Shot Through The Heart and You're To Blame...

"You Give Love a Bad Name" by Bon Jovi got stuck in my head when I went to the shooting range on Saturday.

Maybe that is why I kept aiming at the upper left part of the target's chest, and not straight in the middle?  I swear I wasn't thinking of anyone in particular!

The one thing that I confirmed, in my mind, is that guns and gun ranges are a man's world. Whenever a man walked into a nail salon to get a manicure or pedicure, all the women would look at him suspiciously, as in "What are you doing here?  This is our turf!" At the gun range, I felt like I walked into a giant man cave outfitted with the latest weaponry.  But you know what, I really liked it!  Women shouldn't be so passive and learn to kick ass, literally, by using the most modern tools at our disposal.  I think that it would help check man's natural over-aggression and contribute to a more peaceful world.

Sights in Seattle

It is a cliche to write about weather in Seattle.  But it leaves the strongest and most permanent impression on a visitor.  Coming from dry and warm Northern California, the cold, rain, mist, fog and humidity that greeted us when we got out of the airport was very overpowering.  We initially only brought two umbrellas for three people, expecting that two of us could easily share one.  But because the downpour on Friday was unceasing, the experiment of two people shuffling under one umbrella in the pouring rain proved to be quite cumbersome.  We quickly found a Target and procured a third umbrella.  It seems trivial, but once we had the right equipment, we could stroll the streets and enjoy the city with a bit more comfort.

I think that arriving to a place that is so much wetter and more humid than home made my senses much stronger.  When I was walking around the Chihuly Garden and Glass museum, I read that Dale Chihuly, the artist that revolutionized glass blowing and made his home in the Pacific Northwest, noted that colors appear much brighter against a grey background, and indeed, there were colors everywhere.  The city was covered in flowers  that stood out so much more because the rainy environment. 

I really don't have too much to say about the Chihuly exhibit.  The art speaks for itself.  It was a great to have so much of it in one place and it was curated amazingly.  The visual of the Space Needle in the rain juxtaposed with the bright orange glass installation was incredible.

There was a ton of really awesome public art.  In Capital Hill, an artsy neighborhood we visited on our last day, there were really creative murals painted on a wooden fence erected temporarily around a construction site.

 Mom, looking cool in her moto-boots, in front of her favorite painting.

Another great aspect of the Seattle trip was the cuisine.  The seafood was very fresh, obviously.  The salmon, halibut, and clam chowder were very tasty.

 On display at Pike Place Market

We also had some local upscale cuisine. I didn't take any pictures of the doughnut holes at Dahlia's -they disappeared too quickly.  But I did manage to photograph my brunch plate.  I wanted to rearrange the potatoes and sausages on my plate to make a funny photo (wink wink), but I restrained myself in a high-class environment.

Where have I been?

I am surprised that I am sitting down and writing a blog.  In the past month, I wrote an 8,000 word, 33 page Master's thesis.  It was a long process, all consuming, somehow more boring than stressful.  I wrote about what I knew best; my work at the VA for the past six years.  God-six years! 

The point is...I passed!!! I got my final grades (not sure if the graduate adviser actually read the damned thing...), which means I am done with graduate school!  The kicker was when I changed my official Outlook email signature block:  Simona Stolpner, MS-HCA.  How rich!

Those who know me well know what a long and arduous process obtaining my graduate degree had been.  It wasn't the school work itself that was challenging, but me having to deal with some pretty hard personal problems.  This isn't the place to go into a long heart-felt confession, nor is it something I like to do, but I guess the one thing I learned is that you should not give up. 

For a long time, I thought that saying "Never give up on your dreams and goals" was just a cheesy platitude people said to fill a space with "good vibrations."  However, when I encountered the biggest and the hardest challenges in life, I learned that having a goal and slowly, slowly moving forward toward it makes all the difference. 

What helped me get through it was something that my grandmother had always said.  I am not sure how to translate it from Russian, something like "grab and hold on to patience."  I know that in English, we say "be patient" but somehow, "holding on" to patience really underscores the action of waiting, especially when in this day and age, instant gratification and easy success seem like the most important values.  I learned how to get through the boring stuff, and just...wait.  That was hard.

Another thing that helped pass the time is pretty pictures of flowers.  Here are some more lovelies.  Thanks Instagram for helping people without art skills like me feel creative :)

Yes, this post is about a restaurant bathroom.

When we were in Santa Barbara, Naomi and I went to the Palace Grill, a popular Cajun Restaurant downtown.  The food was so-so, but the trip was worth it because the bathroom was awesome.

All along the perimeter of the wall, a row of tiles were decorated with cartoons of naked people doing all sorts of funny things.

 

 

I have an immature sense of humor, so I find it absolutely hilarious.  Who ever came up with these caricatures is genius.

Back to School

One of the most unique aspects of my life is that my only sibling is more than a dozen years younger than me.  For most of my early life, I was an only child.  And then, during the beginning of my adolescence, I got a new member of the family, who I treated as a pet of sorts.  I remember during my senior year of high-school, my friend and I used the then 4-year-old Naomi as a study subject for an AP Psychology class.  We followed her around pre-school to record her interactions with other children and made her do tasks to track stages of development. 

Now Naomi is a high-school senior and her college application and admission process is a family affair.  I offered to take Naomi on a visit to UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.  She needed to see the schools and I needed a vacation. 

We did a four day road trip.  The first stop was Santa Barbara.  We went on an obligatory tour around campus with very good guides. 

Reading about UCSB on the sunny campus

Chickens, Sheep and Cows

For once, I am not planning on writing about farm animals we have been eating.  In fact, my trip to Hidden Villa, a nature preserve with a working farm on-site in Los Altos Hills, was a welcome change to my all-too-static routine.  It is amazing how something so simple as interacting with cute baby animals can quickly improve morale.  It simply made me happy.  I think I was more excited to see the baby animals than some of the children who were also at the farm.

First, there were the pigs-I think there were at least seven.  They were in a pen that was a bit far away, but I did manage to get a few cute photos, of every angle.  The rumors are true-all pigs do is eat.  I tried very hard not to think of the piggies as bacon!

Happy Bir-ZZZ-day, Papa!

It is a cliche to say that we love to celebrate happy occasions with food.  However, it is a sign of how well you know somebody when you are able to pick a restaurant that suites their tastes and personality perfectly.  When it came time to celebrate Dad's birthday, I knew that we couldn't go wrong with a restaurant that served meat, lots and lots of red, juicy meat.