Archive for March, 2008

Kitteh in mah hawz

Meet Athena. AKA the community cat I have been calling “Parker”.

DSC_0013

I came downstairs to find one of the girls in the rental house holding the cat. Yes, the girls have adopted the cat and named her Athena. Since they couldn’t have her in the house, she has become the outdoor kitty. And yes, we can all feel free to hang with Athena.

Y’all, I have a semi-permanent borrow kitten that I get to play with when I come home everyday. It’s a wonderful feeling to have a purring fluffy being who gives you unconditional affection.

Well, actually, there is no such thing as unconditional love from a cat. She KNOWS when she owns YOU. She’ll give you that extra love you seek because she KNOWS at some point you’re going to feed her. And when she’s not hungry or not in the mood, good luck getting that love. Oh yes, I have walked by expecting some lovin’ before and she kind of looked at me and went back to cleaning herself. No, you are not as important today. Keep on walking, human.

That is why I love cats. :)

Oh, while we’re talking about cats, here is my second installment of original lol cats.

funny pictures

Happy Sunday Morning to ya!

Not a day off

No TGIF for me after all, my friends.

Welcome to one of the longest day of my life so far this year.

8:00 a.m. - Woke up and had some cuddle time with Brandon. That was nice. Until…

8:40 a.m. - Startled awake. OMFG!!! I managed to the turn off the alarm. Must leave the house in 10 minutes to make my 9 a.m. doctor’s appointment.

9:04 a.m. - Walk into the doctor’s office. Annual physical exam went well. Will find out about the blood works later.

9:30 a.m. - Grabbed a tuna sandwich and blueberry smoothie from Fresh & Easy for breakfast. Headed over to the Toyota dealership.

10:00 a.m. - About a mile from the dealership, the Check Engine light turned itself off. WTF!?

10:30 a.m. - With Merlin in good hands and my belly full of food, I walked around the corner to the optometrist appointment.

11:00 a.m. - Eye exam and contact lenses adjustments. We talked about the possibility for LASIK for me. It’s a toss up, really. On one hand, my sight has steadied in the past few years, a good candidate for laser correction. On the other hand, my eyes are so dry that the LASIK might trigger the worst. It was suggested that I check with my Trojan Ophthalmologist next. (Note to self: must make appointment.)

12:00 p.m. - Met up with Terence, former coworker, for lunch, catercorner from the dealership.

1:15 p.m. - Settled into the spa pedicure chair at my favorite nail place, across the street from the dealership.

1:45 p.m. - Wandered through Marshall’s and Ross in search of a new purse. Got a few potentials but did not fall in love with any. *sigh*

2:30 p.m. - Ended up at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. Sipped tea and read while waiting.

3:30 p.m. - Arrived back at the dealership. They told me gazillion things were wrong with the car, but most importantly 2 things. One of which was an utter rip off, by the way. After a conversation with Brandon’s brother-in-law the Toyota chief mechanic, we just went with the major purchase that is Check Engine light related. You see, they cited transmission fluid being old and needed replacing. About a month ago, Brandon changed my oil and accidentally drained the transmission fluid so replaced that. Suddenly, I completely lost 100% faith in that dealership. I used to trust them so much. Then again, they’re under new management. That may just be why.

4:00 p.m. - Stopped back at the old office to transfer used books out of Terence’s car. Operation Paperback is in full swing for me, as it is one of my “to do” list since the Awakening.

4:30 p.m. - Found myself at Fresh & Easy again to pick up groceries for dinner. I was making the garlic Dijon crusted pork roast with roasted veggies.

5:00 p.m. - Arrived home and started working on packing up the books and other things.

6:00 p.m. - Then we realized we had to go get our taxes signed off.

6:30 p.m. - Stopped at Pound 4 Pound and dropped off dinner for Shane.

7:00 p.m. - Signed tax paperwork. Headed home.

7:30 p.m. - I started in on dinner prep work. Brandon started the laundry and continued for all 3 loads. Meanwhile, I got to sit down and enjoyed Eli Stone.

9:00 p.m. - Dinner was served.

10:00 p.m. - I put the laundry away. Brandon did the dishes. I packed the boxes of books. Brandon enjoyed his game…

12:30 a.m. - …until his brand new computer acted up. Brandon went to bed. I’m practically falling asleep typing right now. So, good night to you.

Tomorrow? I have to wake up early again to take the boxes to the post office before the crew lands at 10 a.m. to go shooting.

Oh gosh. I’m so frickin’ tired I can’t even swear properly…

TGI Thursday

Thursdays are now designated “Guys Night” by Brandon and his buddies. That doesn’t mean they would all go out and do anything crazy. Just dinner and a few beers. Perhaps they may just order pizza and watch a movie or something like that.

Something that seem to be too much for the girls. We only have once a month dinner date and we can barely keep it. Haha. I’m sure that would launch a thousand conversations on men v.s. women thing.

I *do* have a bunch of people who would want to go out and grab a beer or two with me much on a daily basis…at the office. Unfortunately for me, as much as I want to stay, I just can’t do an impromptu session. While my peeps can head out any day of the week without having to think about it too much, I have to catch my bus. Nobody lives my way any more so the “Hey, let’s go drinking RIGHT NOW!” is out for me.

But on the flip side, I get to have a me time. As in, I am not cooking or doing anything household related. Just what I want to accomplish or to do for fun.

It’s a good trade off.

I plan on making my Thursday night “work on Olaina’s website” night.  Once that’s done, I have plenty more projects to keep me happily busy.

But tonight, this arrangement works out beautifully for me as I can work on my stuff late into the night if I want to.

I have a day off tomorrow. Before you get all jealous, you should know that I take the day off for all sorts of health appointments. First is my physical. Then my optometrist. And since my 1996 Corolla decided to put on his little Check Engine light last week, I have to take Merlin to the “doctor” as well.

Conveniently, the Toyota dealership is in my old neighborhood and a few steps from the optometrist which is also a few more steps away from my nail place, In-N-Out, Marshall’s, and Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.

All I need to have with me is my wallet and a book, that’s it.

Oh, and somewhere in there I have to get my boxes of books to the post office to get sent off to troops around the world, an Operation Paperback effort. :)

A quote from LA Yoga that Olaina clipped out for me says:

“The more we do things we love, we are creating more joy and peace into our lives.”

Oh yes. I am LOADED with projects, y’all. And I couldn’t be happier.

Be Happy

I clipped this cartoon out of the back of Real Simple magazine years ago by Monica Sheehan called “Be Happy”. (Now available as a book, among a few other of her books.) I had it framed back then and it was essentially buried deep into the pit of my den. Upon the recent discovery of the piece, I made copy and framed it for Olaina.

The frame is now sitting on my new desk; its twin sister on Olaina’s dresser and occasionally follows her around as she works. Since I am in support of Ms. Sheehan’s good work, I’m not going to reprint that piece here. But I am going to do my own interpretation: her words, my pictures. I hope this inspires you as much as it has for me.

ETA: OMGBBQ! The REAL Monica shows up here to leave a comment! I am truly honored. And thrilled!  It’s always an honor to have the people you speak of shows up to comment like last time.

(Yes, click on this little arrow here. I finally figured out that “jump” thing!)

Read more »

Music Mantra

Happy Easter, everybody!

Olaina has blogged about her Easter, the more religious side.  To me, this year’s Easter marks a new beginning of another chapter of my life.  I have finally snapped awaken from a hazey sleepwalk of the past 6 months.  I have finally had a break through in my personal life.  And yes, I have a new computer to go with my new computer desk.

I’m alive again.

And here are some of the songs that inspires and gives you hope and strength.  Share yours in the comment if you’d like to de-lurk a bit.  :)

Good Day - Jewel

As long as we laugh out loud
Laugh like we’re mad
Cause this crazy, mixed up beauty is all that we have
Because what’s love but an itch we can’t scratch, a joke we can’t catch
God, but still we laugh

It’s gonna be all right, no matter what they say
It’s gonna be a good day, just wait and see
It’s gonna be alright, cause I’m alright with me
It’s gonna be okay

Not Ready To Make Nice - Dixie Chicks

Forgive sounds good
Forget, I don’t know I could
They say time heals everything
I’m still waiting…

…I know you said
Can’t you just get over it
It turned my whole world around
And I kind of like it

Falling Slowly - Glen Handsard & Marketa Irglova

Take this sinking boat and point it home
We’ve still got time
Raise your hopeful voice you had a choice
You’ve made it now
Falling slowly sing your melody
I’ll sing along

Hey Jude - The Beatles

…So let it out and let it in, hey, Jude, begin
You’re waiting for someone to perform with
And don’t you know that it’s just you, hey, Jude,
You’ll do, the movement you need is on your shoulder

Hey, Jude, don’t make it bad
Take a sad song and make it better
Remember to let her into your heart
Then you can start to make it better

Landslide - Fleetwood Mac

Mirror in the sky, what is love?
Can a child within my heart rise above?
Can I sail through the changing ocean tide?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?

I’ve been afraid of changes
‘Cause I’ve built my life around you
Time makes you bolder, even children get older
I’m getting older too

Leaving Las Vegas - Sheryl Crow

I’m sitting in the middle of the desert
Waiting for my ship to come in
But now, no Joker, no Jack, no King
Can take this loser hand and make it win
I’m leaving Las Vegas…

…There’s a muddled line between the things you want
And the things you have to do…

Stuck in a Moment - U2

I’m not afraid
Of anything in this world
There’s nothing you can throw at me
That I haven’t already heard
I’m just trying to find
A decent melody
A song that I can sing
In my own company…

You’ve got to get yourself together
You’ve got stuck in a moment
And now you can’t get out of it
Don’t say that later will be better
Now you’re stuck in a moment
And you can’t get out of it

Dibs!

Before we left the house for the night of festivities on Thursday, I explained to Justin about my “Anti-Boy Goggles”.

There is a difference in how guys treat me on nights out when I wear my usual glasses versus the contact lenses. Not that I often get hit on–I mean, what guys in their right mind hit on a flat-chested plain looking girl with glasses–but I feel like I go under the radar with the glasses. It’s like a cloaking device. Without it, suddenly people start to notice that I am around.  Totally the Superman/Clark Kent thing.  Glasses on, you’re gone.  Glasses off, you’re here.   It doesn’t matter how cool my glasses look, it repels unwanted attention, and for me, that is quite awesome.  Ahh…the good life of us 4-eye freaks.

But anyway. We went to dinner at a sports bar called the Whiskey Girl. I came back from the last trip to the restroom to this question from Justin.

“Did you get hit on on your way back from the restroom?”

I looked at him. “By what, the door?”

*

Justin’s Match Day celebration was at this chic lounge in Downtown SD.  The bar area was mostly occupied by Justin’s peers. We pulled some trendy bar stools away from the bar so we could sit while Justin and his friends socialized. Originally, Olaina was standing facing us lazy folks who sat down and the bar. Three “kids” rowdily and noisily yapping behind Olaina and started to back up into her.  Well, this Queen Bitch kept leaning into this guy and he kept stepping back.  Mind you, the bar was not empty but it wasn’t THAT crowded. After Olaina got bumped into a few times by these inconsiderate fools, she moved over to get out of their way.

Somehow, that stepping away was perceived as an invitation for them to mad rush the bar, squishing themselves by us.  At that point, Olaina had already sat down with her back to the bar.  And of course, these guys would be standing, once again, right behind her.  We made a point to drag her chair away from those guys. And once again, they seemed to think that was an invitation to take up more space.

Somehow, not a minute later, the Queen Bitch started to back into Olaina with her massive purse, tapping her in the head, as she continued to yap and squeal to the other boys.

Olaina had it. She grabbed the girl’s purse forcefully and said calmly, “Honey, your purse keeps hitting me in the head. Can you please keep this closer to you or move away?”

The Queen Bitch snatched her purse away and in a huff spewed “Oh. Sor-ry.” Then she turned back to her little cronies with her panties in a twist–obviously bitching about this lady who told her she can’t do what she wanted.  Another friend of theirs, as if on cue, came to fetch the Queen Bitch away to go sit somewhere else almost immediately.

At this point, we also decided to remove ourselves to the couch to further watch people. We came to a conclusion that people are that inconsiderate because of the generations. I mean, I think we, in our 30s, were the oldest people in the damn place.

“See, that kind of inconsideration is sooo Generation Y,” I said.

Olaina actually said, “More like Generation ME”, but what I heard she said was, “More like Generation Meathead.”

Well, either one of those statements still defines that generation.

Later on, we told Justin of what would have gone down with the Queen Bitch and her big ass purse.

“Oh, I was so close to just slap her,” Olaina said. “But I don’t want to ruin your party.”

Justin said, “I would totally have your back in that fight.  And so would [his other med school friend].”

*

Since I’m not usually the clubbing crowd, going to that chic lounge was almost a lesson in anthropology. There were tons of “characters” that come out at night, it seems. Olaina and I, having had nothing else better to do, made our observations of the species.

First, there was this skinny lady with that leathery looking skin from too much sun, wet-and-crimped looking blond hair, black mini dress and 5-inch heels. We agreed that she stepped out of her time machine for a drink before returning to the high class call girl circle of the late 90s.

Then there was this, to put delicately, big boned girl who went crazy at Torrid, the plus size version of punk-goth Hot Topic, with low cut t-shirt than cling to her massive buxom and skirt way too short of her built. Oh, and the fish net stocking too. She decided to sit with her other mini-skirt wearing friends on the leather couches. Too short skirt on too big girl who doesn’t know how to sit properly in that situation equals a very sad and disturbing scene for the rest of us at the bar who happened to look that way.

Then there was his skinny overly-tanned to orange perfection girl (What’s up with the maximum fake bake in this place? I mean, it’s San-fucking-Diego, people. Go get some real sun.) in these tight, white pants and that long sleeve, tie-at-the-chest bright turquoise number, showing off her abs.  Excellent abs to her credit, by the way.  Still, I’m sorry but honey, you’ve missed the exit for South Beach by some thousands miles.

Well, at the end of the night, where we were standing by the bar, Olaina pointed out to Justin the abs-licious Miami Vice who happened to stand right in front of Massive Mall Goth. I was sitting down and I didn’t quite see MV. So when she started to gesture that direction, I thought she was pointing out MMG.

Olaina: Did you see her?

Justin: Who? The girl with the belly?

Me: That one over there, the beastly one in short skirt? Wait, which one are you talking about, Olaina?

Olaina: I was pointing out the one with the Belly.

Justin: And I was looking at the Beast.

Me: Belly and the Beast! This place has ‘em all!

*

Last night, we went to dinner at Ritual Tavern, a gastro pub and restaurant. We were there at dusk so as the sun was setting, our corner was slowly getting darker. Olaina ordered the special of seabass and fennel reduction with, as we found out later, baby purple potatoes. In the dim light, Olaina couldn’t tell what those orbs on her plate were. She cut into one to figure out what it was. But of course, being the purple potato, it still looked like an unidentified black round thing.

She lifted her fork toward Justin, “Honey, is this a date?”

I chimed in, “I would be if I wasn’t here.”

Is this the Matrix?

I’m sure Morpheus is waiting outside the door with the blue pill and red pill right now.

I can’t possibly living in a real world right now.

I finished the 2-day cram CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) course at 5:15 p.m. today. I walked away from Justin & Olaina’s kitchen table to join them in his office in a semi-daze. Lines of codes floating in my head. We were deciding where to go for dinner. Justin said we could look at the menus on his computer.

Olaina and I congregated in front of the lap top. The font was so small, both of us leaned in and squinted. We laughed. Both of us have been staring at the computer screens all day. She’s been working on the pictures of the Match day, and I on the class.

“All I see right now are just flashes of lights,” she said.

“All I see are lines and lines of codes,” I said. “You know how the numbers stream through the screen in The Matrix? That’s how I feel right now.”

Life has been quite surreal these past few days, actually. Neo might as well unplug me any second now.

Taking the train down to San Diego by myself after an early start of the Early Meeting was an experience on its own.

Justin & Olaina’s excitement and anticipation for Match Day was highly contagious all on its own but I felt additionally honored to get to be with them on their other special day.

Getting a chance to just hang out with Olaina on her home turf for a change was also cool as hell.

And finally, after a few years of trying to make sense of CSS on my own, I finally learned how to actually use the damn thing.

It is also surreal that I am here without Brandon.

I mean, I’ve gone home for over a week before, but it didn’t feel quite the same. Perhaps because I know I was really far away and that I can’t really quite call him up like I can from San Diego. Knowing he was so close by and yet I can’t be with him is very weird. It makes my stomach lurch a bit and my heart sink a little.

I just hope that he misses me as much as I do him.

Adding to it all, it’s Friday night and we’re sitting her watching March madness, sipping the champagne I brought down to celebrate Justin’s big day. All of this after a nice huge dinner of yummy food at Ritual. Oh my god, the Shrimp Scampi!!!!  (I’ll blog about that over at the food blog later.)

And just last night, we were sipping expensive cocktails at an ultra chic lounge called Jade with Justin’s classmates. Actually, Olaina and I and another lady were huddling together and people watched. Before that, we were enjoying dinner and booze over at the Whiskey Girl.

Yet, another two moments of this trip that poignantly reminded me of Brandon’s absence.

I am so confused.

I am having such a good time out here alone. Yet I wish Brandon was here with me too.

We just can’t have it all, can we?

But YOU can have it all, my dearest readers. Tomorrow, I’ll post all of the hilarious snippets of conversions we’ve been having these past few days. I’m sure Olaina is getting tired of me calling “dibs” a few times a day. LOL.

Hope is all you need

Justin and Olaina are going to become my neighbors.  In a sense that they will be less than 25 miles away.  Justin will be attending UCLA Harbor for his residency.

Hooray!

I was wishing with all my might that Justin would get to San Francisco.  That is the program he is excited about.  But deep down, I wish they don’t move too far away.

The long wait for Olaina is over.  And being somewhat local still is a good thing.  They won’t have to make new friends all over again because old friends are still close enough.

Oh.  This is just awesome, AWESOME news!

*

The driver’s side car door handle broke off last week on my car after Brandon spent the weekend installing the new handles on the inside of the two front doors.  Oh, and the “Check Engine” light just now came on.  Murphy’s Law, really.  Brandon thinks we might consider buying me a new car before we have to sink a lot more money into Merlin.

I enjoyed 8 years of his 12 year life.  Merlin has been an excellent car for me after all I’ve put him through.  Perhaps it is time we retire him.  Who knows.  We’ll talk about this more later on.

*

We are still waiting to hear from Brandon’s sister Jacqueline.  Jacqueline found a lump in her breast and is now going into a biopsy to determine what the lump is.  Please send her some good mojo.  As you see about my glimmer of hope that J&O would not move so far away, a little bit of hope can go a long, long way!

*

Olaina was telling me about this issue in her life.

Oakley: I think of it this way. I’m weird. I KNOW I’m weird. Other people are just too normal to understand all this and therefore they’re weird to me.

Olaina:  So. You’re weird…

Oakley: Indeed.

Olaina: And I’m weird…so we’re weird…

Oakley: That’s why we get along so well!

Olaina: But those people are NOT normal.  They’re beyond weird. They’re all fucked up in the head.

O: Dibs!

Viva San Diego

0319081751.jpg

I’m blogging from Olaina’s lovely pink Dell in their lovely apartment in the lovely San Diego.  :)  That up there was from the train on my way down, somewhere around Solana Beach.

This is the beginning of the 3-night, 3-day trip of fun and learning.  My CSS training starts here at their apartment tomorrow at 9.  At about that same time, Justin and Olaina will be finding out about where he’s going for residency.  Friday, I repeat the drill with the class and then Saturday Brandon comes down to get me.  Yey.

I escaped the Early Meeting unscathed for the most part.  Almost missed the early bus coming in because I left my cell phone at home. Thank goodness I WAS early when I originally got to the bus stop.  The rest of the day took on the same tone of starting out chaotic but turned out alright in the end.

My train buddy was a nice gentleman named Mark who commuted once a week from SD to Semi Valley.  He offered me a seat and helped me put my luggage up overhead.  He also chat with me and gave me pointers on the ride all the way through SD county…when I emerged from a nap.

Anyhoo.  Justin is calling us to go eat/booze after he reads Olaina’s blog.  So…we’ll report back later.

Happy St. Patty’s



DSCF1432

Originally uploaded by Oakmonster(TM).


Here I am, with the real Saint Patty! :)

Next Page »