New job, new home & Bonnie Raitt

Started the new job and I am busy...busier and more challenged than I have been for a long time! I am the Communications Lead for a global program focused on having partners and customers adopt a new contract management system........they have to actually, we are about to retire the old system!!! My job is to co-ordinate the various communications folks to make sure we are aligned and do the right things in the right way. So far that involves lots and lots of meetings, putting in place some processes so that we work as a team and trying to figure out if we are actually doing the right things. Its fantastic to be in a global program and work with different parts of the world. My team are great, very professional, capable people who all want to do well. My saving grace is that this program is a sister program to the one I have left so I at least understand some of the technical content and the context in which we are trying to do this. My boss is grand - we have never met, she lives in Southern California and only comes here once every 4 or 6 weeks.....her boss is in Texas and runs the same gig. This really is virtual working and amazing to get a job on the back of telephone interviews.
Come July by roomie finishes her Masters so I have had to think about where I am going to live. I had thought I would leave Santa Cruz but now that I only have to work in the office a minimum of one day a week (I choose 3) I have decided to rent Michelles beach cottage when her lease is up (1 August) and stay here. It has surprised me as I did seriously look at Mountain View (home of Google). The Cottage is fully furnished, two bedrooms, one block from where I live and one block from the beach. I know the landlords well having negotiated Michelle renting it in the first place. And it comes with a weekday boarder (Prof from the University who lives in SF but works down here during the week). I am not keen on a full time roomie so this is a nice compromise. My biggest delimma is whether I buy the three for one package and get TV, Internet and a landline!!!! Since I have started watching programmes/movies online I don't much care about TV. I think I will give that a miss and just get a large monitor to hook to my computer to (nice for work as well).

This weekend Michelle and I headed off to the Santa Cruz Blues Festival to watch Bonnie Raitt. It was a great day. Arrived about midday and the place was packed. We did manage to find a very nice place on the lawn and proceeded to sit back and relax for the day. The show was in a natural amphitheatre so we were surrounded by trees. Bonnie was the last act (and by then we had found some of Michelle'sfriends) so we all got up and danced and laughed. The crowd was interesting. Mostly white, middle class to very wealthy, with a heavy sprinkling of hippies. I am pretty confident the average age would have hung in the 40s somewhere. While it looked very conservative it was quite clear that, despite the "no smoking" by-laws there was smoking of all kinds going on. Alcohol was also available and what made the whole thing nice was that I never saw anybody behaving badly. Just a mellow, happy crowd.

It's Memorial Day weekend (I think this is kind of like our ANZAC Day) so there is a general air of relaxed. Next weekend I am off to a dance fundraiser for the National Center for Lesbian Rights (they are leading much of the work around trying to have gay marriage legalized). Anyway it's part of a much bigger weekend event. It's in SF so I have booked a hotel and I am going with a friend, Dee, who I met quite a few months back and her friend.......who I haven't yet met. Dee lives in Berkley but used to live in Santa Cruz so anytime she is down this way we try to catch up for a walk, drink or dinner. I am looking forward to the dance - it's a formal affair so I am very intrigued to see how people dress (SF Californians don't really do "formal"). Anyway I am assured there will be lots of girls in frocks (no I won't be one of them!).

Having fun

So the roommate has been doing an internship focused on pulling together two shows using digital art and new media. Stage one of the show, Superlight, opened in San Jose on Saturday night. Michelle and I decided to drive up and spend the night so we could go to the show and then off to a Powwow at Stanford University. Superlight had some pretty cool stuff, including one display where you walked into a room and there was a massive screen on the far wall with a guys face. As you moved around the room he changed what he was saying, reflecting how close you were to him or the pace you walked toward or away from him. It was kind of fun to see what reactions you could get out of him! Lots of other clever things too. One of the most fun things that the adults were really into was the chance to create a little doll - see mine to the left. They had set up a work bench with the felt etc and patterns you could choose from. We then all happily used glue guns and rummaged around in boxes of buttons etc to create our characters. Michelle did one too - although a little more girlie than mine. It was a real giggle. Afterwards we went back to the very nice hotel we were staying in, had a nightcap and watched a DVD.
The next day we went off to the Powwow. It was a weekend affair and included a dance competition. We managed to get to see the women performing. Some amazing outfits too. I really enjoyed the drumming that went with the dances and was fascinated to watch - very physical. There was a range of stalls selling jewellery etc so we spent some time wandering around them. Well mostly Michelle. I spent time watching people. All up a lovely weekend.....I think I am in the calm before the storm with the job so it was nice to indulge a little (hmm I guess I've been doing nothing but indulging these past weeks!).

Hola! pt 2, new job, New Mexico

It's been BUSY....fun but busy. Back to Barcelona. See the gang, including the worlds largest paella dish! After Sitges Rose, Jo and I headed to Barcelona. On the way we stopped at Montserrat where we got to see the Black Virgin (see my other post). While we qued for a hideous amount of time we did get to hear the boys choir in the Basilica. The views were spectacular and it was well worth the several hours we spent wandering around. Into Barcelona we stayed at a fab hotel near some grand eating places and close to where we could catch the tourist bus that takes you all over the place. Loved the Gaudi architecture. Particularly the La Sagrada Familia - a "church" started in 1882 and still being built using Gaudi's original drawings with different architects leading the construction at different times. I did freak myself going to up in the elevator into the spires then having to walk down these stairs. As well as making the most of the open air bus we walked alot, had some great Tapas and watched some great street performers. Jo was our tour guide and found some very cool places for us to investigate. Including and amazing design store. I loved Barcelona!
Before I left for Spain I, somewhat boldly, decided I would renew my contract so had, technically, finished my old contract. Had two possible jobs to consider when I got back. Came back to neither having materialized but being offered a weeks work in the old program (they would have had me stay but I was done with it). Anyway concurrently I also decided it was time to go visit El Rancho. Given my unemployed status I was remarkably relaxed. Then within 24hrs I had a new contract! Did the first of three interviews at 9am one morning and by 5pm that day had been offered a Communications Lead role in the sister program to the one I am in. Yippee. Headed off to NM and started the new job yesterday.
New Mexico was fun, welcoming and familiar. No yellow house for me anymore but I was more than comfortable in the bunk house. It was grand to see everyone. On the Saturday Brice, Karen and I headed to Taos for brunch then went on to check out the Earth Ships - billed as Biotechture they are made almost entirely of recycled material (based on used tires)
and can be completing self sustaing using solar power and recycled water. They can come in all different styles but tend more towards and Adobe look or something out of Star Wars! Built into the ground they are impressive and quirky. If you want to know more got to You Tube and search under Earthships.