OakMonster’s Den

Nothing brings out the giggles like a free lunch at a fancy schmancy downtown sushi joint.

And some random poetry from elHeffe:

…was a girl named Oakley,
She was so hot they called her Smokely,
And ever did she try,
To sell you pie in the sky,
Disguised as a really expensive table at some awards ceremony for this thing that no one knows about, but Oakley would convince you it was the greatest thing since double-stuffed Oreos.

And Brandon saying to me first thing when I walked in the door:

Baby, can we just order pizza and the potato thing you like and just have a few beers?

Oh, the man knows me!  It’s been that kind of day for both of us.

The potato thing? It’s Pizza Hut’s Quepapas. My totally guilty pleasure and obsession. Essentially, hash brown nuggets stuffed with cheese and jalapeno. I know, it’s sounds gross. And Brandon thinks it was gross. But I tried it , loved it and became totally addicted. As in, I’d eat hash brown nuggets as Carl’s Junior just to get by until we order pizza again. I can’t get it out of my head. I swear to god they put crack in these things.

A surprise gift in the mail.
* Olaina sent me Steve Irwin’s Wildlife Warrior band that was just a wee little bit too big.

A REALLY big plastic bag.
* Not as much fun as a really big box though.

A cake you successfully baked and prepped the night before and frosted at 5:30 a.m.
* Giada rules! And before y’all think I’m crazy, this cake was for my company potluck. I can’t frost it overnight because the hazelnut brittles would’ve melted into the frosting and it won’t be any good.

Jason Chambers, my newest “celebrity” crush.
* Well, he’s not a big time celebrity yet. He’s a host of History Channel’s Human Weapons which we have become addicted to. Brandon may have gotten us watching the show as a martial arts education for both of us, but now it’s become like an occasional soft core baw-chi-ca-baw-wow for me. Heh. (And this delicious picture is borrowed from his website.)

And finally, Reggie escapes AGAIN.
* Well, he did got caught eventually and put back in his new “home”. Has anyone checked to see if he’s not Houdini reincarnated? The t-shirt here borrowed from LosAnJealous.com.

Well, I posted this same thing a few other places already so I’m not going to do it again. But just keeping you guys on the loop here.

August 12 was Thailand’s mother’s day and the Queen’s birthday. From what I know of mom’s conditions, I didn’t call her but I call home and talked to my dad.

“It was right for you to call here,” dad said. “She’s no longer ‘here’ with us.

But your mother’s day card got her in the middle of the week though. I showed it to her and she did look at it. I think she got it.”

Mom apparently mentally checked out when she had blood infection a few days ago. Fever spikes and what not. Jaundice indeed is setting in. Her eyes are yellow and her face is slowly going the same way.

The final prognosis confirms my internet research on liver failure. If it’s the liver alone, we have about a month. But all the complications, infections and other things, we could be anywhere between now and then.

My dad further informs me that he and my brothers, knowing what my stand is on the issue as well, decided on DNR–do not resuscitate–order. If she goes, she goes. No CPR. No “Clear!” No tubes. No putting her on machines to wait for me to get there. None of that.

If she goes, she goes.

And it’s between now and four weeks from now.

It was a miracle I could concentrate at work today. It’ll be more of a struggle as the days go by, but I have so much to accomplish just in case I have to run out the door. At least I’m occupied.

As for now, I want to go to sleep. And boy oh boy do I want that sleep. I want to just get there and stay there until I have to go home.

Like Olaina and Justin went through a few months ago, the death watch has begun for my family.

I have just upgraded to WordPress 2.2 and obviously am still working out all the kinks.

Yes, that was why site disappeared for a few moments today and now the side bar is kind of back but not really.  And apparently my RSS feed seems to work for some people but not everyone.  (That is unrelated and I can’t figure that out yet either.)

I’m just not 1337 enough to fix all the problems.  So I dispatched the calvary.  Actually, if YOU happen to know what I am doing wrong, by all means please throw me the bone.  I’d really appreciate it.

*sigh*

#1

I’m a Doctor Who newbie, having started watching the new version just this season. I didn’t like the guy who played the last Doctor and I really didn’t like Rose. But the new pair of Doctor and Martha Jones, these two are cute together.

Anyways, last night’s episode…NO SPOILER HERE…Martha was introducing the Doctor to everyone as, well, “the Doctor”. Her mom said, “And you’re Doctor….?” And Martha said, “Just the Doctor.”

Light bulb went on in my little brain.

Me: Oh, NOW I get it!

B: What?

Me: “Doctor Who! He’s just ‘the Doctor’. No name. Just ‘the Doctor’. So that’s why it’s Doctor WHO!”

B: Um. Duh?

#2

I asked Brandon if he heard from his parents lately. They live in New Mexico’s mountain town of Red River.

B: Oh yeah, they had these nuns staying with them for a while last week. [Someone dad knew from Amarillo,Texas, his hometown.]

O: Ah. And do they know how to solve a problem like Maria?

He just stared blankly at me.

#3

We went back to Gaffey Street Diner for some more awesome food. Instead of the 710, accidentally took the 110 out of San Pedro, so we got off on PCH and took that home. On this stretch, we did go through the train yard and then the refineries.

B: Wow. This look like an area where Godzilla would strike.

#4

Guillermo Bourne Ultimatum

ETA… #5

Walking out of the theater after The Bourne Ultimatum, heard behind me was this.

“…well, the movie is called Bourne something something. I don’t know.”

“His name WAS Jason Bourne…?”

“Yeah, but the movie name is NOT Jason Bourne. It’s Bourne…something.”

So, you’ve just spent 1 hour and 51 minutes in the movie watching Matt Damon jumping off rooftops, kicking ass and taking names all over the world, and you don’t even know what the name of the movie is?

Wow. Like you should not underestimate Bourne, you should not underestimate the power of the stupid.

First. Folks, Reggie the Alligator made his debut at the LA Zoo.

A little bit of back story for folks who are not familiar. In 2005, Reggie was dumped into a public lake by, of all people who should know better, 2 ex-LAPD officers because he was too big. Reggie popped up in the lake and scared the bejezzus out of people. All sorts of crocodile experts came by to try to catch him, but he eluded them all even the late Steve Irwin. Eventually, earlier this year, he wandered onto land and that was it.

Brandon and I have been rooting for Reggie to keep escaping capture for the longest time. But now that he is a the zoo, I think Brandon wants to visit. Well, us and the entire city who have been following the saga almost as fervently as any televised high speed chase.

And then, there’s the earthquake that shook Mazing Amy the other night. Our greatest minds on shaking earth over in Pasadena releases yet a fantastic news this morning that, well, we all are going to die.

A likely scenario would have a magnitude-7.8 earthquake strike in the Salton Sea, extending north and west toward Palmdale. Jones predicted the shaking could last more than 100 seconds, kill thousands, destroy homes, collapse the I-10 and I-15 freeways, ignite petroleum pipelines and leave untold thousands homeless in potentially searing desert heat. The long-term effects, she said, could be akin to the economic collapse of New Orleans and the Gulf region following Hurricane Katrina.

[insert YEEEEEY here]

Hi. I’m alive. Sorry for disappearing.

The social calendar has become a nuclear fusion. Folks start to pop in to say “Hi, how are ya? Let’s have lunch/dinner/go shopping/go to the movie!” from all directions.

Dios mio! I don’t even have time to do laundry! I mean, I have been wearing skirts 2 days in a row and that is starting to scare people in the office. LOL. Pretty much, I have 2 pairs of standard pants that I’d wear, the gray one and the black with pin stripes. Occasionally, I’ll go with skirts. So, when I run out of pants, like I am right now, (my back up brown pants are dry-clean only, and it is at the cleaner…poor planning on my part) I have to dive deep for some skirts and dresses I don’t usually wear.

Celeste said that I should stop doing laundry more often because it forces me to dress all girly. To that, Brandon said Celeste is not going to be invited to our barbecues. Hahah!

My problem with dressing girlies is NOT the skirts or the dresses. It’s the shoes.

I have never been comfortable with heels to start with. Chunky heels are fine, but stilletos, for-fucking-get it. And of course, now that my right ankle has issues with heels, I avoid wearing “real shoes”, as the girls call it, like the plague.

Even though I am no fashionista, but I try to do right by the book. If I am going to dress pretty, my shoes have to go along with that. So, yeah. I dress based on my shoes. And I prefer my tennies which usually well coordinated with my outfit.

So, there you go. Now you know my dilemma. But anyways. That’s a VERY long digression.

Last night was a work thing. All I have to say is that Poetics of the Handmade at MOCA rocks my socks off especially this piece in this room. I had a meeting then dim sum lunch with the ladies from another non-profit (Thanks, Deb and Lisa!) then another meeting but I was spared the last meeting as it was moved to Friday. My day suddenly looked like one of Rude Cactus’!

Tomorrow I’m having lunch with elHeffe and dinner with my girls. Friday night, we’re off to see Stardust with Brandon’s high school friend Rachel. And this weekend is starting to look a little full.

All in all, I’m moving everything forward and trying not to think too much about a piece of news I got from my brother a few nights ago.

“Mom’s eyes have gotten a bit yellow. They’re running some blood test now,” he said.

It seems jaundice may be settling in. Then again, I watched wayyy too much House.

“The aunties are all in a panic over here. I don’t think it’s anything just yet.”

Well, shit, dude. I’m panicking over here too! I did some research and if mom’s liver is actually failing, depending on the rate of failure, we have between one week to one month. But then again, my brothers and my dad have a very positive view of things. Until the doctors say so, there is nothing to worry about. After all, they gave mom less than a year the last time, and here she goes on over a year now.

“Don’t stress about it. When it’s time, it’s time.”

Yep. When it’s time, it’s time. It doesn’t me I can stop worrying about it.

So, I am kind of keeping my head above water. The best I can anyway.

Thailand’s Royal Po-pos have GOT to find something else better to do with their time than this!

Turning pink with shame

A pink ”Hello Kitty” armband wrapped around a khaki-clad arm is shouting for attention at the police Crime Suppression Division. It is a new disciplinary measure introduced especially for police investigators who refuse to play by the rules.

Oh, and right above it on the webpage, the headline reads like this:

193 killed, 1,056 wounded in 5 months in troubled South

I mean, seriously. What the fuck!?!?

While the South is going to hell in a radical Muslim hand basket, the Royal Police is fucking around with slapping Hello Kitty armbands on “undisciplined” cops?

Amazing Thailand, indeed.

ETA: Here is a clip of the front page of this edition. I wish I have a better image, but pretty much that whole fatality stats from the South is not even on the front page. Yet, the pink armband takes most of the space.

First of all, I have forgotten to mention that my friends James and Aurora are pregnant! Yey! They told us over dinner last Friday. It’s a gigantic news!

And then yesterday, I went to lunch with Terence and Angela in Belmont Shore. We haven’t sat down and chat for a while, especially with Angela. It worked out that I could see them both at the same time.

We went to Le Creperie…oh my gosh is that place divine! I had dessert for lunch. LOL. I mean, who could resist Nutella, banana, strawberry AND Bailey’s crepe! I also got to try their famous garlic fries, and a bite of cabonara crepe and turkey and brie panini. Holy hell, I NEED to get back there!

Terence handed me a card. It was a “Hang in there” card signed by all of my former colleagues at that old PR firm from hell.

I almost cried.

It has been over 2 years since I left that place and my boys still think of me. I couldn’t be more grateful for their friendship!

I have been fortunate enough to have worked with fantastic groups of people in all of my past jobs. And I am still friends with many of them.

When we went out drinking with my current coworkers the other night, one of our new friends from the Big Bank Across the Street commented, “Wow. You guys really like each other, huh?”

“Yes, we do!” I replied. “We’re like family over here! And under usual circumstances, our CEO would be here too.”

And we ARE like family. I mean, in the office 30 something people, everybody likes everybody! Someone got seriously ill and homebound, like Celeste a while back, we scrambled to send flowers. HR would gladly work with you if you need to work out the time off for personal stuff as I have already discussed with them the possibility of heading home for my mom.  And of course, because we like each other, we would happily hang out outside of work, something that many people wouldn’t…or didn’t want to…do

Apparently, this is a phenomenon. Bigger companies don’t have the luxury to form this kind of camaraderie, and even they do, the group doesn’t seem to mesh well like we do.

When I was at USC, our office was all-girl and it was like going to work for a bunch of your older sisters or aunties. Girl bonds are strong, my friends!
During HSX glory days, the office had grown to 100 people and that would be the biggest company I’ve worked for. Not everyone got along at that size, but a group of us became great friends even after the place imploded at the end of the era.

The PR Firm from Hell was surely a horrible to work for, but my colleagues are like my brothers. Because we all have been traumatized by this place together, that makes our bonds stronger than anything else. I still try to have lunch with my boys here when I have a chance.

And here it is, the testament of our strong friendship in a card signed by my boys.

I couldn’t stop smiling for the rest of the day.

On my way back from lunch, I stopped and got me iced tea and boba from Cha For Tea. Perfect for a crazy hot day. After that, Brandon and I went to Ikea and then to Cost Plus [Insert Squeal of Delight here] where we walked out with more than we came for.

It was yet another perfect Saturday. From start to finish.

But wait, there’s more.

The cherry on top of yesterday was another piece of news from another two of my friends who have been friends with me and each other for a long time. They called to let me know that they have finally become more than friends.

I thought I couldn’t possibly be more joyous in one single day, and boy was I wrong!!!

Suddenly, I’m all over the place! That is why I haven’t really written much.

Tuesday night, I led my fearless coworkers out to an early night of drinking at the Library Bar. It was so GOOD to be home! (Well, we WERE going to the tres chic Edison but they were closed for private party.)

In addition to our crew, we made some new friends from that Big Bank Across the Street. The gentlemen came to our event last month and a few contact emails later, they were inviting us out to drinks and vice versa. And voila! Instant new friends and drinking buddies!

See? I like this better than going to a networking event somewhere and pretend to make new friends.

And then my friend Amber is in town from Colorado. Nora drove her up to Costa Mesa and I went down to meet them for dinner last night. We drove around, looking for a place to eat and ended up at this hole in the wall joint called Taco & Co. in the strip mall across the street from Maggiano’s. And oh my god was their food GOOD! (I’ll write more over at the food blog.)

After dinner, Amber mentioned that a friend of hers from the Bay Area is also in town, staying in Commerce. The next thing I knew, our little caravan headed to O’Malley’s in Seal Beach where her friend later joined us. I would’ve stayed late and be exhausted at work for Amber but I had to cut the evening short because I really didn’t want to punch out her friend.

Some people have the social skills to make a few jokes about football rivalry and have a quick lively banter and then move on to better things. Some people don’t have that filter. Needless to say, after the 6th or so times of “USC football players can’t even read”–and by the way, we changed the subject from football to something else after about the 3rd time he brought up with the same point–I downed the last 1/3 of my beer in one giant gulp and said goodnight to Amber.  Like I said, if his records kept skipping and repeating like that, I may have to hit him to get it to stop.  Don’t really want to embrace that much violence with my state of mind these days.  I could get seriously ugly.
Oh, my Gridiron Goddess would have throw gazillion stats in this guy’s face. But seriously, your team lost to us for the past 10 years. And the best you can come up with is “USC players can’t read” and “USC buys everything” and repeat that 6+ times? They may not be able to read but they can kick yer ass. And yes, it’s true. Money can buy everything.

Anyways. So there’s that. And then Saturday I am meeting my friends Terence and Angela for lunch.

Next Tuesday, my company has yet another official function. I didn’t have to work hard on that one. Just taking some pictures and help setting up. Booze and art exhibit are involved so I’m all there. And then Wednesday after that is our company potluck.

After a few weeks of quiet, suddenly I’m everywhere. It’s crazy!