Jocu

When I was little I wanted a pet dog. Anytime I would ask for one my dad would say "We have dogs."

We didn't have pet dogs. We had hunting dogs. That lived outside. And would go off in the woods days on end. I wanted a cute little dog that would live inside with me and be my best friend. I domesticated every other animal on the farm. I had a pet duck that I would carry around tucked up under my arm. I had my pet sheep Spider. We had a pet raccoon for a little while. And always tons of feral cats that I would tame.

One Wednesday evening, as everyone was gathering for Seminary and other church meetings, my friends the Blau's brought a pile of puppies to give away. They were plump, fluffy little black and white creatures. I feel instantly in love.

On this same fateful day, my mother just happened to purchase a small pure-bred toy poodle. My dad had said no to the mutts, but when my mother drove into the church parking lot with a paid-for dog, how could they reasonably say no to a free one?

I picked out the fluffiest little one of the bunch and named him Jocu. Yes, a reworking of Cujo. They looked like little miniature black&white St. Bernards. I loved Jocu so much.

When I moved out on my own, at the age of 16, I thought I was mature enough to take on the world. When I look back on my journal entries for that time, the most thing I talked about was missing Jocu who had to stay behind.

This morning I woke up to an empty house. Last night I found a new home for Maltie and Pennywhistle. I know the new family will love them just as much as I, and for the cats they'll be happy with who ever loves, feeds and snuggles with them. But it is quiet here and I expect to see them at every turn. It was strange to turn open the shades and not have to pull them up so the cats can look out the window. And to brush my teeth without them sticking their head into the running water.

They have been loving and faithful companions through three very lonely and difficult years. I will miss them very much. I may be getting gray hair and a few wrinkles, but I haven't really changed much since I was sixteen years old.

Rachel Green

I love movies and T.V. shows. And I love celebrity gossip sites. Not that I think it gives me much insight to celebrities, but does give me insight to board posters.

Every time a new Jennifer Aniston movie comes out, the posters go crazy with "when is Jennifer Aniston going to stop playing Rachel Green?" Here's the thing, if you watch more than four different performances by any given actor, you're going to find they have the same expression of sorrow, joy, love, surprise, etc. They touch their face, move their hair, and walk fairly similar in every role. Jennifer Aniston, like most, is a movie version of her own mannerisms playing out a role.

Yes, there are some actors who do manage to drastically alter themselves into the new role. Christian Bale comes to mind. But even then, sometimes when I'm watching one of his performances I'm thinking more about how Christian Bale became that character, more than following that character through the story. Oddly enough, I could completely believe him as Bruce Wayne but no one really talks much about his role as Batman.

We enjoy performances by certain actors because we like them. Some seem like ourselves, or a version of us we'd like to be. Some seem like people we'd be friends with if they were co-workers or school mates. Acting, like any other job, goes to the person who is well liked, not necessarily the one best qualified for the job. No one is going to purposely choose to spend time, whether a fifty hour work week, or a two hour movie, with someone we don't like.

Is every Jennifer Aniston role Rachel Green? I think they all have Jennifer Aniston in common, not Rachel Green. When I finish watching one of her movies I generally feel happy. (Marlow and Me excluded.) And if I come away happy, after trying to escape the doldrums of my real life, then Jennifer Aniston did her job.

2010 in review

Welcome to the new year. I am a resolution setter, but mostly I just like making plans. Before going forward with the new year, lets review how I did on Year One of the new Five Year plan that I set forth last December:

1) Get a job -

Check. I actually got an awesome job. When I moved here it was to focus on completing my MBA and prepping for grad school. I wasn't too particular about what kind of job and would have been happy serving tables. I definitely didn't want a high stress, time intensive job.

As fate would have it, I landed a job as an Analyst with Community Action Partnership of Utah. I had been trying to get on to similar non-profits for the past five or six years in Boston and D.C. It wasn't even on my radar for the short term relocation back to SLC. But there it just kind of landed in my lap. It wasn't everything that I dreamed it to be, but it also was better and more eye-opening than expected.

2) Complete and publish mystery novel

Nope. But it's not dead either. Work and MBA studies took up a bit more brain power than I had anticipated. But I've been plugging away at it and hope to be ready to start the second draft by the end of January. (I anticipate needing at least three drafts before ready to publish.)

3) Begin MBA dissertation

Check. I actually really hoped to have a completed first draft done before the end of the year, but applying for a doctorate program happened earlier in the five year plan than I had set out. Oct and Nov were consumed with research proposals and then the MBA trip to Zurich. However, I have a pretty solid structure for the dissertation. And almost most of my literature review completed, which is a solid chunk so I'm pretty pleased with the rate of this goal.

4) Marry Richard Armitage

Okay, well, since he doesn't know I exist this one is a bit more difficult to have any control over. And through the year I've decided that if he's unwilling, or unable, to help me complete my five year plan, then I'll settle for Gerard Butler.

5) Join Community Band

Fail. There aren't as many community bands/orchestras here as there are in the East. I did go listen to one that I thought about joining, but opening for fourth rate trumpet players aren't really a dime a dozen. The Univ of Gloucestershire does have a community orchestra and choir. I've already contacted the conductor about openings and it might be a possibility. However, since packing space is at a premium, and my trumpet isn't really that great, I think I may join the choir and then if I stay on to do my PhD at the school I'll look at perhaps upgrading trumpets and joining the orchestra.

So I have a mixed bag of success and failure for the past year. To be honest I haven't thought too much about my exact goals for 2011, but maybe because overarching themes from 2010 are playing out, but I do like to put down a formal check list so:

1: Finish MBA dissertation by March

2: Finish Master of Research dissertation by December

3: Finish the damn novel!

4: Begin PhD program (Dec 2011)

5: One half-marathon (I don't know the running/racing atmosphere in England so I'm not sure how feasible this one is.)

6: Go on a date. And kiss. If Armitage or Butler are not available I will settle for a normal mortal man.

Well, it looks like a short list, but boy I've got a lot of work to do! 2011 already seems like a blur. But I'm really looking forward to it. I have a year of very defined parameters which allows my brain to relax. I only have to focus on the doing, not the planning. And the planning part of my brain could probably do with a little bit of a break.

Watts in a Name

Back when I started this blog I owned a house on Watts St in Malden, MA. I fantasized about starting a little neighborhood newsletter called Watts What, but that didn't pan out so I started a blog instead.

Since then, I moved to D.C. for a year and a half. And then to Salt Lake last December. But I kept the blog name Watts What. When I moved to SLC, I knew that the time here was short, at most, a year and a half, until I started grad school in August of 2011.

The mast plan got sped up a bit and I'll starting grad school Feb 1, 2011 instead of in the fall. I'll be doing a one year Master of Research with the Univ of Gloucestershire in Cheltenham, England and then begin my PhD studies. Visa in hand, I've booked my plane ticket and paid January rent on a shared flat and will move from the U.S. on January 18th.

I think it's a good time to change the name of the blog. For now I'm going with Cheltenham Chat. If you have any other suggestions, let me know. I hope to be a bit better at blogging so that I can capture my experience living in the U.K. Hope you follow along!

Weighing In

I like to think that I am above having vanity issues, but I know it's not true. I don't fret too much about my hair, or make-up, or the state of my fingernails. I don't care if I wear the latest fashions. But one thing that I have struggled with for a long time is my weight.

I know that I am not overweight but I'm also not skinny. And I'd be fine with it if it weren't for the fact that I work out ALL THE TIME and eat really healthy. An average day for me is: early morning - 45 minutes of yoga, pilates or a jog, depending on the day of the week, bike to 5 miles to work, bike 5 miles home, evening - walk 1.67 miles to the gym, workout of an hour (weights or cardio depending on day of the week) walk home 1.67 miles. And sometimes there is walking in the middle too. I go through a lot of tennis shoes. Then there are things like tennis and swimming and other things that I throw in. I never drive to the grocery store, so I'm like a little sherpa packing groceries home too.

I've been fairly consistent with my activity/eating level my entire adult life. So you would think that I'd consistently stay in the size. But I don't. I range from size 10 to size 14. (Okay, there was one short period that I got a little out of control and was down to a size 8. It wasn't pretty on me.) Needless to say it gets frustrating and I have no idea why I fluctuate so radically. It's like every eight to ten months.

In the summer I finally went to my dr and had a little bit of a break-down. I mean, I seriously can't keep this fitness routine up for the rest of my life and I was starting to get fat. We did all the test - yes to hypoglemia and yes to a small thyroid imbalance, but nothing she wanted to start treating just yet. The two things she did put me on though - vitamin d two times a day (I already take a b-complex) and sleeping medication.

I'm not going to be a super-model anytime soon, but those two things have changed my body for the positive.

I've never been a huge fan of magazines like Shape and Fitness and am now even less so. Eat sensibly, work out, be honest with yourself, and if things aren't happening the way they should. Go see your doctor. It took blood test and a consultation. A $10 bottle of vitamin D and a $4 bottle of sleeping pills and I'm healthier than I've been in a long time.

More Zurich

Thought I'd share a little more about my trip (esp for those not on Facebook)

This is my tiny hotel room. I knew that European hotel rooms would be small, but I had expected a musty room covered with fabric. This was very clean and industrial. and cold. And there were no chairs in the room or the lobby, so it wasn't a very comfortable place to be. It took me a few days to figure out things like how to turn on the lights and hot water in the shower.

The hotel staff didn't speak English very well, nor were very helpful so I tried to figure things out on my own. I saw the cleaning woman insert the door key-card into a pocket on the wall and viola! lights. The hot water was something else. The universal sign for hot is red and blue for cold, and that worked fine for the sink, but the shower didn't seem to cooperate. The first few days involved me filling up my water bottle from the sink, and pouring it on myself while standing in the shower. Luckily my room was small enough that I could reach the sink from the shower.




















Zurich isn't really a hot spot of tourism, but there was a river that ran along the length of the city with a jogging path on both sides of the bank. It was a flourish of activity and I went for a walk along it every day.

Directly across the nearest bridge from my hotel was a playground and this little zoo. It had goats, very feathery chickens and some pigs.




















It seems anytime I am at an event with Middle Eastern men, at least one of them falls in love with me. I kid you not. I have had three marriage proposals after things like Embassy dinners, etc. This poor guy spent the entire week trying to woo me; fetching me water, making sure I was warm/cool enough in the class room, general staring, and trying to get me to go to lunch/dinner with him every night.















To be fair, there were only four women in the class and the other three were all married.














This is my group, the WI dairy cluster project team.









Returning from my daily stroll, I passed by a small family carrying illuminated vegetables. As i continued on I met up with the entire neighborhood out in a parade. There was a marching band, carts lit up with candles, and singing and talking. I followed along for several blocks and finally found someone to ask what the celebration was for. She couldn't explain it in English very well, but it was something to do with celebrating Fall. Similar to our Halloween but more about nature and less about goblins.















The next day as I went out for a walk I found these carved out turnips hanging from a tree. This is what the kids were walking around with! I can't imagine carving a turnips is easy!





















Along that same street was a neighborhood park. On this particular day there was a hot game of bocce and some ping-pong going on.
















The Saturday after our class, four of us still in town went on a guided tour. This is a scene from inside the bus.
















Three of us along the banks of the lake. The fourth person wasn't actually in our class. There were two classes being held that week. This poor guy came to our class the first day, sat through the entire day, and at the end, realized he was in the wrong class.















On the tour we went outside the city and up a tram to the country side. This is me with very hairy cows in the back ground. I don't think you can see the cows.














Me on the ferry to the Gold Coast. It's called the Gold Coast because there are vineyards along the banks. During the Autumn, when the grape leaves change colour, it shimmers like gold. The tour guide also said that people call it the Gold Coast because only rich people can afford to live there. Tour guides are so funny.

















Amitav and I on the ferry.















Sunday walk in the rain. There is a very cool museum in the back ground.
















The museum from the other side of the river. This is about two miles down the river path from my hotel.




















Mostly I ambled about and picked random streets to go up. I have no idea what I'm taking pictures of but felt pressure to show something of my trip.




















This was another random street. Reminds me of Boston. And thus concludes my trip to Zurich. I did enjoy that pedestrians have the right of way, though the streets and sidewalks aren't very clearly separated so there were a few times when I didn't know where the sidewalk ended and street began. I was also struck by how many men took their children out for a walk. I saw as many men walking around with baby carriages as women. And there were lots of people on crutches. I mean, enough that I noticed how many people I saw on crutches. And it's not because there were more pedestrians and therefor I'd see more people using crutches instead of driving in cars. There are just as many pedestrians in Boston and NYC and I can think of a single time I saw anyone walking around on crutches that didn't involve a cast. This was like two or three people, of different ages, a day. It just struck me as odd.

Zurich

I went. I loved the week long of class. Hated the rest of my time there. Were you really expecting me to enjoy myself? You really don't know me if you did.

The class was great. I loved meeting everyone, and have a slight crush on my professor. It's not the first professor I've had a crush on. And it's always the Middle-Eastern men who get crushes on me. We met Monday-Friday and worked from 9:00 am - 9:00 pm working on projects. We did a large multi-class lunch on Thursday and I met even more interesting people. I wish the group was doing more classes together but this is the last class for most of us. Definitely should do this as the beginning of the program, not at the end.

The rest of the time I found very stressful. I don't do vacation. I don't even like a three day weekend. So two weeks in a foreign country, in a tiny hotel room that doesn't even have a chair to sit on, with lots of idle time, is not my idea of fun. I don't like to shop (couldn't afford to even if I did like it) and don't enjoy eating out. (Definitely couldn't afford to eat out in Zurich where lunch started at $20) And even this introvert needs a little human interaction so going alone was extremely lonely. In fact, both border patrol, Zurich and US, when asking length of stay, purpose of visit, was I traveling alone, did a double take when I said "Yes. I'm traveling alone." "Really?"

This is the other sad thing I realized I'm now not normal for the rest of society. Out of 30 classmates there were only four women. And there were only three single people. I realized I am now not part of a larger statistic. Up till 30 it was abnormal to be single and LDS, but the rest of the developed world was still single. But now I'm in a demographic that pretty much everyone is married, or married and divorced. People, even non-LDS people, think its a bit strange for someone my age to be never-married and childless.

Anyway, I'll post additional Zurich photos in the next post.