you know - things, life, whatnot . . .

sniff sniff . . .

2009-01-06T20:09:00.000-08:00

Don't go Mermaid!

. . . don't goooooo. :(

A change in character for Hermosa Beach?
LA Times
By Jeff Gottlieb
January 4, 2009

it's official

2008-11-15T19:11:00.000-08:00

When I have enough room for one of these little buddies to crawl around, I'm totally getting one!

This photo practically made me melt into my damn couch!

new look!

2008-11-14T00:12:00.000-08:00

I've been saying for a couple of months now that I want a new look to go with the revitalization of my blog. As many of you may know, I have a really really really hard time designing for myself. Sooooo . . . rather than beat myself up over my own design, I found and tweaked a template I really like. I hope you dig!

blow, baby, blow!

2008-11-09T03:49:00.000-08:00

How is it possible that a little bit of gusty wind kept two people up well into the 3:00 hour of the night?

More importantly, how is it possible that James Pee fell asleep about 20 mins ago and I am still wide awake?!

Obama '08 - Vote for Hope!

2008-11-02T15:29:00.001-08:00

Obama '08 - Vote For Hope from MC Yogi on Vimeo

I saw this video and thought it was pretty cool, so I wanted to share it. Watching this video made me feel proud of the decisions I'm going to be making on Tuesday. Watching it also made me feel the weight of everything that's going on right now. Tuesday is a big important day - probably one of the bigger days our generation has ever seen . . . and I'm kinda glad to be a part of it.

classics!

2008-10-20T20:15:00.000-07:00

I recently watched two movies that I can't believe I've spent this many years of my life without seeing! One was an awesome 80's classic while the other was an old black and white classic classic! If you haven't seen either of these flicks, I highly suggest you do - they are so choice!

the radio still sucks

2008-09-16T23:09:00.000-07:00

Please please please please please say it ain't so!!!

This afternoon on my way to lunch I noticed that my XM Satellite radio (which is normally playing classic punk rock) was blaring AC/DC. I looked down nonchalantly expecting to see my dial set to the classic rock station rather than it's punk rock norm. Instead I see the words "AC/DC Radio!" on channel 53 where my punk rock "Fungus" should be.

Here's the story according to Punknews.org:

With the XM and Sirius merger in full swing, the first casualties of the partnership are starting to appear. First on the chopping block are the two punk rock satellite stations, Fungus 53 and Sirius Punk which are both being replaced with an 24 hour a day station dedicated to Australian hard rock act AC/DC. While the all-AC/DC station is slated to expire in January, there is no word on what will replace it going forward. Sirius' former punk page is directing listeners to their Extreme Sports station which will include punk, hip hop and metal.

Both stations provided a mixture of vintage and recent punk rock, with Sirius promising acts like "Sex Pistols, Ramones, Misfits, Black Flag, The Clash, Circle Jerks, Dead Kennedys, Suicidal Tendencies, Pennywise, Fugazi and many more" while Fungus 53 hosted shows DJ-ed by Rancid, Joe Sib's Complete Control Radio and others.

NOFX's Fat Mike even weighed in on the station, noting: "I hate the radio but I like Fungus/The only punk rock station, it's humongous." . . .

I have so so so many thoughts on this matter that I can't even begin to form them into full sentences. There is no other station out there that even comes close to matching what Fungus offered to punk rockers. It was a gem. The fact that they would take it away and replace it with AC/DC is absolutely laughable and disgusting.

Long live corporate rock, right? In the words of Fungus "fuck off and die"

P.S. Lou Brutus, please don't go away forever. I'm not quite sure what I'd do without my Skanorea on Thursdays. : (

The Women

2008-09-14T21:44:00.000-07:00

I went and saw The Women tonight. Despite the critics' moanings, I thought it was really cute and charming! It held really true to the original and was pretty much a perfect chick flick.

Bette Midler delivers a really great line that I feel in love with. I'm having a hard time remembering it word for word, but it was something along the lines of: don't forget to ask yourself "what do I want?" because after you figure that out, everything else will just fall into place.

Totally great moment.

It wasn't, however, quite as fantastic as this gem from the original "He could crack a coconut with those knees . . . if he could just get them together!"

hehe! Good girly times! : )

detox (according to merriam-websters)

2008-09-09T01:21:00.000-07:00

Main Entry: de·tox·i·fy
Pronunciation: \(ˌ)dē-ˈtäk-sə-ˌfī\
Function: transitive verb

1 a: to remove a harmful substance (as a poison or toxin) or the effect of such from b: to render (a harmful substance) harmless
2: to free (as a drug user or an alcoholic) from an intoxicating or an addictive substance in the body or from dependence on or addiction to such a substance

up up she goes

2008-09-07T09:34:00.000-07:00

. . . where she stops nobody knows.

In a matter of days our partial view will become even more partial.

I wonder if our landlord will lower our rent due to the devaluation of the property. (Bah - fat chance!)

slacker

2008-09-01T22:04:00.000-07:00

It's occurred to me that I have severely slacked in the documentation of my life over the past year of so. No blogging. No journal writing. No uploading/sharing of photos. Ect.

I have about a gazillion excuses - none of which are acceptable.

This will all be changing very soon. : )

P.S. The layout and look/feel of this blog will also be changing very soon. The green was cool back in the day, but ewe! it's gotta giz-o!

a view . . .

2008-09-01T21:39:00.000-07:00

from my horizon during that whole week:

It was amazing and wonderful and exactly everything I needed. : )

refilling my bucket

2008-08-06T00:04:00.000-07:00

Here I sit on a night that is almost a full year from my last post . . . and it's amazing to me how much my life has changed.

I could list all the ways I feel differently now, but as I started typing them out I got about 2 lines in and deleted what I typed. I decided that rather than look back, I'd like to look forward.

Staying at that job for as long as I did and sitting in that car for an many hours as I did brought down my whole spirit in ways I never imagined it would. It drained me. It took more of me from myself than I'd like to admit. And looking back at this point just doesn't make much sense.

This is about moving forward - looking forward.

What it comes down to is this - it's time for a great big slow down in my life. My life was slow this past year, but not in the ways I wanted it to be. It was 15 miles in the fast lane on the 405 and 9 hours full of what I called "time management".

This is about clearing out all that bad energy, learning from it, and taking back my life. It's about achieving in each day the things I'd like to achieve. This is about enjoying the sun and giving in to more kisses. It's about talking to far away loved ones not just to pass the time in the car, but because I want to hear about their day. It's about clearing my monkey mind and relaxing without worrying about what else I need be doing. It's about sitting on my couch with a glass of wine and truly enjoying everything about being there. It's about falling asleep when I want to. It's about turning the tv off and going for more walks and bike rides. It's about sitting on my balcony. It's about making brownies. It's about fully melting into the sand on the weekends.

It's about so so many things . . .

This is about me stopping with the juggling and just holding on to the things that are most important.

. . . and honestly, I can't do anything else in this moment but just shake my head and sigh some relief because it just feels so good to know what I have to look forward to.

sad face

2007-08-17T17:56:00.001-07:00

no more blogging at work makes lisa something something . . .

go crazy?

don't mind if I do!

pandora

2007-07-11T12:05:00.000-07:00

Due to my recent post about Pandora, a few friends have caught the fever and seem to be loving the web radio station as much as I do. Amongst recent talk, the “why did you play this song?” feature came up in conversation.

I knew Pandora played songs based on my likes and dislikes, but I had no idea they told you why. So in my curiosity, I found myself clicking on the “why did you play this song?” button. Here’s what I was told:

Based on what you’ve told us so far, we’re playing this track because it features speed metal stylings, punk roots, a subtle use of vocal harmony, middle rhythmic syncopation, and repetitive melodic phrasing.

Hey!!! How’d they know I like metal stylings, punk roots, and repetitive melodic phrasing!?!? I didn’t even know other people used the word ‘stylings’!! Craaaaaaazy . . .

Either way, to this I say ‘awesome.’ and ‘rock on pandora!’

I know . . . I’m such a geek.

ahhhh, summer vacation

2007-07-05T19:05:00.000-07:00

the beach, the sun, bikes, the 4th, o-bombs . . .

and this girl!

pics here and here!

scary thought of the day:

2007-06-27T11:19:00.001-07:00

Horoscopes are ridiculously accurate sometimes.

internet radio

2007-06-26T15:07:00.000-07:00

In case you don’t already know, Pandora is pretty much one of the greatest things to happen to Internet radio.

Simply by selecting a favorite band, you can create a custom “radio station” that plays songs from the artist you selected and artists of a similar sound/genre. For me, it creates an awesome listening experience that allows me to not only enjoy music I know I already love, but also learn about new undiscovered music that really fits my taste.

I pretty much don’t know where I’d be if I didn’t have Pandora at work. Which leads me to the reason for this blog . . .

Today is Internet Radio’s Day of Silence. Pandora, along with other radio stations that broadcast over the internet, are currently fighting the recent increase that drastically raised the licensing fees internet radio sites must pay to stream songs. According to Pandora, it’s fees will triple (starting July 15) and are retroactive for eighteen months. They believe, because of the increase, internet radio sites will start shutting down and music broadcast over the internet will die.

Pandora is urging everyone to call their Congressional Representatives today asking them to sponsor a bill called "Internet Radio Equality Act". They believe it will help fix the problem and save Internet radio.

I’m not one for using my blog as a soap box, but I support this fight. While I agree musicians should get paid every penny they deserve, if Internet radio dies, I can’t help but wonder what outlets undiscovered musicians have left since, lord knows, the good ones aren’t getting any play on Clear Channel or KROQ.

For more information visit www.savenetradio.org

yay for summer!

2007-06-21T14:52:00.001-07:00

“Today is the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. High ocean temperatures and higher air temperatures make for a perfect day for enjoying the outdoors.”

-The OC Register

websense???

2007-06-14T08:49:00.000-07:00

uhhh . . . does someone wanna tell me why I’m blocked at work from visiting SunkissedDesigns.com due to “sexual content”!?!?

thought of the day

2007-06-13T13:57:00.001-07:00

I told myself that if it said no, I would do it . . .

my new ride!

2007-06-12T13:02:00.000-07:00

introducing (drum roll please) . . . the TC!!!

more pics here!

mmmm . . .

2007-06-04T13:32:00.000-07:00

If you work in Irvine and want to leave your office for lunch, but aren’t interested in a nicer sit down lunch, you’re somewhat out of luck. The food around here is scarce, sub par, and suuuuuuper crowded.

Today, I decided to take a stand. No longer was I going to put up with the lines and sup par madness.

Today I made a journey 3 exits north on the I-5 freway, a trip which took 25 mins in total, to a little restaurant I like to call Chipotle. There I picked up my tinfoil wrapped goodness – an online ordered carnitas burrito - which I directly brought back to my cube and completely devoured. (I rarely finish a whole chipotle burrito in one sitting.)

. . . the trip to me was somewhat reminiscent of the days when I lived in Arizona and we drove entirely too far for an In-n-Out burger . . .

Was it worth it? Every minute, mile, and penny of it!

Will I do it again? You bet your butt I will!

vegas!

2007-05-17T14:30:00.000-07:00

Mine and Jim’s sporadic little trip to Vegas!
To see this girl!
Pics here!

happiness

2007-05-17T14:20:00.001-07:00

Consider the following. We humans are social beings. We come into the world as the result of others' actions. We survive here in dependence on others. Whether we like it or not, there is hardly a moment of our lives when we do not benefit from others' activities. For this reason it is hardly surprising that most of our happiness arises in the context of our relationships with others.

-The Dalai Lama

Question:

2007-05-14T21:08:00.000-07:00

Is it or is it not ok for the dry cleaner to write your name (in sharpie!) on the inside of your 7 pants, 3 shirts, and 2 jackets?!?!?!

how much crap do two people have?

2007-04-27T15:41:00.000-07:00

This much crap:

(yes that's the couch is in our kitchen!)

My word! I never expected after the preliminary stages of weeding (craigslist, trash, and Oscar’s garage sales) that two people would still have this much stuff! It’s quite possible that we have 1 pound of garlic salt, 6 trash cans, 20 wine glasses, and 7 computers!

For more pics of the maddness and the move, go here!

Still . . . amongst the crap, it’s pretty great to see this every night and be able to hear the ocean from every room of the house. Gives me a very nice ‘aaahhhh’ sort of feeling. : )

xMxBx.com

2007-04-20T13:24:00.000-07:00

The day I've been working many many hours for finally happened this week - the e-commerce store of Momma's Boy Productions has finally gone live!

On a side note:
this graph, which Jim found online, couldn't be more right!!!! haha!

I hate my job

2007-04-16T16:49:00.000-07:00

Oh wait . . . no I don’t! Over the past month I’ve been tasked with the job of photographing four of Southern California’s State Parks and Beaches.
Hiking around the beach during work hours on warm sunny afternoons is really rough, letmetellyou!

Freezster?

2007-04-05T15:21:00.000-07:00

It’s hard to pack for this:
When it’s the beginning of April and I’ve lived in this for the past month or so:
That’s a difference of almost 40 degrees! That’s not spring, that’s winter people!!!

On a side note, it’s nice to know that our world is getting smaller and smaller. It’s nice to know that on a whim I can decide to go home for a visit with the fam and do so fairly easily and inexpensively. I like living in a world where I can live on the other side of the country and see my fam whenever I want to. It’s part of what makes living in Cali so easy.

Happy Easter Ya’ll!

good jeans!

2007-03-26T16:37:00.000-07:00

This weekend I purchased my most expensive pair of jeans. I’ve owned two pairs of pricey jeans in the past, however, I didn’t purchase either of them. (One pair was “acquired” in a Las Vegas hotel room, while the other rang up incorrectly at the register of a chick who wasn’t paying attention.)

How much did I pay for these brand new jeans, you ask? $98. Some of you are dropping your jaw. (hi mom!) While others out there are undoubtedly saying “pssh, not one pair of jeans in my closet costs that little”

But if you know me at all, you know I’m not one to drop a bunch of money on clothes. I’m not a total cheap-o, but I tend to get squirmy and uncomfortable in stores like Nordstrom's, Banana Republic, and Abercrombie. So, this purchase was a pretty big deal for me.

It was after I test drove my Vegas acquisition and had many ‘expensive jeans are worth it’ conversations that I decided to go ahead and bite the bullet. And letmetellyou, I’m pretty sure it was worth it because I think I look pretty damn hot in these new duds!! awwwwweyeah!

(I will post pictures of my hot stuff in them soon!)

Mammoth!

2007-03-23T10:23:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago I was doing this:
and this:
and this:

and it was fantastic!

Here are the pics from the trip!

R2!

2007-03-16T08:51:00.000-07:00

Just when I thought the United States Postal Service couldn't get any cooler, they go and do something like this . . . and totally redeem themselves!

www.uspsjedimaster.com

summer?

2007-03-14T11:20:00.000-07:00

Between the warm weather and early time change, the past few days have been screwing with my head. I’ve been driving home from work with the warmth of the sun and all I can think is that I want to a) go shopping for my new summer wardrobe or b) pop on the flops and take my bike for a spin along the boardwalk (that is, of course, if my bike wasn’t sitting in storage).

But what I thought was interesting is the way the marine layer rolled in last night almost as if it too believed summer was right around the corner . . .

the current state of my life

2007-03-02T18:44:00.000-08:00

A girl without a home is . . . a very confused girl who has no home.

But a girl going to see the Aggrolites play with the Dropkick Murphy's Saturday night at the Grove in Anaheim is a very happy little punk rocker! \m/

Dear blogger buddies,

2007-02-27T14:20:00.000-08:00

Please respond to the following question by leaving the answer in my comments:
What color are these couches?

Snowboarding Sundays!

2007-02-26T21:00:00.000-08:00

Sometimes on Sundays, you just gotta go play in the snow!

No matter how sleepy or sore you might be on Monday!

valentine's day

2007-02-13T16:46:00.000-08:00

Call me a hopeless romantic, but I’m totally in love with this story and the idea of their final embrace.

RIP 2005-2007

2007-02-13T07:56:00.000-08:00

It is with great sadness that I share some news - TuFish Shakur passed away this weekend.

He was a happy little fish who was loved by many. Not a morning went by without him flapping his tiny little fins as a way to give a happy hello. He jumped for food, loved hiding in his plastic flower, and never complained about going whole weekends unfed.

He passed peacefully in his home Friday evening. A private flushing ceremony was later held in his honor.

don't say I'm ok

2007-02-09T12:08:00.000-08:00

If I pretend I was blind
And struck it from my mind
Would it still be there?
What if I'd do anything to make it seem all right
It's all right.

-f2f

23 Signs You're a Design Geek

2007-02-09T09:42:00.000-08:00

1. You giggle whenever you use the colors F0CCED, EFF0FF and 44DDDD
2. You’re in the sun and you look around for a Drop Shadow to sit under.
3. You give your relatives a lecture about color spaces and profiles when you email them your vacation photos.
4. Seing someone use Lens Flare or Comic Sans adversely affects your blood-pressure
5. You maintain a grid system for your refrigerator magnets.
6. You organise your CD collection according to the Pantone chart.
7. You sit at work for eight hours straight just looking at your monitor, waiting for a spark of inspiration that doesn't come.
8. You're up 'til 5am because you came up with the best idea ever while brushing your teeth.
9. The hottest dream you ever had was "Trace contour... Find Edges... Pinch... Extrude... Smudge Stick... Motion Blur.... Sprayed Strokes..."
10. You know Lorem Ipsum by heart.
11. Your kid knows Lorem Ipsum by heart.
12. The preschool teacher complains your child won't color inside or outside the lines – only indicate colors on a separate sheet.
13. Activating your entire font collection makes your computer crash – and you're running OSX.
14. You deliberately butcher your perfectly cross browser compatible site in IE by placing a “Too Cool for IE” banner on it.
15. You prefer a Layer Style of 50% Opacity (or less) on your wife’s Satin.
16. You spend $200 on a font for your personal website because "it's the only one where the lower-case g is just right..."
17. Looking at a menu make you go "hmmm, ITC Baskerville italic" rather than "mmmm, lunch!"
18. And when you finally order, you go for Layer Based Slices with Grain Texture...
19. You use words about fonts you dislike that other normal people reserve for fascist dictators and serial killers.
20. Apple+Z is the first thing that goes through your mind if you drop and break something.
21. You refer to colleagues as Strict, Transitional, Loose and the Future Unemployed.
22. You refer to your privates as "the Magic Wand".
23. You actually understand this post and pass it on to your friends.

Thank you Crestock.com for that wonderful insite into my geeky life.

supplies!

2007-02-06T00:02:00.000-08:00

If I knew that playing hooky would mean my mom's coming to town for a surprise visit, I'd be playing hooky more than you know!

Pics from the weekend

(tear)

2007-02-05T21:02:00.000-08:00

I was going through some old files on my computer and stumbled across some video snippets I shot at Soma during Face to Face's farewell tour.

Is it wrong to love a band as much as I still love this one?

2007-01-23T09:03:00.000-08:00

Here’s a fun way to pass time on a Sunday afternoon:

Dump a whole glass of pulpy orange juice into your keyboard and see what fun it is to take it apart, clean it, and put it back together again!

lame lunch

2007-01-17T13:18:00.000-08:00

I just discovered that my favorite sandwich from The Corner Bakery Cafe (the Chicken Pomodori Panini) has more grams of fat in it than a Big Mac from McDonalds.

How is that possible?

I think a little piece of me just died inside.

BBF EVER!

2007-01-11T17:09:00.000-08:00

Did I mention that I have a new camera?

Did I also mention how much I love said camera?

Words cannot describe what it feels like to have one to call my own!

30D bayyyyyybbeeee!! woohoo!!!

ahhh . . .

2007-01-08T13:18:00.000-08:00

I’ve found myself getting easily distracted lately by thoughts of the past couple weeks of my life. I honestly can’t believe how much transcribed in such a short time. And I can’t believe how wonderful and relaxed and calm it’s left me feeling.

All of the memories and moments and feelings that have been floating through my head - all the growing and sharing and time spent with loved ones - it's all left me feeling really great!

It’s pretty amazing what a long break from the ordinary will do for you!

eggs!

2007-01-04T19:41:00.000-08:00

For everyone who has recently doubted my ability to cook fried eggs, I submit to you my dinner!

cube revelations

2006-12-21T16:57:00.000-08:00

Since I’ve started my new job I’ve become increasingly aware of how easily sound travels through cubes. Most noises are muted, however, it seems that voices travel through (and over) the padded make-shift walls fairly easily.

And it got me thinking . . . if I worked in the adjacent accounting department and heard about all the projects the design/communications department was working on I think would become quite jealous and maybe a little resentful.

Then I realized that those thoughts just confirm the reasons I chose the profession I did.

And that thought made me smile.

peanuts christmas

2006-12-15T16:40:00.000-08:00

After hearing about the office holiday decorating contest and seeing how crazy into it people were getting, my department decided against participating. However, after much resistance my boss decided that it looked poorly on our department to stay out of the contest. So the afternoon before the judging she turned to my coworker and I to come up with something brilliant during the last minute. Knowing that we wouldn't win with such little time (I'm not joking you when I say people went crazy) we decided to do something simple, cute, and fun (aka not spend days and days wrapping our entire department - phones, chairs, cubes, cabinents, books, boxes, ect - with holiday wrapping paper). So my coworker and I opted to purchase the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree from Urban Outfitters and went to town drawing the full sized Peanuts characters. Although, we didn't win the contest I'm pretty proud of our little Charlie Brown Christmas scene. : )

My Open Hello to TCA!

2006-12-08T15:11:00.000-08:00

Hello to pinstriped Express ‘Stylist’ pants and cute heeled shoes.
Hello to the smell of bad microwaved lunches.
Hello to board meetings, committee meetings, and department luncheons.
Hello to the 10 lbs I’m going to add to my ass due to cookies, cakes, and doughnuts.
Hello to cubicals.
Hello to my lovely 23” HD Flat Screen monitor and G5 tower. (Thanks to you I will never be able to work on a normal computer again!)
Hello to government jobs.
Hello to ID badges and swipe cards.
Hello to the 25 min commute in the morning and the 40+ min commute in the evening.
Hello to the important people in suites and the cute important ones in hawiian shirts.
Hello to the 500 holiday parties coming up over the next several weeks.
Hello to warm, welcoming, genuine people.
Hello to office supply rooms bigger than my bedroom.
Hello to finally having an reason to cut myself off from myspace.
Hello to the amazing in-house large format printer.
Hello to having a clean car every Thursday.
Hello to the week off between Christmas and New Year’s.
Hello to every other Friday off.
Hello to too many new things!

Hello corporate world!

Cheers to charging forward and being a part of something bigger!

yippee!!!

2006-11-30T11:07:00.000-08:00

I was just told that I have a brand new 23" Apple HD Cinema Display waiting for me at my new desk. (connected to a G5 tower might I add!)

Could I be any happier?!

pics from the T-Day!

2006-11-30T08:48:00.000-08:00

Chopsticks, fuzzy boots, good friends, yummy food, and lots of fun - what more could you want on a Tday?!

my first turkey

2006-11-21T23:37:00.000-08:00

This evening I purchased my first ever Thanksgiving Turkey!

I'm quite proud of myself too! It's a California-grown fresh turkey that's never been frozen and has no preservatives or additives!

I'm way excited for Thursday! I love T-day! Yay!

life . . .

2006-11-20T22:30:00.000-08:00

Can a carefree nature and the desire to nurture coexist?

I've got a new job hey hey hey hey!

2006-11-17T17:49:00.000-08:00

I've got a new job hey hey hey hey!

warm fuzzies

2006-11-17T09:04:00.000-08:00

There's nothing better than sitting in four hours of boring/crappy traffic school after getting really good news (wishing you were anywhere but there) . . .

Except when boring/crappy traffic school is followed by two of your best friends surprising you by waiting for you at the local bar to help you celebrate your news!

I love you guys!

my BIGGEST project yet

2006-11-16T14:39:00.000-08:00

Literally!

Try 3 feet wide by 8 feet tall - for each panel! That's 9 feet by 8 feet total!

Who do you think took that background photo? Who do you think recreated all those logos in Illustrator? Who do you think too all those product shots? Who do you think endured hours of schmoozing?

Believe me when I say, when you stand with your nose pressed up to that thing there is not one ounce of pixilation. Damn, I'm getting good at this sh*t!

confucius say

2006-09-14T19:15:00.000-07:00

'don't get too high, you will feel dispair'

the old 96er

2006-09-12T08:43:00.000-07:00

After skipping breakfast yesterday and listening to my tummy grumble all morning, I decided to get myself a box of cereal to keep in my desk at work. I love munching on cereal during those mornings I neglect grabbing something on my way out the door.

The only problem is that the smallest size of Honey Nut Cheerios available at my closest Albertsons was a 1 pound box. Who is able to eat 1 pound of cereal before it goes stale?!

Observation: This box of Honey Nut Cheerios is unhumanly gigantic.
Description: The General Mills Honey Nut Cheerio box (Lot# LDLD165703) has a net weight of 1LB (about 27 servings) and is 'better if used by' 09JUN07
Hypothesis: I will not be able to finish this box of Honey Nut Cheerios before it goes stale.
Testing: Ready? Go!

Happy . . .

2006-09-01T16:58:00.000-07:00

3 day weekend everyone!! : )

Kinkos

2006-08-22T18:15:00.000-07:00

It's occurred to me that if you find yourself working at a Kinkos life didn't exactly pan out the way you had planned.

Every time I step foot into one of those places, regardless the time of day or it's location, I am confronted with a grumpy (and sometimes hostilely impatient) individual.

I'm sorry that you're stuck working crappy hours for very little pay at a subpar extremely corporate print shop with very little knowledge of any real printing processes, but come on life's not really that bad, is it?

Earthquakes and Sharks

2006-08-16T08:32:00.000-07:00

Every now and then a song comes along that really speaks to me - lyrically, musically, whatever. I just find that when I'm listening to music certain songs really stick out for me.

Recently I've heard a song on FM949 that I not only really dig the beat of, but I also thoroughly enjoy it's lyrics. The band is called Brandtson, the song is titled Earthquakes and Sharks, and the chorus goes like this:

Earthquakes and sharks to start us off,
If Chupacabras ain't enough,
Black widow spiders and killer bees,
There ain't no shade, there ain't no trees.
Hot desert heat, polluted air,
And traffic jams beyond compare.
That's all I got to warn ya 'bout Mexico and California.

The song makes me think of all my California naysayers back home. (No, I'm not done with my vacation yet.)

If you'd like to peep the whole song, you can listen to it on their space. It's good times!

such a clutz

2006-08-11T10:33:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I knock over some bikes . . . (shrug) . . .

(I'm a nice person though, I picked them up right away.)

photos!

2006-08-08T17:39:00.000-07:00

HB Outting (July 22)

San Luis Obispo (July 1st - 3rd)

More to come!

trash tv

2006-07-28T15:06:00.000-07:00

Sometimes people are asked to create flyers that say 'Out with the old. In with the new!'

And sometimes those people are given a photo of an old monitor and are asked to put that graphic inside of a trash can.

ahhhh, the world of graphic design . . . haha! I love it!

shorts day

2006-07-25T16:02:00.000-07:00

Yup, that's right, I wore flops, shorts, and a tank top to work today!

what does it all mean?

2006-07-24T13:51:00.000-07:00

I've been dreaming a lot more than usual lately. I'm not quite sure how or why, but I have been. Some people wake up, kinda remember they had a dream, then forget it by the end of the day. But, sometimes my dreams are crazy vivid or end up turning into deja vues months or years later. This is what I dreamt about last night:

Last night I had a dream that I played bass in a band. They were a small band, I think they were trying to get discovered, and I was just joining them. We had a show, my first show, and I was running on foot to get to the show because I thought I was going to be late. I showed up and it turned out that I had plenty of time, so I started restringing my bass. As I was restringing it I realized that I was restringing with knitting yarn. I thought that I could try to make yarn work, but decided it wouldn't sound the same. So I went to the shop next to the venue because they had an Ernie Ball sticker in the window. I went in and it was a trashy porn shop who only sold a couple guitar strings. So I sent somebody down the road to get me bass strings from a guitar store. I was waiting forever. Eventually the band had to go on. They went on and started playing. The lead singer was teasing me/telling the audience that their bassist was slacking, but would be on stage soon. I waited and waited forever for those strings to show up . . . then I woke up.

They never showed up.

What does it mean? I have noooo idea!

ahhhhhhh (hehe) I love dreams!

warped pix!

2006-07-20T12:24:00.000-07:00

summer break

2006-07-19T00:42:00.000-07:00

It occurred to me that of the 18 days in this month, I have only worked 7 of them.

I kinda love it!

Long days in the sand and the sun, the smell of sweat, salt, and suntan lotion, afternoon margaritas, summertime concerts, bbqing, road trips, new adventures . . . ahhh, I wish summer could last forever!

how do you afford you rock and roll lifestyle?

2006-07-11T15:14:00.000-07:00

Sunday night I saw one amazing band play at The Forum for almost 3 hours at the cost of $65.

Tomorrow I will see 86 bands play for half an hour each in the Dodger's Stadium Parking Lot for the total cost of $37.

Two completely different events.

Which one will be better you ask?

My answer - I don't doubt for a second that they will rock equally!

(Unless of course I pee in my pants at the sight of Fat Mike tomorrow, that might tip the scales just a little bit.)

\m/

down with Quark

2006-07-07T16:49:00.000-07:00

QuarkXpress is the worst design program in existence. After todays little romp, I'm reminded of the reasons why I switched to InDesign.

I hated my experiences today so much that I'd now like to purchase a copy of Quark just so I can throw up on it.

Nuff said.

strange

2006-07-05T08:24:00.000-07:00

It's kind of hard to lose something you never expected to go missing.

chick flicks

2006-06-27T00:57:00.000-07:00

You want to watch a movie. You're in a cozy happy movie mood. You want a comedy. You want a little romantic cheese. You want to watch something pretty mindless and easy. So, as a girl, when you're in this sort of mood you usually find yourself reaching for a chick flick.

And you could go for a classic chick flick - My Best Friends Wedding, The Sweetest Thing, You've Got Mail, Pretty Woman, whatever. But you've seen all those so many times that tonight you want to try something new. You want to test out a new chick flick for the potential that it could be really good - even possibly make it to the top of your chick flick rotation.

But as you start watching this new movie, you realize that what you are watching is not in fact a real chick flick. It was a movie promoted as a chick flick, but instead, ding ding ding, turns out to be something completely different. Instead of laughing and giggling and thinking to yourself 'awwweee that story was so cute' you come away sobbing because you were sucked into a movie which forced you to deal with some sort of feelings or issues you never saw coming.

I hate this. And it has happened to me on more than one occassion - Love Actually, Crazy Beautiful, The Family Stone (which was tonight's pick) and that movie about sisters - In Her Shoes.

Now don't get me wrong, those movies were all pretty good. In fact, Crazy Beautiful is one of my favorites on the chick flick rotation. I just wish they wouldn't sugar coat these movies and play them off as something they're not. If I'm gonna come away from a movie crying and thinking I need to call my mom 3 in the morning, I kinda want to know beforehand.

F2F Friday

2006-06-23T13:40:00.000-07:00

Nothing cheers a girl up more on a Friday than going to lunch and hearing one of her favorite Face to Face songs playing on the radio!

first day of summer

2006-06-22T08:33:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you have to celebrate the first day of summer regardless of what time you need to get up the next morning.

Cheers boys, cheers!

OC Beach Parking

2006-06-20T09:28:00.000-07:00

After living in Huntington Beach for the past few months I've definitely noticed some pretty big differences between San Diego and the OC.

One of the biggest differences was made apparent to me last night.

I wanted to go on a walk, and rather than doing a mile of residential walking to the beach and a mile of residential walking back, I decided to drive down to the beach for a full beach walk. As I was driving down coast highway I couldn't help but notice that not one inch of parking on the coast was free. The entire coast was sprinkled with parking meters - all of Coast Highway has meters, the lots all have meters or pay booths, and all of downtown has meters. If you think I'm lying check out this map.

What kinda crap is that? I can't help but wonder why they make people pay to park at the beach. Is it to make money off of the tourists? If so, they're not exactly giving the locals a break. Is it to encourage people to leave the beach after their 3 hour time limit? If so, that doesn't make sense at all.

I could be wrong, but don't remember one part of San Diego that makes you pay to park at the beach. All of PB's street parking was free. The lots in O-side were free. La Jolla street parking was free . . .

I dunno. Seems kinda lame to make people scrounge a couple bucks of loose change to see the sun set or take a dip in the ocean.

- Side Rant -
The first 3 blocks off the coast in Huntington are "Residential Parking - Parking by Permit Only". When I lived a couple blocks away from the ocean in PB, I don't remember being given a permit that guaranteed me street parking. And street parking down there wasn't always pretty either, especially during the summer on the weekends, letmetellyou. But I never had to walk more than a few blocks and I understood that part of living near the beach is dealing with beach traffic. I think it's lame that the snobby beach front property owners bitched enough about the parking to get the city to block off these streets for their use only.

(Something tells me if they took away the parking meters these OC residents wouldn't have to cry so much about people taking their parking spots.)

Nobody . . .

2006-06-19T21:43:00.000-07:00

. . . likes the jerk who builds hotels on Boardwalk and Park place.

decisions decisions decisions

2006-06-15T23:50:00.000-07:00

My front room has been feelin pretty drab lately so I've decided to spruce it up a bit. Amongst the sprucing I purchased some frames for my walls; frames which I'd like to fill with some beachy photography that I've taken over the past few years. The problem is that I can't decide which photos to use. (If you know me at all, you know that when it comes to stuff like this I can't make up my mind for shit.) So, I pose this to you my loyal blog readers (friends, family, and misc randoms): help me choose which photos I should print for my frames.

I have three frames in total.

One is a big frame - the opening is square, around 12x12, and I have two photos I'm trying to decide between:

Then, I have two smaller frames with openings around 5x5. For those frames I've been trying to mix and match between the following photos:

I really love all these photos. Their not my bestest all-time favorite photos, however, they make me smile to look at because they remind me of the sunny beach . . . and now after looking at them some more I'm beginning to wonder if I should choose one of the later 5 for the bigger photo . . . See, I really suck at this . . .

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, please im, email, or comment!

old goats

2006-06-14T21:55:00.000-07:00

Today I ran into Trader Joe's for lunch (their $2.99 pre-made salads are fantastic) and as I was standing at the checkout line I noticed an old woman come into the store on a motorized wheel chair. She entered the store and made her way for the stack of carry baskets. As she leaned over for one I realized she wasn't going to be able to reach. She started struggling, so I put down my salad and went to help her. She seemed pleased that I helped, but didn't really say thank you, so I took her smile as a thank you and went back in line. As she starts moving about the store apparently a young wipper snapper got too close to her wheel chair or something because she started shouting about how nobody respects wheel chairs and how horrible it is for her to go places and how people get in her way and how people never help her out and on and on and on. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah.

I was really proud of my good deed. Helping out old ladies makes me feel very Girl Scouty, but damn, I kinda wanted to take back that old lady's basket. I kinda hate those kind of old people - the arnry old goats who seem to use their wheel chairs as an excuse to force people to be nice to them and help them out, like we owe them or something.

I sure as hell hope I'm not one of those old folgys. I hope I'm of the bunch who bakes cookies all the time and has lots of friends to play bridge with and is happy and smiley. If I'm a mean old fart and you happen to still know me when I'm that old, please force feed me more drugs or just shoot me. Not that I wanted that old lady to be shot . . .

Santa Cruz Island

2006-06-05T10:13:00.000-07:00

I could go ahead and describe this past weekend with many words such as sunny, beautiful, bacon stealing seagull, Jack flask, pebbly ocean sounds, lotsa hiking, deadly silverware, crazy beautiful sunset overlook, salty camera, egg beaters, pumas rocks, three in a row, crabs, and deadly mouse poo, but I think I'll let the pictures speak for themselves!

Fun times! : )

Picture Set 1

Picture Set 2

two procrastinators don't make a right

2006-06-02T01:33:00.000-07:00

The following items have made up parts of my past few fantastic weekends:
the ever popular Glacus BBQ

bikes!

the HB BBQ

the Cubs/Pads Game

catching up with old friends

mmmm . . .

2006-05-26T13:23:00.000-07:00

Nothing pleases my belly quite like a tastey animalstyle In-N-Out cheeseburger.

If the number two animalstyle was a song on my iPod it would get 5 stars.

myspace rant

2006-05-15T13:45:00.000-07:00

If I get one more myspace bulletin that's titled either "Holy shit! This is amazing!" "Oh My Gosh!!!" or "OMG! Check it out!" and it links to a site that lets you see who's viewing your profile after you've reposted the bulletin, I think I might kill myself. Come on people, I thought I had smarter friends than that!

lemon sheep

2006-05-12T16:57:00.000-07:00

totally serial

2006-05-01T09:36:00.000-07:00

If I promise to go to church on Sunday
Will you go with me on Friday night?
If you live with me, I'll die for you
And this compromise.

one down, 49 to go!

2006-04-29T10:49:00.000-07:00

haha! Cabo here we come!!!

help a brotha out

2006-04-26T10:28:00.000-07:00

This guy and his girlfriend have made an interesting bet. Apparently if he can get 74,251,867 unique visits to his website by July 1, 2007 his girlfriend will let him have a threesome with her and another girl. I think it's kinda funny and entertaining so I thought I'd help him out by getting atleast a couple more clicks from the 2 people who read this blog.

heh hmmmmm

2006-04-25T15:58:00.000-07:00

I don't think I've ever had a political rant on my blog before, but does anyone else think it's about damn time the government started investigating big oil companies when it comes to these gas prices? Isn't it a little fishy that so many oil companies have sat at the top of the fortune 500 list for so many years but yet they've been given tax breaks and have never been accused of building monopolies?

In my opinion this 'investigation' is about 5 years overdue.

it's official! summer is here!

2006-04-24T16:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, while sitting on the patio of the Longboard Grill with some old friends sipping mimosas and enjoying lunch, I received my first sunburn of the season. I had a feeling yesterday was going to be the day so I changed into a tank top just for the occasion. Imagine my excitement when I woke up this morning with a rosey nose and bright pink shoulders!

Am I the only one who gets excited by the first light sunburn of the season? For me it can only mean one thing – summer is here and that pink will soon fade into my warm summer glow! Yay! Holy hell I love summer! I can't wait to waste away entire weekends by laying on the beach soaking up the warmth of the sun!

in case you were wondering . . .

2006-04-22T13:43:00.000-07:00

The sun is close to finished and it's almost time to start the blues! And look, it's finally taken the form of a table! (It was starting to get too heavy to pick up.)

I'm tellin ya, this thing will be done by the 4th of July this year for sure! : P

Fat Mike Quote:

2006-04-10T09:37:00.000-07:00

"Our loyal fans are drunks and addicts and queers and jerks and assholes. They like NOFX for good music and a good time."

\m/

the lisa

2006-04-06T11:10:00.000-07:00

Holy crap! Apparently back in the 80's Apple had a computer called "Lisa". I had no idea! How cool is that?!

After doing more research, I also discovered that the computer had a LisaWrite, LisaCalc, LisaGraph, LisaList, LisaProject, LisaDraw, and LisaTerminal! haha! So awesome.

I now feel huge amounts of validation in many areas of my geeky life!

fiiiiiiiffffffttteeeeeeennn, rooooommm fif-teen!!

2006-04-05T14:58:00.000-07:00

Sometimes people go snowboarding . . .

. . . and play darts, and chess, and soccer snow kick ball (or something like that).

the hottest 105 mins of my life

2006-04-03T21:03:00.000-07:00

I just had one of the most cleansing, centering, challenging, and relaxing experiences. Tonight was my first hot yoga class. I hadn't even tried regular yoga before and decided to jump right into some of the hot stuff. I gotta say, if you haven't ever done it before, you should definitely try it. It was pretty amazing.

hearts and thoughts they fade

2006-03-30T13:40:00.000-08:00

I just dropped a grip of money on some Pearl Jam tickets this morning. I've only paid this much for a concert two times before in my life - once for Aerosmith and the other for Metallica. Who cares about the money though. Although it's not very punkrock of me, Pearl Jam has a little place in my heart. Vs. was the first cd I ever purchased.

I haven't ever seen the PJ live and I couldn't be more excited about this show. Come on July 9th! Woohoo!

last weekend

2006-03-24T17:56:00.000-08:00

The following events took place between March 17th and March 19th:
Friday: St. Patty's Day

Saturday: Vandetta and margaritas (very excellant - go see this movie!)

Sunday: Dodgeball in SD for Holly's Birthday

For pictures from the whole weekend - go here!

so cute. I want this!

2006-03-23T10:49:00.000-08:00

cutest story ever

2006-03-22T08:51:00.000-08:00

TOKYO -- Hamster named Gohan, right, and snake Aochan live togther in a cardboard box at Mutsugoro Okoku zoo, outskirts of Tokyo. Gohan and Aochan make strange bedfellows: one's a 9 centimeter dwarf hamster; the other is a 120 centimeter-long (yard-long) ratsnake. Zookeepers at Tokyo's Mutsugoro Okoku zoo presented the hamster - whose name means "meal" in Japanese - to Aochan as a tasty morsel in October, after the snake refused to eat frozen mice. But instead of indulging, Aochan decided to make friends with the furry rodent, according to keeper Kazuya Yamamoto. The pair have shared a cage since. (01/18/06 AP photo)

first day of spring?

2006-03-20T19:33:00.000-08:00

I think I'm trying to force summer. In my head last week I told myself I was going to pick up running again. I always find myself taking a little break for winter and now felt like a good time for me to get back into it. So this morning when I heard that today was the first day of spring, I thought 'perfect, I'm definitely going running after work tonight!' It was sunny, so it seemed like a good idea. It wasn't until I got home, dressed in my winter running attire, laced up my running shoes, set my playlist on the new 'pod, and hoped on my bike to head towards the boardwalk that I realized it was drizzling . . . I rode around squinting my eyes through the sprinkles for a little bit, but eventually I had to head back home.

Come on summer, hurry your damn ass up!! A girl can't run in the rain!