wind
Today was defined by wind. I said it had stopped earlier, and for the most part it did; at least, up here by 17th Street. And even 3rd Street was calm(ish) and even hot, so much so that I thought I'd go down to the beach and watch people playing in the water. Only somehow there was still wind at the beach, blowing the sand up from nearly at the water's edge and sending it right in to my eyes and mouth. I could understand why sailors in RH Dana's day weren't so happy with Los Angeles as a port: in an onshore wind it couldn't have been much fun to be anchored out there. Also it was kind of cold. I did see one brave boy in work boots and jeans go in up to his knees, but he was the only one. It was more a day for the piping plovers (or whatever kind of plovers we have here), and I was greatly amused watching them.
We walked around the Prominade this evening, and we went in the Apple store and looked at this blog on a 23 inch Apple Cinema display. I was very proud to see that it flowed quite well accross that immense space, one of the few sites to do so (the Apple site itself looks kind of silly, a little column dwarfed by an equal amount of white space on each side).
After the Prominade, we went to the grocery store and picked up some chips and beer. Now we're almost ready for the game: it only remains to get some guacamole from the Co-op. I have a strange desire for guacamole now that I'm in California, and I thought I'd be able to gratify it at the farmers market tomorrow morning... but Leah tells me I missed it, it's not on Sunday but on Saturday. Ah well. Next time.
leah's long windy sat
Yesterday morning was a crazy morning in the store: lots and lots and lots of sales, and little me running around like a mad woman trying to get clothes on all the womans filling up all the dressing rooms. Some funny things from the morning: one woman couldn't get a tight tank off her body and started calling urgently, "Leah! Leah! Can you help me?!?" Then i went into her dressing room and pulled and yanked and pealed it off her body while she held her arms overhead a bit like a charging bull. i'm glad she was over 18; otherwise it might not have been legal. Then there was this other guy from the Bikram school, who thought he was pretty hot. He was trying to get me to help him (and help him and HELP him) choose between two long sleeve tech tops, and he tried one on with a hood and first he said "i feel like a waiting sperm in a Woody Allen movie" and then he said "I'm Jewish, so i'm not hooded." and i was like, yeah... um... you're wasting my time.
Then i came home and was pretty irritable from the stressfull day, so i went to the gym for a little bit to, you know, pretend like i'm tough and hard-core and all. There i ran into Ronny the personal trainer from Boston. Since we're practically homeboys, so to speak, he worked out with me for a bit (which made me work harder, darn it). But anyway, hanging out with that hard-body fitness boyie made me appreciate much more my sweet sweet sweetie pie at home who had sweetly offered to cook me dinner. (which i declined, on account of bein finicky and irritable and annoying.)
Anyway, then i came back and got all pretty and we went out into downtown to walk around and look at some trendy merchandise and some dumb stores and some good street music. all in all, the day ended better than it had began. and without any major purchases, so the boy should be pleased with me. But now reading this, he says that he's always pleased with me. someone trained him well.
-leah
goooo Pats!
What can I say, besides 'we had em all the way.'
It was a reasonably fun game to watch (though far from the 'best superbowl ever' or whatever Jim Nance called it when he was presenting the trophy), and I can't say I have any objection with the outcome. It was a whole different experience than the championship two years ago, cause this time (and how strange it is) we all had the expectation that the Pats would win it... how could it be otherwise?! So the end result was more satisfaction than jubilation. But it's still very pleasant and satisfying satisfaction, and I wouldn't knock it at all. The Patriots didn't play at their best, but that just goes to show you how good they are, cause they're second-best was enough to beat a pretty good Panthers team.
Leah didn't mention it in her entry, but she watched the game too: she got off work for that express purpose. We sat there for the whole thing and ate home-made french fries and chips and guacamole and Reces penut butter chips, and drank Coronas, and I ate (and drank) too much of those things and felt a little sick by the end. But an asprin and Leah's tender care and some lying down has made me feel as good as new, so now I'm ready to... go to bed.
Oh yeah, we also went to church this morning. That was so long ago! I'll write some about that tomorrow.
- Danny
more super bowl observations
It seems that other people liked the game, as a game and spectacle, more than I did. Bob Ryan's column in the Globe is headlined 'Perhaps best Super Bowl ever played,' so I guess folks liked it. Sure, it was eventful and exciting, but I'm with Ty Law: 'It was a horrifying game.' I guess that just means I like defense better than offense; and since I wanted to see the Patriots defense step up and dominate, I was horrified along with the members of the secondary when the Panthers kept making those long passes. On the other hand all those sacks were awful nice, and the offense wasn't bad either. And, it was a win. So overall I may have to revise my initial impression and say it wasn't a bad game after all. By next year when I see the NFL Films Presents movie of it, I may well agree with the 'greatest game ever' hype. At least for that half hour, anyways.
Of course, getting nearly as much press as the game itself today is Janet Jackson's breast. Yes, it was a breast, and yes, it was clearly a deliberate move on Justin's part to expose it. 'Wardrobe malfunction,' pah. But I, for one, don't see what was the big deal: my decency was not offended, and I can't imagine how anyone else's could have been either. For goodness sakes, hasn't everyone seen nursing mothers before?! Breast, and even nipples, are not dirty or indecent and if your morality is offended by the presence of one on tv for the merest fraction of a second, you've got problems. That said, anything that means we'll never have to watch a silly halftime show like that again can't be all bad in my book.
And in case you didn't notice, they were so lip-synching.
- Danny
rain falls
Now we have some weather here, and ain't it nice. It was gray and cool all day, and at about 3:00 it started raining. It was weak, but something anyways. And after the sun set it started up again, and now it's just like real rain! I'm glad it's cool out, cause we've had the dehumidifier on all day to dry out some clothes, and man does that thing pump out the hot air. Where I'm sitting by the window (and where I sat all day) is just about perfect, cool on the one side and hot on the other, but I don't know about when it's time to go to bed...
The reason I sat in the same spot all day is I finally got everything set up properly so I can get some real work done, and I did so. So far most of it has been renumerative work that's not particularly interesting to the majority of folks, but I did (finally!) put together the page of Leah's paintings, and I'll put in on the site as soon as she gets home and I can ask her the title to one of them (which I forgot) and also make sure she likes the page. Next I hope to get together a few Santa Monica pictures, and then after that I may even try to start writing things again. I'm even thinking about another go at the words! Such optimism... I hope it lasts.
Leah has some good news and some sad news, but maybe she wants to write about it herself, so I'll leave that to her.
- Danny
freedom, horrible freedom!
I drove a car today for the first time in a while (eight days, to be exact: either that or a lifetime), and it felt kind of odd. It didn't help that Leah's car is having troubles in the transmission again, so I was afraid it was going to break down in the middle of the street. It reminded me of the old days with my car! People who can drive places without worrying if their car will manage the trip don't know how good they've got it. I also learned not to try and take Arizona from downtown up to 17th: the traffic lights on Broadway or Santa Monica may be slow, but they're quicker than four-way stops!
Besides driving, I also did some cleaning today: our room was turning into a bit of a slough, as the boxes my computer came in take up a lot of room and kind of discourage us from keeping things clean. I maintained it was good excercise stepping over all the junk, but Leah wasn't too happy with it all, so I cleaned it all up when she was at work to suprise her. I left the laundry all non-folded in its bags for her to deal with, though: that's beyond my capabilities.
And how about this story: somebody at Leah's store called me and asked if I could make a flyer for them. So I did, before I settled with anyone on payment and things, only to find that they didn't want it after all; or more precisely, they didn't want to pay me for it. Ah well. One of these days I'll get paid for my design efforts, I'm sure, and until then I'll just have fun making them. Leah and I stayed up late working last night: she on the shipping binder for the store and I on this flyer. And today I made a Moveable Type skin, hopefully the first of many which I will provide, free of charge, to the benighted blogosphere. It was inspired by Leah's pretty bike. I like it.
- Danny
"David Duchovney -- why don't you love me"
So here's good news for all those people who told me that i wasn't living up to my potential by working in retail: i am now a FLOOR SUPERVISOR at lululemon, which means i get to be all responsible for everything that goes on on the floor when i am in charge. (my dad made the joke, of course, that it's not so hard to supervise a floor; you just make sure it doesn't go about wanting to become a wall.) It also means that i have to make an effort to be more responsible looking, so out with my pigtails and mickey-mouse sweatshirts to work, as it was pointed out that while cute, i am dressing like a little child.
But upon leaving the house today, dan said that i looked very responsible. mostly i think that comes from pulling my hair back.
So today i closed the store as my first closing supervising shift, and i think i did a good job. The other eventfull thing from this evening at work was that TV's David Duchovney came into the store and bought a pair of sweatpants for himself and also a crop pant for his wife. i feared that the crop he bought for her might be too large, since he bought her a medium and his wife (cinema's Tea Leoni) is, um, like way skinny. But i didn't say nothing, because we only had mediums left, and i didn't want to insult his judgement of his own wife's size. "She's very tall" he said.
And in case anyone's wondering, David Duchovney is a very nice guy and totally funny. He sure was crackin some jokes for me today. He's been in the store before; in fact i helped him last time he came in and bought a tech top and a pair of shorts. the first time he came in, i was nervous on account of used to having a big crush on him. but this time i was more down with it, because i already met him and talked with him before.
That's all for news of the day, except to say that this morning i felt really really sick after taking a Bikram class, and i felt faint and had to lie down all day until i went to work. Berly said it was from lack of salt, and she had me eat some tato chips, and after that i felt much better.
also today, dan cleaned up our messy messy room, and i am much obliged, because the mess was getting to me, but i've been so exhausted these past few days, from feeling sick and overworked, that i didn't ever feel capable of doing straightening work. So the boy did it, and it made me much happy, and also he picked me up from work and brought me food and then got me more food when i came home. All in all, i am convinced that i have the best boyfriend in the whole entire world. Yeah, dan's the best.
So, sorry David. Perhaps it was never meant to be.
-Leah
Danny and Leah
Just a quick notice: Eric over at EVula.net (where this blog is hosted) has set up two new users for us, so I can post as Danny and Leah as Leah. Much more elegant than the solution we resorted to intermittently in our previous posts, for which I apologize. But things are all better now. Thanks Eric!
grrRRR!
I hate getting parking tickets, especially when I do stupid things like put in one quarter, know it won't be enough and therefore plan to go back and add more money after I get some from Leah, and then entirely forget to do so. I went in to the store tonight to help her sort the cds in the 400-disc changer (making me all the more glad I don't have to deal much with those irritating pieces of plastic), and parking for the whole deal came to.. um.. $35.75. I don't mind the money so much as my own idiocy.
Ah well. Speaking of the joys of not having to deal with lots of cds, I went to Radio Shack and picked up a new speaker set. I'm kind of disappointed with it, cause while it has an pretty good subwoofer, the volume control is on one of the satellite speakers, and the other uses a stereo jack. So in otherwords, I'm stuck with these crappy little satellite speakers, which I think are even worse than the Cambridge Soundworks ones I was planning to use with the other subwoofer. But all that's nothing, when compared with the joy of being able to listen to my music again.
On another subject, my mango (that I bought a long time ago to make into salsa) finally got ripe, so I ate it, and boy was it good. I didn't like mangos when I was little, this one was a different story. I was making it into fruit salad (with banana and one of the little grapefruits we got today at the farmers' market), and after I cut off all the bits I could I gnawed on the pit some to get the rest of the meat and juice out, and it was about the best thing I ever tasted. I vowed then to only eat mangoes from that point on, and though after I ate the rest of it (in the salad) my stomach kinda hurt and I backed off from my resolution, I still am a fan. Mangoes++
Dan gets paid!
So Kim decided after all to use my flyer design, and paid me not thirty but forty dollars for it! Now I can pay the parking ticket from yesterday, and still have $5 left over to buy food! Considering the amount of time I put into the original design, and how long it took to make the changes in the text she wanted today, I think my hourly rate works out to under ten dollars, but I'm not complaining (well, except just to be funny)--I'll take what I can get, and anytime someone's willing to pay me to design stuff I'll be happy.
I went to the library here for the first time today, and I wan't that impressed; somehow you expect a city to have a collection that can at least rival little old Lexington's, but that is not the case. Still, I found something I wanted to read, but of course I couldn't check it out cause I didn't have a card yet; and reasonably enough they wouldn't give me a card cause I didn't have anything to prove that I actually live here. For all they knew I might have been a travelling book theif, who clears out like fifteen books from every town before moving on. But they offered to mail my card to my address, and that'll count as proof: if I get it, I live here. So in a couple days I should be all set with that. For now I can read the book I got yesterday, on PHP and MySQL. Thrilling stuff: just the thing to read when you're trying to stay awake as you wait for your girlfriend to come home.
viborial is so a word
i had a very "trying" night at work this evening. i was getting a certain "you're doing everthing wrong" vibe from certain parties, and other criticisms more explicit than viborial. All in all, i wasn't too happy, but i was made to feel much more peaceful after work when i came home because dan and i went on a long long walk and i vented about work, and then we talked about nicer things, and now i feel better, if very tired.
tomorrow we will go get my car from the VW dealership, where it is getting a new transmission. the old one was failing sumpin awful, when it had just been fixed, and Jeff the service manage at the VW demonstrated much indignation towards his service staff that i had to be back so soon with the exact same problem. Also tomorrow i have to go to the chiro, and also i'm hoping to go to a ballet class at noon, if i can fit it in. i'm not working tomorrow because MY DADDY IS COMING TO VISIT!!! he's arriving in the late afternoon, and we'll go get him hopefully in my fixed jetta, because driving the loner passat makes me incredibly nervous.
Thank God Dan is here to help and give me moral support and cuddle with lilly cat. i mean, what am i talking about? we don't cuddle with stuffed animals here in this adult household. that's silly. err, silly.
foooooood
Leah's dad came into town today, and he took us out to dinner at a fancy Italian place on the Promenade. Leah loved what she had; my food--tortellini for the first course and polenta with mushrooms for the second--was pretty good, but the desert was so wonderful it made up for any inadiquacies the dinner might have had. I had fruit and vanilla ice cream, and it was about the best ice cream I ever had. And, Leah had apple pie with cinnamon ice cream, and since she didn't want the later, she gave it to me. Good stuff. It was filled with real cinnamon, which certainly justifies its price: there must have been a couple tablespoons-worth in there! I don't know how the rest of the food managed to be so expensive (what's its excuse?!) but it was fun for all that. And we sure appreciate the treat, starving artists that we are!
Besides eating, we also took in the Santa Monica sights with our guest: Leah showed him the store, and then we walked down to the pier and around the Promenade for a little while. And that was all. I'm sorry there isn't anything clever and funny in this entry; I oughta try writing when it isn't so late at night!
daddy's girl
As dan stated, we went out to eat with my daddy, who is the awesomest person to hang out with in the whole world, because he's so funny and silly and pays for dinner. but mostly i love him because he's my daddy. we sure did have a fun time all three of us, and i had a fun time not working all day. i got my car back from the dealership, where they put in a new transmission, and now all is well and good again with Pretty Princess Parker. (When i got her out of the dealership, i started saying "i love you pretty car" while pretty car was actually the name of my first car, so i named this one princess, i think now perhaps that pretty is the name of any car i own at any given time in my life.)
this morning i went to pilates ballet class. it was very fun and good for me. but i also remembered why i stopped doing ballet when i was four. it's hard. you have to, like, work just to stand there. and look a bit silly.
speaking of looking silly, while we were out the three of us we saw a show of break dancers on the promenade, and for comedic effect the ring leader of the breakdancers grabbed me and taught me a breakdance move in front of everybody so that he could make fun and so everybody could laugh. But then again, i deserved the picking on, because i always walk by their show on crowdy days with a lululemon sign and leech off some of their publicity. Anyway, i felt very stupid all in all, and thought that i could have done a much better job if not for being put all on the spot like that. anyway, a good time was had by all, and about 30 seconds of that was at my expense.
foooooood reprised (plus art)
So this having a parent visiting is a good deal! Today for lunch we went to Swingers, a diner-esque place on Broadway that I've walked past lots of times and looked at with interest. It was quite good: a pretend diner, updated for the hip modern crowd. Leah had a vegan club, which is something you can't get at your average truck stop I'm sure. The place is within easy walking distance, so I'm sure they haven't seen the last of us (I plan on going for the early bird special: two pancakes, two eggs and sausage for only $3.75! Every weekday until 10:00!).
After that (and after we came home for a bit to recover) we went over to the Getty Museum, and it was as nice as ever. We only looked at two little exhibits, and then spent the rest of the visit looking at the gardens. I took about a million pictures and Leah took a few more, so I'm sure you'll see some of them online at some point. Coming down from the museum on the tram (cause you have to take a tram up to that crazy old place, city on a hill, from where you park) we saw that the 405 was about completely stopped up, so we whipped out the map and noticed that we could just take Sepulveda to Wilshire and bypass the freeways altogether, which we did. And it was good. Also it made us realize how close we live to that museum, so it too will no doubt be seeing more of our custom. Specially since it's free, which is always a plus in my book.
Now Leah and p¿re are taking in a movie, Miracle, but I'm weak and lazy so I stayed home. Also she needed some father time and I needed some tv/internet/relaxing time, so it all worked out. Hopefully they won't stay out too late though, cause both she and I have been dying from tiredness lately. Also it's my turn to read to her, and I want to get a big chunk of that book put away!
I'm working on some pictures for the site, and the page looks really nice as it is (if I do say so myself) but the set of pictures is kind of a downer, and maybe doesn't do justice to its subject matter (our fine town here). So Ima see if I can take a few more good shots tomorrow, like maybe one of the sunset over the water to finish things off. Then, finally, you will be able to see some pictures. It's about time!
sun day
Today was the hottest day since I've been here, and didn't we enjoy it. We skipped church cause Leah's dad had to leave at around noon and we wanted to spend some more time with him (Leah had told him we might go, but I said that I'd been to two services enough Sundays that we had some saved up). So instead we went downtown and shopped some at Leah's store (she bought all the things: shorts and a towel for her dad and some socks for me, since I seem to have left most of mine at home), and then we walked down to the cliff and looked at the ocean, and then it was time to head to the airport.
After lunch (and a bit of much-needed vegitative relaxing) we went down to the beach for some skating/biking. Now, earlier when we had been marvelling at how nice a day it was, I said that California people don't appreciate what they got, but when I saw how many people were on the beach and on the bike path I had to take that back, cause it was a madhouse. Worst was the people who were heading towards the beach and stepped out into the path without so much as a look in either direction: it's amazing there aren't more serious accidents. Despite the human obstacle course we had a good time, but we were both kind of worried about... getting sunburned. New England, what do you think of that?
And the chaos wasn't limited to the beach, neither. The Promenade was insane, and so were the streets: I left Leah the bike and took the car home to save a couple bucks on parking, and yikes was it crazy getting out of the lot and turning left onto Broadway. They tell us there are more cars than people in this state, and I believe it; in fact, I think that some people might have more than one car on the road at a time, controlling the second one by remote control or something. Yikes. To do my part to end the insanity, I vow never to drive on Sunday afternoon again. Unless I have like a dentist appointment or something...
I have to write so much here cause Leah is busy as anything. Having her dad was good fun but we didn't get much time to relax, and now today she's working til close (and then a couple hours after that for various reasons), and then she's going to be doing some training this week too. So we hope she survives.
I'm working on a mech drawing that I'm going to send to Peter. It's fun to be drawing again. Still nothing useful though. I think I'll post the Santa Monica pictures anyways, and then add to the set if I get more good shots. Yeah.
sports world, why are you denied me?!
So we have like a million channels of cable here (really, over 400!), which means that there are alot of sports channels available to me. And yet, they (that is, th folks inside the tv) could still run things much better. It seems to me that there must be someone playing professional sports at every single moment of the day or night--many more than one someone, most of the time. Why, then, do we have to suffer through taped soccer games repeated three times on the same channel, or college rugby taped in November of last year?! Think of all that should be available round the clock: soccer from Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas, various other rugby and football games, European basketball, cycling, Russian hockey, sailing, camel racing, elephant tug-of-war... who knows? The possibilites are endless! And yet there's no way for us to watch any of these things. That just makes it all the more painful, knowing they're happening and yet are denied to me.
Oh well, that just means I have more time to do work. Which I have been doing today, except for watching Manchester City and Birmingham play to a draw in a very exciting game, which was shown on tape delay. They played yesterday. It was good and all, but how much less sweet is it knowing that, instead of stale taped action, I could be watching live elephant tug-of-war, direct from Thailand via sattelite?!
out and about
So I finally had a chance to get out a bit further afield this afternoon. It was nice, cause while I've walked, biked and driven from home to downtown like a million times already, besides that I didn't have much idea what things are like around here. Desirous of rectifying this situation, I looked at the mountains which we can see down to the northeast at the end of our street, and said, 'I'll go up there!' (on a bike, this is).
Which I found out that they were alot further than looked. Our internet was broken when I set out, and the map was in Leah's car in the parking garage by her work, so I didn't have anything to go on besides I could see the mountains there at the end of the street. Which was fine, except after about a mile and a half the street ended. I went right (mountains are inland, right?) and at 26th Street I came to the end of Santa Monica and entered beautiful Brentwood. 26th was the first cross street to keep going north, so I took it for a bit, but then it took a turn for the hilly, diving down into the canyon, so I decided not to go any further that way: not knowing the terrain I didn't want to go down any gigantic hills that I might have to come back up again!
So instead I went back to San Vicente Blvd and took it down (and down it was: a gentle grade, but I barely had to touch the pedals for a mile or so) til I got Ocean Ave and the bluff. I could see the bike path down there on the beach, but I couldn't get to it (the mountains? Oh, um, they were really far away. Never mind them.), so I took Ocean a little further north where it went through some crazy turns taking its own dive into the canyon, and then navigated though a maze of streets (um... these streets have curves in them; I don't remember how to do curves) down to the Pacific Coast Highway, where I sat and puzzled for some minutes on how to get across it. Eventually I deduced from the signs ('do not cross: use tunnel') that there was a tunnel, so I located it and there I was.
Then it was a simple matter of heading down the bike path back to the pier, where I arrived just in time to watch the pelicans diving for their dinner. (Though 'diving' perhaps doesn't give the right impression, as it leads you to imagine they employ some grace and style in this endeavor. Which is not the case: no, they look more like they've been shot, or maybe they're just tired of flying and decided to stop. Big splashes.) Then I biked up into town, and got to Leah's store just at the moment that she was calling me to ask me to come pick her up. So she didn't get picked up, but we did get to do a little shopping and walk home together, which was nice. Oh wait, we didn't walk together: she rode the bike and made me run along beside it! No fair!
leah and dan like slightly different things, we find
so i finished up today with training two new people for the store. they are both super smart and nice, and one of them is an actress so she is very tall and pretty, and the other one is a regular person so dan would probobly think she's prettier than the other one, but not me, i think the tall one is prettier. So they are both smart and nice and pretty, the latter depending on who you ask. anyway, the training wasn't too hard, because they are both smart, but the tiring bit was talking for two days straight and also waking up and going to the store at 6:30 to start training at 7am. also i had stayed late on sunday night to finish up work on the shipping binder, cuz now i'm in charge of shipping and it's sure not gonna suck under my watch. so that was a couple nights in a row of late working, after all that staying up late with my father. but it was well worth it, because i had a fun time with my daddy. but then i felt bad because i didn't get enough alone time to spend with dan, and i even fell asleep while we were reading and i told him to shhhhh because i was having a dream that someone was trying to give me directions, and i couldn't hear over the reading of the story. so he felt bad over being shhhhhed, and i sure did feel bad about being a bad girlfriend and spending most of my time working and sleeping while my poor boyfriend slaves away at home on the internet with this blog and whatever else.
But all my worriedness about needing to be entertaning had to be thrown out the window yesterday because after dinner i got desperately sick and had to lie down in the dark for the rest of the night. today i felt better, but was still a little woozy when i came home between my shifts. berly let me go home a bit early tonight, because i wasn't looking so good and also because i had already worked like over eight hours so far. and while i was calling dan to ask me to come pick me up from work, i said "where are you?" and he said "im right outside your store right now." because he was coming into town and psychic. so i looked out the window, and there he was. spooky. so we went to get something to eat, and then i tried on some pants at abercrombie, and i liked them in pink and dan liked them in white and i bought none of them for various reasons including monitary and bumitary. but also we found out that abercrombie has ZERO PEOPLE WHO WORK THERE, unlike lululemon. there was no one to open the dressing rooms for me, so i crawled under the door. literally, there was no sales person on the entire floor we were on.
and then we made garlic bread and it was good. so was the eisode of sex in the city i started watching. and i'm sure dan liked the think he looked at on the computer when he stopped watching tv with me because i was watching sex in the city. so in the end we both win.
party like it's 50% off!!
So I'm about ready to go to bed here, but I can't because there's a big party I have to go to. Yes, on Wednesday night. Yes, at Leah's store. I know all about it cause I designed the flyer, and got paid $40 for it.
Actually, I don't have to go, I choose to: cause my housemate Aaron is DJing or spinning or whatever the kids call it these days, and I want to see him in action. Oh, what is this party you ask? Well, lululemon needs to make room for their new spring line, so in an effort to clear out the old winter crap that nobody wants anymore they're offering fifty percent off all winter colors (with the exception of black and white). Who knows, I might even pick me up a t-shirt. So you see this isn't really a party as such, but a mere after-hours sale+DJ, which is good cause it means there isn't much danger of me busting a move, or anything else, on the dance floor. But it should be fun.
for maximum inconvenience
We have one car here, and one bike, and strictly speaking they both belong to Leah. But I use them from time to time, the bike to bike around (getting out of the house every couple days is good for me) and the car to drive her to work and pick her up. This sharing is done according to a strict schedule, by which neither of us is allowed to use either car or bike twice in row; this ensures that every time either of us wants to use either conveyence we have to adjuct the seat and mirrors/helmet strap (the latter depending on the particular mode of transportation being employed. It's a complicated system, but it works for us.
On an unrelated note, Leah worked til 12:30 last night at the party (where, you should know, I bought not one not two but three garments, for prices too low to turn down), and then she had to open this morning, and even worse she had to go to the gym even before that!! So she only got about four hours of sleep, and I did barely any better. So now it's our bedtime; and in fact I think she's already asleep, unless my noisy typing is keeping her up. So I'll stop now.
so proud of myself
I brought Leah lunch at work this afternoon--and though that alone may be reason to be proud of myself, that isn't what I'm talking about. No, what I'm proud of today is my awesome biking prowess. I though I did pretty good going down, but coming home I was just unstoppable. There were alot of cars out (lunch hour and all) so it took them a while to get started when the lights changed, so two or three times I zipped right past a bunch of em. Cause of course I got every light until 14th St.; and in fact, I was quicker than cars all the way between 4th and 15th or so. That's what I'm proud of. I also got both lights on 17th, which was nice.
Then Leah brought me to the gym this evening, and showed me what actually being in shape is like. I didn't do too well. Oh well, I was proud for a good six hours... I'll take it!
I was also proud because I gained a great victory in my battle with PHP, and made a working style switcher!! Only... it doesn't work in Safari for some reason. I can't imagine why not. But that's a battle for tomorrow.
heaven is a place with no phones
so good news and bad news about work is that since the party business has really picked up, especially on our phone order business. the bad news is that that means that the phone does not stop ringing at all all day at the store. as soon as i put it down it rings again. i am taking phone orders in my sleep. i am answering my cell phone and home phone saying "good afternoon lululemon this is leah speaking." with only three people on the floor, the constant phone drain makes it impossible to get anything done, and also sucks our time away from customers in the store. then we run around like beheaded chickens trying to catch up before the phone rings again. both today and yesterday i came home very very frustrated, because of the constant phone ringing, and also because of being so busy the store gets all messy, and especially the cash desk just gets pilled with piles of crap, and both days i've had to stay an hour later just straightening and finishing all i didn't get to finish during the day.
being a floor supervisor is hard.
Thank God for dan, who comes almost every day to bring me lunch. today i took ten minutes to eat with him, which was nice.
The other big news of the day is that our good friend David Duchovney came into the store again today looking for a valentines day gift for his lovely wife. i was much relieved to find out that the crops he bought her on his previous trip fit her, and so he bought her anouther pair of pants in the medium tall length. (even though i said "are you sure she takes a medium???" about five times.) Well, maybe she likes it baggy, because as Kerry put it "she's MIN-I-A-TURE." Anyways, i wrapped him up a gift box all nice and pretty, and then (the best moment in my whole work day) he said "what's your name?" and i said "Leah." and he said "Leah, i'm David, nice to meet you." flutter flutter.
Now at least i can feel not weird about calling him by name when he comes into the store. i mean, he is kind of a regular now. The only regular in our yoga store with a really cool expensive white-faded leather jacket.
happy valentines day
I had a wonderful Valentines Day, cause Leah took me out to breakfast and went hiking (well, beach-walking and cliff-climbing and path-walking) with me, and let me watch rugby during dinner. But I made her penut noodles for dinner and bought her tofuti cuties for desert, and also I took her out for breakfast. So we're about even. Happy Valentines Day to everyone!
A-Rod, schmay-rod
So I heard (on NPR no less!) that now that the Yankees signed Alex Rodriguez the hearts of Red Sox fans are broken, and they're already conceding the season. Which may be true, cause Red Sox fans are, by and large, weak-hearted pessimistic whiners. But I just had to offer my opinion, which is: good! A-Rod is a fine individual player, I suppose, but he didn't do too much for the Rangers, as I recall. Now you may say it's all different now that he's on a winning club, but wait and see: I predict that this is the year that the Yankees fall apart and get Joe Torre fired and just generally do poorly. Well, we can always hope.
In other sports news, the inagural LA Sevens rugby tournament concluded today, with Argentina upsetting New Zealand to win the two-day tournament. I watched alot of both days of play. It was fun, and it reminded me of my youth (which I vaguely noticed at the time): the Sevens circuit goes to Hong Kong next weekend.
In other Dan news, you may think I did nothing today but watch sports on tv (and I also caught a little bit of that basketball game they had with all the dudes from the different teams playing together), but that isn't the case. I also went to church in the morning and did a fair amount of work too, and took Leah dinner (making my way through the ferocious Santa Monica evening traffic--which was thickest in the parking garage--to do so). But mostly it was sitting around that was the order of the day. No complaints here!
honoring the presidents
So today in Santa Monica everyone celebrated Presidents' Day by driving their cars round the streets and parking garages and generally getting in the way of folks who just wanted to go into town to do a little shopping. But we made it, desipite the many obstructions, and Leah bought a new watch and a new dress (despite some astonished and uncalled for gasping at price tags by me). It was fun, shopping, but for some reason it takes alot out of me. I'm perfectly capable of hiking for hours, covering unnumberd miles, but put me in a mall or shopping district and I'm about ready to collapse after about half an hour of gentle strolling. It's inexplicable. Leah is sure nice to put up with me.
Then, besides that, we also went out to dinner at a pretty nice place on the Promenade. It had good Italian food, and it made up for the sin (in my eyes) of being a little pricy by having paper napkins and (even better) paper tablecloths! Good stuff. The food was pretty good too, and we had a good time, so it was all well worth it. All in all, due to the coincidence of Leah having the day off, the Presidents were well celebrated. More than they deserved even, I'm sure.
winter in southern california
I'm not really qualified to comment on the weather today, since I only went outside for about an hour, between five and six o'clock. But that hour, together with my detailed examinations of how it looked out the window, convinced me that this was the winteriest day I've yet exprienced here. Not that it was cold--when I can bike downtown in short sleeves with no discomfort no one can call it cold--but there was a certain wet chill in the air, and the mostly cloudy sky contributed to the general effect of real winter. I even caught myself huffing to see if I could see my breath, like I'd do on fall days back home, until I realized that was a little silly when I wasn't even wearing a sweatshirt.
But people here think it's cold, that's for sure. We see sweatshirts, windbreakers, wool hats, even the ocassional all-out winter jacket. But even those thin-blooded locals understand that they don't really have a real winter, and they demonstrate that fact by continuing to patronize the outdoor sections of Promenade cafes and restaurants all year round. I'm compelled to admit, though, that their ability to do so is helped by the universal presence of propane (or perhaps kerosene) heaters on poles, which cast a merry glow over many an evening meal. Without those, really, even I with my thick blood wouldn't want to sit around and let the evening cold seep into my bones. Even so, you try heating the Copa Cafe's outdoor seating in Lexington with those things, and see how many people show up.
The reason I was indoors all day is because I was working hard, making a new style for my design site and applying my new-gotten PHP knowledge to the main site. Progress, and much fun too. Now all I have to do is produce some new content...
news for my mother
i got an e-mail from my mother this morning saying that she appreciated my blog posts to be updated on what i'm up to, and i thought "but only if i actually WRITE in the blog" because it seems i haven't done so for a while. Well, the excuse, if any is permissable, is that i have been working like non-stop, and when i wasn't i was concentrating on other non-blog related things exercizing and sleeping. but there have been a few interesting things in the past few days that i will relate in bullitin fashion:
* yesterday at the gym a guy fell from the climbing wall and his ankle made a popping noise. i was climbing at the wall next to him and i freaked out like the true girlscout i am and said "quick! elevate it right now!" and i went and got ice and compessed his ankle for the first 30 minutes after the accident. and i talked to him for a long time and he was quite nice and i think his ankle was much better because of the immediate attention. the people at the gym didn't do anything to help him. they so don't know what they're doing.
* i went to a french kickboxing class that was really fun. i want to buy some boxing gloves, because the loner ones are permanently soaked with sweat. kickboxing is like the opposite of yoga. i took one class of each yesterday, so i guess the net effect was like i did nothing.
* The store got in new spring colors, and they are really pretty, like sherbet colours, but the organizing of putting them all out on the floor is a nightmare. it was so messy in there today. it's like an ice-cream truck threw up on the pant-wall table.
*dan is teaching me about boat lingo. i learned what a fo'c'sle is. he told me some other stuff too, but i forgot.
*i bought a new dress yesterday at anthropology. the dress is very nice.
*i was so tired at work today so i drank coffee but then i kept finding that my hand was shaking when i took people's credit cards, and i don't think that would make a customer feel too secure.
new designs!!
I finished two new styles for my design site, and also constructed a means of looking at them; so go check out the new corporate and chaotic looks! Now I'll use my styleswitching knowledge to create a display page for my offerings of Moveable Type skins, the reason I started all this PHP styleswitcher business in the first place. I'm sure glad I did, now, cause already the great new things I've learned are coming in handy all over the site. Next I need to install MySQL on my machine so I can then install Movable Type locally and finally figure out what's all those templates; and then I'll have all kinds of MySQL skills, and I'll be unstoppable!!! Oh, so much fun.
Today was rainy and cool, and a wonderful day to stay inside all morning and read, which I did (John Garth's Tolkien and the Great War: The Threshold of Middle Earth is the current selection). It made me think of what Dana was talking about when he described the California winter in Two Years Before the Mast:
It was a beautiful day [when we reached the California coast], and so warm that we wore straw hats, duck trousers, and all the summer gear. As this was midwinter, it spoke well for the climate; and afterwards we found that the thermometer never fell to the freezing-point throughout the winter, and that there was very little difference between the seasons, except that during a long period of rainy and south-easterly weather thick clothes were not uncomfortable.We're in such a period now, I guess. It cleared up around 4:30 though, and by the time I finally went outside and biked down to visit Leah at the store and bring her some things, it was a beautiful cool clear day, very nice indeed.
Despite all that--nice weather and design triumphs--I'm kind of homesick today. Write me letters from home to cheer me up.
warning!
I'm going to be playing with the templates for a little while, so if anything looks odd over the next couple minutes/hours, that is the reason.
california innovations
Now that I've been here for a while, I no longer think that everything is as different as it could be from New England--when it comes down to it, the US is still the US no matter where you are. However, Southern California has produced two notable innovations which I feel it is worthwhile to mention here.
The first is in the area of trash pickup: the City of Santa Monica, it seems, has issued every household with a large, lidded trash can (or perhaps required them to buy same). Since everyone thus has an identical trash receptical, the task of the garbage collectors is simplified considerable. In fact, the job can be done with one man (or woman, of course), because the garbage trucks are equipped with a lifting arm and claw which descends to grasp the trash can and tips it into the back of the truck, without requiring the operator to ever leave the cab. It's truly amazing to witness. I can't imagine why it hasn't caught on back east, unless it's the long-standing Yankee independent streak which for decades and even centuries has meant it is a point of pride for each individual to select his own rubbish bin (or bins) from the local Ace Hardware.
The second innovation is less amazing, but has wider implications. It is, all the parking enforcement personel in the city here--they're far too cool and confident looking, not to say militaristic, to be called meter maids--enjoy the use of small little three-wheeled cars, which they bravely take out on to the wilderness of the cities streets in order to more effeciently enforce their reign of ticketing terror. The increased mobility the karts affords them, combined with the sheer number of officers, means that you need only park illegally for an average of 47 seconds before they locate your car and issue you a citation. I've observed this in action myself, and today I had confirmation from a local Angeleno, so I am not making this ferocity up. It is truly impressive to behold.
Yeah, I know all that's not funny, but I had to write something. And both those things are true, and worth commenting on I think, so there you go.
[There are still a few oddities with the display of the archive pages on this blog here, which I will fix tomorrow.]
contentment
The new blog skins are out, get em while they're hot! Now that I've got all the templates sorted out I can make new styles in no time at all. Only problem is, now that I finally understand the template bits I feel like I should do the whole thing over again to make it actually and fully logical. Buuut... not today.
Leah finally had a day that she didn't close (though she did have to go in at seven in the morning (!!) to open the store for some repairmen or something), so we got to spend a relaxed evening together, and it sure was nice. And it continues to be nice, in fact: which means I'll stop writing now! :D
fresh from the fahm
So one of my favorite things about Santa Monica is that there's a Farmers' Market* twice a week, every Wednesday and Saturday. I went down there this morning and got some tangerines and some rolls and some delicious candy almonds. It's a great scene: they close a couple blocks of downtown streets, and bunches of local farmers set up their booths to sell everything from lettuce to hummus. And, uh, lots of things in between. And the food is good and cheap too, sometimes amazingly so; and there's something quite nice about getting oranges with the leaves still on em. The only problem then, is remembering to eat all the stuff we get (though that won't be a problem with any of today's stuff, I don't think).
I needed all that refreshment cause Leah took me out running in the morning, and as a result I was broken. She's a much better runner than me. In fact, I don't think she'll ever bring me along again because I went so slow and dragged her down, when she wanted to keep chugging along. I burn with shame at the memory. We meant to go biking and rollerblading, which I like better because the mechanical advantage of the bike lets me keep up with her on the skates, but we scrapped that plan cause it was a little drizzly out. Even with all the pain, though, it was good fun; and I'm sure it was good for me. In the long run, that is; first I have to see if I'll be able to walk tomorrow.
*You may have heard of it, in fact, because it's where, last summer, an old man drove his car right through the middle of the market and killed a bunch of people, and it made the national news. For a while folks were super-aware of that, but now it's mostly been forgotten and things are back to normal. And since I wasn't even here then, it's all good to me.
it's hard being in charge
the past week at the store has been a lot of work. every second i'm there i'm like accountable for everything that goes on --- everything that everyone does --- if work gets done or not. it's exhausting. being responsible takes like four times the energy of being told what to do. and there are other energy sucks too. Here they are:
the first big glitch is that of all the people i work with at one time, none of the others is completely 100% confident on the cash register, and they are likely to panic if any little thing goes screwy. like, if someone has to return something and, like, i dunno, bought it with a discount, only mommy can come and make everything right. so i don't feel comfortable taking a break for very long, and if i do i say "i'm just going to be sitting RIGHT OUTSIDE here, and you come and get me if you have ANY PROBLEMS, okay?" i wouldn't get any food at all if dan didn't stop by the store every day to bring me lunch. the sweety.
The second problem is that there are all together too many things to do in one day for any one particular floor supervisor. like, there's the floor to supervise, and cash to ring in, and irate customers to sedate, but then there's also the petty cash to balance, and the monthly goal to tally, and phone orders to package, all stuff that should happen in some sort of back office, if only we had one. but we don't, so all this crap is spread on the cash desk all day long. and i'm like "what is all this crap?" and i'm thinking of dumb slogans to remind us to keep the damn place clean like "the cash desk is the customer's portal to lululemon's financial face."
Also, i find that being all responsible makes me mad at those people (will name no names) working with me who are less than responsible. we had some drama yesterday with an employee who i sent to run a 15 minute errand, and he took an hour an a half before he came back. dood, what gives? don't be playin me like that. hey all, check out my rightious indignation.
okay, enough of work. at least there's dan here to take care of me and be tremendously loving and supportive and listeny when i complain and complain and complain.....
on the good news front, i got new boxing gloves!!! they rock. i'm going to be the kickboxing queen before you know it!
the rainy season
Winter here is the rainy season, they tell us, which seems to mean that as much rain falls here in the winter as does in any average month, anywhere else. This is a rainy season compared to the summer, when it doesn't ever rain. Or so I understand it. I've only been here for a month, so my knowledge of weather patterns is hardly what you'd call complete.
In any case, however, it's been raining a bit lately, and it sure rained some today. But not steadily all day, just off and on, and it was off enough at one point to tempt me into going biking; only when I got downtown it started spitting, and when I went into Leah's store to seek shelter it started pouring down in earnest. Even though it had been raining hard earlier too, I wasn't the only one who had been tempted outside by a half hour-long glimpse of sun: the Promenade was packed with Sunday revellers, and you shoulda seen em scurry when all that water started falling from the sky. I ducked into the Gap to take shelter from the worst of the rain (having left Leah's establishment when it was drizzly enough to walk outside, plus being kicked out cause I was lounging around and uglifying up the atmosphere) and there were about a million people in there with the same idea. I hope some of them bought some things, or else all the Gap got out of the deal was some wet floors. And wet clothes too, I bet.
All in all, though, I guess it was like any other cloudburst anywhere else on a Sunday afternoon, excepting the fact that there are always more people out here than anywhere else I've ever been, in the United States anyways. Though... maybe I can't even tell any more! What happens in Minneapolis, say, or Boston, in the rain? What? Tell me!!
meatball furniture
We made a trek today to Ikea to buy a bookshelf. Man that store is fun to visit, but it sure makes me tired. And every time I go I get a headache, too. It's a good time for all that though; kind of like Disneyland for grownups. I'm a grownup sometimes, and Leah is too, so we like it, and it makes us want to buy a house so we'll have somewhere to put all the great furniture and knicknacks that just leap out at us from the shelves and display floors.
But we fought most of it off today, and besides the bookshelf only bough a dozen glasses and two square baskets and some little paper-organizing boxes. All for a very affordable price too, only the problem was: the bookcase is very big, and it was still very big when it was in its box, and it sure wouldn't fit in the car. Which is why we didn't buy it last time we were at Ikea, in the fall when we bought the desk. So we were planning on getting it delivered but as it turns out that would have set us back fifty dollars; a bit much considering the thing only cost seventy in the first place. Happily, though, when the guy at the shipping counter heard us say we had a roof-rack he volunteered that they provide rope (woohoo, free rope!), which was enough for us to at least attempt to bring it home ourselves. And when we had it all cocooned up in about thirty yards worth of rope, we reckoned it would be safe to bring home on the freeway; and indeed it made it all the way without budging barely an inch.
The only problem with the visit was, I failed for a second consecutive time to try the famous meatballs. It's not that they don't look appealing in theory--I'm sure that if I went to a church supper in Wisconsen I'd eat em right up and go back for seconds--it's just something seems a little odd about eating in a store. A little too theme parky for me, I think. Also, the meatball plate is five bucks! And while that not be much for an actual restaraunt, in the context of Ikea and the dozen glasses we just picked up for that same price, it seemed a bit steep. So no meatballs for me. The bookshelf is great though.
[Also: I would be remiss to write a post about Ikea and fail to link Matthew Baldwin's Morning News strategy guide on the the subject. Heh.]
the ticking of that hideous clock!
I forgot to mention yesterday one more item we picked up at IKEA, and that was a clock. A real clock, that ticks and occasionally tocks. With some volume, actually, when everything else is quiet and you start to focus on it. It's not really hideous, though: in appearence it's rather nice in fact, especially for the $2.95 we paid for it. We were hoping that we'd be able to get the case open and draw on the paper insert on which are printed the numbers and little hashes, but that proved difficult, so for now we've just stuck the thing up on the wall in an as-is fashion. It's still sure nice to have a clock that's actually visible from nearly all the room. I still can't see any clocks from my side of the bed, though.
Oh yeah, and the ticking. Well, it isn't really that bad... Leah actually said last night she kind of likes it. And I didn't mind it at night either; it was just a little annoying in the morning, because I didn't want to turn on music to drown it out out of politeness to the housemates. So the innexorable 60bpm pulse kind of drove itself into my head for a while, as I tried to work. And while it is nice to be able to tell the time, I have my computer for that! Although, I do benefit by Leah being able to tell the time without asking me, so when she's on the other side of the room getting ready for work I won't have to be calling out the time every two minutes like... like... like some sort of time-telling robot gone berserk. Or something.
conjunctivitis, what's your... plightus
I'm aware that the title of this post is more crytpic than usual, so I provide an explanation: think of Schoolhouse Rock.
Less cryptically, Leah has conjunctivitis. I, as of yet, do not, though we fear it may be only a matter of time; although we trust in positive thinking and the healing powers of prayer, so perhaps I'll be safe. Leah has the antibiotic eye sauce anyways, so if I happen to sucumb to the disease I can steal it for her, or fight her for it. Thinking about it all made me ask her to look up health insurances for me, so maybe now we'll finally get something accomplished on that front. We went to the doctor and the pharmacy with her insurance in hand, so we only had to pay ten bucks in each place, which was nice. Also nice is that the doctors' office (or HMO place at least) is right around the corner from us, so we could walk there.
And walk there we did, not knowing that it was supposed to start pouring rain at any moment. Happily it didn't start pouring on us as we walked there, and then walked to the pharmacy, and thence home; nor did it rain as we drove all over town (and out of it too, to Marina Del Rey) on errands. When we got home, though, man did it start; and I'm glad I got to stay indoors from that point, cause it's coming down pretty fierce. Aaron, a native Californian and long time Angeleno, says that this much rain is unusual, which pleases me, to note that California weather still can't hold a candle to New England's. Because you know I take much pride in our quantity of weather, as any right-thinking individual does, who lives in a place where the climate is worth commenting on at all, on a day-to-day basis.
menaversery
This is the one-month-versery of this blog, and we've written in it every day of all that month. The -versery also marks one month that I've been in California, although I don't remember if I started it right the day I got here. Probably not, but it wasn't very long afterwards in any case. To celebrate these milestones, you should all write more comments in the comments section!! People will think nobody's reading this thing. Yes, I know the comments form is ugly, because I haven't styled it at all and it's left with a mix of the default style and this pink one. But it still works, you know! And I'll make it look pretty tomorrow, so then you'll have no excuses at all.
Today I biked all over town, cause I brought Leah lunch but forgot to bring her her pinkeye medicine, which she had asked for. So she made me go home and get it. All the excercise is good for me, I'm sure. It also reinforces my conviction that biking is a better way to get around this town than driving, at least at times like the lunch hour when everyone has their cars on the road. If I had had to find parking--twice!!--and then navigate out of that parking to go home, it would easily have taken longer than biking did. Also I wouldn't be so fit and trim and ruggedly handsome.
Also I went to the library, once I was done scurrying hither and thither for the boss here. It was very pleasant. Despite what I said earlier about the library here, I quite enjoy it; on the whole, visiting libraries makes me feel much cheerier about the world. I view them as a bastion against self-interested commercialization I think. After I leave the library I can sit in the sun and think that a sunny spot in the parking lot is as nice as anywhere you'd care to go.
Leah is writing another post now, which she claims will have the funniest title ever. I'll finish this post here and go look over her shoulder, and see if I can sneak a peek before she's done.
pink eye for the thin guy
this must have happened to you too at some point. yesterday morning i woke up and could barely open my eyes; they were all sticky and crusty. so i went to the bathroom to wash my face and sure enough, my eyes were all red and yucky. So i went back to bed (this still being like 6am and all) thinking "this sucks. now i have to go to the doctor, and get medicine, and put a hot wash-cloth over my eyes, and blah-blah-blah complain-complain. Thus i rolled back into bed, waking up the sleepy cutie pie, and he rolls over all sleepy like to hug me, and i scream "Don't touch me! Dont touch me! I have an eye infection! It's terribly contagious!!!" Poor thing, how does he every put up with me? Well that sure woke him up.
Well, we went to the doctor early in the morning, or i should say the ucla clinic, because i've never actually met my personal doctor, but that's an HMO thing. Good old dan came with me and waited in the waiting room. the doctor came in and said, "So you have an eye infection? Wow, your eyes look gross!" Thankfully, he was just being funny for my benefit. he perscribed me some eye drop anti-biotics and then sent me on my way. The drugs we picked up at the Ralphs immedietly after. the whole ordeal: doctor plus drugs, only costed me $20 total. not bad.
Then all day Dan got to be annoyed by me saying: "don't touch my eyes! don't touch my face! quick, wash your hands!"
poor thing.
But now i'm doing much better, cept i have to wear my glasses for a few days yet. and dan hasn't gotten the disease, so in a couple of days we'll be home free. knock on wood.
Speaking of wood, dan failed to describe the glory of our beautiful bookcase. it's really nice. if only now we could move the million card-board boxes out of this place...
The other discovery of today is that Dan has become ghastly thin since living with me. Well, not ghastly necessarily, since he still has the cutest baby cheeks you've ever seen, but thin. i noticed today, because he was wearing an orange tight record-boy shirt that i gave him, and i said "where did the rest of you go?" And how come he gets to get thinner and i get fatter from us living together? So no fair.
I brought home a pie as a present to Dan, so he could have more dessert and also feel a little fattened up. He said "We can't afford pies" but i think that might mean "thank you" in Dan-speak. his slim little belly will thank me later, anyways.
hummers and porsches and ferraris, oh my
One thing that's notable about California, or at least Santa Monica here, is that there are alot more luxury cars on the roads than there are in New England. And not only Lexises and BMWs and Mercedeses, but still fancier beasts like Hummers (and their oh-so-ugly stretch variant) and Ferraris. I've even seen a Lamborghini, I think, though it was only a passing glimpse. There are also the racing cars: everything from Vipers to Civics fitted out with spoilers and racing stripes and loud mufflers (and transmissions that never let them get out of second gear within city limits).
The one thing that unites nearly all these vehicles is that they're ugly and pretentious; and yet their owners often go out of the way to make them uglier with tinted windows and ridiculous custom wheels. The king of all the mods are the legendary spinning hubcaps, which contain a seperate joint so that they stay level when the wheels start spinning, and keep spinning when the car is stopped! Ooh, shiny. Never fear, though, if you're driving a beat-up Volvo: such customization options are not denied even to you! I saw a mini-van the other day, and not a very nice mini-van either, with these magical hubcaps. Add a touch of style to your life, for only $109.99!
internet out!
We had a power outage for a little while today, and as Leah will testify it was a little hard for me to deal with. Luckily it didn't last long, but for some reason the internet part of the cable stayed off for hours and hours, and in fact just came back on a few minutes ago. I probably had all sorts of interesting things to say before, but I've forgotten em all by now. Ah well.
I will note, though, that I've come to the point that I think a computer without internet access is not much better than... I don't know... something that isn't very useful.
no more grocery shopping at night
Going grocery shopping at night--especially on Oscar night--seems like such a great idea, doesn't it? No cars in the parking lot, no lines in the store, you can just zip right through and get everything you want and get out... but alas, it isn't that easy, for one simple reason. And that is, after 7:00 or something, the store doesn't have any food left on the shelves. Actually, that's unjust: there must have been some things there; that's alot of shelf space to have been empty. But sale items--orange juice and bread, like--were sadly lacking. And it wasn't a fluke restocking problem, neither. I tried this late-night (well, not even late-night; late-evening maybe) plan once before with similar results. Oh well, you can't say I don't learn my lesson. I mean, you can't say I don't learn my lesson after I'm taught it twice.
And as for those Oscars: movie folk sure get excited about each other, don't they! I only wondered why the rest of the world was so interested in watching their little club meeting. Though what's his name, Billy Cristal, as Legolas was kind of cute.