Photography

I never post here about my photography and that's mostly because I like my life in separate compartments. A cubbie for work, one for play, one for business, one for wine, one for thoughts...you get the picture.

Last night I went to a meeting then joined the Napa Valley Photographic Society (heck for $42, can ya blame me?). It was really cool to sit through a critique again and learn from those with much more experience than I have. I can't wait to talk shop with these folks!

I love to shoot product. Love it. Almost as much as food.


Prime Cellars
Ted Henry: Winemaker
Sara Lucas Art + Design: Label Designer

Patrick Swayze

Nobody puts baby in a corner. Probably one of my favorite movies, and definitely the best movie Swayze was in. Today's Daily Dish on sfgate.com includes a "story" about how Whoopi Goldberg "chastised Suzanne Somers after she reportedly blamed Patrick Swayze's death on his chemo treatment." So it sounds like Suzanne Somers believes that if Patrick Swayze had just eaten better and "built himself up nutritionally" then he wouldn't have passed so soon due to the chemo.

Hmmmm. Let's be realists about this. We all know that fresh fruits and veggies are incredible for your body - they fight off all kinds of diseases and prolong life. In most cases. Cancer is common unfortunately, and just because someone eats their fruits and veggies every day, they are not automatically immune to contracting this horrible disease. By stating this, it sounds like it's Patrick Swayze's fault for dying because he didn't eat more produce. Seriously? I'm sure he tried everything he could, and honestly, if that worked, if eating your weight in fruits & vegetables when you have cancer worked, don't you think that would be the widespread remedy??? Don't you think that EVERY SINGLE PERSON would try that first before ever succumbing to what chemo does to your body? If it were proven that fresh produce killed off cancer cells when a person is in Stage 3+, I doubt as many people would die from cancer, there would be no debt for medical procedures, and cancer would be pretty much as common as the bubonic plague.

There is no miracle cure for cancer. I wish there were. I would still have 2 young uncles with us today. It's offensive to me for people to say things like this, to state that "eating more produce" when you're in the throes of this horrible disease will cure you. Miracle cures and therapies suck gullible people in and continue to make them believe that something as simple as eating a carrot will ward off treacherous cancer cells.

I don't deny that having a healthy diet will help keep you cancer-free for longer, but don't start preaching to me about how if my 44-year-old uncle had just eaten more broccoli he'd still be alive. That's ignorant, offensive, obnoxious, and you obviously have no idea what you're talking about.

GoogleTalk

Sooooo GoogleTalk is down. What did I do in the workforce before there was IM? Oh wait, I didn't work in the workforce before there was IM. My first job included AIM, my second included ICQ then MSN Messenger, my third included Googletalk. This one includes GoogleTalk, Gmail, iPhone usage, and any other technology I can get my grubby little geeky hands on.

When GoogleTalk is down, I send emails. I don't like to send emails that are short they are either IMs (but I can't!) or Tweets. None of my close friends are on Twitter, so no need to post there. I could post on Facespace but I don't want to login to it that much. I guess I can just try to exist without the occasional IM to someone about a random thought I had. I guess I have to exist with myself. Awesome.

Heehee

Google Analytics is pretty cool...ok, the geek in me is screaming "it's freakin' awesome!" Nerd alert. Nerd alert. I like looking at how much traffic this thing gets, where people come from, who their host is, etc. The funniest thing to look at is the Keywords section...most of mine are pretty standard, but the best is someone actually searched "falling off banana" and got to my blog. I have no idea how that would happen or why someone would search for that, but maybe I'll start googling random phrases and see what pops up, then visit those sites. It makes it entertaining for everyone. Or maybe just those with a big ol' nerd in them like moi.

Primped and Pampered

Got my hair did tonight...it's been a year since I've gotten a cut. Looks so fresh and so clean clean. I definitely feel more like a girly girl now which is a fun feeling now & then. That feeling will fade away within a few days I'm sure...as soon as I giggle at a fart joke. Nothing really more to say about it - not that exciting.

Random Thoughts on a Monday Night

• Bottega last night was delicious.
• Life is wacky.
• When it rains it pours.
• When you think people can't be more obnoxious, they prove you wrong.
• Dinner tonight with Joel Gott was an awesome experience; one I'll never forget.
• Not that I usually care what people think, but I hope I'm thought of as down to earth and laid back and not dramatic with ridiculous ideas.
• I guess I was on the Food Network tonight...I missed it though. I was really hoping for the cutting room floor.
• It might be time to get The Good Cable back.
• I'm lazy enough to wish I had a house cleaner, a gardner, and a cook.
• I'm ambitious enough to want to tear down walls in my house.
• I wish I'd be more content sometimes. The grass is definitely not always greener.
• When am I going to start running?
• When is it my turn?
• Things in life usually turn out for the better - I know of one for sure where I dodged a bullet.
• “Tell me what you brag about and I'll tell you what you lack” - Spanish Proverb
• I wish my toe would heal already.
• This entitlement issue is worth its own blog posting. Soon.
• People really need to get off their high horses. Or their high Shetland ponies, as it were.
• I hope my adopted grandma is ok.
• I hope my brother's new life in the great Northwest is outrageously fun, incredibly splendid, and perfectly him.
• I like my bed. It's soft, welcoming, and I have 4839472 pillows that envelope me in a fortress of slumber.

Nighty night. Again.

Work and Other Things

After the debacle that was Bloggate 2007, I decided to stop writing about work. Tonight however, I have to make an exception.

[Disclaimer: This post does not imply that all I do for work is go to dinners. This is untrue. I have worked my patootie off for the past 2 months and like I have said before, work is not what this blog is about. It is about my life experiences, some of which are worthy enough to be discussed here, some of which happen to stem from where I spend 80% of my time.]

I just got back from dinner with a major customer. This was similar to other customer dinners in that the buyers were there as were the sales managers and other people on my team. The only difference in tonight's dinner was that I was lucky enough to spend it with Joel Gott. I've spent time with him before, but not in this capacity (last time was the Union Street Festival.) We invited Joel to join us for many reasons, the main being he's an amazing person with an incredible story that we wanted to share with our customer. I would say tonight was a winemaker dinner with Joel Gott. I learned so much from just one dinner; sitting next to him at dinner rekindled the lost passion I had for the wine industry. Many times, this is a CPG industry. Tonight, I remembered why I applied for a job in this field to begin with. His enthusiasm and excitement are contagious, his knowledge of food, wine, and people is unbelievable. All of this, and he's down to earth. His wines aren't pretentious and neither is he. He follows his heart and he puts a piece of himself into every venture that he starts. What a great evening.

Nighty night.

People.

Are.

Tools.

I think Home Depot had a sale....all the tools are out.

Exercise: My Nemesis

For some reason I have no motivation to exercise. Where are you, Motivation? Can you come out and play? I really need you right now! I realized today that it's just about 11 weeks until the race. ELEVEN WEEKS. How did this happen? How could I have procrastinated that badly as to commit to something 4 months ago and just now realize the thing is only eleven weeks away and I haven't even STARTED walking, let alone running.

I just got back from about an hour of brisk walking. Brisk walking means sweating like a pig (do pigs sweat?) and breathing heavy. I know I can't possibly walk that fast so this is me out.of.shape. I have eleven weeks to turn this sweaty, pig-like frame into a lean, mean, runnin' machine.

Sidenote - When I say race, I use the term loosely. For me, the only thing I'm racing is my out of shape booty and my brain telling me I'm going to die. If I can run away from those two things, I'll do great.

This is me until I'm allowed to have two feet off of the ground at the same time (aka running).

(Turn off your sound and just watch the beauty that is Olympic Power Walking. The dude who posted it on YouTube is a tool and super annoying.)

Why Am I Using My Blog Like Facebook?

I can't seem to get enough of funny videos these days, all of which I seem to post here. Sorry. I know it's not life experience, but if I can make you laugh or crack a smile for a moment, then my work here is done.

Enjoy and slap chop your hearts out.

More About Friends

I wanted to write you all a song, but I figured there were enough songs in the world by actual musicians that were about friends, so I'll just plagiarize those.

My first thought was that "With a Little Help from My Friends" was the perfect choice, especially if you think of the Joe Cocker version.



Then I thought that "My Friends" by the Chili Peppers would be a good choice, but then remembered that it's actually really depressing and absolutely not a good choice at all.



So here I am, left with the only other song I can think of off the top of my head that has to do with friends...

Just a Friend, Biz Markie.

OH BABY YOOOOOOU
YOOOUUU GOT WHAT I NEEEEEED
[altered lyrics here] BUT YOU SAY YOU'RE JUST MY FRIEND, YOU SAY YOU'RE JUST MY FRIEND
OH BABY YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU

That works.

[Now, just don't cheat on me, k? Thanks.]

A Limerick for My Friends

There once was a great group of friends

Who hung out with me until the end

They wrap up the party

They dance with Arty

With them all my time I will spend.

UPDATE:

Oprah's Kick Off Party!

Two posts in ONE NIGHT - that has to count for something!!

So what is it about me...I LOVE this stuff! I love that wedding video, I love Improv Everywhere, I love the Belgian train station dance to a Sound of Music song. I love when people come together for no other reason than to make people happy. A choreographed dance like that takes effort and it's so awesome that people do that together! I just love it - it makes me so happy!

Productive

I forgot what it was like to be productive at home. Up until last weekend, I'd pretty much been away from home every weekend since early June. That's nutty. I neglected my backyard (shocking, I know), my office, my kitchen, everything. I just mowed, weed wacked, swept, straightened, setup, moved, washed and arranged. The yard looks pretty good for what it is...someday I'll pimp it out. It felt good to get out there, get dirty, get sweaty, all in the name of throwing a good party. I'm looking forward to La Fiesta!

This was a weird week. Work is crazy busy, life is crazy busy, I'm feeling a tad scattered. One morning this week, I ended up behind someone I rarely see (which is a good thing) almost the whole way across town. I didn't feel a thing. Not a thing. I didn't get all weirded out, I didn't get nervous, I didn't get spazzy, I just drove like I normally would and that car was just another of many in front of me. In a way, this too is productive. I now have a little of that confidence I thought I'd lost, I know I'm content here, I'm not hung up on anything, I'm not thinking too much. It is what it is and I'm sooooo happy this is how things have turned out for me here. This is a weird town, still getting used to its idiosyncrasies, but I'm happy to live and die in LA it's the place to be. Wait, sorry, that's 2Pac. I meant, I'm happy to live here (some days) and following that person on the road was a good exercise for me in determining whether the past is truly the past. It surely is.

All of a sudden I started drinking soda. Like in the past week. Why? I gave up soda for the most part about 7 years ago when my previous job stocked all soda fridges with any kind of soda you wanted. Like ANY. When I first started and my metabolism was higher, I was drinking like 3 Dr. Peppers a day. That's just gross. I finally weened myself off of those and took back up the coffee habit. At least that's just flavored water for the most part. Why the sudden soda-drinking again? I have no clue but man I need to knock it off. Waste of calories, bad bad sugar, and all those manufactured ingredients...yuck. That first sip of an ice cold soda, all refreshing and bubbly, sweet and satisfying....ok, no more.

Cheers to a stream of consciousness! May there be more where that came from.

Faux Pas Central

Oh, Labor Day was Monday, you say? I'm throwing caution into the wind and I'm wearing white pants today. I don't really get that "rule" anyway. If someone knows what that's all about, tell me so I don't look so ignorant.

Since I Don't Post Often Enough

Here's a random post because I've been told a lot lately that I don't post often enough.

I went to Costco last night. This trip to the big cement box was probably trip #7 I've taken there in my.whole.life. Yep, ever. Hey, I live alone! What do I need 753 rolls of toilet paper for? Will I use 16 cans of tomato sauce? How long will I have 42 boxes of cereal left over if I eat cereal every meal every day for one year? (Wait, I do that already, sooooo probably none.)

So here I am in Costco. See how small I am compared to the HUGE amounts of toilet paper they sell? It's just CRAZY! And why am I dancing in Costco, you ask? Well, because I just looooove to buy things in bulk!

In other Costco news, they have already set out quite a bit of Christmas stuff. That's right, boys and girls, CHRISTMAS STUFF. Isn't it early September? Maybe it's the procrastinator in me that thinks this is a bit much or maybe it's just. too. early.

Proof:

Even more madness at Costco...why would you EVER EVER EVER put a "Flat Belly Diet Cookbook" (complete with most-likely-the-most-disgusting-cupcake-ever) right next to the Martha Stewart Cupcake book? Why?? Whyyyyy? Ya know what those make me want? A cupcake. Do I care about a flat belly? Only after I have a cupcake.

$250 later, I finally left that money-sucking place, only vowing to go back if I really, really, really need toilet paper.

PS - Fond-du-Lac, Wisconsin has the coolest name.

Flattery and Other Such Ideas

I said it before, and I'll say it again. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Remind me again...it's a compliment, right?