Beethoven therapy

The other morning I woke up an hour earlier than I was supposed to, unable to get back to sleep, sick to my stomach, worried about this and that, and generally unhappy about things. I got to work and started listening to Beethoven's 7th Symphony. I don't listen to it very often -- I save it for mornings precisely like that one, because I don't want to wear out its almost eerie restorative powers. Within the first few measures all of my problems started to melt away (I still felt sick but I was able to ignore it).

I cannot believe the emotional roller-coaster that this symphony is. Movement 1 makes me laugh, Movement 2 makes me cry, Movement 3 makes me serene and movement 4 makes me dance. It's a brilliant, brilliant piece of music.

I'm not a classical music snob, and I hate it when people only listen to classical, but I still can't repress a feeling of sympathy for people who only listen to pop. No pop song has ever made me feel that way, taken me on such a long and complex tour of my own emotions, and left me feeling clean and restored. I just feel like those who stay away from classical music, either because it's "boring" or they think it's "only for smart people" or they "don't understand it" are missing so, so much experience. Those things are simply not true! There's nothing to understand there except human emotion. Sure, if you know about music theory (which I don't) I'm sure it enriches your experience, but you don't need to know anything. You just need to open your mind to a different kind of listening. It's not hard -- it's just different. And it gives you so much back...

And while I'm on the subject, once I heard a thesis -- it was on Stephen Fry's podcast, actually -- that the difference between classical and popular music is that popular music is dance music, and "you can't dance to Beethoven". Beethoven's Seventh is where this thesis crumbles. The whole thing is dancey. Even the tragic second movement, which my dad calls the "Funeral Tango". I was dancing and air-conducting in front of the janitors and shelvers at the library, and I didn't care. (I can only use my headphones during the hours before we're open, so I gotta make the most of it.) I just wanted to point this out. You totally CAN dance to Beethoven...

Mi viaje a Nuevo México

Voy a escribir sobre las fotos de mi viaje a Nuevo México en español porque...pues, ¿por qué no? Es el único estado de la unión que tiene una constitución bilingual. Oí y leí mucho castellano allí y me hizo muy nostálgica para España...

(Para mi reseña de la comida de Nuevo México, ¡haz clic aquí!)

Desde el tren. No me acuerdo del nombre de esta ciudad...¡uups!

Vistas desde el train en Colorado y Nuevo México.

Qué bonito es la escarcha en los árboles.

Una casa loca que pudimos ver desde el tren.

Ahora plenamente en Nuevo México.

La famosa Ruta 66. Los señales antiguos todavía parecen como parecían en los años 1950. El clima es tan seco que todos los señales, edificios y coches están en condición perfecta.

Este arácnido horrible se llama un "vinegaroon" porque despide un líquido que huele a vinagre cuando tiene miedo. No es un alacrán verdadero; está fingiendo ser alacrán. Nos conocimos en los Jardines Botánicos de Albuquerque. (No, esta no es mi mano...es la de un empleado allí. Yo tenía mucho miedo de esta criatura.)

Los leones del parque zoológico en Albuquerque eran bastante amables.

¡No es un viaje al oeste de los E.E.U.U. sin dinosaurios! Este tipo está en el Museo de Historia Natural y Ciencias de Albuquerque.

Brian en la parte vieja de Albuquerque, "Old Town".

Las plazas me acordaban de España...

¡Brian y yo somos los vaqueros más duros del oeste!

Desde el hotel pudimos ver las Sandias. Las montañas se llaman "Sandias" porque al atardecer parecen rosadas.

En el Bosque Nacional Cibola fuimos en la tranvía aéria más largo en el mundo.

¡No es para los acrofóbicos!

Subimos al crepúsculo.

Aquí estoy a la cima...

...¡y aquí está Brian!

Las luces de Albuquerque.

Despedimos a Albuquerque y nos fuimos a Santa Fe.

Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi.

El Museo de Arte de Nuevo México.

El Misión San Miguel.

La casa más vieja de los Estados Unidos.

En el día final Brian y yo fuimos de excursión en la Montaña Atalaya. Había mucha nieve y mucho hielo y debíamos tener zapatos mejores...pero todavía lo hicimos.

Un cactus raro.

La vista desde la cima vale la pena.

Hicimos el "Steeper Route" para subir, y el "Easier Route" para bajar.

¡Era un viaje inolvidable! Ya lo echo de menos mucho.

December on the farm

New Year's Resolutions

1. I resolve not to let stuff get under my skin so much.

There's a saying in my family: "Let her be Nancy." It comes from this eccentric lady named Nancy whom one of my aunts just despised as a young woman, and her mom, my grandma, would listen to her frustrated tirades and say "Oh, you'll just have to let her be Nancy." It's such a great saying. Other people are going to be weird and you can't change them. If it stresses you out too much to be their friend, then don't be friends with them. Otherwise, let them have their notions and know it does not affect you. And hope they do the same for you.

2. I resolve to quit stressing.

I've been grinding my teeth in my sleep for a year and it's starting to hurt. I get into little emotional panics over things. (This relates to Resolution 1.) I gotta start being more stoic and remembering that things always turn out all right eventually. Because they always have.

3. I resolve to go to the dentist.

Aside from the teeth grinding, my wisdom teeth are pushing one of my bottom incisors out of my mouth, and I have a small cavity going on the tooth opposite my first cavity. I have to swallow my fears and go. Of course, my childhood dentist is BAD AT FIGURING OUT HOW MUCH ANESTHETIC TO USE (at least I only had to have a cavity filled, and not a root canal, like one of my classmates who also went to him), so I'm going to go to a nice, competent dentist in Iowa City and hopefully that'll help me get over my fears.

4. I resolve to work out at least every other day.

I've been doing this for a while, but I resolve to keep it up!

So, we'll see how these go.

Happy holiday of choice and a joyous New Year!

Snow Day! December 9 & 10, 2009

At this point it's about 9:00 in the morning, it's been snowing since noon the previous day, and I'm still not aware that classes have been cancelled. I see the bus drive away a moment after I snap this picture.

Later, about 3 in the afternoon.

Lots of these big white clouds billowing down the street.

Trying to dig out, even though the snow's not gonna stop until about 6 in the evening.

The next morning! It's so much nicer-looking in the sun.

Some drunk students built this HUGE snowman across the street from where I work! (Sober student shown for scale.) The buttons and eyes are beer cans. It just goes to show you what great things can be accomplished with teamwork and a little alcohol.

Another one -- not quite as impressive as the first, but size isn't everything. I liked the candy-cane nose.

The farm in November

An Iowa story

So this thing happened last night that made me happy to be an Iowan -- or perhaps more accurately, happy to live in a small town. (Although having come from an actual small town, I don't know if I quite agree that Iowa City is one, but it does have that kind of atmosphere. Let's say it's a small city.)

We were having a Halloween party, and around midnight we decided we had better traipse out to the cemetery to see the infamous Black Angel. When we got there, we were dismayed to see a lit truck idling right by the entrance, near the groundskeeper's building. We thought, "Oh, man, they stationed someone out here to ruin everyone's fun, darn the luck!" (The cemetery officially closes at 9.) But then the truck drove out, and it was just a couple of other Halloween celebrators. "Hey, you should go scare the groundskeeper," one said. "What? We're allowed to go in?" "Yeah, he's just there making sure nobody vandalizes it or anything."

So we went on in, and I went up to the groundskeeper and said "Hi! Can we come in?" He said, "You here to look at the Black Angel?" "Yeah." "Okay, go on ahead, just don't do any vandalism." And we went on ahead. The angel is far, far away from the groundskeeper's building. He was just telling people, "Don't do any vandalism!" and leaving it at that. How nice is that? They want everyone to have fun on Halloween, so they just station a guy out there to politely tell everyone not to do any vandalism. And that's good enough!

Of course, we did see a truck circling around a bit later - so I'm sure they were keeping an eye on ol' Teresa Feldevertova just to make sure no one lopped off another finger. Still, though. It was such a nice relief that, for once, the authorities were not there to ruin the fun for everyone...