Someone in the office asked me what I want to be when I grow up.

“Millionaire rock star philanthropist,” I said.

He paused.

“So you want to be Bono?”

“Not with that much talent or the coolness. But, yes.”

He nodded and walked away.

It’s pretty interesting to see how people react to that question and answer. I have heard people get totally stumped when asked the question, and then people who has the simplest answer. Like, “Rich” or “Famous”.

Most people look at me funny when I told them about my ultimate goal.

Does anybody actually have a goal to be a philanthropist? Perhaps I am the only one?

I wasn’t always my goal, of course. I wanted to be a doctor, journalist, tennis champion and astronaut. Yes, ALL at the same time. I wanted to be an interior designer. A graphic artist. An advertising account executive. A movie producer. A web designer. Hell, I even wanted to be a wedding planner at some point.

The philanthropist thing doesn’t really come to full bloom until a few years ago when I realize the most joy I get outside of music and cooking/eating is helping people.

I love helping people. I love raising money. I do enjoy a few luxury in life that comes with having money on hand, but never dream of not being able to give away any.

I mean, the $3000 purse? I could just buy one for $40 and give $2960 away somewhere and I still have a purse that will hold my possession. $200 jeans? Well, okay, my ass would probably look fantastic in a pair of those, and I would probably own one when I can. But then again, I can squeeze into a pair of Levi’s for $30 and still look cute in them.

Is it a disorder that I can’t see myself being rich and not giving any away?

I think that is why people look at me funny. I want to have a lot of money so I can give a lot of it away. That shouldn’t make sense to most people.

It makes perfect sense to me.

When I die, I can’t take any of that with me. Why should I horde it when my money can go on and save lives, make people happy, and change the world?

How am I going to get to be the millionaire rock star philanthropist? I don’t really know just yet.

Well, unlike Bono, I don’t really have the talent. I can hold a tune and play a couple of ditties on piano and guitar, and I think I have the right rock star moves. But seriously, I don’t think this “good enough” is going to get me anywhere near rock stardom in the U.S. I might, however, be able to take a crack at it in Thailand as some niche pop-rock star, a one-hit wonder that makes banks and banks and then disappear. That would give me a good start on my millionaire goal. But that’s unlikely too.

So, I will have to “grow up” in reverse.

The philanthropist part, I sort of have been practicing that with all that I can afford. The easier next step for me is not becoming a rock star, but to be the millionaire. THEN I can peddle my album to the brown nosers who want my money. Or organize a big ass concert featuring the real artists and pop in on stage to rock with them for a song or two. Or put out charity albums with folks like Band from TV.

Good plan? I think so.

In the meantime, I am just happy being a thousandaire (actually, I can’t even say that since I have negative net worth…) living room rock star, karaoke queen, fundraiser lady.

Baby steps.

P.S. Speaking of which, the Lesser Weevils are back for AIDS Walk Long Beach 2008!  I’m recruiting team members as well as raising funds.  Come on down to the blog and help me out!

I drove in to work this morning.  Conveniently, an impromptu happy hour formed around Erin.

You see, Erin helped Dave with this big ol’ project.  So he wanted to pay her back in alcohol for her good work.  We jumped on that bandwagon and ended up at the Spring Street Smoke House.  There we met up with Erin’s roommate and his friend…who are probably going to be reading this later on.  So, hi guys!

We were bitching about work. We were talking about cats. We were talking about crazy friends.  And the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch.  We were talking about grease on your hands.  Taking naps.  Telling embarrassing stories about each other.  And many other inappropriatenesses.Over a face full of pulled pork sandwich and with a pint of Angel City Abbey ale, I realized, “Oh my god.  I haven’t had this much fun in a long time.”

Seriously.  I laughed my ass off.  I had really good food.  I enjoyed my company thoroughly.  The only downside is that I AM the driver.  Haha.

Afterward, I went to drop off Erin at her place and got to meet her and her roommate’s cats Munkin and Wurm.  And a yard that Athena would’ve been happy in if they didn’t have issues with neighborhood dog.

Dammit.  I miss that cat.

Overall, it’s been a great evening…made me forget today at the office.  Even if it was a blur of a day, it was still a hell of a day.

Live to fight another day tomorrow.  To all, a good night.

Art should happen everywhere. I couldn’t agree more.

[Ari] Kletzky’s aim is as multilayered and unconventional as the city it embroiders, drawing attention to islands of every shape, size and intention. “The signs are a way to start a conversation and an education,” says Kletzky, whose project is still in the exploratory stages. “They are a gesture. An appetizer that inspires an appetite. I’m looking to generate discussion to explore use of public space by turning islands into a work of art.” - LA Times

I wish I could show you the picture, but it’s really hard to try to take a picture of the side of your own head where gray hair has began its invasion.  After a few close brushes of permanently twisting my body in a improbable angle; and falling off the vanity and breaking my neck, y’all would just have to use your own imagination on this one.

Besides, the gray army is a little camera shy.  It’s tricky to capture a few silver strands among a sea of shiny black, I tell ya.

I have about 3-5 strands of silver hair on each side of my temples.  If I pull my hair back, you can see them.

It used to be in the back and underneath. Then they started to come up on top. And now they’re on to the sides of my head.

Earlier, I would pull some out. Okay, sure, EVERYBODY told me to stop doing that because 5/7/9/[insert your number here] its friends will come to the funeral. But seriously, folks. Grays are in my genes. Pulling it or not is not going to matter.

After a while, I resorted to just pull the ones that sticking straight up or straight out because it’s just way out of control. Or if I happened to spot one in the en of my pigtails. Otherwise, I don’t pull any more.

What’s the point of fighting genetics, really.

My dad has gone gray very early. I actually don’t remember him with black hair. Both of my brothers started finding their grays in their teens. One of them started losing his very early too and the other one, only two years older than me, is going salt-and-pepper.

I actually am looking forward to have more white/gray hair so I can do crazy color highlights without actually having to bleach my hair first.

No, seriously. I do. I know that when men go gray, they look distinguished. Women go gray, we’re just old hags. But hey, this is a genetic traits in my family. Something I got from the good ol’ daddy-o. I’m going to be proud of it.

Like Greg M. said the other day, my hair may be going gray, but at least I still have it on my head.

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Originally uploaded by Oakmonster(TM).

I took a wine appreciation class at the Wine Country in Signal Hill last night. I was going to drive myself there but Brandon insisted that he drop me off and pick me up after.

And I was glad he did!

16 different wine to taste in the lesson, kids. And I actually held my own quite well for 15 of them.

It ended with a port. Delicious, lovely ruby port. Nectar of the gods.

That was tipped me over.

Just what I needed got get over hump day.

Athena has stirred up a lot of emotions for a lot of folks.

The neighbor downstairs apparently gathered a petition to send to the landlady to get Athena back after hearing that she was released to CSULB campus. She said she has almost 80 people on the petition. (But, shouldn’t the petition came from the people who actually live in the complex?)

Another lady who spotted Athena’s listing on Craiglist warned me about a local guy who’d go around “adopting” cats to torture them. Then she continued to help Athena find a home. If I can go get Athena from the campus, the lady and her friend would keep her overnight and take her to a shelter they volunteer at.

Pat O. at the office believes that if Athena loves us enough, and the campus is about 3 miles away, this weekend we might just see her on our doorstep. If that is the case, we can actually get her to a proper shelter.

I have been doing mad research to see campus policy on stray cats. I found an article a few years back that looks promising.

Trappings of the campus cats are conducted weekly during the spring and summer months, and monthly during the fall and winter months.

Trapped cats are taken to a licensed veterinarian, who provides a general physical examination, performs spaying/neutering and provides all vaccines and deworming.

Cats who are gentle (and were previous house or dorm pets) are kept and adopted out…

This article may be old, but that there makes me feel a LOT better about her situation. I am hoping to confirm this fact with someone at CSULB though.

*

With all of the madness going on, I still have time to enjoy myself a bit.

I baked like a mad pastry chef on Monday night to prepare for yesterday’s potluck. The theme was “Spring Buzz” with tinge of leftover Cinco de Mayo as the featured entree I had catered are fajitas. Nonetheless, I stuck with the theme and made lemon cupcakes with blackberry bumble bees on top. See?

And last night, Brandon took me to sushi and sake. Well, he had teriyaki chicken and green tea. *I* had the sushi and sake.

A big. Honking. Glass. Of REALLY good cold sake. (Mu is the brand. Thanks Brenda for introducing me to that.) That was soooo needed!

Nice and buzzed, we then went to browse video games, then booze at BevMo, and then we topped off the evening with frozen yogurt and 2 more hours of television.

I may not have a community cat to play with, but through Athena, Brandon and I seem to have found each other again.

I LOVE Ren Faire.

Much fun and debauchery on Saturday. I mean, how can you not have debauchery when Greg M. is involved! We drank even before we left the house…you know where this is going, right?

I’ll put up the SLIDE show here later, but in the meantime, check out my Ren Faire flickr set.

I had 2.5 cups of mead. Would’ve been three but I didn’t drink the last one fast enough before we had to exit the Faire. Everyone else in our group other than Brandon surely had a LOT more than me.

Oh and we went to dinner in Seal Beach in our costumes (minus my headpiece because it hurt my head). Brandon protested a bit at first, but Greg and I were very persuasive. LOL.

Sunday, I ditched Nora (sorry girl!) and didn’t go to Patchwork arts fair as planned. I was beat. All the drinking and the axe throwing and arrow shooting and the heat and the sun didn’t allow me to want to do much else.

Other than going to see Iron Man.

I LOVE Iron Man. It was AWESOME! First 2008 movie I love so far. I am looking forward to Indiana Jones, The Dark Knight, and Hellboy this summer. Oh, and the Happening too.

And in sadness.

I still got to play with Athena this morning. Possibly the last. The girls are supposed to take her to the shelter by the time I get home tonight. No taker for our little girl. We really hope someone adopts her.

ETA: It breaks my heart that the girls had to dump Athena at Cal State Long Beach.  Apparently they have an effort to feed the feral  and the stray cats outside of their campus newspapers.  At least she will be fed.  Hopefully someone would try to make contact with our girl and at least she would have a few human playmates.  I hope.  I wish.  I pray.

It was good while it lasted.

ETA #2: The girls couldn’t place Athena in a shelter so they dumped her at Cal State Long Beach.  Apparently there is a ground where people feed all the strays and feral cats.

Thanks everyone for the help to try to place Athena in a good home even from the shelter.

ETA: The manager came back on Saturday afternoon, and once again lost her shit about the cat. The girls had to take Athena to a shelter straight away.

We have all SUNDAY to get her to a home. The girls are going to take her to a shelter on Monday.

However, I have her shelter information if you STILL want to adopt this little girl. Email me.

**

Athena wandered in to our apartment complex over a month ago. I didn’t start writing about her until the end of March. Slowly but surely, she stole everyone’s heart. She is an outdoor cat as far as we know, claws and all, but she has a very good potential to adapt to being inside.

I mean, she stays put in the courtyard and never really wander too far off during the day. You can always find her napping on the wicker chairs, or under one of the bushes in the courtyard. As to her potty-training, we have spotted her going to the bathroom only on the dirt patches and not on the grass. I don’t know if that means anything though. Hahah!

Athena may be an outdoor kitty, and a little skittish around sudden movement still. But she is all LOVE. And fur. Once she’s used to you, you cannot possibly get her off your lap. Or your bag. Like our “perhaps this is the last time” goodbye this morning.

Athena in pictures and 2 video clips

Athena in my own words

Seriously. Help me find a home for this little girl. Pretty please!

I KNEW it was too good to be true when Athena started to hang out with us, when she comes running to me when she hears the jangles of the keys, when she sits purring on our floor begging us to rub her belly and every elsewhere on her fluffy black coat with a twinge of orange tabby pattern.

I don’t think it wouldn’t have been a big deal if the manager lady found Athena napping on the wicker chair, but the food and water bowls set the woman off.

According to the girls, the lady lost her shit and threatened eviction if the girls don’t get rid of the cat in 24 hours, traumatized the hell out of one of the housemates.  Mind you, the cat is not even inside the house.

At the prospect of sending her to a local shelter, we have a mental picture of this roaming garden kitty sitting miserable in a pen, possibly waiting to be put down.  We panicked.

I contacted my fellow cat lovers and did a quick research, and managed to find the girls some contact info for cat rescues and no-kill shelters in the area.   But I am hoping to find someone who would want to take her home right away.  (Anyone?  Anyone?)

Before I left to go to dinner tonight, I stopped over at the fence.  Athena came trotting over, meowing.  Not a second after she “marked” me, she was purring.  I damn near cried.  I rubbed her all over and even hugged her goodbye.

Just in case tomorrow never comes.

Only if we have our own backyard to keep her.  The timing is soooo off for this clandestine meeting.  She is perfect.  Well, a little nutty but understandable for a cat who has been outside on her own.  But we love her for that too.

I already miss the damned cat.  She’s not even mine, really.  I think Brandon is dealing with this loss in his own way too.

I hope that I get to see her one last time before she leaves permanently.

Bits and snippets vverheard on the streets of Downtown Los Angeles, where the immigration march tomorrow is going to vastly affect everyone’s commute home.

A: Why do they have to pick the rush hour to have an assembly? This is so inconvenient.

B: Um, isn’t that the point of a protest?

A: Yes. But what about MY rights to go home on time? MY rights to not be stuck in traffic? MY rights not to have to take the day off so I don’t get stuck in all of this mess?

You know how we can disperse the crowd really quickly tomorrow? Put up immigration check points along the route with transport buses at the ready.

C: Why don’t we just declare May 1st a holiday every year then, so we don’t have to be stuck in this mess all the time?

D: Because they would just pick another non-holiday day to march.  Like May 2nd.

C: Oh.  Well, they should just march on the weekends when there’s nobody here.

Why don’t we do this? On May 1st, we all head down to Mexico City and block THEIR traffic during rush hour.

Our usual bus route is going to be affected and therefore the bus buddies have been plotting a way to work and home since Friday. We saw the “alternate route” plan on the bus today, and we all had to laugh.

The “alternate route” not only explain how they’d get from the depot, passed City Hall and into my side of town. You know, the City Hall, where the assembly of 100,000 strong is supposed to gather?

The only change on the route is to alter a right turn 2 blocks earlier than the usual route, which still leads into the tail end of the assembly.

OCTA don’t seem to do their research.  That is just sooo Orange County.

But anyways. As for me, as a LEGAL immigrant who paid my way to be here legally–and no, I’m NOT getting into that again–I am working from home tomorrow.

I couldn’t take the bus if I want to get home before, oh I don’t know, 8 p.m.  And driving in is certainly going to be a mess.  Thank god I have a project that is needed to be done but I couldn’t get my focus on.  And then I also volunteer to use the high focus time to attack another project as well.  My boss is kind enough to let me work from home.

I have been having a horrible case of ADD in the office.  It’s not completely self induced but the environmental wasn’t helpful to me keeping my focus either.  So much is going on and so many people are asking for so many things.  Way too hectic (and sometimes just too much damn drama) to concentrate sometimes.

It’s funny that I need to be a home to actually find peace to work.  I am super excited about it.  Can hardly wait to get this project out of my hair!