Ah, the Mid-90's

In honor of ye olde reunion, I'm compiling a list of tunes for my "remember the college years" iPod playlist. You can help me create a setlist! WEE!

Here's what I have so far:
- Closer to Fine (Smindigo Girls)
- Anything by Ace of Base
- Counting Crows (Mr. Jones, perhaps?)
- Something from Green Day's Dookie

That's a start. Now it's your turn! WEE!

J.Po + Rhinovirus = No Bloggy

Ugh. I was beaten to a pulp by a headcold this past weekend, which means lots of Girls Next Door and The Simple Life (sorry, J.Vo) ... and no 2nd anniversary trip to the "first date restaurant" for team Jiggity and J.Po (J-squared). Oh well. Such is life. And because I'm getting over this cold now, I'll be in top form for the OAM 10th year reunion - taking place THIS WEEKEND!!!!

WHO'S EXCITED?!?!?!

The list of attendees, blogger style:
- J.Po
- TOWWAS
- Grrrbear
- J.Vo
- GlacierDad
- Spice (for an abbreviated visit, sadly)
- Spatch
- SpatchGirl

WOW! SO SO SO EXCITING!!!!

I believe a foot picture is headed your way!

Food Eaten Outdoors is 10x Yummier Than Food Eaten Inside

So the best thing about the Memorial Day weekend camping trip was the grub. Hands down. People really stepped up and we had fantastic meals including pita pizzas, hobo packets and sausage, cottage cheese pancakes and charizo burritos (the most photogenic and sloppy of the bunch). Jiggity dug in fingers first for this one....giving his digits a much-needed bath. Mmmmm......charizo.

Finally - a Pic

Whenever some big event happens - like a camping trip - I always say I'll post pics, and I then forget to do so. Well not this time! This time I'm going to let the picture fest trail on for days.

We'll start with this photo - one of the most ridiculous things I've ever seen - taken during the drive down to Arroyo Seco. Like dude, why does this GIANT GAS-GUZZLING vehicle need an extra carrier for more gear? ...and extra carrier that is comparatively SO SO TINY!!! Ridiculous. What's even more ridiculous is that it had its own license plate. I hope you can't read it. That's just bad blogging etiquette.

Arrrrr......'Twas a Good Picture Show

All pirates and wenches aboard the Carribean Sailor give the show two peg legs way up. 'Twas a good improvement on the second installment. Ahoy!

Arrrrrr.......

Ahoy matey! 'Tis the weekend when Pirate Jiggity and Wench J.Po will set sail for the Pirate picture show. If we don't sink to Davey Jones' Locker first, we'll be seein the show with Pirate BK and Wench LK, as tradition states.

Long Weekends Rock!

We had a rockin good time this weekend at ye' oldey camping ground. Pictures coming soon...but for now, 10 things I learned this weekend...

(1) Road atlases are really neato, and mega functional - especially the one we had, which not only got us there and back, but also highlighted some really great points of attraction.

(2) Inflatable mattresses may be an indicator of 'selling out' in the world of camping, but they sure make for a more comfortable night's sleep.

(3) In the car-camping situation, hand-held flashlights are pretty much just as good as headlamps. But head lamps look cool; especially the ones made circa 1980.

(4) Date of birth is a big indicator of Saturday morning cartoon knowledge.

(4a.) The Gummy Bears rock(ed)!

(5) 2*(le Petite Ecolier) + 2*(melted marshmallow) = 1,000,000*(yummers)

The laws of math don't work in this case:
(le Petite Ecolier) + (melted marshmallow) IS NOT = 500,000*(yummers)

(6) Some people in this world are a little too high strung.

(7) When there's more up-hill ahead, it's better to think "it's all down hill from here" than "miles of sun-exposed upward-moving switchbacks to go".

(8) Shower? Nah.

(9) Me and the folks I hang with are labeled "environmentalists" by the wine-tasting types of the world.

(10) Cottage cheese pancakes taste just as good, if not better, when prepared outside.

A Wednesday with no new Lost is a poopy Wednesday, in my book.

Arroyo Seco or BUST!

Hey now!

Jiggity and I are packing up for a long-weekend camping trip. Arroyo Secco is our destination. Given our misadventures in travel 2 weekends ago, we bought a 141 page road and 'recreation' atlas of California. If we can't get there smoothly with the atlas, there' s no hope for us at all. Cross your fingers.

Monorail, Monorail, Monorail!

Dilemma

Oh man!! It's Wednesday, and you know what that means! I have to make a decision: ballet or Lost. And today's decision-making process is particularly challenging because (1) it's the season finale (what's going to happen to Loch?? will he die?? will he rise again, like the messiah?? will Michael come back just in time for the battle between the plane folks and the others?? will Ben look really creepy?? SO MANY QUESTIONS!); and (2) the ballet teachers have noted my absence of late and I particularly like the Wednesday night instructor. And here are two solutions, one for each side of the argument: (1) Jiggity has set up TiVo to record all new Lost episodes (although it doesn't always work...stupid TiVo); and (2) I can go to Thursday night's ballet class (easier and more appropriate for my skill(less) level).

Torture!

Thankfully, it's the last time I'll be tortured with this choice for several months.

Yea, y'all have probably seen this already

....but it makes me laugh every time I look at it....and now I'll get to see it each time I take a tour through the blogring. Woo!

C of M

Jiggity are about to sit down to a viewing of Children of Men. I'm guessing we're in for a treat - albeit a depressing one.

Get out your ballets, folks. It's time for a vote!

Rank these animals in order of cuteness level, from highest to lowest! (It's torture, I know.)

Contestant #1:





















Contestant #2:














Contestant #3:




















Contetstant(s) #4:















Contestant #5:








Contestant #6:

Toast-R-Oven

When it comes to toasting bread, bagels, and other food products (yes, Jiggity, creepy waffles are included), I strongly prefer a toaster oven to a pop-up toaster. Only with a toaster oven can you make a tuna melt or a warm/melted ham & cheese. And beyond toasting, the oven provides so many additional options, including warming, baking and - my personal favorite - broiling. When I was a kid, I was jealous of families with pop-up toasters (especially the ones that required close observation in order to catch the bread as it flew through the air post-toasting). But now, I'm all about the wonders of the toaster oven.

Jiggity and I got our first joint Toast-R-Oven last weekend. We used it for the first time last night, preparing potato wedges (Trader Joe's style) sprinkled with salt (which we ate while watching Lost, by the way). We couldn't have made THAT with a pop-up toaster!

We'll see how long this toaster lasts.

Meatloaf

I feel like Meatloaf is highly underrated. Granted, it takes less than one hand to count the number of Meatloaf songs I love, and he lacks originality in naming his albums (with most incorporating "Bat Out of Hell" in one way or another). But his memorable tunes are CLASSIC. When Jiggity and I are in the car and a 'loaf tune comes on the XM radio, we don't switch stations. Oh no. Instead, we pull out all the stops with dramatic singing and passionate fist-pumping.

We* just LOVE the Meatster.


* I cannot say for sure that Jiggity agrees because my singing/screaming is loud enough to drown out any opportunity for him to protest

Zip It!!

Nobody post about Lost tonight/tomorrow!!! I'm going to ballet - for the first time in 3 weeks - and I won't be able to watch at the regularly scheduled time. TiVo will be working its magic and I'll be viewing at a later date - and blogging when appropriate.

BUT PLEASE - don't make me avoid your blogs until viewing occurs!

All the Fun's In Getting There

Jiggity and I went camping Saturday night with a group of public healthers in a campground located around the red oval on the map. Neither of us looked at a road map before leaving (we just memorized really bad instructions from the park's website) and we ended up driving to Tracy (one third of the way to Yosemite!) before realizing that we must have done something wrong. After turning around, we ended up passing by the red oval and circling around a small area of Oakland (outlined by a box on the map) trying to find an exit that doesn't exist for 45 minutes. When all was said and done, and we finally made it to camp, we spent a total of 3.5 hours getting to a place that should have taken 40 minutes. We're buying a road atlas. Soon.

LOST?!? OMG!

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Irritation

Nothing irritates me more than someone having a long and loud coversation on their cell phone during my daily commute on the train. Today I was lucky enough to have the cell phone conversationalist sitting right next to me. She didn't get the hint when I glanced at her - repeatedly. Ugh.

What to do about such cell phone rudeness??

Sauna.

It's hot as the dickens in the Bay Area today. I wish I could cut class (work) and see the Flying Scotsman....or the Flying Dutchman, for that matter. Any activity that promises air conditioning would do just fine.

Today was my (one?) chance to wear my summer duds in the ci-tay, but I left the house in long pants and a sweater. I suppose a little check of the weather report would have been helpful. 92 degress is the projected high. Ugh.

Jiggity Wants One of These. Thoughts?

Ye Olde Locale Newsie Gives the Flying Dutchman....

Calibrate that to the

given to Spice World circa 1999 and you get the idea.

Favorite Bar

Bars and cookies are not the same thing.

If I were to choose my favorite bar, it would have to be the famed "Minnesota Bar" created by L.Kes at OAM.

Anyone who entered a favorite bar in the favorite cookie category must amend their choice. That means you, Spice.

Favorite Cookie

So as it turns out, only TOWWAS and Jiggity are interested in commenting on their favorite sandwiches. I bet there will be more interest when it comes to the subject of FAVORITE COOKIE!!!!

For me? Pinwheels. Remember them? Big mounds of marshmallow atop a doughnut-shaped sugar cookie, all covered with a shell of chocolate. Mmmmm......

Favorite Sandwich

Last night, after much indecision, Jiggity and I decided to go to our local rotiserie for dinner. I was reminded that my favorite sandwich - hands down - is the corned beef ruben. Serioulsy, that is a damn good sandwich.

Tubie

Lost is on tonight!!! LOST IS ON TONIGHT!!!

Wha's gonna happen? Oooooo.....can't wait!

For those of you who don't watch, start Netfixing. It's seriously one of the most edge-of-your-seat-what's-going-to-happen-next kind of shows. Woo!

It's a bird ... It's a plane ... It's my latest craft project

WOOOOT! I finished (almost - must attach to a hair comb tonight) my 3rd wedding veil last night. No, I'm not getting married in Vegas this weekend. A friend of Jiggity's is getting hitched (on 5/6/07) and I took on the job (again) of making the veil - saving the bride about $150. I did my own beading. For reals.

Jiggity expressed some interest in making comments on ye ol' bloggy. Let's send some encouragement his way!! He's particularly excited to discuss his shop projects.

GOOOOOO JIGGITY!!!

Melting.....meeellllting

I'm so glad I don't live in Berkeley and work in SF anymore. The commute would be hell.


Who knew an overpass could MELT!?!?!

Social Nerd it Is - mostly because of sewing stuff, methinks

What Be Your Nerd Type? Your Result: Social Nerd You're interested in things such as politics, psychology, child care, and peace. I wouldn't go so far as to call you a hippie, but some of you may be tree-huggers. You're the type of people who are interested in bettering the world. You're possible the least nerdy of them all; unless you participate in other activies that paled your nerdiness compared to your involvement in social activities. Whatever the case, we could still use more of you around. ^_^
Science/Math Nerd
Musician
Literature Nerd
Artistic Nerd
Gamer/Computer Nerd
Drama Nerd
Anime Nerd
What Be Your Nerd Type? Quizzes for MySpace

Mstislav Rostropovich died

He was a damn fine cellist.

Fruit salad or potato salad?

Shop -or- Industrial Arts, as it was known in Ohio

Grrbear's recent post mentioning shop class got me thinking about my own experiences in industrial arts circa 1988. Here's what I recall making:

- a football made of melted (then solidified) styrofoam-like material, painted in the school colors (go Braves!)

- A nightlight with all of the electronics immersed in a clear plastic blob. It actually worked. And probably still does.

- A wooden cutout of a Scotty dog, painted white with a blue ribbon around its neck (because most Scotty dogs are white)

- A 6 inch-by-6 inch mirror with the phrase "Jo's Room" acid-etched into the surface.

I was better at Home Economics.

Howse about your projects?

TM

Hey now. Did you know there's a band called 'Hot Chip'? Damnit! It's not quite Hot Chips, but I should have trademarked my name years ago.

Nothing brings out the comments like a quiz.

IT'S QUIZ TIME!!! (Or is this just a survey. Whatever.)

(1) What part of your body is most sore today?

(2) How many grams of fiber have you consumed today?

(3) What book are you currently reading? (If writing a book - or dissertation - I will accept that title as an answer.)

(4) Would you consider yourself Gap casual or Anthropology hip? (Or, provider your own label if none of the above.)

(5) What's the last song you heard before taking this survey?

What is notable about this picture?

Babykins

I spent about an hour today holding a 3 month old baby (daughter of a friend of Jiggity's). I'm totally hooked and I think I want one some day. She's like a hot water bottle that coos. SO CUTE.

The Environment is SO Hot Right Now

Pardon the pun.







Anyhoo, my local PBS/NPR station is doing their annual pledge drive 'green style'. They're aiming to do it all in one day. Decrease the carbon footprint, you know? I got so fired up about their plans that I doubled my usual donnation. And I got this set of very cute totes:

Mmmmmmm.......fiber........

I recently watched a PBS series on diet and now I'm all fired up about fiber. Not that I wasn't excited about fiber before (Sophist and I share a love), but things have gotten a little out of hand as of late. This PBS series was hosted by a woman (can't remember her name) promoting her HOPE formula. Jiggity thought it was an infomercial. She was really pushing her product and she talked A LOT about bowel movements.

Anyhoo, the H in HOPE stands for HIGH FIBER. How high you ask? 35 grams a day. Ever since my viewing, I've been trying to reach this extreme H goal. And let me tell you, 35 grams of fiber equals A LOT of dried fruit. Dangerous. I think I'm gaining weight just trying to intake this much fiber, let alone the recommended intake of 'O'-mega 3's, 'P's (can't remember what P stands for ... maybe 'Po' and I've got that already), and 'E'-nzymes. And the fruit belly is out of control. Man!

I'm trying to stick with it for a month. I'll keep you updated, since I'm sure you care.

I think I might try this newfangled thing called blogging. Or is it old timey by now. Whatev.

Anyhoo, I returned to my blog today after months away only to find that things have changed. Like, I needed to move the whole thing over to a new interface or something. What up?

I hope to be blogging more in the near future. I'm WAY happier in my job now and life is generally better, so hopefully I'll feel like there's stuff worth blogging about.

Perhaps I'll start with fiber.....or maybe another day.

Epidemics are Cool

...from an intellectual standpoint, anyway.

I think I was infected with the highly-contagious norovirus on New Year's Eve. This same bugger is has spread madly across the country and recently shut down San Quentin Prison. Just to clarify, I haven't been hanging out there.

Interesting reading:

San Quentin State Prison Closed Due To Widespread Norovirus OutbreakJanuary 4, 2007 12:00 p.m. EST

Patricia Shehan - All Headline News Staff Writer

San Quentin, CA (AHN) - The well-known San Quentin State Prison in California was closed on Wednesday to all new inmates, visitors (including attorneys) and employees as officials began to conduct an ongoing investigation of the widespread outbreak of the norovirus.

Nearly 500 inmates and six employees have been reported to be ill from gastroenteritis, which is a stomach virus that causes severe symptoms including vomiting, diarrhea, cramps, fever and possible dehydration.

The quarantine is planned to continue at least until next week.

The first detected outbreak occurred last Thursday and the norovirus continued to spread quickly. The virus is highly contagious and several outbreaks recently occurred at several hospitals and nursing homes throughout the Bay Area of California.

In the meantime, all inmate movement is being restricted as common areas throughout the prison are being cleaned and bleach is being applied.

Although there have been no hospitalizations, prison medical officials have notified county and state officials and sent cultures to be tested at independent laboratories to determine the cause and oversee the status of the virus outbreak.

Transfers and releases of prisoners have all had to be cancelled and delayed.

San Quentin State Prison was originally established in July 1852 on 432 acres of land for both men and women as a result of the "rampant lawlessness" in California at that time. In 1993 the prison began housing only men. Today the prison houses over 5,000 inmates and employs nearly 1,700 people with an annual operating budget of approximately $120 million.

Acid

So I spent most of yesterday curled up in a tiny ball trying to avaoid throwing up my stomach lining. The lining is all that was left after 2 Tums and 1/2 glass of water went out the trap early in the day. Stomach flu, methinks. Achy muscles and joints, sweats and chills ... you know the drill. Needless to say, 2006 ended on a bit of a sour note.

I like to consider yesterday's experience as a cleansing of all things poinsonous from 2006 (mostly, my job). As it turns out, said job will be my job for only 9 more days. I got an offer for the interview whispering job the MOMENT I got off the phone with Spice a few days ago. Tomorrow I'm giving my 2 weeks notice. I'm excited to start a new phase. I just hope I can get my enthusiasm back. And I hope this puts an end to my job-hopping pattern of behavior.

In the interest of keeping my link alive on TOWWAS's blog, I'm writting a short ditty for now. As soon as I have a new job, I'm sure I'll have more time and interest in writing. For now, PATIENCE dear readers, PATIENCE.

Speaking of the new job, it looks like it may pan out for me. Without going into unneccessary detail, they had to reclassify the posting in order to get the right pay scale. But it sounds like they'll offer the job and I'll take it as soon as we trudge through some bureaucratic messiness. But dude. Thank goodness. My current job has made me quite unhappy.

But enough of that. Hows about some Christmas cheer? What did YOU get for Christmas? My favorite gifty from the 'rents = a Calphalon stir fry pan. 2007 promises to be the year of the stir fry.

Stupid Catholics.

I feel guilty and excited all at once. I think I may actually take that job I interviewed for last week. They want someone to start in early January. We're pushing up on the two week notice timepoint - like, soon. My current job has been a nuthouse since late July - too much to do, too little time, no clarity on responsibilities and roles, inappropriate reinforcements, very little mentorship. And I'm the only one in the office who has the skillz to complete a lot of tasks that are coming down the pipeline (or more accurately stated - stuck at the very end of the pipeline in a big mass that's about to explode out the end). AND I FEEL SO GUILTY.

Assuage my guilt, please.

A week ago I started considering applying for new positions due to longstanding dissatisfaction with my job. On Tuesday, I got wind of an opening with someone known to be bright, clear, and a good mentor. (JUST what I need after working with the opposite of that.) I inquired about the job on Wednesday afternoon (while home illin' with a nastacular cold). By Wednesday night, I was quickly re-working my CV and writing a cover letter for said job because the folks conducting interviews were finishing up THIS WEEK. I sent my resume and, within 2 hours, I had an interview set up for today.

The kicker to my rapid-fire-job-huntin story is that I COMPLETELY lost my voice as a result of that nastacular cold and had to do an hour-and-a-half interview today via wispers (with an occassional squawk). It was the most bizarre - and most amuzing - experience I've had in a long time. And I think the interview actually went well. Weird.

Singning off,
The interview whisperer

Ick

So it happened. I got my first full-fledged cold of the season. Thankfully, it hit Monday, allowing me to enjoy the 4-day poultry-heavy weekend. On the not-so-good side, it hit the DAY we launched a project at work that I'm coordinating - and the project is still not really ready to go, so there's still a lot to accomplish. I suffered through Monday and Tuesday (only slightly aware of what I was doing), but I'm at home nursing this damned thing today (while catching up on the latest E! Entertainment Television). Blech. At least it's not pneumonia.

In better news, Jiggity and I got our first Christmas tree on Sunday. It's all domestic and cute at our apartment - scents of pine in the air, olde timey Christmas carols on the stereo, and mistletoe under the archway leading to our living room. Disgustingly adorable. I love it.

Barf, Part Deux

He DOES look taller. Blech.

I'm so curious about what happens at a scientology wedding. (Although not curious enough to read about it.) Anyone out there with info???

It's TomKat's wedding day. Barf.

I have nothing to say

I am writing this post to convince you that I'm still blogging.

Nicknames

J.Bro's recent comment about my Spice-give nickname "Chipsie" sparked thoughts about other nicknames I've been given over the years. The name that still confounds me is one given by my best friend in 3rd grade. (Said friend was all trouble .... Spice and Sophist know the one (M.G.).)

The nickname? Jo Bo the Dancin' Ho.

I'll have you know, that name said more about G.H. than it did about me at AGE 8.

What's your strangest nickname?

I can't believe you people started - or considered - de-linking me. I haven't even de-linked Spice. I believe she has the power and will to return, after that pesky pneumonia thing passes.

The Curse

Big news. I have officially passed my "every two years I get robbed" anniversary - without a new theft event. (Note: I'm not counting the theft of my bicycle wheel in May '05, mostly because they tried for the entire bike without success).

Prior events:

- In October 2002, my wallet was stolen out of my coat pocket while I was at the SF public library. The coat was hanging on the back of a chair I was sitting in during the robbery. Sneaky pick-pocketting bastard!

- In July 2004, Sophist and I were mugged at knifepoint at 5:00pm in a "safe" neighborhood in Berkeley. My wallet was stolen, along with my camera, phone, journal .... and my sense of safety and trust. Sucky.

- In October 2004, my backpack was swiped from my (usually locked) office in Berkeley. How the hell they got into that office, I do not know. My wallet was stolen **again**, along with several items of clothing, my journal, my datebook, etc. etc.

Given this string of robberies, I was sortof expecting to have an October 2006 theft - with another trip to the f'ing DMV. But no. Nada. Not a cent of thievery in over 2 years. Huh. Has it ended?

Yummers

Yo! Welcome to my first picture blog after the glummy non-blogging phase! WOO! I've chosen a selection from my trip to Philadelphia in September - an authentic Philly Cheese Steak. Mmmmmm........cheez whiz.......

Inspired

I'm bouncing back from a few months of excess work and lack of interest/imagination. A few events over the last week have injected new inspiration into my veins:

1. Rummy's resignation
2. The dems' semi-return to power
3. Ohio's role in #3
4. A lovely trip with Jiggity to Marin/Muir Woods over the weekend (pix forthcoming....maybe)
5. An increasing understanding that I can always leave my job
6. A concert outing last night to see Ray LaMontagne (Sophist, I found a concert pal!). [Ray may soon surpass R.E.M. as my most-seen live act.]

More coming soon.... Question is, is anyone still reading this crap?!?!?!

This weekend.....

I plan to do next-to-nada. After 5 weeks of spending most/all of my weekends away from home or with visitors in my home, I'm looking forward to an entire weekend in/near my empty apartment. Wee!

The only events on the calendar are:

Saturday: a costume party in the evening, to which I must go as an 80's pop icon/character. Try to guess my muse! (It's not fair to play if you saw me last weekend.)

Sunday: a visit with J.We to fit her soon-to-be-sewn wedding veil. WEE for J.We!!

Also, Jiggity and I have plans to buy a new matress in hopes of improving our sleep. Our current stiff and springly matress is a poor setup for his "violent turning" and my light sleeping. We're aiming for something with more cushion to absorb the waves and more space to accomodate our respective turning radii. Maybe a Sleep Number? Ooooooo.....the possibilities!

American ASSlines

As noted on Grrbear's blog, the L&B Crazy Fun Nuptials(TM) was a mighty good time. And exhausting. Undoubtedly, y'all will hear stories about the crazy fun aspects of the trip. But this mornings (short) post will involve a rant against American Airlines, whose service yesterday was - in a word - sucktastic.

We had two legs to get back to the Bay Area: one from Chicago O'Hare to Dallas Fort Worth and the second from Dallas to San Francisco. The leg from Chicago to Dallas was fine. No complaints. The plane left 4 minutes after schedule and arrived with plenty of time to catch the connecting flight. But when we got to Dallas, things went down down down hill. Like, way down hill. Our flight, which was supposed to depart at 5:20pm, got pushed back to 6:47, then 7:09, and then 7:25. I don't even know when the damn thing actually borded and left. The most annoying part was that our plane was parked in the jetway all the while (i.e. - we weren't waiting for a different flight to come in) and there was no explanation by the airline as to why we were delayed and when the issue might be resolved. When we got in the air, the one beverage service (there should have been 2) was dissapointingly missing baggies of pretzel snacks (boo!). And when we finally got to SFO (2.25 hours later than expected), there was a plane parked in our arrival gate and we had to wait "5 minutes" (which SLOWLY turned into 45 minutes) on the jetway because the airline was too lame to direct us to an unused gate. I was crabby and hungry* as hell and decided, on the spot, that A.Asslines would be getting a letter**. By the end of our day, which began at 5am PST, I was pretty damn beat when Jiggity and I got home at 10:30pm PST (4 hours later than expected). I was even less happy when my alarm went off at 6:45am this morning, but it's the price one pays for a kick-ass good weekend.

In the middle of our long wait in Dallas, Jiggity came up with the theory that all flights departing Dallas are purposefully delayed so that passengers are forced to buy food from one of the MANY food vendors (all of which serve Pepsi products, by the way). This made us think back on all other departures from Dallas and we concluded that all of them (3 in total, including our trip to Chicago on Friday) were delayed. Conclusion? Pepsi = evil.

I can't have a post about the Asslines without mentioning our flight from Dallas to Chicago on Friday. For that flight, we not only had a delayed departure (because our crew was stuck on another delayed flight), but we had to wait for 20+ minutes on the runway when we arrived in Chicago because the ground crew couldn't find our plane.

Sucktastic!

*In my opinion, they should have broken into the unpurchased snack boxes to keep the angry passangers from cannibalizing their neighbors.
**A letter which will undoubtedly go unwritten.

Me - Muppet Style

You Are Scooter

Brainy and knowledgable, you are the perfect sidekick. You're always willing to lend a helping hand. In any big event or party, you're the one who keeps things going. "15 seconds to showtime!"

The Muppet Personality Test

Cities

Today I have/will spend time in the following cities:

- San Mateo
- San Francisco
- Oakland
- Dallas
- Chicago

And tomorrow I'll add:

- Ann Arbor

Vaycay

Yo.

I figure I should post some photos from the Alaska trip before I have pictures to post for the midwest trip. So here goes....

And.....blogger is giving me problems. So I've selected one photo to represent my trip. This was taken during a lovely afternoon hike at a regional park 10 minutes away from where Jiggity grew up. This pic is a pretty good representation of what most of the Anchorage area looks like. Seriously. Drive 5 minutes out of the city and THIS is what you get! (And you can literally SEE it until about 1am.)

Project FUNway!

Who out there is watching Project Runway this season? BEST - REALITY - SHOW - EVER! In the "scenes from next week's show" portion of the program, we learned that someone will be getting kicked off for breaking the rules. Oooooooooo......something that's never happened before!! Which rule do you thing was broken? I'm guessing something along the lines of plagiarism or sabotage.

Opinions?

So I gave my paps a stock recommendation about 2 years ago. He made a purchase based on said recommencation and the stock has since quintupled. (Note: I have a history of making good predictions, starting with my suggestion to invest in McDonald's at age 7. After passing up on that idea, he's taken advice on other companies.) My question for you all: how much of a cut do I deserve? I should have settled this before shovelling details.

What's your most exciting future concert plan?

Dude. Music rocks. Live music rocks and rolls. So tell me, what upcoming concert are you most pumped about?

Me? Ray LaMontagne and Guster at the Berkeley Community Theater. Small venue, big talet. Plus, RL is coming out with a new album mid-August. I've already pre-ordered! YIPPY!!

Lame

Yup. As Sophist so accurately noted in her last comment, my blogging has been minimal - almost to the point of being downright lame. But dude. My social calendar has had me running like a madwoman (note: I've never been much of a social butterfly). And my camera cables are lost in some moving box somewhere, so I can't even do the min of posting photos. I tried using a flow of internet-available pix, but that gets tiring after a few days. Once August hits, I have lots-o-nothin' on the calendar, so I'll be back to 2004-style blogging. Yo.

What ever happened to T-Bone?

Alaska pics

Check out the moose! Okay, so I didn't actually take this photo. But I did see a moose that looked much like this one, sans the rack. My happy snaps are headed your way....as soon as I find my camera cable, which is in a box - somewhere.

Cpt. Jack Sparrow?

Are you ready?

Update: Alaska Style

It was, in a word, COOL. I am currently trying to figure out a way to live in AK 6 months out of the year. They must have need for a spring-summertime epidemiologist. Dontcha think?

Pictures forthcoming.

Newsflash

Berkeley is going to allow its citizens to vote for the impeachment of Bush/Cheney in November. I dislike the administration as much as any other Berkeley resident, but isn't this a bit wacky?

Tunes

Since we didn't have enough going on in our lives - with the 35-odd hours of paiting and cleaning over the weekend and a flight to Alaska this evening - Jiggity and I decided to go to a Goo Goo Dolls/Counting Crows concert last night. Though I was mostly going to keep the manfriend company, I had a solidly good time. Here were some observations:

(1) I never realized that I know a hell-of-a-lot of Goo Goo Dolls songs. They've gotten some serious radio play over the years.

(2) For some reason, I think of Grrrbear when I hear the GGDs. I think he had their first album in college???

(3) The Counting Crows put on a good show. They know how to mix it up - putting a new spin on an old favorite. "Rain King" was a particular highlight. They really rocked out in the beginning and end and threw in some lines from "Scarborough Fair" when they took it down a notch in the middle. I think the song went on for 15 minutes or something.

(4) The lead singer for the CCs looks like Sideshow Bob, except that his shoes are smallish.

(5) The lead singer (I should just learn his name, damnit) thinks that we're all "f*cking as*holes" if we don't vote.

In other news, I got 6 hours of sleep last night and I have 7 more hours of work. Then I get to go home and spend 45 minutes madly packing before we go to the airport. I used to do this kind of thing all the time when I was 23, but I just can't handle it anymore. Blech.

Stitches

People! I need to pick up some mean embroidery skills, fast. One of my gal pals is getting married this fall and group of us are in charge of crafting a square for her patchwork chuppah. Given my love for all things needlework-oriented, I offered to take the lead on the project. At this point, I have a solidly good design. Problem is, it involves a hell-of-a-lot-of free hand embroidery. My embroidery experience? Nill. So I have some questions:

(1) Is there a way to design a pattern on a sheet of paper and subsequently transfer it to the fabric? My current plan is to draw directly on the fabric with a removable fabric pencil. But there has to be a better way.

(2) Embroidery thread is sold as a bundle of several fibers. Should I separate the fibers before stitching or use the whole damn thing? My tendency is to separate, but I may be clueless. I've done whimpy cross-stitch (nothing like Spice's amazing projects), but I have zero recollection of thread handling.

(3) Is it stupid to try to learn embroidery anew 11 days before a project must be completed?

pinky

Why ever did I decide to paint my room cotton candy pink* during the summer of 2003? I'm kicking myself now - because that fatal decision is turning my weekend into a marathon of re-painting activities.

In preparation, I took a trip to the local Ace Hardware last weekend to purchase paint and various paint accessories. Did you know there are, like, eleventy-billion** shades of white and 5 options for finishing quality (from matte to shiny)? Holy b'jeezus! I couldn't tell the friggin' difference from one can to another. Really. The only clear distinguishing feature about each one is its title -- Navaho White, Blankets of Snow, Marshmallow, etc. I decided to go with White Linen with the eggshell finish, mostly because it sounds so Nantucket.

What I want to know is, who in the world gets the job of naming shades of household paint? Seems to me, that's the best job in the world.

* the official name was Embrace
** thanks, J.Bro - love that number!
...and an overall stylistic thanks to Grrrbear. The asterick system sure makes blogging fun! WEE!!

We're coming up on Gay Pride weekend here in San Francisco and the Castro is all a-flutter. I'm hardly waiting to make the trek to ballet class tonight. My plan is to gather a count of encounters with men wearing gold lame hot pants. Stay tuned.

My semiannual Radiohead phase just commenced - as of 4:05 this afternoon. I'm starting out with a few rounds of OK Computer and I'll be moving on to Kid A tomorrow morning. I never bought Pablo Honey, but I really want a copy of Creep (minus everything else). Too bad they don't sell on i tunes.

T - 9 days until I leave for Alaska!

Thank god the move is done. It was not fun process, mostly because of a cold that developed into a fever with bone pain on Friday. Even my teeth hurt. Ugh. But the movers were scheduled to come Saturday at 8:30 am, so furniture had to be collapsed. And it got done, despite my delirium.
And since (undoubtably) you've all been following the storyline, this is what I provided the movers:

- pasteries, coffee, orange juice, and water at my old apartment
- water, lemonade, and ice cream bars at my new apartment
- $30 tip for each mover

Thanks for your input on this! The movers were absolutely excellent - hard working, efficient, straight forward, etc - and deserved good treatment.

WOO!!

PEOPLE! IT'S CHERRY SEASON! In the past week the price of bing cherries dropped from $4.99/lb to $2.49/lb. You know what that means - fruit belly.

In other news, I watched A LOT of E! Entertainment programs last night, including the E True Hollywood Story: Charles in Charge. Among other things, I learned that Scott Baio visited the Playboy Mansion. A lot.

So I suddenly woke up around 5:30 this morning because my bed was swaying. In the drunkenness of sleep I thought to myself ".......earthquake........" and immediately rolled over and fell back into ZZZZZZZZs. Is it weird that earth rumblings don't phase me anymore?

For Your Viewing Pleasure

I believe Sophist will support me in saying....

All you Netflix users out there (especially the ladies), leave this blog location immediately and go to your Netflix lineup to put North and South at the top of your list. You will not be disappointed.

Wow. Moving is stressful - even when you've hired movers. I spent all weekend going through crap. After the 6th bag full o' paper for recycling, I started to wonder why I've been carrying around items, such as my college physics notes, for so damned long. Sheesh.

While doing all the sifting, I watched way too many episodes of Six Feet Under. I left the show midway through season 4 after my first DVD player died (it was fun while it lasted, Spice). This weekend I watched the end of season 4 and the first half of season 5. Seriously, though. This show is not designed for marathon viewing. It's far too depressing for such inundation. Next weekend? Zoolander - on repeat.

crackpot landloards

The Bay Area is chock full o' crazyass landloards. With the impending exodus from my current apartment (myself and my roomate are both leaving), we've been having more contact than desired with the company that owns our building and collection of other properties about town. I sent in my 30 days notice letter several weeks ago and heard nothing in response. My roomate sent his and, within a week, got an itemized list of services for which money will be deducted from the security deposit. This list includes painting, carpet cleaning, "janitorial services", etc, etc. The total cost of said services? $800. Jackassy, don't you think? It's time to contact the Rental Board .... again. I believe the Better Business Bureau will be getting a letter.

In better business news, the people who will be moving my stuff sent me the nicest reminder of the date and time. In the note they enclosed a checklist of things one should do when moving residences and a blank postal office card for address change. So thoughtful. Thanks for the rec, Sophist.

It's the calm before the storm. Starting next weekend, these things are happening in somewhat rapid succession:

1. Moving my crappolla to San Mateo (more accurately, watching movers do the work while I sip coffee and eat pastries)

2. Unpacking from said move

3. Flying to Alaska for a 5-day visit with Jiggity's family surrounding the wedding of a family friend

4. Hosting the 'rents at the new pad

5. Traveling to Lake Shasta for a weekend on a houseboat with Jiggity's homies

6. Flying to Chicago to meet up with Spice and Grrr and drive to Ann Arbor for L&B's nuptials

7. Flying to Fargo to attend another wedding

8. Flying to Philidelphia for the 4th and presumably last wedding of the season

9. Sleeping for two weeks straight

10. Seeing Johnny Depp in the Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

movin

Dude. Moving is kindof a pain in the ass. My biggest issue lately is how to decide what to get rid of - particularly when it comes to clothing that is completely functional and (this is the hard one) papers and notes and exams and publications from courses over the last 10 years. Does anyone out there have a rule regarding how to decide what to keep and what to toss? HELP!

az-WEEP-eh

Over the weekend - the weekend I moved by BF's stuff into our soon-to-be-shared apartment - my manipulative ex-boyfriend (known as Asswipe amongst friends) got married to the woman (ex-friend) he started dating a week after we ended our four-year relationship. An interesting confluence of events, eh? Though the actions/betrayal of Asswipe and Ms. Asswipe hurt me deeply for years, I finally got to a point a year or two ago when I didn't care anymore. And when news of their engagement and wedding came along, it both didn't surprise me (in fact I predicted it from the day I learned they started dating) and didn't phase me emotionally. And I settled on the thought, "thank god I escaped THAT one". I remain angry at them and I'll probably always be somewhat angry with them because they completely betrayed my trust and everything, in the end, remained unresolved. But that's okay. Because the abrupt end to my relationships with them was far more possitive than negative. Because, in addition to extracting those poinsonous beings from my life, I learned enough that I was able to end up in a relationship with Jiggity who is, I must say, the exact opposite of Asswipe in all the right ways.

Al Gore is on Fresh Air today. Yay.

Weekend Update, dun dun dah!!

Hey now. It was one hellofa weekend. It feels like two weeks passed since I've been at work, giving me a much-needed fresh look on life ... and work. So here's the run-down on the happenings over the last few, because I'm sure you care.

Friday night: Sophist and I gathered for our long-awaited Sloppy Joe's. We refused to mess with an original recipe and went with a McCormick flavor packet instead - giving us a genuine cafeteriaesque taste. Yummy. To increase the health value of the meal, Sophist also purchased a GIANT BAG of spinach. I recall Sophist saying she could "use it as a pillow until opening the bag". It was that big. For entertainment, we watched the first 2 episodes of North and South, the BBC recreation of the Elizabeth Gaskell novel (not the 80's TV mini-series featuring such fine actors as Patrick Swayze). I'm waiting on the edge of my seat for the next two installments.

Saturday morning - afternoon: I had a most delightful outing with B&L at a lovely cafe in Woodside, which had yummy food but crappy service. We left a 55 cent tip after having zero service from our actual waitress. But we had a lovely time anyway, catching up on life and sharing stories of the upcoming wedding, which promises to be a real hoot. I will be assuming the role of shoe and jewlery-buying assistant.

Saturday late-afternoon - evening: Jiggity and I made the second of several trips moving his loot to our new apartment in San Mateo and collapsed all collapsable furniture. Good times, except for all the dust we kicked up and the sneezing that ensued. Yick.

Sunday all day: Official moving day. Wee. I spent most of it scrubbing years of soap scum off of the shower stall, a job that was surprisingly satisfying. With four strong dudes, we had Jiggity's stuff moved in record time and delighted in our efforts over grilled food. Mmmmmm.....meats. The remainder of the day was spent making one more trip from the old place to the new with breakables and doing some unpacking. Wee again.

Monday: The focus was on relaxation. After waking late, we took a 10-minute stroll to downtown, bought some breaky, and ate in the local (lovely) park. Back at the ranch, we did some reading, hooking up of electronics, lounging, and napping. Then, one more trip to the old place for continued cleaning and crap-carting. And in the evening, we bought burritos from the local SF Mission transplant and took in a movie - Over the Hedge. It was delightful and appropriately suited to our exhaustion.

All-in-all a rediculously productive and exhausting weekend. But I woke up more rested than usual today because I got to sleep in 30-minutes longer than usual this morning. Yay.

In three weeks, I get to do it all over again when I move my crap from Berkeley to San Mateo. Joy.

I'm Lost, but to a lesser degree than before

The season finale of Lost - very enticing. They made reveal after reveal after reveal and have me on the edge of my seet for September. What will I do with myself until then? All I have is my radio stories.

Bloggy DinDin

Sophist is comin to din-din. Guess what we'll be having:

- Spicey Thai noodles with sweet peanut chili sauce and papaya salad

- Potato leek soup and grilled tuna sandwiches with a side of sliced apples

- Broccoli and tofu stir-fry over a bed of rice and left-over Easter candy

- Stuffed french toast topped with fresh diced peaches and whipped cream with steamy mugs of hot chocolate

Winner gets ...... nothing.

Sweet Revenge, Sortof

Home Sweet Home

Undoubtedly, you've been waiting on the edge of your seats to see pics of our new apartment. Well, wait no longer. Here they are ....

Cute! Check out the living room. The fireplace actually works and there are hardwood floors under those custom-cut area rugs.








The bathroom includes some pretty crazy-pink-and-blue tile. And the kitchen is an independent room, as opposed to my current kitchenette. And look! A dishwasher! Wee!

Stop All Your Happiness!

People. You're exhausting me with your weddings. I have 4 lined up for this summer ALREADY and all of them are out-o'-town. I mean, love is good and all - and I'm definitely one for a rockin' time with Uncle Joe and the Cuz. But I'm starting to have trouble with the vacation time.

But seriously, it's not YOU. It's my WORK. Who came up with the idea of only 3 weeks of vacation per year. We should start taking a lesson from the French.

The Real Deal

In reaction to Grrbear's most recent post, I spent several minutes thinking about MY favorite pizza joint, Zachary's. Like Uno and Due in Chicago, Zachary's has 2 outlets - one in Berkeley and one in Oakland - both of which have been in crazy business for years and years. They serve THE YUMMIEST PIZZA west of the Mississippi. No chain store comes close. I think even Grrbear would agree with the limited nature of the menu.

Vegas, Baby

So I took my first trip to Vegas over the weekend and, I have to say, I had a much better time than expected. The highlight of the trip was seeing the Blue Man Group at the Venitian. In a word, it was bizarre. Bizarre in a very very good way. I recommend checking them out, yo.

I would say more about the trip except that I'm nursing a head cold and a very burnt belly (much time spent at the Cesar's Palace pool). More to come once I'm on the mend....

New TV Love

It's always interesting to see what happens to one's readership after a blogging hiatus. I have an N of 2 when it comes to dedicted readers. Rock on, TOWWAS and Spice! ...perhaps others are reading but not commenting. Highly possible.

Anyhoo, onto my newly discovered (as of last night) TV love: Texas Ranch House, PBS's latest reality series. The title pretty much explains it but to flesh it out, the series involves a ranch owner family trying to establish a profitable ranch in the mid-1800s. They have 8-or-so cowboys responsible for rounding up cattle with the ultimate goal of selling them to the US Army. ...and they do. The army guys were in full-on authentic outfits and I'm guessing they found actors at the local Civil War reinactment events.

This particular reality show had what seemed like FAR MORE DRAMA than 1900 House and Frontier House. The very last episode involved the ranch owner demanding that one of the cowboys leave the ranch 2 days before the series ended. Having made a pact (all-for-one-and-one-for-all sort of dealy), all 8 cowboys abandoned the show within hours of hearing the news. The warring sides didn't even gather for a follow-up show. Sheesh. Bad blood, dudes. Anyhoo, it turns out that the dorky PBS-watching ranch evaluators gave the ranch owners a pretty bad rating for creating animosity between the ranch hands (cowboys) and owners.

I did't like the owners for several reasons. Here are a few: (1) they didn't wash dishes for days after a community gathering and increased the fly problem, which was already bad due to placement of the manure pile near their front door; (2) their depressing neglect of the vegetable garden, which was planted for them before arrival and should have provided a wonderful source of sustenance and income; and (3) the ranch owner's refusal to buy one of his cowboys when he was captured by a local Indian tribe ... though he bought his horses without a second thought.

I seriously want to be a part of one of these PBS reality series. Seriously.

Project Apartment, update style

So good news. Jiggity and I were accepted as tenants, having exposed every morsel of our credit and rental history. The lease was, like, 4 pages long 7-pt. type. Sheezus. But it's over and now I get to fully enjoy my first ever trip to Las Vegas, which starts at 6:45pm tomorrow and ends 6pm on Sunday.

Movin' Right Along

I can't believe it, but I think I'm moving again. No wait, I KNOW I'm moving again. I'm just in shock.

Each time I go through the process of trying to rent an apartment (4 times total), I am reminded of the horrific craziness of the rental market in the San Francisco area. I'm about to hit the end of a 1.5-day process of: see the apartment, decide we like the apartment, and expose all information about credit and rental history in order to rent the apartment. Is there time to really ponder the situation? Hells no! In this market, you have to pounce when the pouncing is good.

I have to say, though, I react to apartment hunting now much as I did in the autumn of 1997, when Spice and I were essentially living out of her Toyota Tercel for weeks whilst going to open house after open house, hoping to be the one amongst the 50 applicants to be accepted as renters. By the 5th showing, we had our routine down - wearing Gap casual clothing and wussy purses and carrying neat folders containing credit reports, reference lists, and bios. It was ... how shall I say ... SHITTASTIC!!! Spice learned to drop the word "Stanford" as much as possible and I learned to wear lipstick. There were tears and anxiety and yelling and Nancy. Remember Nancy, Spice? Eventually we ended up landing a place with a very nice/repsonsive landlord but few ammenities. We called it the Shit Hole. Enough said.

Anyhoo, back to the present and I find myself having a similar physiological response this time around - despite the fact that I'm moving to the peninsula (an easier market for renters) and have a solid credit history and real job. Thank god I'm not trying to do this in San Francisco again. My roomie reported inquiring about a place a day after it was listed on Craigslist only to find that the owner already had 50 applications, half completed onsite with promises of paying $200/month over the asking price. Crap!!!

We're submitting our application today for an adorable 2br/1ba small-but-quaint place. I hope this will be it, but I won't be surprised if it isn't. ESPECIALLY if they contact my last SF landlord who was CRAZY ... like, literally NUTS.