the wandering minstrel

my mind - and body - they have been on such a journey this last week.

thursday night we went to a Career Exploration Workshop at The Women's Building in sf. i instigated this trek because, as i've mentioned before, i'm not really grooving on my current gig. i had hoped that this class would help point me in a new direction.

well, it didn't. it's not really the fault of the class (limited scope due to funding - ah, the joys of nonprofits), BUT it did have some good food for thought, and got me thinking about the things that are important to me in a work environment, as well as some ideas on areas to explore to help me find That Thing That I Want To Do.

so yes, that was good. but what was great was there was another lesbian couple in the class. as class was breaking up, min goes: does anyone know a good place for dinner around here? and i said: oh, i already know a good place. we started downstairs and then one of the dykes - sandy, as it turns out - said: are you sure you want to turn down a good restaurant recommendation? i laughed and said good point! so she and her partner sara told us about two places. neither of them sounded good for then, but it was good to know. we were dropping some paperwork at the car, and the other couple was across the street, and min said: should we ask them to dinner?

so in a nutshell: we went to dinner with them, plus a friend of theirs visiting from australia, and had a GREAT time. so great that we all agreed to go out again sometime. pretty nice result for a class that didn't help much!

friday i had my offsite at lake berryessa/spanish flat resort. i must say, before looking up that link, i had no idea how much it cost to rent a boat. wow. but: what a blast. i posted some pics but naturally there are no pics of me bouncing, hovering, and skidding across the water since it's impossible to take a picture of yourself when both hands are grabbing, with all their might, to straps on a gigantic innertube.

and, i had no idea hanging onto a giant innertube could be so tiring and yield so many bruises. but as AG said (yes, AG. more on that later), "they're bruises of honor." i couldn't agree more. especially since, of all the people who rode that damn innertube, i was the *only* one who did NOT go flying off it! that's right - i did better than all those tall guys with the bulging arm muscles.

of course the flip side is, i rode that innertube to death, and it paid me back with the bruises, a good case of wind/sunburn and a (mild) knock upside the head. had a headache for three days straight...it's almost gone now. even so, i'd do it all again. sooo much fun!

oh and yes i attempted to wakeboard. later i heard that almost no one gets up (on the board) the first time. swallowed a bunch of water, got crabby with myself - but i'd try it another time if i had the chance.

also i got to see charissa that morning (but not at the offsite, wah). other than "hi", the first thing she said to me was "you're so tiny!"

what? ohhh. weight loss. for those of you who haven't seen me for a while, i am far from tiny, believe me. but since the last time she saw me (march?) i had dropped about 40 pounds. plus i had clothes on that *fit*. anyway, she asked me what my secret was and i said: stress, a little exercise, a little eating less, and stress. did i mention stress? so, not really a diet i recommend, but there are worse ways to lose weight, as i saw quite clearly with min. still, it was really nice to get the compliment so if you're out there reading, charissa - thanks! :-)

rest of the weekend was pretty mellow. m's birthday was saturday...all we did was get takeout from buca di beppos, because she has been very ill lately. it's just the usual, but she's been worse the last month or so. i seriously think she may be headed for a hospital stay soon - another obstruction/impaction. without going into details, let's just say all signs point to this, but i hope i'm wrong and she starts feeling a bit better soon.

ok...AG. so, for reasons i will not elaborate on but were TOTALLY innocent and well-intentioned (think: apology), i wrote to AG last week. we ended up having some good dialogue (note: i did not use dialogue as a verb) and, i think, left things in a much better place.

and they were so much better that of course, i found myself thinking about her too much again. however i (think i) did a better job redirecting that than i have in the past, and i started to feel better by sunday. the main trick i have learned, if i may say, is to simply not respond. compelling? absolutely. compulsory? absolutely not. so let's put that energy into something more productive! yeah!

in case you didn't know, i am not a cheerleader. but, sometimes i think everyone needs one, at least a little bit.

ok that pretty much wraps it, and good, because this post is long enough. :-p