on a clear day you can see forever...

as most of you know, the san francisco bay area tends to be foggy in the a.m. hours. but not today. upon exiting the caldecott tunnel this morning around 820am i was greeted with 100% sunshine. a smile spread across my face because in front of me was a clear view of the golden gate bridge. shining in all it's bright red glory it was absolutely beautiful. granted, i was flying downhill at about 50 mph and only had a moment to view it...but it was still wonderful.

it always seems that when i get a tad bit depressed that my family and friends are very far away something happens to remind me how lucky i am to be here. how many people can say that they get to view one of the most beautiful cityscapes in the world every day while driving to work? okay...so maybe the other thousands of people who drive the same route i do, but i bet you anything that they don't appreciate it as much as a girl from texas. i still feel like i'm on permanent vacation...

what does the golden gate look like right now? find out here.

what you learn when you succumb to the power that is mtv...

as i sat anxiously awaiting the 2005 mtv vma’s to start, i flipped back and forth to the weather channel in order to keep myself fully updated on katrina’s status in relation to the big easy. not too entertained by the lack of rain and excess news coverage i wondered whether i would see yet another lesbian kiss or who would partake in the ground-breaking event of this years video music awards.

and so within the first 15 minutes i discovered that american idol was validated by mtv and keane west is this season’s usher. it was temping to turn it off, but i was mysteriously drawn in by green day’s eye lined opening performance and the fact that “diddy,” (no “p” necessary) was hosting. damn you mtv, damn you.

these are my observations and conclusions…

• diddy gave a watch to some random dude in the audience…it’s about time that rappers start giving away the excessive amounts of bling they own.
• i’m convinced that shakeria is from another planet. no woman should be able to move like that…it's going to cause the entire male race to simultaneously convulse in one giant orgasm.
• green day won “best new rock video.” they were up against the foo fighters and weezer. now, don’t get me wrong, i love green day. their recent album is genius. it’s a fucking opera. but really…they really should have won “most over played video” with boulevard of broken dreams. it’s every 13-17 year olds cookie cutter rebellion song. well, and now that i think about it, i suppose that’s why it won.
• i totally called that r. kelly was going to reveal the next chapter of his 5 part song “trapped in the closet!” part one was bad enough. talking with a melody in the background does not count as singing. but come on…lip syncing on the vma’s makes it even worse. “rufus said to chuck and chuck said to cathy and cathy looked at rufus and then chuck looked at cathy.” what?! i can’t believe i wasted 5 minutes of my life watching that shit.
• beavis and butthead are still just as cool as they were 12 years ago.
• i couldn’t be happier that fall out boy won the mtv2 award (even though that’s kind of a lame-ass award). yes, it might be yet another tween following, but “sugar, we’re going down” is one of the best songs i’ve heard in a while.
• it was confirmed that my former liking of coldplay is slowing diminishing into a mild hatred.
• i am slowly starting like kelly clarkson a tad bit more every day. even though her winning 2 awards encouraged american idol to continue. gwen stephani was not as happy though…based on her reaction as kelly walked up to the stage.
• “best new artist” went to the killers. props to them…but at this point in the vma’s I was disappointed that john legend had been denied any form of moon man. this brings me back to a post i made at the beginning of this blog’s life. i always wondered who “the academy” was, but now i wonder even more who makes up “the mtv vma academy.”
• at some point during the show i wondered if all the people taking refuge in new orleans’ superdome were watching it on the big screens in the arena. i know that sounds horrible, but i was just curious as to what they were doing while waiting for 195 miles per hour of wind to blow in from the gulf. what would you do?
• tim was very happy to see the gorillaz win “best breakthrough video.”
• …and “the viewer’s choice award” goes to green day…confirming my belief that either (a) american youth is one large group of angry, punk-rock loving posse that doesn’t understand the message in the songs. or (b) more 18-25 year olds (who were alive during green day’s dookie days) voted for the viewer’s choice than teenagers.

poverty & watermelon fruit bowls...

after becoming financially depressed tonight, i decidedly ate the remaining brownies in the pan on my stove. inancial depression…something you may think you know about in college, but do not come to fully understand until you have been cut off. news flash of the day: the real world is a financial bitch kids. if you’re still in college…take the money your parents are giving you now and save the shit outta it. because apparently, contrary to popular belief, money does not grow on trees. if you’re out of college…well, then no need to explain. there is no doubt in my mind that you understand what i am getting at.

anyway, that’s just a small part of my life. while my financial self is floundering in a dry pool of mud, my social half is soaring. this past weekend I successfully spent every night meeting new people. yes…i got out of the apartment and hung out with somebody besides the boy.

on friday night, thanks to a long lost friend from freshman year, i met up with a fellow texan-turned-californian in berkeley. she kindly showed me the “cool places” to hang out, where not to park my car, and introduced me to a few other kind folk. on my way home i decided to detour my SUV-that-could up old tunnel road. (i.e. the road that existed before they blew a hole in the giant hill.) while the sunset over the bay was breathtaking, driving up a hairpinned road at 730 at night with the “marine layer” (fog, for you southerners) rolling in was not a good idea. after making it halfway up, i chickened out and headed back down through the tunnel.

after spending saturday lounging around, cleaning, and buying unneeded, yet justifiable due to cuteness, shoes, i got dolled up to head into “the city.” insert dramatic music here. we went to sauce…a snazzy place in the heart of san francisco, with 2 other couples, the guy who’s birthday it was, and a co-worker of one of the couple-halves. food was great…dessert was better…highly recommend it if you’re in town.

unlike the past two sundays, i slept in a bit…nixing the “almost habit” of getting coffee and the paper for my comfy bed. following tim’s trip to safeway, i got a tad bit creative in the kitchen. yes, i...the girl who has always depended on roommates (thank you) to supply me with cooked meals…made something in the often underused room called the kitchen. okay, so i didn’t cook…but i made a pretty watermelon fruit boat. i wish i had taken a picture of it, but i have witnesses. and they gave it rave reviews!

anyway, so why did I make a watermelon fruit bowl? for a fellow SU alumni housewarming party. we attended a lovely gathering (wow...how old do i sound..."lovely gathering"? geeze) in the lake merritt area (which i was told was formerly known as "the ghetto") of oakland on sunday evening and were graced with the presence of several other SU-ites. granted, i’d never met any of them and didn't recognize many names they threw out (with the exception of the 2-year-old toddler)…but alas! i would not let age be a barrier! Anyway, so yah, it was fun and it was nice to meet people.

in summary…i’m uber-poor and i met new people this weekend. most of them were nearly a decade older than me (sorry if any of you are reading this), but it was awesome nonetheless. it was also enjoyable to be surrounded by people i could relate to. In a way, it made california feel a notch more like home.

back to school...

for those of you going back to school this year, good luck. for those of you who graduated recently, perhaps you can sympathize with some of the following...

so i work at a college. it's a small school (about 1,300 total undergrad) and resembles the university i went to in many ways (except that it's all an all women's institution). so as i watched the 350 first-years (or "freshwomen," as they say around here) check in yesterday i was immediately jolted back to my orientation weekend 4 years ago. the excitement...the eagerness to get rid of your parents and meet new people...the anticipation of what classes would be like...setting up your new room...all of it. it's one of my favorite college memories, mostly because it marked the beginning of a new era of my life.

and as i watched these women get their dorm keys, set up their meal plan, and tour campus i remembered that the next time i go back to my university’s campus will be homecoming...where i will no longer be student, but an alumna. i realized that i will be staying in a hotel, rather than in my on-campus apartment. and that everyone i see will be in a new place in their life.

i also realize that my job will soon require me to hire some of these new students i see everywhere and that at 22 years of age i will be supervising 15-20 of them. what earthly reason are they going to have to respect me? i'm only a few years older than them (in some cases i am younger than them). i graduated 4 months ago. i look like i should be in their classes and living down the hall from them. but, i suppose i do give them their paycheck every two weeks. odd how money can have that kind of power...

along with all of these thoughts comes the reminder that i am no longer on the campus that i have spent the past four years of my life. i am 1,500 miles away from what we all fondly remember as "freshman week." next week i won't be sitting in the sun all day drinking cheap beer and yelling at freshman. i won't be getting too drunk for my (and other's) good while commenting on how young they look and how old i am getting. i won't be dispensing advice to newbies that just entered into the world of college.

instead, i will be here...getting initiated into the league of full-time college staff. yet, even though i am no longer a student, i still sit at a desk and check things off my "to do" list. i still sit in front of a computer for most of the day. i still procrastinate with AIM. i still have "projects" that i have to "turn in." i even decorated my office with as much excitement as a freshman. i suppose i have left the college life i knew, crossed to the other side, and am merely settling into the post-college college life.

yoga tuesdays...

last night i went to my first yoga class. my diamond will be disappointed to learn that there was no farting in this session, but maybe next time. now, i am taking a beginner course that lays out the basic building blocks of the philosophy behind everything...therefore pretty much everyone in the class has little or no experience in yoga.

knowing this going in, i expected to walk into a room filled with 5'10" blonde haired, blue eyed, plastic, tan women. and maybe a few men looking to "improve their golf stroke." i was 50% right. one guy was there with his daughter (who was all of the above, except a brunette) so that he could increase his flexibility and breathing techniques, ultimately to help his swing. other than that i was surrounded by the following:

• two women in their late 20's or early 30's
• a couple that probably had a few kids
• a 30-something man with lots of tattoos on his arms that practically screamed "look at my biceps and worship me"
• two older ladies that looked like "office buddies"
• an awkward 15 year old that looked miserable
• and a few other random people from various aspects of the world

i must admit, i was wrong...i should not stereotype the state i live in and the people who live in it. not everyone out here is a ditzy, blonde-haired, big boobed, (soon to be) soccer-mom. just those f'ing 15 year olds in the grocery store last night that act like they are older than me and dress like they're ready to work the corner.

anyway, so yah...i'm taking yoga and it looks like it's going to be well worth it. every tuesday i get to relax for 90 minutes all while toning my muscles, increasing my flexibility, and teaching me to (as somebody would say) "balance my chi."

...

this site leaves me feeling a little off inside, but i can't really explain why...

http://postsecret.blogspot.com

...anybody care to comment? i'm opening this one up for discussion.

bonnie & clyde...

we all know the story...the famous couple smitten with each other, and with crime. she smuggled him out of prison and they drove off into the sunset robbing banks and shooting cops. and then they were caught and killed. the couple went down in history (and in hollywood) for never leaving each other's side (unless one of them was in jail of course) and committing countless numbers of crimes in each other's company.

a few days ago, a want-to-be bonnie & clyde emerged in the media scene when jennifer forsyth hyatte shot and killed a prison guard in order to free her husband, george hyatte. escaping and taking a cab to columbus, the couple shacked up in a local america's best value inn (book your room now!) to recover their run from the law. unfortunately, it didn't work. 48 hours later the crime-causing duo was captured and arrested.


now, here's what i want to know. in the article filed on ccn.com, there is a slide show that internet surfers can view. it shows the mug shots of the couple, the picture you see to the left, and this photograph:


it is given the following caption: "this food was left in the room where officials say the hyattes were staying when police found them." fantastic. now i know what the couple was eating while running from the cops.

can somebody please explain to me why the associated press felt it necessary to take this picture? sure, the cops probably wanted it because the room was a deemed a crime scene...but do i, a common on-line news reader, really need to know what "bonnie & clyde" consumed just hours prior to their arrest?

regardless, the story will continue as the handcuffed couple awaits their trial...refusing to be separated. how romantic...

overheard...

...last night while walking to 'longs drugs:'

"well, and you know how babies just smell bad.."
- some girl on her cell phone

lists...

while perusing various blogs linked to other blogs i read i was inspired to create a list of things i do not miss about texas. as a result of feeling bad that i am already sassing my home state, i was then led to create a list of things i do miss about texas. then, i felt like i was leaving things out by not including california, so i created a third list. they are as follows:

things i do not miss about texas:

• humidity that requires you to grow gills
• millions of 4x4 duly trucks filling up the freeways
• the fact that it's a red state
• nasty, oil-coated beaches
• the flatness
• needing to drive everywhere
• mosquitoes and the yearly "west nile scare" *
• those stupid soccer mom stickers bragging about the 3,000 sports their kid plays *

things i do miss about texas:

• summer thunderstorms
• afternoon hill country drives
• the "employee discount" on gas
• cheaper rent for more square footage
• my friends and family (insert universal "awww" here)
• tex-mex...and finding "queso" on the menu
• feeder/frontage roads *
• better maintained freeways *
• the lack of personalized plates on luxury cars *

things i like about california and will probably miss at some point:

• the hills! oh the hills...
• getting to drive through a tunnel to and from work(which i used to hate)
• everything grows
• constant sunshine
• the 40 degree difference between midnight and noon
• there is no such thing as "a bad hair day"
• never having to use your car air conditioning/driving with the windows down *

now, i am sure these lists will be changed in some form or fashion during my time out west, but i thought that it would be interesting to see how they morph as i adapt to the california lifestyle. it will be like an experiment! those of you interested to discover the results, stick around!

* added at a later date

welcome to the real world...

...no, not the mtv one. nobody's mom died and nobody is hooking up with their coworkers. at least not yet...

alright, so in about 2 hours i will have completed my first week in the real world. my first week of 8-5 (okay, actually it's 830-5). my first week of battling traffic (well...it only takes me 20 minutes to get to work). my first week of being initiated into the working force (alright, so i'm surrounded by people who are more like me than i thought ever existed).

okay, so i'll admit it. i'm pretty lucky. i only work a 37.5 hour work week. i commute through the most beautiful hills i've ever seen. i have my own office. and i love my job. granted, i have been told by several people that this will all change and i too will grumble when i roll out of bed in the morning. but for now, the only bad thing about my job is HR.

my first week consisted primarily of dealing with HR. and let this be a note to those of you who haven't entered the working world yet...HR blows. regardless of where you are. they suck...they are trained to suck...and they are the only people i have ever met that i seriously think don't give a shit about the rest of the world. so yah, i fought HR. finally, after they tediously worked to enter my biographical information into the computer (such a hard task...), i was in the system and ready to log in. right? wrong. i had to wait for my information to go through the 60 minute period where it verifies me and then i could get on. so in the meantime i went and picked up my keys, got my id, and toured campus.

hmmm...sounds like i started college all over again. in fact, in some ways it feels like i started high school all over again. sure, starting a new job is awesome. it's exciting and fun to meet new people, but it also quickly reminds you that you're in an entirely new world. over the next few weeks i will struggle to figure out who i am supposed to eat with at lunch, who's "cool enough" to hang out with after work, and which people i should stay away from because they will make my life a living nightmare. thus is the cycle of life.

other than those thoughts on the work world...i think if i were to highlight one thing about my first week of work it would be the people in the room across the hall. but first, i must explain the set up as to where i work. my office is on the 2nd floor of carnegie hall (which is awesome, because i can say that i work in carnegie hall). across the hall from the department entrance is a large room used for music and dance classes or often serves as meeting/conference room. well, during the summer it is occupied by people who rent out the building. basically, local groups and organizations can use the campus to hold classes and such. and so they are currently doing so.

on my first day of work i was sitting in my office, trying to figure out what to do when all of the sudden i hear clapping, xylophones, and animal noises echoing across the hall. that is followed by a kindergarten sounding song about horses. then the flutes chime in. i immediately go to my supervisor and inquire about the odd sounds coming down the hall. she has no answer. in fact, nobody does. nobody i have talked to has been able to determine what these people are learning in this class or what purpose it all serves. except to serenade the entire building with strange noises all week. i've watched, i've listened, and i've even tried to ask the lady who runs the class. she didn't hear me when i said "excuse me," so i walked away...mildly scared she'd turn around and "neigh" at me. it all still remains a mystery...i'm anxious to see if they will be back monday morning.