my car is all messed up. it's filthy. paint is scored on the back bumper and chipping off. i want to take it to a car wash tomorrow, but 1) the one by my place has gotten terrible reviews on yelp.com--to the effect that they are rude, don't speak English (so they can't understand any special instructions you give them), there are lots of thefts, and they give you the hard sell for upgrades to more expensive washes. 2) I am afraid they won't honor my instructions to either be very gentle or simply stay away from the peeling paint on my bumper/ One false move and all my paint will be gone, baby, gone.
i have to take the sucker in to get repainted anyway, it seems. since i park outside that means it always gets soaked by lawn-watering sprinklers and dew. And that water is getting trapped under my peeling paint. Disaster waiting to happen, if you ask me.
and, i dunno. the debates are tonight and im getting worked up about it.
really, it's just been a long week and I'm ready for it to be done.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
bday and aftermath
What a nice time my bday weekend was. Friday night Linus and I went out for a nice Italian dinner (something we don't eat a lot of--all that pasta and cheese...). It was GRAND....our favorite item was the blood susage. I kid you not--great stuff. A cousin of the Slovenian krvavice, the Italian version of blood sausage is thicker and grinds up the barley for the filling instead of the putting the grains in whole as the Slovenians do. That was Staramama's theory, anyway, when I asked her about it on the phone on Monday.
Saturday was the party day. It started off with rehearsal for Beethoven's 9th, then dropping shoes off at repair place, then getting yelled at by a cop for not having my front license plate attached (long story why...but I didn't get a ticket). Evening came, and Linus and I made our way to the designated party locale--El Carmen--early to grab some food. Alas, we arrived and the door was locked! Several phone calls later we get through to someone inside who explains they are closed for a private event. Thanks for letting the rest of us in on it! So after a smallish panic attack courtesy of me, we did some fast maneuvering and redirected ourselves and the impending group to Tart on Fairfax. Tart was all well and good, complete will food, until it closed at 11pm (whoops!). We had to relocate a second time to St. Nick's Pub. But all in all it was fun--people kept a sense of humor about the craziness (the 5 or 6 drinks helped me with that) and we had a great time.
Sunday I taught for what seemed like forever, and then went almost immediately over to UCLA to sing for the 4th movement of Beethoven's 9th symphony. Younger groups don't perform this so how appropriate that I should perform this particular piece the day after i enter my official mid-twenties.
More on that later. The "aftermath" has been a little ugly.
Monday I did the thank-yous. I called Grandma & Grandpa and Staramama. How nice to hear from them. I miss them enormously.
I'll post about how I'm feeling today--and how I felt yesterday--later. Let's just say there are a few choice blogs from people older and wiser than me who are getting me through it.
OK, lastly, if only to not break with tradition, here is my 2008 Birthday
Loot List:
3 "I Heart Guts" toys: pancreas, liver and uterus (thanks, L!)
1 black tee with some cool patters (thanks, L!)
1 white tee that says "I've Been to Duluth" (thanks, L!)
$800 (thanks Dad, Staramama, and G&G)
$50 worth of Barnes & Noble gift cards (thanks D&K, and my coworkers)
a bookmark (thanks coworkers)
Flight of the Conchords DVD (thanks, Nicole!)
1 bag of Maltesers (thanks T.C. & Leo!)
...and cards (thanks G&G, Dad, Franz, Linus, D&K, coworkers, Dan, Nicole, T.M.!)
Saturday was the party day. It started off with rehearsal for Beethoven's 9th, then dropping shoes off at repair place, then getting yelled at by a cop for not having my front license plate attached (long story why...but I didn't get a ticket). Evening came, and Linus and I made our way to the designated party locale--El Carmen--early to grab some food. Alas, we arrived and the door was locked! Several phone calls later we get through to someone inside who explains they are closed for a private event. Thanks for letting the rest of us in on it! So after a smallish panic attack courtesy of me, we did some fast maneuvering and redirected ourselves and the impending group to Tart on Fairfax. Tart was all well and good, complete will food, until it closed at 11pm (whoops!). We had to relocate a second time to St. Nick's Pub. But all in all it was fun--people kept a sense of humor about the craziness (the 5 or 6 drinks helped me with that) and we had a great time.
Sunday I taught for what seemed like forever, and then went almost immediately over to UCLA to sing for the 4th movement of Beethoven's 9th symphony. Younger groups don't perform this so how appropriate that I should perform this particular piece the day after i enter my official mid-twenties.
More on that later. The "aftermath" has been a little ugly.
Monday I did the thank-yous. I called Grandma & Grandpa and Staramama. How nice to hear from them. I miss them enormously.
I'll post about how I'm feeling today--and how I felt yesterday--later. Let's just say there are a few choice blogs from people older and wiser than me who are getting me through it.
OK, lastly, if only to not break with tradition, here is my 2008 Birthday
Loot List:
3 "I Heart Guts" toys: pancreas, liver and uterus (thanks, L!)
1 black tee with some cool patters (thanks, L!)
1 white tee that says "I've Been to Duluth" (thanks, L!)
$800 (thanks Dad, Staramama, and G&G)
$50 worth of Barnes & Noble gift cards (thanks D&K, and my coworkers)
a bookmark (thanks coworkers)
Flight of the Conchords DVD (thanks, Nicole!)
1 bag of Maltesers (thanks T.C. & Leo!)
...and cards (thanks G&G, Dad, Franz, Linus, D&K, coworkers, Dan, Nicole, T.M.!)
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
how i feel today
i had been feeling pretty chipper for a while now....great mini-vacation for Labor Day, fun shenanigans this past weekend.....
Even yesterday I felt psychologically very good (physically, I was hung over and yucky).
Today I'm a little down and thinking about my faults a lot. I'm a big mouth. I can't ever keep my opinions to myself. I never seem to be able to mind my own business. I always have to put my 2 cents' worth in. I'm bossy. I never let people alone. I always find something to criticize.
I wish I was better.
Even yesterday I felt psychologically very good (physically, I was hung over and yucky).
Today I'm a little down and thinking about my faults a lot. I'm a big mouth. I can't ever keep my opinions to myself. I never seem to be able to mind my own business. I always have to put my 2 cents' worth in. I'm bossy. I never let people alone. I always find something to criticize.
I wish I was better.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
An Old, Relevant Raffi Song
Mama's taking us to the zoo tomorrow!
Zoo tomorrow, zoo tomorrow!
Mama's taking us to the zoo tomorrow!
We can stay all day.
We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo
How about you, you, you?
You can come too, too, too
We're going to the zoo!
....ok maybe Mama's not taking us, but I am going to the San Diego Zoo this Saturday. I've been wanting to go ever since I read the Dr. Seuss Children's Series book about it. So, since I was three years old or something. I'm pretty excited.
Zoo tomorrow, zoo tomorrow!
Mama's taking us to the zoo tomorrow!
We can stay all day.
We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo
How about you, you, you?
You can come too, too, too
We're going to the zoo!
....ok maybe Mama's not taking us, but I am going to the San Diego Zoo this Saturday. I've been wanting to go ever since I read the Dr. Seuss Children's Series book about it. So, since I was three years old or something. I'm pretty excited.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
My Bros and Their Sis
Last Thursday, my brother Franz started junior year of high school. He is using my old Latin textbook, with all of my translations written in the margins (something for which he has already thanked me profusely) . This summer he learned to drive a stick shift, something I don't even really know how to do.
Tomorrow my brother Aloysius flies off to Rome to study abroad for three and a half months. He's beginning his junior year of college. I'm a little afraid, as he's already informed me that he wants to hitchhike to Munich for Oktoberfest. Nevermind that he could easily afford a bus or train ticket. That's just Al.
And so, as he prepares to leave and Franz reminisces with me via text abouthigh school teachers we shared, I keep thinking how much time flies. My baby brothers are getting so grown up...which means I'm even older. However cliché this sounds, it really does seem like just yesterday that we were all kids, putting on plays in the basement, fighting over what movie to watch, playing basketball in the alley.
Which leads me to the same question that pops up with me every day. Where is life going to take me next? What is my next step?
Tomorrow my brother Aloysius flies off to Rome to study abroad for three and a half months. He's beginning his junior year of college. I'm a little afraid, as he's already informed me that he wants to hitchhike to Munich for Oktoberfest. Nevermind that he could easily afford a bus or train ticket. That's just Al.
And so, as he prepares to leave and Franz reminisces with me via text abouthigh school teachers we shared, I keep thinking how much time flies. My baby brothers are getting so grown up...which means I'm even older. However cliché this sounds, it really does seem like just yesterday that we were all kids, putting on plays in the basement, fighting over what movie to watch, playing basketball in the alley.
Which leads me to the same question that pops up with me every day. Where is life going to take me next? What is my next step?
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Guests, Fat Flush and Me
i am feeling only so-so, on Day 3 of the Fat Flush Diet. I cheated a little bit last night with two lowest-calorie-possible alcoholic drinks. because my old buddies SUE and NAOMI are both in town and we painted it red last night!!...well, pink, since for me it was a work night. These are the girls who had so much fun together at York Backpackers almost a year and a half ago now...stumbling home drunk from the pubs, watching movies on my laptop, gossiping about hostel stuff...reunited in Los Angeles!! If only for a day or so. I only wish I could have taken a day or two off of work to really be a tour guide, and if only I wasn't on the Fat Flush Diet.
Wha...? Huh? What is this? Read on.
I am so happy to be playing host to these two awesome Aussie gals, but it sure is annoying and tough while on this diet. There hasn't been enough hours in the day to make three meals AND shop for the next day and THEN make sure that my guests are fed too--cause they sure as hell don't want my meager and slightly strange-tasting Fat Flush meals. But don't hate--up until yesterday I didn't even know what escarole was let alone cook with it and eat it. And it isn't my fault if escarole tastes nasty.
I just want to eat a piece of bread. I crave bread like you would not believe. It HURTS me to see bread in the stores or the leftover buns from lunch on the counters here at work (they're just going to be THROWN AWAY!). Oh, and I think the diet is already making me crazy because I have this fear that my body won't WANT this stuff after the two-week cleanse. That is in fact of what the book kind of claims will happen. What if 1.5 weeks ago was the last white bread I ever eat? What if that Snickers fun-size was the last chocolate I will ever enjoy putting in my mouth? I don't think that's rational at all... but it seems that this diet is making me nuts.
I'm on 1100-1200 calories a day. Veggies (and the low carb ones too, so no potatoes, no corn, no carrots, no avocado...) and meat are just about all I can have. One fruit a day. I have to drink 64 oz of what they call "cran-water"(1 part totally unsweetened cranberry juice to 7 parts water) daily, so I'm peeing like a racehorse all the time. When I wake up and when I go to bed I have to mix the cran-water with a teaspoon of powdered psyllium husks, which doesn't mix well with liquid because it's so fine and when it does it turns into some kind of superglue which is hell to clean out of the inside of the glass after you've ingested all you can.
It seems that all I can talk about is this diet. See? It's taking over my mind. I didn't even sign on here to blog about it. This is how brainwashing works, isn't it? The group (in this case, Ann Louise Gittleman's Fat Flush book) subjects its victims (me) to a breakdown in value-set (I read the book and was informed that pretty much everything I eat is poisonous), then the introduction of a NEW value set (eat all organic, expensive, impossible-to-find veggies and herbs--how do non-Californians manage this diet???) to constant repetition of new values to replace the old (the constant minute-by minute rubric of what to eat and when to eat it, and the constant freaking cran-water)...and the weakening of physical and mental state by the low caloric intake per day. I'm pretty sure this is what Jim Jones did with People's Temple.
Anyway. I really miss bread and energy and not feeling like my head is in a soup, but...this too shall pass. And I'm sure America will still have bread in two weeks when I'm done with all of this. Linus had the brilliant idea of getting a mail-order Giordano's pizza for when we're all done.
Although the sudden dairy onslaught after two weeks of abstinence will probably send the both of us running for the bathroom....I must say it's a go.
The real reason I decided to blog today was originally my mounting feelings of homesickness and missing my family. I know it's because my brothers and cousins are at the lake right now--with a new water volleyball net no less--and I ache to be there with them. But I've cheered up a bit in writing this, and in going through my day. And I have been keeping up with the Olympics online and on TV and I'm not thinking about the lake as much as I was last week at this time, so I guess overall I am feelin' not too bad! Having friends over helped a lot, too. It was a nice distraction from the day-to-day routine that has been getting me down of late.
I'm ready for fall.
Wha...? Huh? What is this? Read on.
I am so happy to be playing host to these two awesome Aussie gals, but it sure is annoying and tough while on this diet. There hasn't been enough hours in the day to make three meals AND shop for the next day and THEN make sure that my guests are fed too--cause they sure as hell don't want my meager and slightly strange-tasting Fat Flush meals. But don't hate--up until yesterday I didn't even know what escarole was let alone cook with it and eat it. And it isn't my fault if escarole tastes nasty.
I just want to eat a piece of bread. I crave bread like you would not believe. It HURTS me to see bread in the stores or the leftover buns from lunch on the counters here at work (they're just going to be THROWN AWAY!). Oh, and I think the diet is already making me crazy because I have this fear that my body won't WANT this stuff after the two-week cleanse. That is in fact of what the book kind of claims will happen. What if 1.5 weeks ago was the last white bread I ever eat? What if that Snickers fun-size was the last chocolate I will ever enjoy putting in my mouth? I don't think that's rational at all... but it seems that this diet is making me nuts.
I'm on 1100-1200 calories a day. Veggies (and the low carb ones too, so no potatoes, no corn, no carrots, no avocado...) and meat are just about all I can have. One fruit a day. I have to drink 64 oz of what they call "cran-water"(1 part totally unsweetened cranberry juice to 7 parts water) daily, so I'm peeing like a racehorse all the time. When I wake up and when I go to bed I have to mix the cran-water with a teaspoon of powdered psyllium husks, which doesn't mix well with liquid because it's so fine and when it does it turns into some kind of superglue which is hell to clean out of the inside of the glass after you've ingested all you can.
It seems that all I can talk about is this diet. See? It's taking over my mind. I didn't even sign on here to blog about it. This is how brainwashing works, isn't it? The group (in this case, Ann Louise Gittleman's Fat Flush book) subjects its victims (me) to a breakdown in value-set (I read the book and was informed that pretty much everything I eat is poisonous), then the introduction of a NEW value set (eat all organic, expensive, impossible-to-find veggies and herbs--how do non-Californians manage this diet???) to constant repetition of new values to replace the old (the constant minute-by minute rubric of what to eat and when to eat it, and the constant freaking cran-water)...and the weakening of physical and mental state by the low caloric intake per day. I'm pretty sure this is what Jim Jones did with People's Temple.
Anyway. I really miss bread and energy and not feeling like my head is in a soup, but...this too shall pass. And I'm sure America will still have bread in two weeks when I'm done with all of this. Linus had the brilliant idea of getting a mail-order Giordano's pizza for when we're all done.
Although the sudden dairy onslaught after two weeks of abstinence will probably send the both of us running for the bathroom....I must say it's a go.
The real reason I decided to blog today was originally my mounting feelings of homesickness and missing my family. I know it's because my brothers and cousins are at the lake right now--with a new water volleyball net no less--and I ache to be there with them. But I've cheered up a bit in writing this, and in going through my day. And I have been keeping up with the Olympics online and on TV and I'm not thinking about the lake as much as I was last week at this time, so I guess overall I am feelin' not too bad! Having friends over helped a lot, too. It was a nice distraction from the day-to-day routine that has been getting me down of late.
I'm ready for fall.
Monday, July 14, 2008
and i promise soon there will be a real entry
I just got back from a heavenly vacation on Star Island, and I'm not quite acclimated to LA yet. I will post soon, with pictures. Stay tuned.
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