Wednesday, December 4, 2002

8 mile

man, i can't beleive i've been doing this for two years!

me and d went to see 8 mile tonight. it was good, although it had a bit of the bouncy camera thing going on, so i got a little queasy. but eminem was good, and i really liked the ending. saturday we're going to see harry potter, which i haven't seen yet. i'm stoked.

ugh. another 11 hour day work day awaits me. i should probably sleep.

damn job.

Saturday, November 30, 2002

happy haunukkah!

so my goal of a redesign and a photolog by the end of the weekend is so not happening. damn.

i hope everyone had a nice thanksgiving. mine was pretty cool - i went to the beach, hung out with the fam, ate good food and was home by 7. all in all a great day. and to top it off, i got friday off!! 2 days off in a row! i think it was some sort of miracle. but yeah, thanksgiving at the beach was great... the weather was perfect and the unset was lovely... i got to experiment with my camera and all the different settings. i'll post the photos sometime soon...

so tonight, i'm going to not one, but 2 haunukkah parties. and i'm not even jewish! the first one is at my mom's friend's house... they're from israel, and they're pretty nice people. the other one is in SF, at amica's ( i know amica from HS.) i guess it's going to be packed... they're expecting about 40 people at a 2 bedroom apartment. i'm going to shoot some movies with my camera and make a little music video... (the thing doesn't record sound). should be fun.

thought for the day: looking for car insurance sucks. the end.

Thursday, November 21, 2002

pretty, but also kinda sad.

sunrise in santa cruz.
sunrisesm.gif
click to see the bigger picture.

it's mornings like this when i really love having a digital camera... i can take amazing photos and share them with anyone i want... the same day! without paying for developing!! although, really, how sad is it that i was up early enough to photograph the sunrise? i know, not sad for some people, but i am not a morning person. thank god i don't have to go to work until 8 tomorrow.

Tuesday, November 19, 2002

damn, it's too early.

now, normally i don't get up at 8 am on my day off, but today i am going out with my very oldest friend, heather, who is also very pregnant. we are going to a tea house. to have tea. all victorian style. FUN! ;-) i also have baby presents for her, which is also fun.

then later today i'm going to the cheesecake factory with my fam, because they finally opened one in san jose. all hail the cheesecake factory gods! (i will order a piece of linda's fudge cake and eat it while thinking of ericalynn.)

that's probably it from me today, becasue after 6pm i will most likely be in a food coma.

Monday, November 18, 2002

stream of conciousness

ugh. i hate being sick. i skipped work on friday beacuse of it, which means my paycheck is going to be pathetic yet again this week, and i feel like i can't get anything done. case in point - today i was going to go to the gym after work, but i forgot my gym stuff not once, not twice, but three times. i left it at home when i left for work this morning, i forgot to grab it when i was home at lunch, and then when i came home to get it after work, i spaced out and ended up at carpo's having dinner with donna. not a bad outcome, but damn! what the hell!

this site needs a redesign. no, more like an overhaul. i have a fabulous design planned, but i can't get it to work. once i get it to work, though... watch out! i want to totally revamp stuff... i have a new digital camera, so a real photolog is something i need to set up. anyone have any tips?

my new favorite band is the Old 97's. i have decided that i must own every single one of their albums by next week. ooh!!! and they're on furthernet too! i think now i have to go download shows obsessively.

Wednesday, November 13, 2002

corey!

well, i didn't mean to keep all... well, all two of you waiting... ;-) our mystery man is none other than corey feldman!

corey.gif

my mom and i had tickets to see a midnight showing of the goonies at the del mar last weekend, and 'mouth' himself mad a personal appearance, and answered questions and such. it was very cool. and of course, since i have a new digital camera (yay) i was able to snap some photos. the little question and answer thing he did was cool, and of course, seeing goonies on the big screen was fabulous. beyond fabulous. amazing. that movie is definetly in my top 10 of all time.

oh, and there might be something happy going on in my job hunt - think happy thoughts for me!!

Sunday, November 10, 2002

alien

experimenting with the scan feature on my camera, which takes better pictures in low light.

Archived Comments:

gabe: This is the most disturbing picture I've ever seen.  (01/21/2003 10:52:17 PM)

d dogg: what's disturbing is that the camera was on the "normal" setting.  that's how we look on the planet Shama Sheems.  (01/22/2003 09:32:57 PM)

man in black

maninblack.gif
who is the mysterious man in black??

any guesses?? (if you already know the answer, don't spoil it!)

more on this later.

Thursday, October 31, 2002

definetly a trick.

happy halloween, all!

i think someone is playing a trick on me... i haven't gotten a single e-mail all day. not one. not even spam. there is definetly somehting strange going on!

so, it being halloween and all, i was excited about going downtown to see all the crazy people dressed up. dowtown sc is a great place to go for halloween - it reminds me of west hollywood, but much much much smaller. so, i'm all hyped up, and then i wake up this morning with a horrible migraine, so i have to call in sick to work... i manage to get in for a half day (i need the $$) and by this time i'm feeling tired and icky. my sister is giving me a hard time about not going out, so i got dressed, put on all my makeup, and then i deceided i wasn't going out, so i took a shower and watched will and grace. it was nice.

i have a confession to make... i bought the new christina aguilera cd on tuesday. actually, that's not so much of a confession since everyone knows i like her anyway. but yeah, the cd is great. way way way better than i expected it to be. (i'm watching jay leno and he just made a great joke... 'if you don't know what to wear for halloween, just go naked and say you're christina aguilera.' hah!) so yeah, i don't really expect anyone to beleive me, but i'll say it anyway, the cd is good. go listen to it, or not. ;-)

Wednesday, October 30, 2002

eeew, work!

god, i barely have time to recover from training and then i have to go back to work!! *shudder*.

so, i've decided that i really don't like my job and i'd like to quit. of course, with the constant flow of money, i've gone a bit crazy, and now i can't really quit my job unless i want to cancel my cable and phone and dsl and start living on ramen. of course, i don't even have the option of quitting the gym, which is great for motivation, but lousy if the money stops. never mind the fact that they just spent almost a thousand dollars sending me to training. although, the fact that my boss is a jackass sort of negates any guilt i would feel about that.

so, now starts the fun - spedning my days off looking for another job! actually, i'm also looking into going back to school to get a teaching credential... there's a program in scotts valley that i'm trying to get more info on. hopefully i can start in january.

anyway, tonight i met up with d and renee and went to watch renee's martial arts class. it's called eskrima, and it's pretty cool. me and d are thinking of joining the class... although i'm not sure i could handle it because they work with knives (fake knives, of course) and i'm not sure i could have somoene swinging a knife at me without freaking out, fake or no. plus it costs money, and i'm not sure i want to spend another $40 bucks a month. although, i could just stop buying shit at bare escentuals... hmmm. anyway, we're going back in a few weeks to watch the real teacher (he was out of town tonight). might be interesting.

Sunday, October 20, 2002

disneyland

i'm sore and tired, but damn, this was a great weekend!

saturday, my mom and i got up at 5 am to fly out to orange county. we got in out rental car and drove straight to disneyland! we got there about 9:15, rode the shuttle in, and bought our tickets for dineyland and california adventure. as we were waiting to go into disneyland, the man in front of us asked us if we wanted to be his guests... basically he had some sot of annual pass thing where he could get himself plus 3 other people into the parks, and it was just him and his daughter that day.. so, basically, we got in totally free. it was so cool.

we had a great time - we went on indiana jones and the haunted mansion holiday (they re-did the ride with a nightmare before christmas theme), had lunch in new orleans square, wandered around california adventure and rode soaring over california, possibly the coolest ride i've ever been on, ever. we had dinner at the rainforest cafe, watched parts of game one on the big screens they had set up while we shopped at downtown disney, went back to california adventure and hung out some more, saw the end of the electrical parade, went back into disneyland, rode pirates, saw the end of fantasmic, rode a few more rides, and finally left at about 1245 am. it was a really long day, but really really fun. it was also neat to be so close to the world series... even though we were surrounded by angels fans. every time we saw anyone wearing orange and black, we'd yell "go Giants!", and they'd yell right back. it was great. so anyway, we got back to the hotel around 115, went to sleep around two, and walked out of the hotel at 8am to get breakfast and catch our flight back to san jose.

crazy, huh?

almost as crazy as the game today - so exciting i could hardly stand it!! i don't normally watch basball, but damn! i couldn't stop! ;-)

ugh, i go back to training tomorrow... waah. long boring days learning stuff i already know, sleeping in a strange hotel, eating icky fast food and no internet access. shoot me now. well, at least there's cable!

Tuesday, October 15, 2002

training sucks

training sucks frozen hose water.

that is all.

Saturday, October 12, 2002

books.

i have a problem.

i have no more room on my bookshelves.

i can't help the fact that every time i go into bookshop i end up buying something!! tonight i bought five books... the boy next door, the fig eater, their eyes were watching god, icy sparks, and altar music.

add white oleander, the wind up bird chronicle, a desert in bohemia, man crazy, the master of all desires, gospel, and the feast of love (which i'm reading right now), i'll be busy for a while!!

i'm going to bring about 5 of these, plus all my knitting, to 'training'. without having to worry about laundry or dishes or cleaning, i can devote my time to the good things in life - books, yarn, tv and sleep! though i do hope the hotel i end up in has a gym. ;-)

Thursday, October 10, 2002

impulsive!

so, my mom jokes that my job is like a cult, because they keep sending me to 'training'. it's all really funny... talking about the 'company way', etc etc. all really hysterical. so, there's this notorious 2 week training class, where they put you up in a hotel, give you a perdiem, etc. i haven't gone yet, for all sorts of reasons, but today they told me that i start my training on monday.
i was pissed at first, becasue i didn't appreciate having to drop eveything in my life to go to a class 2 hours away from home where i'm already going to know everything anyway! but then i was thinking, not only do i get my own room in a hotel (with free hbo, yay) and something like $25 a day to buy food, but i'd have the whole weekend off, from friday at 5 until monday morning around 10!

i was telling my boss how fun it would be to hop a plane and get the hell out of here for a day or two.

so, i bought two plane tickets and a hotel room and me and my mom are flying to orange county for a day to go to disneyland. ;-)

fun! i can't wait!

Tuesday, October 1, 2002

real world, my ass.

nowhere in the 'real world' have i heard of people being provided with a gorgeous, furnished place to live (basically for free) cush jobs handded to them on a silver planner, and all kinds of free prizes and trips to cool places. of course on the Real World (note the caps) people get exactly this, and then bitch that they don't like their job PLANNING PARTIES. whatever.

regardless of all this, i'm all over this season of real world. my and my housemate have nicknamed it skank time, becasue that's basically what it is. it's really fun to watch and make fun of everyone. what i don't understand is why everone is drooling all over the man-whore (steven). he's not even that cute, and he's obviously dumber than a bag of hair. trichelle cracks me up, too - everone talks about how she's so innovent... HA! innocent my ass... she's a skank in sheeps-clothing. frank is... well, boring. so is alton, so far. irulan and arissa are getting more interesting as time goes by. and brynn! she is a whiny, irresponsibe, arrogant, selfish spoiled brat.

the great thing about watching the whole season of real world is that these people really do tend to change throughout the whole thing... and usually they change for the better. i'm curious to see what i think of all these people at the end of the season.

mmm, gotta love trash tv!

Saturday, September 28, 2002

damn!

so, it's not like i don't have things to say, but my days are so long and they fly by so fast and then it's been a week and i realize i haven't posted. this sucks because i was never very good at writing my thoughts in a real, 3-dimentional journal... i'd write every few days for a month or so and then i'd stop writing altogether. so, i have a great record of about 3 months of freshman year, and then another 4 of junior year and that's it. this blog has been great because it's a pretty constant record of what's been going on with me, and i like that. someday i can go back and be like, wow, this was what it was like to be in my early 20's. you know?

so, yesterday i joined a gym!! it's about time... i finally had the $$ to shell out, so i figured this is a good thing to spend it on, rather than random crap. the membership includes free personal training, and i had my first half-hour this morning. the trainer showed me how to take my heart rate, and we worked on cardiovascular stuff, treadmill, bike, etc., setting up how fast i should be going, and for how long. wednesday morning i have my next session, and we're going to work on the weights... this is all good, because i'm generally clueless about these sorts of things. working out has always been a bit of a struggle for me (i blame it on the exercise induced asthma), but with such long hours at work, i really didn't want to get in a cycle of work 11 hours, eat, then sleep. it was like, the last straw. so now, basically i'm going to spend the winter working my ass off. ;-) hahaha.

Friday, September 20, 2002

friday five

it's been a while, so here's the friday five!

1. Would you say that you're good at keeping in touch with people? well, i used to be. i used to be great at writing letters, and e-mails, but i've been slacking lately. however, on a completely different level, i still am good friends with most of the people from my 'group' in high school. so i guess i'm both good and bad at staying in touch with people.

2. Which communication method do you usually prefer/use: e-mail, telephone, snail mail, blog comments, or meeting in person? Why? well, lately i favor the phone and meeting in person, mostly becasue i've gotten to lazy to type.

3. Do you have an instant messenger program? How many? Why/why not? How often do you use it? I have IM, and i use it every few days... i have about 50 buddies on my list, but only 3 or 4 i actually im on a regular basis. i used to use icq, but gave up on it... mostly because everyone else did. ;-)

4. Do most of your close friends live nearby or far away? a lot of them live far away now, but people have been moving so often it's hard to keep track anymore.

5. Are you an "out of sight, out of mind" person, or do you believe that "distance makes the heart grow fonder"? no, out of sight, never out of mind. ;-)

Wednesday, September 18, 2002

ugh.

it's been a busy and expensive week. i've been working my ass off at 'the job', which is good because i'm making a lot of money (and getting paid weekly, yay) but this is bad because i've even been working on my days off. today was a day off, which was really a morning off, since i went to work at 12, and it doesn't even really count because i slept through most of it. though, considering the general lack of sleep i've been getting, and the fact that i don't get to sleep in for another week, it was probably a good way to spend my time.

let's see... went to greg and lexi's wedding on friday... got to see lot of people i haven't seen in a while. the wedding was lovely, and the reception was a blast. saturday jason and danny were visiting from la, so a bunch of us went to lucnh at chevys and then went to the mall. i hadn't been to valley fair for a while, so it was fun. i got the name of a salon here in sc that does aveda haircoloring, so i'm saving up to become a redhead (finally) and i went in to bare escentuals to get a makover, which was not a great idea (financially, at least). i asked the girl to show me the mineral stuff i've been seeing on qvc lately, partially because i was curious to see if it really was amazing as everyone says, partially because my mom wanted some and she wanted to know if it worked. well, she did half my face with the makeup and showed me the difference and i was sold. i spent 80 bucks on foundation, the mineral veil, and two brushes without even flinching (ok, maybe i flinched a little). add that to the new printer i bought last week, and i'm poor again. good thing i get paid tomorrow!

plus, the other day i was caller 5 on KMBY and i won ticket to ren faire! i've never won anything off the radio before, so it was super exciting! that station has gotten way better in the past month or so... it used to be just crappy 'new' bands that all sound the same, but now there's more 'classics' like nirvana and offspring and beck and stp and weezer. and good new bands like system of a down. they could play more pearl jam, though. you hear that?? more pearl jam!!! and start playing loveline again! live 105 over in the bay area has gotten better too... it's like a rock renaissance.

good music things: i like the french kicks. and the new weezer song. and the new songs by christina and justin (gotta love that pop music!). and did i mention that i love the new coldplay cd? that and guster. good stuff.

Wednesday, September 11, 2002

another year

I wish you could adore
The way you did before
Now you're living through another year
Oh, the light you were
Will soon become a blur
As you're living through another year

Oh, what a waste of time it is
To indulge inside of bliss
Getting ready for another year like this

Another year to lie
Another year goes by

You're not sick, so you can�t heal
But I wonder do you feel
The need to cry: 'I'm out of here'
Oh, your goal is safe
But is it all you crave
As you're living through another year

Oh, what a waste of time it is
To indulge inside of bliss
Getting ready for another year like this

Another year to lie
Another year goes by

Is it me, oh how I see
The face of mediocrity
I try to smile you see
The lightness darkens me
Filter all of your emotions
Fake you�re never low
Or face the one you fear
You�re living through another year

Another year to lie
Another year goes by
Another year to lie
Another year goes by

-Another Year, K's Choice

Tuesday, September 10, 2002

9/11, again.

last year, i was so freaked out, i slept with the tv and lights on for nearly a week.

i've got a million thoughts running through my head, but i really don't think i could put them down in any organized way. tomorrow i'm spending the day at a training class for my new job, and then i'm going to come home, eat leftover pizza, and work on a freelance editing job i've been neglecting. no watching speeches, or memorial services, or anything like that. i still get a little freaked out when i start seeing images from last year repeated over and over, and 45 minutes of dateline tonight is enough for me.

whatever, i'm babbling and i'm too tired to think straight. i'm going to go to sleep.

Monday, September 9, 2002

sleep is precious, man.

so, having a job is great and all that, but working 7am to 6pm sucks frozen hose water.

actually, it's not nearly as bad as i thought it was going to be, but 11 hours at work (with a luch hour, of course) is still a really long time. i keep telling myself over and over, 'money is good. money is good. money is good.' see. the way it works out, i work 44 hours a week, and 12 of them count as overtime. so, basically, i work 4 extra hours a week and make an extra 100 bucks. an extra $100 a week!!! yeeah. like i told d, i'll die of exhaustion, but at least i'll die rich.

i think i'm paraniod about sleeping through my alarm, though, because i haven't slept through a night since i started my new job.

Wednesday, September 4, 2002

damn!

enough with the damn medlies - i wanna know the winner!

Tuesday, September 3, 2002

guster/john

nothing better than sitting with my cat, listening to a new cd (guster!), eating chocolate covered cashews.

speaking of guster, i totally forgot to comment on the guster/john mayer show a few weeks ago! we got there about 2 or three songs into guster's set and the place was horribly crowded... but we managed to find a decent spot. i might be spoiled, but what is it with people who come to shows to fucking talk??? i swear to god, it's the number one most annoying thing about concerts... people talking. why pay close to 100 bucks for tickets, parking and bad beer to not even pay attention to the damn show?!? ok, end rant. other than the chatty audience, the show was great! guster was pretty damn good... the drummer plays with his hands. john was amazing of course, although i was slightly bummed at the lack of non-album tracks. the tenacious d 'tease' was great, as was the van halen and inxs covers. overall, the show rates an a-. if guster is in town again, i'll definetly be chekcing them out, and of course, i'll be seeing john mayer every chance i get. ;-)

ok, i really should sleep some... i work long days and i'm still not used to it yet.

p.s. kelly will win. kelly will win. kelly will win.

Saturday, August 31, 2002

jobby job

so, i didn't want to post about this until it was a done deal, but hey!! i got a JOB!!

it's pretty sweet set up - close to home, good $ (hourly wages, lots of overtime and commission!!). i figure with overtime i'll make an extra $250 a month... which is great, i can pay off my visa and start hoarding. i figure, if i just keep pretending that i'm poor, after a few months i'll have a good amount of money in the bank that i can live off for a few months should something happen. then i can start buying stuff... i really want a digital camera and a new computer, and i'd like to go on a little spree at ikea and buy some nice new stuff for my office... a chair, tv stand, cool lamp, etc. plus, with a regular income, i can finally afford to join the gym... i'll just spend the winter working my ass off.

mmm, the new coldplay cd is good. go get it.

um, what else? the VMA's were a digrace. everyone looked terrible. april lavigne is annoying as hell. britney looked like a dominatrix. p. diddy is one big, terrible joke. and christina (who i love) made me want to cringe. her skirt was basically a wide belt, and i wouldn't even call that a shirt. and what was with the ghetto accent? was she high or something? *shudder* i'm glad john mayer didn't win the award he was up for... he should steer clear of mtv in general, since it apparently is a black hole that likes to suck talent out of people. i'm not even going to go in to the whole GNR thing. ha. guns n' roses my ass.

the only good thing bout the whole night was justin's solo debut. that guy is going to be the next michael jackson. seriously.

Tuesday, August 27, 2002

war on iraq is a bad idea.

ok, so i don't really get political here, but i do want to say this...

this whole war on iraq thing is BAD NEWS.

and i'm not saying that because i'm a liberal (which i am), i'm saying it because anyone with half a brain can tell you that it's just plain dumb. not to mention that we have no right to go into counrties and kill off their leader just becasue we don't like them. granted, i think saddam is a slimy bastard who is big trouble for everyone, but going to war with him right now (and for no good reason) is dumb. and everyone knows it, except our president. hm.

anyway, i found a link on amy's page that i wanted to share... moveon.org has a "petition to oppose a war that would likely undermine both national and world security...comments will be hand-delivered to your Senators as part of a national day of action on August 28th. Constituent meetings are being organized with Senate offices everywhere."

so, go sign the petition, and tell your friends. only takes a second, really makes a difference. do it now.

ok, back to cleaning the house.

Wednesday, August 21, 2002

fire water burn

if i have to keep alphabetizing files for much longer, i'm seriously going to vom.

and i've got all kinds of things to say, but i can't really blog from work, and by the time i get home, sitting at the computer isn't first on my list.

uh, first, the big fire at santana row. it was insane - santana row is right by the intersections of three major south bay freeways, two of which i drive on to get home from work. luckily, i know all the city streets like the back of my hand, but it still took over an hour to get home, when it usually takes 20 minutes. it's kinda sad... santana row was going to be a huge reatil and housing complex, now it's just a big pile 'o' nothing (as shown by their construction webcam.

mmm, 10 minutes until american idol. my money's on kelly. i can't wait to buy her album. (and no, i'm not kidding.)

most exciting, though, is this... about 4 years ago, i bought a pair of surplus flare jeans at the gap that they promptly discontinued. of course, they were the cutest, most comfortable jeans i'd ever owned. it got to the point where i coudn't wear them wthout tearing a new hole in them. i've been trolling ebay for months looking for a new pair in my size, but no luck. then tonight, i went to old navy... and they ressurected my jeans! the flares aren't as big, but they're basically the same... it made my day. seriously.

Thursday, August 15, 2002

crazy.

(new, updated links on the left!)

man, i'd forgotten how much working full time sucks ass. i get up at the ass crack of dawn, go work for what seems like forever doing menial (but important) work, come home, run errands, eat dinner, check my mail, try to blog, and i never seem to get to bed as early as i'd like. it's rather tedious, but i got my first paycheck today, so its' all good.

been listening to a lot of radio paradise at work... have i ever mentioned rp before? everyone should check it out... it's a 24 hour web radio station that plays "intelligent eclectic rock". it's run out of paradise, ca (no joke) and has a constantly updating list of what's currently playing! i've been keeping a notepad on my desk where i write down all the artists and songs that catch my ear. notable new listens:

dishwalla - opaline
nick drake - river man
nickel creek - reasons why

i'd highly reccomend downloading these songs... very mellow and melodic, perfect getting-ready-for-bed music. also go listen to radio paradise, and donate a bit if you like it.

got a call today about a job i applied for about a month ago, going to an interveiw on sunday morning(!!). i like where i'm working now, but it's out by the san jose airport, and it's only temporary, and the job i'm interveiwing for is literally 8 blocks from my house in SC. god, that wold be so great. think good thoughts for me, ok?

john mayer show tomorrow in berkeley.... i'm totally excited. not only do i get to spend the evening with two of my favorite people (debbie and katlynn), but i get to have smart alec's for dinner and drool over a beautiful, talented rock star. should be great. ;-)

Wednesday, August 14, 2002

PHISH.

today was not going so well, and then i opened my email and saw this:

PHISH TO PLAY FOUR CONCERTS

and all was right with the world.

four shows, tour in '03, live phish halloween shows and a dvd of the vegas show (that i was at, btw). debbie screamed into the phone when i told her. donna sent me a email saying she would have screamed if she hadn't been in the middle of the office. i would have screamed if i hand't been having a giant neck spasm when i read the news (yeah, that sucked frozen hose water), but still, damn!!!!

good fucking day.

Monday, August 12, 2002

interesting weekend...

interesting weekend...

spent saturday night at the boardwalk with imelda, ebin, marcie and matt. we played pool, and then headed to the arcade where we played pinball and video games and laser tag. then we sat on a bench, which was across the street from a hotel, and there was a girl just sitting in the window, watching people walk by. we all waved at her, and she waved back. i'm not even going to go into the strange and bizarre stories people were telling while we sat there. ;-) we did see a wedding party walk by, which was neat, and it was a really nice night, cool and misty.

sunday i just relaxed, worked on my editing job, had sushi for dinner (mmmm)and stayed up a little later than i should have, considering i had to get up at 6 am to come to work today... that's earlier than usual, but it's worth it because it mean i get to spend sunday night in sc instead of sj.

so i hop in my car, a few minutes behind schedule, get nearly to the summit, and come to a dead stand-still. turns out a big rig with two trailers full of dirt had overturned about halfway down the mountain on the sj side, and they had closed the road. luckily i was at a place where i could turn around, so i did... there was no way i was going to sit on the road for hours waiting for them to clean everything up. luckily i have a cool boss who also commutes from sc to sj, so she was stuck as well, and very understanding of the situation. so i hung out at home, did dishes, and headed over to work once the road was clear, which was about 1:30. it sucks that i missed a bunch of work ( i need all the hous i can get, becasue hours = $$ ), but i went to town for lunch, and drove around for a bit with my sunroof open and all my windows down, which was great.

of course it was 15 degrees warmer in sj, which was gross.

Thursday, August 8, 2002

work!

this is so exciting.... i'm blogging from work! i'm working at a company in san jose for an undetermined amount of time, doing data entry, filing, odd jobs, etc. it's so great to be back in the land of the gainfully employed... i might actually write here more, because there's actually interesting things happenening now. beacuse, really, who wants to read this over and over...

"got up and looked for work today, but didn't find anything, so i watched six old eopisodes of law and order and attempted to clean my room."

boring, huh?

but that lifestyle is on hold for now... i don't even mind staying weeknights at my parents house, becasue i might actually be able to pay off my credit card! hooray!

anyway, tonight i'm going to E&O with yan and donna... i'm salivating already! it's one of those places that is so incredibly good, but a bit expensive, so its' a special occasion kind of place... but yan's moving to philly on sunday, so i think this counts as a special occasion. (if you go to their website, they have a recipie posted for their corn fritters, which are absolutely heavenly!)

random thought - who do you think will win american idol? i'm voting for kelly, because she can sing circles around all those other people, and she's not all arrogant like justin. discuss.

Monday, July 29, 2002

blogathon

i've archived my blogathon entries here.

Thursday, July 25, 2002

good day!

today was a good day, and that's not just because i'm eating a bowl of haagen-dazs right now (although that doesn't hurt!) .

my friend liz invited me out to her house to pick blackberries, so i hopped on highway 1 right at rush hour, and drove the 20 miles out to corralitos. i'd never been to her house before, so imagine my surprise when i discovered she lived literally in the middle of nowhere! her house is cute, though, and they have a big garden where she grows all kinds of great stuff. i actually pulled a carrot right out of the ground, washed it of, and ate it. it was possibly the best carrot i've ever had! she also has beehives, grapevines, and of course, blackberries! i picked a few handfuls, and came home with those, four giant zucchinis, and a bunch of stuff from a local fruit stand... they had broccoli for 79 cents! can't beat that. on the way home i stopped at the glaum egg ranch and got some eggs from the singing vending machine. yes, a singing vending machine... you put in $2, and you get 21 fresh eggs, and the vending machine plays this hysterical song, of chickens clucking along to a big-band standard. i'll never use all 21 eggs, but for $2, i can't resist.

i think i'm almost ready for the blog-a-thon, too! i've decided to do a theme day... i'll be focusing on mixes, posting a different mix with cover art every two hours, for a total of 13 mixes! i'll also post tips and strategies for good mix-making, as well as any random stuff i think of.

and because i'm a geek and can't resist cool geeky things, you can now listen to my blog over the phone, thanks to the tutorial over at scattered.org. just call 1-800-555-TELL, say extentions, and enter 11479. you'll hear the five most recent entries read to you. spiffy, huh?

Monday, July 22, 2002

unemployment sucks

i never realized being unemployed was so boring! plus, i am getting so sick of job hunting. i mean, there's only so much you can do every day when it comes to looking for a job, and the job market here in santa cruz is awful. i've got a few callbacks to make tomorrow, and i'm going to go register at another temp agency that i just discovered. i'm just hoping i find something soon... i hate being broke. i have been using a bit of my time to help donna install movable type for her new blog. her site isn't live yet, and we're still working out some weird kinks, but it's fun!

tonight was jean's birthday, so i went down to her house, and i got to see a bunch of people i haven't seen in a while! there was lots of talk about shakespeare santa cruz... just about everyone there has seen some of the shows already, or is planning to see them soon. the only one i really want to see is the seagull, but even the cheapest shows are $18, and of course, being unemployed, i don't have $18. i'm going to try and get in for free... i know a lot of people working up there, and i may be able to sweet-talk my way in. i just can't believe that working my ass off for ssc for almost 5 months entitles me to nothing... as far as i'm concerned, the pre-season work is harder than the stuff that goes on during the actual season. oh well... that's university bureaucracy for you. and i'm really looking forward to the blogathon... four more days!

Monday, July 15, 2002

blogathon!

so, after a bit of thought, i've decided to participate in this year's blogathon... like a walk-a-thon, but not quite. starting at 6 am on saturday july 27, i'll be posting at least once every half hour for 24 hours, to raise money for charity!

my sister said, "so basically, instead of getting sponsors and walking around a school track, you'll get sponsors and sit in front of your computer all day?" yeah, that's about it. but i love the idea of taking something i am doing already (hooray for dsl and unemployment) and using it to help others. plus it'll be fun for you to see my sleep deprived ramblings. ;-) it should be interesting to say the least!

one of the great things is that each participant can choose the charity they'd like to raise money for... i've chosen to blog for VH1's Save The Music Foundation, which raises money to help revive music programs in public schools. i chose them because music has always been a huge part of my life, and i think my exposure to music in school had a big impact on who i am today. i'm really dissapointed that schools are being forced to cut back on music and arts education, and i'm proud to support an organization that helps to ensure that music education is available to children in public schools!

if you'd like to sponsor me in this event (i need 3 sponsors by saturday the 20th to participate) you can do so here. you can donate as much or as little as you like, and once the blogathon is over you'll send your donation directly to the Save The Music Foundation. if you sponsor, not only will you get my never-ending gratitude and your name/link in a special spot on my page, but you'll get a warm fuzzy feeling knowing that you've helped bring the joy of music to a kid!

if you have questions, comments, or words of support ;-) , leave a comment or drop me an e-mail... i'll be happy to answer any questions you have, or at least direct you to someone who knows the answers!

thanks, and i hope to see you all on the 27th! (well, not actually see you, but you know what i mean... )

Saturday, July 13, 2002

memes are fun.

memes are fun.

Google! DayPop! This is my blogchalk: English, United States, California, Santa Cruz, Dramabug, Female, 21-25!

and because i can't resist anything powerpuff... i'm blossom!

Thursday, July 11, 2002

bored.

so, there is really, honestly, truly, nothing going on. it's really hot, and job hunting still sucks frozen hose water.

i'm glad to be back in santa cruz, and i can tell you, i don't plan on using my suitcases again this summer. i love going to cool places and doing cool things, but i hate hate hate living out of a suitcase.

the gathering was a blast, but there is one thing that just boggles my mind... there was lots of good music, and everyone was... clapping along with everything. *shudders* i'm a firm believer that clapping during music events should be done sparingly if not at all... of course, unless the band asks the audience to clap along. here's an example... at the last session, salvador was playing... they're from texas, they've got a very latin sound, very upbeat, good music, cute lead singer. me and two of the girls ran down to the floor so we could be closer, and i'm looking forward to dancing my tush off, and everyone stands there clapping. during every song. oh well, at least everyone had rythym. ;-)

Friday, July 5, 2002

western states!

hello from the wsyg! i'm having a great time... our youth group is helping to staff the event as well as attending it, so we're working security, which is a blast. i'm staying at a classy hotel, walking all over downtown san jose, seeing great speakers and hearing good music. however, it's really hot, i ran out of money, i can't find a washington mutual, and i just broke the antenna off my new cell phone! grrrr. otherwise, i'm having fun. i'm going to a workshop later today about the simpsons and religion... should be interesting, to say the least.

on an unrelated note, i hate job hunting. i did one interveiw, have one scheduled, plus i applied for my dream job! i'm hoping at least one of them will come through, becasue, like i said, i hate job hunting. while sifting through the classified i saw an ad for a position at a company i temped at last summer... good thing, too because now i know not to apply there. ;-) anyway, if anyone knows of available jobs in santa cruz, be sure and let me know... i could use all the help i can get!

Sunday, June 30, 2002

back home!

man, is it great to be home! actually, i've been home for a few days, and i've just been getting stuff done that i should have done before i left! cleaning my kitchen, organizing my desk, sorting through my video tapes and cd's, as well as unpacking and doing laundry so i can pack again for western states (man, i can't seem to keep myself away from that youth group!)

my trip was fabulous! i twisted my ankle the first day out, which is so typical, but it was really mild and i was still able to do everything with the group - but i got out of unloading the trailer every night! yahoo! one of the real highlights of the week was the museum of tolerance in downtown los angeles... it was really well done and a very moving experience. disneyland was great, too... i was really disoriented when i got there, because everything has changed so much since the new park opened! the whole fast pass thing is cool. and i managed to do just about everything i wanted to do! the new fireworks show is awesome, and i had a really great time hanging out with all the other sponsors... tom, rita, kristi, mark, chris and rick. ;-) mark gets bonus points because he went on my favorite ride with me.. the alice in wonderland ride (no, not the teacups, i hate those!).

of course, now that i'm home i've got all kinds of stuff going on... i've got to get ready for western states, i'm looking for a job, plus my computer decided to crap out on me, so i have to back up and reformat tonight... ugh!

anyway, it's great to be home, even if it is only for a few days. ;-)

oh! here are the clarifications for amy: the mansion belonged to members of the church we performed at on that particular evening... they were out of town but opened up their home for us to stay in while they were gone (their son let us in and all that). AFLAC is... well, have you ever seent the commercial with the duck that says AFLAC? i think it's for insurance or something. and LYG is my little buddy... we met in philly while i was visiting ericalynn and he got to come home with me! you can see a photo of him here.

Saturday, June 29, 2002

friday five!

friday five!

When was the last time you...

1. ...sent a handwritten letter?
hm. a long time ago. i was never really into handwritten letters because i write slowly and sloppily. i do love sending postcards, though... i sent five of them from disneyland a few days ago!

2. ...baked something from scratch or made something by hand?
well, i crocheted a purse while i was on my trip, and i just finished a knitted baby blanket i've been working on!
3. ...camped in a tent?
elementary school. not looking to repeat that anytime soon, either. ;-)

4. ...volunteered your time to church, school, or community?
well, gosh, i just got back from a week-long trip with my church youth group, which was the culmination of six months of work. and actually, on wednesday night, i'm going to meet up with the same youth group in downtown san jose to be an adult sponsor for the wastern states youth gathering. ;-)

5. ...helped a stranger?
um, me and vanessa were in am pm in campbell, and i gave directions to a guy looking for garden city. i think that counts, although i have no idea why anyone would want to go to garden city.

Sunday, June 23, 2002

from the road, part 2

from the road, part 2

i'm sitting here with lyg (hi, ericalynn!) in north orange county in a amazing house that could almost be called a mansion. i can't even begin to describe how amazingly cool it is. i wish i had a digital camera so i could upload photos, but you all will have to take my word for it. jaw-droppingly amazing. everyone else is downstairs playing pool, but i suck at pool, so i figured i'd come upstairs, check my mail, pack for disneyland tomorrow, etc.

*fun tour tidbits*

late fees are collected and kept in a giant blue plastic piggy bank, to eventually be used to fund our cast party. the pigmasters, eric and robert, are talking about what incurs fines over the bus loudpeakers. every minute you are late costs 50 cents. if you're caught swearing, it costs 50 cents per word. if you break a commandment, it's a dollar. so adultery, murder, disrespecting your parents, it's all a dollar. however, disrespecting an adult sponsor will result in having your arms torn off by pigmaster robert, whio will then beat you sensless with them, and hide them in a high place where you can't reach them. aaaaaaahahahahaha!

on the bus, eric is taking roll and instructs everyone to answer with an animal sound. we get the generic cats, dogs, birds, etc. when eric calls blake's name, blake squawks "AFLAC". he won.

on clear com, i was talking about how i was touching up my henna tatoo with a black ball point pen. mark replies that now it's no longer a henna tatoo, but a penna tatoo. me and erika almost die laughing.

you can re-write just about any song lyrics or titles using the subject of spam (you know, the kind you buy in a can) and it will be really funny. for example, 'you are my hope' becomes 'spam on a rope'. tee-hee!

ok, back downstairs i go... i think i'm going to let someone beat my ass in pool... should be fun!

Saturday, June 22, 2002

on the road

right now i'm sitting in the balcony of a church in torrance, part watching the show, part running the video, and part surfing the internet. everone on the tech team is really excited because this church not only has a super cool tech area, but it also has high-speed internet!! this is the first time i've ben online in 4 days... i think that's some sort of record!

so far the trip is going great... we've been to mission beach in san diego, and souch coast plaza in costa mesa (my old mall!!) and i stayed at the coolest house in redondo beach... it was four stories, with an open roof, a beautifulfront porch, and it was about 50 feet from the beach! we walked down to the beach at about 10:30 at night and the ocean was warmer than the water in santa cruz at high noon in the middle of summer. some of the girls got up at 6am and went swimming, but not me... too cold and too early!

tomorrow we're heading to the beach again, and monday we get to go to disneyland! i haven't been in two years, so i'm really excited! plus i get to go out to dinner with my friend danny, whi i also haven't seen in almost two years. ;-)

i'm having a great time, but it already feel like we've been on tour for *weeks*, and i'm looking forward to sleeping in my own bed again. ;-) but in the meantime, i'm having as much fun as i can, sleeping very little and trying not to spend too much money... but i'm always trying not to spend too much money!! ;-)

Wednesday, June 19, 2002

tour!

well, in about an hour, i'll be on a bus with about thirty five high schoolers, headed off to sunny socal! i'm really excited... it's a great group of kids, so we're going to have lots of fun! plus i haven't been down to la in a long time! it's going to be great. ;-)

so, i guess it's goodbye, everyone, at least for a little while. but i'll be back in a week! (this round's blogger insider will be up when i get back, too.)

Monday, June 17, 2002

i hate packing.

i hate packing, i really do. i'm getting ready to go on tour with the youth group, which is always really fun, but wheni have to start packing, i get all neurotic. i pack too much, or i forget stuff, or i leave hair gel open in my bag and ruin a bunch of stuff, the list goes on and on. the fact that i wanted to leave santa cruz... oh, right now isn't making me feel any better. grrrrrr.

Thursday, June 13, 2002

trashy, trashy, trashy

so right now i'm watching one of those trashy lifetime movies... 'too young to be a dad'. those always crack me up... they're strangely intriging, in a horrible, wonderful way (on a random note, everytime i watch lifetime, i think of a guy i used to know who called it 'dyketime', which is ironic becasue i think he ended up coming out a few years after high school).

speaking of horrible, wonderful, trashy things, who else has ben watching american idol? come on, admit it, i know you are!! seriously, that first episode was one of the funniest things i've seen in a long time. i've come to the conclusion that mediocre singers know they are mediocre, and bad singers think they are god's gift to the world. my personal favorites - the guy who sang bohemian rhapsody, the girl who sang 'whatever god put in her mouth', the girl who sang lady marmalade like it was an opera song, and the girl with the attitude who was dressed like a hooker and had horrid bleach blonde har. needless to say, i'll be taping the show while i'm gone... ;-)

Tuesday, June 11, 2002

new design!

after about a week's work, i'm really happy to have this new design up. of course, i have found a few kinks, but i'm going to deal with them tomorrow, because it's late and i'm tired.

let me know what you think, though!

Saturday, June 8, 2002

i'm ariel... big shocker there...

why am i not surprised?

Disney Princesses
Which of the Disney Princesses are you?



Thursday, June 6, 2002

my summer plans

so, i have decided what i want to do with my summer and i'd like to share my plans with y'all.

i want to read all summer. i'll just stay in town, get myself a steady stream of new books and just read all the time. no work, less tv, less computer, more reading. more music too. i'll sleep in, read the newspaper with breakfast, read non fiction before lunch, short stories in the afternoons, cookbooks before dinner, eat fabulous gourmet dinners, and good fiction at night. i'll read at home, in the forest, at the beach, downtown, on the pier, in my bed, on my patio. it'll be great... i'll finally be able to catch up on my reading list!

of course, the whole paying the rent thing will probably impede these plans... but it's nice to dream!

Wednesday, June 5, 2002

all sorts of stuff!

laura's back, with a great new design, and as always, great links that i would never see otherwise... i've always wondered what i'd look like as a resident of south park! (the skull is my little tribute to metal steve over at diesel sweeties, my favorite web comic.)

rehearsal tonight went well... we did some filming for the drama wrap-up, which was fun but moderatly painful because it was so hot. i mean, it was hot in santa cruz, but it was even worse when i got to san jose. donna told me it was the hottest day of the year so far. i wanted to die. hopefully it will be cooler here tomorrow... all i know is that i'm really happy that i dont' have to go back to the valley until next week. the slurpee i had around 10:15 was nice, too, although it probably would have been a lot better about 4 hours earlier. ;-)

and what is it with the assholes on highway 17? tonight, i had someone following behind me so close, i couldn't see their headlights, and another guy who insisted on driving right next to me in my blind spot, so i was basically stuck for a good 500-750 feet. i couldn't get into the other lane at all... i wanted to just slow way down so i could at least get over, but then the asshole behind me would have swerved around me and cut me off. i swear, people need to chill the fuck out.

i didn't get around to posting yesterday, so here are the highlights.... sushi at pink godzilla with donna and milena, walking through the ghetto arcade at the boardwalk, seeing a cute shirtless guy in the window of la bahia, and watching 5x20 (even thought i missed the last 5 minutes, which is the best part!)

*yawn* well, it's my last day of work tomorrow... i should crash, so i can at least pretend to be productive. ;-)

Sunday, June 2, 2002

tiiired.

i'd like to start this entry by stating the fact that i hate imac keybords. the damn things just don't work well, they skip every other letter and they're too small. ok, moving on...

today i got up at 6:15 a.m. i can't even think of a time in recent history that i got up that early on purpose and actually stayed up (and no, the time i just stayed awake all night doen't count!). so now it's not even 11:30 and i'm getting ready to crash, and you know, i dont' think i've been to bed this early in a long time, either!

the weekend was really busy... working all day friday, working with the youth group kids on the musical all day saturday, then going on a safeway run and watching harry potter, going to bed at one, getting up at 6, singing at 8am worship, going to costco, going to coffee with yan, going to a barbeque and then watching the tony awards. i decided to save gas and stay in san jose, so i've got an empty day tomorrow... i think i might go over to valley fair and scope it out... the last time i was there was almost a year ago and i want to scope out the new wing. i'm not sure why they keep adding stuff... there's already no parking and the mall is bigger than a small city. oh well... i figure a monday morning is the best time to check it out - who knows, i might find a parking place in less than a half hour! ;-)

oh yeah... welcome back to cali, d!

Friday, May 31, 2002

behind schedule

i'm about 30 minutes behind schedule tonight... i wanted to be in bed by 12:30, but it looks like it's going to be more like 1. oh well, i'll survive.

i'm getting ready for work weekend with the youth group... when we all head to an unfamiliar church to hammer out all the kinks in the musical. i'm slightly unprepared... i'm woking on props inventory lists and costume lists and packing and laundry and finding correct lyrics to the songs.... i'm sure i'm going to forget something and i hate that feeling!

i can't beleive that we're leaving on tour in a little less than three weeks. i'm really excited for a lot of reaasons, one being that i haven't been further south than sb since '99. i'm stoked about going to disneyland, and having dinner with danny. i'm hoping o get to meet up with some of the old irvine crew, too. plus i think the musical is really good this year, so that part's going to be fun too. ;-)

ok, must pack.

Thursday, May 30, 2002

a cool breeze

long day at work. i can hardly beleive that a week from today will be my last day there. on that note, any of you locals know of good places that are hiring?

today was really hot... hot enough so that when i returned home tonight it was actully warmer inside than outside, which rarely happens here, becaue my house is in the shade.

now, i don't open my window often, because we have overzealous gardeners and the smell of feshly cut grass makes me sneeze. but it was a little too stuffy in my room, so i opened up my window and pulled the curtain back. i realized that the way i have my room set up, this allows me to work on my computer, feel a nice cool breeze, and enjoy the view out my window at the same time!

so now my room smells all cool and fresh, i'm all relaxed and ready to get down to bills and paperwork. joy. ;-)

Wednesday, May 29, 2002

blogger insider 3

time for round three of blogger insider! this time around i was paired with brina of doppelganger.nu. if you'd like to see my questions and her answers, they're here.

1. What are your desert island top five favorite books?
in no particular order, and chosen for repeat readability (after all, these are desert island 5, not best all time 5!)
-the bridge across forever by richard bach. simply a beautiful book. one of, if not my very favorites.
- siddhartha by herman hesse, rosner translation. just about the only thin i read in senior english that i actallyliked
- the master and margaria by bulgakov. a christmas gift from a friend a few years ago... i think i've read it 9 or 10 times since. great stuff. however, you have to get the mirra ginsburg translation. that's important.
-the outsiders by se hinton. to this day i can read this book cover to cover, then start over again immediately. great stuff.
-finally, daisy fay and the miracle man by fannie flagg. makes me laugh so hard i have to pee.

2. Albums?
- abbey road, the beatles
- grace, jeff buckley
- room for squares, john mayer
- surfacing, sarah mclachlan
- billy breathes, phish

3. Films?
- the little mermaid
- notting hill (i have a penchant for bad romance movies)
- the last unicorn
- the x-files (oh, that's a shocker)
- i'm going to cheat here and tack five movies into one slot, since they're all interconnected... the films of kevin smith! clerks, mallrats, chasing amy, dogma, and jay and silent bob strike back.

4. Websites?
exploding dog
the mirror project
the onion
ebay
etree

5. Crayola crayon colors?
kelley green, red, sky blue, purple and burnt siena.

6. As you can see, I'm a sucker for top five lists. How do you feel
about them?
well, first of all, they remind me of high fidelity. but really, i find them challenging, simply because i likeso much different stuff.

7. If you could own one great work of art, would you? If so, what would
it be?

i would definetly take the opportunity to own some real great art. choosing it would be really hard to choose. for some reason, my brain screamed guernica when i read this question, which is funny because i don't really like that painting! i think if i had to choose, i'd pick something by chagall.

8. What, besides watching "Northern Exposure," do you occupy yourself
with when you can't sleep?

i read, knit, work on this page, clean things, or watch movies.

9. What's your strategy on mix tapes? Do you have a specific formula
you stick to?

oooh, this one is good. first, i decide what the purpose of the mix. is it themed? who is it for? Is it to introduce them to new music, or is a mix or music they already like? Ater I figure out all that, I go about choosing songs. I pick one or two songs per artist, and I get about twice as many as I need. I then listen to them all, listening for musical and lyrical elements that will get across what emotion or theme I’m trying to convey. I narrow things down, making sure no artist appears twice. Then comes the ordering of the cd… there are a few important elements to this. I usually decide what I want to start the cd off with, then go from there. it’s important that all the songs flow well into one another, so I listen to tempo, key and mood. The ratio of male to female artists are usually 2:1, with more male artists, so it’s important to have them evenly spaced. Then I choose the cover art, which should be a graphic representation of the music on the cd. I make a booklet with lyrics, tracklist, and voila! All done!
It usually takes me a week to make a really great mix, and when it’s for someone else, I try to stick by these guidelines as much as I can… I see these mixes as audio emotions, so I want them to be sincere and thoughtful.

10. If you could have just one super power, what would it be and why?
i think i'd choose flight, partly because it'd be hella cool, and partly because it would be a faster form of transportation than walking (or maybe even driving, if you aren't going far).

11. What is your biggest pet peeve?
i don't know! i'll have to think about that one.

12. Do you have other reasons for not eating red meat now that it's
been so long? Is it still a question of challenging yourself, or do you
have health/ethical concerns as well?

well, i've heard that when you go back on a food you haven't eaten for a long time, it makes you sick, so that keeps me from eating it. mostly, though, it's about testing my willpower... plus i finally did something that's good for me, and i want to stick with it.

13. Isn't Jon Stewart hot? Isn't he? Okay, well, then ... who would be
in your celebrity harem? Male/female, no limits ...

yes, jon stewart is hot.
well, top on my list is david duchovny, beacuse, well, i'm in love with him. plus he's hot. let see. who else? matthew perry. i'm also in love with him. john mayer, jimmy fallon and page (from phish).
as for girls, i'd say drew barrymore, margaret cho and gillian anderson for starters.
additions: gideon yago, david hyde pierce,

14. You say you love to travel. What's the worst roadtrip/traveling
experience you've ever had?

i think the worst experience would have to be my trip from philadelphia to california in january of this year. i had just sone a bisco mini-tour, and i was anxious to get home to my own bed and warmer weather! i was dropped off at the airport only to discover that the first leg of my flight had been cancelled due to a blizzard in atlanta (and at that point i was so happy i hadn't tried to catch an earlier flight out... i definetlywould have been totally stranded.) after a bit of begging, the nice ticket lady was able to get me on a flight to salt lake city, but i had to wait five hours! i bought a book, and waited... and waited... and waited... finally got on my flight, which was uneventful. when i arrived in salt lake, i noticed that my flight to sf had been delayed... from 8pm to 2am. there was no way i was going to sit in an airport for another six hours, only to arrive in san francisco at 4 am with no one to pick me up, so i flew standby to san jose, which was closer to where i wanted to be anyway. my bag, however, went on it's merry way to san francisco, so the next day i had to drive up there to get it. by the time i arrived home i was so stressed out and tired... but i was happy to be back in cali!

15. Answer one question I didn't ask but that you wish someone would.
let's see... i wish someone would ask i if would come work for them, at ridiculously high pay, with benefits and generous time off, and of course, the job would require very little actual work. my answer would obviously be yes. ;-)

Saturday, May 25, 2002

i'm back, baby!

so after several frustrating weeks of e-mail tag with support folks and a complete re-install of movabletype, i'm back!

this limited edition design is a tribute to the best show ever, which i will miss dearly. it should work in all updated browsers. anyway, i was tired of pink, and the design i've been working on sporadically for the past month was nowhere near done, so i tossed this together in about five hours. i have no clue when the new design will be done.... maybe if i stop trying to be so ambitious i'll finish it sooner. we'll see.

anyway, i hope everyone is having a great memorial day weekend!

~smooches~

Friday, May 24, 2002

friday five!

friday five!

1. What's the last vivid dream that you remember having?
actually, last night i had a dream that involved... someone from my past (and i'll leave it at that). we were in a huge room with a bunch of beds and strange bathrooms made of glass.. (??)... it looked like an orphanage, but it was a dorm room. all of the beds had colorful, 80's cartoon character sheets and beadspreads on them. there were guys and girls there. at one point i looked out a window, and things were on fire, which scared me. i asked the person i was with if we could leave, and then i woke up.
2. Do you have any recurring dreams?
not lately, and it pisses me off. i've had a few great dreams, where i wake up in them morning and feel great, and i'd love to have them be recurring. the nightmare i had when i was little (see below) was a recurring dream... thank god that one stopped.
3. What's the scariest nightmare you've ever had?
i used to have a nightmare when i was little... i don't remember any details, but i remember that it scared me senseless. lucky i don't ahve it anymore.. i think if i did, it would still scare me.
4. Have you ever written your dreams down or considered it? Why or why not?
i wrote one of my dreams down once, only to re-discover it a number of years later. reading it, i was horribly embarrased that my subconcious could even come up with something so... bizarre. so, since the dreams that i remember are often bizarre and therefore slightly embarrasing, i don't ever write them down.
5. Have you ever had a lucid dream? What did you do in it?
i've never had a luicid dream... at least, not one that i've remembered when i woke up. i've been trying for years, though, and i read somewhere that if you try to have a lucid dream long enough, that you'll have one eventually. so i guess i'll keep trying.

Sunday, May 19, 2002

the end...

well, that's it... the end of the x-files.

i'm kind of.... numb. that's really the only way i can describe it. i don't think the fact that i won't be curled up on my couch in 3 or 4 months watching the season opener has sunken in yet. it's one of those things, where you've been doing something for so long, you're not quite sure what you're going to do once it's over.

i started watching the x-files sometime towards the tail end of season two. i remember being in the youth room at church, looking at episode synopsis printouts that my friend vanessa had brought with her, and i think that had something to do with my initial interest in the show, although it's been so long now i really can't say how long it's been or how long i've actually been watching.

during high school, i remember staying home on friday nights to watch with my sister. i remember being on the edge of the couch, biting my nails during anasazi, the season two closer, wondering if mulder was really burning up in that underground train car. i remember screaming at what looked like a real cockroach crawling across my tv screen in war of the coprophages. i remember being scared shitless during home (which was so freaky that they only aired it on network tv once after that... on halloween 99, and i watched it then, too). i remember being thrilled when i found out my college roommate was also a huge fan of the show. i remember sitting in our dorm room, in the dark, watching every week, and the next year, sitting in the condo, watching every week. i saw the movie opening weekend. i hung the framed movie poster in my living room. i started buying the dvd box sets. and i kept watching every week.

plain and simple, the show sucked me in, and kept me riveted. it had everything. comedy, drama, suspense, romance, cool storylines and great acting. i'm re-watching the series, in order, and there are a few shows i missed the first time around, but even the ones i've seen several times keep me interested and intrigued.

i'm sad to see it go, but at the same time, relieved. although i enjoyed some of the stuff that was going on with dogget and reyes, mulder and scully were the x-files. their relationship held the show together, and without that, it just wasn't the same. still good, still interesting, but not the same.

the series ender was great. seeing mulder again was awesome. having everything wrapped up and explained was nice, too. the best part though, was the scene in the hotel room, which i recognized as almost identical to a scene from the pilot episode. my sister caught that it was reversed, and when i watched the pilot after the end of the finale (for closure, i guess), i noticed that the outside shot of the hotel room was identical. that was a nice touch, and a nice way to close the series.

overall, it was a damn good nine years of tv. i wish it could have been longer. i'm sure i'll be watching my dvd's often, and i can't wait for the movie(s), but i'm not quite sure what i'm going to do on sunday nights anymore.

Wednesday, May 1, 2002

blogger insider 2

well, a fix for my movabletype probem is in the works, and i'm also working on a new layout for when i return to the world of blogging... hopefully in the next week or so.

in the meantime, here are my answers for this round of blogger insider. I was paired up with Edward Champion of Dr. Mabuse's House of Fun. if you're interested, my questions and his answers can be found here.

1. what medium do you consider to be the world's central art form and why?
my friend harrison wanted me to say conversation, just to throw everyone for a loop, but i'll have to go with music. music is just one of those universal things that speak to people regardless of language barriers. cultural barrieres are a bit tougher to hurdle, but i think music, of all things, can do that.

2. if your cat had the ability to talk, what three questions do you think she would ask you? and how would you answer them?
the only question she'd probably ask is why we keep waking her up from her naps, and my answer would be that she's so cute i can't resist petting her. i'm sure that she'd like that answer (she likes it when people tell her she's cute) and then she'd go back to sleep. ;-)

3. you mentioned an undeveloped picture of camryn manheim somewhere in your room. what other pictures are on that roll and are you deliberately holding onto other rolls of film in this manner?
oh god, i think that film has halloween, the camryn manheim photo, and a few shots from my trip back east over new years. you know, i don't normally hang onto film that long, but i've been pretty broke lately, so i haven't had the 15 bucks lying around to get them developed.

4. since the acting world is incredibly competitive, what specific qualities do you believe you can add which will allow you to not only break through the barrier but offer a distinct voice?
well, i don't plan on doing acting as a profession simply because of the competitive nature... i'm not a very competitive person, and i'm perfectly happy doing community theater kind of stuff. i do acting and theater just because i love doing it. i do it for myself, not for anyone else. however, i'm planning on offering my 'distinct voice' through teaching... i'm planning on getting a masters in education and i'm going to teach high school theater. my dream is to help develop a good theater program at a school that may not have had one before.

5. describe the last politically related news that really angered or depressed you. and why?
well, the stuff going on in israel right now is very upsetting to me, mostly because it's really frustrating to see supposedly intelligent people being stubborn, stupid assholes. it doesn't help that we have family friends over there and my best friend want to go over there in two months.

6. okay, i'll fess up. i'm a joyce nut. why specifically did you hate "portrait of the artist as a young man"? will you ever give the book a second chance? did you hate it because it was difficult or too vivid? explain in reasonable terms why joyce (fer the love of all that is great about books, joyce!) stunk up the room!
well, it's been a long time since i've read the book, so i can't be too specific, but i just remember being bored of of my skin. i'm not sure if i'll ever read it again, but i may thumb through a copy so i can give you a better answer to this question someday.

7. what are your main influences in book choices? and how do you feel about the demise of the oprah book club?
lets see... in high school i started playing the dollar game... i'd scour the clearance racks and look for books that had neat titles, cool jackets and compelling summaries. i still do that, but clearance books are a bit more expensive than they used to be. now, i get great suggestions from friends, and i check out the besteller rack, the independent bookseller reccomendations and the employee recommendations at my local bookshop (a fantastic place, you should check it out if you're ever here in town.

as for the oprah book club, i am sad that it's ending not for my own sake, but for the sake of all the folks who started reading again because of it. i was rarely able to watch the book club episodes, but the first one i saw compelled me to buy a book that is now one of my favorites (the reader by Bernhard Schlink). Looking back at the list of books, I realize I've read quite a few of them... She's Come Undone, I Know This Much Is True, Where the Heart Is, The Reader, Drowning Ruth, and The Corrections. Fall on Your Knees is next on my list.

8. what was the last great holiday-oriented experience that you had and why? describe it.
i'll have to go with last 4th of july... my family and i were at the beach, and at dusk, the fireworks started... a few at first, but after about half an hour, they were hundreds of fireworks going off all down the beach. this went on for four hours (and i'm not even kidding). fireworks are illegal where i live, so it was a rather amazing sight. of course, we had to get in on the action... we had giant sparklers and some hard core, expensive fireworks imported from washington state. ;-)

9. if you could slide one of your five senses up into an almost superhuman level, which one would it be and why?
i think i'd have to pick sight. i've been nearsighted since i was 10, and my vision is really bad, and i really hate having to rely on glasses and/or contacts... it's like looking through a tunnel. i am eagerly awaiting they day when they have perfected laser eye surgery (and it will be totally covered by insurance by then, of course) and then i'll throw my glasses away forever!

10. you said that september 11 was the scariest thing that had happened to you. what was the second scariest thing?
well 9/11 really eclipsed almost everything because not too much has been really that scary, per se. i think the second scariest thing would have to be the gulf war. it was two days before my twelfth birthday and i remember vividly being very upset about it, because i had hoped that mine would be the first generation to see no u.s. involvements in any wars. i was an optimistic child. ;-)

11. what's your favorite shakespeare play and why?
i think i'd have to go with a midsummer night's dream, because it's funny as hell.

12. if you had to pick one, ibsen or strindberg?
that's easy. ibsen, without a doubt. a dolls house is one of my favorite plays... i wrote more than one paper on it during college. strindberg is a little weird for me, i think. they did a dream play at ucsc 2 years ago, i had to not only read the play, but see it as well. the design was fantastic, but i didn't really like the play itself, the acting or the actual text. it was really a sticky situation because the director was one of my ta's and i had to write a paper on it... i wanted to be truthful and tell her that i thought it was terrible, but like any good undergrad, i feared for my grade and turned in a nice, mild paper.

13. which of these questions did you answer first?
the last one.

14. a train is traveling westward towards a crossroads at 10mph. a pickup truck is puttering along northwards at 7mph. there is no indication that this intersection between rail and road is a railroad crossing aside from an crumbling x sign that dates back to 1947, which can only be seen during the daytime. however, both respective vehicles travel at nighttime and there are no lights on the road. what happens to the truck and the train? and how do their respective speeds factor into the equation?
um, didn't you get the memo? theater geeks don't get up before 11 am, and they don't do math. however, there are some problems with this equation... you didn't mention if the truck was traveling towards the intersection, and you didn't specify the distance between the crossroads and the vehicles, so there is no way to tell if the vehicles will ever intersect or not. (i may not be good at math but i can pick a word problem apart like nobody's business.)

Friday, April 19, 2002

hiatus

well, everone seems to be on hiatus, including me... although mine isn't self imposed. my host switched servers and now movabletype is broken and they are taking their sweet time getting back to me about the problem (i hope that means they're researching it, or something).


so until it gets fixed, this will be the last you hear from me... editing this by hand is too much of a pain. in the meantime...

listen to:
zero7
stina nordenstam

watch:
the osbournes
the last 5 x-files

learn:
how to make paper stars

Monday, April 15, 2002

new phones, and other things

well, it's been a busy few days... i've been working a lot (that's good, i need money really bad). however, i have today off, which is great, because i still have about 10 thing on my to-do list that i need to cross off by the time i go back to work on tomorrow. my two main goals today are to finish my mix for burn, baby, burn! and get down to the post office to mail them off. the mix is almost done... i have to get about 4 more songs and then figure out the order. it's really diffferent from mixes i've made before, but in a neat way. i'm going to post the tracklist and cover art next week (to give the mixes time to make it through the mail... don't want to ruin the surprise!)

saturday was a long day, but i got to take a break between shifts to go meet up with imelda, marisa and ebin. we were all exchanging mixes, and it's nice to finally meet everyone! it was weird walking around town, wondering if one of them was in line behind me at longs or something. ;-) the mix imelda gave me is great... i especially like the live version of once in a lifetime by the talking heads. (the tracklist for the cd i made imelda can be found here.)

i got a new phone the other day! i've had my old one for over two years, so having a new, fancy phone is so exciting. i finally have text messaging, and now that it's finall working, i'm having fun with that.

i'm also cat sitting this week for skinny... my mom's going out of town, and skinny gets really lonely and stops eating when my mom's not around, so she made the trip over the hill to chill with me. right now she's sitting next to my desk, chowing down on stinky stinky cat food. it's good to have her here, though... i love cats and i've really missed having one around the house.

ooh, ooh, ooh! remember when i was saying that my friend danny was going to be in the new jewel video? well, apparently it's finished, and you can watch it here. he's the singing army guy in the very beginning. (here's a photo of us, i have flowers in my hair, danny's right behind me.)

ok, off to the post office!

Tuesday, April 9, 2002

i love furthurnet!

i've got to sing my praises of furthurnet, which is one of the coolest internet things i've found in quite a while. basically, it's a peer to peer, gnutella-like program that offers live, legal music to download. since last night i've downloaded 6 complete shows - 2 bisco shows, 2 john mayer shows, 1 vida blue show and one sc hemp allstars show. in less than 24 hours. so so cool. i'm not quite sure how this cool little program has floated by under my radar for so long, but now that i have it.... i'll probably need to buy more cdr's. or a bigger hard drive. ;-)

of course, i'm going to reccomend that folks use it to check out some live john mayer, which is awesome (he gives a killer live show!). but it's also cool because i can check out new bands, and it's way cheaper than a concert ticket.

i lost interest in trading for a little while there, becasuse mailing blanks out was such a pain, but now that i can download shows with little to no effort, i'm more likely to check out new artists. so a questions to all my phunky, live-music-loving friends... who should i download this week? i need some new grooves!!

Sunday, April 7, 2002

blogger insider 1

this is my first go at blogger insider, and i got paired up with dyanna of throughyoureyes.com. Here are her questions and my responses:

1. hi! first of all, why strawberry shortcake, aside from the fact that she's cute and her line of toys smelled so yummie?
well, sometime last fall i bought a cute sweatshirt with strawberry shortcake on it, and it had the little tagline "life is delicious". i thought that was really cool and profound, and that had a lot to do with my decision to do the design.

2. did you ever choose some cds to get with your free cd vouchers? tell us which they are if you did!
well, i don't have them money to pay the shipping, but as soon as i have money, i'll be ordering:
bjork - post
reality bites soundtrack
annie lennox - medusa
madonna - like a virgin
o brother where art thou
diana krall - stepping out
ladysmith black mambazo - best of
ben folds - rockin the suburbs
tom petty - full moon fever

3. you love phish. how were you introduced to them, and why do you like them so much?
my first introduction to phish was in high school, when my best friend donna was singing 'catapult' (from the picture of nectar cd) over and over and over and over. for my birthday, she got me the hoist cd, and it was all over! i saw them that summer at shoreline (7-31-97), which was an amazing experience. i'm not sure i can explain why i like them so much, but let me say this - listening to phish makes me happy, and seeing them live gives me a feeling of complete and utter joy.

4. you're a "must see tv" fan. i love the new show, leap of faith. what do you think about it?
i'm not quite sure about that one yet. i think it's got some really funny moments but the whole premise is really overdone. you know, the whole 'friends dealing with work and sex in manhattan' thing. it's not that i don't enjoy shows like that, hell, friends and will and grace are two of my favorite shows, but i think its been done so often that the show needs to be really really funny to get off the ground. laep of faith has potential, but i think it will probably go where all the other 8:30 shows have gone....

5. you listed a bunch of your favorites, but you didn't name a favorite book. if you're like me, you have more than one favorite, so tell us which your three favorite books are.
oh god, this is a hard one! let's see... the bridge across forever by richard bach, the handmaid's tale by margaret atwood and siddhartha by herman hesse.

6. say you're abducted by aliens and they allow you to take with you three non-living items of any size. what do you take and why?
well, first i would take my computer, because i can't live without it. plus, if they're advanced enough for space travel, i'm sure they'd be able to hook me up to a wireless internet connection. next i would take my bed, exactly as it is right now, with my ikea sheets, because it is so comfortable that i can hardly sleep anywhere else. finally, i'd take my blanky.

7. name a positive and a negative consequence of keeping your online journal.
positive: it keeps me writing every day (ok, almost every day). i've always wanted to keep a journal, but i have messy handwriting and it always seemed to take so long to write everything down. i type a lot faster than i write, so i've kept with this whole online thing a lot longer than i ever kept a real journal.
negative: i haven't really had any negative consequences.

8. i do a pretty good job of self-censoring myself in my journal, despite my desire to be completely free and uninhibited with what i say. what kind of limitations do you place on yourself when writing?
i don't write mean or inflammatory things about people i know, and i try not to write anything i wouldn't want my family to read, since they do read my weblog. ;-) just kidding, mom! no, really, i keep in mind that regardless of the fact that it's my journal, it's still in the public domain, and anyone who really wants to could find it, connect it to me, and read it. i love keeping my weblog, but i watch what i say because i don't want it to come back and bite me in the ass.

9. when you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
i wanted to be a broadway superstar, or a pop singer.

10. are you superstitious? if you are, what are some of the superstitions you have/do? of not, why aren't you?
i'm not really superstitious, per se, but there is one superstition i observe because i'd get my ass kicked if i didn't... you aren't allowed to say the word macbeth inside a theater, except within the context of the actual play. it's supposed to be bad luck, people are supposed to die or get injured or something. i don't believe it, but i observe it anyway.

11. have you met any online friends out in the "real" world? if so, were these positive experiences?
i've met quite a few of my online friends in real life, thanks to the phunky bitches, and they've all been awesome. and this last new years eve, i flew out to philadelphia to meet ericalynn, who was my secret bitch (like secret santa) two years ago. after exchanging emails, we realized that we had an awful lot in common. the week i spent with her (seeing the dsico biscuits) was great. so, i guess my answer is yes, and yes.

12. what's your take on finding love online?
love is found in unexpected places, including on the internet. i think it's definitely something that can happen. i don't think it's something that i'd really explore as an option for myself in the near future, though.

13. name three songs and the significance they each have for you.
first, lover you should have come over by jeff buckley (from the album grace). i'm going to quote john mayer exactly, because he's said it better than i could... " it turns my body inside out so that all my nerves are on the outside of my skin. and it feels like it's too much sometimes." it's my favorite love song ever.

second, limb by limb, by phish (from the album story of the ghost). this song makes me happy no matter how shitty of a mood i'm in.

third, 3x5 by john mayer (from the album room for squares). i love the lyrics to this song... gives me the shivers every time i hear it.

14. do you have a special place you visit when you want to be alone, feel inspired, or need to get away?
when i lived in orange county, i used to love going to disneyland to study. now i'd have to say my room. it's my haven... computer, tv, bed, stereo... that or i go down to west cliff drive, where i walk and take photos and people watch.

15. how much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?he would chuck, he would, as much as he could, and chuck as much wood as a woodchuck would if a woodchuck could chuck wood.

john mayer!

ok, so the john mayer show was awesome and amazing, and i had a great time!

when we arrived at the fillmore, there was already a pretty long line, but we ran into some people and hopped into line with them. i had never been to the fillmore before, so when we got in, i was totally amazed.. it's a beautiful venue! we grabbed seats on the leather couches on the right side of the venue, pretty close to the front. the crowd was about 85% women, and i'd say the majority of them were under 20. all there probably to ogle over john. ;-) that's not to say that i wasn't ogling over him as well, but i was there mostly for the music. really, i was!!

the opener, norah jones, came on about 9:10 and played for about 40 minutes. she was good, i'll give her that, and i really liked the first song she did, but plain and simple, it was way too mellow. i was seriously falling asleep by the end of her set, which, in my opinion, it the exact opposite effect you want an opener to have. (then again, i tend to dislike opening acts in general, but that's because i'm spoiled!) john came out and played a song with her, and all the teenage girls screamed like they were at an *nsync concert. it was funny.

john, of course, was fabulous. he played the two songs i wanted to her (3x5 and love song for no one ). he was really high energy, and played for about two hours straight. it was awesome! i was dancing my butt off, although no once else was. that was odd, it was great dancing music and no one was dancing! he did a few short jams, all of which were really good. he was making funny 'trey faces'!!

my only real compliant is the fact that so many people come to shows and talk through the whole fucking thing. listen, people, if you're going to talk during the show, stay home and listen to the cd and give those of us who are there to listen to the music room to dance!

overall, the show rocked my socks off, and i will definitely go see him again the next time he's up here in norcal. ;-)


on an unrelated note, phish on simpsons tonight!!! yay!!

Thursday, April 4, 2002

john mayer!!!

i am going to see john mayer today. i am so excited i can hardly stand it. seriously, since buying his cd on a fluke, i've fallen totally in love with his music, and to be seeing him live (and at the the fillmore, no less) is so so cool.

and did i mention that he's hot?? i'm going to try and get my camera in to the show... i'll try to take some photos and post them tomorrow.

damn, i really want to do the friday five but i can't get onto the page. damn!