Snazzed OUT

1-31-11

Check it out. Eric put new handlebars, shifters, pedals, and a seat on my bike. Riding to and from work today was so much more awesome because of these things! I still need to get the basket for the back and the one for the front attached/re-attached, but man oh man these small (big) changes made a huge difference. 

Nevada

1-30-11

Driving back to CA after leaving Vegas. The clouds were incredible. I wish I could have taken some pics not in the car, but this will have to suffice. The blue sky contrasting with the awesome mountains and clouds was pretty impressive. Puuurdy.

THE BEATLES!

1-29-11

The main reason for coming to Vegas was, of course, to see LOVE. I was like a little kid in a candy store when we got to the Mirage. Unfortunately they don't let you take pictures during the show, which is to be expected, so you just get to see the sign outside. But let me tell you: I cannot even begin to describe how awesome this show was. The music, obviously, was amazing which I expected since I have the CD and all but hearing it on that sound system (there were speakers in our CHAIRS) was just mind-boggling. And the dancing. And the costumes. And the acrobatics. And the rollerblading. And the creativity. It was SPECTACULAR. I would go see this again and again if I could. You could see it a million times and never see everything that was going on. Whoo. I feel like seeing this show was the next best thing to seeing them together in concert. I love LOVE! 

Vegas or Bust!

1-28-11

Girls' road trip to Vegas this weekend! We rented a car and got to drive a Cube! It was so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend it. Except it was a leetle bit non-aerodynamic (i.e. not great during the windy parts of the drive). But other than that it was the perfect road trip car! Comfortable, roomy, easy to drive. Oh Cubie, how we love you!

...

1-27-11

Serving tacos at an event OBVIOUSLY means you need a piñata as an accent. You know, just in case people weren't sure what flavor of food they were getting themselves into. Sort of embarrassing.

True Love

1-26-11

Few things could make me happier than a brand new pack of sharpie markers to journal with. Oh Sharpie, Will you marry me? Shh...you don't have to say a word. Just let your pen do the talking.

Blah Blah Blah

1-25-11

Lately (read: in the last 6 months or so) I find myself increasingly intolerant and irritable whenever I have to attend anything resembling church. I'm not totally sure why this increase in the severity of my reaction but it's kinda bad since I work at, oh you know, a seminary. Anyway, last night was the installation of our new president. Which apparently means singing about a billion hymns or whatever. I coped in 2 ways: 1. standing in the lobby and never actually entering the chapel, and 2. the moment where a co-worker and I looked at each other and said, without a word, "this song is like one big sexual innuendo, right? RIGHT?!?! Right." Oh uh, this picture is of the chapel. Look at the stupid banners trying to feign openness and inclusiveness. omg could I BE any more negative right now? I'm really tired. I think I'll stop embarrassing myself now and go to sleep before this gets any worse/pointless/emo/stupid.

Awkward

1-24-11

It's conference week @ work. That means working 12 hour days. And running around. And being too busy/tired/distracted to take pictures. However, the great thing about cats is that when at the end of the day, you can always just take a picture of them looking stupid/awkward/weird. See above for exhibit A.

Why Didn't I Think of This Before?

1-23-11

There is a cafe across the street from where I do my laundry. So today, instead of sitting in that horribly drab, overstimulating (yeah, drab and overstimulating at the same time. How does THAT work?!?!) environment, I went across the street, drank me a latte, ate a salad and read and wrote. Best laundry experience of my LIFE. I left the laundromat feeling accomplished and relaxed, instead of feeling sort of down and like I just wasted 2 hours of my day, like I usually do. I'm gonna do this every laundry day!

Adding Insult to Injury

1-22-11

As if it wasn't enough to have my car die, get stuck on the highway, sit and wait for tow trucks for hours, then have them lock my keys in my car in a 2 hour parking zone (in Berkeley, where nazis ride around disguised as meter maids), now someone has tried to steal my gas. They must have been interrupted though because I still had half a tank of gas left. And an awesome rubber hose sticking out of my gas tank.Tried as I might to get it out it was stuck GOOD. So I tried to cut it. As you can see...I broke the scissors. Apparently this isn't regulation rubber. I eventually was able to get the damn hose out of the tank, after fiddling around using the scissors to push the little cap lever back in etc. but it took forever and it annoyed me greatly. But, on the bright side at least they didn't get my gas, and I DID sell my car yesterday! It's gone! It's sort of weird, but I'm glad I don't have to deal with it any more *knock on wood*

1-21-11

Since I no longer have a car, and thus will be walking/biking everywhere, and since we're supposedly in the rainy season (though it seems to be on hiatus) I figured I should get some rain boots. So I did. Here they are. Exciting.

Sake

1-20-11

It's Jess' birthday! We took her to Coach Sushi for bottomless sake. They pour it into cedar boxes and just keep refilling it so you actually have no idea how much you've drunk which is incredibly dangerous. And the sushi is really good. Then we went to some club. I actually have no idea where we ended up...somewhere in Oakland, but it was a pretty cool place. Jess even danced! It was kind of amazing. The end.

Cars Cars Cars

 1-19-10

I'm not the only one having car issues right now. Both Kap and I are experiencing the ol' "despite what history may suggest, your car isn't invincible" reality (though, so far (knock on wood) hers isn't completely shot like mine is). She's currently borrowing a friend's car, which she kindly gave Terry and me a ride in after work today. This car is the most intensely, uh, used? car I've ever been in. These pictures don't do it justice. Now, I'm not the best at keeping my car clean, so I don't really judge others' messy cars, but even at its worst I could never dream of the inside of a car looking like this. I am pretty sure the owner's son has exploded in the back seat on several occasions, and if the roof is any indication: 

...he is also a werewolf and has attempted to claw his way out of the car via the ceiling. It was almost too gross to disgust me, and I just laughed. 

Then I realized I was sitting on a bandaid and I stopped laughing. *shudder*

Out on the Lawn

1-18-10

Today was sort of rough for a variety of reasons, so I didn't do much in terms of taking pictures. However, at one point I was in Delphine's office and we noticed there was some sort of...ninja training? going on outside. I didn't have my camera with me so my camera phone had to suffice, which is why it's kinda far away, but whatevs. These guys had long sticks and were like...learning kung fu moves, or maybe it was a dance, I couldn't really tell. But their leader was wearing a fanny pack. The random people that suddenly show up on our campus is pretty awesome. I hope they come back. I wanna talk to them and find out what they're doing. 

Just a Crazy Random Happenstance

1-17-10

We (and when I say "we" I really just mean "me" but I say we to make myself seem less like a nerd who would totally stalk a laundromat...*cough*...anyway...) found the laundromat where Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-Long Blog was filmed!! This was our 2nd attempt this weekend. The FIRST attempt was when we went to another laundromat, just a few blocks away from this one, that Jonathan was convinced was the right place. I didn't think it looked right when we went inside, but the owner walked through and he suggested I ask her. Yeah, thanks Jonathan, why I don't I just go ask the owner while you go and cower outside behind Kathryn like a little shy baby. I am pretty sure the owner thought I had mental issues. She just stared at me like I was insane and speaking in Klingon or something and was all like, "I have no idea what you are talking about." I played it off 'cause I'm cool like that, no thanks to my siblings who just stood outside laughing at me. Oh well. This isn't the first time people have stared at me like I'm crazy when I've asked them what I perceive to be a completely reasonable question. And in the end, we found the right laundromat, which is the important part. Next step: stalk Neil Patrick Harris and turn him straight. Just kidding. But really. Not really. Maybe. 

Joshua Tree

1-16-10

We went to Joshua Tree today! I've been wanting to hike or camp here for quite some time, as I've heard it's amazing. And since it was a free national park day, it seemed a perfect time to go check it out. There were so many awesome pictures to choose from, but I really liked this one which was taken after Jonathan and I led these rather inexperienced gals up a mountain of rocks, thus proving a) that we ARE capable of taking inexperienced people on reasonable hikes and b) anyone can hike! And have fun! Because walking and climbing around aimlessly in nature is awesome!

But I digress. Back to this particular photograph (which I didn't take, obviously, but if you'd like to see the rest of my pics from this trip, you can look at flickr). In this picture I think we're trying to prove that we're strong and conquered the mountain...except that I think Miriam may have elected to just dance instead.

Beachy Keen

 1-15-11

I'm in LA! I went to the beach! It was sunny and warm and amazing. Someone had drawn this cute little octopus in the sand. Cute as he may be, I felt it that something was missing. So I re-interpreted the image and added my own flavor. Enjoy:

Car Troubles

1-14-10

Here is what I spent my entire morning dealing with. RIP and *$%^ you, car.

Creeper

1-13-10

Dinah is such a creeper. 

Spreken ze Deutsch?

 1-12-10

Katherine, Kap, Delphine and I went to San Francisco after work today to spend some dough. Our boss gave us each gift cards to Macy's. I think she may have been trying to hint that we need to dress better, which is somewhat legit since I'd never normally shop at Macy's. Anyhow, afterwards we needed some serious sustenance and went to this great German restaurant that Katherine knew about. It was pretty amazing and according to Katherine tasted just like food in Germany. Here Kap and Katherine enjoy their beers and beets. 

I had to take a picture of this too though:

Yeah. That is a ring of wheat hanging above our heads. I'm going to have nightmares. 

Deener

1-11-11

Homemade tortilla soup! NOM NOM NOM.

Creative Gifts

1-10-11

Finally made use of Delphine's awesome Christmas gift - all the ingredients, and instructions, for making pomegranate martinis. Complete with wheat-free vodka. Yum! They turned out pretty well, too. Though I think there must be an easier way to juice the pomegranate seeds than using a rolling pin and a ziplock. Technically I took this picture yesterday...but Jeanelle was still drinking hers when it was technically today and since I forgot my camera today I'm using this instead. *feels justified*

Pixar Time

1-9-10

I told Jess and Jeanelle we needed to go see the Pixar exhibit at the Oakland Museum before it was gone, so we went tonight. Here they are showing off their tickets and...looking weird. 

Despite the questionable company the experience was rather amazing. Seriously, Pixar. Soooooooooo cool. And am I the only one who remembers the pixar lamp on Sesame Street long before Pixar was born? Anyone else? I didn't, however, realize that animation had won recognition at SIGGRAPH. Pretty cool. Anyway, back to the exhibit. I'd seen some of the stuff they had when Jonathan and I went to Pixar w/Gigi last summer but this was like that times a million and with videos and concept art and story boards and paintings and models and artist notes and so on. One room had a film that basically made you feel like you had just bathed in the worlds Pixar has created, which maybe doesn't sound as appealing or sensical now that I write it as it sounded in my head, but trust me it was pretty sweet. I'd kill to be able to create such worlds and tell such stories. Oh and then, THEN, there was one room where they were showing how still images get turned into an animation....there was a term for it...I can't remember what it's called now...but like a flip book. Anyway the point is there were all these models from Toy Story on a round platform, and it would start spinning, and then a strobe light would come on and omfg BAM they were animated and 3-D and it actually kind of tripped me out and made me question my perception of reality a little bit. 

So, to summarize: go to the Pixar exhibit. Then go home and draw, because that's all you'll want to do after. But, don't go to the Pixar exhibit high. You will flip out in that one room. No, seriously.

Games

 1-8-10

Game night @ Eric's place tonight (plus introducing Katherine to Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog). I'm not sure if Jeff enjoyed playing Settlers or not, but he sure enjoyed stacking his roads up as high as he could. 

Oh also, despite the fact that people kept trying to cock-block me, and the stupid freaking robber was on me the majority of the game, I got longest road. Again. Did I win the game? Not even close. But I got longest road. That is how I define success. 

Shiny!

1-7-10

New notebook! Always exciting but intimidating. Now if I could just get the ugly sticker off the front. And yes, my desk is a disaster. It's been a crazy week, gimme a break.

Cravings

1-6-10

I seem to have an inexplicable craving for hot dogs this week. Yeah. I ate that entire package in two days. I am not allowed to go buy more because even I will admit that this is a rather disgusting thing to crave. Moving on to apples! 

Coffee

1-5-11

Jess attempted to roast her own coffee beans tonight. In a popcorn popper...

I suppose we'll see how it turns out when 7am rolls around...

Ellipses...

Reflecting

Well now that it's been 2011 for a few days, I figured I should actually think about resolutions and reflect on 2010.

But before I do that - have you heard? The end of the world is coming. Apparently thousands of birds spontaneously dropped dead out of the Arkansas sky. But wait, that's not all - now thousands of fish have also inexplicably dropped dead. Either Arkansas residents have some 'splainin to do, or that whole 2012 theory is spot on. Clearly those are the only two possible explanations. I wonder if Arkansas really is located at the mouth of hell (vs. Sunnyvale). Hmmm...

Anyway, considering the fact that the end of the world is creeping forward, it is definitely a good time to reflect and to plan to do as much as possible before it all goes down in 2012.

Last year I resolved to try and be more creative, which was the reason for this blog and for doing this picture-a-day project. I'm pretty happy with my success in that arena. Minus one or two days, I took a picture every day and it definitely has made a difference in my outlook and perception of the world in a really great way. I've had a really good time engaging in my environment and attempting to capture moments, events, and things in time. It's also been a really great journalistic exercise, which I didn't expect. Documenting my year in pictures really helps you look back and say "wow, look how much happened this year" and to do so in a different way than just blogging does (at least for me). I appreciated the chance to keep a sort of journal that didn't require writing. Having a picture as a catalyst, also, made the writing I did do so much easier - without the intimidating blank page staring back at me asking "well, what's so interesting about what you have to say anyway?" So this year I am definitely going to keep up the picture-a-day blog, but I also am going to focus more on my writing this year - both fiction and non-fiction.

To be honest...other than this blog...I can't really remember if I made other resolutions, and therefore can't remember if I kept them...oh! Except, I did resolve to do a triathlon last year! And I did that! And I wanted to learn Spanish, and I started that too! This year I resolve to keep learning Spanish and do a longer triathlon (hopefully my knee will cooperate with that goal). I'm pretty sure the other resolutions I made were less tangible - they had more to do with my approach and attitude towards life, other people, not letting my fears get the better of me, and stretching myself. I think that I really have come a long way. Details are probably better left in my weird head, but I resolve to keep moving forward in those arenas. 2010 has been a looong, difficult, but also good year. I'm excited to reflect again next year and see what has happened and where I feel I've improved, matured, and resolved things in my life.

Ok, now for my other New Year's resolutions (or at least the ones I can think of for now; they tend to evolve as the year proceeds):

1. Get rid of clothes that don't fit me and try to be less wary of wearing clothes that will actually make me look good. I started this in 2010 with my own personal Stacy and Clinton (aka Delphine and Carin), but I'm pretty sure the next step is to actually get rid of pants that are 2-3 sizes too big. Why do I own such large clothes? I don't know. Somehow I convinced myself I was that large.
2. Watch more classics! Classics as in, movies everyone has or should see. Like West Side Story. Who hasn't seen that movie? Me! WHY!? I have no idea! I started this, unofficially in 2010 by watching Oliver and Citizen Kane and Bye Bye Birdie and Guys and Dolls (all sooo good...except for Oliver, which was kind of lame). But I think I need to somehow make a list and actually start checking them off, like I have been doing with classic books...maybe I'll google "must see classics/films" or something. Anyway, TCM/AMC/IFC I love you, and I want to have an even closer relationship this year than we had this year. It's on.
3. Publish, publish, PUBLISH. I have decided to just try and publish my entire thesis vs. trying to create articles from it, at least to start. I found a publishing house that seems promising (they've published the only other 2 works on this topic). I just need to finish reading the guidelines, do some editing and go for it. I also need to e-mail professors at schools who are doing work with ASL and linguistics. I'm making it a resolution so I actually do it - and will make a schedule so I keep myself accountable. I'm itching to do something more meaningful than what I'm doing now...
4. In the same vein, this year is the year to apply to grad schools. I decided last year I wasn't ready, but I am feeling more settled and ready now. Even if I don't end up going I need to take this step and at least SEE where/if I can get in...

Well I think that's enough for now. I don't want to resolve to do TOO many things or I won't focus because really I just want to do everything in the freaking world (speaking of which, I'm also going to finish this book (started it over break - Jenny read it and thought I might find it useful) and try to use some of the tactics because I think it might be helpful to me. The end.

Uh. This post ended up a lot longer than I intended. Oh well. BAM.

Capitalism

1-3-11

Delphine and I grabbed dinner and went to see "Black Swan" after work today. We met up in Emeryville, and I just had to take a picture of this. Yeah. It's a Christmas tree made entirely out of shopping carts and lights. Capitalism at its finest. What would Marx say?! 

On another note, I've been meaning to write a "New Year's" blog on here, but just haven't had the time to really formulate it. Fear not. It is nigh. 

Balance

1-2-11

My refrigerator is a metaphor for life. Indulge in that which is awesome, but don't forget to eat your fruit too. 

Happy New Year!

1-1-11

Spent much of my New Year's Day with the Shelby clan! Here is Sarah proving her awesomeness by double fisting a beer and a coffee.