Adulting

 Even though I'm in my mid-thirties with two part-time jobs, it's finally starting to feel like my career is going somewhere.

On Monday, I had to go into the state office, and there was a piece addressed to me that called me "Dr." Why should I need a PhD if people are going to call me Dr. anyway?

In case you're wondering, it was a copyright form for a book review. I'm in charge of wrangling book reviews for Utah Historical Quarterly.

Back in 1976, as part of the national bicentennial celebrations, there was a book called The Peoples of Utah that focused on different religions and ethnicities in the state. Now for 2026, we're working on a project called The Peoples of Utah Revisited (POUR), which builds on the work of fifty years ago.

Yesterday (Saturday), we had a symposium for the contributors to POUR. There were many of the writers there, many (most?) of them historical newcomers. There were ethnic historians, queer historians, disability historians, and more. Several of my classmates from the University of Utah were there, including one undergrad who remembered my dinosaur presentation from November 2021. I wore my button-up dinosaur shirt, and I got so many compliments. The lunch was catered by a local company that specializes in Indigenous Mexican food, and there was a Puerto Rican musical group that performed.

My colleague and I presented on historical writing and documentation. She talked about writing, while I talked about documentation. The people seemed attentive and interested. I can't believe I'm actually presenting at an academic symposium! Like, I'm actually an expert at something and can share my knowledge with others?! Wild!

And at my Church job, I was reviewing the work of a colleague on our project team, seeing what I could add. I certainly don't have all the skills he has. But I also realized that I have some skills that others don't have, so I'm happy I'm able to contribute in a meaningful way. I guess Queer Eyes are needed everywhere.

When I'm not busy working two jobs, I had some time this week to make a plum upside-down cake. I really like making this cake, but I haven't been able to since 2020, because that was the last time we had a good plum crop. The recipe calls for rosemary, but I used mint leaves instead, since we have lots of fresh mint but no fresh rosemary. And it ended up looking like a pizza.

But lest you think I'm an adult, I still buy toys. For myself. 

Back in 1998–1999, when I was in fourth and fifth grade, I was obsessed with these vegetable and fruit toys called Veggie Friend Seedies ("seedies" instead of "beanies"—this was the era of Ty Beanie Babies), Fruit Seedies, Nutra-Fruit Heroes, and Vegetable Friends. Shortly before the company went out of business in the early 2000s, they made Baby Veggie Friend Seedies. These were a little smaller, and they were dressed as babies, and they made baby noises. But since I was a kid, I couldn't buy them myself.

But now that I'm a single adult with a disposable income, I can go on eBay and buy random nonsense. I found five of the Baby Veggie Friend Seedies, so I bought them. Sadly, they don't have tags, so I don't know their names. And since they're more than twenty years old, the voice boxes don't work.

The crying onion is my favorite. I don't know whether the green one is a cucumber or a zucchini.

Oh, and I continue to add to my collection of Halloween Squishmallows.

This is a goblin, which were a bigger part of Halloween folklore in the mid-twentieth century, so I'm glad to see them now. My niece got me the little candy apple, and my mom got me the little orange monster.

Oh well, I guess it's not that different from straight dads adding to their Funko Pop! collections.