Ending 2009

Happy last day of 2009. I didn't think I'd post again until after the New Year, but I just had to post one last thing that absolutely cracks me up. I have posted this before, but I didn't spend any time making it as hilarious as it is today.

For 2010, I decided to cut off all my hair and become and engineer, just like my dad.

Random Thoughts of the Day

1. I played Rockband last night with THEUNITARD for 4.5+ hours. Yeah that's right. Not only are we behaving like 13 year olds (my texts were also over my maximum this month....13 going on 32 anyone?) my carpal tunnel in my right wrist is flaring, my ankle hurts and my voice is scratchy. Getting too old for video games? I think not. I'm just warming up.

2. I can see a shift in how people act. People are going back to traditional roots not in the traditional sense (ha) but an evolved version of tradition. Homemade gifts, time spent with each other instead of lavish shopping trips, "green" efforts, a turn to the simpler life. Granted, life isn't simple - texts, IMs, emails, voicemails, all at your fingertips, your fingertips itching to go go go. Here and there though, touches of an easier time and a from-the-heart way of living are starting to shine through. This all makes me happy. It makes me realize that my parents were right all along (about a lot of things anyway) and that their standards and values are true and solid. Thanks, ma and pa. I appreciate the insight even though I was blind to it most of my life.

UPDATE: I would like to amend my post here a little. I took my parents out for Thai tonight and though sometimes people behave like civilized adults who respect their dinner companion(s), most of the time they don't. Since when is it acceptable to check your phone during your meal, while your dinner companion is sitting there, staring at their pad thai? It's just so rude. Give people your full attention. It's courteous, considerate, and just plain nice. Manners! Manners! Where are you?? 

3. I saw an interesting article today about how Facebook privacy and other privacy issues on this here interweb are going to turn our society into an eery replication of 1984. I have one simple statement for that thought....if you don't want your privacy invaded, if you want your photos and your affiliations and your interests kept secret from the world, your employer, your ex, your classmates, your family, DON'T PUT YOUR LIFE ON THE INERNET. It's really that simple. I obviously don't care. I only let people see what I want them to see anyway.

4. I love the color Kelly Green. I used to hate it now I like it. Similar to my relationship with red bell peppers.

5. Why is work coffee so bad? Is there a rule about that in some corporate law book?

6. Happy almost 2010! I may not write again until Sunday, so have a fun and laughter-filled New Year's Eve, make sure you countdown even if you're alone, and enjoy your first days of the new year!

December 29 - How again?

It's December 29, 2009 - only 2 more days until this year is over. This year was not my year. I'm so ready to have a fresh start in 2010...do more, try more, be more.

I'm not ready to publish any sort of New Year's resolutions yet - I'll save those for Friday's post.

May the last days of 2009 be chock full of fun, nostalgia, reflection and laughter.

Cheers, 2009. You won't me missed.

Mondegreens and Other Such Things.

One of my favorite words is "mondegreen." (Remember? I'm into etymology, aka word nerd.)

I'll let you in on a little secret - I always thought Hall & Oates (ya know, the 80s sensations who brought us "Maneater" and "You Make My Dreams Come True") was "Holland Oats" - that's right, like some sort of Dutch breakfast.

Those are really embarrassing.

Christmas 2009

Things I learned this Christmas...
1. Handmade gifts are THE BEST. We've vowed to do that next year. I hope we can also squeeze in a Secret Santa - that's just hilarious.
2. My family is extremely talented. It amazes me every year.
3. Ping pong ball gun fights are super fun. Until one hits the TV. Game over.

4. Homemade chili after 5pm church service is perfect.
5. Staying awake for midnight mass gets more and more difficult as I get older.
6. My brothers in their suits is a very nice thing. And it makes my mom very happy.
7. My mom loves Wii bowling. It's awesome.
8. Rockband is so. fun. I need roommates just to sit around and play that. I need to earn good songs!
9. I still love apple crisp.

Merry Christmas!

Dropsies and Other Such Things

My women-friends will know what I mean when I say I have the Dropsies. The Dropsies include dropping things, obviously, running into walls, and overall klutzy behavior. I don't know if my case of the Dropsies is the worst ever or if everything just seems worse because I'm so irritable.

Let's start with last night. I decided to get in some Christmas shopping given that I don't have any Christmas presents yet and Christmas is on Friday. The traffic was irritating, the crowds made me nutso so my evening in Fairfield was short and sweet. I then headed to the grocery store to do some shopping for work and lo and behold, I sighted someone at my grocery store. Yeah, that's right, I said it. MY grocery store. There are like 17 other grocery stores in this town and I don't go to the hoity toity ones anyway - go there. Grrr.

Luckily the line at Starbucks was nonexistent, then I headed home and proceeded to whack an elbow on a doorjamb, hit my head in the cabinet, jam my finger on a knob, and stub my toe. I decided then that it was ok to just watch TV and not wash the dishes because I could get seriously injured if I did more than just sit.

Moving to today...nothing too exciting happened this morning. I got to work, as usual, then headed upvalley for a tasting. I had to stop at JV to get one last wine, found it, loaded all the wines in my car and started the drive. Of course, someone in front of me slams on their brakes for no apparent reason other than the fact that  they're stupid, and all the wine flies off my back seat, hitting the back of my seat one by one. Ten minutes later, I smell wine. At first I thought it was because I was driving upvalley and North Napa smells more like wine than South Napa, but then I realized it's winter and the only wine I could be smelling would be that in my backseat. Sure enough, one of the bottles slammed hard enough into another one and cracked, leaking wine all over my back seat floor.

If this all doesn't count as a bad case of the Dropsies, I don't know what does.

I'd like to leave you with a quote I just saw on a bumper sticker on my way back to work..."Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." - Voltaire

That's a shout out to my homies.

Christmas

I'm looking forward to the Christmas when I have my own family. That'll be really fun. I'm watching the Christmas music special thing on TNT and I'm really looking forward to starting my own holiday traditions!

PS - Stop copying me.
PPS - I can't stand Jersey Shore.
PPPS - Why do I love George Lopez? I just do.

The Weekend

Today marks the almost-end of the awesomeness that was The Hangover weekend. A few of us are left, watching Four Christmases. Nothing gets me in the holiday spirit more than Chex Mix, overindulging on a massive Black Bear breakfast and another holiday movie (so far we've watched Elf, A Christmas Story, and two viewings of The Hangover. It's been a good 24 hours.)

Last night we saw all the best Christmas lights in Napa, watching as others slowed and adored the lights as much as we did. There was just one tool bag sighting, not bad for a Saturday night.

Time to get back to the movie, funny conversation and wrapping up a lovely, lazy Sunday.

PS - As a photographer, it really bothers me when people find images on the interweb and proceed to use them just because. At least give props to the person that took the photo or buy one from a stock house. Thank you for listening to my photography PSA.

PPS - For some reason, I have "fat guuuuuy in a littttllle cooooaaat" stuck in my head, alongside the most obnoxious song ever - Party in the USA by Miley "I'm annoying" Cyrus.

The Hangover Weekend Is Here!

In other news, I cannot WAIT for tomorrow. My girlsies are coming over for what has turned into a slumber party (no, we will not have a pillow fight), the highlights being:
--Decorating my little baby tree while listening to Christmas music, watching Elf/A Christmas Story/Christmas Vacation and sipping adult hot chocolates
--Driving around Napa to see all the holiday lights (I even got a map off the Register's website!)
--Coming back for the showcase of the night - THE HANGOVER
--Laughing and telling stories all night long

Yay weekends!

PS - It's only one week till Christmas...wow. Time flies when you're...um...living it.
PPS - Stop copying me. Thanks.
PPPS - Will I be in the holiday mood when I get a tree? I hope so.

Treasure Island - Story 2

As I've mentioned before, I lived on Treasure Island, aka the "Island" from here on out. I absolutely loved living there - we had some insane times there. I know I've reminisced before, usually because of something that happened in the news that spurred memories.

Now there's this, an article about how Mayor Newsom is going to buy the Island from the Navy to build his dream "green" community there. Look at all that stuff!

Break it down now...
--A town center (we had the goose-poop-filled great lawn!)


--"Commerical" - [When we moved there in March of 2000, we had...um...Pak N Save in Emeryville! In 2002 or so, we had....um....the Job Corps store that did not sell alcohol or much of anything! Now they have a store up at the front where you can buy sushi (not sure why you would but you could)!]


--Three hotels! (Our apartment was basically a hotel. We threw a lot of parties. I remember one where I woke up the next morning and there were people sleeping on every inch of the floor. It was awesome.)


--A ferry terminal! (This is what I always dreamed of when we lived there. I mean, you come out and you can see the ferry building RIGHT there yet you had to go up the hill then risk your life by gunning it to try to get onto the bridge without getting killed because you had 10 feet to get up to speed. A ferry terminal. What a novel idea.)


--Hundreds of acres of parks! (Which means they'll need to raze all of the old buildings. Bowling alley - gone. Commissary - gone. Creepy day care - I think that's now a functioning day care. Brig - gone. Gym - gone. I need to get out there and take photos before it's all gone!)


--6000 homes! (Hope they're better than what we had. Been out there lately? The place is pretttty shabby.)


--The Navy is almost done cleaning up! [We were not allowed to plant in the ground because the ground was toxic (in our lease.) Also, many of the streets that were open when we lived there are now closed because of radiation. If I can't have babies, I'm suing. So much for a green community, huh?]

One additional comment: If there is a major earthquake, the Island will melt into the Bay. Yeah, that's right, it is highly susceptible to liquefaction. That was also in our lease. It's LANDFILL. Of course it is! Hello, 1906 all over again. If you don't believe me, check out this lovely map from the USGS. Yerba Buena = Rock. The Island = Built up sludge. How exactly are they going to deal with that slight issue?

All in all, I could have written up this plan 10 years ago and we'd be halfway done.

What a great place. I miss it.

The Quest

In my seemingly never ending quest to find a date, I re-joined an online dating service that provided me with hilarious dating stories in the past. I've been on one date so far - no fireworks but a cool dude - and hope to have a few more comin'. In these times when I try to put myself out there again to meet someone for whom I'm not settling, stories like this are rubbed in my face. Sure, it's a happy story. I love happy stories. If I could watch one type of movie for the rest of my life it would be romantic comedies (The Hangover is a romantic comedy, right?). I love that they went through this tragic event, not even speaking to each other until months later. It's such a fairy tale story - one that gives me hope and happiness.

Do I need to land on the Hudson river in a plane to meet someone??? If so, let's go. I have a plane to catch.

Things That Are Rad, Chapter 5

My heated blanket, Joe
Roasted zucchini in my favorite seasoning salt
Rice Krispie Treats (not making them, eating them)
Being authentic, genuine and transparent online
Photography
A risk I'm about to take (also falls under the "Things That Are Not Rad" category)
Sing-Off
Finishing the Half Marathon in Vegas (also falls under the "Things That Are Not Rad" category)
The Hangover
Friendmas (Friend Christmas. Get it? Huh Huh?)
Sleeping in
Facebook
Company holiday parties
Photography classes

What!

As I drove home from work this evening, I thought, "man I could go for some chips and salsa." I decided then and there that I was going to stop at 7-11 to satisfy my craving. I came up on 7-11 and it. was. closed. Yeah, you heard me correctly, 7-11 was CLOSED. What!

I know you couldn't have gone on living without hearing that story.

Rock n Roll Half Marathon 2009

Vegas was....unlike any other Vegas trip I've ever taken. I think Vegas should be left for the partying and not the exercising (unless you count dancing the night away exercise. I do.) I'm a ball of pain...I pretty much fell apart at Mile 10. Oh well! I should have trained.Well, I guess now my name will come up in Google search results.

I finished in 3 hours and 35 minutes - basically I took the entire allotted time. If my knee had decided to cooperate, I actually probably would have done much better. It took us about 45 minutes to get to the start line - at a 6:15 start time, this was painful. It was very, very cold, but at least they shot off fireworks. I have never seen the Vegas sunrise sober. It was beautiful-ish.

Around Mile 4, we passed a group of 6 guys who had just stumbled out of the casinos, drinks in hand, looking quite disheveled. I wanted to be them.

I ran/walked the first 5 miles (a first for me) and actually felt great jogging (aka bounce walking...I wouldn't really consider it "running" necessarily.) The air was COLD (32 degrees!) and dry - great exercising conditions for me I guess!

By Mile 6, I resigned to a fast walk, and around Mile 6.5 I tried to run but Mr. Knee decided that wasn't going to happen.

By Mile 8, I could see the major casinos again which I thought would be a benefit but turned out to be a detriment.

By Mile 9, I got lonely and a tad bored.

By Mile 10, I was picking out inconspicuous places to throw up.

By Mile 11, I had teared up and seriously considered just going back to the room.

By Mile 11.1, I really needed a nap, some ice for my knee, a cocktail, and some blackjack.

By Mile 12, all of the finishers were walking the other way in their hot dog wrappers which really put a damper on my mood. I then wished for a Segway or a bicycle to pull me to the finish line.

By Mile 13, I just couldn't do it. My legs wouldn't work, my limbs and extremities were frozen, and my knee hurt so bad I thought I was going to die.

Finally, at Mile 13.1, I crossed the finish line, grabbed my medal, ate the most amazingly delicious mini bagel I have ever had in my life, ate a bag of pretzels, wrapped myself in my own hot dog wrapper, and headed over to station T to meet the girls. We then welcomed S to the finish line.

Sunday afternoon consisted of Jello shots, some craps, pizza, and hobbling around the casinos. At least we weren't the only ones! Sunday night's dinner at the new Hard Rock Cafe on the Strip was AWESOME and a much-needed distraction from the pain. Oh and the hamburgers were insanely good. I'm thinking we needed some protein!

All in all it was an experience, and I can say that I finished! Slow and steady doesn't really win the race, by the way. 

Vegas Baby Vegas.

I'm heading to Vegas in t-minus 23 hours for a crazy goal - walk 13.1 miles in less than 4 hours. Can I do it? I have no idea. Have I trained? Um, I was gonna but I didn't. Who knew that I couldn't commit to running? Oh, that's right, I did. Oh well.

I'm nervous, scared, excited and hope there are no major injuries in my future. Or minor ones for that matter.

Wish me luck. I'll need it.

(here I am!)

I Knew There Was a Term for It...

I'm sitting here, procrastinating, scrolling through the channels, landing on Dr. Phil. They're talking about the 20-something generation, the one that's entitled and self-absorbed. How funny. I knew there was a name for it - Generation Me. More books for me to read!

I'm friends with 20-somethings and none of those people are like that. I've also come into contact with more 20-somethings than I can count who are exactly as described - self-absorbed, have this ridiculous sense of entitlement, yet can't make it on their own. They think they're above everyone else, they're better than what they're doing, yet they can't make ends meet and expect someone to pick up the slack. Sickening.

I've since changed the channel. I can't bring myself to watch an hour-long TV show about these people. People who can't own up to their shortcomings, who can't be real about their flaws. There is nothing wrong with being ambitious and wanting to be famous and rich and successful. My issue is that this Generation Me expects all of that to be handed to them. I wish I could have parented each of these brats. Things might be different.

Comedy is So Rad.

'Stache Contests

In addition to burly men dressed as women, 'stache contests make me happy. Not only were we privileged to meet a group of 6 or 7 guys - oh I mean, mustache men - celebrating the end of their 'stache contest, my friends Blog Master G and P-Dog are starting their annual, bi-coastal 'stache contest! I'm so excited to watch the masterful works develop as well as learn all new words for "mustache."

I leave you with these words...Please keep in mind the Tamil saying, "A man's glory is his mustache." 

Good luck, gentlemen. May the best 'stache win.




I do have to include this screenshot of P-Dog's blog - the Google ad is a hilarious contrast to the point of his post.