Sleepytime Gorilla Museum played the final show of their tour up in San Francisco last night. M. and I went up to see it, and what a show it was! Shinichi and a small horde of Butoh dancers from Inkboat shared the stage with them. There were audience sing-a-long bits. There was some Moe!, even though he is no longer an official member of the band. There was a lot of very cool anti-Bush sentiment bubbling through the band and crowd as well. This made it even more of a cathartic experience than usual.

I have this thought that the east and west coasts should secede, and that we should gather together the far-flung remnants of the Berlin Wall and rebuild it around Washington DC, so nobody could leave. It would be sort of like sandbagging along the banks of a swollen river, except in this case the flood we'd be preparing for would be a flood of idiocy.

But enough of this talk about the small minded little cretins who continue to run this country. It's depressing. I spent another day outside, with a line of children trailing behind me. It was misty and cold, with the rain setting in towards the end of the hike. One kid had to leave halfway through (a classroom teacher and his mom came up to get him) because his grandma was dying. Maybe there's a thursday curse in effect. This is the second thursday where something unexpected happened. At least the one Yellowjacket nest we passed didn't trouble us. This week the Yellowjackets were all off stinging one of the other field groups - the one led by the other new guy. His experience wasn't quite as all-encompassing as mine was. Only two people got stung - the field leader himself (on the neck) and the kid who'd stepped on the nest (six times on the knee). Later, I told him that it must be some sort of secret initiation for new instructors.




This is a California Newt. We found yet another mutant one today, with an extra toe on its left front foot. The one pictured above had the correct number of digits. So far I've found three mutants, all with toe deformities.




This is what I call a good work environment. The camera ran out of memory at this point, so I wasn't able to photograph the strangely twisted, mist enshrouded Madrone trees further up the hill. Maybe next time.

I'll refrain from commenting on the election until all is certain. It looks like things are going to go badly though, and that's a great understatement.

As we hiked through the almost complete darkness under the Redwoods tonight, I often found myself feeling for the trail with my feet. I could see the black on black shapes of trees looming ahead and on all sides, and used them as markers. Then, in the middle of the trail, like a beacon, there appeared a small point of luminescence. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a small grub of some sort, like a mealworm, but glowing with a greenish blue light. I walked back along the line of nervous fifth graders and showed it to them. We all agreed that it was a pretty cool thing to find in the middle of the trail in the middle of the woods in the middle of the night.

Later, after the moon had finally risen and I was at home, I looked it up on the internet and discovered that our find was a Glow Worm. It's not really a worm, of course. It's the larva of some sort of fly.

Now we just have to worry about who or what will be this country's beacon in the dark.

We're all just sick with anxiety about the elections tomorrow. Will that beetle-browed, knuckle dragging simple minded pile of day old donkey dung win? We definitely hope not. Voters, use your brains, not whatever else it is that you have been using. This is serious business here.

At work this morning, a coworker found a Black Widow on her desk. Possibly Iktomi the trickster god. I carried her around in my little bug house for awhile and showed her to the kids. Then I let her go along the San Andreas fault.

Using Bela Tarr's "Werckmeister Harmonies" as inspiration, I had the kids perform a solar system dance. I was the sun, and the kids were all planets and moons. The planets revolved around me, and the moons revolved around the planets. At the end of it all, the solar system was in chaos. Neptune was closer to the sun than Jupiter. Mars and Earth shared an orbit. Only Pluto and the planetoid Sedna kept their distance.

I used this result as an example of what happens when a system breaks down, then went on to talk about the ecosystem.

More excitement around here this week. On friday, I waited with Jen for a portion of her interminable stay in the hospital waiting room. She has mastitis. Check her blog for the gory details. She's a little better today, thankfully. Still far from 100% though.
While I was there, a miserable, quivering man was moaning and stumbling around with his little plastic bowl. Every so often he'd fill it and shuffle over to the bathroom to empty it so the process could begin again. I talked with the guy sitting next to us for awhile. He helpfully filled me in on why to avoid the Alma st. DMV at night. His jaw was held together with wire and pins, due to an encounter with a baseball bat near said DMV. He'd also been stabbed in the chest with a five or six inch knife ("the kind you can buy at liquor stores") and was lucky to be alive. The people who had attacked him got a dollar bill for their trouble. It makes me glad the local DMV is open again after remodeling.

M. and I took the kids to get pumpkins on friday. Here's some photos.






Today is my first day off in about three weeks, so I'm going to go do day off stuff now. Happy Hallowe'en!

It was sort of like a scene from "The Swarm".

It happened on a long hike along a narrow trail winding through Redwoods, Tan Oak, and Madrone. A kid near the back of the line (19 students, 2 teenage cabin leaders, and me) stepped on a Yellowjacket nest. This means he had walked of the trail, since the nests never seem to actually be on the trails. The first I knew of it was when kids started yelling and running past me. A girl near the back of the line had collapsed to the ground. I ran back and quickly figured out what had happened. There were Yellowjackets in the girl's hair and all over her clothes. She was screaming and crying. So were several of the others. I started picking and flicking the angry insects off of her. The other kids and the cabin leaders were helping as best they could. Up the trail somebody was shouting that the kid named Shadow had "swallowed a bee." I ran up the trail to find him shirtless, hunched over and making gagging sounds. One of the other kids was slapping him on the back. For some reason, somebody else was pouring water on him. The water was mixing with the blood that seemed to be coming from his mouth, or possibly his nose. It was hard to tell.

Kids were running everywhere. Another boy had also taken off his shirt because Yellowjackets had crawled inside it. Several of the students, frightened by the bloody, gagging boy, had retreated back down the trail. I was sure that the boy was having an allergic reaction and going into anaphalactic shock. As I fumbled for the med kit I called for help on the walkie-talkie. At this point I was not too calm and trying to do several things at once. Of course this never works too well. My co-worker back at home base got my location and told me to work on trying to calm the boy down, while checking his records to see if he had any history of allergic reactions to insect stings. I wrapped my jacket around him and talked him into a calmer state of mind. Gradually, his breathing improved. The blood was wiped away by somebody. I noticed a welt on his neck where he had been stung. On the outside, thankfully. My co-worker said that she and one of the classroom teachers would meet us on the trail with ice and vinegar (vinegar, a mild acid, counterracts the effect of wasp venom, which is a base). Slowly, the cabin leaders and I got the kids moving. The kids themselves were helping as best they could. Carrying the possessions of their wounded classmates and helping calm them - even telling jokes to try to get them to laugh. One boy even carried my backpack (in addition to his own) so I could carry the girl who had been stung on the head and face. This girl, as I carried her up the trail, kept saying she missed her mom and wanted to die. She even tried to apologize for being heavy (thankfully she was one of the lightest kids). I just kept talking, explaining what had happened and telling them that the pain would ease up soon. At the apex of our journey (we had continued up rather than go down past the nest again) some of the kids were even singing. Soon afterwards, we met up with the rescue party. Ice and vinegar were applied to wounds, and we marched back down the hill.

Seven kids had gotten stung, three of them multiple times. The boy who had been stung in the neck was fine. By the time we started downward, even the swelling had disappeared. The girl who had been stung on the head was walking with an icepack on her head under my hat. One of the other boys, who had been a bit of a troublemaker on previous days, and who had been at the forefront of those helping on the trail, revealed that he too had been stung. During the crisis, he hadn't complained about it at all. Not one word. Talk about a stressful situation allowing a person's true qualities to shine through.

Later, at the assembly before recess, I stood up in front of the school and gave them a commendation for courage and selflessness. It's amazing to see kids (or anybody else for that matter - but especially kids) help each other out in times of confusion and pain.

I'm not taking that trail next week.

I've been looking through the journals the kids have been keeping this week. Here's what a couple of them had to say about tuesday's night hike: At first I was nervous and scared but later on I thought dead people were following me, and I learned that trees have been here for a long time. They can tell stories if you just listen. I like the part when I was walking alone. I felt that there were guardians behind me. I felt enjoyable, safe and peaceful.

The girl with the guardians didn't get stung.

At home, The Dickens, in her best no-nonsense tone, stated that, "someday I can put ice in poop and coffee." Then, after some thought, she added, "someday I can put medicine in my butt."

Keep it surreal.

We got to witness a lunar eclipse tonight. I was up at the school, helping out with Wednesday's night program, so we all got to pause and turn our gazes skyward. The moon was obscured by a brownish-red shadow, made hazy by a sheet of thin clouds.

The night program centered around the Lorax. We performed a short play based on the book (I played the Onceler!) and then had a mock trial where the kids got to ask the characters questions in an effort to determine who was guilty for the destruction of the Truffula trees and the resulting woes of the Barbaloots, Swamee swans, and Humming fish. Everybody was found guilty.

Yesterday, on our anniversary, I hiked our group over to Sanborn park and we all sat down in the grove where we got married two years ago. It's as beautiful as it ever was. The kids thought it was pretty cool. I thought it was pretty cool too. It was too bad that I had to spend the whole day away from Jen. I don't feel that I've been working this job long enough to start requesting random days off.

Tuesday night's hike in the dark went pretty well. As usual, a number of the kids were scared, mostly because of movies they had seen. The moonlight, filtered by clouds, occasionally brightened into moonbeams that slipped between the silhouetted boles of the Redwoods and whitened segments of the trail. Beautiful.

I got paid $150 for bringing a good portion of my critter collection to a Halloween party way out in the East Bay on Sunday. The people who had hired me for the party during which the Monitor bit me were in attendance. They asked to see the scar. There really isn't much of one - just a little red mark on the inside of my ring finger.

Speaking of ring fingers, tomorrow is our second anniversary. Two years of wedded bliss (and constant kid chaos). We've been through a lot together in that short time. I look forward to many more years togother. Maybe some day we'll actually get to relax. Or go on a honeymoon.

I now interrupt this post to rush off and help The Dickens who just pooped in her underwear...

Okay, I'm back. The Dickens has been in fine form lately, spitting milk and cussing out inanimate objects. Earlier she stepped on the soiled Tickle Me Elmo doll in her room, and when it giggled at her she shouted, "stupid Omo! Stupid pants!" I'm not really sure whose pants she was referring to because Elmo wasn't wearing any.

The kids at camp this week are sixth graders, which means there just that much closer to being 7th and 8th graders who, as everybody knows, aren't to be reasoned with. Sixth graders are all right though. I feel more on top of things this week because it wasn't raining today. Rain really does interrupt outdoor classes. Tomorrow it's supposed to pour. I'll be more prepared for it this week.

I had a meeting at my other job tonight. The woman who hired me taught my (for two weeks, anyway) old Monday afternoon class this week - the Lord of the Flies one. She had no more luck than I did in controlling them in any way. That made me feel better.

I worked some extra hours today helping out on a ropes course up among the redwoods. A small group of local African American youth and their mentors came up to spend some time doing some team building activities. One of the other weekday field instructors was on hand to help as well, along with an actual ropes course guy to handle all the real work. As helpers, we just hooked people to ropes and belayed them as they inched across cables strung between redwoods, or attached them to pulleys so they could go zipping along cables through the trees. Everybody had a blast, and afterwards the group invited us to join their next activity, which turned out to be a djembe lesson, taught by a man who used group drumming as a metaphor for life (if you lose the rhythm, don't just keep playing - stop and listen so you can find the rhythm again...). It was a lot of fun, even if my hands and wrists hurt afterwards. Over all, we sounded a lot better than those drum circles I used to hear up in Berkeley all of the time. Much more rhythmic. Playing with a group of people is a bit of a departure for me. I usually fiddle around by myself with random instruments. It takes a lot more discipline to play with a group. My fellow field instructor was more used to it, having his own djembe. In fact, most of the people I work with at this job are musicians. It makes me want to learn more. I'd like to be able to successfully play with a group.

The man who had put this all together is also a documentary filmmaker. I listened to part of the inspirational speech he gave to the group, and he struck me as a powerful speaker as well - very forceful and positive. His latest film is called "A Killing in Choctaw", about a racist killing in Alabama. He was nice enough to give me a copy of the NY Times with an article about it. I'll have to see the film if it makes its way to the area.

It rained off and on while we were up there, and the clouds crept over the hills below the tops of the trees, shrouding the area in a shifting white curtain. The air smelled of pine.

The clouds took a break for most of the day today. We hiked further and saw seventeen newts. It was still kind of cold in the shade, and the evening was colder still. I stuck around to work the Thursday night program, which involved a "game show" of sorts where cabin groups answered questions about things that they had been taught over the course of the week. Since they were allowed to work as teams, they did pretty well. Afterwards, there was a dance, which was pretty exciting for the kids. It was fun just to watch them have fun.

I'm pretty tired though. I haven't seen my family since this morning. By the time I got home, everybody was in bed. Lexy was still awake, but I think he's asleep now too.

The amphibians were out in force today. Newts and salamanders, encouraged by the wet ground, seemed to be everywhere. One girl in my group even found a mutant newt. Two of its back toes were fused together. The newt promptly became the visual element of a talk on amphibian mutations, and how many scientists view amphibians as sort of a global "indicator species". Amphibians, due to their porous skin and other factors, are more susceptible to harm from environmental changes than most other animals are. In other words, if something goes wrong, they're the first to go. And that's exactly what is happening.

When the sun peeked out from behind the clouds, the forest steamed. It was beautiful.

Later, the night hike went by much too quickly. The kids were sort of loud, but quieted down after a bit. The rain stayed away, but the clouds made stargazing difficult.

I'm tired. When I got home everybody was in bed already. That sounds like a good idea.

It came down in torrents today, mostly while I was teaching field class. Most of the kids came prepared. Those who didn't made do as best they could. The trails all contained rushing rivulets of water, and many times their normal coverage of leaves. The Madrone trees were especially pretty, glistening redly in the wet. We gathered around one ancient Douglas Fir and took turns gazing up the mossy trunk into the branches as the rain cascaded downwards into our faces. Too beautiful to really describe here unless I lapse into poetry, which I won't.

Later, we saw a newt and a couple of banana slugs on the trail, which made the kids happy. I finally managed to catch the tarantula living in the junction box near the nature lab. He proved to be quite docile once picked up. The kids whipped out their disposable cameras to record the moment.

I didn't manage to teach all of the things I planned to because of the rain, and I think the other instructors had the same problem. It's hard to focus games and lessons while being pelted by rain. It's kind of distracting. Some of the kids were kind of uncomfortable, and my backpack full of journals got pretty wet.

Okay, I'd better go read to Lexy now. More tomorrow.

It rained overnight, but the day dawned mostly clear. The hills around the school have that fresh, after-rain smell. The dust on the trails has been beaten down and turned to mud. Newts and slugs are rejoicing.
Three schools converged on us this morning. My field class is a mixture of students from the three. On the list of medical information/special needs I notice that I have a couple of ADHD kids, one girl who has "extreme energy", and a boy who is "inattentive". This last fellow fully admitted to his malady during our first group meeting, and then went on to demonstrate it. Over all though, they seemed like a good group of kids, class clowns and all.
I'm honing my style this week, building on last weeks experience. The first few weeks of any new job are like this - constant improvement and improved retention of all of the little details. This job has lots of little details, most of them revolving around the camp routine. The field class part is pretty straightforward though. Take the kids into the woods (or chapparal, or riparian area) and teach them things. Of course, the things that we have to teach them are pretty specific. There are standards involved here.

It's quiet outside right now, but it's supposed to rain before morning. Tomorrow will be wet, but that doesn't bother me. We need the rain.

It's raining! I just heard the long awaited sound of droplets rustling through the trees outside the window. It's not exactly a downpour, but it's something at least.

I did a couple of birthday parties today. I got tipped ten bucks and a cupcake at the first one, and twenty eight bucks and cake with ice cream at the second one. The second party was for a kid that Lexy went to school with for the last couple of years. The mom works with somebody I used to work with. One of the guests works as a bus driver who sometimes drives kids up to where I presently work during the week. Small world. Good cake.

I'm working for a couple hours at the museum tomorrow. It feels like I haven't been there in ages. It's been more than half a month anyway.

Friday is the day that the kids who have been at camp all week go home. For our final hour together, I had them haul lots of kitchen scraps down to the compost pile for some hands-on learning experiences. Some kids smashed old apples into smaller bits, some stirred things around with the pitchfork, some sifted, and the rest watered and weeded. Then we sat down in a circle and shared thoughts about the week. Most of the kids enjoyed the solo hike the best. A couple of kids got a little teary eyed at the thought that they would soon be getting on the bus.

An hour or so later, when they actually were getting on the busses, many of the kids (and some cabin leaders & teachers) were crying. They had us sign autographs. They hugged us. They all looked so sad. I don't blame them. Next week they'll all be sitting at their desks in sterile classrooms, which can never match the woods and streams for a learning environment. Next week I'll be leading around a bunch of new kids.

It's a powerful experience, seeing people moved to tears and knowing that I had a part in it.

The kids in my field class are upset that the week is almost over. I don't blame them. Next week they're going to be back in regular school. Today they were walking by themselves (along a trail marked by me) and experiencing the solitude of the wilderness. As they ended their solo treks, I had each of them in turn roll the sheep knuckle bone dice. I then interpreted their rolls and told them their fortunes (yes, it was relevant to the class - it's similar to games the Ohlone Indians played, using simple objects from their immediate environment). The least well behaved kid's roll was interpreted as "your thoughts and ideas are bad." Maybe these dice really work. I soft-pedaled the "bad" fortunes of course. There are ways to make bad fortunes seem good. It's all in how you look at them.

The girl who was feeling sick was back in class today. Her mother came up to the camp and brought her some medicine. Yay!

On every hike I take, I look under at least a few logs and bits of bark for small, interesting creatures. Today I found two things of interest. the first was a mother Tarantula and her egg sac (see below), and the second was a pair of sunglasses. I'm not really sure why sunglasses were under a log, but what the hell - free sunglasses! I always get sunglasses for free. I either find them or people give them to me. With this in mind, it's not really too surprising that I'd find a pair under a log in the woods.




For once I refrained from picking it up, because I didn't want to disturb her more than I already had. This type of Tarantula tends to be a bit grouchy anyway. The absence of urticating hairs on their abdomens means that their first line of defense is to rear up on their hind legs and wave their fangs at you. They don't actually bite - at least I don't think they do. I was holding one once when it went into defensive mode (due to kids crowding around to look more closely) and it went so far as to lunge at the palm of my hand. The fangs never went in though. It was all bluff.
Note also the insect wings scattered all around it. I think they're from termites, but I could be wrong. I'll have to look into it.

I spend a lot of time playing games with this week's group of kids. They're having a lot of fun learning, which means that they just might learn something. So far we've covered photosynthesis, energy cycles, community comparison, food webs, adaptation, geology, native animals, and little bits of other pertinent information. One girl has been hanging in there all week even though she's been feeling sick. Today she had developed an earache. I hope it's not an ear infection.

The kids, when asked to guess how long I'd been teaching for this school, decided that I must have been there for ten years (give or take). That's a pretty good compliment for somebody who's only been there for three days.

Speaking of food webs:




It has been hot this week. There has been none of that gentle morning fog that made last week's mornings so beautiful. There are already plenty of leaves on the ground. Up in the hills we rustle through the fallen leaves of Tan Oak, Madrone, Live Oak, Bay Laurel, and others. Ravens croak down at us from high up in the Redwoods. Stellar's Jays mimic hawks in the Madrone trees, and Crows peck at morsels out in the lower field area. It's exciting to be up in the hills during the autumn, since my previous experience with this kind of work is teaching summer camps.

Willow now says "ciao" to our italian neighbor. Not even two and already bi-lingual!

Today we wandered further afield, exploring creeks and forests and chapparal. Many creatures came under our scrutiny. The creek was home to Pacific Giant Salamander larvae, California Slender Salamanders, Water Boatmen, and a good number of other small, wiggly things. Up at the edge of the chapparal, I found an Alligator lizard and a scorpion co-existing under a log. The scorpion ran up the outside of my pants and did its best to hide near my zipper. The kids all held up their disposable cameras, paparazzi-like, and snapped dozens of pictures. One kid even had a digital camera, and is probably the only one of the lot who got a good picture, since the disposable ones won't focus at distances under three feet or so. The lizard bore the scrutiny with bad grace, but the scorpion posed on the end of one of my fingers for more photos. The kids were excited enough about this to run and tell everybody they met about it.

The facilities manager clued me in to where to find a tarantula on the grounds as well. It lives under one of those cement electrical junction boxes, which is set flush with the ground on one of the lawns. It quickly ducked out of sight down its secret escape hatch when we lifted the lid. Maybe tomorrow I'll get to show it to the kids.

My first night hike as a leader went pretty well. This week's fifth graders are a bit more fearful than last week's sixth graders were. A couple of the girls even cried a bit, but I talked them through it. It's a pretty big deal when you fear something and do it anyway. I made sure that they knew that. Afterwards, we lay on our backs in the field and looked at stars. We should all do this more often. I feel fortunate that I can do this and get paid for it.

I spent 12 hours at my new job today and felt like I could have kept going at the end of it. Granted, there was some down time between leading field classes and performing at the campfire, but the day just flew by. I'm ready to do it again tomorrow. I'm still learning things, of course, but I feel that my first day was a success. I met a few more people coworkers as well, and tons of kids (5th graders this week). There are seven teachers from two schools staying at the camp along with their students this week. One of them, bless her heart, brought along an espresso maker.

I saw a whole murder of crows circling overhead in the evening, and as I left for the night two enormous stags crossed the road in front of me. Lovely.

The kids are excited and attentive. I have 22 in my field class. I'm working hard at memorizing all of their names. I'm more than halfway there, I think.

Yesterday, our whole family went up to the school so I could check out some new trails. We ended up hiking over to where Jen and I got married a couple of years ago. Here's a picture of Lexy and a little girl who rarely sits still.

The Dickens just walked into the bedroom making little gagging noises. In her hand was a sippy cup. She looked up at me and asked, "what is this?" In the sippy cup was some milk well on its way to being cottage cheese. The moral of the story is, of course, never drink anything with lumps in it.

The boys had a good walkathon at their school yesterday. Jen volunteered her time helping make things run smoothly. I took the girls with me to a training session up in the East Bay. Now that I'm no longer teaching after school sessions I have to be trained for my new role as birthday party science teacher. Both of the girls behaved very well, probably because there were lots of interesting things going on. They especially like the dry ice. Willow had a blast popping soap bubbles filled with carbon dioxide. I got to take home a cotton candy machine and Lexy got an extra birthday treat consisting of homemade cotton candy. Nate and The Dickens made some as well. Of the kids, only Willow didn't have any. For some reason she wouldn't eat it. Maybe its because it just doesn't seem like food to people with any sense. I had a bunch myself.

Then, in the evening, I went and performed at a birthday party. The kids were a bit older (the boy was turning 11) and they all had a good time, interrupted only when one of the boys fell out of a tree. He recovered enough to eat pizza later, though. The highlight of the party was the cotton candy machine. The rest of the activities involved using chemicals to make things hot and cold, luminesce, and vanish in flame. We even made our own bouncy balls.

At the end of the party, I got tipped twenty bucks. I like that. Extra money is good. I think I'll use it to buy a cheap watch, or batteries for my laser pointer.

It has been a long week. I think it seems this way mostly because of all the driving I've been doing, travelling from school to school and never staying in one place for long. I'm looking forward to next week, when I get to stay in one place and teach something really important - natural cycles and respect for our planet. The kids I've been observing this week really seemed to get it, and hopefully took some new attitudes away from the camp experience. I'm happy to be a part of a team helping to teach this type of curriculum.

We've got to fight against all of the plastic shit out there, whether it's part of the packaging or something packaged. Lexy got more plastic shit from the well-meaning but misguided mom of one of his friends today. A Bruce Lee ninja set, for chrissakes! Absolute plastic shit. Just what we need, more plastic swords and nunchucks and what have you. Imagine, if you will, four small children running around the house with ninja paraphenalia, and you will have some insight into what I had to contend with this evening. Granted, Willow wasn't all that interested. She was more interested in wearing one of the boys' Nasa caps at a jaunty angle while watching Teletubbies. The Dickens, for her part, decided that her time would be well spent by chewing on the little plastic suction cup arrows that she couldn't figure out how to shoot from the shitty little plastic bow. Both of the arrows are now bent beyond repair. Hurrah!

While all of this was going on, Jen was out being reminded why she never goes to ToysbackwardsRus. Home of battery operated plastic shit. She fared slightly better at Target, so now Lexy will have some birthday stuff for tomorrow.

Tomorrow, tomorrow. Jen is helping out at the school walkathon. I'm getting trained on how to do birthday parties for my now even more part-time job. I'm taking the girls with me for this, so my training will no doubt be interrupted. It's good to work for a company that welcomes children in the office. There will no doubt be plenty of things to keep them occupied. It's kind of strange that I'll be the paid entertainment at a stranger's birthday party on Lexy's birthday, but we're planning a family party afterwards.

I don't feel so tired as long as I keep moving. Whenever I sit down it hits me. Mustn't sit down then.

Another day of learning. The guy I've been shadowing all week is really good at what he does, and the kids seem to be learning a lot. One of them turned to me today and said, "you should be a counselor here." I told him I would be next week. I'm starting on Monday. Unfortunately it's the part year position, not the full time one with benefits. Still, I'm looking forward to it and will be keeping an eye out for the next full time vacancy. I've decided that I'd better get a watch so I get the students back on time for lunch and dinner. I'm also going to get new batteries for my laser pointer, since it's good for pointing out constellations during night hikes. Hopefully I'll have some time on Sunday to gather things together. We might go hiking up there with the kids too, so I can learn any trails that I haven't had a chance to check out during the week.

This afternoon I had to teach in Fremont. I stopped by our base of operations nearby, where we tried to figure out when I could train some more so I could play mad scientist at a birthday party on Saturday. I feel like I'm letting them down at this job, because I'm basically quitting after this week, except for weekend gigs doing birthday parties. I've already been asked if I could jump right back in the next time my schedule gets freed up (in about a month). Business seems incredibly good for them right now, but I get the impression they're running themselves into the ground trying to keep up with it all. Tomorrow I teach my last after school program for the time being.

I also got a call from a company that had advertised for a distribution supervisor. I had sent them an e-mail before I knew I was getting the Environmental Education position, but even though I told them I couldn't work the hours they needed (25-30) they still want to interview me. I'll probably schedule one with them sometime next week. Just to see. I will definitely need some extra work in November and December because the "part year" part of my new job doesn't include any work during these months, except for some after-the-fact training. This paid training will make up for the fact that I've been observing their program on my own time this week. Also, I'm really only seeing about half of the program, since I've been leaving in the middle of it every day in order to go someplace where I'm actually getting paid. We gotta eat here. Not that I'm getting paid much, of course. That will change (relatively, at least).

This jumbled chaos that is my schedule at the moment is all very new to me. All of my previous jobs were long-term affairs. Things stayed the same for years, with minor changes here and there. Right now I feel I can't focus on anything but my changing job situation, but when things finally settle down (whenever that may be) I'll be the better for it.

Nuff for now.

I haven't really had much time to sit down this week. I've been too busy trying to learn a new job while working an almost new job. I haven't worked at the museum all week, and won't be able to for the next few weeks either. I could work weekends, I guess, but I'm still trying to decide if I should bother. Continued employment there might come in handy towards the end of the year if I get the part year position at the science camp. Or maybe I should just let it go.

For now I'll adopt a "wait and see" attitude. Some things become clearer after a bit of time is allowed to pass. When you do things in a hurry some of the important details get lost. Right now I'm too busy focusing on learning the new job to worry about much else. I'll probably spend a lot of time this weekend reading various manuals and instructor guides - oh, and learning some campfire songs. Most of the people who work there are musicians of one sort or another. Some of the campfire songs are pretty cool.

It's hard to believe it's only Wednesday. I observed camp activities most of the morning, and then went home for a bit before rushing off to teach the sea life class. Then I went and got a TB test because the one I got a couple of years ago is too ancient to pass muster. Afterwards, with no time to spare, I rushed northwards to instruct some small children on how to build model rockets. For some reason, none of the kids names matched the ones on my roster. In the classroom next to me was another instructor employed by the same organization as me. I hadn't met him previously, and when I talked to him I found out that he'd also applied for the job I've been learning in the mornings. He obviously didn't get it though. Small world.

Hanging over the back of one of the couches in the staff room at the science camp was a shirt emblazoned with the words "Bush is torture". How true.

Today was a bit like yesterday. I spent the morning observing camp activities, the afternoon teaching an after school program, and the evening back at camp. This evening's activity was a night hike, using the same trails I hiked many times over the summer while working for the Youth Science Institute. We marched in an ant-like column, without the aid of flashlights, through the Redwoods. At one point, we each got the opportunity to walk alone, following the trail with the aid of candles placed on the ground at intervals. Very cool.
We ended the evening by peering through a telescope at a nebula. The Milky Way stretched across the sky. That's one of the good things about being up in the hills. You can actually see the Milky Way.

Okay, time to get off the computer.

I found out today that the other two people competing for the full time Environmental Education Specialist position both already work at the school part time (or full time, part year). That means I'll most likely get the full time, part year position instead, which means I'll have some gaping gaps in my schedule that will need filling somehow or other. I should find out for sure by midweek.

I spent the morning observing the program at the school. The treetops disappeared into the soft greyness of the persistant mist. Then busloads of sixth graders arrived. I felt like I was a kid again. The atmosphere was that evocative of childhood for me. All of the people I met seemed nice and relaxed. I think I created a bit of a buzz, being an outsider competing against a couple of insiders for a permanent position, but I didn't get the feeling that anybody resented me. There's free food for employees as well.

In the afternoon, I went and taught at the same school as last Monday, and the kids still acted like extras from Lord of the Flies. This should be my last time teaching this particular group. I told the woman who hired me for this job that I wouldn't be able to teach after school programs after the end of the week, and she was very understanding. I'll still be able to do fun birthday parties for them on the weekends though. That's good, because we're going to need the money.

At night, I went back to observe more camp. Campfire, actually. They actually started the fire the old fashioned way - rubbing sticks together. Songs, skits, and merriment followed. It's going to be another of those "I can't believe I'm getting paid to do this" jobs.

Now I have to wait until midweek for the final verdict. I arrived early for my interview this morning, only to find nobody there yet. While I waited, I looked at frogs and directed a lost man towards the park up the hill where a memorial service he was looking for was being held. My interviewer arrived soon afterwards, and we spent about an hour and a half talking. It went pretty well, covering much of the same ground as the first two interviews. They're trying to fill the position(s) as soon as possible, but I'm the first interviewee of three. The other two probably won't be interviewed until Wednesday or so. First prize is a full time job with benefits. Second prize is a full time/part year job without benefits. If I get second prize, I would be working for the rest of this month, and then not again until sometime in January. After that, I would have work (minus a couple of vacation weeks) until May, with the possible option of summer employment. I'm trying to figure out how I could make that work. Of course, there's always the possibility of third prize, which is getting my name on an "eligible for employment" list for a year, should some other position become available. Let's hope for first prize. While I'm waiting, I'm going to show up in the mornings this week to observe some camp sessions. Should be enlightening.

Talk about a labyrinthine selection process though.

And now... Duck! It's the flying seven-legged tarantula, with fangs glinting in the late afternoon sunlight!



Okay, that's actually not true. It's a very stationary dead tarantula. It's missing a leg because one snapped off when I picked it up. I had to shake the ants off it before I took the picture.

There are new people moving in next door. We haven't really met them yet. What do you want to bet that they run screaming in a day or two? When The Dickens and Willow start shrieking, it sounds like war has broken out.

Oh, and let's not forget Mt. St. Helens. Sure, today's eruption was minor, but this kind of thing always interests me. I can still remember the big eruption back in 1980. I made a side trip there in the early nineties on the way back from Seattle. It was steaming a bit, and there were miles of flattened trees dotted here and there with the rusted remains of cars whose owners didn't move them (or themselves) in time.

There were signs warning visitors not to pick pumice.

Things are picking up speed. I received an e-mail earlier today stating that I'd passed the second round of interviews for the position I'm hoping to get. It seems that they've whittled us down to three from the eighteen original applicants. They've even scored the written and oral interviews, much like they would a school exam. My score is a lucky 93 percent (I even mentioned listening to Current 93 a couple of posts ago - serendipitous coincidence?). Later I received a call from the director of the school, and my final interview is set for tomorrow morning. Wish me luck.

I took Lexy and Nate for a hike this afternoon. It took a bit of convincing to get Lexy to come along - he's still upset about his broken arm and keeps saying he's useless. I persisted though, and he thanked me later. We didn't see as much in the way of wildlife this time, but had a good time nonetheless. Here's a few of the photos.




The very common Western Fence Lizard, aka Bluebelly. If you hear a rustling in the bushes, this is what is making it.




The slightly less common Western Skink (juvenile). Slightly blurry photo because you rarely get a second chance with small quick lizards.



Nate and I wandering into the woods. Photo by Lexy.

It was cool and overcast today. By late afternoon, the clouds had been pushed back towards the ocean, hovering over the coastal range like a frozen tidal wave.

I worked both jobs today, doing a morning shift at the museum (during which I finally met the woman who got the supervisor position instead of me - I wonder if she knows this?) and teaching an after school program up in Fremont, during which I once again showed small children how to make cool paper airplanes. This class went better than Monday's. The kids were closer together in age and somewhat less hyper, despite the fact that there was a kid with ADHD in the class. Afterwards, I went and learned how to build model rockets (for a class I'm teaching next week) and hit the freeway for the rush-hour crawl back home.

Tomorrow I'm not working anywhere. I feel so underemployed. Nothing new happened on the job search front today. Tomorrow is another day.

I've been reading Watership Down to the boys for the past couple of weeks, and they're really enjoying it (did I mention this already? I forget...). It's been years since I last read it, although I read it multiple times as a child. I still love it, especially the descriptions of the countryside and wildlife. If you've only seen the movie (which is excellent in its own way, of course), do yourself a favor and read the book. It's even better. All of the other books by Richard Adams are good too. They've even made a couple of them into films - The Plague Dogs and Girl in the Swing - the first about a couple of dogs who escape from a research lab and the second one a nice, subtle ghost story.

Jen and Lexy came home from Lexy's "arm doctor" appointment today with new socks, shoes, and belt for me so I'd look extra nice for my job interview. I have to admit I actually did look pretty good, although Lexy observed that I looked "pretty plump" with my shirt tucked in. Kids are good at popping those ego balloons.

As for the interview, it went well. I believe I mentioned before that it was a panel interview, conducted by three people. When I was ushered into the room the first thing I noticed was that I knew who one of my interviewers was. She's the mother of one of the campers I taught over the summer. Small world indeed. The interview was short, and I think I answered well, but it's always kind of hard to tell. I found out that one of the other interviewers plays the nose flute, making him the first person that I've met outside of my circle who plays it. I think the fact that I play it will work in my favor. Who would have thought? Sometimes esoteric interests pay off. Now I have to wait a week and a half to find out whether I go on to the third (and final) step - an interview with the director of the school. I think I have a really good chance (I've said this before, however), and in addition to this there's a part-time position available as well (sort of like a silver medal at the Olympics). More positions will be available soon too.

In the meantime, I've e-mailed another place today, and am still waiting for a response. I heard back from one other place as well, and am currently trying to decide whether the relatively low pay and half-hour commute would be worth it. There are set interview times twice a week every week during October, which of course are inconvenient for me because making these times would entail missing work at one of my current jobs. It's such a struggle to juggle. Well, not really, but it rhymes.

It was cooler today, with clouds breaking up the monotony of the sky. I didn't do much besides the interview. Tomorrow I work both of my current jobs, for a total of five hours of pay. Rolling in money, but still feeling the hard pavement underneath - that's us.

My second day on the job was much better than the first. Not only did I feel that I hit my stride, but the school I was teaching at was much closer - literally around the corner. The age range of the kids was smaller, and there was only one child who acted out - refusing to wear his shoes and keeping up a near constant chatter. We managed to work around him.

I sent yet another resume into the aether today for a job in the social service field. Not exactly my background, but what the hell. Tomorrow I have an interview, which is the second round for the Environmental Education Specialist position. It should go well, but I still worry. My knowledge of the subject is pretty extensive (I think), but there's always the possibility that they'll ask questions that I can't answer. There's just no telling... I might as well stop worrying about it. What will be will be.

Why is it so damn hard to make a living?

Here's an old oil painting from my misspent youth. Taking good digital photos of oil paintings is harder than I thought it would be. There's always some sort of glare from somewhere.

I went to a couple of gatherings over the weekend, the first alone and the second with the whole family. On Saturday, I went to Al's birthday party at his (relatively) new place on Mission St. in San Francisco. It reminded me of parties I used to go to half a lifetime ago, with people gathering on dimly lit wooden balconies and in narrow hallways. The apartment, several floors up from the street, atop a lengthy blue staircase, was decorated in grand seventies style with black light posters and lots of plants. Pretty cool, actually. There was also excellent fondue and chocolate dip.

On Sunday, we loaded the kids in the van and went to Santa Cruz for the after party of the baptism of Andrew, who is small and smiley and not sure what all the fuss is about. There were lots of kids running riot everywhere, and more excellent food. Our own kids had lots of fun in the jumphouse, even Lexy, who went in against our advice. We arrived home tired. This morning I awoke sore from all of the extra running around. It must have been the badminton. Oh, and the fact that Willow really laughs when I hop like a frog.

I finally started my second part-time job today, after a morning of training (with more to come tomorrow morning). This involved going to a school in Palo Alto, discovering that my class had nearly twice as many kids as expected, gathering them from various rooms around campus, and teaching them how to make and throw paper airplanes. In the process of doing this I discovered that my official lab coat is good for knocking airplanes down from the ceiling and from where they had become wedged in inaccessible air vents. Due to the unexpectedly lengthy process of adding all of the new sign-ups to the roster and then gathering them up, and the even more unexpected fact that many of the kids couldn't fold basic paper airplanes, I ran out of time and had to rush through the more interesting stuff. For a first day on the job, it could have gone better. Of course, it could have gone worse too. I guess I'm not used to having to wrap things up after only an hour.

Still no new news on the job search. Right now I have a headache which I'm trying to relieve with candlelight and Current 93. Very peaceful in a haunting sort of way, as usual. We need more peaceful moments around here.

I went on a hike with Nate today. We took some pictures:




He spotted the Gopher Snake hanging out of a hole underneath a tree root.




It took exception to being caught.




So after taking too many photos, we let it go.




Then we saw a deer taking advantage of the shade provided by a large boulder near the Guadalupe reservoir.




Then, saving the cutest for last, we came upon a male Tarantula in the process of seeking a mate.




"Nope. This isn't a mate. I must have taken a wrong turn somewhere."




"Hmmm... this might be a mate, but it's only got five legs."

I had a training meeting at the museum tonight, which I thought was funny because I don't plan on being employed there much longer. They pay us for the meetings though. I guess there's always a chance that I'll end up being there longer than I plan to be, but I hope not. I'm ready to move on, and have already turned my energy elsewhere. Now all I have to do is get hired someplace.

I'm remembering that at the beginning of the year I made a vow to get a full time job with benefits before the end of the year. I'm working on it, dammit. No new news on the job search front today. The phone call that I've been expecting this week hasn't happened. No interesting jobs have been posted on any of the sites I've been checking daily. In fact, no uninteresting jobs that meet my other requirements have surfaced either. Woe is me.

I tried to photograph my old oil paintings with the digital camera today, but there was a glare from the flash. Tomorrow (if I have time) I'll go lay them out in the sunlight and try without the flash.

Lexy got through his re-casting ordeal today with a minimum of problems. He was pretty woozy from the anesthesia when Jen brought him home, and it was hard keeping the girls from jumping all over him while he recuperated on the couch.

The days are still too hot and hazy, but the evenings feel nice. If I miss one thing about my night job, it's being outside in the cool night air. At home, the house retains the heat of the day well into the night.

Autumn announced itself this morning with heat and haze. Yesterday's clear skies have once again withdrawn behind a curtain of smog. I was thinking it might be nice to greet the official change of season with some sort of little ritual, but got distracted by the frenzied pace of life at home and missed the exact moment (nine thirty something in the morning) by twenty minutes or so. Later, at work, I decided to draw a picture to celebrate the season. For what it's worth, here it is:




I also went to a small job recruitment event at my old university today, marvelling at the fact that there's actually a substantial downtown area around it where there used to be very little. Kids these days have it good. At the event, I picked up some information from the tables of a couple of nonprofit social service companies. The jobs sound interesting, and they're definitely the type of job that a person can feel good about doing. The pay (as is usually the case, I'm finding) is a bit low, but there's benefits and they're full time.
Nearby, at the school library, there were a couple of tables and a large plastic bin full of free books. Of course there were tons of students rifling through them, so I only managed to grab a couple - a book on Elkhorn Slough and a well-used Nausicaa graphic novel. I just missed out on a pile of National Geographics. I should just subscribe to it, but can't because I have no money.

I saw a different rat in the garden today. I felt a little like the Pied Piper because he jumped out of one of the raised plant beds while I was playing music. He didn't follow me though. I guess I'll have to keep practicing.

This evening, Jen's mom took her out for a birthday dinner, and I watched the other kids. Willow got to play with the little neighbor girl while the sky darkened and the moon rose. Then there was the usual chaos that precedes bedtime. Lexy is really nervous about going back to the doctor tomorrow to get yet another cast put on. His arm isn't mending well enough, it seems, so they have to redo it again. Poor guy.

Next week is going to be busy. This week I'm just waiting to see what happens. I got another e-mail from somebody who wants a reptile birthday party for her son, but that won't be until the end of November. Still, it's nice to know that there will be a little money trickling in. Too bad it's not a flood.

Happy birthday Jen!

Oh, and Cat Stevens should be allowed to go where he wants to. George Bush and his cronies, however, should be stuffed nakedly into holding cells for people to chortle at.




I'm not sure why I keep coming back to this particular theme - ships trapped in muck, or the Sargasso Sea. Maybe it's a metaphor for the ship of state. Whatever the reason, it's fun to draw.

We got an exquisite taste of autumn on Sunday. The temperature dropped, a breeze was kindled, and the clouds teased us with a sprinkle or two. Lovely. Today, however, it was warmer and clearish. Not so lovely.

I went to the first meeting for my new part time job today, all the while feeling guilty in the knowledge that if I find a full time one, I'm going to have to quit. One of last year's co-workers from the BioSITE program also works there, so there's at least one familiar face. And the unfamiliar faces all seem to belong to nice people, so it will be fun while it lasts. The actual job involves teaching after-school science programs at various locations around the South Bay. The only problem is that it's in one hour segments in the middle of the afternoon, making the scheduling of other projects or jobs frustrating, to say the least. The pay per hour is really good, but the number of hours is severely lacking. Lacking or not though, I'll do as much as I can for now. I get trained over the weekend and early next week. I also start teaching early next week. I also get interviewed by a panel of three people for a full time position next week. Hopefully I'll also hear back from the other potential employer by then.

I'll be glad when the dust settles.

Happy almost birthday to Jen!

I went and checked out the Applied Behavior Analysis job today - the one that entails working with autistic children. It's in one of those portable buildings behind an elementary school around the corner from my old high school. I observed a couple of different tutors in action. The first one was working with a boy who had articulation problems. The second one was working with a little girl who threw things. Beads, blocks, shoes, & socks flew everywhere. The work seemed a bit repetitive, but I got the feeling that there are few dull moments. The problem, I discovered, is that it doesn't pay much. After union dues, it works out to about eleven dollars an hour. It's also only part time. I'm still deciding whether or not I should apply. I may wait until the beginning of next week before deciding.

Later, I got an e-mail stating that I'd passed the test I took earlier in the week. I have an interview scheduled for the end of the month. This is for an Environmental Education Specialist position, which is exactly the kind of job I want.

Hopefully sometime soon I can get back to writing about something other than this interminable job search.

Another job possibility has appeared over the horizon, thanks to a tip off from Uncle Jay and Stacy. It involves working with autistic children, which is something I've never done before. I'm going to go check it out tomorrow, to see what it's like. At the moment, only a part time position is available, but it comes with benefits. Meanwhile, I've gotten a work schedule from the other part-time employer, and it's a little light on the hours. There's a good possiblility that it will be added to soon though. Probably just in time for there to be a conflict with something else. At any rate, it's sure been an interesting month with all of this uncertainty.

I really hope that I get one of the full time jobs. It's difficult to juggle part time ones. Of course, I'll do whatever I have to do.

I just noticed that the King Snake has started to shed. He always makes himself extra scarce around shedding time, preferring to remain out of sight under his water bowl. Due to his reclusiveness, I didn't even notice his eyes get milky. He didn't eat his last mouse though, which is always a good indication that shedding is imminent. Not one to waste food, I gave the mouse to the Monitor, who is always willing to eat.

I felt like I was back in school again as I sat at a table, taking a test, surrounded by other people doing the same thing, all in order to actually get to the interview phase for this particular job. I think I was the only local person. Others I talked to had come from Southern California, Monterey, and Marin. The test itself consisted of matching, fill in the blanks, and short answer questions, all dealing with environmental science issues. I think I did pretty well. I was one of the first finished, even taking into consideration that I rechecked my answers a few times.

Now I get to sit around and wait for people to call me back. A total of eighteen people applied for this one position. Not the best odds. Could be worse, I suppose.

It was hotter today, and is still a bit uncomfortable. The air is still, and a single cricket is chirping outside my window. I'm not sure why the crickets in the scorpion and tarantula cages don't join in. I can see them in there, silently moving around.

Autumn had better get here soon.

This probably happens a lot in small towns: You've applied for a job, and you know that you have a pretty good chance of getting it, but then one day a friend overhears a woman in a $tarbucks coffee shop excitedly talking to a friend about how she just got offered that very same position.
Imagine my surprise when it happened to me here in a city of almost a million people (and that's not counting the suburban sprawl of towns and cities nearby).

So what was this job that I almost had? It was a supervisor position at the museum. Apparently it was down to me and this mysterious woman. It seems that she got the job because her background is more purely managerial than mine. It seems that previous supervisors had voiced their frustration about not getting to interact with children as much as they would have liked. Since they know me, they felt that I would encounter this same frustration. At the moment though, I'm not worried about frustration. I'm worried about paying the damn bills.

I'm irritated. I've worked there for over six years, and I also have over six years managerial experience (at a bookstore). I'll probably continue to be irritated until I find a position somewhere else. That said, I think that the other possibilities I have in front of me at the moment sound more interesting than a supervisor job. I'll probably eventually be glad that I didn't get this one. Eventually.

And think about the odds of finding out about it like I did. They have got to be steeper odds than winning the lottery. Very coincidental indeed. Or was there some reason why it happened this way - some lesson to be learned? Time will tell, like it almost always does.

Another job interview is behind me. I'll hear back from them next week to see if I get to move on to stage two, which in this case means spending a day in Half Moon Bay. I also let my new part time job know about the possibility of me getting a full time job. I'm supposed to get back to them when I find out.
It looks like I have some real competition for the job I interviewed for today. People have applied from all over the state. How well a person does at this job is determined in part by personality, and how one relates to others at the facility. I'm not talking about coworkers, although interpersonal relationships are also important, I'm sure. It seems that sometimes the coyotes or the bobcats, or other animals on site, just decide they don't like certain people. I hope I dont' fall into that category. I'm not worried though. I have a way with animals.

Jen and I took turns running errands today. Strangely enough, we both came home with dirt. If judging us by our apparently frivolous spending habits, a person would have to conclude that we have more money than we know what to do with. Sadly this is not the case. I bought dirt ("Jungle Mix") so I could clean the Rat Snake cage. Jen bought dirt so we could once again try to whip the yard into shape and plant a few flowers. It's a good thing dirt is cheap. Dirt cheap, actually.

The weather has decided to give us a break, so it was cooler and slightly breezy today. Thankfully it wasn't quite as breezy as it was in, say, Jamaica, or Cuba today. That's too breezy.

We watched The Station Agent last night (wonder of wonders, actually getting to watch something that isn't meant for kids) and both really liked it. Go see it if you want something both humorous and thoughtful. It's a good, solid film about unlikely friendships. What is it that draws people together, anyway? A simple question with millions of answers.

We made a measly 13 dollars at the yard sale today. Afterwards, since the older kids were at their dad's, we all took naps. Outside, it was hot again, with a bit of wind to temper the temperature. Inside, there was lots of stuff on the floor, so with my energy regained after my nap, I cleaned up a bit. It made me feel better.

Here's a photo from the archives, taken at work on Halloween sometime during the 90's. Impromptu costumes are always the best - It took a whole roll of toilet paper to achieve this effect.

Individually, people are usually okay. It's when they get together in big groups that the problems start. Look at religion. Look at popular culture. Look at the government. Look at all governments. Look at the decay inside that bursts outward like the contents of prodded pustules, taking down innocent lives and altering landscapes. Look at the hatred and fear on all sides as groups of people lash out at each other, begetting more hatred and fear.

Stop identifying with groups. Start thinking. Start feeling. Start living.

I just read that tonight there was a mushroom cloud reported in North Korea. People continue to die in Iraq and Afghanistan, and many other places all over the world. It's not going to stop anytime soon. What happened three years ago in the U.S. was really a pretty minor event in our long history of bloodshed. Those people shouldn't have died. All of the people who have died since, as a more or less direct result of that event, shouldn't have died either. All of the people who in the future will die because of that event (and let's not forget all of the other events that led up to it) should not die either. Every one of these people who have died or shall die leave behind grieving friends, lovers, and relatives. And the cycle continues... This is not about politics. It's about who we are. Who are we?

I'm reminded of the kids. It's always a pleasure to have one on one time with them. Whenever we try to take them anywhere in a group it usually results in a scene of some sort. Whining and tantrums. It's kind of a microcosm of how the world works. People just can't seem to get along.

There is evil out there, but it is spread evenly throughout humanity. Everybody has the potential inside them. Don't give in to it.

I got to visit yet another hospital today, because Lexy, not content with breaking his arm at school a couple of years ago, broke it again today. This time it was much worse. Bent at a right angle - very painful to look at, let alone experience. He was very brave about it, all things considered. It seems he was accidentally knocked over on the asphalt playground. Tonight he is sleeping with a cast, which he will be wearing for quite some time. I'm sure Jen, who stayed with him at the emergency room while I went home to feed the girls, will fill in all of the little details on her blog.

On the positive side of things, I got another response from a potential employer today. Now, in addition to a phone interview next week, I have an hour long test to take. Jumping through hoops in the mad scramble towards gainful employment. How thrilling!

It's hot inside tonight, but cool outside. I'm sitting near an open window.

Oops. I spoke to soon. I'm now sitting near a closed window. Right after I posted the above, the unmistakable odor of pissed-off skunk came wafting in. I went so far as to poke around the yard with a flashlight (after a comical episode of trying to find a working flashlight and discovering that even one of the brand new never-been-opened ones didn't work) to find the culprit. No skunks were sighted. Just that abominable smell. Jen has put some aromatherapy oils in the kids' rooms, and we have incense burning in here. It's getting warm though. Dammit.

The sticky weather continues to torment us. I noticed today that the air has once again taken on a brownish tinge along the horizon, like a monstrous dirty diaper. Maybe it was this dirtiness that kept people away from the museum today. I found myself nearly alone at my table, where I would have been showing people how to make rain guages had anybody been interested.

This morning, before the heat struck, I took my mother to the hospital for a hernia operation, and sat there with her as one of the hospital bureaucratic types shuffled papers around and asked for the same information several times.
After work, I picked her up and drove her home. Just like that. It was her first operation too. I have yet to have one myself, and am not looking forward to the day. The idea of being "put under" while people I don't know cut me open just doesn't appeal to me.

I'm currently listening to Ilgi "Speleju Dancoju" (I Played and Danced). It's a musical based on a play by Latvian poet Janis Rainis (1865-1929), and the music definitely covers a lot of ground, with scores of singers singing the character parts, backed by Ilgi's blend of Latvian folk and rock. Willow was in here earlier dancing to it. I wonder what kind of music she'll like when she's a teenager. Most likely something that all of the grownups hate, but you never can tell. Maybe she'll be the exception to that particular rule.

Here's another picture of a snake. This one I caught up near Pinecrest Lake in the Sierra Nevada range. It's a Mountain Kingsnake. Red on black. Friend of Jack. Whoever Jack is.

Another potential employer called to schedule a job interview with me today. It's a phone interview, to take place on Monday morning. I hate talking on the phone. I'm glad they called though. It's always nice to have a few options. The salary for this particular job is unknown ("send salary requirements"). The commute looks kind of brutal, and I don't quite have the previous experience that they're looking for. However, it looks like a fun and rewarding job. And they did call me, after all.

The problem is that, shortly after I do this interview, I should know whether or not I have the other job - the one that I've already done two interviews for. Not to mention the part time one that I've already been hired for (although they haven't called to schedule me yet). I have a feeling that this is how job searches often end up - a muddle of possibilities. I guess I should be thankful that at the grand old age of 36 I've never had to deal with it before. All of my previous jobs just kind of snapped into place like a lego set (the little kid kind, not the complicated ones for older kids). This is partially because I kept the night job for 16 years. With those nocturnal paychecks rolling in, the daytime paychecks didn't really matter, giving me the freedom to work for proverbial peanuts, or in some cases nothing. Things are a little different when the bills and the rent are hanging in the balance. It makes me more nervous during interviews.

We're participating in another garage sale on Sunday, just in case. I've still got a handful of Canadian dollars, British pounds, and Euros to exchange as well.

The interview went pretty well, I think. Now more waiting...

The boys and I went for a hike this evening. Of course, the first person we ran into on the trail (right after stopping to look at some deer) asked us if we had seen any Mountain Lions, which is the one animal I try not to mention around the boys because they're a bit scared of them. The man was actually out there with his little binoculars hoping to spot one. He went on to say that a friend of his had seen one in the gully next to the trail we were on. I had visions of the boys simultaneously wetting their pants. To their credit, they didn't, and we continued on, with the man's parting words, "look out for Rattlesnakes!", ringing in our ears. I love finding Rattlesnakes, but I once went on a hike with Lexy during which he whined the whole time about the possibility of running into one. Again, perhaps because both boys were there together, they managed to hold it together. Further up the trail, a couple walking their dog were staring into the brush while the man made loud noises, as if trying to scare something off. I asked them what they were looking at, and the woman sheepishly replied that they thought it might have been a Mountain Lion. As they left, I peered into the bushes and witnessed a family of Quail hightailing it downhill. People are a bit jumpy, aren't they?

It started getting dark well before we got back, and we saw a large bird that I couldn't identify in the gloom. It had a habit of flying a short distance every time I got close, so I never did figure out what it was. I looked young, though. Afterwards, we saw an owl (flying into the distance), and some bats. Another owl hooted from somewhere out in the dark.

We also saw these:







It was so dark at this point that I couldn't see what I was taking a picture of. We didn't clearly see the toads until we looked at the pictures. The boys had a lot of fun. The toads peed on me.

It's just as hot today. Maybe hotter. I'm drinking iced coffee with half-frozen ice cubes because I just couldn't wait for them to solidify. Tomorrow promises more of the same. During the late morning, I have a second interview for one of the positions I've applied for. I'm confident and nervous at the same time. I hope the confidence is more obvious than the nervousness.

I spent Labor Day laboring at the museum, mainly because a great many people spent Labor Day visiting the museum. At least it was air conditioned.

Here's a snake. Snakes are nice. They also occasionally help pay the bills around here.

It's the kind of weather that makes your clothes weigh heavily upon you and your fluids leak slowly from your pores. We're all just flopping around the house today, because even without air conditioning it's still cooler inside.

Did I mention that I got another part time job? I'm unsure what to tell them next week when they begin scheduling hours, because the jury is still out on the full time one. I'll think of something, I guess. Maybe I'll know more in a few days.

M. and I went and saw Sleepytime Gorilla Museum at Mills College on Saturday, meeting G. who publicly transported himself there, on the steps outside. Carla Bozulich opened the show and sounded nothing like somebody who recently recorded a re-make of Willie Nelson's "Red Headed Stranger" would be expected to sound. Not Country, in other words. Much more jagged and jarring. The inappropriately monickered Death Ambient (Fred Frith, Ikue Mori, and Kato Hideki) were next, and did interesting things with guitar, laptop, and bass. Fred Frith was especially fun to watch as he played his guitar with the help of a table full of gadgets. The very appropriately named Toychestra was next, and performed a set using children's instruments and toys. If my pockets had contained anything other than lint, I would have bought some of their cds. Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, looking a bit out of place on a well lit school stage, were as incredible as always. The only sobering bit was Moe!'s official announcement of his departure from the band. A replacement is currently being trained.

One more interview behind me. Actually, it was kind of a group interview, with three interviewees present. The drive to the interview took about half an hour, which is fine by me because I have a cd player in my car. I think I'll find out pretty quickly whether or not I get this job. In a way it reminded me of my job interview at YSI - very relaxed and friendly. It seems like an exciting place to work. An old coworker of mine (well, from earlier this year, anyway) already works there. More on this soon.

Jen got a call while I was at work from a woman who wants to have a Halloween party with reptiles and spiders and such. Extra money next month. As if any money we take in is extra... Every little bit helps though.

For some reason there were lots of people in the Early Childhood Center at work today. And they were all playing with the gak (a rubbery, slimy mixture of borax, glue, water, and food coloring). While clowning around with a large group of preschoolers I discovered that it is possible to jump rope with the stuff. It usually ends up coming apart, sending slimy green segments across the room, but the kids sure enjoyed it. A mom even requested a repeat performance for one of her daughters who had missed the initial tomfoolery. It was one of those days that made me marvel at the fact that I get paid to do this kind of work. Too bad it's not enough to live on.

I've been shortlisted for one job position, and my follow up interview is next week. Wish me luck. I also have an interview for a part time job tomorrow morning. I'm still trying to decide how I'm going to juggle this. I don't have enough time to do both, and we don't have enough money to do neither. I need to jump on every opportunity that presents itself though, so I guess I'll just sort it all out later. I'd hate to pass up the part time job if the full time positions that I've applied for go to other people.

I think it was in the seventies today, which is lower than the numbers that the forecasters have been spitting at us all week. Maybe that means that it won't really be anywhere near one hundred degrees this weekend. One can hope.

The rat is still in the compost. He jumped up again when I was watering it down. This time I was able to see where he went, and when I squeaked at him in my best rat voice he actually stopped and came back, perching on top of the wooden, rafter-like beams above the compost bin, probably thinking to himself, "you ain't a rat, so why the hell you squeaking?".

The boys have completed their second day of school, and seem to be enjoying it. Jen took Lexy this morning, and later on we all walked Nate to school. The girls managed to displace all of the water in several puddles outside of his classroom, laughing and smiling all the while. And getting very muddy, of course. Next time we'll stop them before it gets so out of hand. But dammit, it was so cute.

There are signs up in the neighborhood warning people about local coyotes. It seems that the partial remains of several cats and dogs have been found littering peoples' yards. The town paper had an article about it as well. Gives a whole new meaning to the term "pet food".

No new news on the job front. And to make matters worse, it's supposed to get hotter by the weekend. That's insult to injury. Poor and sweltering. At least the nights are cool.

The patchy clouds have done little to cut down the heat, at least during the middle of the day. I'm finding that one of the benefits of actually getting up in the morning is that it's nice and cool for a few hours. This is a good time to get things done, before the heat sucks all the energy away and all I want to do is sit in the shade.

I'm nervously checking my bank balance, waiting for that last summer camp paycheck to appear there. I like direct deposit, but sometimes it seems like just one more way for things to go wrong. What if my paycheck gets electronically transferred into the internet equivalent of a dead letter office? What if a retiree from Des Moines was the recipient of my e-mailed timesheet? I'll check again tomorrow.

I took Willow to a barbeque at an old friend's house on Saturday. That's right. House. You know you've hit some sort of temporal plateau when your childhood friends start buying houses. Especially in this area. That's more of a feat than having kids. Anyway, Willow had a great time pulling up the decorative pinwheels stuck in the dirt out back, chasing the small dogs, and eating handfuls of mini chocolate chip cookies. She also expressed fondness for one of the doormats - the one emblazoned with pictures of small dogs. As for me, I got to try barbequed portabello mushrooms (with soy sauce and garlic) and barbequed rice balls (also with soy sauce and garlic). Yummy. I also admired the hardwood floors that my friend was crazy enough to put in himself. I left when Willow started acting tired. Not that she was about to admit it, of course. She was having too much fun. She pointed to the rising moon as we left. She always notices the moon. She was asleep before we were off the block.

(Slight pause while I go and rescue Nate from the really large, apparently fearsome, spider in the bathroom)

Almost September. Hopefully it will be a good month.

I saw a guy driving on the wrong side of the road on the way to work today. I think that he realized his mistake at the very moment I spotted him, because he came to a stop and started directing traffic, making little "after you" gestures with his hands, all the while studiously avoiding any eye contact. Drunk or just really confused? From the UK? Reckless performance artist? I'll never know.

At work, I discovered that a large rat had moved into one of the compost piles in the garden. It shot straight up into the air while I was hosing down the pile, vanishing into the large rosebush above. Try as I might, I couldn't find where it was hiding.

The weather was boring today - cloudless and warm. It's hard to be inspired about anything under these conditions. I need some fog, or clouds with the threat of rain. Maybe one of those freak storms where it rains fish.

It looks like our financial situation is going to get pretty grim before it gets better. I have a few job possibilities on the horizon, but things on the horizon always seem to take their sweet time getting right up next to you. I've done one interview for a full time position, I have another interview (for a part time position) scheduled for next week, and I just filled out another online application. This last job looks really good, but doesn't start until the middle of October. This last fact relegates it to "plan C" status. There's at least one other place that I haven't heard back from at all.

I hate that lag time between the interview and the final decision. I know it's necessary, but I still hate it.

Hopefully soon I can look back on this with the contented smile of a person with a full time job. Or at least a couple of good part time ones. If I was independently wealthy, I would just volunteer at wildlife centers or Hidden Villa or wherever the hell else I felt like working. Money is just an abstraction. It's just dirty little bits of metal and paper. It has no intrinsic value.

Bring back the barter system!

Below: Would you shake hands with this cat?

I once got severance pay for a job that I didn't lose. Today I had a job interview at my current place of employment. Life is funny.

There is a reason that I'm drawing pictures of myself. Really.

The boys' bedtime story tonight was another biography about the Wright Brothers. After reading a bit about early flight experimentation with hot air balloons, I decided that the boys had to see the opening scene from Andrei Tarkovsky's Andrei Rublev, which I am now certain must have been inspired by an incident in France when a pair of inventors got their balloon to fly for around a mile, only to have it torn apart by frightened peasants after it settled to earth. Both of the boys found it interesting, even though the film is in black and white, and subtitled - two nearly unpardonable sins in the eyes of the young. Kids these days...

We should never let our fear of the unknown inspire brutish behavior. It's just uncouth. Loutish, even. Oh, wait, the president does it. Must be okay then. Imagine all of those french peasants with the face of George W. Bush - semi simian, and not quite comprehending what it is that they're in the process of destroying. It's a frightening image to be sure.

I had planned to park in the loading dock on friday morning, but they had chosen that day to start putting in a new gate, so I parked on the lawn next to the garden instead, which is the best parking place I've ever gotten. I wish I could always park there, but sadly that just isn't going to happen. They let me do it only because I had all of the reptiles and bugs and such with me.
It didn't take me long to discover that it doesn't matter how often or well I wash my hands - if I've been holding other critters, the Water Monitor is going to try to take a bit out of me. Consequently, he spent the morning in his cage. The python spent the morning in the plants in the garden. All of the creatures were popular, so I spent hours rotating them in and out of their cages.
Author Gary Bogue (see previous post) and illustrator Chuck Todd showed up at around 1:30 or so, and I had a good time talking to them in between answering questions and getting out animals. Gary had lots of interesting anecdotes about strange, exotic wildlife encounters, including a time when he had to rescue a Wallaby from someone's garage. Sounds like a dream job to me. At 2:00 they gave a short talk and handed out some cool posters to the assembled children. At this point, I was already packing up so I could make it over to my next engagement (this makes me sound busier than I actually am somehow) at the church summer school. Too bad. It would have been fun to stick around longer.
The church presentation took place outside, with small groups of small children coming and going. The python kept trying to sneak off while I wasn't looking, but since he's slow I always caught him. The Monitor remained in his cage.
I was delayed going home by heavier than usual traffic, which I found out later was caused by a freeway closure that came about when a woman threatened to jump off an overpass. It took hours for the police to talk her down. I'm not sure why they needed all of the helicopters though.

Last night I went up to Berkeley to see The Mysterious Mr. Looney, a play about the controversy surrounding the authorship of Shakespeare's plays. Sound by G. An enjoyable evening out, as is always the case with Central Works plays. Next weekend is the final one. Go see it if possible.

Today I cleaned the yard. Wahoo!

There were a few wispy clouds punctuating the blue today, but not enough to make it much cooler. The air conditioner at work did the trick though.

It's strange only working one job - kind of like being on vacation. It's funny that while I'm enjoying not having to set my alarm clock, I'm looking forward to having to set it again. Actually, I will have to set it tonight because I'm working the morning shift tomorrow so that I can present another animal program for the church summer camp people. I'm really going to have to rush though, because I'm staying an extra hour at the museum so that my shift overlaps with the arrival of Gary Bogue, who wrote a book called The Raccoon Next Door - Getting Along With Urban Wildlife. I'll be on hand with my wildlife. Should be interesting.




Here's a drawing I did for my Wild Images camp last month. It's a Water Monitor skull, which illustrates why I don't let kids hold my Water Monitor. He's got a good sense of smell, and if you've been holding or eating something that he likes, he'll smell it and try to eat you.

The post I just wrote fell victim to an "internal server error". Figures. There's something to be said for paper and pen. Handwritten stuff never gets sucked into the ether.

I made another convert to the "snakes are all right" club today, which always makes me smile. I had the Milk Snake with me today at the museum, and a girl who was terrified of snakes found the courage to touch it (with some help and encouragement from her mom). It's always heart warming to see somebody work through their fears like that.

Then, looking up, I discovered that the "felt art" sign had been tampered with again. The sign is made of felt stuck to a felt board, and the idea of the exhibit is to create your own art by sticking little scraps of felt onto the pre-framed spaces on the wall. I've lost count of how many times I've looked up to find that the sign has been changed to spell out "felt fart". Kids.

Here's a picture of a Horned Toad that was taken on the same trail as the last lizard picture I posted, but two years earlier.

I went to a couple of shows this weekend. The first was the Cowboy Junkies at the Mountain Winery. I'm not sure whose idea it was to put a winery at the top of a narrow, winding road. On the plus side, all of the larger tree trunks are painted white to help the drunks navigate on the way down. There were plenty of people wandering around at the show with little, plastic wine cups, comfortable in the knowledge that the white trees would see them safely home. But I digress - the show itself, which started minutes after we (Jen, Lexy, and I) plopped our butts down on the wooden bleachers, was quite good. They've added an accordian player, who lends a little extra something to the songs, making them perhaps even more melancholy than before. The sky darkened above us as they played, which is an added bonus. Outdoor shows in the hills are great, even if the damn corporate venue charged us ten dollars to park our van. Oh well.
Having only Lexy with us, I was reminded that he's still quite a little kid. He always looks so big when compared to the other three, who were home with granny. Willow, who had never been left behind before, did well. She's starting to realize that those grandmother people are part of the family, and so must be trusted. She even cried a bit when my mom left the other day.

The other show was last night, and featured three bands, two of which I saw. I went with a couple of old friends, Allan and Steve. We got to the Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco in the middle of the first band's set, but stayed outside talking until after they were done. The second band, Earthless, did a two-song set comprised of one monstrous seventies inspired instrumental jam and a shorter song with vocals. The drummer was pretty incredible. The guitarist wheedled on a bit though. Minor quibbles aside, they were enjoyable.
Om headlined. This time, unlike their show last month, I could hear the vocals, which had a mantra-like quality to them. The absence of a guitarist is not an issue here. The wall of sludge created by the bass and drums is more than enough to satisfy. I'm looking forward to hearing the cd when it's released in February on Holy Mountain records.

Today, it was hot and I worked at the museum. No more summer camp. Too bad.




These are the final two pictures in a series of 125. At least for the present.

I forgot to mention that I finally found out what the instrument I always refer to as "that wooden recorder-like instrument" is actually called. It's a tarka. People had been asking me what it was so often that I finally got online and researched it. Pretty easy actually - I just typed in "Bolivian musical instruments" and ten minutes (or so) later I had my answer. I feel pretty silly that it took me a decade of owning the damn thing to find out what it was.

And now, you must find the lizard.

The sun has set on the last day of summer camp. This morning, the fog that has kept me company on the way to work for the bulk of the week was mostly missing. We started things off by making small compost columns out of plastic bottles - a portable compost pile! What will they think of next? The rest of the day was largely given over to hiking and playing a variation of hide-and-seek called camouflage. The seeker had to stay put, and could do nothing more than rotate in place. The hiders had to hide in such a way that they could be visible, at least in part, to the diligent seeker. Afterwards, with very little time to spare, we went and visited the Pacific Giant Salamander larvae in the creek. The kids wanted to name the one we caught, so I told them that it was a wild animal and didn't need a human name. They persisted, so when I put it back in the creek, it was saddled with a name. "Squirmy". Good God.

One of the girls told me that when I played music that it made her happy and glad to be alive. Everybody had a great last day - even the immature genius. We had more good discussions about the need for wilderness and the need for wilderness protection. This was the only camp all year that was old enough to really get into this type of discussion. It felt good to really get deeply into the matter and not just scratch the surface like I had to do with most of the other camps.

So now I'm semi-unemployed. I only have one part-time job. This has to change soon. Tonight I wrote yet another cover letter for a position that looks like it won't start until late September. I don't quite meet the qualifications either, but I think the experience I do have substitutes quite nicely. We'll see. I will apply for others too. We're a bit stressed though.

Times are interesting. It's too early to tell whether it's a curse or a blessing. I've just noticed that I can do all sorts of crazy stuff with the text too. ha ha.

Once a year, towards the end of summer, the more or less monthly staff meeting at the museum becomes a party. This year it was a karaoke party, which made me less than enthusiastic... until I noticed that there were some Black Sabbath songs in the karaoke book... A co-worker joined me in a rousing rendition of "War Pigs", which hopefully won't ruin my chances of securing one of the coveted full-time positions there (As a member of the floor staff, I work less than 20 hours a week) that recently got posted.
Jen and the kids were all there too. Lexy, with the help of a musuem staff member, sang a couple of songs - "Zip a dee doo dah" and "All Star" by that band Mushmouth or Fatmouth or whatever they're called. He did a really good job too - much better than most of the adults. Nathan, with a little help from me and some hinderance from The Dickens, sang "Twinkle, twinkle little star". The Dickens pouted and shouted and threw her inflatable microphone to the ground before stomping off stage - all because nobody would let her near the real microphones. Somebody commented that she was acting like a real rock star. Willow splashed in the decorative fountain, which is really more of a decorative rivulet, perfect for floating those little pencils (at every table for signing up for karaoke songs) in and watching them go over the waterfall at the end.

Okay, gotta go get cookies out of the oven. Bye.