Thoughts on Time, Homesickness, & 100 Posts!

I know, I know; time is relative.  But it feels like it's been quietly helping me along recently, giving me a few extra minutes where I need them and speeding along the process when I can't stand the boredom anymore.  Work (knock on wood) seems to fly nowadays, whereas I would have died of exhaustion, frustration, and sleep deprivation at the beginning of the summer.  Maybe it's because I'm down to the one, slightly less demanding job.  Maybe it's because I'm more confident now at the pool.  Maybe it's because I read a lot.  Whatever the reason, thanks for the boost, time.

Time can slow down, too, and I'm equally as thankful for that.  The minutes can take their sweet time passing into the wee hours and into a new day.  I don't mind the quiet of the night, the cool breeze.  I don't mind sitting down in the middle of the day to commit ideas to paper, realizing writing two and half pages took hardly any time at all.  I like looking my goals in the face and saying, "That looks easy."

Time.  It's a beautiful thing.

Thoughts on Lack of Posts, Summer Days, and Exchange Students 2

Perhaps it's the summer air and Washington finally getting a few days of decent weather. Or maybe it's my mind procrastinating. Then there's the fact that I've been searching for new music and haven't quite found something that makes me want to write.

There have been things I've thought about writing; here and on my writing blog. But I think my motivation is currently gone. I've lost that focus and drive that I had a few months ago. Now my posts here - and on Cellar Door - are few and far between.

I need to get back; I want to get back into it. But there's something that's stopping me; myself.

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Thoughts on Washington Weather, The Force, and Me Ranking Pixar Films

Washington, Seattle more specifically, is known for it's rain. Cause we do get a lot, but not record amounts. Sure, it does rain for about nine months of the year, but I've grown up here, so it's something I'm used to.

This year though, is certainly interesting. Normally in June, the weather starts to lighten up, look less dreary and stay more consistent in being in the 70s. The rest of the country is well into their summer weather, perhaps Washington missed the memo?

Thoughts on the American Red Cross, New Music, & Dolly Parton

I will, in turns, be eternally grateful to/forever hate the ARC.  It's thanks to them I've had something to do during my summer vacations since I was about nine or ten.  They're the reason I'm currently employed (and have been for the last five summers).  It's because of the Red Cross that, when I remember I am a certified lifeguard and trained in the ways of CPR, AED, First Aid, and swim instructing, I feel like a total BAMF.

But ten-year-old me wasn't thinking that far ahead.  Ten-year-old me liked the pool and all, but getting up early for classes was not conducive to my childhood.  If not for swim lessons, I probably wouldn't have really had any friends as a kid - none that I saw outside of school, anyway.  But, come on...ten AM is early for a kid, when you factor in the carpools, the tennis lessons in the morning heat, the changing for swimming, the spending the day usually at a friend's house because both of my parents worked.  And being an instructor's aid when I was 14 royally sucked.

Without the Red Cross, I wouldn't get to see my kids every year, the closest I'll probably ever come to actually being a teacher.  I plan on having my own kids, someday, and it's nice to have the time to practice - to play, to bond, to instruct.  To discipline, unfortunately.  I want to be the cool mom, the one everyone loves and trusts, because I'll probably be the only one who thought it was important to keep up with my CPR certification.

So, a million and one thanks to the American Red Cross.  But, also...I hate you.

Thoughts on Taco Bell, Summer Storms, & the Boardwalk

Taco Bell is one helluva big deal in these parts.  I really don't know why it took off as a hangout, but it's really taken its place as a symbol of the community.  If you don't go at least once a week, you're probably a social outcast.  And don't even get me started on the time it shut down for a few months...then reopened, new and improved, as a Taco Bell/Pizza Hut EPIC PLACE OF EPIC EATING EPICNESS.

In third grade, we had to write about our favorite places in the school district.  Even though Taco Bell is technically a town over, I wrote about it.  That's how influential it's been in my life.

Today, on of my best friends, Zach, and I bought the Party Pack (12 tacos, bitches!) and split a large Mountain Dew Baja Blast while sitting on the dock at Venetian Park.  It was beautiful; perfection.  Even if it was 6541984 degrees outside.  It was okay - we had the serenity of the bay and the quiet of the dock and tacos, and that was all we needed.

And then I took the last two tacos to work with me for dinner ♥

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Thoughts on Guarding Lives, Dormy McDermott, & Running Out of Posting Material

These are my sunglasses.  That is a pool.  And that is me, reflected in said sunglasses.  They're the awesome aviators (I know you're jelly) I bought from Newbury Comics up in Boston before the end of the spring semester and I love them.  Even though they're a little scratched from riding around in my bag with my keys all the time.

Also note that I have the Sprint Instinct, which is literally so obsolete, they don't make the driver software available anymore.  It's a miracle my phone even connects to my computer.

Also note the empty pool and deck.  I mostly sit and read, alone, at this job, unless friends decide to visit.  I've tried a bit of writing, too, but ever since my friend said she used to write letters here to her boyfriend at boot camp and our boss would read them, I've been a little paranoid.  I'm still going to give it a try, though.  How awesome a story to tell, about how I finished that collection of poems or short stories, or that novel, that summer I worked at the Harbour Club?

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Thoughts on Tanning, Stunt Doubles, & Playing God

Was it the Victorian Era when it was hot to be pale?  I kind of miss that mentality.  Trying to get tan is too much work.

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Thoughts on Beautiful Days, Gasoline, & Driving (Without a Destination)

The sky is that shade of blue that only shows up on days like these.  It might not really be any bluer, but it looks perfect against pure white clouds that alternate between puffy and wispy.  But everything looks better through aviator shades.

A plane might make its way, lazily, across the sky.  There might be seagulls crying, cardinals singing.  The tree trunks are dark in shadow, the leaves green and shot through with bright rays of sunshine.  If the sun were a child's drawing, it would be wearing sunglasses.  And grinning.

People are suddenly everywhere - jogging, walking, talking, biking, taking dogs for long walks, pushing infants in strollers.  They've been stuck in hibernation, but no one can miss a beautiful day.  Errands are excuses to get out in the sun; sitting in the backyard is a higher priority than eating, even breathing.  The sun is hot, but the breeze cuts the warmth, clearing away humidity and leaving in its place the peaceful flutter of anxious new leaves and the sound of life, renewed, and so very alive.

What a beautiful day, you think.  And it sounds cliché, but don't listen to that writing professor.  Clichés just have a bad reputation.  Sometimes, there's just no better way to say it.  And what a beautiful day this is.

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Thoughts on Journaling, Teal Goop, & False Hopes

I shouldn't be proud to not be writing in my journal every day.  I've pledged to myself so many times in the past that I wouldn't let my personal writing lapse, even if nothing exciting happened that day, even if I don't want to record the day's events for posterity.  But I haven't given up on writing every day, be it fiction or nonfiction.  And if I'm not writing about it in my journal, I'm out doing it.  So, I'm proud.  May this be a summer of catching up on journaling when I can.

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Thoughts on Fidgeting, Neville Longbottom, & Feeling Grimy

On my summer days, I like to strut around in a bathing suit without makeup and get tan.  Oh, and I get paid for it.  Because I'm a Red Cross-certified swim instructor.  What can I say?  It's summertime and the livin' is easy.

But, there are days when it's sunny and hot and I can't convince myself that sitting inside is a good idea for very long.  On these days, when I don't have work, it's either feel guilty about wasting a beautiful day, or get my ass outside and tan.  I do go outside and I do enjoy the sun.  For awhile.  Until I start getting distracted.

Let's just say, if I didn't have an outdoor summer job, I'd never get tan.

I don't have the attention span to just sit.  I can read for hours.  I can watch a movie or multiple episodes of a show.  I can be online.  I'll even lay out at the beach.  But, when I'm in my own backyard, there are just too many distractions; I can't sit still.  I drink too much water as it is, so I'm constantly running inside to the bathroom.  I sit in a chair, lay on my stomach, sit in the grass.  I listen to music, I read.  I get hungry.  I want to read something else.  I need more water.  I just keep fidgeting, up and down, inside and out, running around, always moving.  And, what's odd, it's entirely a summertime affliction.

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Thoughts on Peter Pan, Being Traditional, & Dressing for the Occasion

My dad just realized he was almost fifty (he's got three more years).  We were joking about something while watching "Criminal Minds," and he started waxing philosophical about the matter.

"Do you know any fifty-year-old kids?" he wanted to know, with that look on his face of amazement and something like pain.  I must have made a face, revealing my confusion, because he elaborated, "Because I still feel like a kid."

In a lot of ways, he is a kid.  We're so dumb together, making fun of even the movies we love, laughing about our shared genetic stupidity, swapping computer tricks and book reviews.  He's an adult in all the usual ways - going to work, paying bills, buying stuff, doing taxes - but he does it with such ease and nonchalance, you wouldn't know he's worried about anything.  Usually, he's not worried.

Like a kid who doesn't know any better.  Like Peter Pan.

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Thoughts on Flip Flops, Losing My Religion, and MP3 Players

Being Japanese and Hawaiian, people would expect me to be completely comfortable with flip flops. In truth, I actually only started wearing them about two and half years ago. Strange right? I would use shoes basically wherever I went, and since I rarely go swimming, I had no need for them when at a pool or beach.

Truthfully, I desperately hate things between my toes. My mom used to tease me when I was little by putting a finger between any of my toes, and I would freak out. So I was desperate to stay away from them and stick to corny sandals - but no socks, thanks.

What changed my outlook on the idea? Well, for the most part, I wanted to be able to actually wear them. My irrational freak outs needed to be tamed. But I couldn't wear just any kind of flip flops. The cheap pairs that are basically foam and rubber wouldn't work. Knowing my luck, I'd probably be allergic to the material, or something disastrous would happen and I'd never be able to wear them. So I went in search of flip flops of a higher quality. To ease my woes, I was willing to spend some extra cash for comfort.

After wandering a few stores and only finding the cheap pairs, or something slightly more expensive than them - but still with a rubber tongue between your toes - I was about ready to give up. But then one store was carrying exactly what I was looking for, which was unexpected. I was looking for cloth or some kind of soft material that would go between your toes, and that's exactly what I found. And they have the added benefit of being made of 100% post consumer material, so they're super eco-friendly. Not to mention, I like the design on the cloth straps. So over all, it was a win-win and I'm not used to wearing flip flops.