Dozens of students milling around a crowded gym full of tables.
Every so often a cluster would move past our table.
Then a lone student would step forward, her parents (they were almost always young women) hovering behind her.
We'd smile, and ask, "So have you heard of Vassar?"
And the student shrugs a little, points at her parents, and replies, "No, but they have."

I have almost 100 spam users to delete from the alumni board, even though they weren't ever activated...
I have set up the only work-around there is, obnoxious as it is, to prevent new users from being created at all, thus rendering me the only doorway for new users to get access...
There is no way to do a mass edit of users, for deletion or group assignment purposes...
And this administrative interface for choosing users to edit is so so so so so so annoying...
Rar.

Mom and I drove up to Austin on Sunday to have lunch with some other TNS grads - that's me, Annie, Nancy, and Aina. Annie was in town from New York to officiate a wedding, so Nancy coordinated this gathering.

It was a great time, and good food at Casa de Luz, and the drive was pretty nice, too. I didn't start to drag unti we were close to Houston on the return trip.

Been mostly buried in nonproductive habits for the last few days.  Lots of good intentions paving my particular road, but where it leads is nowhere healthy. 
Had my super-duper apocalypse moment on Sunday when Mom and I watched Children of Men.  Talk about bloodbaths.  Great flick, though.  I mean, wow.  Totally skewers your gut and doesn't let go.  I was on the edge of my seat for a while there.  I was Super Girl on Saturday, helping Dad clear the overgrowth around the house.  We laid siege to Sleeping Beauty's castle, eventually slaying most of the (really, really vicious) rosebush, then took down a bunch of out of control junk trees.  Dad chainsawed, I cleared to the curb.
We discovered an excellent creepy-crawly colony of snails living under one of the shrubs that was being choked out by some kind of blooming ivy.  I spent some time observing the snails, as their movement patterns are totally fascinating in a hypnotic sort of way. 
I didn't take any photos.  Haven't even turned my camera on in days, which is a shame.  Maybe later this week.

I have to break out of some of my funk by tomorrow, though, because I'm going to a meeting of the Vassar Club of Houston (such as it is).  And then next week starts the month's round of Meet-ups.  Time to turn off the mindless reading (at least part of the time) and get some things done.

Last night I dreamed that I was playing a game with friends, a brand-spanking-new game out of a box, that was kind of interesting in its structure - not really a board game, not quite a true RPG...  And then I thought to myself, "Didn't I play this in college?  But that can't be, it's brand new!"  And then I realized that it was a game that Frisbee Dave and John made up at Vassar, and they were now on the board of some great games company, churning out clones of their old college entertainment.  And you probably wouldn't even need drugs or alcohol for the full effect!
So I ended up reading the fine print on the bottom of the box and going on a quest to find their corporate offices, which turned into a very different sort of dream, but I don't remember that part as well.  Just a sense of mass, and height, and an elevator shaft into infinity... 
Very strange. 

In other news, it's 9:17am and it's already been a trying Thursday.  Any minute now, the Vogons are going to come screaming through the atmosphere... 

I don't usually have much of a social life, I confess. Finances coupled with a general lack of interest in finding things to do have contributed to my tendency to sit at home and chat with people I would love to go out to a pub with, but who live on other continents.
And my general lack of attendance has contributed to the dwindling number of invitations received, as well.
Last night, though, I met up with Linda and Bernice for a ladies' night out. We started at Linda's place, then an Ayurvedic restaurant (no menu - they just serve you whatever the day's specials are. Very yummy.), then a blues concert in a church (piano, drums, and tuba - very cool!), then a jazz guitar concert at 107 West. We walked about 20 blocks of the Upper West Side, along Broadway.
I love hanging out with these women, and have such fun. It's then also fun to come back home and say, "Yeah, the ministers were out drinkin and dancin!"
I bounced some ideas off them regarding my writing, and we had even more discussion of our Interfaith Education project. It was a good night.

When I got home, Catherine found A Life Less Ordinary on cable, and we both ended up completely engrossed (I had never seen it). As a result I went to bed rather later than intended, especially considering I had an early wake-up call for my Writers' Group Chat.

It's been a great couple of days.

And in closing, after my NaNo meetup the other day, I took out Robin McKinley's Sunshine from the library for a reread. It was sublime and brilliant the second time around, too. Mmm, yum. I love the way she rebuilt the world. Just the language of her alt-earth makes me shiver with admiration. Fantastic.

I got an email today from a 2005 graduate from Vassar. She got my name out of the career development office's database, relating to organic foods. (Good reminder there to update my listing!)
She's way not Global material, her resume blew me away, so I sent email to a couple of contacts I have at the UN and the World Bank on her behalf.
Now, I want you all to read that last sentence again. Suddenly, I am the Old Girls' Club. Surreal.

I got a new desk! Woot!
Catherine and I borrowed Jeanne's car for the trip to IKEA, and I found exactly what I was looking for - a tabletop desk that converts to a drafting table.
I also scored some super-cheap candle holders, a rug, and curtains, thus preparing for the completion of my room makeover.
Now I am trying to get the computer peripherals to work without crashing. Sigh. I want to have my business website up and running by the end of the week.
In other news, my 10-year high school reunion is coming up Thanksgiving weekend, and they have a trying-to-be-clever questionnaire for alums to fill out. It includes such brain-busters as "What was your favorite 1995 song or performer?" How am I supposed to remember that? I can't even remember my current favorite artists. Sheesh. Another one asked for "Memories" and suggests embarrassing moments, secret crushes, and other things. I don't really have anything to tell them. At least I managed to put some stuff in the "What's happened to you since 1995?" blank.

Family: All still battening down homes. At this point evacuation would be a dumb idea - the roads are like parking lots and people are running out of fuel, food, and water. The evacuees in the family left much earlier, so the hope is that they have made it to Dallas already, but I haven't heard anything new. Mom and Dad spent yesterday afternoon moving the patio furniture into the pool and boarding windows. They report that they have batteries, water, and chocolate. Peter has been helping board up Trapper's family house. He reports that they have snacks and beer. Obviously my family has their hurricane priorities in place.

Work: Yesterday was product training day. I got to sample four kinds of sugar, and every stage of cacao from raw, fermented bean to store-shelf chocolate bar. Plus I learned a heck of a lot about chocolate and sugar production. And that's only the first part of the training!

Home: This weekend is moving weekend for Sonya, and the house is piled with boxes and debris of the sort that happens when someone is moving. I will need to get some major cleaning and rearranging done in my room in anticipation of moving furniture downstairs.

Spirit: Equinox was lovely, although I thought and thought and didn't really know what I was doing this fall at all. I am more confused and scattered than I am focused on any kind of harvesting and husbandry in my life. Ah, well. I am preparing myself mentally for next Saturday's wedding, too, and must prepare my ministerial cheat sheet.

Seminary: Linda and I continue to meet and talk fairly regularly on the Alumni Association, and now I have gotten some communication from one of the Directors that she'd like to talk to me, too, about business stuff. I may be able to get some website work and that would be really good in terms of allowing me some freedom to take less than a full-time job.

I'm working with the Alumni Committee at my seminary to create some really exciting things for the school and the alums. It's fun and amazing and scary and intimidating. It may become one of the biggest chunks of my time in the next year, getting this thing happening.
I feel drawn to the work, called if you will. (And I know quite a few who will.)
I am having to reassess everything in my life right now anyway, may as well dedicate my time to something meaningful that I know will bear good fruit if tended well.
Graduate School keeps being eased off the table. I may have to face the fact that there is not a PhD in my future, and that's really okay. There is art and music and poetry and writing and magic and religion and community and service and family.
That's quite a lot to fill a life.
I'm feeling much better now than I was this morning. My Tuesday-workweek funk (only exacerbated by my choice of televisison viewing) has dissipated.

On the hottest day of the year, with a heat index of 110F, Annie and Sean tied the knot. At the outdoor reception, we all sweated and drank gallons of water and ate chilled foods. Michelle and I danced up a storm with Rose, the bride's sister, and sometimes the bride herself. I love dancing at weddings, even when it's hot enough to melt right onto the dance floor.

On the whole, the occasion was lovely and I had a great time. I got lost on each leg of my drive, but not terribly so - New Jersey is full of helpful signs saying "Turnpike --->" so I was able to straighten myself out in good time.

For the record, the Mazda 3 is cute, but very confusing (at least, for me, who had not gotten to read all of the owner's manual), and it has a conversion transmission that will somehow switch to Manual. This mystified me for a while as I tried to figure out why it wasn't kicking into gear. Sorry, Manet, didn't mean to grind your works. Very, very odd little vehicle.

Annie and me, together at last, after a few years of missed connections. We haven't been in the same place since winter of '96 - that's almost ten years!
Annie's getting married on Saturday, thus the "Miss Bachelorette" ribbon and the veil with horns.
I was worried before leaving for the party (Ten years, man! TEN YEARS!), but it was great fun.

I'm a Ringleader!
Had the first meeting of Alumni Organization planning last night, basically just setting up some other meetings and brainstorming ideas. Fun stuff, but also a bit daunting.
This just underscores my need for time management.
Certain decisions I've made recently are definitely correct and good for me.

I'm working on my two-year plan based on successful admission to graduate school. Should be an exciting year leading up to it. So much to do.