On the "best" side of things:
-I love my new job to death. I have one student who refused to sign up for his appointment before and now wants to meet a nine in the morning (not. Happening.), but the rest of them are bright, interested kids and I am having a great time working with them.
-My girlfriend loves me.
-Sales have picked up this month; four of them!
On the "worst" side:
-I am horribly, horribly sick. It's not swine flu. All the cool people get swine flu; I get a sinus infection. For those fortunate enough to have no had them, sinus infections basically cause your entire head and neck area to fill up with thick, sloshy glue.
-I dumped soup on my laptop. And my thigh, but the blisters healed; the power port didn't. Brodie (our Malinois) left a dog toy where I would step on it. I have to get a student loan now so I can get a new one.
More good than bad, mind you, but the bad is ... draining. Consequently, I'm largely MIA. So until further notice:
- Go read this webcomic strip. You will thank me.
- I'm too disgusting to be creative, so, have a free pair of earrings with any purchase. Discount code "walrus." You're welcome.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
New offer through Sept 27
This week, get 10% off any item with a listing date before last June when you enter the code "ramen" in Notes to Seller.
Available here.
Offer ends on Sunday, Sept. 27 at 11:59 PM. All refunds will be given through PayPal soon after purchase. And yes, if you act fast, you can combine it with last week's offer for the next few hours; just give me both codes.
Available here.
Offer ends on Sunday, Sept. 27 at 11:59 PM. All refunds will be given through PayPal soon after purchase. And yes, if you act fast, you can combine it with last week's offer for the next few hours; just give me both codes.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Work happy!
I went to my second day of training for my new tutoring job today, and halfway through the instructor whose class I'm assigned to came in and handed me a note saying "Let's have coffee" with her phone number. We went after the training session to do so, and she asked me halfway to the car, "What books do you like for this course?" I told her I hadn't been terribly thrilled by the booklist, but ... "No booklist. I'm post-six," she told me (post-six lecturers have something one step below tenure; they are the Most Awesome). "What books do you want to do?"
We're still going over it, but we've agreed to do The Yellow Wallpaper, probably scenes from Hamlet and/or Othello (my favorite play), and maybe a little T.S. Eliot, with the possibility of showing "Another Brick in the Wall."
I am so, so thrilled to be doing this.
Tonight, I restring a paid commission and some things for M's grandmother's sister. Restringing is pretty good for the money, honestly, especially because people usually end up giving me spare vintage beads. I'm doing an anklet for an Etsy customer, previously on elastic, with gemstone teardrops hanging to swing freely from small hammered silver rings, which interrupt the bead strand. This takes a little (a lot) longer and rather more stringing medium than simply hanging the teardrops from the wire by either their drill holes or by jump rings, but it should look very lovely when done.
We're still going over it, but we've agreed to do The Yellow Wallpaper, probably scenes from Hamlet and/or Othello (my favorite play), and maybe a little T.S. Eliot, with the possibility of showing "Another Brick in the Wall."
I am so, so thrilled to be doing this.
Tonight, I restring a paid commission and some things for M's grandmother's sister. Restringing is pretty good for the money, honestly, especially because people usually end up giving me spare vintage beads. I'm doing an anklet for an Etsy customer, previously on elastic, with gemstone teardrops hanging to swing freely from small hammered silver rings, which interrupt the bead strand. This takes a little (a lot) longer and rather more stringing medium than simply hanging the teardrops from the wire by either their drill holes or by jump rings, but it should look very lovely when done.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
New special offer through Sept 20
Until 11:59 PST on Sunday, Sept. 20, get a free pair of earrings for every $15 you spend in the Etsy shop! If you really want the early-shopping bragging rights, now's the time to get Christmas gifts (already, I know). This also applies to custom orders!
Enter the code "labor" and your choice of colors in the "Notes to Seller" section to claim your free earrings.
Total is exclusive of shipping. For example, if you buy two necklaces at $25 each, totaling $60 after shipping, you get three pairs of earrings for the $15, $30 and $45 marks of actual merchandise.
Available here.
And on a more serious note ...
You may recall that I am both an undergraduate student and, recently, an employee of the University of California in Riverside. The reason I chose "labor" for this week's offer code is because of the current situation at the University:
The UC president has decreed raises to many of the upper-level faculty, and also created new administrative positions at the upper echelons of the pay scale. He has given 8-12% raises to his entire staff in the past year. At the same time, numerous positions have been cut. Year-appointment staff have been given quarterly positions with laughable health benefits, which they found out literally three months after the university was contractually obliged to give contracts. Some of the year-long contracts that were given were later rescinded. The staff is being required to work without pay on "furlough days." They can be fired if they don't show up and give 100% for nothing.
The president of the UC makes $828,000 a year. My partner, who is a lecturer, makes something like $35,000 ... in a good year.
It is always, always those who determine how the pie is cut that get the biggest pieces. This is how, even in our much-quoted "free country," we remain oppressed. We are made to fear the loss of our jobs, so we cling harder to those we have, so the conditions can be made even worse, so we have less recourse if we lose them, so we need them even more, so it can all get even worse ... and the cycle doesn't end until someone does something about it.
I'm done soapboxing. But think about it.
Enter the code "labor" and your choice of colors in the "Notes to Seller" section to claim your free earrings.
Total is exclusive of shipping. For example, if you buy two necklaces at $25 each, totaling $60 after shipping, you get three pairs of earrings for the $15, $30 and $45 marks of actual merchandise.
Available here.
And on a more serious note ...
You may recall that I am both an undergraduate student and, recently, an employee of the University of California in Riverside. The reason I chose "labor" for this week's offer code is because of the current situation at the University:
The UC president has decreed raises to many of the upper-level faculty, and also created new administrative positions at the upper echelons of the pay scale. He has given 8-12% raises to his entire staff in the past year. At the same time, numerous positions have been cut. Year-appointment staff have been given quarterly positions with laughable health benefits, which they found out literally three months after the university was contractually obliged to give contracts. Some of the year-long contracts that were given were later rescinded. The staff is being required to work without pay on "furlough days." They can be fired if they don't show up and give 100% for nothing.
The president of the UC makes $828,000 a year. My partner, who is a lecturer, makes something like $35,000 ... in a good year.
It is always, always those who determine how the pie is cut that get the biggest pieces. This is how, even in our much-quoted "free country," we remain oppressed. We are made to fear the loss of our jobs, so we cling harder to those we have, so the conditions can be made even worse, so we have less recourse if we lose them, so we need them even more, so it can all get even worse ... and the cycle doesn't end until someone does something about it.
I'm done soapboxing. But think about it.
Friday, September 11, 2009
I am so lucky ...
... I have a girlfriend who will make an unscheduled freeway exit after seeing an interesting sign, drive two miles up an unpaved road in a front-wheel drive vehicle, hike up a hill in the Mojave Desert in September without sunscreen or water, in sandals, all so I can do the nerd-squee over a pre-Clovis early man site.
Also, I had a truffle ravioli at the Bellagio that caused me such bliss I was unable to speak for several seconds.
Also also, Cirque du Soleil's Zumanity is an excellent show for the not-easily-offended. Try to get seats toward the front of the thrust stage, though. Was thoroughly enjoyable.
Also, I had a truffle ravioli at the Bellagio that caused me such bliss I was unable to speak for several seconds.
Also also, Cirque du Soleil's Zumanity is an excellent show for the not-easily-offended. Try to get seats toward the front of the thrust stage, though. Was thoroughly enjoyable.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Lost wages?
Hello, reader mine, from Las Vegas!
M has taken me to stay at the Orleans for my birthday. I have to say, I'm oddly inspired and itching to make things. Our hotel room (which is enooormous) is a riot of patterns, with five completely different lamps, two lovely ornate mirrors (one full-length, one vanity) in the room proper and a more standard one in the very large bathroom, an overstuffed armchair and sofa, and a bed so big that when we lie at the edges we can barely reach each other's hands without rolling over.
And how much do you guess we paid for this?
$30 a night. Yes. Really.
But back to the relevant bit ... the colors, the colors! The casino is a fairly standard ornate Mardi Gras look, fun and beautiful in a garish way. But our hotel room is an interesting baby blue and wheaten yellow, with accents in leaf greens. It should be awful, but it works. And the jeweler's under-brain goes "Eeeee?" (My under-brain vocalizes chiefly in long vowels.)
I suppose it's because I'm without all my beads that I suddenly have this itch ... but even dinner got me going. Well, menu photos of artisan desserts, actually. There's a rather nice set called "Amaretto Pear" in my future.
Okay ... time to sleep at last ... I was posting mainly to unwind from the hell of class registration. There is much to be said for large departments ... you could start by saying, "There are more than two classes one can get into on a quarter."
M has taken me to stay at the Orleans for my birthday. I have to say, I'm oddly inspired and itching to make things. Our hotel room (which is enooormous) is a riot of patterns, with five completely different lamps, two lovely ornate mirrors (one full-length, one vanity) in the room proper and a more standard one in the very large bathroom, an overstuffed armchair and sofa, and a bed so big that when we lie at the edges we can barely reach each other's hands without rolling over.
And how much do you guess we paid for this?
$30 a night. Yes. Really.
But back to the relevant bit ... the colors, the colors! The casino is a fairly standard ornate Mardi Gras look, fun and beautiful in a garish way. But our hotel room is an interesting baby blue and wheaten yellow, with accents in leaf greens. It should be awful, but it works. And the jeweler's under-brain goes "Eeeee?" (My under-brain vocalizes chiefly in long vowels.)
I suppose it's because I'm without all my beads that I suddenly have this itch ... but even dinner got me going. Well, menu photos of artisan desserts, actually. There's a rather nice set called "Amaretto Pear" in my future.
Okay ... time to sleep at last ... I was posting mainly to unwind from the hell of class registration. There is much to be said for large departments ... you could start by saying, "There are more than two classes one can get into on a quarter."
Saturday, September 5, 2009
A Buyer's Gift Guide to Bracelets
So you're thinking of a birthday gift for a friend or relative and you're pretty sure you'd like to get them a unique bracelet. The question is, which kind is best?
If you're looking for a single, elegant piece for someone who doesn't wear a lot of jewelry, charm bracelets are right out. For someone who does like to jingle, though, they can make unforgettably thoughtful gifts, especially because they're usually themed.
Available here.
Things to look for in this type of bracelet:
*Strong connectors. Sturdy jump rings are good, soldered or split rings are better, wire-wrapping is best.
*Fullness. My bracelets are generally delicate, classy pieces with evenly spaced, mostly symmetrical arrangements of charms, simply because I prefer to wear that type myself. If you're buying for someone who wears bold, artistic, over-the-top jewelry, consider sellers like these instead.
*Easy clasps. See the comparison of lobster and toggle clasps below.
For truly easy wear, consider a memory bracelet instead. These bracelets simply wrap around the wrist and hold in place. They're a great choice for people with arthritic or clumsy fingers, and they're stylish and current on everyone -- a memory-wire cuff imitates the shape and thickness of a large cuff bangle, without the annoying size and movement.
Available here.
Things to look for in this style:
*Bead size. Are the differently-sized beads arranged in a pleasing pattern? Small beads make these very delicate, larger ones make them bold statement pieces.
*Length. Generally speaking, you want at least one coil with significant overlap. If the bracelet is shorter than the circumference of the wrist, the bracelet may be uncomfortable on the thin skin of the inner wrist. It takes many, many coils for these bracelets to be too thick, and keep in mind that the diameter of the unstretched wire is usually smaller than that of a wrist!
*Dangles and charms. Elements that hang from the body of the bracelet, if any, should all hand in the same direction. I usually put them all on the last coil so they can hang gracefully over the hand.
Many kinds of lobster claw bracelets are traditional, adjustable and very secure. Many people find lobster clasps hard to fasten, though, so they're best as gifts for those who don't live alone and will have help accessorizing. An adjustable lobster clasp and chain closure is perfect when you aren't quite sure of the recipient's size.
Available here.
Things to look for in this type of bracelet:
*Clasp size. If buying in person, make sure the clasp is sized to slip easily through the fastening ring or chain.
*Length. Make sure you're not buying a child's bracelet for a large-boned woman, or vice-versa! Adjustability is best if you're really unsure of size; most people's wrists are about seven inches around, give or take an inch.
The last word in easy fastening is toggle bracelets. Consider them for anyone who might have difficulty with a lobster clasp. They hang easily in necklace racks by the hoop side of their clasp, and many absolutely beautiful toggles are available to designers.
Available here.
Things to consider when purchasing this type of bracelet:
*Clasp style. Toggle bracelets tend to rotate; the clasp should match the rest of the bracelet in metal and in style. The best toggle bracelets incorporate the clasp into the design.
*Stiffness. This isn't something you can worry about when ordering online, but if you're considering buying in person, flex the bracelet. If it flexes easily, it will hold up to wear longer than a very stiff one.
Other things to keep in mind:
*Various types of add-a-bead bracelets are on the market, from the Italian link bracelets to newer Biagi bracelets, slide bracelets and many others. Starting or adding to a collection may be very welcome! Many Etsy sellers provide beads or links for these styles, so you can still buy handmade.
*For people with large hands, bangles and cuff bracelets are often the bane of our existence. If you choose this style, make sure you buy them large enough!
*Screw clasps don't really work for bracelets, as they're nearly impossible to connect and stress the stringing material.
*Most Etsy sellers, me included, are very willing to do custom work. Nothing makes a gift better than knowing it was specially commissioned with you in mind!
Armed with this information, you can choose a bracelet that your loved one will love.
If you're looking for a single, elegant piece for someone who doesn't wear a lot of jewelry, charm bracelets are right out. For someone who does like to jingle, though, they can make unforgettably thoughtful gifts, especially because they're usually themed.
Available here.
Things to look for in this type of bracelet:
*Strong connectors. Sturdy jump rings are good, soldered or split rings are better, wire-wrapping is best.
*Fullness. My bracelets are generally delicate, classy pieces with evenly spaced, mostly symmetrical arrangements of charms, simply because I prefer to wear that type myself. If you're buying for someone who wears bold, artistic, over-the-top jewelry, consider sellers like these instead.
*Easy clasps. See the comparison of lobster and toggle clasps below.
For truly easy wear, consider a memory bracelet instead. These bracelets simply wrap around the wrist and hold in place. They're a great choice for people with arthritic or clumsy fingers, and they're stylish and current on everyone -- a memory-wire cuff imitates the shape and thickness of a large cuff bangle, without the annoying size and movement.
Available here.
Things to look for in this style:
*Bead size. Are the differently-sized beads arranged in a pleasing pattern? Small beads make these very delicate, larger ones make them bold statement pieces.
*Length. Generally speaking, you want at least one coil with significant overlap. If the bracelet is shorter than the circumference of the wrist, the bracelet may be uncomfortable on the thin skin of the inner wrist. It takes many, many coils for these bracelets to be too thick, and keep in mind that the diameter of the unstretched wire is usually smaller than that of a wrist!
*Dangles and charms. Elements that hang from the body of the bracelet, if any, should all hand in the same direction. I usually put them all on the last coil so they can hang gracefully over the hand.
Many kinds of lobster claw bracelets are traditional, adjustable and very secure. Many people find lobster clasps hard to fasten, though, so they're best as gifts for those who don't live alone and will have help accessorizing. An adjustable lobster clasp and chain closure is perfect when you aren't quite sure of the recipient's size.
Available here.
Things to look for in this type of bracelet:
*Clasp size. If buying in person, make sure the clasp is sized to slip easily through the fastening ring or chain.
*Length. Make sure you're not buying a child's bracelet for a large-boned woman, or vice-versa! Adjustability is best if you're really unsure of size; most people's wrists are about seven inches around, give or take an inch.
The last word in easy fastening is toggle bracelets. Consider them for anyone who might have difficulty with a lobster clasp. They hang easily in necklace racks by the hoop side of their clasp, and many absolutely beautiful toggles are available to designers.
Available here.
Things to consider when purchasing this type of bracelet:
*Clasp style. Toggle bracelets tend to rotate; the clasp should match the rest of the bracelet in metal and in style. The best toggle bracelets incorporate the clasp into the design.
*Stiffness. This isn't something you can worry about when ordering online, but if you're considering buying in person, flex the bracelet. If it flexes easily, it will hold up to wear longer than a very stiff one.
Other things to keep in mind:
*Various types of add-a-bead bracelets are on the market, from the Italian link bracelets to newer Biagi bracelets, slide bracelets and many others. Starting or adding to a collection may be very welcome! Many Etsy sellers provide beads or links for these styles, so you can still buy handmade.
*For people with large hands, bangles and cuff bracelets are often the bane of our existence. If you choose this style, make sure you buy them large enough!
*Screw clasps don't really work for bracelets, as they're nearly impossible to connect and stress the stringing material.
*Most Etsy sellers, me included, are very willing to do custom work. Nothing makes a gift better than knowing it was specially commissioned with you in mind!
Armed with this information, you can choose a bracelet that your loved one will love.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
New offer through Sept 13
Why the thirteenth? It's my birthday, and the schedule for offers has been shot, lately. As things settle down it'll get back to regular weekly posts.
Until 11:59 PM PST on Sunday, September 13, get a free pair of earrings in your choice of colors with any purchase from the shop section called "Whimsy and Fantasy." Just enter the code "thistle" under "Notes to Seller."
Available here.
Available here.
Until 11:59 PM PST on Sunday, September 13, get a free pair of earrings in your choice of colors with any purchase from the shop section called "Whimsy and Fantasy." Just enter the code "thistle" under "Notes to Seller."
Available here.
Available here.
Hurricane conditions, dead squash, and earrings
Okay! I think we're all right. Evacuations have been downgraded to voluntary, due to smoke.
We had the most phenomenal weather yesterday. First, wind. True California Santa Ana winds. Then it rained. It poured. It rained and poured and blew so much that the rain was going in two different directions at once, neither of them down. My mother-in-law found a large puppy advert in her roses that had been posted three blocks away.
M's dogs hate thunder; Fergus, the large flat-coated retriever who ate our sewing counter and our first garden, refused to come out of the bathroom
Feeling inspired, I went and reseeded some of my plants once the weather went back to normal. My oregano sprouts fried, so I've redone that and placed it where there's a bit more shade. My sweet pea actually did sprout, I discovered once I unearthed the seeds, so I reburied them under less soil and am hoping to see them break cover soon.
The zucchini has died and I can't figure out why, though I'm tempted to blame squash stemborers. It was doing so well for a while, it was like a little potted jungle with leaves as large as my two spread hands, but then it all yellowed so I basically pruned off half the plant. It was looking better for a while, but now it's dead again. I'm contemplating filling its squash pot with garlic. Any suggestions for new veggies? I'm Sunset zone 13/USDA 9.
I'm having one of those alarmingly productive days. I ordered in a ring mandrel so I can start trying wire-wrapped cocktail rings, which I haven't done in some time indeed, but it's on back order, and ordering the next item up was a difference of ten dollars. Hopefully it'll come in soon!
Until then I'm doing earrings, often in very bizarre designs. I've hit one of those creative walls I get sometimes, where I'm convinced that I need to do something New and Fresh and Different so I wind up with incredibly random designs and eventually M finds me having glued my hands together and sobbing over a mismatched earwire with bits of batik in my hair.
And, um ... I think I inhaled a little sliver of glass. This is probably bad.
We had the most phenomenal weather yesterday. First, wind. True California Santa Ana winds. Then it rained. It poured. It rained and poured and blew so much that the rain was going in two different directions at once, neither of them down. My mother-in-law found a large puppy advert in her roses that had been posted three blocks away.
M's dogs hate thunder; Fergus, the large flat-coated retriever who ate our sewing counter and our first garden, refused to come out of the bathroom
Feeling inspired, I went and reseeded some of my plants once the weather went back to normal. My oregano sprouts fried, so I've redone that and placed it where there's a bit more shade. My sweet pea actually did sprout, I discovered once I unearthed the seeds, so I reburied them under less soil and am hoping to see them break cover soon.
The zucchini has died and I can't figure out why, though I'm tempted to blame squash stemborers. It was doing so well for a while, it was like a little potted jungle with leaves as large as my two spread hands, but then it all yellowed so I basically pruned off half the plant. It was looking better for a while, but now it's dead again. I'm contemplating filling its squash pot with garlic. Any suggestions for new veggies? I'm Sunset zone 13/USDA 9.
I'm having one of those alarmingly productive days. I ordered in a ring mandrel so I can start trying wire-wrapped cocktail rings, which I haven't done in some time indeed, but it's on back order, and ordering the next item up was a difference of ten dollars. Hopefully it'll come in soon!
Until then I'm doing earrings, often in very bizarre designs. I've hit one of those creative walls I get sometimes, where I'm convinced that I need to do something New and Fresh and Different so I wind up with incredibly random designs and eventually M finds me having glued my hands together and sobbing over a mismatched earwire with bits of batik in my hair.
And, um ... I think I inhaled a little sliver of glass. This is probably bad.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
TangoPig Broadcasts from the Field
Well, from M's house, actually. I woke up this morning to find that we'd been given notice to stand by for the evacuation order.
My parents and brother are still in a holding pattern at our house, trying to wait until the evacuations become mandatory, since we have five family pets to transport.
Ordering from the Etsy shop is still open; since we had time to get non-necessities, I packed up my inventory. And now I just wait to see what happens. It's harder than it sounds like it should be.
My parents and brother are still in a holding pattern at our house, trying to wait until the evacuations become mandatory, since we have five family pets to transport.
Ordering from the Etsy shop is still open; since we had time to get non-necessities, I packed up my inventory. And now I just wait to see what happens. It's harder than it sounds like it should be.
Well, that was an adventure.
A great number of people are probably aware that the state of California is pretty much a large forest fire at this point. One of the individual wildfires is the Oak Glen Fire. Yesterday, I was six or eight blocks away from it.
Today, my mother walked outside to look up at the planes dropping fire retardant, looked eight houses down to the end of the street, and saw flames.
M and I were right behind her, and it is uniquely terrifying to watch one's mother panic. In ten minutes, we had files, computers, medications -- the irreplaceable essentials. I packed up the entire contents of my brother's dresser and a few of his electronics in what must have been about 90 seconds. My father, who was still at work, can now confirm that his pickup does over 100, and incidentally is now a federal criminal because he went around a roadblock. "I figured they could chase me, arrest me at the bottom of the driveway after I gave my family the truck keys," he told our neighbor Dale.
We were never given the evacuation order, though I get the impression that's partly because there just wasn't time. It started a few feet from my neighbor Devon's back fence. She was all alone when it began. The whole thing was nightmarish -- I was grabbing things and not panicking, because only one person in any given crisis situation is able to panic but I was a little frantic. I was okay as I tried to think of any essentials we might have forgotten, and find the cats, but then I realized we were going to have to leave our tortoises behind and I lost it, sobbing for about thirty seconds before I could give myself another task to rush to.
When I went outside I could see the flames on the hill. The shrubbery around houses burns with a much blacker smoke than most natural California vegetation. And to think I could have gone my whole life without knowing that. I ran around the block to check on elderly neighbors, and people were frantically moving vehicles and trailers to the far end of the street, filled with possessions thrown into the backseats. Flashing lights were everywhere, and the planes were flying so low overhead I could pick out every detail of the mechanics.
It's interesting -- there's only a certain length of time that a human can maintain a frantic emotional state. We all sort of segued from terror to walking around and talking to each other and watching at about the same time. There was this general knowledge that there was nothing we could do but wait -- and then we hit the point where my neighbor Jim suggested ordering fifty pizzas and advising them that the delivery person would have to do some offroading to get around the police, and suddenly there was this knot of people laughing hysterically and dreaming up home-insurance fraud schemes.
They're calling ours the Pendleton Fire. It may have been an ember, but it was probably a lit fire -- and while they're not saying so on the news, I overheard a discussion of having caught some kid who is suspected of lighting the match. Suddenly, vigilante justice doesn't sound quite so bad.
We're all okay now -- and probably safer for having had all the fuel around us burn away -- but it was a long, horrible day, and I still can't sleep.
Today, my mother walked outside to look up at the planes dropping fire retardant, looked eight houses down to the end of the street, and saw flames.
M and I were right behind her, and it is uniquely terrifying to watch one's mother panic. In ten minutes, we had files, computers, medications -- the irreplaceable essentials. I packed up the entire contents of my brother's dresser and a few of his electronics in what must have been about 90 seconds. My father, who was still at work, can now confirm that his pickup does over 100, and incidentally is now a federal criminal because he went around a roadblock. "I figured they could chase me, arrest me at the bottom of the driveway after I gave my family the truck keys," he told our neighbor Dale.
We were never given the evacuation order, though I get the impression that's partly because there just wasn't time. It started a few feet from my neighbor Devon's back fence. She was all alone when it began. The whole thing was nightmarish -- I was grabbing things and not panicking, because only one person in any given crisis situation is able to panic but I was a little frantic. I was okay as I tried to think of any essentials we might have forgotten, and find the cats, but then I realized we were going to have to leave our tortoises behind and I lost it, sobbing for about thirty seconds before I could give myself another task to rush to.
When I went outside I could see the flames on the hill. The shrubbery around houses burns with a much blacker smoke than most natural California vegetation. And to think I could have gone my whole life without knowing that. I ran around the block to check on elderly neighbors, and people were frantically moving vehicles and trailers to the far end of the street, filled with possessions thrown into the backseats. Flashing lights were everywhere, and the planes were flying so low overhead I could pick out every detail of the mechanics.
It's interesting -- there's only a certain length of time that a human can maintain a frantic emotional state. We all sort of segued from terror to walking around and talking to each other and watching at about the same time. There was this general knowledge that there was nothing we could do but wait -- and then we hit the point where my neighbor Jim suggested ordering fifty pizzas and advising them that the delivery person would have to do some offroading to get around the police, and suddenly there was this knot of people laughing hysterically and dreaming up home-insurance fraud schemes.
They're calling ours the Pendleton Fire. It may have been an ember, but it was probably a lit fire -- and while they're not saying so on the news, I overheard a discussion of having caught some kid who is suspected of lighting the match. Suddenly, vigilante justice doesn't sound quite so bad.
We're all okay now -- and probably safer for having had all the fuel around us burn away -- but it was a long, horrible day, and I still can't sleep.
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