research project announcement

i need your help finding participants for a school research project! here are the details:

Attention LGBT/Queer Community and Allies:

We want to gather information about the experiences of people coming out in a religious family. We do not want to exclude anyone, so that's as narrow as the topic gets. All experiences, all religions are welcome to participate (including people who no longer practice the religion of their family and people who are not coming out to their family because of religious concerns). We will be doing a qualitative project, so we are just looking to learn more about these experiences. There is no final result we are aiming for. We will ask for narratives- open-ended interviews. We would also love it if people wanted to share their experiences in any other ways- art, poetry, song, photos. However, this is certainly not a requirement. The interview process would take 1-2 hours. We would like to do it by Skype, but this is not absolute. There is no compensation. Ultimately, we are hoping to increase our own awareness of such experiences, as well as the awareness of other social workers viewing the project (professor and 19 other classmates).

Other important things to know: the project is QUICK. Essentially most of the research portion will be done over the next 10 days, so we need participants by Wednesday, August 4. Our final paper is due August 17th. So, this won't be a long process. This is not a professional study and will not be submitted for publication. Only myself, my research partner and my professor will see the final paper. We will also do a presentation for the class. We need people with access to a computer, and ideally a Skype account (or the willingness to set one up). We will protect the identity of the participants in the paper and presentation. All contact information (such as phone number, email address, skype account) will be destroyed at the end of the project.

People can email me: gohollo@u.washington.edu for more information or if they are interested.

spider season, pluots and volunteerism

it's spider season here in seattle! i imagine many of you outside of seattle are experiencing the same thing. i have to say, though, i don't recall so many spider webs growing up in denver. there were of course spiders, but those colorado species must be more careful about hiding their webs. here, you can't walk 3 feet without crashing into a web. it's actually kinda icky. they even create webs on our car. seriously, they are EVERYWHERE! (i tried to take a picture of a web, but no luck.)

i also wanted to post a picture of pluots. pluots are a cross between plums and apricots. it looks like we got the "flavor supreme variety. you can't tell from the picture, but they're actually green with streaks of red on the outside.) i'm not a fan of stone fruit, and the taste of this didn't surprise me any, but the color... isn't it fantastic? so beautiful! my favorite fruit hybrid is the grapple- pronounced grape-pull i can't get blogger to show the long a symbol). they were big for a season in denver, but i haven't seen them here at all. anyways, those things are GOOD!

i just saw that my favorite store in seattle (paper delights!) posted about a new book: 100 best volunteer vacations to enrich your life. if anyone is looking for a gift for me, this would be wonderful- along with plane tickets of course!

giving up sandals?

running isn't pretty, but i wouldn't have guessed that i would have to give up open shoes! it's july, and believe me, i want to wear them. but see picture below (i'm putting it at the bottom, so it's easier for you to avoid looking at if you prefer) for just one area of my destroyed feet. my running coach just reminds us that running makes for cuter butts. i don't know about that, but i do know i'm feeling ambivalent about giving up more shoes. first i have to give up heels to cope with all the walking and the hills. and now i have to give up sandals in order run? bummer. for now, i'm not giving up either. i'll be wearing my sandals (cute orange ones!) at the zoo this afternoon, and i'll be running again on monday. so watch out seattle! if you see me coming, avert your eyes from my damaged feet!

on a lighter note, we've begun harvesting strawberries!

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?