The shell of a learned snail

2003-04-14 - 10:55 a.m.

So I've been off gallavanting across the countryside all weekend. It was, all in all, a whole lot of fun. I took about a million pictures, but they're all still on my camera. I will post some of them at Eucalia's Place after I get them off my camera. I think probably, though, that I ended up taking a whole bunch of really bad pictures with only a few good ones interspersed. We'll see.

So Saturday I got up at my usual 5am and by 6am we were out the door. We ate breakfast in Stockton and by 9:30 we had arrived in Monterey. It was beautiful. The weather was cruddy, but as we were driving into town, the clouds parted for just a few minutes and a rainbow formed over the bay. It was gorgeous. Unfortunately, at that point I was driving so I couldn't exactly take a picture. We spent all day at the Monterey Bay Aquarium and saw everything they had to show. They usually only have things that they found in the Monterey Bay, but this time they had a few exhibits that they had on loan from other places, including the blackfooted penguins of South Africa. Those were very cute, but it's hard to say which part was my favorite. I liked the otters, the sunfish, one grouper especially impressed me, the aviary, of course the kelp forest, the jellies...and well, everything! It was fun. At the end of the day we went across the street to Archie's American Diner where I had a yummy dinner of clam chowder in a bread bowl. I love soup in bread bowls, especially clam chowder. Then we drove to Salinas and found our hotel.

On Sunday we checked out of the hotel and ate breakfast at a waffle place where my dad spilled his water all over me. Then we went to the National Steinbeck Center where I learned all about John Steinbeck and was inspired to read more of his books. I've only read five of them so far. Going to this museum reminded me of going to the Margaret Mitchell house in Atlanta, only I hadn't read all the books they were talking about and, well, this wasn't a house. Then we drove over to Pinnacles National Monument. On the way there it finally stopped raining. Which worked out great for us so we could do some hiking! We didn't hike too far, probably only three or four miles, but we only had half a day to do it in plus a four-hour drive back home. Woah, I just looked here and it says that the Balconies Cave Loop trail that we took is 7.8 miles long. Is that possible? Sure didn't feel like it... OK, never mind, we didn't do that whole loop. My guess of 3-4 miles is more accurate. Then we drove home stopping for dinner in Stockton. Got home around 8:30 and went to bed around nine. And that was my fun-filled weekend.

Do you know the worst thing about having teachers for parents and then living in the same house with them while you have a job? The worst thing is when they have vacation so they can stay up late and sleep in and generally laze about or party as they see fit while you have to go to work. It's just not cool, I'm telling you.

I also started reading the biography of a leader. I decided to read about Golda Meir. (Me: "How do you spell Meir?" Mom: "Just like it sounds." Me: "M-Y-E-A-R?") I picked her because, well, she's a woman, and also because I know basically nothing about her or that region of the world. So far I have to admit that I don't entirely understand what motivated her to do the things she did. Why anyone would move from the United States and a life of relative comfort to a place like Palestine, is mostly beyond me. I wonder if I can talk about this without offending any of my readers. Just know that I am very ignorant on the subject and that I am generally unprejudiced. I don't understand why the Jewish people decided they needed to have their own sovereign nation. And why exactly they would pick the middle of the desert. I need to do some more reading on the part the British had to play in it. But anyway, in the book I've only read the first 125 pages or so, so I'm only into the 1920's. When I'm reading this, sometimes I am reminded of certain black people or some of the bra-burning feminists. For a long time these people have been suppressed and trampled upon and taken advantage of and generally been a lower class. But do they argue for equality? OK, I know I'm making generalizations, but bear with me, they often do not argue for equality. No, they want it to be their turn on top. A few years ago, Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, the black boxer dude who was accused of killing some people and was imprisoned for a very long time even though he says he did not commit the crime, came to my college to give a speech. I was excited to go. I had seen the movie starring Denzel Washington, and in the movie he seemed like a good guy who might have some interesting points to make. But I ended up hating his speech and lost any respect I might've had for the man. Instead of saying that all people should be treated equally, he said that black people have been held down long enough, now the black people should rise up and be the master race and hold everyone else down. It's their turn, he said. But anyway, back to the Jewish people, is having a sovereign nation sort of like that? I mean, I know they don't want to trample over other people, but they certainly don't want to live as equals with other people. They want to have their own place where other people can't be. Maybe I'm completely misinterpreting this. I will keep reading.

I hope it's not too late to do the

1. What was the first band you saw in concert?

Not counting things like symphonies and jazz, I've only been to three concerts in my life. And only two of those were concerts of my choosing. The other one was a band that Stretch wanted to see and I have to admit that I didn't do as good of a job of pretending to enjoy it as I should have. I was ok for the first hour or so, but after that I started to lose it. But anyway, the first concert I went to was Collin Raye.

2. Who is your favorite artist/band now?

This is a tough question, I have trouble picking favorites. I think at the moment my favorite is probably Toby Keith.

3. What's your favorite song?

Again, this is tough. My favorite song changes very often. But some songs tend to stand the test of time. I really love "Cowboy Take Me Away" by the Dixie Chicks.

4. If you could play any instrument, what would it be?

I already know how to play several instruments, but if I were to learn a new one, it would definitely be the guitar.

5. If you could meet any musical icon (past or present), who would it be and why?

Probably Mozart just because he rocks. But I'd have to have a translator. Either him or Phil Vassar. Now there's a combination.