Wayne and Rebecca Madsen

So, hotel living is not all it's cracked up to be. I don't think it's cracked up to be much, so that's saying something. I mean, there is the "free breakfast", but Paela hasn't thrived in an environment where routine is nearly impossible and until yesterday wasn't eating much at any meal. The cat, of course, thinks our "new home" is much too small and needs more things to see. And we wish we didn't have to eat out for so many meals. Ah well, there's no such thing as a free lunch, as the saying goes.  read more »

It's 8:30 PM here and Paela is in bed, even though it is 5:30 PM back in California. Her rapid adjustment to this timezone is in part due to the required extra time we need in the morning to get Rebecca to work as well as being a quick bodily response to the early arrival of the sun. I also woke at 6:40 AM local time and was miserable because the sun couldn't be turned off. It amazes me how strong the sun was in the morning since, due to the cloudy weather, we haven't seen it since. There are no markers for direction in this place: no mountains, no hills, no sunlight.  read more »

Hey. We're moving this week. And my thesis show is going up. That's all I've done is thesis. We'll write about it later.

Thanks. 

Wayne worked hard on thesis stuff this week again. He's got lights in the right direction, and the platforms are looking good. That leaves getting the mannequins doing something interesting and setting up the computers. T's and i's after that. Of course, t's and i's usually take much longer than you expect, so this week is sure to be packed full of work for both of us.

Wayne also had meetings on campus all day Tuesday, until nearly midnight. He enjoyed the artist that came out that evening and learned a new appreciation for the sacrifice it is for artists to come for a guest lecture.   read more »

Today we had to take the cat to the vet. She needed her paw looked at, and we thought to catch her up on shots and get her health certificate so she can come on the plane with us in May. We're attached to this cat, and want the best for her.

Paela does too. And apparently, that does not include being locked up in a cat carrier. As soon as Paela saw Star get put in the cat carrier, we had a worked up cat on our hands and a worked up Paela. Neither one was happy about the situation. Paela kept crying "stuck stuck stuck" as she tried to convince us to free the cat. And Star tried her crying meow as well. But since we are pretty set on taking Star with us to Boston, we callously ignored both of their requests.

Paela likes to run. One day, I caught her running around the table, into the living room, to the patio door, to her room, to our room, back around the table. Over and over. Screaming "RUN! RUN! RUN!" as she went.

Another day she ran up to the patio door, slapped the glass with her palm, and shouted "FUN!"

She likes to run for fun, and fun is good.

It all started last week. We heard the dog yipping like crazy when we got home. We knew new neighbors had moved in the apartment directly above us the day before. We hoped the dog was visiting. Maybe some "game" of some sort was on.

We were wrong.  read more »

Normally Paela will go down for a nap between 11 or 11:15 at the latest, and she's usually very excited that she gets to go "nigh-nigh!". She typically falls asleep in five minutes, ten minutes tops. Then she sleeps until 12:30 or 1, and we do lunch. This is our usual and has been for a couple of months.

Today, she talked to herself for over an hour before I finally went to go "rescue" her, thinking perhaps she was just strangely not tired today. As soon as I went in, she excitedly pointed to the window, wanting to see outside. I complied with her request and opened the blinds; we both could finally see the guy with the chainsaw patiently hacking away at the bushes right outside her window. Curiosity sated and a small lunch under her proverbial belt, we tried naptime once more. Out like a light.

I, for one, am glad curiosity only delayed today's nap, and did not kill it.