Fauxdobe rules.

I have been living in New Mexico for about four whole days now. It's been an interesting experience thus far. This place is a different world.

I thought that it might be nice to put up some pictures of the new living arrangements. Also, this weekend is the Santa Fe Fiesta (which is a very big deal here), so I plan to put up some pictures of that as well.

Ok, so here it goes:

This shows the entry way as well as my favorite part of the living room, the fireplace. I'm super excited about this.



Here is the rest of the living room. Still working on that whole "home decor" thingy.


I love the balcony. This is the view from it. As you can see, my apartment complex is completely fake adobe (that is, fauxdobe), as is pretty typical for buildings in the whole city. The landscaping here is unnaturally green because the management waters like mofos, but generally the landscape is various shades of brown.

Kitchen/dining. I've gotten a dishwasher! As well as a programmable coffeemaker, which appeals to my lazy side. Nothing like waking up and having the coffee already made.


View from the kitchen window, with the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in the background. This window faces west, so there are some awesome views of the sunset. Also, the weather tends to blow in from the west, so some pretty spiffy cloud formations can be seen here as well.


Bathroom. Pretty standard.


And finally the bedroom. Haven't quite finished unpacking yet. But it's pretty nice.

So that's my place. I'm working on finding a job (had one interview this week and another next week). I joined a parish today. I'm trying to get used to the culture here. I need to brush up on my Spanish. Everyone here is bilingual, to the point where they switch languages every couple words. Makes for an interesting time. Getting used to the weather. It's quite predictable: 70's during the day, afternoon thunderstorms, 50's or so at night. Tonight it's been raining for a while, which is pretty weird.

This is turning out to be just the adventure I was looking for. So far, so good!

Extra caffeine, please.

"She only drinks coffee at midnight
When the moment is not right
Her timing is quite
Unusual
-Train, Meet Virginia

I love coffee. Looooooooove coffee. I drink coffee at almost every opportunity that arises. I drink coffee in the morning, of course. And sometimes I drink coffee at night because we're at the diner or Starbucks. I drink coffee at night and then complain when I can't sleep. But it doesn't matter. It's worth it.

I like coffee because it's warm. I like the bitterness staved off with skim milk and two packets of fake sugar. I like coffee in the winter and I like coffee in the summer.

I like to drink coffee when everything is going wrong. For example, my chemistry research is a mess. I often have afternoons where absolutely nothing goes right: my gels won't polymerize, one sample contaminates the others, I can't get a current to run through the damn gel once it's set to go. When this happens, I figuratively throw up my hands and run downstairs to the lunch trucks for a cup of coffee. Usually hazelnut, as it were.

And then there was yesterday. I did possibly the dumbest thing ever. I locked my keys in my car. Ok, it happens. But oh, it gets worse. I locked my keys in my car. With the car still running. It takes a true genius to do something like that. The situation ended up not being such a big deal, but of course I ended up hyperventilating and whatnot until it was resolved. Once I was driving away, my knees feeling shaky and my stomach feeling fluttery as I came down from the adrenaline rush, I thought to myself: I could use a good cup of coffee right about now.

Last summer, when they were trying to get me to stop being anorexic, they said I had to stop drinking so much coffee. This was actually part of my treatment plan. If I would just cut down my coffee consumption to one cup a day, I'd be much better. Nevermind dealing with the abusive ex. Nevermind the fact that I wouldn't eat more scrambled eggs and cottage cheese. The problem was the coffee. I have dealt with my issues now, and I eat lots of things, but I drink more coffee than ever. I happen to think it's beneficial to my mental health.

Coffee Talk

Attention coffee addicts: You may be the unwitting victim of liberal propaganda. Your morning Starbucks latte may be poisoned with such ideas as environmentalism and reducing the national debt. Quelle horreur!

Evidently, the latest Starbucks campaign is pissing off conservatives to an extreme, according to this article. I find this amusing. You see, the company has been putting quotes on the side of their coffee cups, and admittedly, these quotes have a bit of a left-ward slant to them. (The last time we were sipping our cafe mochas, Katie and I were remarking that we liked them. Not surprising, really.) However, conservatives have been up in arms over these stupid coffee cups for not including more conservative quotes. I say, however, if you don't like the quotes, don't read them, and if they really piss you off, get your coffee somewhere else! People need to calm down and have some dip. Maybe they should cut down on their caffeine intake. Meh.