Tenth Musee

Happy New Year to anyone still reading this thing.  *poke* Are you still there?

Like many other non-practicing bloggers, I figured I’d blow the dust off and see if I can post more often this year. I live such an exciting life of bunny-petting and pajama-wearing that I’ve not felt I had anything post-worthy for a while that wasn’t work-related, but there are enough changes coming in 2010 that I might as well bring back the blog.  Twitter is awesome, but viva blogging!

I do like this design, but I could do with a new look around here… it’s time.  Something a little cheerier, don’t you agree?  I’m taking the Muse back to Expression Engine, as well. It turns out WordPress was just a fling for me — thrilling at first, but ultimately mediocre.  So thanks for the interminable upgrades and incompatible plugins, WordPress, but you never forget your first love.

I was reading through my archives over the holiday break. It’s bizarre how different I sound 7 years ago when I first started this blog.  I don’t even know what I was complaining about most of the time.  In hindsight the majority of it is so… cranky.  Funny, sure… but certainly, a collection of unwarranted gripery in the grand scheme of things.

I lost about a year or so of posts during one of my many domain name changes. I’m not sure what possessed me to change my domain name not once, but twice over the last 7 years — boredom I suspect, a desire to reignite the blog spark — but I don’t recommend it. I still have the database those posts live in, I’m just not sure how to get the content out… maybe someday I’ll figure it out.

But of the posts I do have, my favorites are the ones about the various encounters with people I’ve had.  I meet weird people — I can’t help it. I’m one of those people who weirdos gravitate to and I somehow can’t help but engage them myself.  It’s just part of who I am… and I’ve accepted it because it makes excellent blog fodder.

So, here are some of my favorites for your reading enjoyment:

• Love Me Tender
• Fiddy Wouldn’t Front (I think this is Daniel‘s favorite)
• Debbie Diapers and the Amazing Technology Craptactular
• Burgess Fisherman and the Discount Diaper Cream
• Like They Do on the Discovery Channel

If you like those, you can find more under the Characters tag.

Happy 2010!

Probably been seen before, but it entertained us to no end this morning.  Hey, it’s Friday.

I have no idea why I’m doing two memes in the same year, let alone the same month, but I needed a break in between chick movies to cleanse the proverbial palette. So… yeah.

1. Do you still talk to your FIRST love?
   Ehhh… I honestly am not sure who my first love really was.  Not to get all soft focus, but I’m not sure I knew what love was until I was much older.  But if we’re talking first “like, oh my god, I’m totally going to lie to my parents and invite him over for Chinese food when they’re out of town, choke on some baby corn, pray that we make out and then totally cry when he leaves because the dog shit in the room right when he was going to kiss me” love… then, uh, no.
2. What was your FIRST alcoholic drink?
   A Manhattan on the rocks.  My dad let me eat the cherries from his drink, so I assumed it all tasted like that and drank half of one of this cocktails before he realized that I’d done it — and I realized that man, that was no Roy Rogers.
3. What was your FIRST job?
   If you don’t count babysitter, then perfume ninja for The Broadway department store. Also, Pizza Hut cook.
4. What was your FIRST car?
   A 1984 silver Camaro Berlinetta with T-tops and Mag wheels which my stepmother picked out for me. A few days later I gave her some lip when I couldn’t find a scrunchee for her hair or some other ridiculous thing we fought about in hindsight and she sold it to our housekeeper.   Then I watched our housekeeper drive “my” car to work every day for a year and a half.  While I realize not everyone had the luxury of a housekeeper, or got a car for their 16th birthday, it’s a nice example of the dynamic relationship we had.
5. Who was the FIRST person to text you today?
   Hmmm… you know, I don’t think I received one text yet today.
6. Who is the FIRST person you thought of this morning?
   Lulu!  Do rabbits count?
7. Who was your FIRST grade teacher?
   Sister Consuela at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic School.
   
8. Where did you go on your FIRST ride on an airplane?
   I’m not really sure. It could have been Los Angeles to visit my grandparents when I lived in Foster City or… I vaguely recall a trip to Dallas to visit one of my mom’s friends, but… I’m not really sure.
9. Who was your FIRST best friend & do you still talk?
   I think I’d have to go with Jennifer Blackwell. I haven’t spoken to her in years, though I do wonder sometimes what became of her.  She’s the first person I remember calling my best friend. She lived on the next street over and was two years older than me.  Everything was fun until she hit puberty and my dad thought she was too old for me.  But I remember watching MTV for the first time in her living room.
10. Where was your FIRST sleep over?
    Oh, I have no idea. It was probably at my cousin Angelique’s house in Capistrano Beach.  My aunt had (has?) a house on the cliff over looking the beach.  I’d sleep on this square corner 70′s-esque “couch” thing and listen to the ocean to fall asleep.
11. Who was the FIRST person you talked to today?
    mikey, I do believe.  Assuming we’re not counting rabbits or people we’ve spoken to online.
    
12. Whose wedding were you in the FIRST time?
    I think it was my cousin Kathleen’s wedding.  Though, I don’t think I was technically in the wedding. I remember I had a peach dress on that my grandmother bought from some fancy shop in Mexico and I felt weird about being there because I didn’t even know my cousin Kathleen. I think if I were to confirm a wedding I was truly in, it would be my friend Anne’s wedding back in… uh… 1994?  I remember she had fire & ice roses, I wore a forest green velvet and taffeta dress and my bangs were way too short.
13. What was the FIRST thing you did this morning?
    Snuggled a bun. Are you sensing a theme?
14. What was the FIRST concert you ever went to?
    Some people might not count this as a real “concert”, but I saw Paul Anka in Vegas when I was 8 or so. If you want to go with real live grown-up, no parents, wine coolers in the parking lot concert, I suppose it would be The Cramps, Ziggy Marley, They Might Be Giants and The B-52′s at XFest in 1990.
15. FIRST tattoo?
    Ah, the unfortunate first tattoo. I went in with an old friend Ali on Father’s Day in 1998.  We’d come from the beach, were totally sunburned and the only place on my body that wasn’t red was my left ankle. I wanted “chi” in Kanji  on my left ankle, very small. Very small, like nickel-sized.  This was before everyone on this great wide planet had a Kanji tattoo, yet I’m still not sure why I chose that particular thing.  Alas, Ali talked me into getting “friend”, as well so we could both have the same tattoo.  She got hers on her stomach, I got mine next to the ‘chi’ tattoo.  So, reading my tattoo makes absolutely no sense.  And the cherry on top, the guy made them more like the size of quarters… maybe half dollars.  While I sometimes wish I didn’t have them, I often forget they’re there and they don’t bother me that much.
16. First piercing?
    First piercing? Really? That’s the big finale?  *sigh* Ok… well.  This isn’t terribly exciting, but my ears.  I was thirteen years old and my dad wouldn’t let me get my ears pierced. He said I’d look like a hooker from Idaho. I’m not sure why my dad was familiar with Idaho hookers, but that was his stance. My stepmom, however, took me to get them pierced at the mall on my 13th birthday.  She made me promise to wear tiny studs and perhaps not show my dad until they had healed up more.  Of course, as a headstrong teenager, do you think I just wore tiny studs?  Hell no. As soon as those lobes healed, I would put hoops on or big Debbie Gibson-looking earrings when I got to school.  Sometimes I would forget to take them out when I got home and uh… yeah, he figured it out. Guess who looked like a hooker from Idaho?

I think the last question on this is weak. you can’t close with “first piercing”! Please. If you think of a better closer, let me know, but in the meantime, and in honor of the holiday, I pose this question:

Who made you your first “mix tape” and what was on it, from what you can recall?  (Or, vice versa, if you gave a mix tape, who did you give it to and what was on it?)

I really want an iPhone. But, I just don’t know that getting an iPhone is in the cards right now.    I have a Sprint contract, yet I have nothing but seething disapproval for Sprint lately.  Mostly because the signal is crap where I live and I’m tired of paying to not use my phone.

When I got Sprint, I was living in Texas which is basically mountainless, hill-less and otherwise into the great, wide open, as it were — at least in Dallas. The signal was fantastic there and it never occurred to me to get anything else.  When I moved to California, I started having signal loss, mostly because I lived in areas that had some sort of hills, like North Park and now, South Mission Hills.  And if I’m not in a hill, I’m in a canyon or a mall or some other stupid reason why the phone drops calls, sends me voicemail alerts four days later or texts all in a big, startling heap at 3am.

So, I got a better phone.  And mikey and I still share a plan (simply because it’s cheaper and convenient for both of us), so he got a better phone, too.  And still we  have this problem when we talk to each other or anyone else, for that matter.  I am so totally over it.

It’s not really a good time to invest in a totally new AT&T phone plan and two iPhones (because sharing costs in this economy is what it’s all about)… but I could use an upgrade on the phone I’ve got. It’s stopped taking photos and I sometimes wonder if it’s just this same crappy phone I keep buying over and over (just the newer models) that is the problem. I talk to other people with Sprint and they seem relatively happy.

Sprint has that new Everything Plan for one flat rate, which is very enticing. Plus, they have a lot more phones that are similar to iPhones.  I was thinking about a Blackberry, but I don’t know if Sprint carries those…. and I don’t think Id like those teensy keys.

Does anyone have any recommendations for good touch-screen phones that are iPhone similar and have decent apps and whatnot? And should I stay with Sprint or are you compelled to sing the praises of another plan?

This meme has been floating around Facebook and after being tagged 3 times, I caved and did it. I decided to cross-post for your amusement. Or because I’m phoning it in. Choose your adventure.

25 Random Things About Me

1. I’m a native Californian and ridiculously proud San Diegan. I wasn’t aware of the latter until I lived somewhere else for a while.
2. I lived in Dallas, TX for 3 years. I’ve been going around unwittingly saying 5 years until just now, not because I can’t count, but I think because it felt like five years (and yet I was still really sad to leave, honest).
3. I have a birthmark on my right thigh that looks like a tiny turd. Kathy calls me Poopleg.
4. Once I had a dream that The Littles were living under my nightstand.
5. I like when men who are losing their hair crop it really close like Ed Harris… or Jeremy Piven before he got plugs. It’s sexy. Give up the dream, gentlemen.
6. The Cure is my all-time favorite band. I never really thought of myself as one of those people who had a “favorite” band, but I’ve thought about it in earnest and yes, The Cure is my favorite.  But my favorite singer is Ella Fitzgerald. Go figure.
7. I used to swear a lot when I started blogging. It wasn’t intentional or anything, just the phase/stage I was at in my life. I also think I took example from other bloggers. It was a very “I Bitch, Therefore I Blog” time. Hm. Not a bad tagline… anyway, I’m neither a trucker nor a prude, but I prefer to write instead with small doses of blue language… for effect. Asshole.
8. If I could attach a neverending can of Wild Cherry Diet Pepsi to my maw like a feedbag, I totally would.
9. While I hate to sound all Katy Perry, I date whomever strikes my fancy.
10. I like olive loaf. Don’t tell anyone.
11. There is an unholy amount of series set to record in my DVR. 50 is my most recent count. But I totally don’t have time to go to the gym.
12. I have a vague recollection of showing the mailman my underpants.
13. When I was growing up, I had a free-range cockatiel named “Bird” who woke me up every morning at 7am. Until my dad gave him to a bartender. I still don’t get what that was about.
14. I once went on a fruit-of-the-month binge where I tried a new fruit every month. During Orange month, I must have tried every variety of orange found in San Diego (and orange-like brethren, like clementines and tangelos). Apple month was a favorite. Banana month only lasted 3 days.
15. Sometimes I feel like I don’t open myself up for new experiences enough, though I also feel like I’ve had more experiences than anyone should have by the ripe age of 35.
16. I’m good at landing on my feet and discovering hidden talents in myself. New job in biotech documentation? Figure it out! Needed a display built? Santa’s Workshop out of Duraflame logs! Short a florist? I’m your gal. I’ve been a model, a perfume ninja, a caricature artist, a piano bar singer, assorted administrative assistants, a butcher, baker and a candlestick maker! Ok, not those last three. Whatever I do, I pride myself at doing a good job and learning everything I can to excel. Except that modeling thing. That sucked.
17. I lost 90-something pounds a few years ago and gained 32 back slowly over 5 years. I swore that I wouldn’t be that person who puts all their weight back on and more, so I rejoined WW this year – 6 years to the day after I joined the first time.
18. I am the proud owner of the most faaaaaaabulous bunny on Earth. But she’s modest about it.
19. I once saw Richard Dreyfus at a McDonald’s in Culver City.
20. I want to take a bartending program and advanced mixology courses through various nationwide conferences until I become a high-end Master Mixologist. Just because.
21. I’m self-conscious about the tiny gap between my two front teeth. Overall, I’m comfortable with my face, but this gap reminds me of cartoons or movies where the idiot is always missing a tooth or is gap-toothed. I don’t think that about other people with gaps, even giant gaps. I think it’s often beautiful or quirky. Yet, my tiny gap somehow gives me a Hillbilly Complex.
22. I rhyme all the time.
23. I love girl movies (aka chick flicks). Good ones, bad ones, so bad they’re good ones… I just love them. Especially romantic comedies. I’m not sure much for high-strung period pieces, but throw in Mean Girls and I’m right there with you.
24. Kathy and I talk in “girl movie” quotes. If one of us cannot name that movie, we are scorned. With love.
25. Occasionally, after getting to know me, someone will tell me they used to think I was unapproachable or intimidating, which I find bizarre. Flattering, sort of, but also a kind of a bummer. I’m totally the 180 degree opposite of that. If you ever run into me somewhere, please feel free to say hi. I’m talking at a bar or at a party, mixer, meet-up, whatever. Not the tampon aisle at Target. That’s just weird.

Go tell it on a mountain.

A couple months ago, GFI, Modigli and I hit up a local place called Wine Steals, their new location in Point Loma.  While there, I sampled a wine called Saxon Brown. It was white, but I had no idea what kind of white it was… chardonnay, pinot grigio, what?  In any case, it was delicious and my favorite of the several different varieties we tried that day.  I didn’t end up buying a bottle, but I can’t recall why since I rarely leave there without one.  (Their prices are fabulous… great wine for low prices, hence the name.)

I’ve been looking for it ever since whenever I go to the store. I’ve tried various grocery and specialty stores, though I didn’t try the Bevmo, the Church of Liquor. Since I didn’t know what kind of white I was looking for, I was having a hard time browsing for it.  There’s a lot of white wine out there!

Well, just now I was perusing one of my daily stops, woot.com and it’s sister site, wine.woot.com.  And lo, there was Saxon Brown. Yea, verily, I bought myself the weekly special on the spot. And then I stopped talking all bibley.  I’m so excited! This was posted on the 12th and I just lucked out that it’s the weekend and they didn’t switch it yet because with Woot, once it’s gone, it’s gone.  Woo hoo!

I’m not a fancy know-it-all wine person. I just know what I like and this stuff was delicious. I highly recommend the Semillion, but I’m looking forward to trying the Syrah Rosé, even though I haven’t had a blush since 1995.  If you want some, get it while it’s hot!

GFI and I have tickets to see Sex and the City on Saturday morning.  It may require a Thermos full of these, courtesy of my favorite cocktail site, Cocktail Times.

Cosmic-Politan

Ingredients:

- 1 cup ice
- 1 oz vodka
- 1 oz Cointreau
- 1 tbsp grenadine
- 1 cup watermelon puree
Garnish: 1 mini skewer of a small piece of watermelon, pineapple and a small strawberry.

Mix all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish with a fruit skewer.

What?  It’s fruit!

The moment they went on sale, I bought some tickets to see Kathy Griffin on May 9th at Humphreys by the Bay, but silly me, I booked a flight for Dallas not realizing it’s the same weekend.  I was pretty bummed out, mostly because I did something so lame, but especially because it was going to be a fun night with GFI at a great outdoor venue by the bay.  But, GFI and I saw Kathy Griffin two summers ago with Yvonne and had a blast and I haven’t seen Nikki, Heika or any of my Dallas friends since 2005, so it’s a very fair trade-off.

Now I just need to unload these tickets. The seats are good; if you’re interested and look at the Humphrey’s seating chart, the seats are Section A3, Row 10, Seats 32 and 34 (and yes, they’re next to each other).  I marked the general area in the image with a yellow arrow so you can see basically where the seats are. When I bought them, I asked for best available.

If you’re in the San Diego area or close-by and want to catch her show at 6:30pm on Friday, May 9th, please buy my tickets!  Please?  Por favor?  The 9pm show is sold out, so if you still want the opportunity to laugh your tuchus off, BUY MY TICKETS…

It’s Tuesday morning and that means it’s time to talk about last night’s episode of my favorite train wreck, The Bachelor.  Since our last discussion, I’ve had to revise my original assessment of our English friend.  In summary?  Tool.

You have to assume going into this that every bachelor is total horn-dog just looking to bang as many girls as possible on ABC’s dime.  That’s not my assumption of men in general, just a man who would want to pluck his wife from a litter of hos on a game show.

Is it hoes? Hos? Ho’s? Hm. I digress…

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If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time, you’d know that Judy, my ‘95 Chevy Cavalier, has always given me a bit of trouble.  From replacing the starter twice in Dallas and again just recently, to having my steering column catch fire and then recalled and repaired, to my rear-view mirror falling off when the weather turned Africa Hot and dangling from the windshield while I drove.  Two months after I got the car, it was sideswiped in my friend’s driveway and the dents live there still.  Three months after moving to Texas, a garbage truck took off the driver’s side mirror and I only replaced it 4 years ago when a junkyard happened to have one lying around.  The trunk light doesn’t work, there’s rain damage in the back, the driver’s side window lost it’s seal from several encounters with a Slim Jim, the seats are falling apart, I’ve replaced the brakes and tires more times than I can count and the alignment… well, that word doesn’t mean anything to Judy.  Judy hung to the left.

But still… through all that, Judy held up.  I got her gently used in 1998 after I drove my (just paid off) Geo Metro under a ‘78 Chevy van at 35mph.  I didn’t choose Judy… she was assigned to me.  At that time in my life… 24 years old, my credit wasn’t great, my income wasn’t either and the only car I could get was Judy, so I overpaid for her and vowed that once she was paid off, I would never buy another car until the engine fell out and I had to power her with my feet, like the Flintstones.

Well, she was paid off in 2003 and yesterday, the engine almost literally fell out the bottom of the car. In fact, the mechanic told me that if I had gotten on the freeway, as I was intending to when my car stopped accelerating, he said that it could have dropped out and potentially killed me.  So… good thing I didn’t get on the freeway.

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