Channeling my Inner Jack Johnson

Finals week always feels like summer camp around campus. Not for the students, of course, who are racing around trying to get extensions on papers and cheat sheets for exams.

For faculty, though, the mood is high. We don’t have classes to teach and we don’t yet have finals to grade. Lunches go long(er than usual) and normally pathetic and reclusive social scientists migrate out to local Chinese restaurants for the $5.95 lunch special. They still actually talk about work, but it’s a start. Come on, guys. Branch out. Talk about music, or baseball, or sex...wait. Stick with what you know.

So Wednesday I broke several office rules, including, but not limited to, the footwear expectation. It’s warm out, even if it’s raining, and the bare feet are my attempt to channel my inner Jack Johnson. I missed the Kokua Festival this year, and I won't make it to NYC for Jack's Central Park show...give me a break on this one.

I also failed to show up for my own final. Nice. Tenure? Sure, I’ll have some of that.

Cause? Or Effect?
Wednesday night, after cleansing my guilt-ridden soul after my day at “work”, I went through the vacant Former Casa GVB one last time to check all the cupboards and drawers for forgotten treasures. Then I jumped on the Fuji for the ride back up to our current/temporary/massively weird living situation at the In Laws’. 17 miles on winding, hilly roads with no shoulder in a 15 knot breeze. Fun. It was a short distance so I went all out and averaged 23 mph with a high of 41. Weeeee.

But it occurred to me as I almost wiped out on a particularly sharp curve that I was riding way more aggressively than I had in the past. I was diving into turns and getting down in the dropouts more. Hmmm. Where did this behavior come from? Where else in my life am I behaving this way? Ask Mrs. GVB.

Call it the A3 Factor. Everything is fast these days. I need desperately to get back on the boat and remember what it’s like to go slow again. Even then, I imagine I will be sailing The Hood pretty hard when we leave next week for our first long summer cruise. Why do 5.5 knots when you can do 5.7?!

From the Mouths of Babes
5 Year Old: “Mommy, can we take Daddy’s new car to school today?”
Mrs. GVB: “Um, no. It’s called Daddy’s New Car for a reason.”
5 Year Old: “It’s sooo way cooler than your car.”
Mrs. GVB: “I’m aware. As soon as you grow up and move out I can get one, too.”

Things I’ll Miss
Today is my last day on campus for the summer. Sure, I’ll pop in to check on things once in a while and have meals with The Colleague, who is trapped here teaching full time for the summer, but I’m shutting down the office and hanging out the “Gone Climbing/Sailing/Riding/Running” sign. Among the things I will miss about the school year (this is NOT a comprehensive list):

-The Aloha
-My several boyfriends’ places (Anthony, Rory, and Arnie among them)
-The daily anticipation of the next mental meltdown from the Outgoing Dean (who yesterday actually mistook NPAW for Mrs. GVB. This is not an easy mistake to make).
-Rumor and Innuendo

Next Up
Today, a gym session with the Cap’n.

This weekend with Dad GVB at the beach for Father’s Day.

And stay tuned for my predictable World Cup Soccer rant. Here’s the headline: “Americans Are Stupid”