the Teach Erica Something World Tour begins! Lesson One.

So, I've been pretty excited about spending much of the year traveling and visiting friends, but it's clear that without some larger purpose, I feel enough guilt about "just" doing that to impede my actually enjoying just doing that.  I can couch-surf across America for 8 months, but apparently only if at the end I write a book called Couch-Surfing Across America or something.

Probably I will end up working a significant portion of January to June (more on that plan later), so now I am really just "just" traveling for a few months, something like now (September) to December (until Winter Camp at the very latest).  I set out from Los Angeles last week and headed straight up to Berkeley to stay with two wonderful friends (Aloni and Rebecca) and see as many others in the Bay Area as I could.  Just before I left, however, I had quite a bit of time at home without a whole lot to do, something that has basically never happened in my life before, ever.  I am one of those people who is utterly behind on everything, all the time, and claims, "I've just been crazy busy lately," to which everyone who knows me replies, "It's not 'lately'; you are always crazy busy."  During that down time, I did a few very Erica-like things, like reading Roots by Alex Haley (LOVED it) and a few very UN-Erica-like things, like watch a bunch of TV.  It turns out that I cannot sit still during TV shows, maybe because I got out of the habit of watching them (it's been a while) or maybe it's that YOU ARE LAZY AND UNPRODUCTIVE voice again, or who knows what, but I pretty much always need to also Do Something Else while I watch TV.  I decided I really want to learn to knit or crochet or something, so I can do it while I watch television and finally both enjoy being a couch potato and feel productive at the same time.  When I found out that one of the friends in the Bay Area that I wanted to visit was willing to teach me to crochet, a Project was born.

It's a small project, but it's something.

It's the TEACH ERICA SOMETHING World Tour.  I got up to Berkeley and had a very fun time and lots of ice cream with RBP and AJC.  I saw a ridiculous movie, I went to an Israeli dance led by Aaron Alpert where I got to introduce myself to (and take a picture with) NOBEL PRIZE WINNING ASTROPHYSICIST SAUL PERLMUTTER.  The next day, I drove down to Santa Cruz and learned to crochet.

 
I learned to crochet!  See?  Those are Dani's hands on the left, looking professional.  That is my first practice attempt on the right, looking not at all professional.  But, you know, it's LEARNING.

It feels so good to be on the road.