please note...

...the new link on the right --> and keep checking back for updates.

at the risk of sounding both presumptuous and pretentious in the same post...

yesterday, for easter, tim and i went to see "thank you for smoking." now, for those of you who don't frequent the movies on random tuesdays and easter sunday, let me tell you - it's always a different crowd than if you go on a friday or saturday night. no tweens running around giggling, no high school couples doin' it in the back row, your pick of the good seats, and matinee prices! instead, the theater is filled with middle aged couples - and my guess, on easter sunday, a lot of them were jewish middle aged couples.

(i realize this might make me sound like a bad person for assuming that the audience in the theater was comprised mostly of jews, but it was easter sunday...seriously. i guess now that i think about it they could have just been like me: no nearby family to celebrate the holiday with. or they might have just been atheists.)

anyway, regardless, the movie was great. funny, sarcastic, fair to both sides (kinda), and full of great acting. it also made you realize that the "bad side" of the debate is human too, they aren't monsters, they have a mortgage just like everyone else. anyway, i highly recommend it. i'm no official movie reviewer, so i'll leave the more detailed description to them. i'll just tell you to go see it.

now, along with being (what i assume) were 2 of the few christians in the theater, tim and i were also CLEARLY the youngest people there. upon noticing this i turned and asked tim why he thought this was. his reply "because we're from southwestern." now, i realize that this comment might make me (and/or tim) appear snooty, full of ourselves, pretentious, and pompous - but that's not the intent.

southwestern graduates could all probably agree that we were given something besides a liberal arts college education while we spent 4 years of our lives in "the bubble." we were taught to explore ideas and continue learning every day for the rest of our lives…we learned to treasure other’s ideas and respect opinions…we were taught to remain open-minded and level headed in all situations and to always analyze the circumstances. regardless of your major or minor, these ideals were instilled into every person who set a foot into southwestern's world.

now maybe all of this is true for other small, private, expensive, liberal arts schools around the nation - but i am not one to know, i did not attend them. all i know is that sitting in a theater watching "thank you for smoking," that i was continuing my education (damn, that sounds lame). sure, i wanted to see the movie because it looked amusing and had a few good actors in it, but i also wanted to see it because of it's subject matter and the approach it took to a topic that had already been approached from nearly every angle already. i wanted to explore another way of looking at something...and i knew that when i walked into the theater.

some people may grasp this concept after watching the movie, or maybe in the middle, but i just don't feel like everyone in the world who has gone to see that movie went to see it for the same reasons i did. at least people in my "peer group." but of course, i recognize that i might be wrong.

like i said in the title, i write this post at the risk of sounding presumptuous and pretentious - and rude and biased and cocky - but it's just my thoughts. i am sure there are people in the world who attended a 50,000+ student bodied college, or no college at all, who had the desire to see the movie for the same reasons i did - i just know that for me, i credit it to my university and what i learned there. and with an alumni council meeting coming up this weekend i just got to thinking about how my college institution affected me and who i am today...even though i may only be 11 months out.

giving props where props are due... (alternate title: these guys rock!!)

in 2005, tony competed in the austin air guitar championship as rockbot.
this is his story: rockbotumentary

creation and back story: here and here

created/filmed/edited/staring: tony, jeff, beau, chrispi, and other various people all credited in the film.

karma-tastic...

today was a good day. and it started with a visit to the dentist! i got up at 730am in order to try and figure out what has been going on with my teeth the past week. i had been experience throbbing, mind crushing pain all up and down the ride side of my face. all thanks to a filling I got two weeks ago.

but today…things changed. after a mere five minutes my dentist and managed to reshape my teeth, realign my bite, and in turn immediately stop the pain I had been experiencing. poof! it was gone…

and from that point on this day has been fantastic.

i was more than normally productive all day long – only pausing once to check my usual blogs and social sites (see side bar →), rather than the normal three to seven. i checked off everything on my to do list and then decided to do some more. so i left an hour early to run the normal phonathon errands (buying gift certificates and food for the call center).

luckily, on the way home traffic wasn’t too bad. granted, i left and hour early, but it was still raining like crazy (the bay area is now something like 130% above its yearly average…everything’s going to slide into the ocean soon). and believe it or not, most everyone on the road was behaving like a civilized adult on the way home from day at the office.

at safeway, i was lucky enough to find a great deal on snack packs – the prime staple of the phonathon call center. buy 2 get 1 free! now, i would never think this was a great deal when considering my own budget, but with my work budget, that’s a different story. so i walked out of the grocery store (the same one referenced in the previous blog) a happy shopper.

then, i grabbed tim from his house and we left for target. more gift certificates. but not only did I finish up my “work shopping,” but i also managed to plan a bachelorette party in a matter of 10 minutes. another thing checked off my to do list – two weeks early of it’s original “due date.” (i would give more details here regarding how i managed to do this, but the bachelorette i reference above often frequents my site...)

so yah, i realize that to some of you the little things like getting a good deal at Safeway, not dealing with idiotic traffic, and planning a girls night on the town might seem stupid and unimportant, but it was about time i had a good day. even if it was just the little things that made it good - nothing big. i just needed things to turn around…i was definitely in need of some good karma. and even though it’s supposed to rain for the next week straight, i think Sspring has finally arrived.



PS- it looks like i’ll be moving soon…more to come!

overheard at safeway...

...on the loudspeaker:

"how you doing on those nuts, wendy? uh...pistachio nuts."

live from l.a...

where the rain is pouring down outside.

so since sunday i have been back in california, but in the southern regions, rather than the north. spending the weekend in georgetown was fantastic. it went quickly with all of the festivities i attended/hosted but good times were had by all. stories to follow soon.

i figured that my week-long trip to the city of angles would provide me with some vitamin d in the form of the sun's rays, but boy was i wrong. from the moment i landed sunday night until this very instant the sun has failed to conqure the clouds. but, i am not the type of person to be hindered by a little water falling from the sky.

on monday alyssah and brittany and i got a late start and ventured into the city in our little white hyundai rental car. after eating lunch in downtown l.a. we wandered around taking photos and people watching. the downtown area of l.a. is mostly hotels and businesses, but we also strolled down to the jewelry district just to see what that was all about. and you know what? it was all about jewelry. i had never seen so many diamond wholesale places or more shiny displays along the streets. if the sun had been out we might have been blinded by all of the bling!

after our post-lunch walk we got back into the car determined to find the HOLLYWOOD sign. thanks to a map and brittany's fabulous navigating skills we found hollywood blvd and figured it couldn't be too far away from there. then, suddenly as we were cruising down the 110 the sign appeared. we immediately exited and started to drive towards it. now normally, navigation skills like this would quickly fail and land you in some bad part of town or lead you to a dead end. but not for us! we drove through hollywood admiring all of the crazy shops and theaters and eventually hit a neighborhood. ahhh...the hollywood hills.

we decided to just drive into them, assuming we'd find a better spot with a view of the sign. unknowingly we entered griffith park and started climbing a windy road. when we couldn't go any further, we parked, got out of the car, turned around, and lo and behold it was there. big white letters on a hill spelling it out for us. i realize that to some people this may not be a big deal, but the last time i was in l.a. i was five and didn't care about anything but meeting the mouse at disney land. now that i have returned it's time to do the other stuff.

we took zillions of pictures (most of which are on alyssah's camera - i will post them as soon as she sends them to me) and hiked up the hill further for a better view. it looked something like this:



and this:



and here's me holding the hollywood sign:



after that we decided to drive west. we wanted to go to the beach - regardless of the weather. so we took a right onto santa monica blvd. and just drove. it was great to take the long route there because we really got to see all kinds of aspects of the city. we went from hollywood, to the grafitti covered ghetto, and landed smack dab in the middle of beachy yuppy-ville where the 600 square foot apartments cost $1200 (i know because i called one of them from the car). but it was beautiful.

once we parked along ocean blvd we went down and frolicked in the ocean. and by "frolic" i mean "stuck our toes in and ran crazily away from the waves chasing us because our toes were frozen." next was the ferris wheel on the board walk where we got to view all of santa moncia and the never ending pacific ocean as the sun began to set.



this seems like a good place to interject with my "overall impression of the l.a. area." with all of the driving we did and the fact that i have seen several parts of this city i can come to a clear conclusion of what i think. the one word i believe that best fits l.a. is "colorful." the buildings, the plants, the sky, the hills, and the water. it's all so colorful. there is nothing bland about this city. everywhere you turn the building next to you is not red brick or tan stucco...it's light blue, or multi-stone facaded. people's yards are like nurseries blooming with every flower imaginable. even the not so great areas were splattered with a rainbow of color in the grafitti. it's everywhere...and it makes it impossible to not be happy.

so anyway, back to what i've been up to so far this week. after a long day of exploring we settled for a diner on main street in santa monica where i enjoyed some fantastic meatloaf, a double helping of mashed potatoes, and a wonderful pinot noir. later that night at the hotel we enjoyed a few tequila shots and mixed drinks in the revolving cocktail lounge and then called it a night.

tuesday brought heavier rain...along with some protesting across the street from our hotel. my guess is it had to deal with immigration. determined people out there in the rain:



having a few hours to kill before alyssah and brittany had to head to LAX and hand me off to scott we found a place called "tony's" to eat lunch. this is tony's place:



it looks okay from the outside but if you knew that there were mannequins stores (yes...stores that just sold mannequin’s) and warehouses to its left and right you'd have a different impression. the inside of tony's had about 6 tables. tony was making chili in a blender when we walked in. but tony made a great burger. so we sat and listened to telemundo in the background and watched what we assumed were tony's regulars come in and out while we enjoyed our lunch.

after tony's we went to a warehouse shop that sold everything for $10. being girls, we had to be sure to get some shopping in while visiting l.a. sure, it wasn't the fashion district or any high end department store, but we all found some cute stuff for a good price.

next stop was the airport for them, and scott's apartment for me. alyssah and brittany and i parted ways and the second leg of my trip began. this post has already become longer than expected, and my stomach is telling me it's time for lunch, so more stories to follow. but just to give you an idea of what i'm up to today, here's one last picture: