Promoted at Basho

Haha I forget exactly when this is from, but clearly Hans missed me, and curled up around my arm to take a nap.


Saturday after the bakery, I took some time to look for a spice rack. I have been keeping all my spices on the back of the oven, but that's not so good for them. So, I went to Marshalls, and JCPenny, and Target: nothing! How frustrating! But then I came home and stopped by the thrift store across the street, and found a glorious, perfect spice rack via IKEA:

How lovely!

And how could I forget?: I finally shadowed that tour I was promised to shadow a month ago. However, I still have not given a tour yet.

But it's interesting that almost 5 months of working at Eastern State, with them (intentionally or otherwise), sucking the confidence right out of me, it only took two weeks working at Project Basho to get promoted. Admittedly, it is a temporary job, but: Anne is what I can describe as the Assistant Program Director of Project Basho. She teaches classes, trains monitors, sets up appointments, works on registration for classes including finding professors to teach the classes, and is soon to be updating the website. Anne is also going on vacation for a month, and last night I was asked to fill her position, everything except the teaching of classes. A paid position, roughly 16 hours a week. And coincidentally, it will take the place of my bakery job which ends in a few weeks. So next week she will start training me in these matters, and in another week or so, I'll take over while she is gone. While I realize that I might not be as good as she is, I think I can do what needs to be done. And more importantly, I have the confidence that Anne and Tsuyoshi believe that I can do it. This is entirely different from tactics at ESP. I work pretty well under pressure, but I work even better under expectation: If you expect something of me, I will try very hard to get it done well, right, and on time; If you expect nothing of me, that is exactly what you will get. And it still sort of hurts that ESP really just doesn't expect anything of me. Well, at least other organizations (and one that I am hoping to stay with for a long time!) feel differently.


So, this photograph looks pretty gross. But ignore that: LOOK, at how this avocado pit is GROWING! YEARS of trying to grow one, YEARS of mockery by friends and households! And alas! VICTORY!

Lastly, I got a message on facebook the other day: Tim is coming! German Tim booked a flight to Philadelphia for today. I was all set to pick him up and I happen to have today and tomorrow off, but turns out (as I was informed by his mother this morning), he has to get off at Newark. I think he forgot to send his luggage to Philadelphia. Fool! I'm sure I'll see him sometime.

Mom is coming for birthday dinner tonight. (Tim was fine with entertaining himself for an hour or so).

The only inconvenient thing with this Tim nonsense, is that Alex Kanevsky actually emailed me back recently, and we made an appointment for tomorrow at 2. But I have since informed him of my change in plans. His website is good, but in my opinion a little difficult to navigate. Google images has an awesome amount of his work though. I am very excited to meet him, and to see all his glorious work in person, at his studio. EPIC.