Lawn Jockeys

I took these pictures on my camera in Saratoga Springs, NY. We had an afternoon off, and I decided to walk through the neighborhood closest to Skidmore College. As racing and thoroughbreds are what Saratoga Springs is known for, the biggest and oldest houses still have jockeys at the street--not for function but for a signal of class it seems. The houses are enormous and very well kept; there are neighborhoods just streets over that are run-down and unkempt. It is an interesting juxtaposition.

I think of this as Saratoga's version of those posters you see of different doors throughout a region or a country: "Jockeys of Saratoga Springs." Each jockey with his house behind him.

















Jockeys rimming the fountain at the main entrance to the Saratoga Race Track.



No Byrons to be found in upstate NY...the one and only resides in Carp!

Condo Tour Part 2

In the last installment of the tour we visited the condo's bottom floor. Thank you for your patience (although some of you haven't been all that patient ;) ) regarding the second floor tour. Since Floor 1, I've been oriented in every way imaginable, survived my first monsoon, started teaching and classes, bought tickets home for Labor Day weekend, and got the ok to volunteer at a local high school as a post coach. Busy, huh?

Anyway, today you'll get a peek at the second floor of the condo. The second floor is the primary living space.

This is the view from the stairs looking at the living room. The TV is to the right, and at some point I will put a couch where the chairs are now. Hopefully sooner rather than later--I miss having a couch!


This is from the living room looking towards the kitchen, spiral stairs and spare bedroom down the short hallway. The kitchen is fairly short on storage, so we put a cabinet under the stairs for a pantry. So far it works out really well!


This is the hallway to the spare bedroom and 2nd floor bathroom. The posters came from Italy! Don't they look nice!?


This is the bathroom on the main floor. It has a beach theme--shocking that I would be from a beach town and have things with which to decorate. It has a bathtub and pedestal sink. Auntie Mer and Mom fixed a little drawer unit for storage! They're so handy!


This is the spare bedroom/office. It is a work in progress. Nothing is hung up yet and that bed is an air mattress (fooled you, huh?). I have great plans for this room! You should come stay in it!


Auntie Mer drew the gaucho on the wall here. Although I'm not a fan of the Gauchos, I like this cowboy.


Ok, 2 floors down, 1 to go. You'll see my room next time!

Spending Time at Chase Field

In the last week, I've been to 2 Dbacks game at Chase Field.

The Dbacks are terrible this year, bottom of their division and just generally bad. But, Chase Field is a nice place to watch a game, and with the roof closed, it is very comfortably air conditioned. Still strange for me to watch a game in a dome--it doesn't quite seem right, but when the other option is 108 degrees at a game time of 6:40pm, I'll take the dome.

On Tuesday, the Dbacks lost to the Reds. I convinced 16 TAs to attend the game. We took the lightrail to downtown and got tickets for $10 from scalpers. The seats were on the top deck, hence the bird's eye view of the field. On Friday, I went with a friend of friends from SoCal who is doing his undergrad at ASU. He bought us great seats down the first baseline. After every Friday game, they open the roof and shoot off fireworks. Nice way to spend an evening.

This is the first full week of classes, and I definitely feel like I'm back in school. I've posted 2 reading responses already and have 2 more due on Wednesday. My students seem great, although they may be mad at me for assigning a bunch of homework on the first day. Oh well, I can deal with it.

View from the Top Deck:


The Group (They are making "T"s for TAs...yes, we are all nerds like that)


The SoCal girls:



View from the good seats:


The roof opening:


Fireworks (I do love fireworks!):

First Day at ASU

"Back to school, back to school to prove to Dad I'm not a fool. I got my lunch packed up, my shoes tied tight, hope I don't get in a fight. Back to school, back to schooooool..."

In honor of the first day of school tomorrow at ASU, here are a few pictures of the campus.

LL--Language and Literature Building. My office is on the third floor.



COOR--Lattie F. Coor Building. My classroom is in the basement section.


No, this isn't a subway station underground. This is the basement of the Coor Building. Good news is that the Coor Building has computers for most of the students.



One of the walkways. Don't you just love the cacti?! Easy maintenance, I guess.

Cultural Adventure

On Saturday, my new friend Emily and I decided to go explore a little of Phoenix. We did a little research and decided to go see a museum (indoor activities are a must at the moment). The Heard Museum is in downtown Phoenix and the collection specializes in Native American art, mostly of the Southwest and Plains regions but there is also a room devoted to Inuit art.

After perusing the museum for the afternoon, we went to a tapas restaurant that had been recommended by one of the returning PhDs. The food was delicious--it was Asian tapas, which is an unusual mix but very good.

We drove around noticing that at 8pm on a Saturday night there really aren't any Phoenicians on the streets, which for a big city seemed odd. Our best guess is that at 8pm it is still over 100 degrees and everyone just ducks into restaurants and bars instead of meandering the streets. Who knows? We found the light rail stop outside Chase Field (the BOB), and when Emily's boyfriend and dad get here this week we're planning to go see the D-backs play the Cincinnati Reds. It should be a fun outing before school starts on Thursday. I'll post pictures next weekend!

The light rail runs right by school to downtown Phoenix with stops right outside Chase Field, US Airways Center, the Phoenix Art Museum, and a few other fun stops. Nice not to have to park!


Hopi Katchina Dolls:


Carved antlers in the Inuit collection:


Alpaca in the Gift Shop!

Condo Tour Part 1

The tour of the condo has been long promised, so I thought I'd begin it tonight. Really, I'm procrastinating on my homework for bootcamp, but oh well! It works in your favor because you get to see the bottom floor--lucky you! The second installment will come some time later this week. Check back!

Vivi's new home. She loves it, except it is hot as all get out in the garage. She (and I) will like it better when it cools off a bit.


The wall you see coming in from the garage. Yes, there is a cuckoo clock in the corner. It plays Edelweiss from The Sound of Music. Be jealous! ;)


View from the front door. The garage is through the door, and the stairs lead up to the main floor (the living room, kitchen, spare bedroom, and a bathroom).


I'm using the bottom room for a books because goodness knows I have enough of them.

TA Bootcamp

I've made it halfway through bootcamp! Woot woot! We're in class from 9am until 3pm each day, and then we have homework and reading when we get home. Add in 45 minutes each way of driving, riding the train, and walking and combine with 110 degree weather, and I'm ready for bed at about 6pm every day. Class is directed towards preparing for Fall semester, so it will all be useful down the line; right now, however, it is a lot of work and a lot of repetition for me who has been teaching these types of classes for 4 years.

There are 28 of us with varying experiences and backgrounds. I'm starting to make friends (yay!) and to figure out where I fit in. We went out Friday night for one of the MFA's birthdays. More than half of the class came, and it was fun/interesting/strange to see everyone outside of school. There are a few of us from California (2 from the area: Fillmore and Agoura), which I'm not used to from living in Tallahassee. There, I was lucky if someone knew where Santa Barbara was at all, let alone knowing Carp. Other than the Californians, people are coming from places as far away as Tennessee, Michigan, New York--all over.

Ok, I have to finish my syllabus and first set of lesson plans. I'll check in again soon!

Catch Up!

The last week has been a whirlwind. I arrived in Arizona on Saturday night, and after a crazy baggage experience, Auntie Holly and Tess picked me up. It just so happened Tess and her team had a tournament in Gilbert (yes, not Phoenix. Gilbert. What are the odds?), so Aunt Holly and Uncle Brad got to be the first guests at the condo. Unfortunately for them it was almost completely in boxes at that point.

I spent the first part of Sunday watching basketball games, which was a pretty fitting way to begin my stay here. After the Emersons hit the road (with 2 wins on the day), I came home and unpacked, then continued to unpacked the next morning. Unpacking is a pain in the butt anywhere, but going up and down 2 flights of stairs (one of which is a spiral) tires you out really quickly, let me tell you. Reinforcements arrived on Monday night in the form of my Mom, Auntie Mer, and the dogs. We worked on cleaning and organizing, and then picked up Catherine on Tuesday night. Needless to say, the condo was FULL, especially as things weren't really set up yet.

I started school on Thursday, but the visitors worked like mad while I was away. Thanks to their help, the condo is pretty much in order. I'll post some pictures of the trip for you now and pictures of the condo later. The Ford crew left on Friday morning, leaving Kitty to deal with the washer/dryer delivery (yes, I bought a washer and dryer!!! I'm so excited). Turned out Vivi's battery decided to die while I was at school, Mom was in the middle of the desert, and the washer man needed access to the garage. Kitty handled things beautifully and order was restored, but it was an interesting afternoon to say the least.

We decided to treat ourselves to a nice dinner at a highly recommended pizzeria called Pizza Bianca in downtown Phoenix. Good thing we arrived early as the place doesn't open until 5 but at 4 already had a healthy line. In 100 degree weather, an hour is a long time, but we decided, well worth the wait. After dinner, I took Kitty to Sky Harbor and came home to finish up settling in.

As you can see, I packed (or unpacked) a lot into one week!

Tess and me in our new shades! (Thanks, Grandmama)


Uncle Brad met up with one of his college teammates, Heff, who lives in Gilbert.


One of Auntie Mer's many finds: Alice Cooper and Randy Johnson's Restaurant, Cooper's Town.


Mom with the "Big Unit" hotdog!


Kitty at Cracker Barrel


No shame, Kitty. No shame! ;)


Kitty and the scary monkey at Fry's (not the fabulous electronic store but still a pretty great place to shop).