a bit more observant than usual. We'll just say I'm not doing so hot thus far. But do not dispair! I can do better. I will do better.

I'm also preparing for my first backpacking trip to take place this weekend. I cannot express to you how incredibly hyped I am for this trip. I've been dreaming of hiking The Narrows in Zion National Park since I was about 14 and now, half my life later, I'm doing it. Three days and two nights tromping through one of the most beautiful slot canyons on the planet. So psyched for this.

In the mean time there's another article to write, three to edit, assignments to make, papers to write, homework to complete and a test to take. I'm pretty sure the next… month is totally gonna rock my socks.

It’s the end but that doesn’t mean it’s the end

life, The U

It’s the end of the semester and its hard to believe. The 16 weeks of this semester have passed very quickly. But I’m so ready for a break. I need to sleep in and think about only one thing at a time. I’ve been doing school full time and work part time along with writing for the Chrony. I need a vacation.

But I’ll be spending my two and a half weeks away from school working full time. My last day at work is coming quickly and there is much to get done before I no longer have to think about making soda. A day that I’m looking forward to.

Soon after my last day at work I’ll start school again, two classes for the first session of summer. They are only six weeks long and I’m expecting them to be a lot of work. But half way through June I’ll be set free again and I’ll have two months to enjoy the sunshine and relax.

Except for the whole summer I’ll be working at the Chrony. We won’t be putting out a daily paper, we are only printing twice a month. But there’s a lot for me to learn and I’m looking forward to the work.

In the middle of all this there are a couple vacations planned. First, a trip with friends to Zion National Park to hike The Narrows, something I’ve wanted to do since I was a teenager. The opportunity had never presented itself until recently and I jumped at the chance to make it happen. The second is a week in Boston. This makes me happy.

So while school is wrapping up and final assignments are due I’m looking forward to finally having a break. Which won’t really happen until mid-June. And really, I’m pretty ok with that.

the predicament of where to study

study, The U, u of u, university of utah, Utah

Two 'bros' are hugging it out right next to me. It's lasting a long time and I find it to be kinda weird. Not that they're hugging, I'm a hugger too. But they are kinda rocking back and forth and laughing. Weird.

I used to park my pants in the library on the food level. There are nooks there with tables and padded benches. Lots of students go there to study and pass time between classes. I like it because it's cozy and you can eat there but it's still quiet.

Unlike the Union building where people are, what I would call, excessively loud. It's pretty obvious I don't like freshmen. Or overly loud people.

I've recently moved from the library to the computer lab in the Union. Mostly because I've needed to make phone calls during my down time and I don't feel comfortable doing that in the library. So the computer lab has been great. There are group project meet ups happening and people studying together. And it's also food-approved.

And even though it's more quiet down here and there is more studying going on that upstairs, I'd really rather be in a vacuum where it's quiet and food and cell phone friendly. Except that if it's too quiet I can't concentrate.

With only a couple weeks of school left, it's not something I'm spending a lot of time worrying about. In a couple weeks I'll be free of having to think about where I'm gonna spend my in-between class time. And since I only have one class every day during the summer, I won't have to worry about it then either. It's gonna be good.

Marjorie Clark

Mountains are Life

The U