“I don't know what we're doing for Valentine's Day, but my boyfriend said that if I wanted to go to monster trucks, he'd pay for my ticket.”

One of the nice things about working five jobs is it affords me the luxury of giving in to my baser desires. And oh, baby, am I about to succumb. They say “once you go black you never go back,” and it's true. Ebony body, tight, compact, sharp, and auto-focus… I write, of course, of the NIkon D80, one step down from the professional-grade D200 and hundreds of dollars less expensive.

I've been a Nikon gal from my SJSU photojournalism days. Even when people fled Nikon en masse for Canon I doggedly stuck to my N2000 and then my N8000. Bought a 300/2.8 lens from Terry Schmitt, my UPI boss who also let me tote his F3hm with a motor drive for a year — truly, a prince among men — and used that awesome lens to shoot some football pictures that I'm pretty sure got me one of my current jobs as a digital photojournalism instructor at a local college.

Three frames per second. Ten-point-two megapixels. Power-up time of .18 second. ISO from 100 to 3200. Up to 2,700 images on one battery charge. Ohhhhhh. And, a 1.5 focal conversion rate that'll turn my 300/2.8 into a whopping 450/28.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh…

Excuse me.

So I assigned a “Feature Picture Package” to my photo class, and OF COURSE someone turned in pictures of one of the Cold Stone shops I used to manage until they fired me when I was pregnant. Took extreme care in grading those pictures and gave her a very fair (possibly too fair) grade. And then, during the critique, I made certain that the class knew that “the photographer did a very nice job with Photoshop — the original shot was very dark, but in this version she did a great job of lightening it up. You can even see all the dirt on the floor!”

Well, haven't really posted since before we left for sunny California, which was almost two months ago — sorry. We returned to New England smited by sinus infections, including the baby, who had not one but TWO. Crazy madness. Then we got well and I picked up four jobs, including two teaching positions at a local college. I'm in the third week of those and they're going well — it's nice to return to my educational roots. When I'm not working on that, I'm doing Rhythmball stuff or work for a couple new clients. Or caring for baby, or cooking dinner. What, me overextended? Naah. And then in my “free time” when I should be writing a new play or further crafting my musical, I'm reading David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest, which is freaking hilarious, even the endnotes. Especially the endnotes. And I've decided that this year I will read three books: Infinite Jest, Gravity's Rainbow, and the capper of all cappers, Finnegan's Wake. I figure the first two will be a good build-up to the third. We shall see. Now I need to send Valentines. More soon!

I've written another new play. You can read about it on my other blog, which is similar to this blog, but with fewer obscenities. Kisses!

My beloved Grandma, buried outside of Bluffton, Indiana, would love this!

OK, some of these are ridiculous, but they're all true! I didn't know:

Mick Jagger is sexy (oooohhh yeah).

David Bowie has one blue, one green eye (it was on the poster).

Phil Collins: Great with Genesis.

Phil Collins: Worst, least-original solo performer on the planet.

Alanis Morissette is pretty.

The Gin Blossoms bassist is a great flirt (ahem).

Eric Clapton has no charisma.

Steven Wright lives in Boston.

Chuck Berry is black (in my defense, I was seven years old at the time).

No Doubt fans top out at eighth grade (sorry, Alex).

Stewart Copeland (The Police, Oysterhead) went to high school in Berkeley.

Once you've had the quintessential Jerry Garcia experience, you don't need to spend any more money to see him (good thing, too).

And…

The Greek Theater is the best place to see live music. Period.

Senior year of high school I took a Jungian personality test to determine my, uh, personality. I was an ENFP. Just took one today, nearly 16 years later. Rating? ENFP. Though considerably less “E” than before, when I was 100%. See for yourself: