Less Than Fantastic

Today should have been a fantastic day. The boy and I had planned to spend the afternoon at the beach, soaking up the Southern Californian sun as we took a ferry across a harbor and frolicked in the Pacific waves. Building sandcastles on the beach. Eating delicious beach side fare.

Except it didn't quite turn out that way.

We got off to a late start (which isn't terrible, but still a fact), and were bummed to learn that the entire coastline was draped in a dreary cloud cover. Ew. But the air was fairly warm still, so we decided to take some boogie boards and head out anyway.

After a nice walk (observing the dreariness of the sky the entire time), we took the ferry across the water from the island to the peninsula. (Those who are from the area should know what I'm talking about.)

From there, we walked to the pier/beach and found a nice spot to lay down all of our things. And then it was time for the water! Well, the boy went completely into the water. I didn't. For one, it was freezing (we later learned the water temperature was in the high 50s). For two, I somehow managed to psyche myself out about the waves. The waves today just seemed particularly brutal to me. I knew that I wouldn't enjoy it unless I was only getting my lower body wet (not the most fun), or if I was completely in the water, past the breaking point, bobbing up and down observing the shore from the sea. It was cold though, so I was afraid I wouldn't make it out into the deeper ocean in time before being pummeled by a particularly brutal wave. The boy was disappointed I didn't go out. I was too, truthfully. He said something along the lines of "what is the worst thing the waves can do to you?" to which I gave an answer filled with terrible possibilities.

In any case, we eventually built an unfinished castle surrounded by a superbly superb fort/moat.

And then when we tired of that, the boy ran out into the ocean with his boogie board for a few more waves. I had my camera out at this point, and was happily taking pictures of our lovely sand achievement. And then I started taking pictures of the boy, because he looked so cute in the water. And then, mid-shot, I noticed the boy was looking a bit unhappy from the last wave that brought him in. And then I noticed his hair was filled with sand that he didn't bother to wipe away. And then I noticed the strange protrusion sticking out of his neck/chest area.

AUGhhhhhhhhh.

He didn't seem to think anything was seriously wrong. Yet. I brought him to the lifeguard. The lifeguard called a lifeguard truck. The lifeguard truck inspected the boy and told him he had two options: ride in an ambulance to the hospital, or go to the hospital on his own accord. We decided to go on our own accord.

Long story short, we ended up at the emergency room of the hospital in his city. He ended up having what we all suspected (but were hoping against): a broken collarbone. That means for 6-8 weeks, he's out of service. That's basically the rest of summer. It's kind of a bummer. It will still be fun, but that takes out such activities like Six Flags (which we were planning on going to in a week in a half), swimming, kayaking, possibly biking - any outdoor/active activity, really. It's a bit disappointing.

Worse is the fact that while at the hospital, I had to wait outside in the waiting room. That was such a bummer. Waiting and not being able to be there, and not being able to lend a hand to squeeze or a touch to support. I hated that.

To add to the day's unfantasticness, I found out five some hours after my arrival to the hospital (we were there for about three hours), that I didn't have my cell phone. It isn't in my house, my bag, the boy's house, my car. I called the hospital, and eventually drove back to check the waiting room. Security told me that they will check the linen bags (I think I might have left it tangled up in a blanket the staff gave me while I was waiting in the waiting room) tonight. If they find it, they will call me. They also told me that there are a lot of linens, and while the person I was talking to assured me that if it was there they'd probably find it, I didn't feel very assured.

I'm looking up replacement phones right now. It's kind of a bummer because I got my phone recently, and it wasn't cheap. Oh well. It isn't worse than having a broken collar bone. My poor beloved :/

Something else that sucks: ants. We have too many of them. Darn this more-humid-than-normal summer.

Something that isn't as sucky as I originally proclaimed it to be: Bubba/Boba. I called him a needy dog in my last post. I feel a bit bad about that. Yes, he seems to have dog A.D.D. Yes, he's a bit of an attention whore. But he isn't so negatively needy that I should have complained about it. I think he was just calling for more attention than normal because he was in a new environment and his real family was nowhere to be found. So I offer my sincerest apologies to Bubba/Boba, a remarkably cute dog.

Anyway. That was today. I'll recap the rest of the weekend later I suppose.

Two Things

Today I have two things to talk about. The first: Bubba (or Boba?), my neighbor's dog. We're watching him for the week (or 10 days, people around here aren't very specific with this kind of information).

Before I begin, I should mention that I LOVE dogs. I'm one of those people that, upon seeing a dog (any size, shape, or form), deteriorates into uninteligible happy noises. Sometimes these noises are accompanied by "ooo, doggie! such a CUTE doggie!" proclamations in a weird, I-don't-sound-like-this-on-any-other-occasion voice.

Bubba/Boba is particularly cute. Compared to my own, dear, late Skippy, however... well, he just doesn't compare. I don't mean to be harsh, but this dog is NEEDY. He is in constant need of petting, attention, playing, at all hours of the day/night. He isn't a puppy. He's just needy. Cute, but needy. I don't mind, because I love dogs. But I miss Skippy and her wise demeanor. Nonetheless, it's been fun. There's nothing quite like having a dog rush at you the second you open the front door after being out for a while. With Bubba/Boba, however, this rush comes complete with jumping and licking. Lots of licking. He has unusually bad doggy breath.

The other thing I wanted to talk about is Planned Parenthood. On a side note, I don't currently have Health Insurance. It's a temporary situation, but it's been over a year since I've had a regular check up (and I needed a few questions answered/supplies anyway), so I wanted to get in to see a doctor somewhere. I had heard that PP is a good option for women without insurance, so I decided to head over to one of the six locations in my county. I've got to say, the one I went to was FANTASTIC. Being a woman, I prefer woman doctors. PP is a woman's clinic, so that's all they have. The staff was great. My RN was fantastic. My doctor was completely down to earth. The atmosphere was chill, straight forward, and completely professional. And it was clean. AND it was EXCEEDINGLY cheep! In my current financial situation, I was able to get everything I needed (and tons more) with only the ask of a donation. What? There's no fee? Just a donation plea? That's AMAZING! I don't know why more people don't go. If not just to take advantage of this amazing place, but, if you have the means, to support it as well. To put it lightly, I was blown away by my experience. And yes, I gave a donation.

That whole morning I felt pretty empowered. Like girl power empowered. Listened to a lot of Ani DiFranco that day. I love "Stepping Stones" in particular. (It's kind of slow, not representative of all her work, but the chorus of that song really speaks to me.)

In other news, I got a haircut. Nothing drastic, but I like it. And that's it for now! The boy is on his way over for a nap, and I want to clean up my room a bit before he gets here :)

Today I'm Doing Things

I'm quite content at the moment. My body is tired, because I spent most of the day climbing, sliding, and wandering around Wild Rivers. It's tired in the best of ways, though, because, since taking a shower, I feel completely refreshed. Plus, it was really fun! I haven't gone to Wild Rivers since Middle School, I think, and that's what... almost nine years ago now? Eight maybe? Anyway. Good times :)

So it's actually been a while since I've written. Enjoyable things that I can remember off the top of my head include getting a double scoop sugar cone (fudge chocolate and french vanilla! a classic and completely delicious combination) at Baskin Robbins, Anhkhoa visiting, going out to eat (Le Dip, Wienerschnitzel, Black Angus, Veggie Grill, Carl's, and Mimi's for Father's Day), random games on random days (I'm going to elaborate on this in the next paragraph, I think), going to (and completely loving) the pool, Koffee Klatch and the beach (I miss this combination so much when I'm in LA), movie(s), some crazy dreams, and a bit of researching.

One thing that I've been researching is cake decorating. I love ceramics, but it's a bit expensive, so I haven't been partaking in it this summer. Cake decorating isn't cheap either, but it's edible! And easier to dispose of (and more pleasantly received) at gatherings :) Speaking of gatherings, most of what my friends and I have been doing lately have involved games of all sorts. Things ranging from Rock Band (quickly deteriorating into Cranium and Zombie Fluxx) Night, to multiple afternoons of the Enchanted Forest, to a few games of Backgammon, to wayyy too much L4D (with a dash of Soul Caliber for variety). And by wayyy too much L4D I mean WAYYY too much. I think our lowest (or highest?) point was when we played almost 8 hours worth over the course of two days. What made it worse, was we were playing into the wee hours of the morning. One night, we didn't start playing until around midnight. Fantastic. There goes getting my sleep schedule sorted out... haha.

I DID, however, appreciate the freshly made homemade pancakes that filled my tummy as a result of said late night(s).

It's kind of funny that I've played L4D so much in large group situations recently. (Even though I love the game, I've so far avoided playing in large group situations.) I like my fair share of video games, but FPS games have never really appealed to me. I've also always considered those types of games to be far nerdier than things like Mario Kart and Smash (which, to me, are comparable with things like Clue and Scrabble). It might have something to do with the fact that most of the people I knew in high school that would sit around, connect computers, and play FPS games were, well, nerdy. (I also think playing computer games in a group is nerdier than playing video games in a group... but again, that's just my own unfounded opinion.) Anyway, it's kind of ingrained in me that FPS games are nerdy games, especially when played in a large group setting. I have to admit, though, that L4D is a LOT of fun, even in (or dare I say, especially in?) large group situations. And maybe not as nerdy as all the other FPS games out there... haha.

So I missed out on Karaoke at the Detroit Bar last night (it sucks to be a woman sometimes), but I plan on going next Sunday. Also, Six Flags is in the works (again, finally), and at some point this summer I need to go kayaking. It amazes me that summer is almost half done and I haven't gone yet. Blasphemy!

Something random that I'd like to do is watch Herb and Dorothy. It's a documentary about the Vogels, a postal clerk and a librarian who built one of the "most important contemporary art collections in history." My dad is a postal worker, and I love museums and galleries, so it looks really interesting. The film is directed by "first time filmmaker" Megumi Sasaki. I watched the trailer, though, and I like his style. I think it suits the subject of the documentary, the personalities of Herb and Dorothy Vogel, as well as the genre itself. To my knowledge the film is not yet released to DVD, so the only way to see it is to attend a screening. There's one at the Orange County Museum of Art this Thursday, I believe... but I have a date scheduled for that night (:D) so I might not make it. It's OK, though. There will be screening's near me soon enough. The next convenient screening will be at the Landmark Theatre Nuart in LA... but it might be more fun to go see the screening at the Cinema Palme D'Or in Palm Desert and make a day trip, or a weekend trip out of it. Both of those screenings are at the end of July.

All this talk of screenings and museums and what not makes me want to go to a museum. Or actually, the Aquarium of the Pacific! That would be fun too.

Spending the day at Wild Rivers was a lot of fun. It got me moving to the point that I'm super motivated to do tons of things. I always WANT to do things, but whether or not I'm motivated to do everything (at every given point in time) varies depending on the day. Today? Today I'm doing things :)

Dear Noah

My dear friend. I found out last night. I'm still processing the news. It has been so long since we've spoken face to face, it's hard to comprehend the impossibility of once again speaking in the same way. I am devasted to know that, by chance, I was 150 miles from home but only a block and a half away from you when you were found. That whole night, even. I almost contacted you that weekend. Or I wanted to. I didn't realize it would be the last realistic chance for me to do so. I'm sorry. I am trying not to dwell. I don't think you would want me - or anyone - to. Instead I am remembering. Memories of you taking my Pochacco lunch box every day at school. Your hilarious comments that brightened every class we shared. The video projects you would do that made me cry tears of laughter. Always making me laugh. At school. After school. At dances. Our dance. At my birthday party. Our birthdays are a day apart. For the rest of my life I will remember you on your birthday. It will be impossible for me to not. I miss you. Remembering all our interactions. Making fun of each other. Pestering each other. Eighth grade was our year, wasn't it? Things changed, but I had my memories. Things have changed again, but I still have my memories. Oh Noah. "You'll be in my heart. No matter what they say, you'll be here in my heart. Always."

Photo Boxes

On Wednesday I enjoyed a completely "me" day. I craved Veggie Grill, so I went out and got some. I wanted boba, so I got some Cha (but only because I was in the area - Lollicup is better). I sat outside enjoying the beautiful weather, and finished reading The Devil in the White City (which was a very good book, by the way). I hadn't relaxed in front of the TV for nearly a month, so that night I decided some Law and Order was in order (haha). While watching, I played some old childhood games of mine that I found in a cabinet (Peg Solitaire and a balancing maze game that I can't for the life of me find an example of online).

All those things alone would have made Wednesday a fantastic day.

And then I found the boxes of old pictures.

I was looking through a cabinet in the kitchen in search of some D batteries (for another childhood game I had come across and wanted to play), and instead came across 3.5 heavy boxes filled entirely with pictures. The TV was still on, but I wasn't really paying attention because suddenly I was looking through pictures of myself, my parents, our dog, relatives, friends - everything dating pre 1998, with most pictures dating pre 1990. I've only gotten through 1.5 boxes (these boxes are seriously FILLED), but it's been really interesting/fun for me so far.

I've mentioned before that I have a hideously bad memory. Finding these pictures so I can recall bits of my childhood is amazing. Looking through them I realized two things: one, that I was by far the worst dressed kid EVER... and two, after a while I was examining the smiles of the people in the pictures. I guessed that I was looking for something. I told the boyfriend this and he agreed that it was something I would do.

On a side note, even though I regularly take hundreds of digital pictures... I still prefer hard copies. For me, it's just so much more nostalgic to sift through a box of old hard copies of pictures, versus click through a folder of old digital copies of pictures. To be fair, this might have something to do with the fact that all the childhood/young parent pictures I possess are hard copies because digital technology didn't exist at the time. Still, I have a feeling that the hard copy would evoke just that much more memory, if not for any more reason beyond the fact that the picture itself smells old, or looks old, or is faded, or has a stain on it.



On another side note, it's true. We've definitely come a long way since game night. :)

I Like Things

I like grits. They're so basic, and yet so deliciously comforting at the same time. Hot, soaking up all the flavors of the surrounding food. I had some good ones last week at the Jazz Kitchen in Downtown Disney (where my man and I met my roommate and her man for dinner).

I also like veggie burgers, although I'm not vegetarian. I had a really tasty one in the dining car of the train on the way to Santa Barbara. And it came with coffee :) (In a plastic cup! Haha.)

On that note, I like train rides. I haven't REALLY traveled by train since I was a little girl, when I went to San Diego with my family (I've taken a few short trips here and there in the years following). I remember that being a fun trip (the conductor of the train entertained me with a Goofy voice as he came by to pick up our tickets), and my recent train trip was fun as well. There's something quite soothing about trains. It could be the slow rolling of the moving cars, or the utterly amazing panoramas of passing hillside and ocean, which can be easily seen from the generously windowed viewing car.

I also like learning new things. Like slacklining, which Kurt introduced to all of us in a beautiful park in Isla Vista. It was challenging, but fun. I'd never done something like it before (the closest thing would be rock climbing, I think), and was super eager to give it a try.

Also enjoyable is drinking supremely delicious Thai Tea Snow Bubble with Boba (from an Indian Restaurant of all places) in said park while relaxing after exerting myself on the slackline.

What isn't enjoyable is being stalked by a skunk while trying to soak up the fresh, night air :/

I do, however, like gift exchanging outside of 85C Cafe, games like Rock Band, Catch Phrase, Munchkin, and Zombie Fluxx (which, by the way, is leagues better than Monty Python Fluxx), Gospel Choirs, horchata, longboarding (even though I'm slow), Coldstone coffee icecream with brownie and Heath bar mix-ins, and good company.

And catching up with family is nice, as well. Sam Woo is a tasty place for such reuniting. I imagine the leftovers I'm about to reheat from said dinner will also be tasty :)

Back in the 949

Today I returned from my trip to Santa Barbara. Here's a picture I took in the city. ...And that's it for now. (I'll offer up details later - I've got dinner and what not to attend to tonight!)

Life and Changes

Last Saturday I spent the day at Disney's California Adventure. I'd been to it multiple times, but only once before have I ever spent the entire day there without also going to Disneyland (which is a story for another time). It was a lot of fun! Pictures are up on Facebook - all in one album, amazingly. I guess during the past week (?) Facebook changed their 60 picture album limit to 200. I haven't decided whether or not I like the change, yet. It's definitely more convenient, but it requires less weeding of pictures. Instead of only putting up the best pictures, the good and mediocre pictures get put up as well. I'm still trying to be a strict weeder, regardless...

I found my briefly missing external hard drive, which is good, because now I am able to transfer all the music that was on my old laptop and external onto my NEW lappy toppy :P I'm really enjoying this laptop. The more I look at it, the smaller and sleeker it becomes. And it's handling everything like a dream. I used the "Satellite" option on Google Maps today and found what I was looking for in mere seconds. I used to not be able to use Satellite because my computer just couldn't handle it. Sweet, sweet technology :)

Even still, transferring my music is taking a while. There's a lot of it, and I'm trying to keep it all organized. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to organize it on my new computer. I think I'll just make a single "Transferred [Date]" folder in my My Music folder and do it that way. We'll see.

Ah! I found out the other day that one of my childhood best friends got hired to be a Marketing Assistant in her dream city: San Francisco! I'm sooo happy for her. While San Francisco isn't the city for me (too fast paced and rainy... although I love visiting), it's definitely the city for her. I can't wait to visit her again! (I visited her last summer while she was working an internship - SO much fun.) I'm a little sad because, even though it's an amazing milestone moment, it's one of those moments that signifies growing up and getting older. Especially for someone I've known for so long, it's kind of weird to think about. We used to ride our bikes, complete with trainer wheels, around the neighborhood before school was anything more than a place where children gathered and learned how to spell difficult words like "the." Now, I will be riding an airplane to a completely different city where I expect I will go dancing and get drinks and hear about career related excitement. How life changes.

In other news, I watched UP in 3D yesterday. I expected it to be good, and it was. I expected it to be funny, and it was, sort of. The themes throughout the movie were so unbelievably heavy. I felt like they were important and handled well... but boy I would have loved a warning. Something along the lines of: "while UP may look like heartwarming, humorous movie depicting an old man with a square face, a tubby kid of indecipherable ethnicity, and a friendly talking dog... it's ACTUALLY a movie depicting some of life's most difficult events while attempting to give example as to how to deal with (and move past) these events." I still would have watched the movie. I bet I still would have liked it. Maybe I would have cried less, though, because I was forewarned.

Anyway, that picture up at the top of this post is a painting by Kerne Erickson. I found it online (thanks to one of the many e-mail lists I'm on), and was immediately drawn to the vintage styling. It reminded me a lot of the style of art and design used to decorate most of Disney's California Adventure. It also made me happy. Thus, it earned it's place at the top of this post. Enjoy :)