Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery

you: "go away"
little brother: "go away"
you: "stop copying me"
little brother: "stop copying me"
you: "MOOOOOOOM!!!!! he's copying me!"
little brother: "moooooooom! she's copying me!"
you: "I'm stupid."
little brother: "you're stupid."

That always failed. Always.

Of course, my mom probably came back with "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, honey. Your brother just wants to be like you, he loves you." When you're 9 and your brother is 7, that doesn't exactly register. It's just plain annoying.

"Imitation is the sincerest of flattery."
Charles Caleb Colton, Lacon, volume I, no. 183 (1780 - 1832)

As an adult, this makes sense. If someone thinks you're cool/awesome/fun/smart/motivational/ambitious/exciting/happy/an expert/honest/humble/crazy-in-a-good-way/honorable/what have you, then they may, most likely subconsciously, copy you. I realize now that if someone wants to be like you or one of your inherent characteristics, then that is extremely flattering! How nice to be thought of as someone who others want to be like! If you can actually tell that someone is imitating or copying you, it's a tad odd though. And depending on who it is, it can be obnoxious and irritating. (yes, I just started that sentence with a conjunction. Bad.) I guess I just need to flip my thinking and take it as a form of flattery right? Mr. Colton was right.......as long as you take it that way.

Cheers to social media - such a plethora of blog topics!

Movie Mode on Canon 5D Mark II

Quick shout out to Tyler Ginter who posted this awesome tutorial on taking movies with the Canon 5D Mark II...I needed all the help I could get! http://www.vimeo.com/2517472

Couple of Thoughts...Beach Volleyball and Jeopardy

Thought #1: I wish I were a beach volleyball player. Those people are Hottie McHotts.

Thought #2: I'm worried these kids may beat me with Jeopardy answers. Especially the kid with the lisp. A lithp, I mean. Annoying.

Thought #3: Maybe I need cable. Or a life.

Sonoma County

I'm going to be spending the next two weekends in Sonoma County and it makes me get all nostalgic-like thinking about my time there...

In 1997 (holy cannoli I'm old), after a year at the lovely JC, I transferred up to Sonoma State to continue my higher education (aka get the heckfire outta my parents' house.) I still worked at the video store (best. job. ever.) and met awesome people I'm still friends with. So much fun, random, exciting stuff happened the years I lived in Rohnert Park and I still to this day get the warm-and-fuzzies when I go there.

Rohnert Park is a planned city. Not shocking to anyone who has been there. Everything is divided into sections...I lived in B section first, then two places in A section. As you can easily guess, all of the street names in each section start with that letter (they were a little lenient with it, or lazy, considering I lived on Alden then Santa Alicia. Not sure why they didn't just name it Alicia. Whatever.) Most people don't think highly of RP, but man, I do. I loved how close we were to Bodega Bay, Goat Rock and anywhere we could go on the coast, I loved how I could walk pretty much everywhere (and did!), I loved how easy it was to get to Santa Rosa (now, not so much), and how that town holds hilarious and awesome memories of my life back then. Given the choice these days, I'd rather live in Santa Rosa than Rohnert Park, but RP will always hold a special place in this here little heart of mine.

After RP, I moved to SF with Wenis, then back to SR, then up to Sonoma. Somewhere in there, I dated a guy who lived in the Sebastopol area and everytime I go out there now, I realize how much I miss it. There are great restaurants, fun bars, cool people and again, great memories. He lived in a sweet place west of Sebastopol that used to be the scale house for the apple orchards. Of course, all of these apple orchards are now vineyards (except for the Christmas Tree Farm which is rad) but the history of his little place gave it all the charm in the world. We spent almost every weekend out at Doran beach with a huge group of friends, playing volleyball (I didn't, they did. Volleyball hurts my arms. Oh and I suck.), BBQing and just watching the water...my favorite part.

My place in Sonoma holds good memories for the most part except for the very end and pretty much now (long story.) The beginning was great though! Sonoma Square is such an awesome area of town and holds the most fun. Good times had there for sure...

Having been in Santa Barbara this weekend and having lived so close to the ocean gives me that feeling again...the feeling that I need to be a beach bum and sell necklaces to tourists. Oh wait, not that one. The one where I think I'm meant to live on a beach somewhere...(photos and Santa Barbara posting coming soon.)

Good question to ask someone you don't really know...Do you prefer the beach or the mountains? My answer is always "I love the mountains - the way it smells, the clean, crisp air, the views, the snow, the trees - but there is something about the beach that just makes me stop, stare, and relax. There's an inexplicable feeling I get when I go to the beach...one that makes me want to live there, work there, and be there all the time."

Cheers to memories, nostalgia, Sonoma County, the beach and all y'all!

Santa Barbara Rocks

I love it here. Love it. I just wanted to pop in and say that. When I get back I'll blog for real about my mini-vacation but for now, need to hop in the shower and get ready for Something's Fishy. Yum.

Cheers for SDub's b-day and a beach mini-vacation!!!!!

My Parents

I'm 31 now and over last probably 5 years, I've come to realize something about my parents. Now, they don't read this blog and I probably won't admit as much to them outright, but I'll post it for the world (aka my 3 readers) to see: they were pretty much always right.

--They've always recycled. Take it as their inner hippie or what have you, my parents have recycled for as long as I can remember, even when it was more inconvenient. I learned good habits from them and recycling is definitely one of them. Green before their time.

--They refuse to buy bottled water. Bottled water is a waste of plastic. I try not to use bottled water as much as I can, but I'm not nearly as good at this as my parents. In light of yet another article about bottled water being not that great/safe/regulated, I'm going to try much harder to use less plastic and more beautiful red metal water holder thing. They also refuse to buy paper towels...something I haven't yet committed to but plan to this year. Yet again, green before their time.

--Always on time. I like this characteristic they share - and I learned it from them. I don't like to make people wait, especially now that we're all older and all much, much busier than we used to be. Every moment is precious (not to be cheesy but it's true!) and I don't want to waste my time or someone else's. 

--Try it, you'll like it. Now this doesn't always work, but most of the time, I have tried it and I usually do like it: red bell peppers, salmon, red onions, mixed greens (but how good is iceberg...mmmm...oh who do I hear? mom? iceberg is just water? yeah yeah, I know.) Over the years I've tried things I thought I didn't like just to see if I now like them. Seafood I still haven't taken a liking to. I'll try lobster again in like 3 years.

--They used to build things better. Time and time again this has proven to be true. In some things. I love new gadgets...like I've mentioned, I'm a geek. Some old things are just better though...cars. Old cars rock. For my birthday my parents gave me a KitchenAid mixer that still has Hobart on it. Yeah, from back then. It's awesome. Now if I could just learn how to cook...

--When you're not in the room, shut the light off (and the runner up, know what you want before you open the refrigerator.) Now that I pay my own PG&E bills, I know they were right. Period.

--Don't run up credit cards. Yeaaaaah. Should have listened to that one.

--A boy should always come to the door when he picks you up. ABSOLUTELY. I cannot believe I ever stood for a guy honking in his car. I know I can be old fashioned about dating and relationships, but this is common courtesy. I wouldn't ever do that to a friend either.

--In it for the long haul. My parents have been together for 33 years. Thirty-three years. That's inspiring in and of itself! I can only hope for the same.

If I can think of more, and I know I will, I'll add them. Got any good ones?

Busy

Countdown to Santa Barbara...T minus 1 day! I am so looking forward to celebrating SDub's birthday with her in such an awesome place. On the way down, we'll be hitting up Hearst Castle (never been!) then do some wine tasting in Paso and SB, and then head to our cute vacation rental about 5 min from the beach and downtown Santa Barbara. 

Roadtrips = awesome. The beach = awesome. Wine tasting = awesome. Birthdays = always awesome. Summer = awesome.

I. can't. wait.

Cheers to mini-vacations!

PS - 47 minutes until Wipeout.

Monday

K just came to town to do some Baby Belly Photos and we had such a blast! I am so excited to meet Baby K - and I'm writing it here - I'm still hoping for a girl. Of course, I'll be happy for a boy too, but I am crossing my fingers (and toes) for a girl. 

Cheers to Baby Belly Photos, a Rutherford Grill smorgasbord, and seeing K!

Love This

Urban Word of the Day: FACEBRAG 

To use Facebook as a platform to brag. Normally about a job, internship, trip, purchase or anything else that nobody really needs to know but you'd like to tell everyone because you're awesome.

I LOVE THIS URBAN WORD OF THE DAY.

It's one things to share excitement and tell your friends and "friends" good news and it's another to brag about having things or that your life is awesome. all. the. time. What happened to good old humbleness?

This Guy Is My Hero

Curly is my hero. Not the Curly from the Three Stooges, but this guy. He's 107, born in 1902 (yes, obviously.) One hundred and seven. I thought I'd write that out since the number is so awesome. He's seen things I can't even begin to imagine and he's happy. Undeniably, consistently, fantastically happy. He's all about eating right and exercising, which he attributes to his striking physique and tip top mind. I am too, I just have a more difficult time with the actual execution of it.


Curly, you've inspired me. If you can lift weights everyday, so can I. If you can ride your bike around until you're 102, I can at least TRY at 31. You rock and I hope everything works out for you. Cheers!

In Response to My Food Idea...

So I know I said I was going to try to become a Flexitarian, but now I'm not so sure. Check it, yo: an article on how being a vegetarian makes your bones weak. Yeah, I already have the female thing working against me with bone density and though I'm an avid milk drinker, I worry about osteoporosis. Ok, maybe not as much as how I worry about diabetes or if the Richmond bridge is going to fall into the Bay, but I do think about it.

Granted, I don't believe everything I read because in a few days, there will be an article from some other source that being a vegetarian is better for your bones and prevents psoriasis or something. I take all this stuff with a grain of salt. But just a grain, I'm watching my blood pressure.

Cheers to the news - you never know what you're gonna get.

Nerd Alert Nerd Alert

With the help of this smart dude (chick?), I have gotten my Samsung phone to talk to my computer via Bluetooth and move all of my contacts off of my phone and onto my computer. Now, hopefully, when I get home, I can take the zip file of contacts, unzip them on my Mac, upload them into my address book, push to MobileMe, and on Friday, when I get the iPhone, it'll all sync up and I shouldn't have lost a thing.

Cross your fingers for me - I'm in way over my geeky head.

Cheers to people helping people!

PS - I warned you with the title of this post. It is SUPER NERDY.

UPDATE: I just imported my vcards from my super duper cool Bluetool transfer to Address Book on the Mac...Took about .654 seconds and BAM....they're all there!!! Now, by Friday, I'll know if my mad computer skills paid off....the true test. iPhone day.

UPDATE 2: I forgot to update this...got the iPhone on Friday and connected my Mac address book to my iPhizzle and BAM (again)....contacts loaded. AWESOME.

Happy Hump Day

It's Wednesday - the tipping point between last weekend and this weekend. I try not to live for weekends, but sometimes I can't help it. Especially when the coming weekend is a FOUR DAY weekend! WOOWOO! Thank you for becoming independent, USofA, I appreciate the day off.

Friday is iPhone day...I'm still not super excited but I think that's mostly because of AT&T. They suck and though I swore I'd never return to that fateful company, here I am, handing over a boatload of cash. Oh well, what's two years of my life? Ultimately, I think the iPhone will be great for me...great for organizational purposes and my business. I'm defintiely looking forward to downloading the most random apps I can find...an app(lication) about app(etizer)s would be AWESOME. I'll have to see if that exists. If not, I'll make one and become the richest person on the planet. Muuuwaaahhaaahaahaaaaaaa.


Saturday, we're celebrating the 4th in Sonoma Square - my old stomping grounds! I'm looking forward to being outside and they have killer fireworks.

I have finally convinced K to do maternity shots on Sunday... can't wait to capture this exciting time in her life!! We'll have so much fun!

Sunday and Monday are clean-my-house-work-on-projects days. It's been SO long since I've tended to anything at my house....at this point I'd rather live in Motel 6. Oh, excuse' moi, Chateau Seis. At least they leave the light on for you.


Cheers to long weekends!

Sayings Cont.

By the way, a saying that I HEART that I never say anymore is:

I love you like a fat kid loves cake. 

So descriptive, isn't it? Just creates that image of how much I love you! I googled it just to see what I'd get and I found an awesome blog...I particularly like that it was posted in 2007 and also the fact that it has photos and lets you know that even though you may not have been searching for this blog, there's a reason to stay and hang out for a while. Well done.

My New Favorite Saying

I'm always down for new and funny sayings. People can be so creative. I will say, that my new and funny saying has come my way thanks to The Lonely Island: Punch You in the Jeans. I love it and will use it regularly. It will replace my "I want to punch her in the face." or the ever-perfect "I want to kick him in the shins."

Thank you, The Lonely Island, for providing me first with I'm on a Boat (utterly classic and incessantly funny) and now my new phrase - punch you in the jeans. I'm forever grateful.



Cheers to The Lonely Island!

PS - I've got my swim trunks and my flippy floppies. Let's roll.

Social Media

I think Social Media is awesome. Is that super duper uber ultra geeky of me or what?

Cheers 2.0!

PS - Ya know what else is geeky? I just joined Technorati. Awesome.

aerfd5stnc

Weeds & Other News

I've started up with Weeds again after a short hiatus (just started season 2 last night - thank you, Z, for my Watch Instantly Netflix access!!) and I'll tell ya...MLP annoys me. She always looks like a deer in headlights. The premise is funny I guess, though slightly sad and pathetic, and maybe that's why she acts so lame most of the time. She's trying to come off naive and green to the business (ha - yes, pun intended) but most of the time she's coming off as stupid. And she doesn't even partake in the merchandise...all in all, my review of Weeds is that it's ok. Addicting, but just ok. Hopefully it'll get better even though I hear it gets worse...

In other news, Tahoe was insanely awesome this weekend - the weather was hot and clear, the company was great, craps was awesome, and the dancing rocked!
{Me, Q, C - happy to have a weekend away!}


{Q and Arthur the awesome lounge DJ!}


{This HAS to be during DON'T STOP BELIEVIN'!!!! HOLD ON TO THAT FEEELLLLIIINNN'!! STREET LIGHTS! PEOPLE! OOOHHHHHHOOOOOOOOHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!}

Lakeside Inn is my absolute favorite casino in South Lake for gambling - cheaper tables, friendly staff, and $2 drinks. Bummer they took out their roulette table a few years back but roulette is a money sucker anyway. I do like it, but I have found that my favorite game right now is craps! Why don't I play that lovely game of chance EVERY TIME I gamble? It's so much more fun! We played $2 hands and were able to learn the ropes even more in the middle of a Sunday afternoon. Nope, didn't walk away with my mortgage payment, but had a blast for an hour and $20. That's worth it. Ya know what else was worth it? Q's banter back and forth with the dealers. I will say that at a table full of true craps players, 3 chicks with $20 have a great time.

Cheers to Tahoe! (as always.)

Last Weekend

Last weekend was pretty nutty - K's baby shower BBQ, A's b-day, photo shoot, The Hangover, rehashing The Hangover, then sleep glorious sleep on Sunday night.

Let's begin from the end, with seeing The Hangover Sunday afternoon. I loved this movie. Loved it. Loved it so much I saw it again on Monday night and it was even better! This movie is really all about the one-liners and there are SO many of them that I just can't stop repeating...it's not illegal, it's frowned upon. One of my favorite parts is how Alan copies Phil...in the desert, in the car on the way home, at the wedding ("does my hair look like Phil's?" "yes, Alan, classic Phil.") Alan is so pathetically funny and he's trying to copy the cool guy, Phil, so much. It's awesome. His lines are GREAT. Funny how movies sometime mimic real life! They did such a great job in this movie casting the characters...they're soooo different and sooooo funny together. Did you just eat sofa pizza?

That morning, I had gone to Sonoma to do a photoshoot for W...it was fun and friendly and crazy with people but it was a house filled with smiles and good-natured smack talk. Reminded me of home...


Working backwards...A's b-day. We had an awesome time in Petaluma - hit up Dempsey's for dinner (best onion rings I've ever had...more like a pile of shaved, fried onion heaven) and, of course, mad conversation. After dinner, we headed downtown, deciding to try the vodka bar at Graziano's. Yes, a vodka bar. As in a room with blue lights, a wall of vodkas, and 28 degrees. So cold that they give you a faux fur coat...as seen here:


After the pricey vodka shots and frozen extremities, we headed to the Hideaway to dance a little and closedown the place in honor of A's 21st birthday :)

During the day on Saturday, it was my honor and pleasure to attend the K&JK Baby Bash BBQ! M and I left her house early that afternoon and headed out to Spring Lake in Santa Rosa for an afternoon in the sun with friends and family. They made it so fun! There was baby present bingo, betting on date/time/gender of the baby, and an awesome idea - a large white mat with pink & blue pens to sign with...sign your name in your chosen baby-type (boy blue/girl pink), and guess the baby's arrival date and weight/length. This is a lot like guessing how many jellybeans are in a jar or people in a room and I am horrible at those games. Here's a little taste of the party...(I'll edit some of these this weekend and post to my Facebook business page...)



Friday I stayed at my parents' house - it was nice to just hang out, work on photos, and watch Wall-E.

Another Thought on The Best Show Ever.

As I've written 3289381 times here, Wipeout is the second best show on the planet, only to The Office. Granted, they are different kinds of humor, so maybe they tie for first place in my best-shows-on-the-planet race.

How can you not love the Big Red Balls? The Motivator? The Dizzy Dummy? People falling? People falling in mud? People falling in cold water? People falling in suds? People falling off Banana Hammocks? The awesome, hilarious commentary?

My perfect world would be living on the beach, a warm beach, with TVs all around my little beach cottage playing Wipeout all the time. You know they have enough footage!

If you've never watched Wipeout, please do. You'll thank me for it.

Match.com Article

I saw this article yesterday and just had to comment, considering I have mucho experience with online dating (and I'm obviously not ashamed to admit it.)

So there's a guy who signs up for Match. He peruses the goods and notices after a while that women aren't replying to him or sending any "winks" or emails. He now decides to sue Match.com for misrepresenting themselves. He says that profiles are outdated, that they leave people's profiles up there to make it look like there's more of a pool than there really is.

Sure, there are profiles that are old - either they have accounts that auto-renew (grrrr) and the people never bother to notice that they're being pilfered out of $30/month or they still show up because they never set their status to "non-searchable." In any event, just sort by "Newest First" and you'll never have this issue. If people aren't communicating with you, there may be a few issues...

1. Your profile sucks. If you come right out and tell people that you're looking for a friend "to do fun stuff with," chicks who are looking to date will skip over you. If you say that you just want to have fun and aren't looking for anything serious, chicks read "player" and move on. If you have misspellings/typos it makes it look like you don't care. If you write the mandatory 1200 characters or whatever, again, it makes you look like you don't care. If you come across as a mama's boy, chicks will move on. If your photos are too far away or terrible, chicks will move on. A chick is as much of a visual being as you are, so make it count. As much as people say that you can't judge someone based on their profile - yes. you. can. That's ALL someone sees before they make contact with you! It's their first impression of you - just like in "real" life. Every time you do something with someone new, you're making a first impression. Make sure it's a good one.

2. You come off as a stalker. If you contact someone and they don't write back, you're allowed ONE more point of contact and that's all. For whatever reason, they didn't write back to you and you need to respect that. They could be on vacation, off Match, dating someone else, don't like your profile for one of the many reasons listed above, slammed at work, busy in their social lives, or any other reason. Most importantly, it's most likely not about you. Move along.

3. You think you're entitled to matches. No one deserves matches just because they paid $30. They deserve matches when they WORK at getting them. Match.com, eHarmony, Yahoo Personals - they all take a TON of work. Check emails. Wink at people. Arrange dates. Follow up. It's a. lot. of work. Again, like "real" life, dating takes work. It shouldn't be overly difficult to meet up with strangers, but it does take some effort. It takes effort to be selective and look for people who truly match you. If you don't like someone for whatever reason, other people may not like you for their reasons. It goes both ways. And the entitlement issue, don't even get me started.

All in all, my experience in online dating was....um...interesting...and not all bad. Obviously, I haven't found the love of my life that way and I don't think I will. Online dating gave me confidence that bad boyfriends had whittled away, and gave me a plethora of hilarious stories.

My last thought...it's dating. Don't take it (or yourself) so seriously.

Dessert in the Morning...

...I wish.

I'm craving a Rosen's cheesecake. Yes, it's 7:48am.

Happy Thursday-the-Almost-Friday.

Cheating.

In the midst of all of the Jon & Kate Plus 8 brouhaha, it saddens me to think about how often people cheat on one another. (Be aware...I'm going to use "you" in my rant on cheating, but it's just a general "you" and not aimed at anyone in particular, hence the word "rant.")

My philosophy is simple: If you don't want to be with your significant other, LEAVE. Don't cheat emotionally, don't cheat mentally, and don't cheat physically, just leave. If you don't leave and you decide to cheat, you're basically taking away all of the decision making from your significant other which is almost as bad as the cheating itself. They've now been put in a position of having to be defensive, feeling like it was their fault, and dealing with the aftermath of someone who cheated. There is no more trust and obviously there was never any respect. If you respect your partner enough to tell them you love them, spend all of your free time with them, make life decisions with them, or marry them, they deserve the respect of your telling them you aren't into it anymore. This gives them the chance to choose to work on things with you or come to a mutual decision to separate. At least give them that chance.

Of course, leaving is easier said than done. I know it would be especially difficult if there were kids involved, but don't you think that kids would know what was happening? They're in tune with their parents' relationship and they know when something's amiss. It would be better to breakup than force your kids and each other to "live happily ever after" when you're all far from it.

Now on the idea of "once a cheater, always a cheater." If things weren't working in your relationship and you decided to find sex, love, and rock and roll with someone else, why wouldn't you do the same in their next relationship? How can you ever trust someone who has cheated on you or on someone else? They lack respect for the person they claim to love and are so self-centered that they feel they can do whatever they want to whomever they want for whatever reason they've justified in their own head..."oh well, they didn't pay me enough attention" or "I was meant to be with this new person - we're so much more compatible." Any way you slice and dice it, you cheated because YOU made the decision to cheat, and it has nothing to do with anyone else, how you've been "wronged" or how the new person makes you feel. You chose to be selfish and fulfill some need you had. Who's to say you won't do that again to your next "love"?

I may get flack for this posting, but nothing anyone says will make cheating ok to me. Karma will come back to bite you in the booty and you deserve it. Cheating is the lowest thing one person can do to another and it shows how little respect you have for anyone but yourself.

Just a Quick Note...

I HEART WIPEOUT.

Yep, Another Random Thought.

I have been thinking that maybe I should try to become a vegan for 2 weeks. I feel like I should challenege myself to do something that will probably make me feel better. I say that, then I overindulge in a delicious dinner that includes ribs. I heart ribs. I don't like the sauce all over my hands and under my fingernails, but I heart ribs nonetheless. I was lucky enough to have ribs last night. They weren't Rutherford Grill ribs but YUM they were good.

See? I can't even think about becoming a vegan because then I start thinking about all the meat I'll miss out on. Bounce back to the other side of the fence...it's only two weeks. And the other side...mmmm, ribs. And back over...two. weeks. seriously. And once again on the other side...mmmmm, ribs.

I read an article yesterday about Flexitarianism - basically defined as a vegetarian who occasionally eats meat. Maybe that's what I should try. The article was saying to incorporate this slowly...start reducing the size of the meat in your dishes then leaving it out completely more regularly. I wonder if maybe this is the route I should take. Less extreme and honestly, it's sorta made for me. Nice and middle-of-the-road, non-committal. I think I'll try this instead of being a vegan for two weeks. Besides, it has a better name.

Random Thought

I think the word "besties" is stupid.

Thank you and good night.

The Red Bridge...

When I was a kid, we walked across the Golden Gate Bridge on the 50th anniversary of its opening. Today, an article was published on SFGate: The Golden Gate Bridge turns 72 today! 72?? Really?? How the heck did that happen? That was 22 years ago! I was NINE.

When I walked across the bridge that day, I remember my brother B was in a stroller. He was 2. He's no longer that little kid with the chubby cheeks and white blonde curls. I remember hearing soon after that the bridge actually flattened a little from the weight of that many people. Flattened! I still think about that to this day when I drive over the bridge. 

I am so happy that my parents took us on this journey. I think about it all the time and am stoked that I was able to recently walk across the bridge again on one of the hottest days I've ever experienced in the city. Sometimes it's pretty sweet to live here.

Trying to Tweet Over Here.

Twitter is broken. I'm not really sure how they could let this happen, but it has. Too many tweeters in the world - everyone wants to talk at the same time. See what happens when too many people talk at the same time? Chaos. Insanity. Too much noise. Irritation. That's why your mom always said, "Don't interrupt."

The Goob on the Couch

Here I sit, watching the American Idol finale. Yay Kris Allen. I like when the underdog wins....I don't even remember this guy from auditions or even Hollywood week. Yay for him and his little blonde wife - their lives have changed so dramatically and it's fun to think about how I'd feel if it were me. Unfortunately, I'd be in the award clips for worst female, oh, I mean, Outstanding Female. Stupid Bikini Girl. Stupid Tatiana.

In other news, I got the EA Sports Active for the Wii last night. It's super cool! It's basically the bootcamp I did last summer....lunges, squats, rows, running, walking, ya know - the works. I'm sore today...though that could be from the massive amounts of boxing-tennis-bowling-baseball that Wenis and I did last night. Boxing is still my favorite....it's SO FUNNY.

I'm still pretty exhausted from our sales meeting last week... American Idol has kept me up waaaay past my bedtime tonight. Time for some shut eye.

The List.

The List ends today. Like I said 328193810 times already, I didn't do very well, though I kicked it up a notch over the past few weeks.

Since today is my 10th anniversary of my 21st birthday, I thought I'd wrap up the list and explain it. If you're willing to read on, please do, I may say something funny.

1. Learn to make Belgian waffles like my dad's So I learned how to make waffles, but I have yet to practice on anyone. Practice makes perfect on these puppies! I took copious notes, so I'll be making these for someone soon! Volunteers?

2. Visit Gabe & Jen in NY (post May 7 but make the plans!)
Unfortunately, I had to cancel my trip back east for lame financial reasons. If I can swing it, I'll be out there later in the summer to bet on some ponies and hang out on a warm beach with warm water!

3. Visit Morgan & Bobby in Martha's Vineyard (post May 7 but make the plans!) Ditto to the above!

4. Run the Maui marathon - TRAIN for an end-of-'09 marathon

Knowing me, I can't commit to anything...especially not a marathon that I'd have to train for on my own. Instead, I signed up for the Vegas Rock N Roll Half Marathon in Dec. Now if I could just start running...

5. Try all 31 flavors at Baskin Robbins - Yeah, I only got through 4. Not sure what happened on this! I heart ice cream and it should have been an easy one. I suck. Well, cheers to pistachio, jamocha, cookie dough and butter pecan.

6. Take a picnic to the beach - Yep, another one I never got around to...and I. Love. The. Beach. It's still on my list for this coming year.

7. Tahoe trip Yo check it. Headed up to Tahoe this past weekend. It was awesome.

8. Put $10 on 31 and hope for the best Put my money on 31, didn't win, but won on every other number I put it on! Came home $50 richer.

9. Rita's for karaoke - A little late, but we're going tomorrow!

10. Play a practical joke on a friend - Couldn't think of anything...have a whole year to think now....muuuwaaahhaahaaaaa

11. Drive east and shoot the whole way - Again with an easy one - looking forward to doing this one soon.

12. Visit Half Moon Bay - Oh come on now. I couldn't get to Half Moon Bay? Really?

13. Host a dinner party Check! Hosted Poker Night and cooked a rather good dinner for the girls.

14. Volunteer for a day - Yep, just selfish I guess.

15. Shoot a gun Added after the fact, but man it was a good one to have on The List. Still scary and not sure if I'll ever do that again.

16. Walk across the Golden Gate Bridge Did it, and it was awesome. Kinda far.

17. Visit the Cable Car Museum WAY cooler than I expected - the heart of the cable system. Local peeps have to check that out!

18. Learn 3 all-purpose jokes What does a one-legged ballerina wear? A one-one. What does a Scottish guy have in common with the Rolling Stones? The Rolling Stones say Hey You, get off my cloud and the Scottish guy says Hey McCloud, get off my ewe. What are the two dirtiest animals on the farm? Brown chicken brown cooooow.

19. Go on a date with someone over 40 (uhhh) and someone under 30 (again.) I backtracked in life and used the horrible horrible speed dating-in-a-community-center for my over 40 and the most recent speed dating for my under 30. The kid was 22. Ugh.

20. Take another swing dance lesson - Have to do this! I love it! (don't lead, don't lead)

21. Find a kickboxing class I love - same as above - have to do it! Hiiiiii-YAH.

22. Pay cash for 5 purchases over $30I didn't like this one.

23. See Citizen Kane - Still never seen it. Will have to Netflix that bad boy.

24. Master the art of the bloody mary I had one today - it counts.

25. Shoot at least 25 photos per weekCheck! It helps when the fancy new camera arrives.

26. Discover a new band I'm counting the awesome lounge band from Tahoe on this one. I didn't discover them per se...no clue what their name was. They were cool - someone yelled Free Bird and they actually played it. Rock on.

27. Hike to the top of Mt. Tam - Given that I grew up in Marin, this should be a given, but alas, I'm THAT guy. Someday...

28. See the sunrise & sunset in the same day. Check! It was fun.

29. Go gokarting I have a need for speed.

30. Mail notes to friends/family more often. I LOVED this one and plan to do it way more.

31.Turn 31.

Check. I'm old, yo.

Cheers to my new List! Send me ideas!

Almost 31.

I'm having somewhat of a third-life crisis (sidenote: if I live to be 90+ I'll be stoked.) Ya know when a guy (or gal I guess) has been married for a long time, has the kids, the job, the house...they get into what they feel like is a rut and buy a new sports car, usually a Corvette. This is how I feel right now in life...in a rut. I'm not sure why exactly, maybe because none of the "big stuff" has happened, or even really has the potential of happening any time soon.

Should I buy a Corvette? No. I shouldn't. I need to get over myself and stop brooding. I'm lucky to have such awesome friends to make me laugh like nothing else. I love how we can be ourselves and be dorky and fun and funny and random and spontaneous and planners and adventurers. We don't take ourselves too seriously and that is my number 1 favorite thing. I'm lucky to have such an awesome family too. My brothers are dudes who have found jobs they love, girlfriends that I like (because as we know this is super important), and friends that are actually cool. They're not my little brothers anymore but my tall, skinny brothers who are adults. (Yeah, it's weird.) My parents are a cool couple I've realized this week - they go on cool trips and do interesting things all the time. They're thoughtful and helpful and considerate. My mom likes to shop and my dad is so extremely handy it rocks.

Sooooo I'm turning 31. THIRTY-ONE. Tomorrow. Wow. I hope the next year is as busy and fun as the last!

Cheers to the 10th anniversary of my 21st birthday!

Countdown Continues

How can a weekend fly by yet yesterday morning feel like it was ages ago? That is this weekend. M and I met up on a gloomy and miserable Saturday morning for a cup of coffee and decided to leave for Tahoe at 3 that afternoon. It. Rocked. I love random trips, especially ones to Tahoe and ones that allow me to scratch off #7 & #8 on The List! 

It was rainy. Very, very rainy. M hadn't been to Tahoe yet and unfortunately the fog-rain-clouds-mist-snow kept her from seeing the stunning mountains and most of the lake. There was still a ton of snow up there - not enough to ski on but enough to make what we could see of the mountains even more beautiful. I absolutely LOVE Tahoe. I love the way it smells, the gorgeous landscape, the people, the places, the random encounters, the funny stories, everything. This trip didn't disappoint. 

We did the typical one-night-Tahoe-trip. Headed straight to South Lake, with a stop at Ross along the way (I really need jeans), then found a motel closest to Stateline, and checked in. Got ready, had some EmergenC (that stuff is dis.gus.ting.), listened to fun music, then walked into Nevada to Harvey's. May is hit or miss - it's off season so the motel rates are low but sometimes there aren't people there either. This weekend though, Sammy Hagar was playing, so Tahoe was crazy. Cabo Wabo was nuts, so we stayed at the lounge band in Harrah's most of the time. Then of course, a weekend in Tahoe wouldn't be complete without some dancing. Headed into Vex when the line disappeared and danced the night away. It was awesome.

Today, we lazily made our way home, stopping for food & gas & the Verizon store. Right now, I wish I had cable. I'm posted on my couch with nothing to watch but my beloved Hulu and Netflix. It'll get me through.

What To Do With COPIA...

COPIA was a cool idea that never quite came to fruition. If cool ideas need a place to come and die, come to Napa. Not that Napa is horrible, it's just that it hasn't found the balance between locals & tourists, which in my mind would equal success. If businesses only ever cater to tourists, then 6-7 months out of the year you're stuck without much business from us, the locals.

COPIA should have offered locals passes - perhaps an annual fee of $10 that would get us in for free. Instead, they charged $10 at the door. For what, exactly? The same photography exhibit and wine shots? Sure, they had movies on Fridays and cool wine & cooking classes, but again, the costs were prohibitive for people to do that every week. Overall, it failed, obviously, since it's now been closed for months.

My idea for COPIA? Turn it into a hot spot! Napa needs one! Live music, DJ nights, comedy nights, awesome art exhibits, wine tastings, beer tastings, movie nights (they already have a theater-like room).....all of which would be fun, affordable, and cater to locals as well as those visiting our little town. There aren't too many neighbors in that area - the river runs around the back of the property and there is enough distance that I think loud music could easily be played without bothering anyone. The place is HUGE inside - there's no shortage of what could be done with it. Why not capitalize on the younger generation in this town who have nowhere to go and make it the buzz about town? Anyone care to lend me a cool mil? I'll have a sweet spot up and running in no time. I'll be sure to hire bouncers - it seems like anywhere with music needs bouncers for all the "gang" fights here that shut every other place down. Who's with me?

The Week...

I don't have too much to say....pretty burned out from the past week. My garage sale...well....it was a garage sale. I made like $200 which when all is said and done is not. enough. for. all. the. work. Then again, it's $200 I didn't have last week and it cleared out the house a little, so I guess it's ok. The best part was hanging out with my family and friends! Everyone was right - garage sale people are weird.

Z came into town late on Saturday and ended up staying for a while. We did random stuff which was super fun. While he was here, we went to one winery (I swear it'll be better next time, Z), I tasted 4 Baskin Robbins flavors (butter pecan, jamocha, cookie dough, and pistachio), had a fancy dinner at Go Fish and watched Superbad (FINALLY). It rocked.

My birthday is in 6 days. Six. Days. Wow. In regards to The List, I have 27 more flavors of ice cream to eat and I should probably make waffles at least once more. The rest will just have to roll over to next year (year 32, that is.) They're perfectly good List items, there's no reason I can't use them next year.

The past two days were spent in my personal hell - a public speaking class at work. Yes, I just did this in January. This course was different, but the requirements were pretty much the same - speak and they will film you. It's just lovely. I now know that my cute jeans aren't that cute and my flattering blue tunic is super unflattering. My hair is awkward and my arms do this weird floppy thing when the left decides that it's ok to relax and not mimic Bob Dole. I'm usually quite animated in real life and when I speak on camera, I am as boring as Toby from The Office. It's weird. As you can tell, I had an awesome time doing this. Oh well, it'll make me a better, more well-rounded person, right? Oh ya know what else would make me more well-rounded? Finishing my list. That's also a tad bit more fun.

Cheers to a random and awesome week (exceptforThursdayandFriday).

Things That Are Rad, Chapter 4

A brand new tube of toothpaste

Jeans on Friday

The potential to sell stuff I don't use anymore

A cozy bed

Microfiber

A dining room table that was a steal at Cost Plus

My fluffy white robe

A good book

My laptop connected to my TV & working correctly

Improv

Any sort of improv is awesome. Purely awesome. When these people dance to Do Re Mi from The Sound of Music (one of my favorite movies ever) in Belgium, I just get all happy like a 3 year old with an ice cream cone. It makes me feel like there really IS a sense of community and it's just such raw entertainment. These people are not out there to make a buck, they're not hired actors, they're not some company. They're funny people doing funny things just. because. And I love that. I don't do nearly enough of things just for the halibut.

Improv Everywhere is one of those organizations. HILARIOUS. My favs are the Best Buy one, the Slo Mo Home Depot, and Frozen in Grand Central. I get all giddy when I watch these, both for the funniness of it all and the comraderie. It just tickles my fancy.

Cheers to giggles again. I heart them.

PS - When I lived in the city with WU, she had to take an improv class in school. Nerves were getting the best of her, so I met her at The Gold Dust for early afternoon shots. Yep, shots. She went to her class buzzed. Given how funny she is already, I think I missed a good show.

Yoga

So I haven't tried yoga since like 2003 because it hurt my bum shoulder pretty bad. On Monday night, Z and I went to Drank's house with Q and did yoga in her living room to a DVD. It was the exact opposite of Frozen Yoga - it's been SO hot here it was more like free Bikram Yoga. Anyway, I'm sore. I don't know if it was the yoga or the laughter at things in the DVD like "let your organs soften" and "release your spine down to your pubis." I mean, seriously? Who talks like that?

Reason #3829 why I don't do yoga - it hurts my shoulder.
Reason #24579 why I don't do yoga - it's cheesy and makes me giggle.
Reason #1947 why I don't do yoga - I'm not that bendy.

Cheers to the giggles...without them, I don't know how I'd go on.

PS - Imagining us doing yoga in Drank's living room is actually quite funny.

The Countdown

For some reason, this birthday is looming more than my 30th. Is it because I'm now officially in my 30s? Is it because this isn't where I expected I'd be? Is it because life is flying by and I can't help but wonder where it went? Hmmm.....

In my old age, I keep thinking about what I've done, what I haven't done, how I've lived, and who's impacted my life. With Z here for the past few days and the hours and hours of conversation with him, with the wedding on Friday and seeing my friends of 10+ years (!), I guess I'm feeling somewhat reflective. Cheesy, I know. Please feel free to make fun.

I think I've lived well, though I know that not everything I've done is honorable. Now that I've grown up somewhat, I take pride in how I treat others, and I thank my parents for raising me right. I'll never understand those who take advantage of people, those who are rude for no reason, and those who are self-centered. I'd rather be friends with people until they give me a reason not to be than the other way around. 

Ok, I'm done. Proceed with the mockery.

Whirlwind Weekend

This past Friday, my friend from college, ABB, got married in the East Bay. Gorgeous venue, great food, pretty everything. They even had a photo booth!! (Photos to be posted shortly) This was the first wedding where they played some sort of ice-breaker type of game which was extraordinarily entertaining! First the DJ tells us that if we pass a dollar bill around the table during the music, whoever ends up with the dollar gets the flowers out of the centerpiece. We pass. And pass. And pass. KMNK's hubby gets it, but then the DJ throws in a twist - whoever is holding the dollar has to get up and dance around the table. So there he went, dancing around our table. He stops behind me when the music stops. Now I have to get up and dance around the table. It was awesome looking around the room seeing people dancing around fancy dinner tables. I stop behind KMNK, thinking, yay - she gets the flowers! Um no. She now has to play musical chairs on the dancefloor! That pregnant friend of mine (or as we called her that night, El Preggor) danced her little booty around those chairs, butt-bumping grandmas and uncles galore. It came down to El Preggor and Uncle Tom (or something) and as Kung Fu Fighting stopped, El Preggor landed her backside in that chair, winning all dollar bills from all tables. It was extremely entertaining and will be on You Tube soon.

Saturday consisted of cooking (yes, I cooked) and cleaning (yes, I cleaned) for poker night. The girls came over around 7pm and we had BBQ chicken, creamy polenta, and my spiffy citrus salad (#13 on The List). We finally got to poker around 9:30pm and played till about 11:30. Another late night was had.

Sunday, Z and I headed to the city for a Giants game. ABB's dad got us tickets to the game so we were with a lot of the people from the wedding. So fun. So HOT. I don't think I've ever sweated that much in San Francisco. Ever. It was melt-your-kicks, get-me-another-beer, so-glad-I-wore-a-dark-shirt-so-you-can't-see-my-sweaty-back hot. Since Z and I didn't want to waste a warm day in the city, we randomly decided on our drive out of town to stop at the Cable Car Musem (#17 on The List) which was so so cool. Thanks to my dad for telling me to add that one! We saw the home of all 4 cable car lines. SO cool. We then decided to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge (#16 on The List) - Z had never done that! It was unbelivably warm still - how often do you see people on the bridge in a tank top....it rocked.

All in all, a killer weekend! Too bad I can barely keep my eyes open and want to go to Marine World. Too bad I have to earn the money for a $30 ticket to ride rollercoasters. Doesn't it sound awesome though?

Cheers :)

PS - I no longer have cable. Lame.

A Year?? Get out!

It's been a year and one month since my worst. date. ever. How can that be? I haven't had another date that bad since. Either that means that I'm not going out much or I'm going out with somewhat normal guys. I think it's both.

I just had to post this because it's really funny. Wrong in so many ways, yet still quite entertaining.

Cheers.

Follow Up.

Thinking about my poor Things-to-do-before-I-turn-31 List, I'm actually disappointed in myself that I didn't accomplish as much as I thought I would have. I'm really bummed I had to cancel my jaunt to the east coast and really need something to look forward to. Time to plan some small, cheap getaways...

I've wondered lately why my friends and I don't take more trips. We all love the same things, we get along so well, and we travel well together on the small road trips we do take. We can talk for hours and hours and hours about nothing and feel like we accomplished a ton. We all value the importance of girl time, even those of us who are attached to that species we call boys. We giggle, do random things, have random things happen to us, and can enjoy a weekend in some tiny town just because it's somewhere we've never been. We have so much fun and I wish we could live on a cul-de-sac all together and ride golf carts everywhere we needed to go. I imagine us in the future all living on our little street, having block parties, and our kids all playing together.

Given that none of us live THAT close to each other, I thought I'd enter us into a spa-getaway contest at Uptake - a travel website that I just learned about. My girls and I rarely pamper ourselves - we can be too practical or too broke - so who knows! If I win, I can honestly say that we'd have the best time that anyone could possibly have on a spa weekend. We'd make sure that even the staff had a blast.

Cheers to contests (gotta love 'em) and friends (gotta love 'em too).

THE LIST.

Sooooooo in 23 days I turn 31. Um. Yeah. I sort of don't think that I'll accomplish most of what's on my list in the next 23 days. I've only done 7 so far. SEVEN. I canceled my east coast trip (#s 2 & 3. Bummer. I'll miss you guys.), so there goes two anyway.

So what I'm thinking is that I'll roll this list over into my 32nd year of life, change out the ones I did for new ones, and add one, hence my new list: 32 things to do before I turn 32.

One thing I promise to do before I turn 31 is try all 31 flavors at Baskin Robbins. I mean, that doesn't exactly translate to my 32nd year very well, and hey, I love ice cream.

Don't be disappointed in me. I tried. You'll just have to follow me through the next year of my life to see if I accomplish any of those. If I do, I'll probably have some funny story to share because weird things happen to me. They just do. I don't know why.

Cheers to trying new things....again.

PS - I keep typing "21" instead of "31" - I think it's a sign.

Stuff White People Like

I started reading the hilarious blog 'Stuff White People Like' a looooooong time ago, but I think that after the book thing, this blog has jumped the shark. It's pretty unfortunate because the postings are so. true.

Take, for example, the one about North Face. Read it. Now walk around San Francisco on a freezing cold summer day and you'll see that this is absolutely dead on. Most of these are dead on, and more power to the author for writing what we all know, what we all think is funny, and getting a book deal out of it! If only I could be so lucky...

In any event, it's too bad that the SWPL postings have come less often and they have been less funny. I guess that's what happens when you get famous.

The Island: Story 1

I miss living on Treasure Island. It was such an interesting place, creepy mostly, but interesting nonetheless. The history of the Island is so fascinating - it was the home of the 1939 World's Fair. Over the years of living there, I learned a ton about the Island's history.

I just read this article on SFGate about the olive trees that were planted at the World's Fair and how they are still thriving. This is really cool but I just keep thinking about the part of our lease where it recommended that we not have a garden in the ground because it was toxic. I'm not sure that I'd eat Treasure Island Olive Oil but I'd definitely buy it if I saw it.



More Island stories to come in the future...I sure have a lot.

A Noseglasses Update

Just for the halibut...



I really need to get that website going.

Millennials...and Wine.

I have a blog devoted to wine, which, honestly, for how much wine I taste, I should keep that blog waaaay more updated, but anyway.... Because I have that blog, I should probably post this there instead of here...but that's why the interweb created hyperlinks.

I just read this article in the Press Democrat: http://tastingroom.pressdemocrat.com/default.asp?item=2361384 (I'm "WineChick" in the comments.) I generally like the PressDem because they have comprehensive stories, a lot of extras and they're on top of it. This article is interesting and touches on a very important piece of the wine business: millennials. Being at the top end of this generation (most report the born on date is 1977-1994), I think that this is such an interesting and relevant subject.

As wine marketers, winery owners, and field sales, we have to understand this generation completely. We need to do what they do, attend what they attend, and accept that they are unlike any other wine consumer. Old school tendencies like sticking with one brand and one brand alone and lower price points don't cut it with these wine lovers. They like adventure and teasers, cult wines and value. By value I don't mean bargain basement wines, I mean a stellar wine for a reasonable price.

We can't ignore this consumer, they are coming fast and furiously, and they. like. wine. A lot. They like new, they like different, and they like to be surprised. They follow wineries on Twitter, Facebook, and the next social media outlet that comes along. They'll download your app for their iPhone and will expect the most out of it. They want you to hook them and reel them in, they'll recommend you to everyone they know, then they'll find the next best thing. Get in with these guys and word spreads like wildfire. Getting in with them may be trickier but it's being done all over the place. Keep at 'em.

Cadbury Creme Eggs

The season of Cadbury Creme Eggs is almost over. This makes me sad. I need to get to Safeway/Target and stock up. Like, now.

Maaawwwage maaawaage.

I just love The Princess Bride! I forgot how much I love this movie...I can't wait until I have kids and we can watch this movie together and say "Stop it now I mean it" "Anybody want a peanut?"

Thank you, Bravo, for airing this on a lazy Monday evening.

Emails

I love getting emails. It's a bit like getting non-junk-mail in your mailbox. Remember those days? We don't get much of that, though part of my 31 List is to send more! I especially like getting emails from my mom. She writes them as if she were writing a letter which I love. I, on the other hand, write them how I speak.

Mom example: my mom starts them off with "Dear XXXX," and ends with "Love, Mom" - I heart it.

Mine: "sup dudes, whatchya wanna do this weekend? I know it's only Monday but I can't wait for the weekend!" - no intro, no close, and if you're lucky, I'll remember to sign an "M"

Cheers to my mom finally using email - though now I miss her letters! - and to her emails!

Guess What I Bought?

I bought noseglasses.com recently. I've been hoping for it to be abandoned and the noseglasses gods were shining on me because it was just regular priced and I'm happy. Granted, I don't have the time or means to build a website for it right now, but I have to do SOMETHING with it!

Send me your photos of noseglasses and you, noseglasses and your friends, noseglasses and your dog and some way, some how, I'll get those posted.

Pets.

I just have a quick thought...

What is it that people look like their pets? This is usually a dog/owner phenomenon, but maybe some people look like their cat/bunny/frog/hermit crab/bird thing too.

Race #1

6:15am - alarm goes off (some lame R&B song). Hand hits snooze. Nine minutes later, alarm goes off (the new Soulja Boy song that gets stuck in my head soooooo badly - Kiss Me Through the Phone). Hand hits snooze. Nine minutes later, I'm up, groggy, pull on my workout clothes, check Facespace (because really, what else am I to do at this horrible hour on a Saturday), then it's time to go. To. My. First. Race.

I ranwalked the Carneros Fun Run this morning! Artesa Winery is beautiful and has an amazing view of the valley on the west side. I started off running, but unfortunately my knee is lame and hates anything downhill, so right off the bat, I was hurtin'. I tried to run as much as I could, but I pretty much ranwalked the whole thing. I finished, finally, and had hot firemen welcome me to the finish line, then got pancakes and fruit. It's an absolutely amazing day today - I'm so ready for summer!

This is the kick in the pants I need to get running! Who's with me?

:)

Bragging.

I don't like bragging - I find it extremely unattractive and off-putting. When I write here, I'm collecting the 90mph thoughts I have about something random - work, life, friends, family, experiences. With all my heart, I hope that it never, ever comes off as bragging.

I feel that people who brag about themselves or their situation are 1) are starved for attention and 2) are overcompensating for something. If you're really happy with yourself, your situation, your choices, then you don't need to proclaim to the world many times over that you're happy. If you have to brag, whatever it is isn't that great, you just want people to think it is. This can be a fine line - like arrogance and confidence always seem to be. On one hand, you want to share your happiness with others so that they can be happy with you. If you push it, though, you run the risk of sounding like you're bragging, and as I shared in paragraph 1, bragging is obnoxious. I think that you can be happy with whatever it is that makes you happy and your smiling face, welcoming persona, and open heart will automatically let people know where you are emotionally. Writing here, you obviously don't know if I'm smiling (I'm not currently), if I'm welcoming in my demeanor (not particularly at the moment), if I have an open heart (if you know me, I don't need to tell you this anyway - you probably know.) 

On to the fine line between confidence and arrogance. Confidence requires poise and integrity, while arrogance is the easy way out - it's just acting like you're better than everyone else. It takes no effort to be arrogant - it just takes a sense of entitlement and the cajones not to care about anyone else. I'm quite sick of the sense of entitlement that my generation seems to have. Get over yourselves.

There's my serious post for the week. Take it with a grain of salt. 

Napa.

Because of the unexpected trip to Indiana, I missed last week's MIXPO through the Chamber. I'm bummed I did - so curious how it was all set up. I guess I'll have to wait until August to check it out. For my side business, I wish I could afford the Chamber dues but for now it just doesn't make sense. Mama needs a new set of business cards!

In other news, I spent the day at our far-away winery today with customers and the fantastic team up there. When I get bogged down with the details and day-to-day stuff with my job and with life, days like today make me remember that I get to do some cool stuff sometimes and that my company rocks. We did such amaaaaazing things today - blended our own wines in a friendly competition, took a vineyard tour and absorbed as much as possible in the 2 hours we were out there, tasted 20+ wines with extremely awesome commentary and information, barrel tasted, and just got to pick the brains of the winemakers. It was so unbelievably informative - I hope most of it sticks! I have a CSW test to take soon. I'm so lucky to work with such down to earth, friendly, talented peeps.

Cheers to remembering what I enjoy and having the opportunity to experience it!

Blogging

I have a lot of nothing to talk about. That's all blogging is, I know, but why oh why is it so fun? I truly have nothing to say, like most bloggers, and when I do, I fully expect no one to read it. I blog because I want to keep an account of my life, thoughts, and funny stories, and if someone reads them, giggles (or chuckles) or thinks one thought that haven't before, then my job here is done.

My dad bought me a diary at Long's when I was 6. This is a huge deal for me 1) because my dad never, ever buys anything like that (hello, it's lavender with pastel polka dots) , 2) I was 6 and we had just moved to California, I had a lot to say, and 3) the first few entries are hilarious. I re-read that diary every time I move my books around, or am bored and notice it. I had a lot of nothing to talk about back then too. I believe my favorite line from the earlier entries is that I bothered to write about how my brother had a stom sto stoma tummy ache. Awesome. Even back then I cared about my spelling.

Someday I'll go back to the first entry in this blog, way back in 2007, and get a kick about how happy I was, how random life was, and how my writing has changed. I found out this weekend that my grandma wrote poems and stories about things that happened in her life. Blogger has replaced the typewriter and paper, but it's the same. I must get it from her.

Cheers to writing! Even if it's about nothing.

Indiana Travels & Napa Valley Register!

I got home from my trip back to the midwest last night, late, late, late. I'm exhausted physically and emotionally, but I do have to say that it was great to see all of my family, even under the circumstances.

On a completely separate note, one of my photos has been published in the Napa Valley Register!! I needed this good news to come into this morning... I shot the Colavita/Sutter Home Cycling Team last weekend and they ran the headline. I'm so stoked right now but no one can tell because I'm half asleep.

YAY. More later. If I can swing it.

Sadness

I got a call from my mom this morning - my grandma passed early this morning. I'm so sad for my dad most of all - he's lost so many people over the past few years. I know we all have, but for my dad, he's lost brothers and both of his parents. I can't even imagine losing my brothers or my parents. I talk to my mom everyday and see my family pretty often. I'm very lucky to have them all and I'm grateful for having them so close.

Such a sad start to a day.

Seasonal Sweets

I want to give a quick shout out to my homies the Girl Scouts for selling the best cookies ever. Hello Samoas, how have you been? I haven't seen you in a year, and you look well. Nomnomnomnom.... Thin Mints! Great to see you! Have a great time in my freezer and I'll check back with you in a few days. Make yourselves at home.

Missed Connection: I haven't seen you in a year, and you haven't been in Target yet recently. I expected you to be there. Me: Tall, brown hair, loves sweetness. You: Short, round, chocolatey outside, creme goodness, only comes out to play around Easter. Where art thou, Cadbury Creme Eggs? I really felt a strong connection last year and have thought about you ever since. Hope to reconnect soon! I'll be the one with wild hazel eyes in the candy section. 

Last Straw

The economy sucks. I'm getting hit with it just like so many Americans and yes, it scares the crapola out of me. This unsettling feeling has crept into every aspect of my life, making me wary about my condo, my car, the Napa house, Target purchases, my Ross addiction, my love of bad cable TV shows, food even.

I've been scaling back, but I know I can do more. I can stop eating out for good. I forgot lunch today so I ate stale pretzels that are at my desk. That HAS to count for something, right? I'm trying to figure out every possible way that I can cut down on the big expenditures - re-fi the condo? Sell the car? Fake my own death and move to Mexico?

Something even more unsettling and a sign of the apocalypse is this: Sesame Street is laying people off. I'm so sad to hear this...it's hitting all streets it seems, from Main Street to Wall Street to Sesame Street, we're all hurting. I'm ready to be 22 again without a care in the world please. Thanks.

This blog posting was brought to you by the letter S and and the letter B. And by the number 31.

American Idol

Don't lie - you know you watch it too.

This is the first season in about 4 years that I've watched American Idol for longer than just the sucky singer part. My absolute favorite part of this show is the people they let through to make for good TV....people who are just awful. So very entertaining. If your mom is the only person who thinks you're good, then you're probably not good.

This season I've been watching pretty religiously. No idea why - no one's really captured my attention too much, except for the two who have heart-string-pulling life stories. It's pretty cool that there's a chick from Napa on it, well not anymore. See ya.

I will say that it's gotten much cheesier than it was when Wenis and I used to watch on The Island. Since it's about the jump the shark, I have a suggestion. Bring back the 8 winners and have an American Idol with THEM. Have them compete against each other in a crazy, hot singer showdown! They could even include the top 2 from each season just to keep it interesting. This show should be called....

The Amazing, Real Make Me an American Next Top Idol Bus

I'd SO watch this and I know a ton of people who would too. Don't lie. You would. I know it.

First Race

In keeping up with my list of 31 things (which I haven't been doing well at and need to hurry it up), I signed up for my very first race - a 5k. I've done Bridge to Bridge with Kellogg, but we walked. I've walked the City of Hope Breast Cancer Walk in the city, but this is the first race I am attempting to run.

I ran on the treadmill this morning - something I don't like much at all - and ran 2.5k. At that pace, I'll finish the race sometime that afternoon (start time is 8am). I really need to get better at this! 2.5k in 25 min? Oh man. I'm done for. Nothing I can do except keep plodding along...

It's a good thing this race has something to run towards - firemen making me pancakes at the end. Now that's a reward. And just think about how hot I'll look after I run longer than I ever have before...red, sweaty, hurting...brown chicken brown coooooow.

The Opposite of Bikram Yoga

I think that I'm going to start my own Yoga studio. It won't be hot and sweaty like Bikram, because face it, that's sorta yucky. Besides, I get really light-headed when I'm overly hot, so that type of yoga just isn't for me anyway.

My yoga studio will be cold...very, very cold. I will call it: 

Frozen Yoga.

Thank you and good night.

Oh Neighbors.

Finally, a post that's not about MY neighbors, but a friend's! 

I had dinner with TTB tonight (I swear I didn't eat that pizza. I swear.) Great evening of conversation, ok, fine, pizza, and giggles. We even told ghost stories....dude. We did.

After dinner we headed to TTB's new place sort of near Skankhouse. She showed me around, then proceeded to show me what her neighbor had left her. She was standing at her sink, washing dishes, when she hears a rattle on the front doorknob. Weirded out, she didn't go over immediately, but waited until the person had walked away. She then opened the door to find a newspaper bag hanging from  her doorknob with a note and something yellow in it.

She takes it in, opens the bag, and finds a note and an unusually large banana in the bag. Random. The note says: "Dear New Neighbor, This gift is weird but in time it will get riper." Signed "J." 

Seriously. The dude left her a banana and a note that acknowledges that the gift is weird and that the banana will ripen. I have to agree with the man, the gift IS weird and bananas usually do ripen as the days pass. WHAT??? This is probably the coolest gift any new-to-the-neighborhood girl could ever receive. Ever.

Cheers to interesting neighbors who give out fruit!

Veekend of Vino Extraordinaire

Yesterday, Saturday, I worked a table at the SF Chronicle Wine Competition. I love those events, I love meeting people and talkin' vino. It was sort of a long day, but always a fun time! I will admit, it's more fun to be the one on the other side of the table, glass out, going from table to table, but I got to see old friends, new friends, sales guys I haven't seen in a year, and meet new peeps so, check, good day.

Headed to Marin to have dinner with the family - it was my mom's 61st birthday which means that it'll be my 31st soon. Ugh. Anyway, Happy Birthday, Mom! She doesn't read this thing, but I'll give her a shout out anyway.

Today I had the absolute coolest experience - I got to help someone bottle his wine!! Dan Mills is my hero - he is a professional photographer who makes wine on the side. I'm a person who works for a winery and does photography on the side. See the parallel? Dan's work is amazing, his client list is to die for, and he has shot with the best of the best. He has the coolest studio in Rutherford and he's super friendly and just an overall cool guy.

The bottling party was so fun - we got to fill bottles, cork them, put capsules on, and voila, wine. I was there for the Cab portion but had to leave before they started Syrah. I love experiencing new things and this was right up there with one of the coolest things I've done! I met some awesome people, had some delicious hot melted cheesy goodness, and tasted Dan's wine out of the barrel. Yum. Two bottles are waiting for me in the car. What a rad way to spend a rainy Sunday in the Valley.

Guess where I am now? Sittin' on the dock of the bay, wastin' tiiiime. Ok, kidding. I'm sittin' in the condo, wastin' tiiiiimme. I'm hoping with all my might that I don't have another day of craigslist flakes. Cross your fingers for me.

Cheers to March!

Speed Dating #2

Given that my first experience with speed dating was 99.9% awful, I decided to give it another try with a different company this past Thursday. This company provides a different location (dark bar in SF over a bright community center in Albany), better age range (26-35 over 30-45), and an overall better atmosphere. 

Drank and I headed to the city, making it just.in.time. We didn't get there early enough to survey the guys or the competition. We picked a seat, and waited for the guys to come 'round. It started off awkwardly like this type of thing always does, but 7 minutes is enough time to calm down and just chat. As usual, most guys were in some sort of web job, there must be a law for that or something. Some seemed to like Second Life or World of Warcraft more than human interaction, but all in all they were super cool guys who had interesting lives and were easy to talk to. 

All except for one. 

They must have been short a few people because they let this 22 year old kid in. He saunters up to the stool and before he even sits down in front of me, he says, "So what's my competition like?" Weird question. I thought to myself 'we're only talking for 7 minutes, who cares what everyone else is like...?' but I all I said was, "they are really cool guys." and his reply was, "that wasn't the right answer, you were supposed to say that last guy was a jerk." 

All right, I see how this is going to go. He's not attractive, he is short, and arrogant as all get out. You all know how I feel about arrogant people... 

I just wanted this longest 7 minutes ever to be over with, so I let him talk. I asked him what he did for a living, he said, "I'm a director at a learning center. I have a JOB in this ECONOMY. I have a JOB in this ECONOMY." Yeah, I get that. I do too. Moving on... 

Him: "So I'm the youngest person in here. I'm 22."

Me: "Oh you're 22....."

Him: "Well how old are you?"

Me: "I'm 30 and you're 22......yeeaaahhhh."

Him: "Well you don't look 30 if that helps."

Me: "Oh wow, thanks."

Him: "I mean, I'm looking for a young professional because I have JOB in this ECONOMY." 

Me: I got nothing.

(Is 7 minutes over yet??)

Me: "So where did you grow up?"

Him: "Born and raised Bay Area." Stares at me.

Me: "Oh I grew up in the Bay Area too, San Rafael."

Him, with attitude: "That's not the Bay Area." 

Me, with attitude: "Are you kidding? It's 20 min from the city, that's closer than San Jose."

Him: "That's not Bay Area. That's the North Bay."

Me, thinking: I'm getting nowhere. That's enough fighting with a 22 year old for a day.

I met some interesting people, girls included, and had a really fun time. It's pretty expensive, so I'll probably only go every few months, but hey, even if I meet no one, these make for very, very good stories.

Blog Topics

I want it on record that there are certain things you shouldn't blog about, unless you happen to be an expert in the field of your topic, aka doctor, nurse, biologist, researcher, police officer, etc.

One would be your child's birth. I know that it's awesome and miraculous and all that. Your feelings about it are ok, welcome even, but your description of what the placenta looked like or what crap was on your slimy baby when it first popped out or the unexpected things that happened to you should be off limits. Maybe I say this because I have yet to have a kid and I don't truly know how awesome and incredible it is. But honestly, no one really needs to know the intimate details about that life event. They don't. If they wanted to, they'd look it up on webmd.com or ask their mom or doctor. If you blog about it, I'll never look at you the same way again. Some things need to be left as a surprise.

Another would be your period. No one needs to chat about it like we're talking about what you're going to eat for dinner. As women, we all know how annoying it is, how it always comes at the most inopportune time, and how it's usually accompanied by pain, discomfort, anger and tears. We know that without this monthly fun time, we can't have babies. That doesn't make it some amazing topic that you need to tell me about. I already know, and no, most chicks don't think it's a blessing or a miracle. At this point, you'd think I was used to it, but without fail, every month, I'm annoyed, disappointed, and frustrated by its presence. Did I just blog about my feelings on that topic? Sorry.

Yet another is writing about any toilet duties. Bloggers are mostly adults, and other adults don't really need to know much about that topic. We already do - we've been doing it for a long time, and we know how it works. That's enough for me. The occasional fart or burp joke is, of course, funny.

In general, bloggers shouldn't write about things they know nothing about but act like they do. The flip side of this is if you're funny. I don't care what you write about as long as you entertain me for the 5 minutes I'm on your blog. Granted, it's not my place to tell anyone what to write about, but there sure are some topics that I don't like to think about, let alone read about in someone else's blog. I'm not trying to tell you what to do, but ok, I am. Don't. Please. The blogsphere will be eternally grateful if you'd keep the bodily function topics to a minimum.

GoKart Racing

Hello, I'm Slowpoke. I recently competed in a race in Burlingame, placing 10th in my race and 48th for the day. Not bad, considering there 723 racers. I'm really good.

Fine, the truth. There were 15 racers when I placed 10th and 67 racers of the day when I placed 48th. I rocked. HA! My dad took a bunch of us to the Go Kart Racer in Burlingame - it was AWESOME!!! Those little karts go pretty fast and the steering is tough. I'm really sore....I had to use my whole body to steer because my arms are wimpy wimpy wimpy. We had such a great time and I can't wait to do it again!!

Craigslist

As I stand here in my empty condo in Sonoma, I feel the need to vent about how annoying and flakey Craigslist people are. Don't tell me you're looking forward to seeing the apartment ("see you Saturday!") then not show up. I have a life too, ya know. I don't exactly LOVE standing in the kitchen of a condo I can't sell or even seem to rent. I have no chair, no music, no luxuries of home, but I am stealing someone's internet and that's cool.

Overall, I tout the awesomeness that is Craigslist....I have purchased my sectional, TV cabinet, cool shelves, bookcases, loveseat, gas dryer, coffee table, night stand, patio furniture, and bed all on Craigslist. I found an apartment when I lived in the city and my pervious car. I've sold a bunch of furniture, including my couch set and a secretary desk.

That said, WHY ARE PEOPLE SUCH FLAKES?!? Why oh why do they hide behind the interweb and say one thing and do another? If you see my ad, you email me, we have correspondence, you have my email address and phone number...just let me know you aren't coming. I don't care why, I just don't want to waste gas and time coming over here if I don't have to!

Ok that's all. It's not you, Craigslist, it's your users.

Feelings.....Not So Many...Feeeeeelingss....

Last night, Wenis and I attended the Napa Chamber of Commerce mixer at Black Stallion winery. The winery itself was gorgeous - it's pretty new, so I expected it to be pretty - and Wenis said the Syrah was good. I wish my house looked like that....

We met some very cool people, and saw a couple I wasn't too excited to see. The night was good - $20 good? Um, maybe not - but it's good for me to get out there and meet new people.

A note about my feelings on seeing people I didn't want to see - I feel nothing. I didn't overreact, I didn't get overly nervous, I didn't turn beet red, I didn't care. This is an incredible feeling - this not caring thing. I have my life, it revolves around me and my friends and my family and my experiences, and it does not involve those people. They do not have the stronghold they had yesterday, last month, last year. They are nothing to me and it feels awesome.

Cheers to realizing what I already knew but didn't see!