Saturday, February 28, 2009

End of Refugee Status



Emmy and I finally returned to the cabin today, after staying with Mom and Tony for a week.  The trail had gotten so treacherous by last weekend, and with Emmy learning to climb out of her crib up in the loft, I just couldn't stay here.  So we went to Grandma and Grandpa's and got babied all week.  It still wasn't easy though, since Emmy got very sick, from Sunday through wednesday she had a fever whenever the tylenol or ibuprofin wore off, sometimes nearly 104 degrees.  After I brought her to KANA for the second time they prescribed her antibiotics, for a suspected strep throat and possibly also a urinary tract infection.  Now she is doing much better and is nearly back to her self.  Since we spoiled her so much when she was sick, she is still asking for juice and goodies all the time.

In anticipation of Jeremy's arrival I lit the wood stove, and really outdid myself.  It is 82 degrees in here and I am burning up in a tank top.

Photos: Emmy showing how well she can eat yogurt all by herself!

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Who is copying who?

I haven't blogged in a while and you would think I would devote this post to how Emmy is recovering from her strep throat (much better!) or my busy work schedule (stressful) or my very important papers for school (extremely important!), but no, I am going to write about the similarities between some of the series I have been reading this past year:

The first is Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series, the second is Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse books (AKA the Southern Vampire series, and inspiration for the True Blood TV show), and the third is the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs.

I have noticed some strong similarities between these books. If you have also read these and have noticed others, please leave a comment!

1. All three involve vampires as well as werewolves. Why are these creatures always together in the same stories? They form a foil to eachother since they are so opposite.
2. The main characters are young women who are dating/have dated either a vampire or a werewolf, but also have an attraction to or are attractive to vampires and werewolves. Human men apparently are just not enough.
3. Each young woman happens to have powers of her own. Bella in Twilight is immune to some ofthe vampires' powers. Sookie can read minds, and Mercy can turn into a coyote. However, in all three cases the powers of these women are considered insignificant (which works to their advantge when going up against supernatural beings who think they are "all that'). I am leaving out the totally unrealistic powers that Bella exhibits when she becomes a vampire herself in the last book of the Twilight series, since that book was such a let down.
4. The vampire love interests in these series try to escape their vampire-ness in various ways because of their desire for humanity and love...and of course since the female protagonist is sooooo desirable.
5. The young women in these books get beat up, kicked around, bitten, spelled, and many other things that would kill insignificant side characters, but they recover...often just in time for more danger and injury
6. Speaking of danger, the females in these books are a magnet for danger and trouble. It seems that they just keep digging themselves in deeper over their heads, but then again, if they didn't, there would be less reason for us to read them, right?

None of these series, as you may have guessed, are in the highbrow literature category, but I have so much fun reading them. There is no pretention, just a fun read.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Back on the Air

I had my first radio show last night in about 2 years. I stopped doing the Spruce Tip Brew show at KMXT when I was pregnant with Emmy, because it became hard to stay on my feet for a long time, and I also had this weird thing where my voice got really low. And then we went to Fairbanks for the year, and I just never got around to it again until now. It was nice to be back on the air again. I got to play a selection of my favorites like Allman brothers and Tori Amos as well as a few new things, like a remix of Big River by Johnny Cash.

Jeremy is up in Fairbanks getting settled in our little cabin. I am curious how it will be up there for him. At least he has Siska, for this trip anyway. Emmy is missing him but does not seem to be aware of the passage of time yet, so 1 week is probably no better or worse than two.

I am gearing up for the submission of a big grant at work, am training our two new staff members, and am also trying to get some papers done for school, so my stress level has been high. Tonight I am giving a presentation by teleconference to a Rural Development class. I got my Masters in RD, so this shoudl be kinda fun, actually.

Trail conditions report: let's just say my new nickname for the trail down to the cabin is "the ice luge."

Sunday, February 15, 2009

2 weeks on


Jeremy is on his way to Fairbanks via the Kennicott, driving all the way up from Homer in the Alaska Dreams truck.  Although Emmy asked for him as soon as she woke up this morning, she doesn't seem depressed.  As for me, well, I am just going to try to keep myself busy.

Weather report: Heavy wet sleet, inch deep slush. the cistern is filling nicely, so Emmy and I can bathe and wash dishes as much as we want.  Lady, having been thoroughly soaked when I let her out for her morning potty, is now laying inches away from the heat vent on the toyo stove.  Does she realize she will be top dog for the next few weeks, since Siska is with Jeremy?

Photos: Our cabin a few days ago; Jeremy & Emmy on Valentines Day.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Today is the Language Open House

Today we are having an open house for our new offices.  I don't know if I would prefer a slow trickle of people or a lot. Well, knowing me, I would probably be happy with a slow trickle!  In any case, if you are around, stop by the language office today, at 323 Carolyn St. between 4 and 6 for some veggie dip and a look around.
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Photo: Emmy and Jeremy Sledding at the Barnes' House the other day. This was Emmy's first time and I think she looks a little concerned!

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Emmy and Henry

Emmy and Henry (her cousin) got a lot of bonding time while her and Jeremy were in Juneau.  She especially enjoyed her first ever root beer float!

Monday, February 9, 2009

Ilagka angitciquk. (My (2) family are returning)

Jeremy-nkuk, Emmy-llu angitciquk unuwarpak. Kesin ellma sapukii Juneau-mi...allrak kaukauqutartuk Sun'amen.

Jeremy and Emmu are going to return this morning.  Except they were stuck a little in Juneau...perhaps they will be late to Kodiak.

Photo:
Kodiak weathercam picture from this morning...still dark. I found this cam by noting the web address of the one KoKon posted a while back, and checking if there were others.  Right now it seems cam 1 is the only one working.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Bachelorette Weekend

No, I am not watching the reality television show!  If you know me, you'd know we don't even have TV.  I am spending the weekend here in Kodiak while Jeremy and Emmy visit the Counceller-Davis family in Juneau.  The title of my post also implies that I am having some sort of wild fun, but unless you count mopping up wall-to-wall liquid dog $**t (poor Siska) or filling the fuel tank in the snow (my first time!), so far my alone time has been sort of...mundane.

Last night thankfully the house was warm and the smell had improved.  I watched the rest of Margot at the Wedding, which was a waste of time, since it was neither funny or moving. Don't bother.

Today I am going to try and clean, if I can unclog the dog hair balls from the vacuum cleaner.  I got a smoke and carbon monoxide detector at #&!! Mart, and some caulk for the bathroom shower. You know what? Maybe I'll just read this new vampire romance novel instead...

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Our Own Ishmael, Famous in the KDM

You could only stay under the radar so long after that Palin Vogue cover!

The Kodiak Daily Mirror today published an article about Kodiak bloggers, featuring Kodiak Konfidential and a few others.  Nope, I didn't make the cut, probably due to my family-ish leanings on this blog, but that's fine with me.  It is just good to see how people are interested in this online community.  Maybe after this article all sorts of curious people will be checking it out.

In other news, llernartuq (It's messy out), qaningwakartuq (It's really snowy), imasugnaruartuq (It's kinda depressing out), macaliqartuq (It is sleet-ing), etc.  Welcome to February, Sun'aq (Kodiak) style.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Language Program new offices

We have been very lucky in the Alutiiq Language Program to get some new office space this year. Today Patrick Saltonstall came by to document our new space for the Museum newsletter, and mentioned I should post one of the photos, so here it is! Pictured here are Elders Florence Pestrikoff and Nick Alokli, myself, and our new Alutiiq Language Assistant Lory.

We will be having a Language Program Open House on Friday, February 13th from 4-6 pm, here at the Alutiiq Museum Language Offices, 323 Carolyn Street. Hope to see you there!