On my street

Both of these funky buildings are on my street, I walk past them each time I head towards Old Town Square (and the Goodwill, of course...).

The undecisively painted historic house is up for rent...



...and the frozen food center actually seems to be an apartment building now.

And now...my first office ever!

Welcome to my office...



...Colorado's mighty sun shines through the windows.

The walls are concrete, so I had to buy special hardwall nails, but I managed to hang some of the pictures I love...



...the old-time map of Italy that Kyoko gave me, and one of the photographs that I took of J's coreographed piece in I's laser installation...



...also, one of my barbershop photographs and one of the photos that Youth in Focus kids took of the community mural Irooshka and I organized at the Seattle Central Library in 2004.'

I also have nice bookcases, and I have filled them with pictures of loved ones and beloved artifacts...



And, finally, the coolest items: the tattoo poster that Caro's Chad made, and the stained glass heart that Irooshka made for me...



As you can see, my office is pretty small, but it's quite cute and I love it.

Amazement and wonder

So, I have a sign on my door saying that I am a doctor...



...and, wow, I have an office now!

B-Day

Today it's my birthday! It's also my Mom's birthday, and the first time she is exactly twice my age. Cool.

Since I have only been here in Colorado for a week, I have had a very low-key day, where I have simply set out to be kind to myself and take care of a few things (mainly household) at a slow pace, with lots of strolling in the sun.

This evening, I got myself some Rice Dream chocolate fudge ice-cream and put a locally made beeswax candle on top:



It was yummy (and here it's hot, so even better) and the beeswax candle smelled delicious...

Right before I left, Irooshka also gave me a send-off and pre-birthday present: a sailboat cruise on the Puget Sound.



The weather was perfect...




Oh, and my place is taking shape! The kitchen and dining area have (almost) been tamed:





I have even put up a bulletin board made of cork tiles, and have covered my walls with pictures (there is a goodwill just two blocks away from my place, and I can get tons of nice and cheap frames there).





More pics to come...

Friends to the rescue

Yesterday I went to campus for the first time as a new faculty, and as I was sitting in my nearly empty office, and with almost nobody around the department yet, I started feeling a little sad and lonely. Then, on my walk from campus to my place (a nice 25 minute stroll in the sun), a few sweet friends came to rescue. Crispin called and we chatted as I shopped at the local dollar store (okay, I am still broke), then I found a sweet voice-mail from Deb, then back at the apartment my mailbox was full of treasures: a 'welcome' letter from Lisa and a notice about a package that was sent to me by Calla, which I will pick up tomorrow. Then, later, I talked with Irooshka and got a call from my dear friend Caroline, who is temporarily in Seattle from Brazil. Thank you, my friends, you made my day.

The Move - Part I

Between July 31 and August 1, my entire household was loaded in two of these containers...



I had packed all of my belongings in advance (in grocery store and liquor store cardboard boxes) and the Seattle house looked like a warehouse for a while:




Then the movers loaded everything into the containers (or 'relocubes' as ABF calls them) and it all magically fit like in a Tetris game:



In Fort Collins, the reverse happened, and suddenly my new apartment was packed full of boxes to empty. I have spent the last four days digging through the wilderness and I am close (but only close) to being done. I will take pics of my place once it's set up, but for now here are some pics of it in its pre-me state:



I have invested in several rugs made of bamboo and other natural fibers to cover up the ever so sad carpet (pics to come). And, oh, when I arrived at the apartment, I asked the landlady if the walls could be painted, and she agreed to do that. So, I spent my second night at Jim and Margaret's, a couple my parents' age, who are related to a former professor of mine back in Italy. Not only did they pick me up from the airport when I arrived, but they also took me to the grocery store to stock up on household necessities, took me out to dinner and a bluegrass concert and, in the morning, Jim made sourdough waffles (which I certainly shouldn't have eaten), but I did anyway:



And here is my place being painted...




...and here is my 'camping' station as I was waiting for the painters to be done and the movers to show up (Jim lent me the folding chair). Good times...