It's Cody, 23 (practically 24 now) of Cottonwood, AZ (Formerly Dewey and Flagstaff, respectively). This is my May 21, 2008, and is my Fourth ADIML. Join me as the newly graduated kid with a B.A. in history discovers just how useless and esoteric he is, as well as discovers the layout of the town he now calls home!








I wake up early, as seems to be the case every day now. I haven't set any alarms since the day I graduated, and yet I am still chronically waking up at 7:00 every morning, on the dot. At least I'm punctual, and consistent, right?



After I get out of bed and look at the time, I do my morning prayer rule, as assigned to me by my priest and spiritual father. It takes about 15 minutes.



However, after I have completed my prayers, I get a nosebleed. It's that time of the year, I guess--whenever it gets decidedly drier, I get them, sometimes more than one a day. This is one reason why I really want to go someplace decidedly wetter after graduate school. Like, Oh, I don't know, Seattle? Graduate School in Boston shouldn't be too bad, either... I delay finishing to get ready until it's over.



After the nosebleed ends (thankfully it was a small one!), I take a shower. I ran out of space, so you guys are going to have to deal without the standard toothbrushing picture (sorry! It was a long day.)



All dressed and ready for success. Or at least, I hope success. I need a job. Really, just about anything would do, but if I can use my degree, that would be best. My tentative plan today is to hit every antique store and museum I can find. However, an additional idea hits me. There are two vineyards in the local area, and I am quite fond of wine. Furthermore, I did a huge paper a few semesters ago about wine and viticulture in Hellenistic Greece. This, I realize, may make me slightly useful to them. Also, it plain sounds fun.



I forgo breakfast as I'm not hungry, but do watch Frasier with my mom. Yes, I'm living at home. Yes, I'm also a huge nerd. Yes, I realize this makes me a cliche. I know, I don't like it either, but right now I can't afford to live anywhere else, and they've promised me no rent... :-P



I finish working on my resume, which is decidedly small. I also find that I really don't have that much in the way of useful skills, as you can see.



I then create the absolutely standard "I lost my phone, I need numbers" event. See, a few weeks ago, I had my cellphone in my chest pocket, when I drank from one of those nalgene water bottles...which spilled. When it did so, the water poured down into my shirt pocket...and nowhere else. The battery shorted out (which made things interesting for a split second, as you can imagine), and the SIM card was ruined. So...new phone. Which had just arrived yesterday.


I load up music onto my mp3 player to play while I'm driving around (I am terribly old fashioned, I am afraid, as I use a cassette adapter to connect it to the vehicle, HAH), and chat briefly with my friend Marie.


I then get directions to the various vineyards...and then I'm off!



However, I need gas first. Blargh. I am now officially broke, until I go to the bank. My mother gave me some money to get her some things, but $20 in cash doesn't even go far for food anymore. Woe upon the economy! It sucks right now. This, friends, is why I sorely need a job. However, I did get a $50 check for graduation....



So I go to the bank and deposit it...as well as give my resume. Why the heck not? I am informed though, that their applications are now online. I don't like that very much, as it means that nothing is face-to-face anymore. I don't look good on paper. I look better in person.



I get a Starbucks to fortify myself. And ask for an application there too. In this case, I was informed that they're not hiring at this time. What? I thought, you know, being a liberal arts major, I'd be a shoo-in. I enjoy my tasty Chai frappachino with extra cinnamon, and continue.



A bookstore! I go in to apply, and find that, naturally, they're not hiring. I go further into the plaza...



And apply to Sears. Why not? It's there.



I then go off and drive to the first of the Vineyards, called Alcanta. The Owner is a really nice person, and is actually impressed with me and my knowledge (I even guessed the wine they were growing based on what I knew of local geology and environment), but was sad to tell me she couldn't afford to hire anyone. She did tell me that if things ever changed, she'd give me a call, and told me that the other Vinyard probably would have enough money to hire me if they had a position open...



So I get back in the car and drive off...



Oh Cottonwood, how I loathe you so far today. I have to backtrack through town to get to the turnoff. But I'm not exactly sure where I'm going.



I look at the map on the back of the brochure for it that I received at Alcanta. I find that I have to go through Cornville, a town that my dad always makes fun of. I didn't understand why, until I passed through it. Let's just leave it at that.



Here I am! I go in, hoping and....



Nope. No positions open. Le sigh. I get back in the car, and then on a whim go to the Verde Canyon Railroad station. I pass Tuzigoot National Monument on the way, which is a large Sinagua ruin and archaeological site, and decide to apply there when I'm on my way back.



The sign for the railroad outside of the Depot and the ticketing center. Maybe I could be a tour guide or something? They say they'll get back to me. Which means, essentially, no.



I approach Tuzigoot. It's essentially a fortified Sinagua hilltop village, archaeologically speaking, dating from around 1300 AD.



I go into the Visitor Center...



FACE OF WOE! None of the National Monuments or parks in the Verde Valley are hiring right now. She did tell me that Wupatki was hiring (another Sinagua ruin, near Flagstaff) was hiring, but that doesn't help me because I can't afford to burn a tank of gas every four days in the commute. Nor, for that matter, can I afford an apartment in Flagstaff. So I drive back, through Cottonwood...



Downtown Cottonwood. I hit every single bookstore, antique store, and coffee shop on the way, with absolutely NO luck whatsoever, until a kind lady tells me of another coffee shop, on the other side of town, which IS hiring. I thank her profusely, and drive there.



Said Coffee shop. I apply, on PAPER no less,and am asked a few perfunctory questions, since the owner and manger is not there, by the lady who is in charge for the day. I amuse her, which is always good.



Timecheck! It's time to head for home, but I need to get something for mom for lunch, as she requests it while I'm out.



The McDonalds at the Cottonwood Super-Walmart. Blargh. I realize, to my absolute horror, that I might end up working here at walmart if something else doesn't materialize. As I shudder in horror, I pick up Mom's requested Big Mac, and head home.



Home, Sweet Home. More Irksome, really. I have found out today just how useless a Bachelor of Arts in History is. So much for following my passions. I should have gotten into business. You know, something...USEFUL. *sigh*



I make a gardenburger for myself, and realize that I stupidly broke the Wednesday fast earlier this morning with that frappachino. Blargh. Oh well, you fall down, you get up again. I sit down to eat, and read as I do so.



After I finish eating, I continue unpacking. We're still all in the process of moving into the house, so I get to it. It will keep my mind off of just how esoteric I've become.



I decide to unpack these three boxes.



Context of one box consists of SHEER RANDOMNESS. Where in the world did that CCR record come from? I can't remember. There are also a bunch of pictures there from the last time I visited Massachusetts, back when I was still together with my Ex-fiancee, almost exactly a two years ago at this time. I never did finish scanning them, and there was a lot of good nature/wildlife photography in them. I resolve to finish scanning them whenever I find my scanner, somewhere buried in the boxes of stuff still remaining in the garage, packed.



All done! The walls of my room look less empty now. The thing on the left is actually part of an Iranian illuminated manuscript that appears to have real gold leaf. I found it at a flea market for only $40, years ago. It's genuine, too. I had a professor here at NAU look at it. It shows a delegation to a Shah (king).



Another timecheck. I feel like going for a walk.



All set and ready to go! I listen to my Mp3 player on the way to the river, because it's too quiet. I hate quiet sometimes, I need to hear music or pretty sounds, or else I go crazy. The streets have neither. Down by the river, with the constant murmuring of the water and the birds singing, it's a lot better.



Ahh, finally off the road. I take my headphones off, and listen to the tanagers, flycatchers, warblers and sparrows sing and the wind blowing through the cottonwood trees. At least the town's name is logical, I realize.



Here is the Verde River. It's why this town is here...and yet, every drop of it is not allowed for the town. It's reserved exclusively for Phoenix. Where it ends up on golf courses. Blargh.



Shameless Nature Photograph Showing Off Some Semblance of Skill #37. I just like water, and the vivid green of riverside vegetation. In Flagstaff, everything is a darker shade of green, and where we used to live in Dewey, most of everything was a drab shade of grey-green



The riverside path goes through horsetails. I like horsetails a lot, mostly for the sheer irony that these plants used to, well, stand 150 feet tall and provide shade as the first land plants, and now they're relegated to less than waist-high. That, and they just plain look cool.



Just after I took this picture, a Great Blue Heron lifted off from behind the bank. Woe. It would have made this picture even cooler. I like Great Blue herons a lot too, because they seem so...prehistoric. Watching them fly, for some reason, always reminds me of pterodactyls!



Another view of the river. Sometimes it's shallow, like it is here (only knee deep right there, except at the very middle where it's waist-deep), and at other places (including just downstream) it's almost 8 feet deep. I really want to get a Kayak at some point, so I can kayak the part of the Verde River near here. I really need to build some upper-body strength, and it would be a fun way to do it.



Froggy! It nearly scared the crap out of me when it jumped out from practically under my feet. It was buried in sand. I don't know amphibians well, but I think it's a small leopard frog.



That red spot is a Ladybug. I like Ladybugs a lot too, mostly because they always have cute names in other languages. In Russian, they're called "Little Sky Cows" or something of that sort, while in Greece, where I spent Spring Break, they're called "Paschalitzas", because they come out near Pascha, or Orthodox Easter. Seeing them now always reminds me of Greece, as there was just SO MANY OF THEM there.



While walking, I hear baby birds being fed on the other side of the river, so I stick around to see what the parent is. They are Song Sparrows, and this is one of their parents. I've been hearing adults singing for most of the walk, so I'm not terribly surprised to stumble on a nest. In fact, I'm almost more surprised that I hadn't found one yet. I stick around on the other side of the river and watch them for a bit before moving on.



There are some caves on the other side of the river. Some days, I swim across the river (this is where the deep portion I just mentioned is) and hike up there to hang out. It's really cool, because within the caves are pieces of pottery, a few chipped and tiny fragments of obsidian and agate, and, most cool of all, entire remaining corn cobs. It appears that, within the cave at one point, was a granary or at least, a rock shelter for traveling Native Americans along the stream. I decide not to do so today, mostly because I have the camera, and technology and rivers rarely mix well.



There's a fairly large marsh at the bend of the river here, which I'm going to stake out in winter for Virgina Rails and Sora, as well as possible wintering geese. Right now there's usually a pair of mallards that hang around, but they aren't hanging out there today. I walk on.



The cottonwoods here can get MASSIVE. Here they are, against the sky.



Ahh, Datura. One of my, weirdly perhaps, favorite plants in the area. Mostly because it reminds me of the dichotomy that exists in nature. At night, those flowers open up wide and are beautiful to see, when they're still open early in the morning. But it's actually a dangerous plant, and very, VERY poisonous-it contains a neurotoxin that can kill you. But...oh so beautiful.



I return home. Blargh.



I get a bowl of popcorn, charge up my Mp3 player, and read for a while in my reading corner.



Afterwards, time to visit Facebook, Livejournal, Orthodox Circle, and look at webcomics.



As I check the news online, I talk to Marie again. Our days both were rough. Blargh. But tomorrow will be better, we're sure of it.



I decide to play Oblivion for a bit. I would have played it for longer....



But my parents requested that I walk our dog. A most obnoxious, tiny, annoying Chihuahua. Which is actually named "Chi-Chi." I was half-tempted to call the ASPCA for mistreating the poor dog with such a name....



I'm startled to see that it's...sort of raining. Which is really unusual for Arizona this time of year. Except the rain isn't hitting the ground, it's evaporating before it gets there. Ah, welcome to the Desert portion of Arizona.



When I get back, I decide that, instead of playing Oblivion again, I'm going to watch the first part of Children of Dune. I literally just finished the entire series a week ago. A very good series, I might add--you should read it if you haven't yet. Just read Frank Herbert's stuff, though, not that written by his son.



I'm Hungry. I check the time. It's also dark, which means that the sunset-to-sunset fast is over. Even though I broke it once today without thinking, I don't wish to do so again. Discipline is good. So...



I cook myself an Italian-esque sandwich and some cheese sticks. Yum.



I spend some time on Wikipedia doing random research. I only meant to spend a half hour but...well, you know how it goes. One thing leads to another, which leads to another, and before you know it, you have fifty tabs open on firefox before you have to say "NO MORE!" Wikipedia, to me, is almost as much a procrastination tool as Facebook, if not more so.



I play some more Oblivion.



My friend Omar gives me a call to give me his Omar--this is the same Omar that was at my Baptism, for those keeping track. I ask him when he's going to visit and break my monotony, not that there's much to do here anyway...he says he will as soon as he can.



I check Facebook one last time before bed. I'm getting really tired, and it's also getting pretty late. I'm turning into such an old man. Blargh.



I change into pajamas....



And do my evening prayer rule.



I then close my eyes, turn off the light, and get a picture before I finally fall asleep. And yes, the flash IS that bright. Almost too bright, really... But anyway, that was my day.