Real things that actually happened
- My work name is Erica Linden. Everyone who works for Second Life gets a Linden last name. This makes us weirdly popular in-world.
- There is a huge bouquet of stargazer lilies on my desk. Got ’em for myself. Who needs boys? Not me. Nope.
- My mom phoned at 8am to make sure I was alive. A minor earthquake in Oakland made it on CNN. I didn’t feel a thing.
- My roommate threw a drink at a critic, and has cemented his place as a literary bad boy.
- My on-the-2 style of salsa dancing is considered impressive out here. Thanks Cornell ballroom club!
- I still need an apartment. If you know of anything, let me know. I’m looking in the Mission/Bernal/Noe neighborhoods. And I’ve got a friendly cat.
- There’s a big bulldog who hangs out in my office and rides a skateboard.
Thank you. That is all.
Breaking news! Sheep Escape!
This morning as I was driving to work I became embroiled in local Farm Drama.
Let me back up.
Photo by Cryptia 30 Apr 07, 10.59PM EDT.
I live, at least for the next week or so, in upstate New York. Among other things, such as a dearth of decent tamales, living upstate means being surrounded by rolling hills and farmland.
There’s a big contingent of young hipster organic farmers in the area. I live across the street from a small sheep farm. The woman who owns the farm has about 20 sheep.
Depending on which field they are in, I can hear them through the open windows in the morning. It’s nice.
This morning I drove by the sheep farm and saw a distinctly sheeplike rustling in the tall grass next to the road. Two lambs had wiggled through the gate and were standing wide-eyed on the wrong side of the fence.
I pulled over and tried to find the farmer, but her truck was gone. It was up to me. The occasional car whooshed past the loose sheep.
I was wearing Work Clothes. I wasn’t prepared for any sheep wrangling, but I decided to try anyway.
The whole thing ended anticlimactically. The lambs were so terrified to see me walking toward them that they wiggled back through the gate. Problem solved. I left a note and went to work strangely pleased with my ability to frighten sheep.
An Interview with Myself
Bowing to the demands of my own powerful curiosity, I have agreed to give an exclusive interview to myself. My publicist disagrees with my decision, but I believe I have a strong connection with myself and I think I can be trusted to report my answers fairly.
Q: Hello Erica. I’m glad you agreed to this interview. You have been pretty reticent with the press lately. What’s been going on?
A: There have been major changes in my life this year. I haven’t felt it was appropriate or respectful to write about them here.
Things have settled down a bit recently. I’m no longer engaged, and I’m living in rural Ithaca near some friendly horses and sheep.
Q: Wow. Do you want to talk about what happened?
A: No. Thank you.
Q: I hear you are moving to the Bay Area in the next few months?
A: I’ve been looking at the Bay Area and NYC as possible places to relocate. After visiting last week, I decided to move to San Francisco.
San Francisco is one of the geekiest, friendliest places I’ve ever been. The city is beautiful, I’ve got good friends, there are interesting projects, and I’ll be among my fellow dorks.
I’m really looking forward to learning the city, starting a new job, volunteering at 826 Valencia, and being immersed in the calm, weird, sunny West Coast atmosphere. Come visit. Bring chocolate babka.
Q: Where are you going to work?
A: An excellent question. I’ve interviewed at a few places where I would like to work. I will know more by next week. Stay tuned.
Q: Don’t you like Ithaca?
A: I love Ithaca and I adore my job at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, which is why I’ve been here for four years.
However, that translates to about 40 years in Internet Time. It’s time for me to start a new project. I might return to Ithaca someday, once I’ve made my fortune. I’d like to live on a big farm with dogs, books, a wood stove, and all my friends.
Q: Ok. That covers the big topics. What else is going on?
A: I’m having the best year of my life. This weekend I swam in a waterfall, watched a turtle lay eggs, drove a sports car really fast, petted dogs, helped a friend find tractor parts, drank local beer, picked flowers, was charged by a deer, and met one of the first US African refugee coordinators who was working in Botswana in 1965.
Q: Well, thanks again for letting me interview you, Erica.
A: I’m welcome. Thank me.
Quick San Francisco update
Interview Girl |
I’m in the Bay Area this week, interviewing and exploring the city for possible relocation potential.
I rented a convertible yesterday and had a great drive down to Silicon Valley. I haven’t had a chance in a long time to be the blonde-in-the-convertible, and I gotta say, it felt good.
I’ve got sand under my fingernails, the beginnings of a distinctly non-librarian looking tan, and I’ve burned off at least a few sad winters’ worth of Midwestern Ennui in the past two days. In other words, I’m having a good time. Wish you were here.
Dogblog is really good today, by the way.
14 Weird things I’ve learned this week
- Queen Bees are expensive
- It’s damned difficult to find a cat-sitter in Ithaca
- Johnathan Lethem’s You Don’t Love me Yet
is, so far, an absolutely perfect book
- Tom Phillips is an artist who did a really great book painting featuring fictional books with titles stolen from Shakespeare
- Roccapulco is a salsa club in San Francisco. I’m going next week with my friend Jake
- The Lunch Meeting is the gold standard for interviews at eBay
- You can randomly teleport somewhere in Second Life and end up getting juggled by a large pink elephant
- Hotels in San Francisco are way cheaper than hotels in NYC. Jobs in San Francisco pay way better than jobs in NYC.
- All it took for me to get my finances in shape was to get some software with a decent interface
- The only cure for pregnancy-induced hypertension is childbirth (hi clay!)
- My friend Josh has taken over things digital at the NYPL
- Adobe CS3 will steal your soul with its compelling beauty
- Google Analytics has a new interface that will steal whatever bit of your soul is leftover after Adobe gets done with you
- Half of you people are still using Internet Explorer. I’m saddened. Please, for the love of all things holy: Use
Oldschool Metadata |
Jr. Beekeeper’s Association
Maggie and I visited the bees this weekend. She’s five and wants her own hive. No one ever told her that she’s supposed to be afraid.
We cleaned the hive, inspected for mites, and took out some honey frames. Her family watched proudly from a safe distance, and took this picture of Maggie pointing out a drone.
Life is good.
Brooklyn
Reasons to move here:
- Sunday Brunch with friends and mimosas
- Spring in the park
- Grocery delivery
- Street food
- Skiball in bars
- Chill city dogs