Busy, gotta go!

1. Saw two rainbows, one today, one yesterday. Today's was from end to end. Cool.

2. Blew a tire Sunday. Sucked, but the AAA guy was there within 20 minutes and I was on the road again.

3. Needed new tires Monday. Sucked, but hey, at least I HAD the credit available to buy them instead of having to go without. Plus, I saw the rainbow from the tire store yesterday. So that's a plus.

4. [Removed for excessive venom.]

5. I have rather suddenly found myself teaching a 7th period madrigal choir class. It will make me rather pressed for time all month, but it's going all right so far. I wish I knew how to play the piano so that I could, I don't know, play the bass parts for the men to hear instead of just asking them to take it down an octave. I'm working on it.

6. I'm pleased to have done something here at the house last night. It's almost Nowrooz, the Persian New year, so I've set up a Haft Seen table, which is hard to explain, but the short story is that it has a number of symbolic items on it to help usher in the new year (and am I crazy or does it make sense to celebrate the new year at the vernal equinox when Spring is starting, the sun is returning, the days are getting longer, and life is starting to renew itself all over?). On ours, we have two colored eggs (just like Easter, yay!), a bowl of vinegar, some dried cherries and bilberries, an orange floating in a bowl of water (to symbolize the earth floating in the universe), some sweets, an apple, a bulb of garlic, and sprouting wheat. What we are missing is a hyacinth (I'll pick one up soon), some sumac, and samanu (a "pudding" made from sprouted wheat and water). For good measure we can also throw on some coins and nigella seed (I don't actually know what this is, but I've seen it at the halal market, so I might get some). I asked sweetie if I was a total dork and he said no. Nowrooz is more of a Zoroastrian festival than an Islamic one, although even Islamic Iranians celebrate (they just put a Q'uran on the table!). Anyway, I've been pleased every time I walk by it!
Nowrooz mobarak everybody! (Happy new year.)

7. I guess that's it for now. Wait, I was embarassed today at the thing - one of the other people there was a professor of mine years ago, and he has a good memory. So in front of my new colleagues he says "Hey, didn't you win the...?" "Ahem, yeah, the Bazanella." "But more recently, didn't you read at the...?" "Festival of the arts, yeah." Geez, I'm trying to keep it on the down low!!! They already think I'm uppity because I teach in the International Baccalaureate program.

Okay, now that's it.