Click here for now and forever. Geocities is reaching capacity on me.
June 18, 2004I suppose it's too late to give a weekend update seeing how the coming weekend is right around the corner. Well, I'll just sum it up in pictures then:
Family picture in Santana row
Good reading
My sister and I contemplating our next move against Tony in chess
My family in front of Judy and Hank's new home in Sunnyvale
A very cute dog walking with its owner in Santana Row
I am going to be an aunt in approximately six months. I am absolutely thrilled. No longer do I have to gaze at other people's babies longingly because soon enough, I will have my very own (okay, not really my very own, but close enough) to play with. I'm hoping that my sister will deliver right around the Thanksgiving time frame, so that I can be home on vacation to celebrate in the festivities. Here's me and the happy mother-to-be.
I finally got around to buying _Elephunk_ by The Black Eyed Peas the other night. I'm really liking all of the tracks on this CD so far.
June 5, 2004
So yes, I did not elaborate in the last entry, but I'd like to take a brief moment (because U-Haul does not deserve any more than brief) to declare that U-Haul is a supremely deplorable company, and that I'd wish it would go belly up, file a Chapter 7 (or is it Chapter 9?), or be annihilated from the face of the earth. I had a reservation for a 10' truck with said company this past Sunday, May 30th, and a U-Haul representative did not call me to inform me that I'd be able to pick up the truck until Monday, May 31st. U-Haul's only saving grace is that the company did have the foresight to call me on Saturday, May 29th to let me know that even though I had a confirmation number and had given my credit card number to reserve a truck for the next day, the truck still might not come through for me within the time frame I had desired. Grand. So by Sunday morning, because I still had not received a call from U-Haul, I proceeded to have a minor anxiety attack and started calling numbers of other moving companies to see if I'd be able to get a truck last minute. When all the numbers that I dialed just kept ringing or looping me into a voice message that stated that their offices were closed on the weekend, I had another anxiety attack and started calling other folks to see if they had trucks or knew of any friends who had trucks. My sister, who I had called right after Tony, suggested that I call a Home Depot because some stores rented out pickup trucks to haul heavy equipment. I switched gears and started calling Home Depot numbers, and was finally able to locate a store in San Carlos that had one pickup truck on hand. But because Home Depot rented out the one truck on hand on a first come, first serve basis, I had to haul ass over to San Carlos from San Francisco to make sure that I'd be first to get this one lone pick-up truck. Anish - bless his soul! - rushed over to my apartment in Noe Valley and we proceeded to drive down to the San Carlos Home Depot store. As a backup, Anish had printed out a 10 page list from the Yahoo yellow pages with the numbers of all the moving companies in the Bay Area. While in the car, I started going down the list calling numbers and at the same time, frantically punching numbers into Anish's cell phone and shoving the phone back to Anish so that he talk and drive at the same time. The moving deities must have been smiling down on me that day because Anish got hold of an actual, live person at Penske, who said although the SF location was already completely booked, we should try Penske's store in South San Francisco. And lo and behold, there was a truck available for me there! Penske (and Anish) had saved my day.
Moral of the story? Penske rocks. U-Haul SUCKS. Mark my words, I shall never, ever use U-Haul ever again.
June 3, 2004
I hate U-Haul.
Tony and me at Steven and Pearlin's wedding
I hate U-Haul.
May 28, 2004
I saw Shrek 2. It was absolutely hilarious.
May 27, 2004
Another long absence.
Tuesday night, I had dinner with Eunice at this restaurant downstairs from Orchard, the hotel which she was staying at for the night. Our meals - and come to think of it, the restaurant name! - were forgettable, but not our dinner conversation. I think we must have stayed at the restaurant for up to three hours talking about nothing and everything. We were also the last patrons to leave.
I've been moving things these past few days. I feel *slightly* guilty about bringing everything over to Tony's place and treating one of his rooms as a storage place for the next two years, but I'm hoping to get rid of even more things after I've had more time to assess what I need and don't need.
I am tired. If this journal entry doesn't make much sense, I apologize. Profusely.
I need to take my contacts out. They are sticking to my eyeballs.
I want to see Shrek 2.
May 15, 2004
My dad just told me before leaving the house that I was not to open the door to any strangers. Isn't that cute (well, I can think of other words for his overly cautious parental behavior, but I shall refrain)? Anyway, I am back in my hometown of Arcadia for the next two and a half days. I flew in early this morning from New York, and needless to say, I am still quite exhausted from all of the traveling. But I am happy nevertheless. While in New York, I was able to find an place to live (or rather, the place found me!) because a friend of a friend was leaving for business school on the West Coast, and I was forwarded the information about her one-bedroom conversion in Murray Hill last week. I flew out this week so that I could check out the place for myself, and I automatically fell in love with it. There are so many attributes about the place that I took a liking to: 1) I would be living in the "real" bedroom (which is actually bigger than my current bedroom in San Francisco, if you can believe it), 2) the roommate I'd be living with seems like a really nice woman, 3) the location is great, 4) there are a number of restaurants and grocery stores in the immediate area, 5) there is a doorman for the building which I live in, 6) I live on the 2nd floor, so I don't have to deal with potential delays in the elevator, 7) I'm a couple blocks from the 6 subway and walking distance to school and and last but not least 8) the monthly rent is very reasonable. I feel quite fortunate that I got this place, and am counting my blessing as I write.
On Thursday night, I had dinner with my cousins at 44 & X Hell's Kitchen. The dishes were pretty good (the restaurant is known for its macoroni and cheese). I unfortunately did not get any pictures on my digital camera of the outing because the somewhat clueless waiter led me to believe that I had run out of batteries when he had just accidentally pushed the on/off button. In other news in the food realm, I took the subway to the West Village the next day solely to check out the much hyped about cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery (also featured in a Sex and The City scene), and if I remember correctly, each cupcake costed a precious $1.77 each. My verdict? Eh, I wasn't floored. I thought there was too much frosting, and the actual cake mix seemed dry. And the cupcakes just didn't seem like they were worth $1.77 a pop.
I was able to secure a marketing internship at this company in San Francisco that I've been temping for. Apparently, they liked my work so much and heard that I had tried a few months earlier to get an internship at another company but failed because I wouldn't be staying for long enough in the Bay Area for the company, or myself, to derive any benefit from my work. So the people whom I have been temping for extended an internship to me. I start next week.
I need to start packing my things out of my SF apartment. I move out at the end of this month.
May 5, 2004
I purchased The Dave Brubeck Quartet's _Time Out_ today. The record came out originally in 1959 - it amazes me that the music has been able to trascend time and remain a popular force in the industry to this day. Anyway, I am listening to the tracks right now on my CD player, and the lilting music is quickly lulling me into a state of tranquility. Ah...
I met up with Eunice today because she is in town again for work. Originally, I wanted to have high tea at Compass Rose, but to my dismay when I arrived at the Westin St. Francis Hotel - Compass Rose is located inside - I learned from the doorman that Compass Rose was closed for renovations. So we went across the street to Cheesecake Factory and had a quick bite to eat there instead. I also gave Eunice her belated birthday gift while we were eating. Here's Eunice opening up her gift.
I've been trying to eat at different restaurants in SF as of late. Last week, I tried out Blue Plate in the Mission (I thought that both my dish and Tony's were a wee bit salty for my tastes) and La Table O&CO in the Marina District. The prix fixe dinners served at La Table were very reasonably priced at $16, but unfortunately I was only impressed by my appetizer. The main dish and dessert were only so-so. A few weeks ago I went to Ma Tante Sumi, a Franco-Asian fusion restaurant in the Castro District. Dishes there were excellent, and service was quite attentive.
Yesterday I took advantage of the city's first-Tuesday-of-the-month-free-museum-admission policy and went to both the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park and Asian Art Museum in the Civic Center. I took quite a bit of pictures at the Conservatory of Flowers, but I shall post up my favorite. These are Amazonica water lilies, the largest water lilies in the world. They can grow up to seven feet wide and are claimed to support the weight of an adult human. Neat!
Over the weekend, I went down to Palo Alto to hang out with Anish and Alice. We had brunch at Cafe Brioche on California Street, and then proceeded to go hiking at one of the Skyline Ridge open space preserves. Here are a few pictures from that day:
Alice and I in front of Cafe Brioche
Anish and Alice on the trail
Alice and I pretending to be buff superwomen
May 3, 2004
I went to the Golden Gate Park a few days ago to take pictures with my new digital camera. Lo and behold, when I got home to download the pictures onto my computer and subsequently delete them from the camera, the pictures ended up not being saved on my computer because the downloading process had not been completed. Sigh. I'd like to blame the lost pictures on camera/computer error, but I have the sinking suspicion it's due more to user error.
April 30, 2004
I've been temping at this health care consulting company in the city for the past four days. Today, I am back to my old, unemployed self. I'm planning to head over to Golden Gate Park later today so that I can run and/or take pictures with my new digital camera.
The fact that I'm leaving San Francisco at the end of next month is finally settling in. I really am going to miss the city. *Sob* I've been living in San Francisco (first in the Sunset District, currently in Noe Valley) since the middle of 2001, and over the course of the three years that I've lived here, I've grown very attached to this place. I can even see myself - despite the exorbitant living costs - settling in the city long-term. I have this feeling that when I first move out to New York, I'll be comparing *everything* against San Francisco, i.e. "Oh, Golden Gate Park is so much better than Central Park," or "The restaurants in SF are cheaper," or "Why is there so much damn noise outside on the streets at 2 in the morning when you could hardly hear a peep at this time if I were back in SF?" Well, I suppose I shall grow to like the eccentricities of New York over the course of the two years that I'm there. But my heart will always be in SF.
April 26, 2004
It's still hot. Right now, I'm playing around with the Canon Powershot A60 digital camera that Judy and Hank gave me yesterday for my belated birthday gift. Thank you, you guys!!
April 25, 2004
It's 10:51 pm right now, and I'm sitting around in my tank top and pajama pants with the blinds pulled up and the windows wide open. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I wish it were cooler in SF right now.
April 23, 2004
Yesterday, my two unemployed friends and I went on a short, 1 mile hike in Fort Baker, located just north of the Golden Gate Bridge in Marin County. Since it was a clear day yesterday, the view from Fort Baker of the Bay Bridge, Golden Gate Bridge, Angel Island, Treasure Island, and Alcatraz was absolutely breathtaking.
April 20, 2004
Happy Birthday, Eunice!!
Okay, with that important news bulletin said, I shall move on to my usual Tuesday morning (oh wait - it's almost noon time!) mundanity. Late last night, I arrived back to the Bay Area from NY. It has been raining here these past few days, and I feel extremely fortunate that I was in New York instead to see Spring finally take effect on the city. As I was told by the friends who we were staying with and by the countless native New Yorkers who I talked to at the NYU Pre View, I couldn't have come to visit on a better weekend. The sun was out, the weather was mild, people were out strolling in tank tops and shorts - everything was truly beautiful. Unfortunately, I did not have much chance to bask in the good weather while I was there, but at least Tony was able to take advantage of all three days and roam through much of Manhattan viewing the sights.
I also was able to go eat at City Bakery Sunday morning before heading off to the NYU campus. The hot chocolate there cost a precious $3.00/cup ($3.75/cup with a homemade marshmallow) and I went there specifically to check for myself whether the hot chocolate was all that it was hyped out to be. The verdict? I thought the hot chocolate was a bit too sweet and sludge-like for me (it reminded me of the hot chocolate that I had in Spain), but the homemade marshmallow floating inside was absolutely divine. Was it worth that extra $.75 though? Yes, definitely.
April 18. 2004
I've only been in New York for two days, and I'm already feeling homesick for San Francisco. How on earth am I going to survive for two years here? Well, despite the longing I feel for SF, I have been having a good time here in Manhattan. Yesterday I met up with three of my second cousins (two of whom live in New York City) and proceeded to have lunch with them at Public, a restaurant in the Nolita area. Afterwards, we took the subway back to Angie's studio in Tribeca and hung out there for a bit before wandering out again to do some window shopping, mainly in the Tribeca and East Village areas. Later for dinner, we ate at Salt Bar in East Village and then went to a cafe to eat dessert, drink espresso drinks, and play the movie game.
Today was the first day of Pre-View. I met other prospective students throughout the day, and in the evening proceeded to the New York Stock Exchange floor for a welcome reception.
I haven't been getting enough sleep these past two days. I don't know why that is. Perhaps it's a variety of reasons. Street noise at night tends to be louder here in New York than in SF, and it has been harder for me to fall asleep as a result. Also, I feel that the espresso drinks here are stronger (why, I do not know) and I am for once affected by my caffeine intake. Finally, air mattresses aren't the most comfortable apparatuses to sleep on. Well, bottom line is that I am enjoying my short stay here, but I will be glad to return to SF on Monday.
It's late, and my head is hurting. Tonight, Tony and I went to the Gotham Bar & Grill in the Village for dinner. I drank my white wine too quickly, and am still feeling a bit inebriated unfortunately. It is time for bed. G'night.
April 16, 2004
I'm off to New York today. Tony is still packing furiously, even though we will be leaving in six minutes. What a moron (his own words, I swear!).
Still don't know what we will be doing on my free day there. I wanted to go see either Wicked or Avenue Q, but both Broadway shows were sold out for the 2 pm and 8 pm time slots tomorrow. If I had planned sooner, I could have gotten tickets. Sigh. Perhaps Tony's not the only one who is practiced in procrastination.
I'm off.
April 12, 2004
This past week I have been gorging myself with plenty of food - E&O Trading in San Francisco with Eunice Tuesday night, homemade deep fried fish and chocolate chip cookies (what a healthy combination, huh?) at Anish's house Thursday night, sake-bombs and subpar sushi rolls at Miyake's in Palo Alto Friday night, Korean BBQ at Korea House in Sunnyvale Saturday night, and finally, homemade bbq at Judy and Hank's house yesterday. Whew - my stomach needs a break from all of this eating.
I ended up not getting the marketing internship at a friend's company, so I signed up to volunteer for John Kerry's presidential campaign because I'd like to 1) start doing something productive with my free time and 2) see someone else besides our current president run our country come next year. I'd have to admit that I do not know a great deal about John Kerry (i.e. his positions on certain issues, his character, family and background) but one of the main reasons why I'd want to volunteer for the democratic campaign is because I truly think W - short for "wackjob" in my opinion - has done a poor job in handling post-9/11 events (he has still yet to prove the existence of WOMD as well as a viable connection between Al Qaeda and Iraq) and I'd rather not have to suffer through another four years of hell with him.
I'm starting to sew a skirt this week. I'll post up pictures when I'm done.
April 5, 2004
Last night, a group of us went to Nirvana in the Castro to celebrate Anish's 28th birthday. The pork noodle dish that I ended up ordering was quite tasty, and I'd have to say that overall, the restaurant deserves a well-earned two snaps in Z formation for its appetizing dishes at affordable prices. I will definitely have to go there again when the weather warms up so that I can eat a meal out on the porch.
I'm looking forward to my trip out to New York later on this month. I'll be attending Stern's Pre View event for two of the days that I'm out there, and for the one day that I'm free, I'll be sightseeing with Tony and meeting up with some relatives whom I haven't seen in awhile. It's funny. If you asked me a few months ago whether or not I knew anyone living in Manhattan, I'd probably be only able to name three or four people. But now, ever since I've informed my friends and family about my decision to move to New York for grad school, it seems that the number of people that I know in NYC is growing: "Oh, you're moving to New York? Well, so-and-so moved out there from SF last year. I'll give you his e-mail address so that you can look him up!" or "My friend is a professor teaching at the business school - you should definitely contact him once you move out there," or "Julie and Tom from high school are living out there now!" Anyway, I think it is very cool that my small network of contacts in New York is growing, and just knowing that there will be familiar faces surrounding me when I move out to the city will make my transition there more smooth (and less lonely!).
This past weekend, I also went to the driving range at the Sunken Gardens Golf Course in Sunnyvale. I don't go much (Sunday was my fourth time, I think) but on the occasions that I do, I manage to have fun. Note: If you're not good at golf (like I am), it helps to maintain a sense of humor to keep from going crazy when the balls aren't being hit to the desired height and direction. Perhaps I'll post some pictures later.
March 29, 2004
Sonofabitch. My car won't start and it's all my fault because I neglected to get an oil change and as a result, the low oil pressure, charging system, and malfunction indicator lights have all turned on. Grrr. I called AAA and the tow truck should be on its merry little way.
March 25, 2004
I finally finished the handbag that I was working on for the past two weeks. I would have finished earlier (or so I tell myself!) but I got delayed because I couldn't find wooden purse handles in neighboring fabric stores and had to, in the end, purchase them online.
So, barring a miraculous response from the Stanford MBA Admissions Office, I will be packing up my bags and heading East this fall. I've started looking on the NY craigslist and other NY housing websites to get a feel as to what sort of extraordinarily, outrageous prices I'll be forking out for housing, and from what I have gathered from various sources, I can probably get a nice little, less-than-250-square-feet studio for approximately $1,500/month. Ouch. Maybe I should go the less expensive route and look for a roommate instead.
Toodles for now.
March 20, 2004
You know that expression, "When it rains, it pours?" Well, anyway, Morton Salt took the expression for its company slogan because salt - back in the day - used to clump together in damp weather. The company was able to create a "free-running" table salt which was able to pour through the spout regardless of storage conditions. So thus, even if it rained, Morton salt still poured.
But yes, when it rains (and I'm not speaking of salt anymore), it really does pour. When I first started the business school application process back in August 2003, I was crossing my fingers and just hoping that I'd get into one business school. And now - granted, it's almost half a year later - I've gotten into three. I'm incredibly happy and relieved at this outcome, but now comes the tougher decision: which school do I go to?
The weather outside looks gorgeous. I hope it holds up throughout the weekend.
March 19, 2004
Yesterday night, I picked up Cheri and her friend at the Oakland airport. For some reason or other, the airport was swamped (I have no idea what for, save for people returning home from post-St. Patrick Day activities) and it took me quite a while before I could pick them up.
I drove them back to SF to first drop their luggage off at their friend's apartment in the Marina, and then proceeded on to Pacific Heights to meet up with Stephanie for dinner at Fresca, a Peruvian restaurant. The restaurant initially refused to seat our party of six, but because Stephanie knew one of the waiters there pretty well, we were eventually - after a fair bit of cajoling and pleading on our part - able to get in. Dinner was good. It was also quite refreshing talking to unemployed people for a change. Out of the six people at the table, three of us were unemployed and two had already submitted their two weeks notice. The one, lone employed person at the table must have taken pity on the rest of us because he took care of the tab at the end of the meal. Sweet.
So our group last night - all of the five unemployed and soon-to-be-unemployed people at the table were 27 year-olds, turning 28 this year. Now, is it coincidental that all of us happen to be unemployed, or is it just that the late 20's of a person's life can be a particularly trying and volatile period career-wise? Or, another guess is that perhaps the particular vocations we all chose to leave supremely, for lack of a better word, sucked. Eh, who knows.
Eunice came up earlier this week for a deposition in the Bay Area. We went to Slow Club in the Mission Monday night and she graciously treated me to dinner. The food served at Slow Club is New American (whatever that means) and I'd have to say that the hamburger and flatbread pizza dishes that we ordered and shared were quite tasty.
This weekend I will hopefully be spending some good, quality LTB time.
March 12, 2004
I feel old. Yesterday after I had lunch with Mike in Oakland, I dropped by the UC Berkeley Optometry Center to get the nose pads of my glass frames replaced. Once they were replaced, I decided to roam the campus for nostalgia's sake. There were quite a bit of changes: new buildings on campus were being constructed, a few dorms on Southside were getting a facelift, and most notably, almost all of the students I passed by were gabbing away on cell phones! When I was in college eons and eons ago, no one had a cell phone (at least no one I knew personally). Now, cell phones are as ubiquitous on a college campus as textbooks and backpacks are. *Sigh* I feel old. I cannot believe that I'll be turning twenty-eight this year.
I went jogging through the panhandle this afternoon. I got winded after 1/2 an hour unfortunately, so I had to call it quits soon after. I need to start exercising on a regular basis so that I can build up some stamina again.
Finally, here's me at a happy moment - drinking a pearl milk tea (this was snapped with Hank's nifty new Canon Digital Rebel camera!).
March 10, 2004
Yesterday I received news via e-mail that I had been accepted into the NYU Stern MBA Program. I was - and am still - quite ecstatic - over the admission letter. After having been waitlisted for two other business schools that I had applied for, the e-mail from Stern - which is one of my top school choices - definitely brought welcome relief to me. Now I know for certain that I will be going to business school in the fall.
There have been other changes going on in my life. I left work this past Friday (due to my own volition) because ultimately, I felt that staying in the position that I was in wasn't furthering where I imagined myself to be after graduating from business school. I had thought long and hard about this decision. Never in my six years in the working realm have I ever left work without having another job lined up in the wings, so it was a bit unnerving packing up, cleaning out my desk, and saying goodbye to all of my coworkers this past Friday, knowing that the next week - and countless others after that one - would not be dictated by a set itinerary.
In other news, I'm leaving my apartment in SF after my year-long contractual obligation is up at the end of May. I'm planning on selling the majority of my things, and moving what is left down to my sister and brother-in-law's home in the South Bay. I'll be sad to leave Noe Valley. I should take advantage of the free time that I have on my hands right now and just roam the surrounding area.
Yesterday night, I met up with Dardy at his place in Mountain View. We drove over to Castro St. to eat pizza, and after dinner we headed back to his apartment to watch American Idol. None of the contestants really made an impact on me. Of course, I was watching the show half-asleep and sprawled out on Dardy's sleep-inducing futon, so I wasn't even giving my full attention to the tube in the first place. In any case, it was good catching up with Dardy. After the show, I drove over to my sister's home (where I still am, actually, updating this journal entry) to crash for the night, because I was too tired to make the drive back up to SF.
Anyway, this has been the longest journal entry update to date. Hopefully there will be many more to come in the near future.
One more note: Thanks to my family, close friends, and - last but not least! - Tony for being supportive of the recent changes in my life. I couldn't have done any of this without you.
March 4, 2004
My New Year's resolution to attract more traffic to this site will never be fulfilled, seeing how I hardly ever update this journal anymore. How sad. *bows head* Oh well, life goes on.
Speaking of life, today is the first day of the rest of your life. Where on earth did that saying come from anyway?
Weather in San Francisco has been fantastic these past few days. I feel like it is spring already. Time to break out the capris, sandals, and sunglasses.
Due to some recent developments, I will be having quite a bit of free time on my hands in the next few weeks. I plan on using the time to clean my apartment, sew, and meet up with friends I haven't seen in awhile.
Fuck, I have nothing to say. That's my cue to go then. Goodbye.
February 12, 2004
It's one o'clock in the morning. I purchased my tickets for New York on United Airlines for only $176 (before tax). I'll be going at the end of the month. My timing is off though. A family friend will be on vacation when I'm there, and coming back the day that I leave. And Darren will be arriving in NYC from SF the day that I leave as well. Fortunately, Anish has a good friend in the area who has graciously offered to take me around while I am in the city. Whew - for a minute there, I thought I'd be wandering the streets alone trying to find ways to entertain myself. That would not be a good thing, seeing how I'm not too familiar with the area.
I unwittingly purchased a messenger bag from Tumi (located in the downtown SF shopping centre) tonight, thinking that it might actually perform well as a manly attache or briefcase instead. I was wrong. When I took it back to my apartment for Sarah, my refreshingly honest roommate, to critique, she took one look at my purchase and proclaimed, "That's a man bag." *Sigh* Back to the drawing board.
I am tired now. My bed calls.
January 31, 2004
later
I have returned. I am currently wearing my heavy coat as I type because, despite the fact that the heater inside the house is cranked up to 70 degrees, I am still shivering in my little bones. Anyway, in between typing out this entry, I am twirling the baby hair on my head around the index finger of my left hand. I wonder if I twirl the hair enough, I'll eventually twirl it out of my scalp and go bald around the forehead? Is my hair twirling bordering on the obsessive? Could I perhaps be afflicted with trichotillomania?
The Diane Arbus exhibit is currently being displayed at the MOMA in San Francisco. Actually
As usual, I have waited for yet another extraordinarily long epoch of time (is "epoch of time" a redundant phrase?) to pass before I muster the energy to hash out another dismally, brief journal entry. So, what is new, fair reader? The sun is shining outside, and I am about to pull myself away from the computer to dim-sum at Koi Palace, Daly City with Anish and Alice, the dynamic duo I affectionately refer to as double-A (beep beep! M-C-O).
Has anyone seen _The Apprentice_? I think I may be addicted to Donald Trump's new reality TV show. So far, the ladies have beat out the men in all three challenges.
I shall continue this entry at another time, if you're lucky enough.
It's a BEE-U-TAH-FUL day this Sunday morning. The sun is shining, the weather is breezy - what more can you expect from California weather in the winter? Sigh...whenever I start talking about the weather, you know it's because 1) I have nothing else to write about of significance or 2) I have things of significance that I have to say, but just don't feel like writing it down.
I'm not really into cars (although Car Talk on National Public Radio is strangely amusing) but I must say that Tony's brand new car is quite sweet (or phat and sick, whatever your preference of adjectives may be). Anyway, it's unfortunate that I don't know how to drive stick shift, otherwise I'd be in the driver's seat right now, taking the car for a joy ride without his permission. Heh.
I feel like I'm in limbo.
It's extremely cold in my bedroom right now. I have my space heater turned on to high, and I tilted it back against one of my bed's posts so that the heat is angled directly at me. I suppose I should conserve money and energy by putting on another layer of clothing instead of turning on my monstrously sized space heater, but I've developed an affinity to my space heater over the years, and it's more the whirring sound of the heater instead of the actual heat that provides me with comfort.
I feel that my vision is getting blurrier day by day. So I made an appointment to see my optometrist at the UC Berkeley Optometry Center. I might need new contact lens. *Yawn* Now the computer screen is getting blurry. But that's because I am rubbing my eyes as I yawn. Eh. I'm tired now. So toodles.
So yet another weekend ends. We had good weather in SF all of Saturday and Sunday. What did I do. I watched _Big Fish_ tonight. Ate at Chloe's Cafe on Church and 26th for Sunday brunch. Bought a pint of spumoni ice cream at Mitchell's (this kick-ass ice cream store in Noe Valley) for Sunday dessert. Drove down to Cupertino on Saturday to have a farewell dinner at Joy Luck Restaurant for my aunt, who is leaving the South Bay for Los Angeles. Made my first potato leek soup tonight. Out of order events. Sentences in spurts. Sorry. Too tired to form grammatically correct ones. G'night.
Mental note: Only a few more hours and my hell will end.
I've decided for this new year that I am going to get my website hits up. Currently, I'm looking at no more than ten visitors (and this number might even include repeat hits!) a day. It's not a shabby figure in my mind, considering how I typically like to keep the number of viewers in my online audience to a small, intimate few. But for some reason, I've lately been developing an itch for a larger audience. You see, I want to *influence* the MASSES with my all-knowing wit and sarcasm.
Later
For the record, I am going crazy.
So it's the new year and I'm just chilling at my sister's house in Sunnyvale right now. I tend to drive down here when I have butt loads of laundry to do and I'm too cheap to pay for the coin-operated washer and dryer at my apartment. Also, sometimes I just want an escape from SF and my noisy neighbors upstairs. They can't really help it, though, because the walls at my apartment are incredibly thin.
I just found out that yet another one of my high school classmates has gotten engaged. I suppose now is as good a time as ever to be engaged, seeing how my friends and I are all heading into the late 20s stage of life. But surprisingly enough, I don't feel too much pressure from either friends or family to settle down just yet. Perhaps I should? *Shrug* My sister actually married when she was twenty-seven, which is my (ripe, old) age. Anyway, there's no set timeline for marriage to begin with, so I'm just going to take my sweet time.
My New Year's resolutions are the following:
Well, we'll see if I keep any of these resolutions. I doubt it though. Resolutions are meant to be broken, right? Heh...
It never ceases to amaze me just how much time passes between each of my journal entries. I used to be better about updating, but nowadays I pull up the index.html document and draw a blank: “What should I write? What can I say? I must have something witty to report or else there’s no point in updating at all.? Ponder. What *can* I write about today?
Today my mom and I waited in line for half an hour to pick up our honeybaked ham that my mom ordered a few weeks ago. I was afraid we’d be there for longer, but the line moved fairly quickly. I suppose the store had anticipated a huge onslaught of people coming to pick up their ham the day before Christmas, and manned the cash registers accordingly. In addition to the ham, I picked up a jar of honey mustard and on a whim, a tiramisu pie because my sweet tooth was craving something decadent.
It is nice being at home. These past few days, my parents have, as usual, doted on me (I’m not complaining, mind you). To illustrate, I woke up one morning and decided to make breakfast for myself. But just as I was about to take the eggs out of the carton to make scrambled eggs, my mom saw what I was doing and said, “No no! What are you doing? Dad will make breakfast for you. Lao Ba, come here and make scrambled eggs for your daughter!? So my dad came into the kitchen, grabbed all the ingredients away from me, and proceeded to make the breakfast for me. It is nice being home.
After being a customer with AT&T Wireless for over five years, I recently made the switch over to Sprint. The main reason why I decided to switch cell phone carriers was because I kept on getting dropped calls at my apartment in Noe Valley. I complained to AT&T Wireless a few times, but decided in the end to just change carriers because I figured I could use a new plan as well as cell phone any way. So far, I have no complaints. I’m getting much better reception (and no dropped calls!) with Sprint at my apartment now, and my cell phone - I’ve decided - is a behemoth, kick-ass, mobile machine.
I haven’t had an espresso drink in the past four days. Considering how much caffeine I intake on a daily basis, this is quite an achievement for me. I’m not going through any noticeable withdrawal symptoms (i.e. headaches, ill temperament, etc). I suppose I was never addicted to the caffeine in the first place, but just to the taste.
It’s my friend’s birthday tomorrow. It must be hard having a birthday that lands on Christmas. I mean, doesn’t?#060;/p>
Two days later
So rather than have to date a separate journal entry, I figure I’d just tack on the day after Christmas’s entry to Christmas Eve’s. Well, I am back in the Bay Area. I left Arcadia at around noon time, and made it back to SF a little after seven. I will be leaving for Tahoe tomorrow morning and staying there overnight through Sunday. I haven’t snowboarded since January 25, 2003 (that is what the date says, at least, on my last ski lift pass that I didn’t bother removing from my ski jacket). I hope that I can remember how to snowboard, seeing how it has been so long since I last did it.
Okay, I should pack. Fun, fun, cold Tahoe awaits!
So the big news of today's entry is that my best friend is engaged! Eunice called me over the weekend to tell me the good news. Congratulations, Ewey - I'm very happy for you!
In other news, Tony has the flu. His roommate gave it to him apparently. If I were a good girlfriend, I'd drive all the way over to Castro Valley and deliver homemade chicken soup to his front door. But...I'm not (yeah, I suck). I feel quite horrible knowing that one of the main reasons why I'm not making that trip over is because I don't want to risk getting the flu from either his roommate or him. You see, I didn't bother getting a flu shot this season. I don't know - if the holidays weren't coming up, I wouldn't be so worried about catching the flu. But because I'll be driving down to LA next week, I'd run the risk of infecting the rest of my family. Well, now I've gone ahead and painted myself as a very uncaring, selfish, and egocentric bastard. Hmm...but if I think about it in a different way, I'm actually doing Tony a favor by *not* going to his place. If I were to go over, my visit would require him to exert more energy (i.e. he'd have to talk to me), and I would essentially be disturbing and prolonging his recovery period. So now that I think about it, I'm actually being selfless and doing the right thing. Okay, now I feel better. Don't you like how my train of thought operates?
I spent five hours at the Valley Fair shopping mall today. My visit to the mall was overextended by a good four hours, but fortunately I didn't leave the place empty handed. The original reason for driving to the Valley Fair was because my sister had a Friends and Family coupon to Banana Republic, and I naturally wanted to exploit the 25% discount as well. We arrived at BR at 10 am in the morning, and didn't leave the store until right before noon time. After a mediocre Mexican meal at the food court, I parted ways with my sister and brother-in-law, and Tony and I spent the afternoon shopping for birthday, wedding, and Christmas gifts. Tony purchased something really cool for - oh, I won't say for whom, just in case there's the minute possibility that the intended owner(s) stumble across my website. Anyway, Tony purchased the LoveSac as a Christmas gift. These sacks, contrary to popular belief, aren't beanbags. They are ten times better than beanbags, in my opinion, because they are more comfortable to sit in and offer more support.
I bought this hand cream at Restoration Hardware today. I'm extremely pleased with it. It's called Day Use No-Crack Super Hand Cream. I decided last minute that I'd go for the super-size, jumbo 16 oz can instead of the 4 oz jar because I figured, with my dry skin condition, I'd have no problem finishing the container. This thing rocks, let me tell you!
My work Christmas party this year is being held at the office in order to keep costs low. I should probably look on the bright side of things and be thankful that we even have a Christmas party in the first place. Hmm...but I won't. C'mon! Christmas party at the office? How exciting can that be? I mean, are we going to drink our eggnog and sing holiday cheer around our desks? Dance to Christmas Carols in the conference room? It just doesn't seem right. Hmmph. Oh well, at least I'll get some free food at the party.
Pictures from my birthday dinner at Amber India in Mountain View over the weekend (I think I went overboard on the prepositions in that sentence).
Happy 28th birthday Dardy.
Nothing much to say I guess, just the same as all the rest...
In my inbox this morning:
Hsiao Bao,
Happy birthday to you --,
Happy birthday to you --,
Happy birthday to our dear hsiao bao --,
Happy birthday to you --!
Don't want to wake you up in the early morning, so we send our email song to you instead. We love you, we are grateful that you are our daughter.
Love,
Ba & Ma
Thanks Mom and Dad. :)
Err...greetings. I am still alive, thank you very much. Not much has changed since the last entry. My computer still has a virus, but thankfully Tony has graciously loaned me his so that I can still work on things in the meanwhile.
I was in LA this past weekend. I met up with Eunice, Marian, Chia-Ling, and Tony at Cafe Bizou in Old Town Pasadena for dinner. It was very cold in LA. Actually, it's cold here as well. In fact, my portable Holmes heater is turned on right now. This heater sucks up a lot of electricity, I'm assuming. I'm sure that my PG&E bill will come bite me in the ass this month for choosing to turn on my heater rather than bundling up in layers and layers of clothing.
My eyes are feeling bleary. Too many hours staring at a computer screen.
I want to see _Mystic River_. I heard from friends that the movie was very powerful (in a good way). Everytime I hear the movie's name, however, I think of _Mystic Pizza_, a completely unrelated film.
I haven't logged on to friendster.com for a while. Okay, nevermind. I just logged on. Hmm...one of my friends has changed her profile picture yet *again*.
I agree with Eric on his thoughts re: graduate school: "Or maybe this is just the way the world works, and this school experience is really not meant to be anything more than the pounding you have to take to get to do something meaningful. If so I wish everyone would fucking own up to that and stop with the flowery talk." Well, in that case, I am applying for a pounding, if that makes any sense at all. But I realize that there's a purpose to everything I do...some deep, underlying message that has yet to reveal itself to me. By the way, this journal entry isn't supposed to make any sense to anyone but me.
Halloween came and went. I went down to my sister's house in Sunnyvale and was able to pass out treats to a few trick-or-treaters. I didn't dress up. I was originally planning on going to this raging party in the Castro with Alice, Anish and company, but I decided against going a few days before the event because I hadn't even purchased a costume yet, and I wasn't about to brave the shopping mayhem in Haight, Castro, and other popular Halloween costume districts to buy one. If there were a Scrooge for Halloween, that'd be me.
I just smashed a fruit fly with my bare hands. Eww...I'm sure there are tiny, microscopic bug guts and innards smeared across both of my hands now. I should go wash them.
It's past midnight. My computer has a virus. Wednesday night, I was on the phone with two Dell service representatives (I talked to two people because my cell phone decided to die out on the first rep) for almost two hours trying to fix my computer. It's not fixed yet because I hung up in frustration after the second service person put me on hold for one too many times. I honestly don't know what is wrong with my poor Dell. Everything seemed okay with it on Tuesday night. I'm afraid that the screensaver that I downloaded from Lemony Snicket late Tuesday night might have contained a nasty bug. Speaking of Lemony Snicket (psuedonym for Daniel Handler), has anyone heard of this children's author before? His specialty is writing children's books with unhappy beginnings, unhappy middles, and unhappy endings. In fact, Handler even states at the beginning of his books that "if you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book." Interesting fellow. I first heard of him when I was watching this CNN special on the author. In any case, I digress. The Lemony Snicket screensaver could possibly be the culprit. In fact, the screensaver's first screen shot states the words, "A Series of Misfortunate Events." Perhaps the first misfortunate event is a computer virus then?
This morning on my ride in the Muni to work, I was reading Daniel Mason's _The Piano Tuner_, hearing two Filipino ladies sitting behind me conversing in Tagalog, and having the Coldplay's _Clocks_ song play in my head *all* at the same time. I thought my brain would explode from all of that activity.
I've been getting less sleep these past few days.
My sister, who goes to law school part time, was telling me this absolutely DISGUSTING story that her professor relayed to the class a few days ago. So of course I must retell the story here. Anyway, her professor is the assistant DA for the Santa Clara County, and he once had a case that involved a rape at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose. As there were no obvious suspects, he ordered a DNA sample on the bedspread. When he called the lab the next day to see what the results were, the lab's response was (and here comes the disgusting part), "Uh...well, which one do you want? We found 97 samples altogether." 97?! YUCK! Anyway, the moral of this story is to never EVER touch the bedspreads of your hotel room with your bare hands. If the *Fairmont* isn't even hygienically conscious enough to wash the sheets, chances are that the next hotel you'll be staying at won't be either. So wear gloves, take the bedspread off whilst grasping tissue in the hands - do anything to avoid having the bedspread come into contact with your skin.
I just got back home from a ridiculously large meal at Brothers, that Korean restaurant in the Richmond district. I am still quite stuffed, so I don't know if I should go to sleep yet (seeing how sleeping with a full stomach always leads me to have nightmares, for some bizarre reason).
I took pictures this past weekend at my family friend's wedding. Perhaps within the next six months (seriously, that's how long it takes me sometimes) I'll have them posted here.
Has anybody heard that jingle on the radio for Mattress Discounters? If you haven't, you've been spared. If you have, then hopefully you'll agree with me when I say that the Mattress Discounters jingle was created by the DEVIL. I swear, that jingle is evil because not only do the lyrics stink, but also because the jingle actually manages to stick in the noggin for quite some time after hearing it. Don't get me wrong, I'm ordinarily a big fan of the jingle (Chili's "I want my baby-back-baby-back-ribs" jingle ROCKS), but I don't even consider the one by Mattress Discounters a jingle. It's more like this horrific noise that grates on the nerves. *Shrug* I'm not sure why I wanted to talk about this. So moving on...
Okay. I'll post one picture up from the wedding. This is me with the happy bride and groom at their reception Saturday night. And here is a picture I took of Marian and Eunice the next day while we were strolling around in downtown Pasadena (don't ask me what Eunice is staring at).
I'm back home in LA this weekend for a family friend's wedding. As always, it is nice being home with the parents, eating home cooked meals, and lounging around with no other agenda but to eat and have my mommy take care of me. This is the life.
I am currently obssessing over this coat from Kenneth Cole. I am debating on whether or not I should purchase it online (the store in downtown San Francisco is not carrying it now) but I feel that I should give my wallet a little break, seeing how it got quite the workout last month when I went abroad to Spain.
Speaking of Spain, here is picture of my sister, mom, and me at a tapas bar in Madrid. This particular tapas bar had stuffed bull heads adorning the walls throughout the room. Good thing they didn't spoil my appetite.
My blogger's block continues to persist.
I have blogger's block. Ick.
This past weekend: Dardy's shindig Friday night, this Saturday night, and going to see the Fab 5 perform at the Now and Zen concert Sunday. Now that I have sprinkled this paragraph with the obligatory links, I can move on. Oh, but before I do, I feel obligated to say that John Taylor of Duran Duran fame looked quite *smashing* (in an 80's glam sort of way) up on stage.
Here is a picture of the makeup bag I made yesterday night. Here it is again with lining. In case you're wondering, I'm having fun with Tony's digital camera - on loan! - right now so I'm taking pictures of anything that suits my fancy. The makeup bag which I made yesterday suited my fancy so I snapped a picture of it. I also snapped one of my messy room.
If you haven't noticed, I have been trying to make up for my blogger's block by way of links and pictures. Here are some more from Amy and Alice's housewarming/mooncake party two weekends ago:
Finally, one last image. Tony saw this picture whilst surfing around the Net looking at used cars for sale. He took one look at this and said more or less, "That *HO* is in the way of the car!" Ah...he's so eloquent with his words sometimes. ;)
I'm sad to say this, but news of Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck (or "Bennifer" as they have been called) breaking off their engagement sparked more interest in me than news of the California recall being postponed. Have I no shame?
I am very much looking forward to the Now and Zen Festival this Sunday at the Golden Gate Park because Duran Duran (only the *coolest* rock band to grace the 80's, in my humble opinion) will be headlining the show. I forewarned Tony that I would be screaming like a deranged fan when the band starts playing. I think the reason why I place Duran Duran on such a high pedestal is because I get on a nostalgic trip whenever I listen to such classic hits like _Hungry Like the Wolf_, _Rio_, and _Girls On Film_. In addition, the first concert that I ever attended during my formative years as a teenager was a Duran Duran concert. So I'm predicting that this Sunday's concert will be a happy trip down memory lane for me.
Tonight I watched _Lost in Translation_ with Anish at the Metreon. Great movie - Bill Murray was a riot. The movie reminded me somewhat of _American Beauty_ without all the drama and angst.
I just finished watching this beautifully filmed documentary on PBS called Daughter from Danang. The film is very frank in its portrayal of the daughter, Heidi, who returns to her roots in Vietnam to search out her mother and family, the very same people who cast Heidi away to the States so many years ago so that she could have a better life. Rather than paint a pretty picture of a happy family reunion, the film gives a honest representation of how Heidi's arrival in Vietnam impacts herself and her Vietnamese family, as well as how difficult it is sometimes to bridge a cultural gap. Towards the end of her stay in Vietnam, Heidi confesses that she misses her husband and two children back in America, is ready to go back home, and that Vietnam seems like such a strange, foreign place to her. But before she goes back home, there is one final, unfortunate occurrence between herself and her family that leaves Heidi wishing that she never opened the door to her past in the first place. If the documentary every replays itself on PBS, I'd highly recommend that people see it!
After years of relying on friends and family to get me into that buy-in-bulk megastore that we all know and love as Costco, I can now get in on my very own as my company has so generously bequeathed me with a membership card. I am giddy with delight. And even though I consider Costco one of my top three unfavorite places to visit over the weekend (due to hellishly large crowds and even hellishly larger lines when checking items out of the store), I can now at least call myself a proud member of this megastore hell. By the way, the other two places that make my top three unfavorite places to visit over the weekend are 1)Target and 2)Walmart. Just in case you wanted to know.
That's it for tonight's blurb. G'night.
It's eight minutes past midnight. I have one more day of vacation (aka freedom) before I must return to work (aka servitude). I really do sincerely wish that my outlook on work would be more positive, but the last few weeks - especially the one prior to my leaving for Spain - have been exceptionally gruesome due to office politics. And as I am unfortunately one who wears her heart on her sleeve, so the saying goes, I feel that I may be a little too frank when I respond to questions that revolve around work. I suppose I could answer with a trite "It's fine" to the question, "How's work?" but number one, I wouldn't be telling the truth, and number two, it's so much more fun to challenge my creative juices and come up with a heartbreaking and gut-wrenching story of how life has dealt me a cruel blow by making my days at work rather insufferable. Hmm. Insufferable is a harsh word. Perhaps bland and unstimulating would be better substitutes? In any case, I really don't like rambling on about work in this forum, so I will move on...
I returned from Barcelona Saturday early evening. Tony picked me up at the airport and then drove to Noe Valley where we had dinner at Alice's. During dinner, I struggled to stay awake (I didn't sleep at all on the 11 hour flight home), drink my soup, *and* hold a reasonably intelligible conversation all at the same time. I managed the first two fine, but the third was definitely more challenging.
My cousin and aunt are here on vacation from Taiwan. I am taking them around SF tomorrow and showing them the sights. I hope that I do not fall asleep on them as I have been yawning left and right since I got off the plane.
My head is starting to hurt. I think it's my body telling me that I should go to sleep now. So that is what I will do. Goodnight.
I am in Barcelona right now typing away at this Internet Cafe called easyInternetCafe. I am so tired right now, but I could not resist logging in and briefly updating my journal. In a nutshell, my trip here to Spain has been all about eating and drinking. We do manage to fit in some tourist sites, but it seems that our itinerary revolves around our stomachs. Which is nice, really. For example, today my family and I spent almost a good hour searching for the hard-to-find Cuatro Gatos, this cafe that Picasso and other great artists used to frequent back in the day. The cafe made my top 20 list of things to see in Barcelona, so we were determined to find it and drink espresso drinks there. I don´t think we would have been so determined (read: desperate) to find the place had we been looking for some historical site. But since it involved food, we went to great lengths to hunt the cafe down.
Two and a half more days here and then I´ll be leaving for home.
One final note. I sincerely dislike European keyboards. This entry took twice as long to type up because I was hunting and pecking for all of the right keys. Blick.
I'm off to Spain manana. Have a wonderful labor day weekend everybody. Will be back next, next week with lots of pictures - hopefully! - and stories. :) Here's my frowny face :( for BCT.
I almost burned my finger in an attempt to light these watermelon scented candles sitting on my desk. I was in the mood for candles, you see, so I decided to light them up. And now all three watermelon scented candles have been lighted. I am staring at the flames as I type this entry out. The flames are quite mesmorizing. Now I've turned off my light and am typing by candlelight. All I need is someone to come over and serenade me and my romantic evening home alone sitting in the dark updating my journal entry by candlelight will be complete. Or something.
This past Sunday I held a small biscuit party at my apartment. My friends and I have held biscuit parties in the past - yes, I run with a wild crowd - but this time I used a different biscuit recipe because Alice, somewhere in her move from SF to Palo Alto, misplaced the recipe we've always used for previous biscuit parties. I ended up making two batches. One batch turned out fine. The other one came out with burnt biscuit bottoms (can you say "burnt biscuit bottoms" three times fast, by the way?) So we salvaged the batch by cutting off the bottoms. All in all, the biscuits were quite delicious (in the humble cook's opinion). And they tasted even better with the honey butter that Tony and Ami whipped up in separate batches. Special thanks to Ewey and her cousin for making it out all the way from Moraga!
Saturday evening I hung out with my aunts and second cousins in Fremont. Here is a picture of us at the end of our evening. Hank took the picture of us from the top of the stairs.
I had the worst sleep last night. I recall somehow having a nightmare about *something* (stuffed animals turning alive into ferocious beings and headless dolls were involved...i *think*) and I woke up around 5 in the morning because I drank too much water before I went to bed and I woke up at that ridiculously early time because I had to go the bathroom. But because I was too lazy to get out of bed, I stayed in bed until 7 (leaving me wide awake for the next two hours) before getting out. Urggh....hopefully this day will go by fairly quickly. Nightmares suck. I usually get them because I 1)ate too much before going to bed or 2)have too much on my mind before sleeping. Hmmm...yesterday night's was a combination of both.
Tonight I went to see _Texas Chainsaw Massacre_ at the Red Vic Movie House (Haight District) with some friends. I've never seen the movie before. And after tonight, I will never want to see it again. It's not that the movie was particularly gruesome or bloody (I'm not usually one to be fazed by horror flicks in the first place). And I wasn't expecting the movie script to dazzle me. The main reason why I was turned off by the movie was because the whole thing was so annoyingly LOUD. Hens were screeching away, girls were shrieking away, and last but not least, chainsaws were uh...chainsawing (it's late and I can't think of a better word) away. All these harsh sounds made for a very cacophonous movie. Eh, I'd say that the best feature of the movie was that it was campy. I *like* campy movies. And this movie sure was a campy one. I laughed throughout the movie because some parts were just so bloody (literally) funny.
Last night, I had dinner with Mike at Savor in Noe Valley. I told Mike since he hadn't seen my new apartment yet, he had to swing by and take a look sometime. So yesterday night we had dinner and then afterwards we came back to my apartment so that he could check the place out.
I'm tired. Tomorrow I'm heading down to Palo Alto after work for a friend's birthday dinner. I have not bought her gift yet. In fact, I haven't even written the birthday card. Ah yes, I *live* for this type of last minute procrastination. :)
I've taken yet another unintentional moratorium (that word sounds slightly pretentious but I really wanted to insert that particular word there) from my online journal. I've been busy with the usual things that I preoccupy myself with when I'm not working: shopping, hanging out with dear friends, sewing a purse for my high school prom date for him to give to a friend of his...you know, typical things like that.
I'm listening to _Thievery Corporation_ right now. I've become hooked to the lounge-esque songs on this CD. And I've only just unwrapped the CD from its plastic wrapping since receiving it as a birthday present from Dardy last November. I am sure that Dardy will be tickled pink knowing that it only took a good nine months for me to appreciate his gift.
Three Franklin Coveys, one Handspring, and multiple day planners later, and my life is still as unorganized as ever. What's the point in throwing all this money away on PDAs and day planners if they can't even get my life into some semblance of order?
I'm mentally tearing my hair out right now. Do I want my online journal to be an arena for me to vent out my frustrations? *Shrug* For some odd reason, I've been experiencing quite the gamut of emotions this particular weekend. Yesterday I watched _Finding Nemo_ (finally) with Alice and I cried four or five different times throughout the movie (this is quite the anomaly for me because I hardly ever cry at movies, being the cold-hearted and unfeeling being that I usually am). And after dinner that same night, I got into a small argument with Alice and the tear ducts burst once again when I realized how upset Alice was getting at me. Yuck...how come I'm behaving like such a *girl* this weekend? Hopefully I'll return to my normal programming within a couple of days. But until then, beware...I might just start crying on you. :)
Today I went with Tony to Pacifica to attend one of his family friend's trunk shows. Carol's clothing and handbags were quite amazing. I ended up buying this dress, in a chocolate raspberry color. Now all I need is that special occasion to wear it.
Damnit, I'm sick again. Why is it during the summertime my immune system decides to call it quits on me? I've this nasty cough that won't go away. Grrr...and I'm making everyone around me sick. Sorry to the people I've infected with my cooties and germs.
I like this picture for some reason. Tony, I, and some other guy are fighting the evil powers that be with a stellar plastic orange gun (don't try this at home, kids).
Did you all hear the thunderstorms last night? They woke me up. Grrrr. I wasn't really thrown off by them (seeing how it's the middle of summer for crying out loud, and this sort of foul weather is an anomaly even for the City)because my mom had told me earlier this week when I called that there was a big thunderstorm going down in LA. So I think the bad weather is just traveling up along the California coast. Grand. Hopefully it won't rain too much today. Hopefully it won't rain at all, for that matter, because my umbrella is currently in hiding.
I bought a Dell Dimension 4200 online two nights ago. After a $50 discount and a $150 mail in rebate, I got the entire package (which includes a 17" LCD flat monitor)for around $850. What a steal (I think!).
This past weekend I helped my friend move out of his apartment in SF down to his aunt's place in Sunnyvale. On Sunday, my friend from LA drove up to the Bay Area and I had brunch with her along with Tony and another mutual friend at this brunch place in Palo Alto. In the afternoon, I hung out with Alice and her roommate (who happened to go to the same junior high and high school as I did - isn't the world such a small place?). Oh, and on Friday (going out of order once again on my belated weekend update) I went to Gilberto's concert at the Masonic theatre with Dardy.
This jacket has been selling like hotcakes at local Bebe stores (and apparently online as well, seeing how it's out of stock already). I first saw the jacket this past Sunday at the SF Bebe store on Union Street. I tried on a large size (because that was the only size - as well as jacket for that matter - left in the store) and instantly fell in love with it. Don't ask me why. The color (it's oleander, if you're interested) might have had something to do with it. Anyway, this Wednesday on my way home from work, I dropped by the Bebe in the SF Shopping Center on Market Street and ransacked the store in search for the jacket. I saw nothing out on the floor, and the only jacket left that I saw was draped on the mannequin in the store's front window. So I went up to the register and asked the woman working there whether she had any additional jackets in the back. She shook her head. Hmmph. Then I asked whether I could have the jacket on the mannequin. She shook her head again and informed me that the jacket on the mannequin was already reserved for another customer who had put it on hold hours ago. Double hmmph. So when I arrived home, I decided to drive over to the Stonestown Mall and check out the Bebe store there. Alas, when I got there and asked one of the cashiers whether she had any jackets left in stock, she replied no and informed me that the store had been cleaned out of them in less than a week. And there was a possibility, she confided, that the store would not be receiving additional shipments of the jackets. Oooh...a limited edition Bebe jacket, eh? All of a sudden my interest for the much sought after jacket went up ten notches. So I drove back home and decided to call around other Bebe stores in the Bay Area to see if I would have more luck finding a jacket (*any* jacket, really, by that point I didn't care what size(s) the store carried, I just wanted one). My findings: the Bebe store in the Stanford Shopping Center - cleaned out. The one at Valley Fair had one jacket left in a small (yay!), but it turned out that I could only hold it overnight. And finally I called the Bebe store at the Stoneridge Mall in Pleasanton and discovered that the store also had only one jacket left in a small. So I put that one hold, went all the way over to Pleasanton from SF the next day, tried the jacket on really quickly, and slapped my credit card down at the register minutes afterward to purchase the damn thing. So now I am an official owner of the Oleander Bebe trench coat. Whew. Insane jacket mission accomplished. Really, I'm typically not this crazy when it comes to matters of shopping, but I think in this particular instance, the more I knew the jacket was wanted, the more I was eager (read: desperate) to purchase it. And purchase it I did. :) **
**Forgive me for devoting the aforementioned paragraph to one silly jacket. I realize that there are more important things to life than a Bebe trench coat, but I felt that I had to document this particular instance for posterity's sake so that I could one day look back on this entry and remember how insane I was for going completely nuts trying to hunt down one jacket.
I need more sleep. I slept four hours Saturday night and then six hours the next night. Needless to say, I was in a zombie-like state the whole day at work today. I felt like this was the longest Monday in the history of my time with my company. Time dragged on very slowly. By the time it was 10 am, I had only worked one hour but if felt more like six. I kept on getting up from my desk and walking to the kitchen to get a drink of water so that I could keep the adrenaline flowing. I went to the restroom once just so that I could sit on the toilet and snooze a bit uninterrupted (has anyone else done that before?). I felt weird at first sitting on the toilet with my eyes closed, but damnit, I was so tired that I had to resort to desperate measures! Besides, what good is a restroom if you can't even rest in it? :)
I need to cut my hair.
Okay, I should really get some more sleep tonight. G'night.
July 17, 2003
My brother-in-law e-mailed me this the other day:
I don't know if you ever notice that when a browser loads your page, there is always a yellow warning sign on the lower left corner of the browser window? I checked your html, and it seems that you never conclude with < /BODY> before < /HTML>. Just thought you might want to know.
Thank you Hank. So the question now is...err...how do I fix this? Add a bunch of those slashy html thingamgigs after each of my paragraphs and hope that will fix the problem? Hmm...is it even a problem in the first place? Or is the yellow warning sign just a menacing presence meant to scare the HTML illiterate away but, at the end of the day, still preserve the readability (I had to look that word up on m-w.com just now to see if it actually exists) of the text? I mean, if you can still read the text, why even bother having a warning thingy anyway? Eh, in any case, I think it's time I purchase _HTML For Dummies_. I get by on my rudimentary knowledge of HTML presently, but what if one day I want to expand my journal to the masses? I suppose I can always subscribe to Blogger and have my entries whipped out in pretty code, but then that'd make my journal writing life *too* easy. And why would I ever want to do a thing like that?
Tony's housewarming/birthday/bbq is this Saturday, and as of this evening at 8:59 pm there will be 83 guests attending according to the ever so omnipresent and omniscient Evite. I felt like reporting that because I just now checked my Evite and had this curious urge to record the number down for posterity's sake. Does anyone else do that, by the way? Check Evites a few, three, four, oh...ten times after they are sent just to see what changes have occurred since the last time you checked two minutes ago (haha...I'm not that compulsive...I check in at *least* seven minute intervals)?
I ate a bowl of cereal with soy milk for dinner tonight. And last night, in stark contrast to tonight's paltry meal, I drank one and a half beers, ate a large breast of grilled chicken, salad and fruit for dinner, and later in the evening got a weird case of the munchies and wolfed down half a can of BBQ Pringles and then a huge slice of Extreme pizza so that I could satisfy my post dinner cravings. The strange thing is that my stomach, throughout the entire evening, was never reeling from the effects of the alcohol (I'm typically a lightweight) or the staggering amount of food that I ate. You think I have a tapeworm in me??
I'm going to continue reading my _Fast Food Nation_ now. Until next time. Same sushisis time, same sushisis channel.
I bought my very first bedskirt this past week (Target, $21.99). Can you imagine that? I've never owned a bedskirt up until now. Look out world, Carol's moving up in the ranks of society. With just one bedskirt purchase, you can too. But I digress. I put the bedskirt on right after I got back home, and I'd have to say that it makes my bed look much more complete now. How have I ever lived without a bedskirt before, I wonder? My prior beds must have felt very naked...
I am going to Spain at the end of August. I am very much looking forward to this vacation. As much as I love SF and all of its eccentricities, I think it'd be nice to get away from the city for awhile. Besides, you always appreciate your home (and own bed, for that matter) that much more when you have to leave the comforts of it for another locale.
I'm listening to _Stay (Faraway So Close)_ on my CD player right now. I don't know why, but this U2 song makes me feel incredibly nostalgic for *something*. Some songs just do that to me.
Green light, Seven Eleven
You stop in for a pack of cigarettes
You don't smoke, don't even want to
Hey now, check your change
Dressed up like a car crash
Your wheels are turning but you're upside down
You say when he hits you, you don't mind
Because when he hurts you, you feel alive
Hey babe, is that what it is
Red lights, gray morning
You stumble out of a hole in the ground
A vampire or a victim
It depend's on who's around
You used to stay in to watch the adverts
You could lip synch to the talk shows
And if you look, you look through me
And when you talk, you talk at me
And when I touch you, you don't feel a thing
The Muse Summer Boutique Sale was this past Saturday. Thank you so much to all of my friends and family who came out to the sale to support me. I really appreciated it! I'm glad that the sale is over now though because now I have time to take care of other things that I've been leaving on the back burner up until this point (like updating my online journal!).
We celebrated Alice's 27th birthday this past Saturday as well. We had dinner at Alice's Restaurant in Noe Valley. Here are some pictures of her birthday shindig, as well as some pictures of my sale.
There is a cat howling outside my apartment right now. I wish it would go away. I don't care for cats because 1) I'm allergic to the majority of them and 2) they just don't seem as friendly as dogs. Give me a dog over a cat *any* day!
I had lunch with Eunice and her cousin today at MoMos because Eunice was in town for another court appearance.
I bought _Fast Food Nation_ used at Dog Eared Books over the weekend.
Okay, my sentences are getting shorter. Time for bed. G'night.
There's a minute left before midnight strikes and I'm wide awake in my bed, typing up an entry that hopefully will reach a longer length than last entry's pithy one of forty eight words (yes, I'm a nut for counting). I don't know what it is. Have I simply run out of things to say? Perhaps.
Okay, friendster is very addicting, I must say. I just joined this month and already I'm connected to 54,028 people! Isn't that amazing? I never knew I had so many friends of friends of friends of friends of friends, etc. (you get the picture).
Tonight I picked up my sofa bed. I bought it used from a friend of friend who was selling everything in his apartment because he was moving back to Hawaii. I was able to recruit four of my friends to come help me move it from the Richmond district to Noe Valley. Thank you everybody for pitching in and helping me!
Over the weekend I was able to explore Noe Valley a little more. Alice spent the night Friday and then stayed in the area the next morning on Saturday so that we could jog around the neighborhood. After jogging, we went back to my place and headed out on our respective ways shortly afterwards. Alice stuck around the City to do some shopping and I drove off to Berkeley to see The House Jacks with my sister and brother-in-law at Freight and Salvage.
Okay, I've written more than forty eight words. Whew.
Today felt truly like summer in the City. It was hot, but not an uncomfortable, painful, or sweltering hot. Hmm. The fact that I'm starting off this entry by talking about the weather means that I won't be writing too much tonight.
Did anyone just feel that earthquake?
I went looking at houses for the first time yesterday. I only saw three in total and spent no more than ten minutes at each house, but the whole affair really tired me out, physically and emotionally. Ever been house hunting before? Well, it's not a fun thing. It's strange. I had this perception as a little kid that when I grew up and bought my first house as an adult, I'd be *completely* set in the world (a little naive, I realize) and ready, both financially and mentally, to make the plunge. But in all honesty, I'm not entirely ready in either aspects. The entire concept of purchasing a house (and on my own!) is a bit unsettling. I mean, I pride myself in being a self-sufficient, strong, and independent woman, but when it comes to the topic of house hunting, some little voice in the back of my head is whimpering out, "Uh...can someone please just tell me what to buy and I'll buy it?" So there you have it. I'm a wimp. Shh...don't tell anyone please. :)
I'm stuck in my room on a Sunday morning right now sewing coin purses. DAMNIT TO HELL THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A FUN PROJECT!! NOW I'M STRESSING OUT ABOUT THIS WHOLE STUPID STUPID STUPID THING! ARGGGHHHH!!!!!!
Whew. Okay, I had to get that off my chest. Anyway, yesterday's white water rafting was really cool. My bum is really sore right now from having sat on the edge of a raft for nearly five hours straight, but other than that I had a really fun time. Got to chill with my friends, hang out in a raft and enjoy Mother Nature, get a little exercise from all the paddling...yup, I'd do it all over again. But the next time, I'd probably request a course with some Level 4 rapids. The course yesterday was on the tame side for me.
I was on a junk food rampage yesterday. Breakfast in the morning consisted of the new McGriddle from McDonalds (not that good), a breakfast bagel from McDonalds for lunch, and then a gloriously oily and fattening dinner from Redrum Burger (formerly known as Murder Burger). I've heard many a rave review about this hamburger joint in Davis. My opinion (I don't care if you don't want it - I'm giving it to ya anyway) on the place? The fries were too salty, the burgers were so-so, but boy, the milkshakes there were damn good. Next time if we're ever passing through Davis again, I'll probably want to grab a milkshake at Redrum and then go across the street to In 'N Out to order a burger and fries. Now *that* would be a good combo.
Okay, I've procrastinated enough. Back to sewing. *grumble*
I'm waiting for Alice to get her little ass (good thing she doesn't read this!) over here so that I can go to sleep. Tomorrow we're going white water rafting on the American River with some of our other friends. We have to be on the road by 7 am so that's why Alice is crashing at my place tonight. Okay, Alice has arrived. Now she is talking to me. Uh...can't write and talk at the same time very well....
So yesterday night I hung out with Eric at some Irish pub on 24th in Noe Valley. I don't typically like drinking alcohol, but bars seem to be the only venues that are open late at night in my neighborhood (and in most other neighborhoods, I'm sure). So we were originally going to hang out at Tullys or Starbucks, but those two cafes were already closed by the time we decided to meet up. In any case, it was cool hanging out with him - I'm always up to meeting new people, after all. :)
Okay, time to let Alice use my computer. Have a great weekend! First day of summer is tomorrow - whoohooo!
I'm itching for a carne asada at _La Taqueria_ right now. You think the restaurant would still be open at say, half past midnight? Eh, wishful thinking. Maybe I'll be eating one in my dreams...
Later
I just finished eating these cherries that were picked fresh off of a tree in my friend's backyard back at his home in Sacramento. They were incredibly sweet. Thanks for the cherries, Darren (I don't know if he read this journal, but I figured I might as well thank him here)! They were delicious!
I have a good vibe about my roommate. I found her through craigslist, so essentially she is a complete stranger to me (as I am to her). So tonight while I was cooking in our kitchen - for the second time - and she was eating her Chinese take-out from Alice's Restaurant, we were just chatting it up and getting to know each other more (she just moved into the apartment yesterday). And so I felt very at ease talking with her. But what clinched this whole "I-think-I'm-gonna-like-this-girl" feeling was when we were discussing our respective addictions with coffee, and she confided that she really should curb her caffeine intake because drinking too much caused her to have diarrhea. Bingo! Any person who is comfortable enough talking about his/her bowel movements with me is a cool person in my books. ;)
Okay, *now* I'm going to bed.
It looks like the weather is finally clearing up in the City. In the past week, the weather in SF (and other parts of the Bay Area) has been rather gloomy. But now, it's starting to look a lot like summer! Anyway, the Comcast guy came this past Friday to install cable for both the 'Net and TV. When the Comcast guy arrived that morning, I opened the door and he greeted me with a hearty "CAAABLE GUY!" Haha...I thought that was funny.
I finally used my kitchen stove for the first time this past Thursday after having lived at my new apartment for...two weeks now? Has it been only half a month? Somehow, it feels like it has been longer. Anyway, I used the stove to cook dinner for James and Anish. I made this dish that my dad affectionately refers to as "om rice." I say affectionately because my dad and a few of his friends created this dish on their own when they were living in army camp all together. So when my sister and I were growing up, my dad would cook this dish when my mom wasn't home (it's pretty much the only thing he knows how to make anyway). The dish involves a lot of ketchup. Sounds appealing, huh? It's actually really good. The dish basically consists of Chinese fried rice mixed with ketchup, which is then wrapped up as an omelette. And voila! You have your om rice. Funny name for a good meal.
I'm a little stressed about this summer sale that I'm participating in next month. I'm planning on sewing coin purses. The part that's stressing me out - well, actually three parts! - is that 1) I haven't finalized my design yet, 2) I haven't purchased any of my materials yet and most worrisome of all 3) what the hell happens if no one buys my stuff??? Grrr...anyway, I'm going to be making a trip to the cloth store today to get all my materials. Click here for all the details. So if you're in the area July 12th, please come and support me. But more importantly, buy my stuff. ;)
In other news, I need to go on a FUCKING vacation! Not just any ordinary vacation, mind you, but a *fucking* one (I'm slightly scared at how liberally I toss around my blasphemies nowadays...you don't mind, hopefully). Anyway, this year (I speak as if it's already ending, but it's only June!) turned out to be a big flop vacation-wise. I originally was scheduled to go to China with Anish and Alice earlier in the year, but I decided against going in the end because my mom, sister, and I had made tentative plans on going to France for my mom's 60th birthday sometime in June. Unfuckingfortunately for me (okay, I *must* stop with this cursing...it's just not attractive), the war in Iraq and then stinking SARS scared my family off from traveling abroad. So I scrapped the France trip and made plans with my sister to go somewhere locally during the summer instead. But *then* (notice the dismal pattern here) my sister and her husband landed a house in the South Bay (hooray for them!), so my sister told me that she had to stick around the area to take care of house matters. So I scrambled around and started asking my friends to see if anyone was up to taking vacation with me. The one friend I was hoping I could go on vacation with (because she had told me earlier in the year that she'd be free around this time to go somewhere) ended up already making plans with somebody else. So to make a long story even longer, my coworker heard me bitch about my sad state of affairs a week ago and he actually offered to have me come join him and his cousin on their trip to Spain this July. How sweet is *that*? So I was all pumped on going to Spain, touring Barcelona, seeing the Running With the Bulls in Pamplona, eating lots of good food, etc. But then I ran my vacation plans over with my boss, and he didn't look incredibly thrilled about having two members of his finance team (out of a small team of five) gone on vacation at the same time. Sigh. So in the end, rather then resort to pleading, bribing, and/or offering my first born to my boss so that I could go on this trip with my coworker, I decided that I'd just stay here for the summer. Grrr....it's been two years since I've taken vacation (not counting holidays and weekend trips to local places). Maybe *next* year things will be better...
Okay, I've whined enough for one night. G'night!
Here are some pictures of my day with the familia.
I'm in the South Bay right now staying at my sister's place because my parents have come up here from LA for the weekend. We'll be heading to Sonoma in the morning. Afterwards, I think we're supposed to swing by SF on our way back to San Jose so that my mom and dad can check out my new apartment and give the official parental blessing for me to live there. I think that they'll like it. The neighborhood is nice, public transportation is close, and there are plenty of shops and restaurants that are a walking distance's away from my apartment.
Blah. My cold's still with me. I'm probably only 90% recovered because my blasted cough just won't go away.
It's half past 2 in the morning right now. I ought to go to bed. But I'm not tired. So I'll just keep up with this entry until my eyes start to droop.
When I finally settle down and unpack all my things, I'm going to set some time aside to explore my neighborhood some more. I know the general idea of where things are in Noe Valley, but I still find myself going back to the Sunset to run my errands. For example, yesterday I drove all the way over to the Sunset to get my shoes repaired. I'm pretty sure with a little sleuthing (does such a word exist?), I should be able to find a good shoe repair store right in my neighborhood.
Okay, my eyes are starting to droop. Maybe I'll go to sleep now. G'night.
I'm sick. I've no bed right now. And, to top things off, I've no internet access at my new apartment right now (thus my lack of updates). Can life get any better for me? ;) Anyway, I caught a nasty cold over the weekend from moving. I think my immune system just decided to call it quits on me after two full days of cleaning and moving.
I'm debating between cable and DSL for my new apartment. Any ideas on which is better? Let me know if you've any!
Here's a picture of the group of us at Alice's med school graduation dinner held at Ton Kiang in the Richmond district.
Grrr...moving is such a DRAG!
It's half past one and I'm still up. I should be going to bed soon because tomorr...err today will prove to be a long one, as Alice will be moving her things out of the apartment, and we'll be helping her with the move. Moving is such a headache. I'll be moving all of my things out of the apartment the following weekend. Come to think of it, if anyone is interested in buying a mattress (with box and frame) as well as futon from me, please e-mail me.
I watched _Matrix Reloaded_ tonight. I really liked it (Can you tell that I'm tired right now? I can't think of anything else to say about the movie save for "I really liked it.")
I had dinner at Palamino with Alice Friday night. The waiter at the next table spilled water all over me when he rushed past our table and accidentally dropped the menu that he was holding onto my glass of water. Thank goodness it was only water in the glass. The waiter apologized, our waitress apologized, and even the maitre d' apologized. Were the apologies enough though? I was actually thinking that the restaurant - on top of apologizing - should have also given Alice and me a small part of our meal (e.g. appetizer or dessert) on the house to make up for the inconvenience of having to eat the majority of my meal in wet clothing. But when the bill came at the end of dinner, nothing came gratis. I have to admit that I was somewhat disappointed. So I decided that I'd only give the waitress a little more than 10% tip. I felt bad because it wasn't our waitress who had spilled water on me but the waiter at the next table, so she really didn't deserve to get her tip docked, but on the other hand, I felt that mere apologies didn't completely rectify the situation.
Okay, now I'm really tired. So g'night, whoever you are.
Alice told me that her sister's boyfriend's classmate from business school past away in this past Sunday's Bay to Breakers. It's a very sad story because he was only twenty eight at the time of his death. Very sad story, indeed.
My sister forwarded me an article from the NY Times. I've attached it down below. I'm sure to many people out there (especially the bloggers), this article will strike a nerve. It did to me. In any case, this article really reminded me again of why I'm so hesitant of putting details of my personal life here for all eyes to see. Essentially, what I write on this website can potentially hurt other people (especially those close to me). Others write freely about their personal lives because they like the attention from online readers, and some even like mixing a little drama into their entries to increase the number of hits they can get from all those curious voyeurs out there. And myself? I *try* to keep things light and write about topics that I know won't have any negative ramifications (last entry's had many - that's why I deleted it). Anyway, read on - it's a very interesting article, even if you aren't a blogger.
Dating a Blogger, Reading All About It
May 18, 2003By WARREN ST. JOHN
Rick Bruner's awakening to the power of the written word came by way of a throwaway line, typed one afternoon in the cerulean glow of his I.B.M. ThinkPad.
Mr. Bruner, a 37-year-old Manhattan marketing consultant, keeps a Web log, an online diary known as a blog. After coming in for some sporting abuse from a friend who told him blogging was a waste of time, Mr. Bruner wrote in his blog that the friend "was fat and runs like a girl," adding that he was sure the friend would not be offended "because he doesn't read blogs." With a push of a button, the comment was published on Mr. Bruner's site, www.bruner.net/blog, and accessible to anyone with a computer.
A few days later, though, that friend's curiosity about blogs was awakened after all. He quickly found Mr. Bruner's site and was "deeply aggrieved," Mr. Bruner said. Their friendship barely survived the episode.
"It was a big wake-up call," Mr. Bruner said. "Sometimes it's good to have an editor."
Mr. Bruner's experience is typical of many who have waded into the thrilling and sometimes perilous world of blogging, a once marginal activity of Internet enthusiasts that has become squarely mainstream, with an estimated three million active blogs online, according to Nick Denton, the head of Gawker Media, a blog publisher.
While blogging journalists like Andrew Sullivan, Mickey Kaus and Eric Alterman get a lot of attention, a vast majority of bloggers are average citizens like Mr. Bruner, who draw from their personal experiences - and often the personal experiences of relatives, friends and colleagues - to create a kind of memoir in motion that details breakups and work and family issues with sometimes startling candor.
While personal blogs have been around for years, their proliferation has caused a wrinkle in the social fabric among people in their teens, 20's and early 30's. Inundated with bloggers, they are finding that every clique now has its own Matt Drudge, someone capable of instantly turning details of their lives into saucy Internet fare.
"It's like all your friends are reporters now," said Douglas Rushkoff, a blogger and author of "Media Virus" and other books about the impact of technology on society.
In the rush to publish, many bloggers are running headlong into some of the problems conventionally published memoirists know too well: hurt feelings, newly wary friends and relatives, and the occasional inflamed employer.
"All writing is a form of negotiation between the reader and writer over what constitutes responsibility," said David Weinberger, author of "Small Pieces Loosely Joined," a book about the Internet. "Because blogs are a new form, the negotiation can easily go awry."
Mr. Weinberger said the confessional nature of many blogs had "redrawn the line between what's private and public."
Heather Armstrong, a 27-year-old Web designer from Utah whose blog is at www.dooce.com, might be the ultimate example of blogging gone awry. Her parents are devout Mormons, she said, but because they are also technophobes, she felt perfectly comfortable publishing an entry on her site in which she harshly criticized her Mormon upbringing.
Unfortunately for Ms. Armstrong, her brother in Seattle stumbled across her Web site that very day and alerted her parents to the entry. After that, Ms. Armstrong said, "all hell broke loose." "Next to my parents getting divorced 20 years ago," Ms. Armstrong said, "it was the worst thing that ever happened to my family. It was shocking for everyone."
Ms. Armstrong's run-in with the perils of self-publishing did not end there. She also wrote about her job and her co-workers in her blog, often hyperbolically.
When her bosses were alerted that Ms. Armstrong was writing about her office life, they fired her, she said. She is now much more careful about what she publishes in her blog, and she had a word of caution for bloggers who write furtively about others. "If you're publishing under your own name, they'll find out," she said. "I was extremely naïve."
Being found out is no deterrent for 18-year-old Trisha Allen, a blogger from Kentucky. She has been blogging for roughly a month, and spends most of her time reporting candidly on her friends and on her relationship with her boyfriend.
A recent entry reveals that the couple are not quite ready for children - though "we have had two scares" - and that Ms. Allen's preferred form of birth control is the pill, even though, she wrote, "I am starting to hate it, because it has screwed up my menstrual cycle wickedly."
"There's not a lot I won't put on there," Ms. Allen said by telephone. Ms. Allen said her mother was aware she keeps an online journal, but does not know how to find it, and added that she relied on a doctrine of security by obscurity, hoping that in the vast universe of personal Web sites known as the blogosphere, she will be able to preserve her anonymity behind all those other blogs.
Ms. Allen said her motivation for posting personal details was simple: "I love to be the center of attention."
Indeed, for many bloggers being noticed seems to be the point. John M. Grohol, a psychologist in the Boston area who has written about bloggers, said they often offered intimate details of their lives as a ploy to build readership.
"It's like, `How do I get people to read this?' " he said. "Then you want them to keep reading it. It becomes a snowball rolling downhill that becomes very rewarding for the blogger because they're getting feedback from their friends and from random folks."
Deirdre Clemente, a blogger from Brooklyn who is now a a student at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan, frequently uses her relationships as fodder for her blog, www.deirdreclemente.com.
That became an issue for a recent boyfriend of hers, a 34-year-old Manhattan hedge-fund manager who feared that having his name in the blog could compromise his business relationships.
During his eight-month stint as a nameless regular on Ms. Clemente's site, he said, "it was an odd feeling that there was a camera on me." Friends and relatives who knew about the site followed his relationship online, he said.
"On occasion my mother would send me an e-mail saying, `How was the play?' or, `Sounds like you had a nice weekend away,' " he said.
But as a literary trope, the boyfriend worked well. Ms. Clemente said she frequently received e-mail messages from strangers who followed the ups and downs of their relationship on her blog.
When the relationship ended, she said, "I had totally random people e-mailing me saying they were sad we broke up." She described the experience as "totally weird," but added, "As a writer, having anyone read your stuff is a compliment."
With so many self-publishing reporters out there, some say they feel a need to watch themselves, for fear that casual comments made to friends might make tomorrow morning's entry.
The proliferation of personal bloggers has led to a new social anxiety: the fear of getting blogged.
"It's personal etiquette meets journalistic rules," Mr. Denton, the blog publisher, said. "If you have a friend who's a blogger you have to say, `This is not for blogging.' It's the blogging equivalent of `This is off the record.' "
Jonathan Van Gieson, a 29-year-old theatrical producer from Brooklyn who sometimes writes about friends on his site, www.jonathanvangieson.com, said he gave his friends pseudonyms "to toe the line between simple harmless betrayal of trust and nasty actionable libel." Before starting his blog, Mr. Van Gieson said he drew a comic strip based on his friends for his college newspaper, and in describing their predicament he summed up the current lot of many in the age of blogging.
"My close friends are used to having their lives plundered," he said.
May 11, 2003Happy Mother's Day! Don't forget your filial obligations to call your mum today.
Today's another gorgeous day in the City. This morning when I was driving back home from the gym, I caught a glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge peaking out from the myriad of trees in the park. I swear - every time I see that breathtaking view, I remind myself of why I wanted to move to the City in the first place two years ago. I mean, despite the headaches of parking, transportation, and the higher standard of living that comes along with being here (or in any city for that matter) , I must say that the vast abundance of restaurants, shops, and scenic spots more than makes up for all the hassle.
Alice had some friends over at our apartment the other night. Her male friend, Vivek, was commenting on the general messiness of our apartment (in a joking way, of course). So when Vivek came out of our bathroom, he exclaimed, "Whoa! I though I was in a guy's bathroom for a minute there!" *Blush* Admittedly, the cleanliness of our apartment hasn't been Alice's or my top priority these past few weeks. We've both been busy finding apartments, I've been working on my art projects, she's been studying for exams...eh, these are all excuses, I realize. So I should just throw my hands up in the air and resign to the fact that Alice and I, despite the contrary belief that all women are cleanly and organized, are living in a pig sty.
I watched X2 tonight. It was really good. Unfortunately, I forgot everything that happened in the first movie, so it took me awhile to get familiar with all of the characters again.
I saw some more apartments today. I didn't like any of them. I'm really hoping that Debbie and I can settle on an apartment this week when she flys up from LA. Even though I'm telling myself not to get stressed out about finding an apartment by the end of the month, the whole hunting process still saps a lot of energy from me.
I had dinner with Anish and Nami at Ebisu Saturday night. It was good catching up with the both of them, especially since I haven't seen or heard from them in a long while. Afterwards, I walked back home where Dardy picked me up shortly afterwards to drive to Eric's house in Noe Valley for a piano concert put on by one of Eric's friends. I didn't know anyone there save for Dardy, so I wallflowered with Dardy for a bit, and when he ditched me to go check out the tasty baklava (which he scarfed down four pieces of, might I add! heh...) and talk to Eric, I went up to these two people lounging on the couch in the back and started chatting it up with them. We talked about homes mostly because they both recently became new homeowners. I didn't have much to offer in the conversation (because I'm not a homeowner) so I just talked about how much I *wished* I were a homeowner.
After the concert, I went to this club called Raw Hide with Alice, Anish, and Anish's coworkers from Celera. I swear, the crowd there must have been at least 10 years younger than our group! I felt so old.
I talked to Tony tonight. I think it's a good thing that we're still talking with each other despite everything that has transpired these past two weeks between us. I suppose I could go into more detail, but that would be out of character for my journal, right? ;)
I have nothing to say right now. But I figured I'd just blog an entry and write about the fact that I have nothing to say right now. When I have nothing left to say to someone, I usually resort to talking about the weather. I do that often. I did that when I was chatting to a friend yesterday on the phone. There was a pause in the conversation, I had nothing to say at the moment, so I interjected a "It's just been so *windy* lately!" into the phone. And today, when I was walking back from lunch with my coworkers, we were all very quiet (probably due to massive food coma), so I broke everyone's reverie by commenting on just how gorgeous the weather was today. But *wasn't* the weather gorgeous today? I thought it was. I'm glad this weather will be with us throughout the weekend.
I'm hiding under the covers of my blanket while typing out this entry on my laptop. It's too cold without the covers on. I suppose I could get up and put a sweatshirt on, but being the lazy person that I am, I figure that the whole motion of getting up from my bed, walking to my closet which is less than five feet away, pulling off a sweatshirt from a hanger, and finally putting the sweatshirt on me would just sap the energy right out of me. So I'll just stay put where I am. Yes, I can be a lazy pig. Oink oink, I say.
I finished my art project tonight. I used cereal, oats, and granola to "paint" my figure. One more art project to go, and my Friday nights will finally be free.
TYPEWRITER. The longest word you can type out on the first letter row of the keyboard.
My eyes are starting to droop.
It's almost midnight. Night after night, I tell myself that I should sleep earlier, but for some reason I never make it into bed at a reasonable hour (reasonable to me is anything before 11:00 pm). So I've been running on five or six (closer to five though) hours of sleep these past few nights. On the bright side, I'm more inclined to churn out my journal entries during the wee hours of the morning.
I finally opened up the package that contains my CPA license. The Sacramento Board of Accountancy actually delivered the package to me last year, but I haven't opened it up until now. And the reason for opening it now is not because I have this sudden urge to frame my certificate, but because I discovered that my car insurance awards discounts to customers with professional licenses. Discount? Oooh...discounts are good in my book. So I decided to fax in a copy of my CPA license before I paid my premium for the upcoming renewal period.
So I was able to sell my Coldplay tickets after all. I listed a posting on craigslist and that very same day, a guy e-mailed me letting me know he was interested in purchasing my two tickets. Yay! Craigslist rocks, I must say.
I think I may have found an apartment that I like in Noe Valley. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that someone else doesn't take the place before my roommate (who is currently in LA) gets a chance to look at it next week.
My entry is coming in random thought spurts tonight. But doesn't it always...
G'night.
I've been antisocial as of late. Ever get into one of those funks where you turn down multiple invitations to go out and paint the town red (why is it red by the way? why not pink?) and instead, sit at home and finish the hemlines of your friend's pants? If you said yes to the aforementioned question, please call me. You are my long-lost twin. We must get reaquainted and make up for the last 26 years.
So anyway, I was sitting at home yesterday night, hemming my friend's pants and halfheartedly watching _Gladiator_ on the tube (I still can't believe that the movie won Best Picture at the Academy Awards). While sewing, I was toying with the idea of calling one of my classmates because she had invited me out with the rest of her girlfriends to some yacht party. And then there was my other friend who had called earlier in the day, inviting both Alice and me out to the W hotel in downtown to join him in a little birthday shindig he was throwing for himself. In the end, I decided that I'd rather stay home with my trusty sewing machine and watch Russell Crowe (more specifically, his arm muscles! *swoon*) beat the living daylights out of evil Emperor Commodus. How much more of a hermit can I get? Eh, people are overrated anyway. Heh...
This morning was a rather productive one. I went to the gym, saw an apartment in Cole Valley, and had brunch with Dardy at Rain Tree Cafe in the Sunset. Afterwards, we walked across the street to Wishbone because Paul Frank was making a two hour, in-store appearance there. Unfortunately, the line out the door to get Paul Frank's autograph and schmooze with the t-shirt designer was rather long, and as I had another appointment to see an apartment at 1 pm, I got my Paul Frank fix by taking a peek at him through the store's window. And guess what I discovered? Paul Frank is balding! But Paul Frank is your friend. So Paul Frank can be your balding friend.
I haven't updated here in awhile. This past week has been somewhat of an emotional whirlwind for me. I'm fiercely protective of how much I expose of my personal life online, so let me just leave this entry with these two words: I'm sorry.
It's past 1 am in the morning, and I don't know what I'm doing still up. I ought to go to bed soon. Nocturnal behavior always has a nasty habit of making me a very tired, sleepy, and unproductive worker the next day.
So originally, my sister and I were planning on taking our mom to France for her upcoming 60th birthday this June. But we put our plans on hold when the war broke out in Iraq because there was such strong anti-American sentiment in France and in other parts of the world. Well, the war in Iraq is slowly winding down to a close, and one would think that it would now be safe to travel to France. Fat chance. Tony told me the other day that one of his mom's friends had her hotel reservation in France cancelled because her last name "sounded Chinese." Basically, the hotel didn't want to run the risk (however remote it might have been) of lodging any guests who might have SARS. Grand. However racially motivated the hotel's actions may be, there is probably something in our legal system that states that an establishment can deny entrance to any guest it sees as being unsafe or potentially causing harm to other patrons. In any case, my family's American *and* Chinese. So is that considered a double whammo against us if we decide to continue ahead with our France trip anyway? Hmm. I think our best bet is to just take my mom somewhere local for her birthday. Traveling abroad during this time seems like just too much of hassle.
Yesterday, I went over to Larry and Glenda's newly purchased swank home in Los Altos to celebrate my sister's upcoming 29th birthday. Glenda made shrimp appetizers, seafood salad, and clam linguini, and Hank wowed us with his burgeoning cooking expertise by whipping out these scallop, shrimp, and bacon appetizer concoctions (which were aesthetically pleasing, to boot!). My part in the meal was dessert. So I brought over a very tried and true favorite - ice cream cake from Baskins Robbins. After cake, we went over to the family room to watch some videos that Larry and Glenda brought home from their recent trip to Yap (bonus points if you know where that is!), where they had gone specifically to check out the huge manta rays.Today I went to the Noe Valley neighborhood to check out some more apartments. I saw a two bedroom, two bathroom apartment on Dolores Street and then went to an open house for a three bedroom, one bathroom apartment on Clipper Street. Before going to the open house, I was wandering through the surrounding neighborhood with Tony and checking out the local establishments. I past by two eateries I'd like to try in the near future: Lovejoy's Tea Room (I'm a sucker for afternoon tea, scones, and cucumber sandwiches even though I typically shy away from that fancy-schmancy stuff) and Chloe's Cafe (breakfast menu looked pretty scrumptious).
Later
Grrr. I'm trying to download pictures from yesterday's evening onto my site from Hank's website (I would directly link to his URL but I don't know if he'd appreciate my directing traffic to his site) but it's taking so long, for some reason! So all I have is this and this. The first picture is of my sister with her ice cream cake and the second is of me and Glenda. Hopefully there will be more to come.
I've always wondered what the proper protocol is for bumping into an online journal personality in real life. That's happened to me a handful of times now, but two instances stand out in my mind because those were the times when I kept mute about reading the other person's journal. Once was back in college when I was going to a martial arts potluck and one of the girls in my Hapkido class brought her then boyfriend (Hi Beno if you still read this!) whose online journal actually inspired me to begin mine eons ago. When the girl introduced Beno to me, all I said was something to the effect of, "Oh, it's nice to meet you." The second time was when I went rock climbing with Tony at Mission Cliffs, and Tony knew this one person there who was with this *other* person (is this getting complicated?) who happened to be an online journalist. When introductions were made, I kept mum about the online journal, simply shook hands with the girl and exchanged brief pleasantries before heading off our respective ways. It's strange, this behavior. It feels almost dishonest in a way. But acknowledging reading a person's online journal in circumstances where you don't even know the person in real life seems like stalker behavior. Don't you agree? Hmm. These things wouldn't happen to me if I kept to reading only people's online journals who I know in real life.
Anyway, I've more topics to talk about, but I'm all talked out. I'll save my ramblings for another day then.
Oh, one more final note! I've decided to delete all my older entries here and save it into another file because it's taking me forever and a day with my dinosaur of a modem connection to save this file if I keep everything as is. I know my readers won't be too sad. ;)