So, in a nutshell, what have I been up to lately? Well, a whole lotta nada. This weekend was dedicated to my pursuit of my studies, and dedicated I was! With the exception of some errands I ran with Shauna on Friday morning (the usual: Target, Trader Joe's, Kinko's, and I discovered delicious sandwiches at a place here called Beyond Bread), I have been pretty well devoted to my Algeria paper. OK, I guess a repairman came by on Friday morning to replace my hideously 1980s vertical blinds and I got stuck chatting with him for about an hour, and then I did go out for a couple beers last night for Lindsey's 23rd birthday (with her and the Indian posse... and she's "dating" one of them now as well).
I also went for a "jog" in the Catalina foothills last night. I had one of my "not so Tucson" days and just needed to get out of this dustbin for a while so I drove about 20 minutes north to this really gorgeous Tucson subdivision, where all the houses are stucco and tile roofed, and they have the most amazing desert landscaping. I went at dusk, which is the best time to walk in neighborhoods (just in case someone leaves on a light with the blinds open and you can subtly peer in at their home furnishings), and I have to say the air was really pure and fresh and cool and niiice! It's in the 70s here all the time now so I was really enjoying my little jaunt. Too bad the swimming pool has caused my leg muscles to semi-atrophe... god, I had to quit running after about 15 minutes because my feet hurt (of course, this might be because I don't even own running shoes anymore and was running around in cheesy cross trainers). Anyway, the walk was good for the psyche.
I'm also babysitting Shauna's incredibly cool cat, Niamh. If you can believe this, Shauna's parents flew her to the Bahamas for the weekend so they could all celebrate her mom's 60th b-day together. Wow, I wish my parents did things like that! (Mom, mom? Dad?) Of course, since my parents are divorced and don't really like each other very much anymore, that could be tricky... OK, never mind.
So back to the cool cat, Niamh, who is sort of my own this weekend. I brought her over on Friday night while I was reading about Algeria's incredibly exciting National Liberation Front, and she just jumped right up on my lap, curled up in a ball, and fell asleep. She's too cute. Of course, she does shed a lot, which is a bit of negative since I'm mega-allergic to cats. Therefore, anything I wear when I am near her, I have to throw immediately in my laundry bin. I'm definitely contributing the rising stocks of Tide and Wisk.
Anyway, before Shauna left for the Caribbean (grrr...), leaving me stuck alone in Scragsville Tucson, we bought Niamh an outfit from the pet section of Target. Shauna decided on a black cashmere cat sweater with a string of pearls. It's hilarious. Here are the official "glamour shots" we took of her... Shauna "le Artiste" got a little creative with the sepia tone and softening capabilities of her photoshop software. Check out the final products!!! Just like a photo studio:
Young Niamh teasingly poses for the camera
With her whimsy and charm, this little cat knows how to tease her suitors!
And on a separate photo section, I finally got the pictures of the wild-n-crazy Persian dinner dance that Shauna's professor hosted at his home here in Tucson. Just so you don't forget who I am, here's one of me enjoying drinks and definitively NOT Persian dancing. (Note my new hair color please!)
And here are two photos of "the force on the dancefloor", AKA Shauna, shaking her booty to Persian tunes. For the record, I am incapable of any sort of exotic hip movement. This is not true for Shakin' Shauna... check this picture out... she's dancing with the director of our grad department, Dr. B., who does like to wear vests, and this one just happens to be leather. I don't know any more than that. Except that I think he's very Jim Henson-like... in a living sort of way:
And last but not least, here we are posing for a photo op at the party...
No comments:
Post a Comment