So there I was, minding my own business. I'd slept in, showered, gotten dressed, was ready to head out to run some errands. Felt pretty good, bounce in my step, beautiful day, sunny and bright and cheerful.

I woke up this morning thinking about kachina dolls. These are small wooden figurines of Hopi spirits that are carved from wood, sometimes adorned with feathers and always bright paint, signed on the bottom, accompanied by a slip of paper with a brief history of the god and what he or she stands for, and they are generally sold to tourists who like to collect that sort of thing and kids who hope that they might be real.

(Sorry, Huey). I think I can safely say that the last week has been one of the strangest I've experienced. Seven days ago, I was still expecting to work for another 4 months, and now I'm making plans to move by the end of April. It's freaky, but it's good.

I spent a nice weekend up in Santa Cruz, just cruising around (ha ha) and trying to get the lay of the land. I drove a lot, I walked a lot, I read a lot of newspapers and almost finished the book I'm working on (The Life of Pi). I also realized how much I love the smell of eucalyptus after rainfall.

I'm sitting in a motel room in Santa Cruz as I write this. There's a fridge in the corner with 4 bottles of Guinness in it, the bed is unmade, there are horrible pastel prints on the walls, and it's overcast outside. Doves' Lost Souls album is playing at half volume, and I'm thinking about breakfast. Not yet, though - I have news to share.

I just gave my notice at work. Sometimes self-respect has to take priority.

It could be the weather, alternately gauzy and grey and hammered with sunlight. It could be the crushing loneliness that sometimes stalks me through this empty house, ghosts of warm bodies and laughter and twenty clicky little nails on hardwood floors. Maybe it's all of those things, or maybe it's none, but things are changing.

This was posted about a year ago on Space Nakji's blog, but never here. Enjoy!

P.S.: "nakji" is Korean for octopus. The story may be less confusing if you know this.

-----

Do you know what 87 molars look like? I do. I'm Space Nakji, Dental Detective.

Just so we're clear, I am not referring to myself. I am about as stylish as a can of peas with a fake mustache. And maybe a sombrero, because ALL the cool kids are wearing sombreros these days.

I am, of course, referring to Apple products. In particular, the Powerbook G4 15" aluminum laptop. It is my pride and joy. I have even affixed a sticker of a bat to it, for good luck. Sadly, the bat must hate me, as my lovely aluminum friend has died for the SECOND TIME in 10 months.

As you may have read, Rekabek sent me some new friends recently. I have been referring to them as bison, but I am not sure that is correct. I am leaning more toward wildebeest at the moment. What do you think?

Here's a shot I managed to take of them while they were grazing in the yard. Apologies for the poor quality, but they've been charging me lately, so I was a little nervous...

OR: A Not Very Subtle Attempt To Get People To Give Me More Stuff

My pal Space Nakji gave me a scarf with an otter on it. Holla!



Rebecca gave me some CDs



And a map!



And some bison. I wasn't very sure about the bison at first.