something a little more interesting?

i realize my recent posts have probably bored you all away, but sometimes i've just got to get it out! those who know me know that i love to over-analyze and even complain the interest out of life. so, there you have it. anyways, i thought it was time for some pictures. not exciting pictures, but hopefully interesting enough to bring you back to reading. :)

running has been going... just going. some weeks are fantastic and others are enough to make me cry. this week it was almost vomit and faint. i had my first try at speed interval training. basically, you go a shorter distance and alternate between a slower jog and a sprint. i lasted about two miles and then quickly veered off path while gagging. thankfully i didn't fully expel the contents of my stomach (yep, i swallowed!), but soon after i started seeing spots. so, that was fun. since then i've been taking it easy. especially since i pulled a hamstring while sprinting and then smashed my knee (yes, i trip in my own house quite often) in the same day. but, i can't take it too easy since i've only got 4 weeks to go before the lake union 10k. in a couple weeks i'll be starting a speed class, which will hopefully make me a more efficient runner and help me stay on pace. i'm aiming to "shave" a full 20 minutes off my race time, so i've got to get my butt in gear! i know, all this suffering for a measly 6 miles? makes me feel lame! and so, it is now the eve of a hilly, 5 mile run at 8am tomorrow. i'm gonna rock it! right?

speaking of four weeks away... my bestie sarah is coming out the same weekend as the race! i am sooooo excited! she hasn't visited yet and i can't wait to drink wine! yep, i'm going to have to risk mild dehydration on race day to catch up with one of the loves of my life. we have a bit of a wine history... wine walks (yes, that is walking around our neighborhood while drinking out of huge plastic cups), wine while watching so you think you can dance and american idol, wine while on the phone with eachother, wine while cooking, just a whole lot of wine. and i miss it. i miss it so much. wine is not the same without sarah, and it is time for a reunion.

garden news: we brought the strawberries inside and have been able to enjoy them at last. the plant is doing very well and we're getting about 3 times more strawberries than i expected. the raspberries are slowing, which is a relief. the tomatoes are FINALLY turning color. however, this morning when i went to check on their progress i found holes chewed into my gorgeous babies. holes! damn squirrels! i couldn't bear to takes pictures of the damage or tell anthony. i know i can't bring those inside, so we're going to have to come up with some other solution in order to actually get a harvest. lavender is growing like CRAZY. pears are getting bigger, and apples would be getting bigger if the squirrels weren't at those too.

anyway, i hope this blog gets more interesting for all of you again. with 5 weeks of school, it may not, but we've got a few things planned: woodland park zoo this weekend, a softball game and a bbq next weekend, san francisco (again), seattle square, the big race, and denver all in august. i'll try to take better pictures so you at least have something pretty to look at while pretending to read!

and now i better start working on my school assignments!

first day of school!

we just jumped right in! this is going to be a struggle... i am a very detail-oriented person who likes to control my surroundings and to take responsibility for herself and only herself. this poses a lot of challenges in school, especially a graduate social work program. be forewarned that this is now going to turn into a laundry list of complaints.

first, our syllabus is very general. it does not even describe our assignments! assignments that are due NEXT CLASS! next, our professor has a very rich history and is clearly very educated and knows just what she's talking about. however, she knows so well what her thoughts are that she sometimes forgets to share them with the class. this is difficult for all new students that are anxious about upcoming assignments- me. back to the syllabus... it doesn't even list some of our assignments! what?! how am i supposed to prepare?! today she asked us to do a project about our identity (which requires a lot of reflection) that is due next week. this is on top of the other assignment that's due NEXT CLASS! i realize that in graduate school there is always too much work to do. there is endless reading and there are ridiculously long papers. however, i need some time to prepare! as in, put it on the syllabus so i know just how many projects and papers i'll be juggling before randomly announcing them in the last 10 minutes of class! now back to my upcoming assignment... (can you tell i'm overwhelmed here?) we were randomly placed in groups of 4 (who the hell likes being randomly assigned to a group?!) and told to select readings. this turned into a jumbled mess and it turns out that my group has to do a 20 minute presentation about the readings for the class during our next session. of course we are all busy and no one can meet until monday- the day it is due. what?! ridiculous! oh and it can't just be a dry power point. we have to incorporate activities so the class is engaged in the learning process. what is it with social workers and group projects that have to be engaging? really now, you know you all hated doing group projects too.

so now i'm doing the best thing i know how to do when i feel off-center: make a list. in fact, i have made 3 lists. 3 lists that will get me through the next several days. i have a feeling that i'll have 10 times that number of lists by the end of this quarter! here goes nothing!

 by the way, my mind is already buzzing with project ideas. i'll share my "photovoice" pictures next week (you'll see) and may end up soliciting you for data (i.e. using you as a participant for my final research project) in a few more weeks. [some of you already got to be the very interesting foci of papers for my 1st year of school. i am eternally grateful and sincerely hope you did not suffer as a result of my wretched clinical "skills." thank you!] just you wait. i'm taking you along for this ugly ride and you're going to suffer right along side me. bet you now wish i had turned this into a blog about my running adventures, don't you?

say something

apparently my dad has tweeted out the link to my blog. don't get me wrong, i'm flattered, but now i feel pressured to say something witty or interesting. or to just plain say something. the truth is, i mostly write this blog for myself and a handful of family and friends who want to know i'm up to here in seattle. perhaps a couple of people from the general public have stumbled upon it, but i'm pretty certain they never gave it a second look.

so, instead of relying on me to tell you something about seattle, here are some of my favorite blogs and websites:

seattle metronatural
crosscut
seattle metropolitan
my neighborhood blog
my old neighborhood
nearby neighborhoods: wallingford, ballard, queen anne, university district, maple leaf

weekend at home

we had lots of big plans this weekend, but ended up spending much of it at home. there was actually a lot going on in seattle this weekend and we are sorry to have missed some of it. however, sometimes i just need a break! we were still busy though! i picked up my reader for my summer class, which starts this week. wow, that thing is huge! having a year of grad school behind me already, i figured not much could surprise me. but the heft of that thing for just 9 class periods still blew me away! i honestly can't believe how soon i'll be sitting at a desk, frantically searching for answers in readings that i didn't get through all while thinking about that darn 20 page paper that's due tomorrow and i've barely started. ah grad school, you just seem a world away! this past year off has been so full of change that i have completely and totally separated myself from the act of being a student. while school has been on my mind this entire time, i've completely lost all memory of how to write using apa and the best way to decipher which readings i'll actually use. i am desperately hoping i'll pick it all up again very, very quickly.

although i haven't started classes yet, i have been very busy preparing for my advanced internship. for social work students, the internship placement is incredibly important in getting the practical experiences necessary for a career. my first year practicum was the greatest work experience i have had to date. it was incredibly rewarding and challenged me in ways i could have never anticipated. the work was fascinating and drew out my passions for social work. i should have known it would be nearly impossible to find a placement to rival that one. however, i have done the necessary work of deciding how to make a confident choice in my internship search. stay tuned for more news on that front!

the seattle myth

Knute Berger writes about "the myth of the seattle nice" in his book, Pugetopolis. i've seen evidence of it in researching particular issues. and now, it's right in neighborhood. essentially, the people of seattle are known as crunchy liberal types. and, many are. but a lot are afraid. afraid of people. all people. they support social services and liberal causes on paper. but bring a person who isn't gentrified near their kids, and they scream wolf.

for instance, i have recently been researching the great jail debate of 2008. i would first like to say i am against building new jails, because (as evidence shows) more time does not equal less crime. however, if a jail had to be built (in this case, it does not, which is why they took the idea off the table), it wouldn't be so bad having it down the street. research from the u.s. justice department shows that neighborhoods with a jail show no difference in crime rates than comparable neighborhoods that do not house a jail. in some cases, the crime rates are actually lower in neighborhoods with a jail. additionally, property rates are not affected by presence of a jail. and further, there is a greater police presence. believe me when i tell you that criminals want to be nowhere near a jail. think people. just think. or read the research. anyways, i read the thousands of comments people had when their neighborhood was being considered as a potential site for the new jail. just about every one mentioned their children or their property rates. they had so much to say about bringing negativity and "trash" and crime to their area. but many clearly didn't understand the failings of the justice system and the dismal failures of our society. for these failures have led to the need for so many jails. [and yes, i have worked in the criminal justice system (and still do), and have done a whole lot of research. i do actually know what i'm talkng about.] oh, and did i mention that this would be a municipal jail, housing only misdemeanants. that means no arsonists, no sex offenders, no violent offenders. i.e. no child molesters, no murderers, no rapists (at least not for the current charge which landed them in jail). anyway, perhaps children would be less inclined to get in trouble if they had a jail across the street to remind them of hell every day. what do you think?

my point is, people in seattle LOVE to say, "NOT IN MY BACKYARD!" i am so over reading and hearing those 4 words strung together. and now, it's all in my face.

i live in greenlake. my neighborhood is middle to upper middle class, pretty darn gentrified (as most of seattle is), and full of jocks and young families. however, being in liberal seattle, surrounded by the well-educated, i suppose i just assumed most of my neighbors believed in social justice and you know, civil liberties. i believed that until i became aware of the uproar my "civilized" neighbors are causing over 20 homeless men moving into the neighborhood. a church right in the middle of the 'hood has decided to host the SHARE program, a wrap-around transitional housing program. the men would live in the church, look for work, build life skills and get other resources while searching and preparing for permanent housing. this is not an emergency shelter that will attract whatever it is my neighbors seem to think is cause to fear for the end of the world. these neighbors of mine were interrupting and shouting at the preacher during a community meeting last night. come on! i'm a serial interrupter, but i can refrain from shouting at least. and if i can be respectful, then i would hope my genteel neighbors can too.

anyway, i would like to remind people of their privilege. i would like remind the people that surround me that most of us have never suffered in the ways that these men have. your life experience is no less meaningful, it has just been different. please respect those differences. please show our children that we can be a community that supports one another. please act with kindness and compassion. please be an example in humanitarianism. please bring back my faith in the people of seattle. it's so very important to me.

that's enough ranting for today i suppose.

read more about this on the neighborhood blog.