"my cat's breath smells like cat food" - ralph wiggum

at some point early this morning i woke up to our rather large cat, bosco, sitting on my back. bizarre.

i'm taking a copy editing class at the uc berkeley extension. it starts next week. all in the name of marketability. i'm hoping it's not a complete waste of time. i had this really awesome english teacher in junior high who drilled grammar rules into my head so i feel like i've got a bit of a leg up in that area. we'll see. it might be fun. and as things continue to be up in the air, i may as well continue being a student.

my brother got a macbook pro for school. i am drooling with jealousy. at least apple is giving me a new battery so my computer doesn't burst into flames.

most boring post ever.

do not try this at home

i've tried to refrain from posting youtube videos, but this was just too amusing to pass up. this is the band okgo's video.
this post dedicated to jeff kelley, a casualty in the war on treadmills.

in summation

bro's apartment: check
mexican food:
check
beach visit: check

a complete trip to san diego.

$2 taco thursdays

the way we unwind after a day of apartment hunting.
the bro watches the u.s. open.
i drink an enormous beer.

"south of the border, down mexico way..."

well, when you've got a clear schedule (read: jobless), that's a fine time to take a road trip. especially when your parents give you a gas card and food money. don't suppose i'll ever outgrow that.

for the geographically challenged, the map on the left will help. san diego is known for its plentiful taquerias, where you can wear flip flops 365 days a year, being the home of annie lam, and not being los angeles. my bro is transferring to ucsd this fall and i'm helping him find an apartment. like telling him it's not such a great idea to move in with 3 girls and making him ask about how much the utilities are. mostly we've been on the quest for good tacos, yelled at each other about directions and seeing how long we can stand having the heater turned on full blast with the windows rolled up. these are typical road trip hijinks.

we're staying at my cousins' house. we just went on a late night run and i bought my first-ever bubble tea. i had what my brother had a mango milk tea with boba aka pearls. there are too many names for this stuff. somehow i have avoided this tasty asian treat (pictured at left. try it hot or cold!) the entire time i lived in vancouver. tapioca balls - euugh. i have texture issues with food, and the gummy cold pearls were kind of weird. but not as unpleasant as i thought it would be. probably not something i will be ordering a lot.

tomorrow it will be more of the same stuff, looking at places, wandering around campus, harrassing the housing coordinator. driving back up north on saturday. the routine will the return to: wake up at 11, walk to library, surf the web, work on job stuff, walk to peets, order iced latte, read, walk home, watch various reruns of many shows. plotting how to convince everyone i know to start composting.

behind the curve

i know a lot of america already knows this but grey's anatomy? so good. shamelessly tugs the heart strings in so many ways.

also? i have been watching a lot of tv. but you probably already knew that.

moments

i continue in limbo. surprisingly, i am not as anxious as i have been in times similar to this. this is not to say that i am not anxious, i would be crazy not to feel it to some extent.

i'd say i'm still getting acclimated to being home. not just with things like it being over 100 degress sometimes. i have to drive everywhere. the times i have chosen to walk downtown from my house, i am the only pedestrian i see, besides people walking to their cars. when i look up to the hills, they are a dry golden brown, instead of a lush green. the amount of consumption appalls me; the traffic jams of hundreds of people, a solitary occupant in each car. it irks me that people don't recycle the plastic cold cups from starbucks. i am tempted to become like a vancouver binner and go through the trash cans.

i watch families gear themselves up for the school year. people here are too busy. they forget the there is a choice involved in what activities they undertake. it's all "keeping up with the joneses." gotta get into college, gotta do these extracurricular activities, gotta make mortgage payments, have good cars, look like the perfect family. i feel the pull and resist.

there are moments of blessing as i wait and think and consider my surroundings.
playing bocce ball in the backyard with a 5 year old, who cheats by taking a few steps closer EVERY TIME
glorious reunions with youth group kids, who are all a lot taller than me now
lingering lunches with old and wise friends
going to free concerts in record stores with my brothers

a convergence of images

scratching an itch that isn't there

sometimes you don't know you miss something until it's not there anymore. today i watched my friend register her kids for school, starting up next week. and i realized how different my time is now. the school schedule easily follows the seasons. time is sharply delineated: in the summer i have nothing to do; in the fall i have to start reading and once winter gets into full swing i am writing papers like crazy. that kind of routine. only now i'm not registering for classes, a habit from the last 3 years. and while i enjoy that freedom, i miss it a bit too.

little things like that strike a nerve of homesickness. out of the corner of my eye, i'll see someone that looks like someone i went to school with. or i'm watching a tv show and i realize that it is filmed in vancouver because of the mountain range in the background. i find myself watching the scenery more closely than the show itself, to see if i can figure out exactly where they are filming. i was the same way about shows or movies in washington dc - a strong sense of connectedness and nostalgia. back here in danville; i've been so used to driving to my friend katie's house since high school, i'm pretty sure i could find my way there with my eyes closed. what are places that feel like home to you?

old mcdonald had a farm

E-I-E-I-O

a momentous occasion

today, sienna kelley has been on the earth for 1 year. i, for one, am glad she is around. because it's just so darned fun to play with, shop for and take pictures of her. leave a comment here, or click here to send her some birthday love. happy birthday, girl! you're awesome.

you know what sucks?

waiting 4 days for the avocados i bought to ripen. i couldn't wait anymore, and cut into one that felt ripe today and discovered that it still wasn't totally ripe. i hate that. and i really want to make guacamole. blech.

on being a techie of a minor degree

while housesitting, i have a charger for my

-computer
-ipod
-phone
-toothbrush
-camera


no joke. i don't really "need" these things, but it's so "convenient" to have them.
what the heck.

summer nights

i almost drove off the road last night when i saw the moon. i forgot how the moon could be here, at this time of year. huge and golden, low in the sky, it seemed like i could just drive to the moon. when i think of summer, this is the vision that goes with it. made me believe that anything could happen.

foolishly, i always thought it was the harvest moon. silly suburban californian kid that i am. harvest moons are in the fall. i looked it up. there's a name for every full moon during the year. august is the corn moon. a slightly less cool name than i had hoped. oh well.

playing the waiting game here. which i'm mostly okay with, up to a point. gilmore girl reruns help.

funky chicken

time i spent unsuccessfully trying to corral one stubborn young chicken: the better part of 1 hour

time peyton, a seven year-old boy, spent catching said chicken upon arriving home: 3 seconds

one serving of humble pie, served up hot.

reversal of fortune

with every change, for good or ill, there is a loss involved. i remember how excited (and freaked out) i was three years ago, when i moved up to vancouver. i was moving somewhere new, facing new challenges, and looking forward to growing. at the same time, i was terribly sad to leave relationships and surroundings that were incredibly wonderful and formative for me.

three years... seems like the blink of an eye and an eternity at the same time. and i find myself feeling the same feelings, only now i miss vancouver (which hits me at odd times, usually when i'm watching tv and i realize that the show was filmed in vancouver because i can see the familiar mountains in the background) and the relationships there. i suppose i'm feeling it more keenly now, as the dust settles here and i realize that i'm hoping to stay around the bay area. the scenery is familiar, but i am feeling out how things have subtly changed here and how i have changed. this will come at me from odd angles and unexpected ways.

the language is different; perhaps not the big words from theological school, yet the underlying concerns, thoughts and needs are the same. sometimes i wonder why i had to go to vancouver and spend a lot of money while others seem to be learning the same things i have without going anywhere. but i rejoice to see that the kingdom of god is breaking in everywhere and that i don't feel totally alien to what is going on. and i look forward to connecting more and to living out what i have learned, once the details of my life have been filled in a bit. my loathing for cover letters grows each day.

in the meantime, i got a glimpse of everyday family life when my friends were home briefly between trips. rather than go home and then come back to housesit again a few days later, they invited me to stay with them. so i found myself on several mornings eating cereal with a seven year old boy who was clad only in boxer briefs, having my hair braided, and shopping for school supplies. i have a renewed and deeper respect for parents, especially after the trip to the mall for backpacks and new shoes. exhausting.