in late 2006, relocated my angst, business, and social life to NoCal from SoCal ... just a 40-something chick in the 'burbs of the SF bay area who randomly posts about random topics ... the occasional quirky stories of dating (or not) at 40-ish, work-week cubeopolis frivolity, rambling musings on nostalgika, and the occasional introspective moments in life.(thanks for visiting! >p, b)
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
raviolo **hearts** halo-halo ...
... in that "i like puppies" kind of way (i think.)
i have been called cuckoo, and i like it 'cuz raviolo said so, and halo-halo **hearts** raviolo, even when there is just a smidge of guac left after a hearty maya lunch - ahem ...!
(and yes, i've changed my topchefrivolity icon for the "real stuff"; no longer the yum roasted chicken picture from versaille)
now ... on to absolutely cuckoo by the magnetic fields (this r|clip is a cover)
"don't fall in love with me yet we only recently met true i'm in love with you but you might decide i'm a nut give me a week or two to go absolutely cuckoo and when you see your error then you can flee in terror like everybody else does i only tell you this 'cause i'm easy to get rid of but not if you fall in love know now that i'm on the make and if you make a mistake my heart will certainly break i'll have to jump in a lake and all my friends will blame you there's no telling what they'll do it's only fair to tell you i'm absolutely cuckoo"
three things ... trois . tres . tři . ba . três . tre . drei . tatlo ... STUFF!
instructions: copy and paste and change to your own three things ... and as a side note - a while back, i did do a four things (in march '06 'cuz my friend susan tagged me), and it is posted over here on my old blog ... so i've poached a few from the four things - here go the three things -
three names i go by: 1. shirlsd 2. shirl 3. halo-halo (a la top chefrivolity, season 5)
three jobs i have had in my life: 1. small leather goods salesperson in dept. store 2. plastic lid putter-onner for canned food stuff 3. working for the voices in my head (when i work on my consulting practice stuff)
three places i have lived (besides my hometown and now): 1. new york (burbs) 2. hawaii 3. iceland
three favorite drinks: 1. vodka gimlet (up) 2. water 3. hot teas
three tv shows that i watch: 1. bsg (!!! ugh ... one more episode) 2. the big bang theory 3. monk
three places i have been: 1. alaska (via cruise) 2. spain 3. vancouver
people that e-mail me regularly: 1. jenm (aka harold's girl) 2. facebook peeps 3. karine
three of my favorite foods: 1. chocolate therapy (from ben & jerry's) 2. sashimi 3. mango oatmeal cookie (from influx in san diego)
three things i am looking forward to: 1. open-toed shoes & flip-flops when warmer weather arrives (and therefore pedicures!) 2. better and good health for my friend iris 3. more discipline around writing
three friends i think will respond: 1. jenm 2. jamie 3. joanne
Rules: It's harder than it looks! Copy to your own note, erase my answers, enter yours, and tag 10 people. Use the first letter of your name to answer each of the following questions. They have to be real. . .nothing made up! If the person before you had the same first initial, you must use different answers. You cannot use any word twice and you can't use your name for the boy/girl name question.
Have Fun!!
1. what is your name: shirlsd 2. a four letter word: sure 3. a boy's name: sam 4. a girl's name: sara 5. an occupation: salesperson 6. a color: sienna 7. something you wear: smile 8. a food: scone 9. something found in the bathroom: sponge 10. a place: sofa (where i nap!) 11. a reason for being late: sleep 12. something you shout: save 13. a movie title: superbad 14. something you drink: sake (hot preferred) 15. a musical group: stylistics (love that old school) 16. an animal: seal 17. a street name: sunset 18. a type of car: sedan 19. a song title: swingset chain (by loquat) 20. a verb: sing
i'm guessing you have seen this ... the 25 random things thing. from joanne's post over on her blog where she states ...
"taken from this internet/chain letter/ facebook post thing. Basically you're just supposed to list 25 facts about yourself. The lovely Diana tagged me on facebook with this. According to the rules, once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged and generally how/why you tagged who you did. (Since I'm going blog style, I'm not going to tag, okay?)"
so as with joanne's 25s, i say to you - enjoy your read, and perhaps you will find out something(s) new about me ... as well as mundane boring bullsh**.
1. over not under ... that is the way that sheets of a toilet paper rolls should lay. i will fix the roll - at your home, my work, a restaurant, a department store, a gas station, wherever.
2. because my high school counselor thought otherwise ... back in the day when applying for college and choosing a major, my h.s. counselor was not quite encouraging about my choosing a "hard" engineering major - like chem eng, which was fine because i secretly wanted to do architecture/environmental design (or something along that line). i decided to list chem eng first and architecture second, as if i was spiting my counselor. go figure, i got my first pick.
3. om. om. om. ... i'm a bit woo-woo. during a weekend in nov '07, i was certified at the practitioner's level (level 2) for reiki. and during that weekend, i also was exposed to/learned about angels - guardians and archangels - and guides. (this event)
4. it's chris. now give me my $20 (and then some) ... my friend, kevin, gave me $20 in my 2nd year of college. i had a huge crush on a cute guy in my major. i drove kevin (and others) nuts yapping on & on (and we know i can do THAT) about this guy. all i had to do was get the guy's name, and kevin would give me $20. well, i turned it into a small event ... asked cute guy if i he was going to class 'cuz i wasn't going, if he could pick up my problem set, and if i could meet him after class. he said yes, we exchanged names, and then he gave me his phone number on a piece of paper, with his name - chris. we dated for several months eventually.
5. foreword ... i wrote one - for my friend's book called "hello real world." (i miss my friend, jengyee liang.)foreword content here.
6. come fly with me ... i believe hypnosis works. i vomited in a garbage can after deplaning from a small prop plane that flew from the bakersfield area to sacramento. afterwards, my boss handed me a napkin and a 7up. that was in 1989. whenever i traveled via plane (any size), i white-knuckled ascents and descents until 1994, which was when i underwent hypnosis for, apparently, my flying issues. i don't necessarily enjoy flying, but i don't vomit-launch anymore.
7. it's just a numbers game ... my college gpa was less than stellar. more than 2.00 and less than 2.50. mixed in there is the fact that i do know what is required to get off of academic probation. and even with that, i still owned a successful and active consulting practice for ~12 years and had a nifty internship program. (start at jan '06 and end on april 9 '06on this blog for the chronicles of an intern) in the end, i have learned that the numbers mean less as time goes on.
8. there once was a man from nantucket ... i won 3rd place in a 4th grade poetry contest.
9. EE-dull-wha-the ...? ... i have never seen the entire movie (or even 10 minutes straight) of "the sound of music" - so my rendition of edelweiss at karaoke after skiing alta and drinking a bunch of singha was comparable to the william shanter's talk-sing style.
10. more bookcases, please ... i swear i won't buy any more books, but then i buy more books - after pulling one of my many wallets out of one of my many purses while wearing one of my many pairs of shoes after making one of my many "to do" check lists. (sigh)
11. amen, kinda sorta ... i was raised roman catholic, which meant i took catechism, which meant i went to a lady's house to learn about the old and new testament. when asked to say grace before snack-time among other catechism goers, i stood up, did a kind of curtsy, then bowed a little with a rolling right hand gesture and said "gahhhhh-rrrrrrace." that didn't go over very well after a few giggles.
12. gullible ... i am, at times. that's why i spent a week telling friends (and strangers) about my new found knowledge that johnny depp was part vietnamese.
13. ahhhh. ahhhh. ... i have no cavities.
14. epiphany ... i had an epiphany in early may '94, and as a result, one of the insights that popped out of some kind of automatic writing moment is the following that guides me ...
There are BRIDGES yet to be constructed by those who live and breathe in their ENVIRONMENT — AIR, LAND and WATER. Egos stand firm on the ground that they were born and choose not to acknowledge that to get one step closer they must go one step FURTHER. MY VISION IS TO CREATE THOSE BRIDGES.
and from this, i also came up with the full complement of a mission / vision / values statement. whether just voices in my head, divine inspiration, or simply words resulting from some sleep deprivation, it is important to me that people are made aware of how their choices affect the environment. and hopefully, they will choose well.
15. dog ... i am more of a dog person than a cat person.
16. pigdog's dad ... i wrote an e-mail to a photographer, chip simons, who was listed on the back of a postcard - this postcard (to the right) that had a picture of what i affectionately called "pigdog" back in my college days. chip wrote me back. here is the little story.
17. (with butterflies in my stomach) phew! he said "yes" ... in the summer of '02, to date, that has been the ONLY time i have formally asked a guy out on a date - dinner and a sade concert. (well, although he said "yes," he later had to cancel because he was stuck in the mid-west working on a power plant. of course, i still went to dinner and the concert. hello? it's sade!!!)
18. yes ... i once inhaled.
(update & clarification: i once inhaled. uhm ... perhaps twice?)
19. writing ... calms my soul. as loquacious as i am/can be/have been, i think that writing provides that extra "umph" for me to be even more (or differently) expressive. by all means, i just find myself writing to write, and often i'll learn something new about myself. as far as any stories i've written or barely started - it's just a numbers game, my foreigner, donor #3355, and let me believe come to mind. (i do have a story about vacation neurosis, which was my very first short that i attempted back in 2003.)
20. i'll be in the corner, thank you ... small groups are more of my scene. i've often been told by acquaintances, friends and co-workers that they fancy me as a social butterfly - readily flitting around friends and strangers. on the contrary, i enjoy sitting with a small pool of friends (old & new) in a corner with a beverage of choice and yapping it up.
21. useless silverware ... one day, i want to bend silverware - knives, spoons, forks, sporks, you name it! - just like uri geller did (and does?).
22. never say never ... i started a solo-consulting practice in '94 (well, i was unemployed in 11/94, by choice) and currently have it a bit on-hold. in '07, i returned to the government. here are thoughts i was processing just one week after returning. perhaps i'll write more about my thoughts (see #19.)
23. sunflower seeds ... i eat sunflower seeds while driving long hauls.
24. stink-eye ... in '94, i had a funky, not-so-obvious eye issue that ultimately was termed "atypical" as a result of many (MANY!) tests - lumbar puncture (aka spinal tap), bone marrow sample, mri, cat scan, barium sulfate, and other pin-cushion, bodily-fluid-draining, innards-picture-taking activities. and as many experiencing a battery of tests, not knowing if i was faced with a life-threatening situation, that is when i started learning much more about naturopathic medicine and that is when i began to understand that there are no such things as coincidences.
25. i like it cold ... i prefer to sleep with my feet outside the blankets.
... so fiber break yourself - in a good & healthy way (or maybe send me some fiber break content). perhaps you want to revisit past fiber breaks (just using search words), so you also can see the video clips that have been taken off (y'know - that violation bullsh** stuff - bastards!).
i have been in a bit of a pensive mood ... and have chosen to make sure i have my share of friends & family face time (and some fbook stuff). what does that mean? not a bunch of blogging (albeit the MANY (!) potential posts that sit as "draft"). watching (actively and passively) a bunch of recorded shows. (uh ... like BSG, thank you!) catching up on my magazine reading. weaving in & out of several books i've started. spending time cooking. taking care of my health - physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional.
and i've been re-ing ... (re)organizing. (re)decorating. (re)writing. (re)visiting. (re)connecting. (re)grouping. just a bunch of stuff that i do on & off. that said, gonna return to it all.
LAST YEAR ... just around this time, as evidenced by this post-gone-by, i began apartment therapy. (i don't quite live in an apartment, but that's o.k. - it's for the whole home/nesting kind of thing.) i managed to DRAG the SH** out of an eight-week effort, which i admittedly assumed 12-weeks would work for me sometime last year, into - oh ... say ... a year or otherwise known as 52 weeks.
it's the weekend ... and here i am, on a cloudy and mild northern california, bay area afternoon, inspired by a friend of mine who (as posted on her fbook wall this morning) is purging & cleaning. i talked with her also just to check-in and i'm even more excited about continuing to get the bits & pieces of my home life pulled together.
a few other motivators (and procrastinating by surfing the web) while considering my style (per this article) as a seeker, burster, and easy start of the day kind of organizer include ... posts and articles as follows:
on the housewarming date ... will be (sometime in late april - after taxes, of course!). time to get started (again) and put this effort to rest in the coming weeks (at least the next 9-12 weeks - ha!)
"There are metaphysical laws at work in the universe that bring to us both what we want and what we don't want, depending on our habits of thought and behavior."
for me, this is a book that a dear friend, deb, recommended to me in 1999 after i'd felt a bit stagnant and challenged about general stuff going on in my life. from what i recall, the more notables going on in my life at the time included getting through (in my head & heart) a very intense break-up (with a man with whom i'd thought i'd spend the rest of my life) that happened in late-1997, managing and balancing my work and my social life ('cuz i was WAY involved with growing my business), and feeling part of the SD community(ies) somehow in a manner that was at least reminiscent of the community feel of northern california/bay area. deb encouraged me to get the book and go through it from front to back, while also doing the exercises of each of the 9 principles. so that's what i did - well, got as far as principle 5 during the first effort in 1999 ... and it was pretty amazing!
the principles (in order) include ...
focus your desire(bring your dream into focus)
send clear messages to your subconscious mind. repeat them and make sure they are positive (gain the support of your subconscious mind)
deeply imagine realizing your goal ~ do it in detail (imagine your heart's desire)
establish order in your physical environment(eliminate your obstacles)
open yourself to your intuition ~become aware of synchronicity, etc. (be open to intuitive guidance)
rein in impulsive behavior (choose to support your dream with love)
honor the power of your words ~ say what you mean (surrender control)
persist in your dream(claim your dream)
surrender to divine power and allow the universe to do the rest (stay true to your dream)
as time has progressed, YHD has been part of my new year's resolutions practice ... although more accurately, YHD has been part of my little semi-annual ritual. i start out each year ranking the 10 desires categories and going through each exercise - as if i'm reading the book for the first time. and by mid-year, i revisit my progress and refine my desires; i also check-in on my accomplishments and unexpected events.
well, here's where i'm heading for 2009 (along with my previous 2008 and 1999) ranks. my rank order of the 10 heart's desires are as follows:
1_finances '09 ('08@_3; '99@_5) ... completing taxes, suze orman-ing, revise/update financial planning objectives, being more mindful of better financial management, learning about environmental-related investment options, increasing savings toward retirement, re-establish philanthropic practices 2_health & body('08@_1; '99@_8) ... continuing to lower blood pressure and cholesterol, continuing healthier eating habits including balanced-meal home cooking, increasing healthy-heart type activities, re-establishing more regular yoga practice, re-establishing reiki practice, re-establish kickboxing practice, continue with "serpentine" walk/jog/run training, continue chiropractic health care, learning more about healthier/alternative food choices, make time to engage in mind & body exercise-related activities
3_relationships ('08@_2; '99@_6) ...continuing to invest in friendships that are mutually supportive and unconditional, being constructive in letting go, increasing spending quality time with brother's family and mom, being mindful of and act accordingly toward relationships that are not spiritually and emotionally fulfilling, welcoming and becoming involved in a long-term/committed relationship with a man, being more mindful of creating time/space for out & about spontaneity, re-establishing building and sustaining relationships that contribute to mission/vision/values 4_work ('08@_4; '99@_1) ...continuing to work on environmental & energy-related issues, fulfilling work's professional development and training goals & objectives, repositioning r|cat, integrating environmental professional development as part of goals & objectives, improving time/project management, re-establishing recognition as valuable resource for energy & enviro issues, continuing to enjoy and have fun at work, being supportive and engaged in colleagues' goals and objectives, creating professional and personal "bridges" among variety of colleagues 5_home ('08@7; '99@_3) ...creating and maintaining a home that is inviting for entertaining friends & family, establishing and maintaining an uncluttered home, re-establish gardening practice, creating a personal space for meditating and reiki practice, revisit and finish apartment therapy (over here) 6_creative expression ('08@6; '99@_4) ...blog about apprentern (in spirit of jengyee), write shorts about ba dating and like-kind IJAM stories, write about environmental professional development, make time to engage in creative expression activities, learn about and use digital photography techniques, re-establish drawing (pen/pencil) and painting (watercolor), re-establish connection and implement '94 epiphany (over here - and if you really wanna know the epiphany stuff, let me know & i'll forward), re-establish piano playing 7_travel & adventures ('08@7; '99@_9) ... travel where i'll use my my passport, visit spain, (re)visit friends in the u.s., travel at least once a quarter to see friends, take trip/vacation with man with whom i'm in a relationship, visit california nature locales, re-establish day hiking, make time for local weekend get-a-ways, travel with friends, take up a new recreational activity, start the zagat-like air district journal 8_spiritual ('08@8; '99@_7) ...re-establish reiki practice for self and for others, re-learn about angels for guidance, re-establish intuitive awareness practices as part of decisionmaking for betterment of self and communities, continue meditating, acknowledge and be mindful of signs, continue to make time to journal to increase/enhance spiritual awareness, continue to heal loss of friends, attend events related to spiritual development 9_possessions('08@9; '99@_10) ...maintain possessions that support desires/goals/objectives (esp. health & body, relationships, work, creative expression, spiritual), read/finish at least one book per month among books already in possession, increase use of subscription magazine-related information, better use of journals, continue timely car maintainence 10_special intentions ('08@10; '99@_2) ...be directly involved in activities for influencing regional & national enviro-energy issues, be resource recognized and sought after as bridge for the enviro-energy issues where my spiritual & environmental professional development interests can be expressed as part of repositioned r|cat, be at ease with writing that is shared publicly, be at ease with managing and balancing my time
... and then of the above, identify 3 desires i want to concentrate on creating first - the intent being to focus attention to create only a few desires at a time. and as dreams are realized, i basically work on another one. because some are longer term for realizing within the year, i'll figure out for both near- and long-term desires.
hmmm ... which shall i select?
my initial near-term choices ...
spiritual/health & body - re-establish reiki-practice for self
creative expression - blog about apprentern (over here)
finance - completing taxes
... and actually, very close and on the heels of these are ...
work - being supportive and engaged in colleagues' goals and objectives
health & body - continue with "serpentine" walk/jog/run training
travel/adventures - re-establish day hiking
my initial long-term choices ...
relationship - welcoming and becoming involved in a long-term/committed relationship with a man
work - integrating environmental professional development as part of goals & objectives
home - creating and maintaining a home that is inviting for entertaining friends & family
... and actually, very close and on the heels of these are ...
spiritual - re-establish intuitive awareness practices as part of decisionmaking for betterment of self and communities
work - repositioning r|cat
relationships/work - re-establishing building and sustaining relationships that contribute to mission/vision/values
and by the way, when looking at the start of the YHD back in '99 - i'll say that i actually did find myself fulfiling the 3 desires i choose back then. for whatever reason, i can't locate what i selected as my first 3 desires for '08. gonna need to find 'em.
i LOVE pigdog (as evidenced in this post over here).
HOWEVER, second to pigdog ... is kelly - the jack russell sleeping here with the punching nun. (kelly, you ho bag ... in a precious way, though. right?!) (SIDE NOTE: just as i have done so with pigdog - kelly has been proudly posted on my fridges of days gone by AND currently resides on my current fridge.) why bring this up now? ... because a blast from the past, kelly's "mom" - who nicknamed me shylock (and i don't remember why) - stalked and found me on linkedin. (it's been nearly 15 years, i'm guessing, since we last hung out after she left SD.) needless to say (perhaps), i stalked her on fbook and found her.
presuming the world isn't THAT small ... i'm fairly certain the 7-8 folks who actually follow this blog will not recognize the other 2 gals in this photo below (... taken some time in '93 or '94 - oh my!). i barely recognize myself!!! BUT - - - if you do recognize the other two gals ... certainly let me know because then the world TRULY IS SMALL. well, that and i'll (we'll) have to figure out what exaction i (we) may want to pursue if either of these chicas are intending to pursue a political career of sorts. just sayin' ...
thanks rainbow-glasses-shylock-naming old friend for stalking me! you have certainly made my week.
looking forward to further "catch-up" talks & e-mails!
... IT! and now i am o.k. with it. this week's "WIETWFSMAMATMO" (aka why i'm enjoying the whole fbook sh** more and more as time marches on). last one is the nutty e/m exchange among college friends who've not been together for more than 20 years.
and never say never... i said i'd NEVER reach out and "add" someone, but i did, and i appreciated revisiting a word that quite describes me. the "add" request went something like this ...
MY MISSIVE - subject: hmmmm? ... i think ...
... this is THE[DUDE] that i know. 2 things - 1) if you are not, then o.k. 2) if you are, do **not** feel like you **HAVE** to "add" me. i say this, despite the fact that i'm sure you may be indifferent one way or another.
know this - you are the SECOND PERSON (... and i don't intend to make that number be any greater than TENTH) whom i've "searched" (the other (and FIRST) was this photographer [other dude] - but that's 'cuz it's easier to catch-up w/him on fbook than his bajillion e/m addresses).
later - shirlsd
DUDE's RESPONSE:
who knew - your loquacity transcends media format!
loquacity: the quality of being very talkative; garrulous
... IT!!! (pho queen - aka fbook oracle - knows what that means). and perhaps it is worth it, esp. reconnecting with college friends after 20+ years and watching an e-mail exchange of an "insider" kind of thing like this ...
posted on my fbook wall ...shirlsd *hearts* the crazy coincidence of running into(K)this eve at jupiter in berkeley!
M: i'd love to get in touch with him again. it's been 20 years and he was a blast. remember when he got drunk and jumped into (B's) apartment complex pool?
K: just for the record - i was not drunk when i jumped into the pool but was performing an experiment on the effects of sudden temperature change on the body metabolism for a bio-engineering class that I was considering taking.
X: oh - then i presume that parts 2, 3 and 4 of that experiment you were "performing" were ...
part 2 - to determine the absorption rate of water for the (... uh-hem...) organic cotton, lightweight and light-colored shorts you were wearing for the environmental science/home ec sewing class you were also considering ...
part 3 - to see which person(s) would jump in to get you as part of your on-going sociology experiment called"i'm performing an experiment but want to see if you think i'm just drunk"scenario (... 'cuz i think there were other experiments you performed for this scenario) ...
and finally
part 4 - to see what short- and long-term effects (trauma?) your experiment would have on others who witnessed the event (now more than 20 years ago) as part of a twisted psychological experiment - because you've planned masterfully for a 2nd mid-life career to become some sort of therapist - banking on the fact that several people at that party (more than 20 years ago!!!) have residual psychological trauma and were in some form or fashion affected and would seek your professional guidance.
that's right - you weren't drunk. silly M. sillyX. and silly - edwin. (was he the one that got you outta the pool and interrupted your bioengineering class experiment? oh wait! that was at the beach.)
in all seriousness - K - y'knowXtotally **hearts** you. (now pay up for the therapy billsXendured!)
yup ... i was there that cool bay area evening, also witnessing what likely was "shrinkage" upon K jumping into the pool. thank goodness i was 3 flights up and am near-sighted. (oh - but the memory haunts AND amuses me all these years!)
yes ... this kind of exchange (IMO) is worth revisiting moments that ruin any chance of a successful, long political career ... and make the fbook experience a bit nifty!
when i was back in SD several weeks ago, i introduced to and SHARED with ff&c gal my favorite cookie ever and a day - the mango oatmeal cookie at influx in SD. (witness the happiness in my face back in 09/2006 when i could hang out at influx and savor the cookie?!)
nevertheless, because ff&c gal (and others!) is on facebook, i am doomed to have a future of potential cross-posting. so here we go ...
... ANOTHER cross-post from frackin' fb - just like this first one.(da commish may be peeing in her little pantalones, dammit!!!)
ff&c gal has summarily kidnapped my most absolute favorite cookie ever (as evidenced above). and last night, ff&c gal posted to my wall:
We had a WHOLE DOZEN COOKIES that I picked up for Greg's b-day! The ants got the last half though.... :(
my rebut this morning?* ... this is the army of ants (from a t-shirt i own - which i COINCIDENTALLY wore yesterday ... fascinating coincidence) that i just "sent" to ff&c gal(aka i posted sh** on her wall on facebook)... with the following note ...
"ahhh! my army of ants has served me well. even through the miles, cookie-kidnappers who toy with mango - oatmeal - cookie - lovers are on notice! my reach is far & wide ... hee-hee! (i am a dork.)
now, i shall share this blog link to ff&c gal (and da commish) as a post to her wall ... because i must make da commish laugh at me.
*p.s. to ff&c gal, i actually am totally bummed for you all that the ants got to your cookies. they are fabulous!
for the 1 of the 7 persons that i know reads this blog at least once every two days - then you know what i'm doing (as a result of my succumbing as described over here)*:
... because one of my childhood pals sent a facebook invite.
facebook ... i'm on. i swore i wouldn't sign up - and then again, i never thought i'd work in cubeopolis. heck! i never thought i'd consider reconnecting (although short-lived) with wb#2 of smooth skin world. so go figure. and just to make sure that i would do more than stalking catching up with people who owe me money childhood friends, i called one of my new pals - friday fish & chips gal (ff&c gal)! she said she's on. so i figured - i'm in.
and within 30-min of logging in, filling out a profile, and hunting for a few folks ... i have 5 friends. so - turns out, if you choose to search for me on facebook, you'll see that my struggle to post a profile pic resulted in this ... which, if you may recall, is from this luncheon event earlier this year.
it's a list of #104 (to date) - stuff white people like, and there are comments galore. moi? no comments made, but i've shared how i relate to #11 and #25. i thought i'd simply do a post about a few of the other listed items ... HOWEVER, before i do so ... here are a few other sites (blah-blah-blah), as if you were wondering what other stuff ... like there are:
so far, so good with the 1st entry - "trial run" ... i've managed to make it through two weeks after starting this. i did the "trial run" to get the journal stuff started. trial run in short ... to just sit and write about an idea - any idea. and then if there is a tangent, to go with the tangent for a little while and then u-turn back to the original idea, eventually.
scoring air agencies - in a zagat style approach? ... i found myself resurrecting a goofy spoof of an idea from some time in 2005 - a sort of know-what-to-expect of your air quality agencies zagat style resource. why the hell would it matter? i don't know. it probably doesn't matter, but i do remember this - i liked the fact that at the san diego agency, there is a decent lobby/waiting area, sufficient parking, two little meeting rooms in the lobby area, very convenient bathroom locations for visitors, a water fountain, and a clock ... all before i had to sign in. (i'm thinking it may have been - i really, REALLY had to go to the bathroom? or something? convenient parking + readily accessible bathroom = thumbs up!)
with 35 california air districts, i s'pose i could visit them and "zagat" them because ... other people may want to know about W B S E F (which would be the first letter for the scoring system) ... or i'd visit a few air districts and likely end up doing something else, which is just as random and dorky. and the tangent i experienced? ...thinking about possible names for the work intranet. y'see - there is contest (which ended 07/11) for naming the intranet site. the prize? $100 for the winning entry, and runners-up get work-logo-gear. so i thought of several names, as well as one with various logo ideas. after work announced some samples of the other entries (none of which were mine), i'm thinking ... i may be lucky if i end up with work-logo-gear. there were 2 quite clever names - quite clever! (not to throw out a self-fulfilling prophecy, but i may vote for one of them over any of mine, which may make the cut.)
2nd entry - living quarters map ... sketch a floor plan of home, walk around home, mark areas in each room where intended projects are laying around, and name the project. for one person, relatively speaking, i have and live with lots of stuff, lots of little projects in areas throughout my home. some call it clutter; i call it lots of stuff in specific areas throughout my home. mission accomplished - map made, areas identified, some already being knocked of the list, while others have popped up since. (perhaps i can get out of the week 3/4 apartment therapy "rut" i've been milking and procrastinating since february!)
3rd entry - experiences & accomplishments with associated rewards & value ... go back in time, however far back, and just list stuff (exper & accomp) for 5 minutes. give it a bit of a rest, look back at the list, add anything else that hits, then figure out what rewards & values resulted from each. the objective is to answer "what reward(s) draws you to an activity?" several themes recurring: curiosity; bringing people together; seeing non-traditional and unconventional relationships among people, topics, ideas; creating and implementing a vision, goal setting; helping others evolve in their thought process; writing (creative, technical, investigative-ish); experiencing and creating humorous events/activities.
since the reminiscing of my #11-ness, i was immediately compelled to have lunch with a college buddy for nostalgia-speak. last friday, i had lunch with said college friend, who is affectionately known by some as esther-molester-polyester (emp). emp reminded me of my foolish youth, (while i reminded her, as i often do, that she is always older than me). fortunately, she is a girlfriend's girlfriend - always supportive and necessarily devil's advocate when needed - so there are no off limit topics (generally speaking).
also, emp brought into my life new music/artists, and we shared several music interests. some tunes we used to listen, with these as a few faves ...
in addition to sharing music, many years ago, she and i worked at the same company ... sharing the awful sight of the occasional pocket pool by a co-worker. however, to take the edge off of that, half the fun was receiving the phone messages that emp would take.
well, turns out, i learned (a while ago) that i'm not white. but today, i've got some info that may prove this otherwise ... at least figuratively. (but that comes in later posts)
wi-fi is my friend ... i was more than too excited to get on my bus ride home yesterday (from which i blogged a bit!) the last 2 times i blogged involved trying it for the 1st time and for a 23-minute surprise. and one other time i just surfed to pass the time in some traffic. but i digress ... so here is what got me excited for my trek to the bus terminal after work. yesterday afternoon, after receiving some text messages from friends up north (... and constantly anxious for things to blog about, for some inspiration, whatever) - along comes THIS over my blackberry:
my duty, as an asian girl (so i thought) ... was to make sure my mac was charged up enough so i could surf a bit and learn what in fact was/were that "stuff" ... and so i surfed and surfed and surfed on the bus ride home, while typing up the first 1/3 of this post.
back to the list ... the list is rich with things to ponder and add and comment and laugh and ...?! after checking out the list, it appears i am either (a) white people or (b) i simply like the same stuff that white people like while i am part of the #11 crowd.
looking back - let's see ... so as part of passing my time yet ANOTHER way, i'll write a bit here/there about how i can relate to some of the "stuff" and i'll start with an easy one -
i, an asian girl (AG), dated a white boy (WB) here and there back in the day. in other words, i have been a data point for a few WBs (again, refer to #11), as well WBs providing little stories for me to tell through the years.
here are three WB memories.
WB #1a: "what's a filipino? your last name is mexican, but you look chinese. is filipino mexican and chinese?" (for my engineer friends, in mathematical terms, does f = m + c?)
[context: 3rd year in college. boyfriend. cute. smart - but taking up a little bit of space in the relatively prestigious university for someone else who knows that filipinos don't look chinese (!) - we look japanese or hawaiian!!! DORK!]
WB #1b: "AYshen girl hahb berry, berry shmoooojjj shkeen. white girl hahb berry, berry hruff shkeen. shmoooojjj AYshen shkeen!" (spoken while rubbing my forearm as if he was polishing silver)
[context: WB #1 attempting to speak with an asian-ish accent. why? how the f**k would i know. but i put up with it. i mean, it was college.]
WMom of WB #1: (WMom greets me pleasantly.)"good to meet you, finally. WB #1 son tells me you are filipino." (WMom turns to WB #1) "WB #1, remember when we lived on guam? we had filipinos? they are such nice people."
[context: standing at WB #1's parent's doorstep, being introduced to WB #1's mom. WB #1's Mom's doorstep. an actual porch attached to a ranch-style house, that was part of a private golf community. clearly WMom was lying. if she really meant it, why didn't a filipino butler answer the door?! ]
WB #2: "mmmm ... look at that asian p***y."
[context: not spoken during a gynecological exam. not spoken while looking at asian p***y on a screen (porn). not spoken about pet or stray siamese cat. actually spoken during a lust-filled moment of a little petula. that said, unless WB #2 was going to hand me a mirror or take a picture, i wasn't going to be looking at anything, any time soon, thank you very much! (OUCH! TMI)]
WB #3: (aka "the runt" or the bay-city-roller-wannabe) rather than pick a choice quote, the defining #11 moment for WB #3 was at a jazz concert (bobby caldwell and some saxophone dude). let's set up the scene of nearly 17 years ago ...
... my boyfriend (not a WB) and i were unknowingly walking in front of WB #3 who was with his current AG#1. (important tidbit - my boyfriend was WB #3's former roomie.)WB #3 grunts behind us and says, "i thought i recognized that handsome couple?"
and as we turned around, it was VERY CLEAR (PAINFULLY) that AG #1 could potential sport the nearly same, 1990s big-hair, spiral-perm, chaka-khan, rae dawn chong hair that i was sporting. boyfriend and i were polite, chatted, and took our seats (for which WB #3 was several rows ahead of us).
then, my boyfriend noticed across the concert hall, another gal, AG #2. turns out, AG #2 (also with big-hair) was an ex-girlfriend of WB #3. apparently, AG #2 was the ex with a bit of a fiery temper. then during intermission, there was an AG #3 siting - yet ANOTHER ex-girlfriend (with moderate big-hair) of WB #3. yeah ... WB #3 had three ex-AGs at this concert. yellow fever? or four AGs attracted to a runty WB (at some point in time)? granted, WB #3 was a charming, cute little fellow. but what a bummer for that ride home.
AND WTF?! curiosity, patience and a little google-stalking ... with a dash of my lame-ass mock-faux-photoshop-prowess. i found this little article after google-stalking WB #3 by name and by the name of a plastic ball with holes in it. go figure - someone scanned some old newsletters in. (thank you, mr. man who did that.)
several months ago, i passed my time with a little bit of apartment therapy, and i've been "do-looping" between weeks 4 through 6. benefit? at least i have been ridding myself of stuff (and i have lots of stuff) and cooking (enough). however, i still have to do some of those repairs and improvements that i've listed ... bathroom caulking, dining room chairs, kitchen base board, kitchen nook area, etc. (and most recently, smoke alarm battery change-outs). so still chugging along ... chugging. along.
nevertheless, i've added yet another "... do stuff around the house" type thing in my life.
came across this when i stalked spinning girl who is doing a meme summer, which included mentioning daydreaming on paper. ultimately, i came across the reference to sher's book.
i am hooked ... well, at least because part of the "program" is to get a fabu journal (aka scanner daybook). and i LOVES me my stationery stuff - journals and pens and paper and stuff!
buy a journal ... there is encouragement to get a mega-journal (lots of pages, big writing space, neato-bandito looking, etc.), something that is cool and all. i didn't get a too fancy-shmancy one but i did get something with which i'm sure to write.
let's see how long this "hipmt ... fn" extravaganza lasts.
i'm very hopeful this will be fruitful because it combines several happy past-times of mine ... writing, reading, reflecting, notetaking, observing, remembering, nostalgia, reasons to drink coffee, plans to do stuff, creativity ... procrastination - in a good way. (SIDE NOTE: i'm also pal-ing up to woo-woo with ydh: ... with a friend, but i intend to have both co-exist.)
first entry - trial run ... small, recent idea that hasn't been given much thought and totally just go off on it. and i did. and if y'come to a tangent, go off on that for 20-min. and i did. meanwhile, also get some metrics - time started, time ended, and what resulted in stopping the trial run stuff.
in late 2006, relocated my angst, business, and social life to NoCal from SoCal ... just a 40-something chick in the 'burbs of the SF bay area who randomly posts about random topics ... the occasional quirky stories of dating (or not) at 40-ish, work-week cubeopolis frivolity, rambling musings on nostalgika, and the occasional introspective moments in life.(thanks for visiting! >p, b)
northern california gal that relocated from san diego (after 15 years) ... improv performer, cal berkeley grad, dog-owner wannabe, hybrid car owner, business owner-lite, connector of randomness, catalyst, workspace explorer, storyteller, and anthrocubeologist
... in that "i like puppies" kind of way (i think.)
