curse or blessing: who'd have thunk ...

... that nearly 25 years later, i'd be reunited with a college chemE buddy (man-with-hat) under circumstances that were somewhat reminiscent of nearly 25 years ago? curse or blessing?!?!

jeez louise man-with-hat ... when ya coming back to visit the bay area so my "social" life can pick-up (no pun intended) some more?!

two data points ... when man-with-hat is around, perhaps similarities in the whole cause & effect thing doesn't quite pan out 100% in this case, but it's kinda sorta the same. nevertheless ...

december 1985 ... my morning after a bit of a walk-of-shame. (really? i wore that sweater?! shit! i probably had leggings, also.) regardless of being haunted by the vocals of both sides A and B (repeatedly!) of freddie jackson's rock me tonight 1985 album (yes, vinyl on a turntable!!!), i managed to bolt from point a (with some shred of dignity) to point b (with my self-respect regained) - all the while with my head-a-throbbin' from some serious alcohol intake the night before at henry's.

"forgive me man-with-hat for i have ..." ... i put my walk-of-shame, post-freddie-jackson-you-are-my-lady, voices-in-my-head to productive use! i footed it over to meet up with man-with-hat to confess my sins before he was headed eastward. deal is - man-with-hat (along with the other fellow chemE peeps) totally discouraged me from engaging in a potential walk-of-shame with a another fellow chemE peep. oops! my bad. fast forward ...

july 2009 ... no chemE walk-of-shame or serious alcohol intake involved, but i recently did get "validated" (oh yes, indeed i did. indeed.)

needless to say, after nearly 25 years - what was the first of many stories out of my mouth upon seeing man-with-hat ?!?!?! that i had a wee-bit of a drive-of-shame (albeit in an awesome way!) after being validated last wednesday.

got chuck norris?! ... yester eve's dinner gathering was at pizzaiolo OVER HERE, with a fabulous cabernet franc (thanks cal gal pal!), fabu conversation, catching up a little here and there, and trying desperately to piece together the individual bits and pieces of our failing memories.
as a for instance, we each had a piece of this failed memory - in 1984, four chemEs went on date night to watch chuck norris in missing in action. it is believed that the missing chemE from yester eve's dinner table was the instigator of choosing chuck's flick. (yes, i've google stalked the missing chemE in the attempt we may all reconnect.)

but i digress ... at this point, i am certainly tempted to believe that with 2 data points - one in 1985 and the other in 2009, it is only a matter of time that a 3rd data point reveals itself.

(note to self: always "be prepared"
when i find out that man-with-hat is in california.)

blessing!

r|magnet revisited

although today was intended
to be a real day off from cubeopolis ...

... it has turned into a get-your-shit-together (and make sure that some asshat is not successful at identity theft day ... oh! THAT **and** get your fried pc hard drive fixed day).

meanwhile ...

shiny penny me.

r|psa: when faced with a decision ...

... of whether to go into work after a weekend of frivolity, decide wisely, or else suffer a day of ... a day of ... a ... day ... of ...

well, the picture says it all (imo).

note to self - bring pillow & crawl under desk (or just take the day off!)

(hee-hee! what a FUN weekend!)

paa alums: primer pic

a few fun pics from this weekend's events around and at the 40th anniversary of UCB's PAA organization - the pilipino american alliance.

pic of a pinky promise at saturday breakfast. it's a pinky promise. we shall not tell. ever.

young alums (and future alums?) at the prebuzz - henry's before the event. not to mention that some of these young alums (and future alums) were not born when some of us graduated from cal. ouch.

and at the anniversary, the paa intern project involving a tell-all about the history and evolution of paa.

after the anniversary, many of us footed it back to henry's for drinks, more pics and more frivolity. quite the group of us, with a few folks missing from the pic - especially our patron ... al, who convinced henry's to let us use the side seating area - a bit of a private place to gather our fun group!

and a few gathered for sunday brunch. (pic of the gals at brunch) quite a nice way to cap off a round of reunion activities.

one of my fave pics? this one, which definitely captures the fun, spirited and youthful moments many of us had this weekend!

more pics and stories to come!

you talkin' to me? ...

... it's all about storytelling (& screeching) - over & over & over & over ... and if you know me enough, then you know i don't mind (... telling stories, that is).

what is this lengthy post about? ... aside from hyperlink hell, ultimately, what i envision i'd be saying to folks i've not seen for 20 years or so ... all 'cuz of an upcoming reunion event and surrounding activities for this over to the right. (click on image)

this past 2 weeks alone ... has been one heck of whirlwind weeks for this rather social, gregarious yet homebody kinda gal, so just to give you a time line of a sliver into my past weeks ...

• last weekend (on the 22nd) was a wonderful memorial service and celebration meal (photos here) for my friend jengyee (posts about jengyee over here, and i'll likely continue to add more.)
• the standard wednesday night event 2 wednesdays ago of top chef (finale) with a disappointment, to boot (up hosea's ass and on casey's face!)
• the regular old taking care of one's health and visiting doc (tmi? deal with it - i'm in my 40s)
• dinner with old friends from the dreaded (and revered) cal chem e days
• friday night's BSG (though i missed a drink game night over at l.a.g.'s place, so i'm determined to go next time 'cuz otherwise i'll be on l.a.g.'s "you suck" list)
  
• scoping out the march 7 breakfast place (pics over here) for one of the '80s reunion activities - as part of the saturday morning munchies with joel
• loading batch #1 (of 2) of pics from the '80s (over here) closed out my sunday
• ... more picture loading (pics here) before dinner with joanne
  
• and regroup with new friends - friends of jengyee, in fact! (click image to the right)
  

aside from these "calendar" moments ... there are those moments of introspection, unanticipated telephone calls, random decisions that lead to surprises, crazy reminiscing flurries, playing with friends' superpoke pets (if you have to ask, don't), and the rest of life's stuff that are wedged into these scheduled events.

what does twenty mean? ... given an upcoming reunion event this weekend, over the past several weeks, i've been reminded of "twenty something ..." -

• about the difference in age between me and jengyee
• the length of time passed since seeing folks from cal's paa days (that would make it ~ 23 years for some)
• the age group of many new friends i've made as a result of jengyee's memorial
• the length of time passed since retaking chem e classes and learning about academic probation
  
• reminiscing about the crazy, nutty boy-stuff decisions i made when i was twenty-something (man, was i a dork or what?!)
  
• the age of the guy i'd like to date (just kidding! and i mean really - i am kidding.)
  
• ... and how much weight i've gained since college (well, maybe more than 20 something but still)

this weekend ... will likely be the most i (and others) may ever find myself (and themselves) yapping about "what's been up the last 20+ years?" so to contribute to procrastinating and adding to the list of 25 blah-blah things ... here are a few more tidbits - as TOTALLY RANDOM THOUGHTS come to mind as if i'm at the anniversary/reunion activities - trying minimize the recycling of chit-chat (in no special order) ... i hope (if you care to read on)

• yes, i'm solo at this event. single. heterosexual. no children.
• thanks. i chose to go closet shopping (as judy termed it). these shoes?
  
  • (presuming my knee is better) yes, they ARE cute, but they are killing my feet. thank goodness i didn't park too far.
  • (presuming my knee is still tweaked) semi-formal, shemi-formal. my knee is still tweaked so this works for me.
    
• i'm staying over at the courtyard marriott where other folks are staying. didn't want to have to drive back home.
  
• totally! the breakfast this morn at cafe cacao (over here) was fun. a smaller group of folks showed up, so it made for an intimate chat.
  
• nope - believe it or not, never been married. never formally engaged but was on that cusp twice in the '90s.
• totally! drinks also were fun! (over here).
  
• you going to tomorrow's brunch? i'm also planning to go to brunch tomorrow. (over here)
  
• i DO keep in touch with kevin. he's in berkeley. in fact, his 2nd wife is going to have another girl very soon - like today or something. (click on image to the right for kev pic)
  
• oh, after college i worked in the city, then i moved around california. actually, i moved back to the bay area in late october 2006 after living in san diego for more than 15 years. (you can check out linkedin)
  
• sooo glad there are more peet's in the BA than in SD! (as trying to prove over here - SD county still has less than 1/2-dozen)
  
• not dating right now. just out of a (re)boyfriend of sorts. (as evidenced over here) but yea, at least i started writing again. ended all for the better.
  
• writing? yes! i am a closet writer. aurora and folks will nudge me more, i hope. my first little fiction-ish story was fun to write! (here it is)
  
• yea, pat is married and has two kids, so i'm an auntie - bella & patrick jr. they are fun. i love them. (pics over here)
  
• if you must keep bugging me about this - prefer heterosexual, non-smoking male (or one trying to quit) that doesn't get his hair cut by his mother (or surrogate mommy), whose main communication style isn't grunting, and who is gay-friendly ('cuz i ain't giving up my gal pals!).
  
• i know, it was (and is) a bit of a paradise. i miss san diego, however, i am glad to be in the bay area near family, friends and home.
• well, do you know the SD area? close to downtown - over in the mission hills area, near the gas lamp and old town and on the cusp of hillcrest. loved (!) hash house a go go's s'mores mocha!!! (click on pic to the right for hash house site)
  
• oh - it's kind of a little tale, but basically i work at ehpah (again) and still have a very small slice of my consulting practice. so mainly, i commute into the city every day. every. day. here's my business card.
  
• in the 'burbs. despite the urban kind of gal that i tend to be, it's currently the suburbs for me, but i'm also within 7 miles of my mom and brother and his family.
  
• no, not much travel. just spain in '97 with college gal pals and a cruise in '99 to southeastern alaska. otherwise, mostly domestic for work and for play. i do, however, intend to visit spain, given alex is there! any other suggestions?!
  
• i'm sitting in the spendy seats area - over there with all the other '80s peeps.
• apologies. i don't quite remember you. yikes! but maybe help jog my memory. it's been 20 years ya know?!
• great to meet you! yea, i live on the east bay and commute into SF daily. let's meet-up.
• ...
  

i'll come up with more ...
but you get the point.
excited about the weekend
and the several events!

r|psa: '80s folks ... just the facts for march 7 & 8

next weekend '80s paa alum activities ... is the 40th anniversary paa alum celebration at the uc berkely campus ihouse.

(click image for more information)

activities for '80s pre- & post- anniversary event ... in short, here goes:

• saturday (03/07) breakfast
  10:30 AM (please RSVP)
  Café Cacao (in berkeley) -
  click here for details
  
  
• saturday (03/07) afternoon drinks
  3:30 PM (no need RSVP, but appreciated)
  Henry's (in berkeley) -
  click here for details
  "'80s prebuzz before all the buzz"
  
  
• saturday (03/07) night cap post event
  ??? (10:30 PM?) ... TBD
  ??? where to go ???
  
  
• sunday (03/08) brunch
  12:00 PM (please RSVP)
  Montclair Bistro (in oakland) -
  click here for Evite details
  "despidida for old and new friends"
  

shirlsd
class of '86
co-social/cultural chair ('86) with bonji

r|psa: '80s folks ... breakfast yourself!

the 40th anniversary of Cal's PAA Alums is in a week (march 7). more info over here.

meanwhile, '80s peeps who want to meet up before & after can do so. so far, we have:

• saturday, march 7 drinks @~3:30 pm at henry's (more info here)
  

• sunday, march 8 brunch @ noon at montclair bistro - PLEASE RSVP either way on the Evite, and let many others know.
  (al b. - the host - would like to build up the alum mailing list, a list which will NOT be given to others, not even me. we ALL trust al b.)

and NOW saturday, march 7 breakfast @ 10:30 am at ... well, you figure out where joel & i have as the #1 choice.

• VOTE ... please vote (for whatever), simply so we know that the poll works (because we may use this feature in the future for something else)

(by the way ... we have reservations for 10 (ten) at the #1 option, however, we have listed other places throughout the bay area that, perhaps, others may want to meet up for future breakfasts and fun.)

yup! we are meeting at 10:15 am (for the 10:30 am RESERVATIONS) at Café Cacao

" ... an original dining destination located at the factory of Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker in Berkeley, California. Café Cacao offers delicious savory dishes as well as irresistible chocolate desserts, pastries, and special blends of coffee. We are open seven days a week for breakfast and lunch, weekend brunch, and private dining is available upon request."

we kindly ask the following of you ...

• RSVP ... please RSVP by friday, 6:00 pm to me or joel via facebook, email, blog post comment, text or cell phone
  
• CASH ... for convenience and to avoid the closing moment after breakfast - unless you want to foot the bill for the rest of us, please bring cash. we estimate that you SHOULD consume ~ $20.00 worth of food & drink + tip, and maybe a l'il more if you choose to forgo whatever diet you ascribe
  
• PHOTOS OF THE SCOUTING EVENT ... feel free to check them out over here.
  
• PEET'S COFFEE ... yes! you know who you are and you loves you your peet's. for non-peet's coffee drinkers, well, you'll have to deal with it.
• CAMERA with CHARGED BATTERIES & SPACE (megs) ... it's an awful thing to forget your camera (or camera phone) or not have enough juice or space to take pictures, so this is a reminder - be prepared.
  

if you do not RSVP,
we cannot guarantee you a seat
at the big people's table
(i.e., the table of those who did RSVP)
NUDGE-NUDGE

r|psa: '80s prebuzz before "the buzz" (aka SCREECH at henry's)

if you are interested in catching up with some folks before the 40th anniversary of PAA event, please head over to Henry's beforehand.

some '80s folks are drinking up ... i mean ... are meeting up before the 40th Anniversary PAA Alum buzz at the IHouse ... 5:00-10:00 pm. there is nothing "formal" planned for this ... just place and a time to gather.

WHEN: saturday, march 7 ~ 3:30 pm
('cuz y'all know y'all be showin' up at 4:00 pm-ish)

WHERE: henry's at 2600 durant, corner of durant & bowditch (yelp info)

WHO: '80s PAA Alumni and friends/family

reconnect after 15+ years ... we are hoping '80s peeps will take this chance to reconnect and take a little edge off of the screeching that may (will) happen at the IHouse. screech at henry's. for some, it has been 15-25+ years?! can you believe it?!

come young & old ... this is not a "closed" gathering - you do **not** have to be from the '80s, and you do **not** have to be attending the anniversary. we are, however, hoping to get a decent showing of '80s peeps. bring a smile, a good attitude, and a camera 'cuz you'll be seeing folks you haven't seen for 15-20+ years!

MORE INFO? ... send me a msg of facebook, comment on this blog post, or email me.

RSVP ... is **not** necessary HOWEVER would be appreciated. would be neat to get the buzz out about who can join for drinks?

be well,
shirlsd
class of '86
co-social/cultural chair ('86) with bonji

'80s-ish PAA Alums ... REPRESENT!

when Cultural Night was known as
... Cultural Night

'80s UCB PAA peeps?! ... got the buzz for the 40th anniversary (aka reunion) of PAA alums + friends/family?

event starts @ 5:00 PM at the IHouse.

RECONNECTING ... some '80s folks are traveling from as far as Spain and as close as Emeryville ... so a few of us are pulling "before and after" meet-ups.

currently in the mix with at least an Evite (and mentions on facebook) to be sent out soon. a blog post or two will be posted as plans continue to evolve and firm up.

• saturday - before event ...
  '80s prebuzz before all the buzz
  
  • saturday drinks
  • WHERE ... henry's at 2600 durant (over here)
  • WHEN ... 3:30 pm
    ('cuz y'all know y'all be showin' up at 4:00 pm)
    
    
• saturday - after event ...
  (... TAG LINE???)
  
  • night cap after event (and more excuses to take pictures!)
  • WHERE ... TBD
    
    • ideas so far:
      
      • near IHouse somewhere
        
      • skates (at berkeley marina)
      • doubletree hotel (at berkeley marina)
      • your ideas???
        
        
• sunday - day after event ...
  despidida for old and new friends
  
  • brunch for more yip-yapping, bon voyage, hugs & kisses, mimosas, and hangover cures
  • WHERE ... montclair bistro
    6118 medau place, oakland (over here)
  • WHEN ... 12:00 noon
    
  • here's the Evite (don't forget to invite friends!)
  • RSVP on Evite by Thursday, March 5
    

and some past, pseudo-impromptu '80s meet ups

• 80s-ish reunion in 2007 at e&o trading in SF
• 80s-ish reunion in 2007 after SF and at blowfish in the soutbay/SJ
  
• picnic in 2007 summer at heather farms in walnut creek
• last minute '08 holiday lunch at zebulon in SF
• 80s-ish reunion in 2004 at thirsty bear in SF
  

shirlsd
class of '86
co-social/cultural chair (85?) with bonji

paa alums: brunch anyone? (TESTING)

TESTING - TESTING - TESTING ... this is only a test of the polling function for selecting the saturday, march 7, breakfast/brunch place for the 11:00 AM tummy-filling, hangover-curing (perhaps for some), and chit-chatting-yip-yap event before the 40th anniversary/reunion.

this will be the section that i include links about the options, link to the menu & a little chat-up about each of the options (e.g., location, parking, price, ambiance, yelp stars, etc.)

• eccolo
• emery grille
• courtyard grill
  
• great american grill
• westside bakery cafe
• cafe cacao
• other (your suggestion)
  

then on to the poll

what say?
(JUST TESTING FOR NOW!)

r|psa: 80s folks ... represent at paa's 40th anniversay

saturday, march 7 @ the i-house
be there!
spread the word.
details: ucb.paa (at) gmail (dot) com
and at their website OVER HERE

80s folks ... REPRESENT!

this is such a camera moment ... not to mention the nostalgika of it all. also - old photos are definitely worth more than their weight! (bring 'em on!) a must to jog the memories of alums.

family friendly ... yes, it is family friendly to bring the kids (and anyone that acts like a kid)

a definite not-to-be-missed ... if you are in the area, and perhaps worthy of a drive or flight over.

before and/or after ... a few of us are already talking about getting together for drinks (coffee, tea, i.d. required, whatever). larry blake's before, perhaps? wherever after?

will update this post as time passes. (look to the top left of the blog under r|breathe for a link to this post)

for more info?
ucb.paa (at) gmail (dot) com
and at UCB's PAA website OVER HERE

and a few blog posts with some '80s reunion stuff ... to get your memories flowing.

• lunch with al for the first time after moving back to the BA from SD
• 80s-ish reunion in 2007 at e&o trading in SF
• 80s-ish reunion in 2007 after SF and at blowfish in the soutbay/SJ
  
• picnic in 2007 summer at heather farms in walnut creek
• last minute '08 holiday lunch at zebulon in SF
  

i'll also add to this running list if there are more things
up until the march 7 event

holiday lunch out ... with some ol' college buds

five is never a crowd ... it's not very likely that this cast of 5 characters will find themselves in the same place in the very near future.

(michael m, shirlsd, warren m, joel k, michael p)

although granted, 4 of the 5 of us were at last year's little gathering at e&o trading over here, so perhaps you never know. (never say never, right?!)

met up at zebulon, a bit last minute, for lunch ... actually, joel & i were meeting up for lunch ... then michael m called 'cuz he's in town for holiday from hawai'i, then i remembered warren works across the street (alley) from zebulon, and then michael p called shortly after plans were being pulled together. warren just popped by, so it was four of us (plus trooper pho queen of tcfrivolity, aka da commish of pr5air) yapping over tasty food (minus the thing being passed as lomi lomi on the kahlua pork plate).

fun time amidst the holidays!

'80s reunion pic this past weekend ...

group pic of the hanger-onners later in the day
on the 08/18 afternoon
over at walnut creek's heather farm

left to right: jl, sr, er, el, rs, ls, ab & munchkins

well, you all probably can't read our lips (which some may think uttered at least "PG-13 language"), but hopefully that video that rs took will soon be uploaded somewhere, so we can have limited distribution for a special message to pr, who was unable to partake in picnic activities.

photos?!* you ask ... so far, you can view pics from the saturday picnic and pics from the day-before happy hour (which has a blurb here). do send over any other pics you'd like to share. and i'll post some more pics through the coming week(s). (and eventually (!) i'll compile pics for a photo album of the kick-off '80s happy hour back in june.)

*[i'll continue to update photo albums as i get more pics from folks.]

another 80s reunion thing ... fri eve group pic

happy hour #2 - this time in the south bay
('cuz the last one was in the city)

[at blowfish, santana row in san jose, california]

a smaller group slaved the friday traffic

top row (l to r): jng, ja, ma, sr
seated (l to r): ab, d, rg

friday, august 17, at 6 PM (o.k., 6:30 PM, because we all knew better) ... 7 people showed up at blowfish in san jose at santana row (note for future events that may be held here - be prepared to speak more loudly than you may normally do so.) and the stats for this l'il event go something like this ...

• total number of people: 7
  
• those that graduated from cal: 6
  
• those that graduated before 1980: 1
• female/male ratio: 2/7
• those that arrived around 6 pm-ish: 3
  
• those who valeted: 1 ('cuz parking is crazy on friday)
  
• those who also sought cooked food: 3
• those who were repeats from the last gathering: 3
  

and finally ...
those that attended a bachelor party AFTER the event: 1 !!!

uncooked. fried. steamed. sauteed. baked. iced. marinated. drizzled. sprinkled. dipped. dry. wet.
(and then there was the food)


will later post about the family event that happened just this past saturday, august 18 - a picnic at heather farm in walnut creek.

that 80s reunion thing ... friday eve group pic

for several of us,
it has been more than 20 years
since seeing each other!

top row, standing (left to right): gd, ja, mm, br, mc
left side of table (left to right): ab, pr, er, dd
right side of table (right to left): vc, wm, jc, mp, sr

peter to the left ... our gracious and patient server. to the right ... one of the toasts during the event.

yesterday, june 22, at 6 PM-ish ... 14 people showed up at e&o trading company in san francisco (go there. yum.) for a reunion of sorts. and the stats go something like this ...

• total number of people: 14
• those that graduated from cal: 12
• those that graduated before 1980: 1
• those that graduate after 1989: 1 (or maybe 2)
• female/male ratio: 1/7
• those that arrived around 6 pm-ish (early enough): 6
  
• those lying about their age: ... couldn't do that with this group!
  

and finally ...
those that are still young at heart as they were years ago: 14 !!!

i'll post more about the reunion later through the week. this will need to suffice for now.