Done and Dusted

I have made my decision. I've applied to school number one's online history degree. I'm sure this comes as no surprise considering all the previous gushing of said school!

The transcripts have been requested and are in the process of being sent to the school's admissions office. Then, I'll have to wait on their decision. The waiting is the hardest part.

I'm not fretting. The school has rolling admissions and a pretty liberal acceptance policy. I'm just worried and full of wonder for what's ahead.

Now to find the dosh to pay for this damn degree.

Let's Make History Happen

I've noticed lately that my options have opened up tremendously on this journey I call "completing my Bachelor's degree". Whenever that will happen. After much thought, I have chosen to complete the last half of my studies through distance learning. It was a difficult decision to make. I enjoy going to school. But the physicality of attending grew harder and time constraints have become tighter. I simply had to find another way to make this successful.

What has worked in my academic favor is that many schools, especially highly respectable brick and mortar establishments, are offering more degrees through distance learning. In the past, it seemed all you could major in online was Business Administration, Criminal Justice, and Psychology. Now, the possibilities and choice of majors are becoming endless. Also, the world of scholarship and grant opportunities has widened compared to just a few years ago when us non-traditional students didn't really have many avenues out there for financial support. All in all, a good thing.

So, after looking into six colleges that either offered my degree, or something similar, I chipped away and narrowed them down to three.

The number one choice has firmly become my dream school. To my surprise, I just only recently, accidentally, discovered the existence of their online program. A top 100 university, solid New England institution, with some serious name recognition. More importantly, an excellent choice of courses. It has everything going for it. What's the catch? The price tag (ouch!). But I have a feeling that this is the "one". Another positive thing to consider is this school has a lot of its own scholarship and grant opportunities available to returning students.

The number two choice is the first (I think) serious brick and mortar university to offer my major online. For this reason alone, there will always be a place in my heart for the school. That it had an excellent selection of courses to choose from also made it appealing. The only problem is the rigorous acceptance policy and that they allow only a few students into the program each year. A little too confidence crushing for me. Plus, the deadline to apply now is tight. Another thing that worries me is the semester structure. The winter and summer sessions are seriously lacking and not conducive to finishing my degree quicker. That alone is a very important thing to consider.

The number three choice is a really great Midwestern school. The college offers an excellent choice of courses and a nice semester structure. It also has an easy acceptance policy. Sort of a safety school.

I seriously hope I can concentrate, ask a lot of pertinent questions, and get all the information needed without resorting to rash and impulsive decisions; of which I am well known for. There are a handful of schools to choose from, but I know that the final say will happen during the admissions process, when for once, in my academic journey, someone else will have the final say.

I realize I'm up against some challenges here completing the last half of my degree online. The school's appellation is going to have to work extra hard because of this. The name of a school can sometimes raise eyebrows, which is one of the reasons I chose to avoid the "big three" that are heavily advertised. In my experience, I've been cognisant of people's views of online education, so my choices are based on a set criteria, which contributed to the difficultly of making it to this point. First, I refused to bend and insisted on a certain major, and never budged. It was never an option to settle on the limited majors that until recently, most online school programs offered. Last, an important factor was to have the degree attached to an esteemed brick & mortar institution (which all three of my choices are). This proved to be a difficult task in the beginning, but things are now definitely shaping up in both these departments.

Good things happen to those who wait, right? We'll see.

Trip of Success

San Francisco did not disappoint. In fact, the trip was a welcome respite considering all of the airline travel woes experienced in 2007.

The King George Hotel, which is located in the Union Square area of the city, was fantastic and we got a tremendous deal for our stay. How fitting that yours truly should be staying at a place named the King George, huh? The only complaint was that, for our package, there was a charge for the breakfast buffet, which wasn't anything special considering Lori's Diner was right next door and served a heartier meal for less than what the hotel wanted to charge us for continental fare. We were lucky to be comped one free hotel breakfast for our first day by the night manager. The next three day's breakfast we chose to eat at Lori's instead.

We made great use of the city's public transportation, buying a three day MUNI pass that covered all transport and cable car rides. The public transportation in San Francisco is incredibly easy peasy. For me who gets easily confused with the bus system, we were zipping around almost exclusively on the bus during the entire stay.

Day 1 -
It rained throughout the day, but that didn't stop us from getting up and at 'em. Our first excursion was on the number 71 bus to Haight/Ashbury. Haight Street is pretty normal up until you pass right by Buena Vista Park. Then, you are reminded that you have ventured into the setting for the infamous Summer of Love. Now, Haight is only a memory of the past. It cannot be recreated. So, you walk around, entering cafes and shops that try to recreate this feeling of the lost hippie era. It fully hits you that you can never really go back. We took our place under the infamous Haight/Ashbury sign. To protect them from theft, the signs are bolted to the sign post much higher than all of the other street signs around San Francisco.

My mother wanted to see her hero, Janis Joplin's former home, at 122 Lyon Street. We also trudged up the hill to the former home of the Grateful Dead on 710 Ashbury Street. Another home we just had to ghoulishly pass by was at 636 Cole Street. The former residence of Charles Manson - shudder. Naturally, we did a bit of shopping. I found a cute necklace at the Goodwill store. My mother found a coin purse at a place called Positively Haight. We also stopped by the Blue Moon Cafe. I will never forget the Eggnog Chai I had there. So delicious!

We took the bus back to Market St, transferred over to the F street car, and headed to Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf. Here, it was mostly walking around and window shopping. Don't buy wine here. It's horribly expensive. Go to the supermarket where it's cheap. I was on to their tactics from the start when I noticed that all the wine sold at Pier 39, you can get cheaper at home. We were lucky enough to see the sea lions sprawled out on the docks, vocal.

Dinner was at the Fog Harbor restaurant. Unfortunately, because of the weather, there were no nice views to be had on this day. We proceeded to walk around and we got ourselves up a very steep hill to Lombard St. which is considered the "crookedest street in San Francisco". It was nighttime, so we didn't get any good photos. Coming down the hill was just as bad as walking up. You had to walk down sideways so as not to build up momentum.

Day 2 -
Such a beautiful, sunny day. We had to be out in front of our hotel at 8:15am to be picked up for a tour of Alcatraz, Muir Woods, and Sausalito. We were disappointed in how the tour company operated. We arrived there at about 8:45 only to be told that we wouldn't be brought to the ferry for Alcatraz until 9:45. Honestly, we could have made our own way to the ferry without having to hang around the tour company's building for so long. We made lemonade out of lemons and decided to walk around the area. I discovered that Lombard St. was only a few blocks away, so it ended up working in our favor. We were finally able to get some good shots, including some video, of the cars driving down the crooked street.

Alcatraz was fucking brilliant. The audio tour was recorded by former guards and prisoners. This added greatly to the experience. I was so amazed at the views the prisoners had from the prison. I learned later that this affected them deeply. It could be frustrating to see the city from such a short distance, see people having fun on their sailboats, and hear party cruises float by with people celebrating and having a great time. It proved to be a constant reminder of not having freedom of movement.

Unfortunately, the tour company we chose didn't allow time to see more of the island. I would definitely love to go back to explore, and learn more about the Native American takeover in 1969. Graffiti is still visible, which serves as a reminder of their occupation. A bonus was that since Alcatraz is owned by the National Parks Service, we were able to get NPS passport stamps in our books.

We were taken back to the tour company's headquarters to transfer to yet another bus for the Muir Woods and Sausalito leg of the tour. We crossed the Golden Gate Bridge into Marin County. There were some beautiful views heading into Muir Woods, but unfortunately, we were only given about an hour or so to explore the actual park. There was also a stamping station for our books, and the new 2008 Centennial stamp became available.

We walked around, staring up in awe at the majesty that are the Redwoods. Though not as huge as the Sequoias, Redwoods certainly hold their own. Can you believe that most of these have been chopped down and that only a very small percentage exist? This stunned me. What stunned me more was learning that in San Francisco, for a home to properly be considered a Victorian, it has to be made out of...Redwoods! So, in essence, Redwoods still abound, they have just taken the shape of something else aesthetically pleasing.

Our trip back to San Francisco included a stop in the harbor town of Sausalito. This was the most disappointing part of the tour. We didn't arrive until about 5pm, when just about everything in the center of town was closing up, including all of the small eateries. We were given about an hour to eat, so any major restaurant was out of the question. Strolling the main street, we stumbled upon the Fingerhut gallery and went inside to view some of Grace Slick's artwork. She's actually a very good artist. Although it appeared to be heavily based on Alice in Wonderland and White Rabbit scenes, I was impressed with some of her other paintings.

Our time was short but bittersweet in Sausalito. The tour driver, although a bit blabby, gave a lot of interesting and amusing information about the town.

Day 3 -
Another fantastically gorgeous, sun filled day. After seeing the lines over an hour deep for the previous two days, we made sure to get to the cable car stop very early and managed to grab a seat. It was a chilly ride, but we got some great views. The finale was veering down Hyde Street, which I was able to film. Afterwards, we grabbed a bus to Coit Tower and climbed to the top for some of the best views the city has to offer. The WPA murals inside are exquisite. I got some excellent photos of them. Afterwards, we strolled through Union Square Park and got to meet our very own "Birdman", but not of Alcatraz. This gentleman kept exotic birds and would let them out for a breather in the park.

Next, we took the bus to Golden Gate Park and finally got to see and experience thee bridge up close and personal. I decided to walk a bit over it, which was a bad idea. It was so windy and the guard rails aren't that high. I could barely get over to them for pictures because my fear of heights became so pronounced, I couldn't handle it. I got sick to my stomach and couldn't even make it to the middle. Regardless, I did get what felt like millions of pictures of the bridge. No matter how beautiful and iconic the Golden Gate Bridge is, you feel as if you cannot take a proper picture of it.

We walked around the Presidio taking in the views, and NPS passport stamps. However, since it was New Year's Eve day, everything closed up early so we weren't able to get stamped. Not a problem because Muir Woods is part of, and already issues a Golden Gate National Recreation Area stamp, so we were all set in that department. Even if a bit disappointed.

As for shopping, surprisingly, we didn't do much of it. I eyed this cool body shape flattering Tye-dye shirt at Positively Haight, but I wasn't exactly feeling the price tag. I ended up getting a cute, cheap necklace at the Goodwill store on Haight. I purchased the requisite amount of post cards normally collected to mark my travels. Plus, I bought two magnets at Alcatraz, one for my mother and one for myself. No visit to San Francisco is complete without a stop at See's Candies. I just about passed out once I got inside two of their stores, where I stocked up on lolly pops and chocolates.

Since I was with my mother, this was exclusively a "sites only" trip. Not a problem, I had such a blast. I would love to go back and see more arts orientated things such as museums and galleries. For now, I'm happy about what I did get to see.

What I took away from this trip was the importance of scenery. It seems that you can view the harbor from almost any point in the city, and it's precious to each and everyone. No matter where you found yourself in the city proper, a vista of the harbor was to be had. I felt this was an important lesson. From the best to the not-so-nice neighborhoods, almost everyone had a chance to see the same view. The harbor brought a sense of equality among the masses.

For the flight back to JFK, we arrived an hour early! Knock on wood, hopefully 2008 will bring more of that good flying mojo.

Photos of the trip can be viewed here.

Symmetry in Commotion

Being a steady creature of habit, naturally, this time of the year is very hard for yours truly. It's an uncomfortable transition that goes further than learning to write a new year of date. Even as a child, the concept of a permanent change of date seriously confused the hell out of me thus throwing me into a psychological tailspin. The anxiety could, at times, be very intense. Of course, this time of the year is also laden with other's questions of "what did you learn this past year?" which can really add to life's bubbly cauldron. Well, there's lots to reflect on and it can be either promising or a huge major downer of realization that the things you expected and anticipated the year prior didn't come to fruition or didn't happen under the terms you originally set out to accomplish them by. Such is the case somewhat now for moi.

I don't believe in new years resolutions. They are more like new years revolutions. They start out bold and full of certainty, but after the body count and disposed regime, the problems of the country usually aren't fixed anyway. This holds true for resolutions. Your problems are not going to be solved in the month of January alone. Besides, this is the month of finishing up business, not beginning it. Let's see - I don't smoke, so there's no use in giving that up. I don't believe in diets, so that too is of no use. In fact, I understand and welcome a bit of pudge in the early winter years. I'm probably he only religious person who reveres human nature and animal instincts and thus realizes that it's perfectly normal to have a gut during the cold season. Even bears hibernate and since they are the wisest ones in the Native north, perhaps we should follow their lead. Without the unnecessary mauling of others, naturally.

I rung in the New Year while in bed. I was three hours behind the normal time my body clock celebrates and so midnight had no meaning, no comprehension for an East coast girl vacationing on the West coast. As far as I was concerned, it was 9pm Pacific time that brought in 2008. Try telling that to the person who felt it necessary to scream "HAPPY NEW YEAR" out on the street at the top of their lungs. I don't think they share my same beliefs about how my body clock ticks or else they would have let me sleep.

Since I do suffer from symmetry and numerical based OCD, 2008 is sure to be quite the lucky year. At least in my stressed out brain. I am disappointed that I won't be able to have any monumental events happening this year on 08-08-08 and I don't see myself competing in the summer Olympics either to secure those historical numbers in my destiny. That's always been the ideal date, even and symmetrical. Oh well, better luck next year 09-09-09.

I do hope that whatever fate decides to lay on my doorstep this year, that it will be life changing in a positive way. I really do need some right now.