84%

that is the percentage of how healthy i feel. this cold just won't die.

however, another sign of spring (this is for the kelleys): today i made two huge batches of salsa for my brother, which he will try to consume in the next 2 days before he goes back to school. the red kind and the green kind. remember: may is nacho month! that's just a month away, people. get ready for it! nacho month '06 was glorious.

today i recycled several of our old computers, their accompanying appliances and a broken tv at a free electronic recycling event. hooray for recycling!

regarding my previous post about global warming... i should have included my jokey comment that provoked my friend's declaration. mostly just because it makes me laugh when i think of it and it is kind of true - perhaps the only upside one can find with this whole change in climate. we were talking about the movie march of the penguins. i said, "hey at least with global warming those penguins won't have to walk as far to find food." am i right or am i right? seriously, folks.

blankety blank

not sure what to write about the last few days. finishing off my set of work shifts was kind of a blur, because i was tired and sick feeling. it's good to have my brother around. we eat a lot of food - i've used my employee meal discount at my job three times this week. hard to turn down the good food when it's so inexpensive. we went big - appetizers, entrees, dessert. i'm going to be 400 pounds by the time i finish this job, whenever that may be.

friends across the interweb are buying themselves fun shoes. i feel the urge to consume also. time for some new kicks.

i find myself unmotivated to sit down and write (besides on this blog). it's a similar feeling to when i try to go running again after i haven't for a long time - burning lungs, sore muscles, general miserable feeling. only since it's writing i only get the general miserable feeling. well, my brain hurts, so that counts as a sore muscle. trying not to beat myself up about it. just gotta keep making time to write, just like you gotta keep running.

dazed

having a schedule again is an adjustment. i am tired. i've had a cold for the past week and a half that won't go away. perhaps i have allergies now that i've moved back here? i hope not. everything is covered in a fine yellow dusting of pollen. makes my car look filthy.

i like the job, mostly. the people goodnatured. i'm remembering some of my high school spanish to converse with the cooking staff. i stacked pink lady apples today. that's one of my favorite names for a fruit.

i am also trying to write. freelance, whatever. anything to build a portfolio of stuff and earn some cash doing something i love. so we'll see. i'm still figuring out my routine and how to make the most of my time.

lost is stupid.

read all about it

San Francisco bans plastic grocery bags. bold move, san francisco. let's hope this catches on elsewhere.

fun friday

quote of the game: "some situation call for a little metallica." katie l., on hearing "enter sandman" in the 4th quarter

tonight i went to the warriors-wizards game with some friends. we met for burgers beforehand; i heard the exciting news that one of my friends is preggers - i've already volunteered to babysit. then to our nosebleed seats, 5 rows from the top of the arena. it was 2 for 1 tickets for teacher appreciation night, most of my friends are teachers here. it was an exciting game, the warriors could make the playoffs this year for the first time in a long time. i'm still under the weather, and contented myself with explaining what a charging foul is and such to my friends, rather than do my usual heckling. good times, though. the requisite rock anthems, thunder sticks, and entertaining drunk people all were part and parcel of the evening.

sometimes when i am happiest is when i am doing seemingly mundane things with friends. like after church last week, a few of us walked to top dog for some good cheap grub in the bright daylight savings evening. walking down the street in our little gang, which included a 1 1/2 year old enjoying a piggy back ride, i felt part of a community (which is hard to come by in this big wide world).

it's 1990 all over again...

... and it feels so good. you hear me daney baby? wearing my tmnt beanie to the show.

the youngest brother is home for spring break. yay!

moments

i've been here in california now for about 8 months. time passes strangely - quickly and slowly at the same time. sometimes i feel like an oddball in this setting, wanting to escape cloying suburbia. (of course where would i go is the real question. the more pressing question is what would i do) and other times...

other times i am playing in the backyard in the late afternoon with my friends kids. we pick lemons from their tree, and take turns hiding them, practice for the easter egg hunt. the kids can't keep secrets for very long, and end up whispering the lemon locations to each other. we laugh a lot. and there isn't really any other place i'd want to be.

scratching my head

i know people think this - that global warming is some kind of liberal conspiracy or some such thing.
yet it still surprised me tonight when i chatted with my good friend's mom and offhandedly mentioned something about global warming and she resolutely said that she didn't believe in global warming because of all the storms around the east coast this winter. what the heck? i didn't realize there was a choice in believing this or not.

blech, part II

i've had so much vitamin c, i think it is coming out of my pores. all to little effect.

blech

the change in season has given me a sore throat and the beginnings of a head cold. phooey. i hate being sick.
not much else to report. oh, tonight on cable tv i caught part of an old growing pains episode with a cameo appearance by hillary swank. weird.

book recommendation

i'm almost to the end of this book: what is the what by dave eggers. this guy is one of my favorite authors; i really enjoy what he has written and i also really respect what he has done in terms of book publishing (see McSweeney's)and helping underprivileged kids (see 826 Valencia). anyway, this book is a memoir of Valentino Achak Deng, one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, displaced by Sudan's second civil war (pre-Darfur conflict). it's a "fictionalized memoir" in that deng told his story to eggers through exhaustive interview over a period of several years, and eggers wrote the story in deng's voice, re-creating conversations, and fleshing out details through research and other refugee stories. the result is a powerful story that brings home the reality of the displacement of the Sudanese people, first being driven from their homeland, the chaos in the refugee camps and the hardship that continues once immigrants land in America. when i think about his story being multiplied by 40 or 50,000 people, it makes my heart hurt. i went to a reading the other night for this book. deng wasn't able to come; he is in the final stages of becoming an american citizen. instead, eggers came to read from the book and discuss how the book came into being. fascinating stuff.

back with 120% more damn attitude

i met with the head pastor this morning. i made this appointment back in january so i almost forgot that i had arranged to meet with him and pick his brain about things. we talked about job networking, this book he's just gotten published, what it's like being a pastor and shepherding people from such diverse perspectives. in a city like berkeley, that has such a reputation for being diverse and progressive and whatever, i have been surprised at how many people still think america is a benign force for good in the world, or that don't understand why other parts of the world don't like americans. do people not listen to the news? well, the way news is told here wouldn't exactly help sometimes.

anyway, we had an interesting conversation about writing and that whole process and amusingly how little control an author has over things like the book cover. he said something that stuck with me - he says he's got 3 or 4 other books stored on his computer that he says he feels "aren't good enough" to be published. he told me about how his aspiration/compulsion to write the perfect book had become a form of idolatry, and much of the process of getting it published was dying to that perfectionism. this is one tendency that i am quite familiar with. letting go of the this expectation then allowed him to say "it's just a book, another book in the world." this comment quite flabbergasted me. but i realized that to hold this whole enterprise of being published loosely is a healthy thing. then maybe i won't feel so paralyzed when i actually try to write. that's just a theory, but it sounds pretty good.

i've also noticed lately if i'm in a conversation that is intense or that i find very interesting, my eyes start watering. maybe because i forget to blink? then i start to wonder if the other person is wondering if i am crying and then i feel self-conscious. weird.

back with 110% more attitude

started the new part-time job. hence, the lack of blogging. (also spending less time online during lent.)
lots of stuff to learn, people to meet, good food to taste. one of the benefits is getting to buy wine at cost, so i may be using and abusing that privilege soon. have you ever seen a restaurant kitchen in operation? it's quite a sight. it's better than watching to food network.

no more details about the job, lest i get "dooced." (see urban dictionary; or read it from the source in the "about" section of dooce.com don't worry; it's not dirty)

the past few days have been incredible, weather wise. i wore flipflops to church. yesterday i passed a most agreeable afternoon barefoot in the grass at golden gate park with an old friend.

back with 100% more attitude

i think i get more page hits when i'm not blogging. what does that mean? perhaps i should blog more sporadically to build up anticipation, as i have observed from my comments. the internet: providing more ways to build up my ego. just what i need.

so, i have returned from my trip. after experiencing 10 degree weather (and thereabouts, what with the wind chill and all), i can only say, "damn!"

but i get ahead of myself... i like to be orderly in my storytelling - i'm terribly nerdy that way, it's probably why it takes me so long to write anything. this trip was one of many firsts for me, and i will describe it thusly. (but if you just want to skip to the pictures of sienna, scroll down)

this was the first time i visited eastern canada and upstate new york. 'twas chock full of good times. it was also my first time to be in a canadian wedding. AND my first time to be a groomsWOman for my friend dan. being in the groom's party afforded me a glimpse in to "manworld" as i was invited to the bachelor party. and i was foolish enough to accept. people who know dan will understand why this may be an act of courage and/or stupidity on my part. the party consisted of watching ultimate fighting footage, then donning boxing gloves, head gear, shin pads and descending into dan's brother's basement and beating the crap out of each other. i didn't fight, because who wants to get beat by a girl? the fighters limped back upstairs and played a friendly peaceful round of beer pong. i participated in this game, another first for me (it's an amusing drinking game). then we went to a bar called "alex p. keaton's" which i think may be one of the greatest names for a bar, ever. long may michael j. fox live! and that was it; i avoided being traumatized at being in manworld, but did not escape a hangover the next morning. i will not visit manworld again.

the exposure to testosterone was evened out by going to the salon with the bridal party to get pampered for the wedding. check out my hair! i didn't know it could do that. i've never had that much product in it before. (also check out how hot my friends are! sizzling!)

the wedding itself was beautiful and it was wonderful to see these two people join their lives. i told dan, when you have found a girl that you can convince to shave your back hair into a thong shape, you never let her go (this is a true story).

part two of my trip: marion, ny, kelley-style. it was also very good to see these fine friends again. i tried to do a tae bo work out with lara (another first for me). tried being the operative word - i'm not so coordinated at aerobic videos. curse you billy blanks! i was more coordinated at lifting a few pints of kelley homebrew to my lips. mmm...hoppy-licious. these events did not occur simultaneously. maybe that would have helped me.

it was cold, like 1 degree cold. so we stayed inside mostly and looked out the window. sienna in profile.




sesame street is as good as i remember. sienna was not to be messed with during the show (which didn't stop me. sorry, lara). i think she's about to demand that someone bring her a chicken pot pie. that's just a guess from the body language. today's post was brought to you by the letter G and the number 11.

i was quite excited to see sienna after such a long time. i think she was mostly excited to see her parents again after their night away and slightly perplexed by this other person that was following her around staring at her. but i won her over. it was like the movie memento, each morning i'd get up and she'd be confused and i'd make friends with her again. it was totally worth it. (and unlike the movie memento, there was no tattooing, or killing of people)

we visited the mall, and went for a little ride on the merry go round (as far as i know, her first). it took her a bit to warm up to the ride but by the end, she was saying "wheeeeeeee!" it was the best dollar i've spent in a while.







lara introduced me to the wonder of frozen custard. after hearing about this treat from other midwesterners, i enjoyed getting to try it for the first time. i think sienna liked it too. wish i had some frozen custard right now.







the kelleys still hold the record for most pictures on this blog. probably because they are rad.

(i'll post more pics from my trip somewhere online. if you want the link email me) now i'm back in california, and the weather is so different, i feel like i am in the tropics. it's weird. i've started working at my part-time job in the market. i hope i can learn a thing or two about food. plus, it's cool to see a full kitchen in action. and i get to eat good free food. the days of eating old tuna bagels at the well are long ago.