OakMonster’s Den

Two things I love most about October: Halloween and beer.

So far it hasn’t been a cold “fall”.  Heck, it was like 78 when I got to work at 7:30 a.m. this morning!  I think I will survive in my Princess Leia gitup after all.  Then again, I still have the Jedi cloak from last year to keep me warm and still in theme.

October is building up to be a busy one already.  The Bus Party tomorrow is cancelled in lieu of the debate, so that free up a bit of time.  Hopefully my newsletter will go to print on Friday.

Thriller practice this Saturday and of course, the Trojans are on and pissed off.  Watch out Oregon!

DMV Downtown on Monday…that ought to be interesting.  Haven’t been to that DMV since college!  The girls’ monthly dinner on Thursday and it’s our anniversary.  Another Thriller practice on Saturday on the beach followed by the K9 benefit show back in Fullerton.  Too bad I will have to miss the Long Beach Tweet Up!  Thrill the World LA barbecue on Sunday and, thank god, Columbus Day off.

Wednesday early board meeting.  Saturday USC at Washington and “Octoberfest” at a friend’s house who is a brewmaster.  Probably more Thriller practice in there somewhere through out.  A few Tuesdays at the Irvine practice probably.

Thrill the World on October 25 in the morning at USC at Arizona at night.

And finally, Halloween.

And after that, the Big Gala.

And after that, Thailand.

And after that, company’s holiday party I have to throw.

Not to mention my Monday dance classes.

Holy crap.

I’m a busy girl!

My most impulsive purchase of the year and my first ever full-made costume purchase finally arrived.

Also, probably the most unique wedding present ever bought.

I bought the costume set for my friend.  The groom is a Star Wars fan and the bride is a quite a knock-out.  Somehow, they never thought of dressing her in this.  And I thought of it for them.

A geeky good friend I am!

While at it, I bought me one.  Just in case somebody would invite us to a Halloween party this year, I would have something sexy to wear for a change.  Because, you know, Jedi wasn’t exactly a sexy outfit.

Funny enough, James and Aurora are dressing up Dresden for his first Halloween as Yoda.  At least I’ll be in on their theme!  (Tried to convince Brandon he should be Han Solo, but he didn’t want that.  Instead, he’s been growing his beard out so we’re going to make him Wolverine.)

I also think I’m going to do Thrill The World in this outfit.  A Leia Zombie.  I mean, I might as well maximize the money I spent, right?

James and Aurora came up with a great alternate universe back story for me.  Leia’s attempt to strangle Jabba the Hutt failed and instead he/his cronies strangle her instead!  The other two of my ideas were either that Luke missed the landing and Leia ended up eaten by the sand monster, or Leia showed up on Hoth in this outfit and died of hypothermia.

What’s your vote?  Or do you have an even better idea for a back story?

Now about this lovely gitup.  We will have to do some work on it after all.

I am so extremely grateful that the bottom part is not a thong but booty shorts.  Hooray!  The accessories are all different: they are all silicon rubber, and there is not chain attached to the collar.  The arm band looks a little funny being all rubbery like.

I must admit that the bra part is nothing like the picture.  AND for a small, the bra is fucking HUGE!  I mean, out of proportion to the booty shorts/skirt bottom.  What kind of a body image do these people have?  Sure, I could’ve gone with XS, but I was afraid my booty wouldn’t fit in them booty shorts…which I would’ve been right.

And the best thing about the bra top?  Velcro, baby.  Velcro and halter strings.  On Halloween?

A man must have concocted the assembly of this.  Yeah, let’s put the Velcro on the bra top.  Riiiight!

Brandon and I agreed that I might have to drop a few more bucks in a hunt for a substitute bikini top, farm the silicon rubber adornment off the original and sew/glue that onto it.  Because right now, my top doesn’t look anything like the picture.  It looks more like a faux camouflage granny bra from somebody twice my size with three times the boobs.

I also have to do something to fix the arm band part so it actually stays stiff instead of flopping around, or buy a real one and paint it gold.  Ditto the hair accessories.  The way they are now, I look like a rooster with floppy comb.  And I will need to find me some chains for the collar.

Work to do.  Work to do.

I don’t recall exactly the details of the conversation but I caught the new coworker looking at me funny.

“It’s okay. I’m weird, I know,” I told her.

“Oh, no, no.  You’re not weird,” she sputtered.

“Oh, no.  It’s okay. I’m okay with weird.  I embrace the weird.  You’re not insulting me.”

“No.  I didn’t mean you’re weird.  You’re not weird.”  The girl was still trying.
“Sweetie. It’s okay. I would be offended if you think I’m normal,” I ensured her.  “Because normal is fucking boring.”

I think the cowroker was a little startled at the F bomb, but she’ll get over it.  That’ll teach her to stop patronizing me again when it comes to embracing my quirks.

A while ago I wrote a mini manifesto on coming out of the geek closet.  Since then, I haven’t made an excuse for being a blogger/Tweeter/gamer.  But I found myself having to defend my other choices that Normal People call “weird”.

Like dressing and talking like a pirate.  Like doing Thrill the World.  Like loving chicharone (fried pork skin).  Like knowing there is such a thing as bacon of the month club.

Blogger friend Pond has raised the question on weird recently as well.  I told her I was drafting up a manisfesto on the war on Normal.

I started writing it, and it’s pretty much the same as the Geek’s Declaration of Independence I just wrote.  Substitute geeky for weird and there, you have it.

I must admit it’s a bit sad that I’ve been out of high school 13 years and I just now realized that John Mayer was half right, there is no such thing as the real world.

The “Real World” is actually High School 2.0.

And I’m done being in high school.

Again I will say, fuck Normal.

…figuratively and literally.

It’s been a crazy week at work that ended with Talk Like A Pirate and bridal shower Friday in the office.  I threw some mean party, y’all!

Pirate by day and zombie by night, later on on Friday night, I trekked down to Irvine to practice with Thrill the World OC at Atomic Ballroom.  They have a big group going.  LA Team: We have to catch up!

My right shoulder-neck muscles hated me.  So did my thighs.  (Lots of squats and deep knee bends in this dance!)

Saturday, off to Brenda and Jon’s reception at Astor Classics.  Awesome collection of everything from antique phones, model trains, to classic cars. It was a low key, super casual event.  Pretty much it’s a big family gathering with food and wine not cooked by the bride and beer not brewed by the groom.  No dancing. No pomp.  It was fun just sitting around and yapping with our friends.

Sunday, Brandon and I vegged in a grand style.  The usual hefty breakfast and the rest of the day foraging for snacks in the fridge and the pantry to call a meal.  Hehe.

Monday, we worked.  I started with a few sneezes around the office.  The inner ears didn’t start itching until I got back from lyrical jazz with Sizzle.  Since Debi wasn’t there, it was a one-on-one class.  Much awesomeness! We did Martha Graham style choreography to Lion King theater show soundtrack.  Lots of twisting and jumping.

Both sides of my neck and shoulders now hate me too.

But this morning, I could barely opened my eyes.  My nose started to stuff up around 3 a.m.  I didn’t get much sleep.  And my entire body ache in a way that I can’t really tell it was the Martha Graham’ing or something else.  I decided to stay home.

Here I am, giving you guys a catch up post as I’m slowly waking up from the Benedryl long nap and still fighting the haze.  It seems to be a horrible allergy attack than a cold.  I’m so drowsy right now so I can’t really tell…

Excuse me.  I think the couch is still calling.

Ahoy me hearties! Me colors be raised this dawn!

Updated: Captain Bubbles and the trusty Parrot Pat!

Official Talk Like A Pirate instruction from the creator of the holiday, Capt’n Slappy and Ol’ Chumbucket.

A favorite and very educational instruction video.

Talk Like a Pirate Day is tomorrow, y’all.

And I’m throwing a bridal shower in the office instead of the pirate party.  (Hey, the bride happened to pick that date…and she couldn’t (or wouldn’t?) change the date!)

Obviously,  Captain Bubbles, the Jolly Pirate of the South China Sea, will be presiding the bridal tea luncheon.

Oy, lassie! Yer wanna another cuppa?

Heeeheee.

You know you’re in Southern California when your breakfast is leftover lamb biryani and goat curry, your lunch is chopped salad and roasted tomato soup, and your dinner is pork belly over piles of kimchi at a Korean barbecue.

Add some good friends into the mix, and what you have is one great Sunday.

Well, except for the fact that Brandon is not here and the kimchi heartburn is creeping up.

I had a lunch date with Nora at South Coast Plaza today to get all the news from her recent trip to Australia and New Zealand, and to view her company’s entry to Canstruction OC 2008.   Nora’s firm takes part in this national competition for construction and design firms to design and build sculptures, if you would, out of canned goods to be donated to local food banks.

RBF’s is the bridge across the Grand Canyon by Hoover Dam.  Pretty impressive, actually.  Click on these to visit my Flickr album with other pictures of the ones that I like.

My favorite has to be Disney’s Wall*E set (on the left) completed with some hidden Mickeys–as in Mickey Mouse coffee or chocolate–all over.  Unfortunately for Fluor, they attempted the same theme (on the right)…and didn’t do so well.

After the afternoon in the mall, I joined James and Aurora for dinner at the Wako Honey Pig Korean Barbecue.  Aurora’s sister came to babysit so we all could go enjoy Aurora’s birthday dinner.

Hmmm…black pork belly.  Whatever the black means.  The belly.  The kimchi.  The fried rice.  And everything in between.

While in there, I missed Brandon’s call to say good night.  Whoops.

With less than one hour notice, I rushed off this afternoon to join a few people in practicing the Thriller dance on the beach at Dockweiler State Park.

Yes, you heard me.  Thriller. On the beach.

I am joining the Los Angeles group in Thrill the World 2008 where folks gather in full make up and costume to dance to Michael Jackson’s Thriller at the exact same time all over the world.

For LA it’s Saturday October 25 at 11 a.m.

I saw the video last year and have always wanted to do it.  Finally here’s my chance!The LA group is trying to break the record of having 200 people at the event.  The Irvine one is closer, but I’m all about breaking records so I will be joining the crew to the north.  Still, I’m hoping to be able to practice with the south crew so I don’t have to drive too far.  We shall see!

There might just be an event in your neighborhood, so check out the World Event section.

Thailand hasn’t signed up for an official event yet.  It’ll be Sunday, October 26 at 1 a.m.  But I’m sure someone is going to start it up.  (I’m so sending this to Kitty’s magazine!)  Can’t you just see a herd of zombies doing this down Kao San?

No, those in yellow shirts at the Government House doesn’t count.  That said, it would be a lot better for everyone if instead of stirring shit up, they would learn to do the dance instead.  But I digress.

Coworkers congregated in my cubicle over some chocolate covered almonds.

“Have you seen Oakley’s article in the Daily Breeze?” Coworker #1 referred to my 15 seconds of fame.

“No,” Coworker #2.

CW#1 continued to tell CW#2 about Temple of Fresh & Easy blog.

CW#2 snorted.  “Who has time for that kind of thing?”

And of course, CW#2 ranted on about how he doesn’t have time to do the Facebook or “such nonsense” because of his busy social schedule, implying along the way that folks who do those things don’t really have a life.

That did it.

Seriously, I am getting tired of the whole implication that because I put my life online that I have nothing better to do with my time.

Do I talk down on your hobby of fixing up classic cars, pimping rides, antiquing, woodworking, gardening, or, in CW#2’s case, hanging out at bars and clubs?

You choose what to do with your free time.  You make time for your hobby.  Mine happens to be blogging, social networking, and video gaming.

Yet, these “normal people” constantly talk down to us geeks.

I used to just laugh it off and went with the “Oh, I know. I don’t have a life,” as a reply.

But I’m not going to do that any more.

Fuck you and your “normal life”.

I *do* have a life.  It’s not the same one you live or the one you think it’s “cool”.

My life is online, digitized, and pixelated.  But it’s a life I’ve chosen to live.

I find my meaning in writing and sharing my thoughts with the world, whether the world wants it or not.  I find my meaning in sharing my life with other I don’t know as a window into some new experience that is not my day-to-day.  I find my meaning in squashing the bad guys in my games with my controller until my hands cramped up.

Like I discussed with fellow Twitter-ette SallieB before, some of us have the ability to build relationships both online and off.  Some of such relationships only get better with the reinforcements from the other source.

I have human interaction with my local friends, and even better relationships with my long distance buddies.  I actually get to “meet” new people across the world I would never would have met in a bar like Rude Cactus, Steve and Richard of Thai-Blogs, Chef House, and many readers that I have come to “talk” to like Irish Cousin Robert and Amy of the Q Family.

And there’s also the new circle of friends we built around Brandon’s World of Warcraft guild and occasion gathering of the geeks at James’ house.

I put my life online originally because half of the people I know live half the world away.  Blogging was the best way to keep everyone in touch.  Not that they really swing by here often either, but I give them an option to be updated.  I know going in that if I put this online, everyone gets to see it.  I know that since I started my first website back in college.

My blog and other social networking media is a newsletter or a zine that happens to be online.

I’ve always “printed” some kind of zines since I was in 3rd grade.  It’s the same concept with a new medium.

Still my hobby.  Something I love to do and make time for.

So, go on out with your cool kids to the hip bars, “normal people”.  I’ll be right here with my computer and game console, enjoying my own life my own way.

Muhammed from Torrance Daily Breeze was in my home office on Friday night to interview me about the Temple of Fresh & Easy blog–you know, my store obsession blog.

Then came the questions about why I blog about a grocery store. Why especially would I give a business free publicity and get nothing in return? Do I feel like I was taken advantage of?
I know that it is his job to ask the questions and get to the bottom of why some random person would start blogging about a grocery store and expect nothing in return.

The fact that he asked me that question got me thinking.

Have we as a society become so jaded that we question people’s motive for saying nice things about others?

With Web 2.0, we as consumers can now raise our voices like we could never have done before. We can band together to cheer on for the restaurant we love. We can link our arms in verbal protests against a salon that wreck our hair and rape our wallet. We can rate the deodorant we bought yesterday so others may use our input to make a better decision before they buy.

As consumers, you are no longer alone in the dark. Many of us are out there with you.

Sure, floating out there are also people who are professional promoters and endorsers. I can see why some folks, including Muhammed, would question my motive.

I did tell Muhammed that I just like telling people about things that I love. There’s nothing in it for me. I don’t do it for the glory. I don’t do it for fame. I don’t even know if anybody else would drop by any of my blogs at all.

But just in case they do, now they would know about something good they can pick up or a product they shouldn’t try.

For those who know me in person or from this blog, they know that I’m just, well, too damn quirky to have a motive.

I am passionate about things that I love and hate. I will rave about things I love and rant about things I hate. Mediocre stuff just doesn’t really get the mention because, well, it’s not worth the time.

Look at my Yelp! reviews. It’s either love or hate. I don’t do in-betweens. When I love a restaurant, I get everyone to go there. When I hate a restaurant, I will tell anyone who’d listen. I have a coupon for places I love to shop, I pass it around too.

Heck, just last week, I hauled cupcakes from Charmed Cupcakes in Long Beach on the bus to my office Downtown because I love their cakes and want everyone to try them and experience the joy. I could have easily ordered the cupcakes from Silver Lake where we usually do. But we’ve done that. This LB place is new, and it’s good. I feel obligated to spread the word.

See? Here goes the link and the shout out. Haha. Can’t help myself.

Do I get free cake from the shop? No. Just the pleasure to know that now people will enjoy something yummy.

Is my desire to spread the joy I have experienced considered a motive?

Well, heck. I guess I do have a motive after all.