Monday, February 21, 2005
back at the UofA...
Monday has arrived and I am back at the Connectivity Lab of the UofA, this time on an eMac. How that's different than an iMac I don't know, except the eMac looks like it means business, as opposed to the iMac, which is still more powerful, I suspect, than my aging home PC, but looks like a cute lil' machine playing at Big Important Computer. Except I doubt it crashes when I look at it crooked. Or at all. Again, unlike my home PC.
I've been wandering 'round the campus again after strolling down University Boulevard and Fourth Street. Fourth Street is what is known as the counter-cultural part of Tucson, i.e. organic food co-ops and coffee houses with 100% free trade coffee and blond white guys with dreads. In other words, my kind of place. (Except for the blond white guys with dreads. Cute and all, but wash your damn hair already.)
Later in the day I'll be heading over to BestFriend's place of business, where we will have lunch together and I'll sit and read while I wait for her to finish work (or just head back here - it's not that far away and there's much more to enjoy at the university - man, I so should be a professional student, how do I get paid for that gig?). Then BestFriend, BFHubby, BFDaughter and I will have dinner, whereupon I will be driven to the nearby airport to head home.
I tell ya, this weekend has gone by so fast. I don't usually spend this much time in Tucson. As a rule, I'm here about 2 1/2 days, not including travel time. This time I've been here for a little over three days and it still rushed by. But it's been a great visit, as usual. Friday night was dinner with all four of us at a Sweet Tomatoes (that's Souplantation for you L.A. folks) and hanging out at their home, Saturday was more hanging out, Sunday was a girly day for BestFriend, BFDaughter and myself as we ate at a wonderful vegetarian restaurant run by the Krishnas, then we shopped for clothes, then for books. Which, okay, maybe that last bit is on the dangerous side. I've managed to pick up at least twenty books this weekend, to be added to the stack of twenty plus currently residing on my computer table. Because I haven't even scratched the thin veneer of the surface of all the books I need to read. Later we had to stop off at Wal-Mart, which was weird for me because I despise Wal-Mart with every cell in my being (I got very quiet when I walked in because I was being bombarded by all the negativity inherent in such a horrible business - the entire time I was in the store I felt tense and had to force myself to smile) and so will never spend my money there. But I also completely understand why people shop there - especially people with families - and I don't think I can be all Ms. Judgmental about it.
But, Wal-Mart aside, lovely as this entire weekend has been, Saturday night was probably best of all. Because it was a girls' date for BestFriend and I, having dinner at a yummy Teppan style Japanese restaurant (I'd never been to one before), tea at a lovely Asian teahouse and a night at the theatre watching a fantastic Irish dance troupe that has been around longer than Riverdance and incorporated jazz, modern and ballet dance as well. We managed to get caught in the storm that swept through Tucson Saturday night, watching the lightening, listening to the thunder, getting pelted by both huge, heavy raindrops and pebble-sized hail as we navigated the three blocks from the parking garage to Centennial Hall, attempting to minimize the drenching (thank heavens for umbrellas, no?) despite the ankle-deep rushing rivers that are now city streets once again.
It was an adventure. And fun, in its own rather damp little way. We followed it up by a rain-free brownie hot-fudge sundae at Coco's, with a hot chocolate for me and milk for her, then back on home.
It's no wonder I love these weekends in Tucson. And it's no wonder why I head out here at least once a year, if not twice.
Time to start planning my next visit...
I've been wandering 'round the campus again after strolling down University Boulevard and Fourth Street. Fourth Street is what is known as the counter-cultural part of Tucson, i.e. organic food co-ops and coffee houses with 100% free trade coffee and blond white guys with dreads. In other words, my kind of place. (Except for the blond white guys with dreads. Cute and all, but wash your damn hair already.)
Later in the day I'll be heading over to BestFriend's place of business, where we will have lunch together and I'll sit and read while I wait for her to finish work (or just head back here - it's not that far away and there's much more to enjoy at the university - man, I so should be a professional student, how do I get paid for that gig?). Then BestFriend, BFHubby, BFDaughter and I will have dinner, whereupon I will be driven to the nearby airport to head home.
I tell ya, this weekend has gone by so fast. I don't usually spend this much time in Tucson. As a rule, I'm here about 2 1/2 days, not including travel time. This time I've been here for a little over three days and it still rushed by. But it's been a great visit, as usual. Friday night was dinner with all four of us at a Sweet Tomatoes (that's Souplantation for you L.A. folks) and hanging out at their home, Saturday was more hanging out, Sunday was a girly day for BestFriend, BFDaughter and myself as we ate at a wonderful vegetarian restaurant run by the Krishnas, then we shopped for clothes, then for books. Which, okay, maybe that last bit is on the dangerous side. I've managed to pick up at least twenty books this weekend, to be added to the stack of twenty plus currently residing on my computer table. Because I haven't even scratched the thin veneer of the surface of all the books I need to read. Later we had to stop off at Wal-Mart, which was weird for me because I despise Wal-Mart with every cell in my being (I got very quiet when I walked in because I was being bombarded by all the negativity inherent in such a horrible business - the entire time I was in the store I felt tense and had to force myself to smile) and so will never spend my money there. But I also completely understand why people shop there - especially people with families - and I don't think I can be all Ms. Judgmental about it.
But, Wal-Mart aside, lovely as this entire weekend has been, Saturday night was probably best of all. Because it was a girls' date for BestFriend and I, having dinner at a yummy Teppan style Japanese restaurant (I'd never been to one before), tea at a lovely Asian teahouse and a night at the theatre watching a fantastic Irish dance troupe that has been around longer than Riverdance and incorporated jazz, modern and ballet dance as well. We managed to get caught in the storm that swept through Tucson Saturday night, watching the lightening, listening to the thunder, getting pelted by both huge, heavy raindrops and pebble-sized hail as we navigated the three blocks from the parking garage to Centennial Hall, attempting to minimize the drenching (thank heavens for umbrellas, no?) despite the ankle-deep rushing rivers that are now city streets once again.
It was an adventure. And fun, in its own rather damp little way. We followed it up by a rain-free brownie hot-fudge sundae at Coco's, with a hot chocolate for me and milk for her, then back on home.
It's no wonder I love these weekends in Tucson. And it's no wonder why I head out here at least once a year, if not twice.
Time to start planning my next visit...
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