Pieces of Me

Simmer Down Now

2005-03-27T21:17:00.000-08:00

I have been negelcting you online journal. I apologize.

So this weekend was fun. On Friday night I went out with Alisyn and some of her friends. I was drinking and hanging out when I looked over to see my old friends Julie and Sara. We were close my senior year in HS and then ended up at Chico State together. Unfortunately after I left Chico I lost touch with them. I had been wondering where they were and what they were up to. So it was great to see them. They look great and seem happy. We exchanged numbers and I will for sure be calling them. When they left, Alisyn and I went outside. There we started talking to this one guy. When his friends arrived he got up and went back inside. Well we noticed that he left his phone. So what do I do? Well you know how much I love drunk dialing. I started calling people in his recent call history and phone book. I got ahold of one person and was telling them how they should come down to the bar. Well turns out the guy I was talking to was inside with the phone's owner. So it was a giveaway that I had the phone and he came back and got it. It was hilarious. He was like "Oh no, who did you call? Did you call Jillian?" I don't know who I called. Could have been an ex, a distant relative, options are endless. Later that night I convinced Alisyn to talk to this one guy she had been eying all night. I was like "let's work on your game plan." She responded "No, I have it covered." So she proceeds to walk up to the guy and say "I like the way you carry yourself." LOL! That's like the weirdest line ever. But it gave us laughing material for a long time.

Saturday night I went up to SF to go to Jackie's going away party. We came with like 10 people so we totally brought the party. It was fun and I got drunk. But not out of control. Did some singing along to NOFX and 50 Cent. Yep it was a random playlist. Ended up back at JMDs. And per usual we stayed up past 4AM. I love those guys. I made a few rounds of drunk dials and texts. Some of the more embarassing ones to Ian. This morning I woke up and drove back to the south bay. Being a holiday I spent most of it with my family. And I am now exhausted and want to go to bed. Even though it is only like 9:30.

Rap Video

2005-03-10T19:46:00.000-08:00

This weekend I took a pseudo hiatus from the major partying.

On Friday a bunch of us surprised Jesse for a birthday dinner at Olive Garden. I know what you are saying “olive garden for a fabulous gay man on his birthday?” But he actually wanted to go there and Mike talked him out of it, saying he should go somewhere more ritzy. So instead of going somewhere ritzy we surprised him at Olive Garden. It was fun. I gave Greg a ride from the south bay, so I didn’t have much to drink. Mike however was in full effect. Fun! After dinner Greg and I went straight back home. No going out. I finished off the evening by watching “Maria Full of Grace.” It’s another good movie. Spanish, English subtitles.

On Satuday I headed over to Alisyn’s kind of early. It was her birthday celebration. They had gotten a limo for the night. So we had a drink then headed to Palo Alto for dinner and more drinks. At one point in the limo I felt like I was in a rap video. The lights were dim, we were drinking champagne, dressed up and listening to song that our friend Jayne is singing in. She has started to sing for a rap group down here, so it was straight out of MTV. Very fun. So we get to Miyake for dinner. We have to wait for over an hour for a table…there was 18 of us. Unfortuenaly at the table I sit the furtherst from Alisyn. Sucks. But we did lots of sake bombs. It was cool. Everyone stands up on the chairs and sings and then takes the sake bomb. After dinner it is really late and I don’t feel like going out, so I take limo back with a few people. I proceed to drink more and pretty much pass out when we get back to Alisyn’s. Apparently I missed a lot of funny drunken stories. Oh well.

This week has been super busy at work. I was working alone on Monday. Wednesda was the SJSU career fair. And today was so crazy. I have been working late. The trade off? I got my 2004 bonus today! Nice. And I have tomorrow off!

Another Late Night

2005-03-04T18:48:00.000-08:00

First off I would like to say…I am gonna try and not have any typos in this entry. I guess I could proof read it…nah boring.

Last weekend was as gorgeous as it could be.

Ian and I hung out again on Friday night. Watched part of “The Doors” and stayed up partying it up. Fun as always. But the real event of the weekend was on Saturday night.

For Dan’s 27th birthday JMD through a party. Its theme was Kappa Alpha Faggot. It was Dan’s chance to recapture his youth, you know host a frat party. There was jungle juice, Jell-O shots, even a keg. Mike, Jesse, and Greg came dressed “straight”. That was fun. Jenny, Alyssa, Dan, Evan, and Marc all made shirts with Greek letters and R rated sayings. Alyssa’s said “KOK TEASE”. Dan’s said “BTM”. Evan’s said “Alpha – Q”. So creative. Mike, Greg and I brought a blow up doll to the party. She was a total hit and by the end of the night she was sitting in the tub of jungle juice. The party was tons of fun, a lot of people ended up showing up. A lot of randoms that we didn’t know too. After the party was over about 7 of us stayed up until like 5:30 in the morning. The next day I chilled at JMDs for a while then finally went home to make myself unproductive.

Monday night Alisyn and I went to Chevy’s for dinner and drinks. It was funny cause Alisyn thought that sitting at the table behind me was a guy she used to date, so it was kind of awkward. Well then she went to the bathroom and he spotted him on the way. The guy behind me wasn’t the guy she used to date, but he was there and she did run into him in the restaurant. Whoops.

Tuesday night I went up to SF to visit Mike. We just talked for a little while. A visit was long overdue so it was good to chat with him.

Wednesday I met Randy for drinks in Sunnyvale. Gin and Tonics make me happy. So that was a good mid week excursion. Although at this point I started to feel bad for Persephone. I have been spending a lot of nights out or sometimes not even coming home. Poor baby.

Thursday I went over to Ian’s and hung out with him. A couple of his friends showed up so we hung out with them too. I felt really old at one point cause I was talking to this one guy and somehow he mentioned that he graduated in 2002. I was like “oh hey so did I.” Then after a bit I realized he meant he graduated from high school in 2002. Meaning when I graduated from HS he was in like 7th grade. Oh well I am not that old yet.

The new job is going ok. Things are done a lot differently in this office and I can’t help but think it is less efficient. I want to change the workflow but I am not sure how to do it without stepping on any toes. It’s just a lot messier and disorganized than I think would be good. I’ll figure out something.

Misson Accomplished

2005-02-25T15:06:00.000-08:00

So I have left you in suspense for what I did on Friday. The kind of suspense that M. Night Shamalyn would be jealous of. Ha.

So on Friday I got off work an hour early. And since I now work so much closer to work, I found myself restless early. Could it be possible I have too much free time. Naw. But I didn’t really want to go out. That is until Marc called and said they were making a trip to Vertigo. Greg picked me up and we drove up to the city. Marc, Jenny, Kate, Greg, Dan, and I went to Vertigo. It was so much fun and I am really glad I went. It was probably the most fun I have had at this bar yet. Great company and great drinks. At last call Greg drove me home. Gotta love him for that. I guess I passed out in his car and woke up as he pulled into my drive way.

Saturday I was on a mission for Mike and a few others. By about 8PM my mission was complete. What a relief. That night Ian came over again and hung out. Again up too late for my own good. On Sunday I slept in late and loafed around. That evening I made it up to Boulder Creek to see Ami and Graham’s new house. It’s really cute. Hot tub, two bedrooms, right on the river. We went out to dinner at a local restaurant with Ami’s parents that night. Yum. It was great to see Ami so happy. She loves their new house, and seems to be more content there. I was going to stay the night, but then I realized that I wanted to wake up with Persephone in my own house. So I drove back down the hill home. On Monday, Michael came down and we had lunch together. We went to Sonoma Chicken Coop. I had never been but had heard great things. I for sure recommend it. We hung out at my house after. It was great to see him and Persephone loved seeing him too. That evening Alisyn came over and we went to happy hour. Talked about our weekend and the boys in our lives. And by that I mean in Alisyn’s life. I told you she is amazing with the men.

Tuesday I was back at work for my 3-day work week. I was by myself again. The time goes by much faster at this new job. Maybe because I am always driving around. The week went by fairly quickly. On Wednesday night I met Mario for cocktails. It was fun talking about Chico, in a way that only alums could talk about it. I need to make another trip up there. You know a little cameo. Say hi to a few old friends. And by friends I mean bars. On Thursday I was going to hit up 1984 but I was so tired that I didn’t make it. In fact I was in bed by 11, even though it was my Friday. Boring old lady.

Today I have been doing errands and reading. I haven’t been reading as much since working in San Jose. I used to be able to read every day on BART, and have been missing it. I am reading “Memoirs of a Geisha”. You should read it if you haven’t. It’s a good one. I am learning a lot about Geisha that I never knew before. And I am excited to start reading “Life of Pi” once I am done with this book.

This weekend is Dan’s birthday party and I couldn’t be more excited. I love partying with that group and Mike, Greg, and I have a little surprise up our sleeves. He He. I just hope I am feeling better tomorrow. I have been feeling a little ill the last couple days. Nothing a little liquor can’t fix though I am sure.

WIIFM

2005-02-19T08:41:00.000-08:00

I have been really late on writing these journal entries lately. I like to update them mid week, but the last few weeks I have been doing them on Friday or Saturday. That’s kind of a metaphor for my life. I just haven’t been wanting to do this and been putting them off.

Last Friday I hung out with Ian again. This time at his house. He likes to do a little DJing on the side. I had never heard him actually do it before and I was thoroughly impressed. He does like hip hop DJing, with a lot of mixing and scratching. The highlight of the night however was this one CD we listened to. We were having a hard time finding music that we both loved. This CD was this Dj mixing old school rock with hip hop. I had never heard anything like it before and it was awesome. I love that Ian showed me a new type of music. Ok that I am sure sounds really lame and boring to you but it wasn’t for me.

Saturday I had the last meeting of my Project Management class. It was cool and I got an A. I think everyone did. I am glad I took the class but a lot was review of stuff from college and classes I took at work.

Saturday night I went out with Alisyn. And got way too drunk. We started at Santana Row. The V-Bar had a cover so we were over it. Then we went to Blowfish. That was ok, but kind of boring. So we headed to Straights. They had a DJ so that was fun. However it was like attack of the clones in there. Every guy had on a button up shirt, and most of them were vertical stripes. I like these shirts on men, but when everyone is wearing them it is a little much and it just kind of indicated to me that Straights was not the place for me. I like a little diversity. So we head over to the Brit downtown. It was pretty empty. We met some guys that bought us shots and well that’s the last thing I remember. I guess at one point I kind of fell over and staff was kind of looking at me weird. So we left. We hit up the Mini Gourmet after. I was so drunk I was like passing out at the table and we had to get our food to go. Alisyn needed help getting me out to the car too. Whoops! Sorry!

Sunday I was completely useless. I slept in late and took a nap. I was feeling out of it all day long. I was supposed to look at condos but just couldn’t get my act together. What’s with me?

Monday I started my new job. It has been ok so far. I am on my own most of the time. Driving from office to office. I miss SF already. I love the city and I have friends at work. This job is much more alone work. And the procedures are so different that is has been hard to adjust and learn all that. But I am getting it.

It’s Saturday morning at this point and I could tell you what I did last night, but I am going to keep you in suspense and wait until next week. Ha…I know you are just dying to know.*wink*

But yeah I feel like I just have no motivation for anything. Not looking at condos, working and coming home. I haven’t been running lately either. I need to get back on track. Running, real estate, all of that.

Blah

2005-02-09T13:37:00.000-08:00

As Friday rolled around so did I. I had decided that I didn't want to do anything to strenuous because I was taking a class on Saturday morning. I turned down hanging out with Alisyn and Tim because I figured that I couldn't stay up too late. I went over to Ian's house to drop something off and then headed home, thinking I would be in bed by around 11. Well things never seem to go as planned and Ian ended up coming over to my house later. We hung out listening to music and talking until way too late.

Fortunately I woke up for my class on time and was even early to the class. It was the first class in a series of Project Management classes, titled The Role of the Project Manager. It was a cool class and I really like the teacher. Some of it was review from classes I had taken at work. We went over communication and obstacles and requirements of a project manager.

After the class I hurried home to get ready. Saturday night was Ami's birthday celebration. We met at Ami's house and then headed to the restaurant. It was a Moroccan restaurant. Everyone sat either on pillows or couches. There were about 14 of us there. Half way through dinner belly dancers came out and did a little show. It was fun and they go the audience involved. The dinner was good too. It came in multiple courses and was served in one big tray that we all just ate with our hands. Ami's mom is a vegetarian too so we were able to share. After dinner we decided to go to downtown Campbell. It was pretty mellow and we ended up going to Carrrow's before 2AM. At Carrow's I wanted to keep my buzz going so I ordered a few beers. Well these put me over the edge and I ended up being pretty drunk. I ended up staying the night on Scott's couch.

On Sunday Alisyn came over. It was funny we ate guacamole and drank a bottle of wine. We put in Pieces of April to watch. Before you knew it we both were asleep. When we woke up we couldn't' help but laughing. We sure are a wild couple. Taking naps in the middle of the day. After loafing around at home we decided to go eat at the elephant Bar. Kristina came with us and Tim met us there. Tim is a regular laugh factory. I couldn't stop laughing. It's awesome having a friend who is a comic. Non-stop trip to laughsville.

This has been my last full week at work in San Francisco, so it has been pretty dead for me. I don't want to take on something I cannot finish. I basically have been trying to finish up my work. I am excited to start my new job, but a little nervous. I am going to miss Kristina and Mike. Its nice having friends right there.

So I guess this weekend was pretty uneventful and I expect the same from this upcoming weekend. I think a lot of people will be doing valentine's stuff and of course I do not have one. Blah.

Real Estate Poker

2005-02-04T08:47:00.000-08:00

This past week has been absolutely crazy.

It all started on Friday after work. It was Mike’s birthday so we rented out the top floor of Andalu for unlimited beer and sangria and tapas. So after work Mike and I go to his house and open a bottle of wine and get ready. Then we head over to Cama. There we meet up with some of our group. We are only there for like 20 minutes and then go next door to Andalu. This is where the party begins. About 50 people show up and have a gorgeous time. From here we decide to take the party to The Café. Dan and I walk together. By the time we are there some people have already moved onto Badlands. So we stay at The Café for 1 drink then move to Badlands. We close that place down and head back to JMDs. Here I call Tommy back. He had left me a voice mail earlier that he was having an after party in SOMA. The party is still going on, so I talk Dan into going there with me. We hang out at the party for like an hour and then decide we are still not done. We head over to The EndUp. Here we pay $12 to get in and stay for like 15 minutes. What a waste. At this point it is like 4:15 and we decide it is time to go home.

The next morning we lounge around JMDs and then finally make it to Mike’s to pick up my car and stuff. I head home for the rest of the afternoon. I don’t really get much done at home, but I still decide to come back up to SF for Saturday night. We met up at JMDs again and then headed to Vertigo. It was Justin, Jenny, Marc, Dan, and I. There we met up with Tim, Woody, and Russ. After being there for awhile we got bored and went across the street to Kimo’s. Took a Jager shot and went back to JMDs.

The next morning I headed back home. Once at home I called my real estate agent, Chris, to go look at some condos. I fell in love with one of them. Black appliances, cheery wood cabinets, 838 square feet, and right in downtown San Jose. After much deliberations Chris and I made up an offer to submit. I was totally nervous. This is a huge deal, making an offer on property. It seems so permanent and adult. The offer had to be by Monday at 6PM. So on Monday at work I had to go over documentation and mortgage rates. Once it was in I could barely sleep. Later that night I got a call that the offer was countered, because they had received 3 offers on the table. On Tuesday I decided to counter the offer, because I like the place so much. I was nervous all day on Tuesday again. After work on Tuesday I was going to Chris’ office to meet with a broker and talk about the condo. I go straight from work. Meet with the broker and then start discussing with Chris. Turns out only one other party countered the counter. They were offering more, but I had better financing. I stayed with Chris for awhile at his office and then went home. The seller’s real estate agent still hasn’t called us back, so that means I didn’t get it. Too bad I really liked that place.

On Wednesday night I went out with Chris again. Not Chris the real estate agent, Chris the one that I went to Thai food with a few weeks ago. I went over to his house and then we went to Pedro’s for dinner. After Pedro’s we went to coffee. I drove cause he had spilled something in his car. We have coffee, but he is getting super tired so we decide to call it an early night. Now here is where I get nervous. I don’t know what the proper etiquette with the drop off. If I was a guy I would stop the car and walk the person to their door, but I am not a guy. So I don’t know what to do. I probably do the wrong thing and just pull the car over to let him out. He asks me if I want to do something again, and of course I say yes. He’s a fun one. I hope next time we can take it up a notch.

I have been talking to Alisyn a lot lately. She is so helpful and full of advice. She is one of these women that has men flocking to her. What’s her secret?

This weekend I start my class and it is Ami’s birthday. Should be fun.

Do you have any warrants?

2005-01-28T07:58:00.000-08:00

It has been such a wacky week I can’t even remember where I left you. I think I was talking at length about tents and reunions.

On Friday after work I met up with Patrick and Lynda for dinner. Lynda is already living down here, but Patrick was making a cameo in the south bay for an interview. We ate at Rock Bottom Brewery in Campbell. Then we went over to their house for a little. Ami had invited me over earlier in the evening so I said I would stop by late, after hanging out with Patrick and Lynda. So I went over to Ami and Graham’s. And I of course pulled a “Laura” and fell asleep after like 30 minutes. In the very wee hours of the morning I woke up and decided it was time to go home. Once at home I had a second wind, so I ended up going over to Marc K.’s house to watch Garden State. I highly recommend it. I leave Marc’s house at like 6:30AM!!!

Strangely enough however, I didn’t sleep in that late. I guess because I had gotten a nap in at Ami’s house. Saturday afternoon I met a new friend for “coffee”. I love how everyone goes out to coffee these days and invites me to coffee, but I don’t drink it. The funny thing is that the last few people that have invited me to coffee with them also do not drink it. I guess it is just an easy thing to ask people to.

Saturday evening Alisyn and Allison came over for a little pre-party before we headed to the bars. We wound up in Palo Alto at Blue Chalk. I am coming back from getting a drink and I look over and sitting at one of the tables is Mike B. I hadn’t seen him in like 4 years. Maybe longer. We were really close in high school and then both ended up at Poly and remained friends. When I left Poly he didn’t come to my good-bye party and didn’t talk to me. He was mad at me for something, but I didn’t know what. Like a year after being in Chico I had sent him an email saying hello. Well I got back the nastiest response. Basically he said some really horrible things about me, and told me never to contact him again. WTF? So when I see him at the bar, I give him a little wave. And then I think, “You know that was awhile ago I am going to take the high road and say hi.” So I go over and say hello and ask him if I am allowed to talk to him. He says “that was a long time ago.” We end up chatting for a few minutes. Not about anything groundbreaking. Basically the usual. Where are you living? Where do you work? These types of things. Then I left and just said “well it was good to see you.” It makes me sad cause we were so close before, I had thought that maybe we were like “soul mate friends” or something. But apparently not. Anyway I proceed to get completely trashed. I guess I got kicked out of the bar. Then we were going over to Rudy’s and they wouldn’t let me in because I was so drunk. Eventually one of Alisyn’s bouncer friends let me in. I should not be getting this wasted.

On Sunday Alisyn and I hung out most of the day at my house. Just talking and what not. Then that night I went to visit Ami. On my way back from her house I got pulled over. I think the cop thought I was funny so he let me off. He was asking me the usual questions like “Have you had any tickets or accidents in the last 18 months?” “Have you ever been arrested?” I was answering no to his questions and kind of laughing, because of course I am not on parole. Then he starts asking me totally outlandish questions like “Are you wanted for drug trafficking out of Columbia?” Now I was totally laughing. After he checks my record he comes back and lets me off. Awesome! Fourth time being pulled over, fourth time being let off.

On Monday I was offered a 7 month rotational assignment in the San Jose office. It would be doing the same work, but just closer to home. After talking it over with my boss and recruiter I decided to take it but for about 4 months instead. I thought 7 months was a really long time, and I didn’t want to miss any opportunities here. So after the 4 months I will re-evaluate and possibly finish up the 7 months. It will be nice to learn a different part of the business, have a change of scenery, and be closer to home.

Anyway, that is about it for this entry. I did some other stuff too, but I feel like this is already getting too long. Tonight is Mike’s birthday party so it should be fabulous.

Reunited and it Feels So Good

2005-01-20T17:14:00.000-08:00

This past week has been a week of reunions. Not lame awkward high school reunions, but individual reunions with people that I actually care about.

On Friday I found this guy Chris on Myspace. We were friends in elementary school and hung out a litle in high school. Since high school I had seen him a handful of times. In passing. Like next to each other at a stoplight. Anyways, I find him on Myspace and I invite him to come hang out with us on Fiday night. It was Graham, Ami, Jami, Chris (not the one from Myspace), and myself all at Ami's place. We were drinking wine and chatting away. Apparently I took a mid hang out nap, because I was woken up to a combination of Ami putting popcorn in my ears and Chris calling to hang out. So he and a friend came over too. I proceeded to talk his friends ear off about tents. Yes that's right, tents. Backpackers tents, 2 person tents, big tents, little tents. What a sad topic of converstaion? I am sure he was more bored than he has ever been before.

Saturday my mom had made reservations at 4:30 for my sister's birthday dinner. I was kinda bummed it was so early, but it ended up really working out. So we ate family style at Maggiano's. I could only eat a few of the items, but everyone else said it was really good. After dinner we walked over to CineArts and watched "Sideways." I highly recommend this movie. Drama, love, comedy, tragedy all in one. And it takes place on the central coast, so I knew all the places. After the movie I go home and I have another reunion. Again thanks to Myspace, I had found this guy Justin I went to high school with. We went to homecoming with him our senior year. But I think we may have only seen each other once or twice since high school. So anyway he comes over and then we go to BJ's for a few drinks. We close that bitch down, go back to my house, and end up talking for hours. It was so much fun. I feel like people that you knew from "home" or from before share a common connection with you that a new person doesn't always have. I can't place my finger on what it is, maybe just the same formative years.

Sunday I wake up "late" and head to SF to meet up with JMD and Nathan. It's wine tasting time! As you all know one of my favortie things to do. It started off wild. We all were either tired or hung over or still drunk from the night before. So just the ride up to wine country was ludacris. We were making up songs, laughing at the most random things. At one point we saw a licnese plate that said "Hm Good". So we started speculating what it meant. Well in my sleep deprived delirum, I said something like…"Maybe it's supposed to be backward. Maybe it says doog." That became a running joke the rest of the day, because what the fuck was I thinking. Doog? That makes no sense. We end up wine tasting in Healdsburg again. It was so much fun. Great cast and great wine...what more could you want? OK you are right there was no great sex. After creating a scene at many of the wineries we went back to SF. I took a little nap at JMD's and then we went out. I wasn't really in the mood to get drunk again. So I just had two drinks and hung out with Marc the whole time. We checked out the guys and made fun of people. After the castro I drove home to spend the night with Persephone.

On Monday I did some errands, had lunch with Greg, and went to look at a condo. The condo was really nice and affordable but I think the buying process there is a little too fast for me.

Wednesday after work I met up with another friend from the past. Alisyn found me on you guessed it Myspace. We used to do theatre together in HS and were really close. But we lost contact when we were like 18. So I went over to her house. We talked and drank wine. It was a lot of fun. Not awkward at all. Then we got restless and went to a bar in Campbell. There I got to watch Alisyn in action. She was hitting on the men like it was nobody's business. Anyway, we had so much fun we are going to have an encore performace this weekend.

So yeah in less than 1 week, I have reunited with 3 people from the past. FUN!

Cheers to Drunken Saturday Night Calls

2005-01-13T16:26:00.000-08:00

Since I last wrote work has been totally dead. I am struggling to find something to bill my time to. Luckily everyone is having this problem, so it doesn’t look so bad for me. I did get some cool news today however. Sometime in February I will get to work out of the down town San Jose office for about a month. I don’t know what day yet or what my hours will be. But I know the supervisor down there, and she is hella cool. So I am guessing I can probably keep my schedule if I want it. Not having a long ass commute will be glorious. More to come on that.

On Friday after work Michael came to the South Bay with me. We ate dinner and watched movies and just kind of hung out. Napoleon Dynamite was totally cool. I recommend it. Anchorman was not that good. But anyway he got to play with Persephone, which they both loved. We hung out on Saturday too, until I went up to San Francisco to go out with my friends. I really don’t want to go into too much detail about it here, but let’s just say it brought back some negative emotion that I do not want and/or need in my life.

On Saturday night I went to JMDs. We started drinking some wine until, Marissa and Jackie showed up. After a few drinks I started drunken text messaging. Got an early start this time. Usually I wait until I have gone out the bars, before I am calling and texting people. So it was Me, Jenny, Dan, Marc, other Laura, Ryann, Jackie, and Marissa. We all went to Milk in the Haight. There we were joined by Tim and Nathan. I had invited Tim out to meet my “hot friends.” I thought it would be fun if they hooked up, but nothing happened. Milk was pretty fun. It had a cool look and had lots of people there. But we got restless. So per Jackie’s recommendation we headed over to Vertigo. This was fun as well. And by this time I was what you might call tipsy. After Vertigo we go to a little pizza place for a slice. Well we order and get in the line to pick up our pizza. And everyone else is getting theirs but me. So I was like “what they heck?” The pizza guys said I had ordered a small pizza and they had to make it, instead of the pre made slices. I really don’t think I would have ordered a whole pizza. That is just ridiculous. But maybe since I was drunk there was some kind of confusion. Anyways I finally got my pizza and we were off. We went back to JMDs, where I proceeded to make an incredibly drunk dial to Chris. I only remember bits and pieces of it, so I am kinda embarrassed. We talked for over an hour, and I know how I get when I am drunk so I probably said things that I shouldn’t have.

I wake up on Sunday morning and can’t fall back asleep, so I decide to just drive home. The rest of Sunday I didn't do much. I hung out with my sister and dad for a little while, went grocery shopping, did some stuff around the house, and took a nap. I guess it wasn’t totally useless, but not very productive none the less.

On Monday at work I talked to Chris. What a relief he wasn’t annoyed or anything by our drunken conversation on Saturday night. He just thought it was funny. Still embarrassing though. I hate not knowing what I say and do. It’s like these people know a secret about me and I don’t know what it is.

Tuesday night I went over to Chris’ house. We went to Thai food in downtown Los Gatos, then drinks at the Black Watch, and then watched Shaun on the Dead. He planned it all before hand. I like that, I like that a lot. So organized and decisive. It was a fun night. Lots of laughing and story telling. I like laughing. I like story telling. And now apparently I like writing in very simple third grade sentences. Heh.

Wednesday I had off and I was amazed by how much I got done. I took some stuff back at Old Navy and Blockbuster, put oil in my car, cleaned, did laundry, had lunch with Greg, and watched Human Traffic. Human Traffic was recommended to me by Sriram. We had been talking about how there are like no movies that have captured the rave or E scene. He said this one did the best of any he had seen. And he was right. Still not perfect obviously, but pretty good. Wednesday evening I went over to Ami and Graham’s house. Jami and Scott came over too. We ate dinner and just kind of chatted. Ami and Graham had just gotten back from Scotland. So hadn’t seen them in awhile.

This weekend should be nice and relaxing. I think I am going to stay in the South Bay most of the time and possibly go wine tasting.

A New Year

2005-01-05T19:49:00.000-08:00

Late last week we finally decided what we were going to do for New Year’s Eve. We were going to start at JMD’s with a little drinking and potluck dinner. From there were going to go to The Cat Club/1984 and possibly make a cameo at Stud.

So on Friday we all met up at JMD’s as planned. It was a great all-star cast. Me, Marc, Jenny, Kate, Dan, Ryan, Jackie, Will, Greg, Jade, other Laura, Cisco, and a few other people I didn’t know. By the tiem we left JMD’s we were trashed. The problem with these casual potlucks is that I end up not eating much and getting really drunk. Cause we are all kind of hanging out drinking instead of focusing on the dinner. So we leave JMD’s and take like 3 buses to The Cat Club. The bus rides were hilarious. Will was yelling things out like “If any of you want to party with the fags, come with us!” Just yelling to everyone on the buses. We got right into The Cat Club because we purchased our tickets online earlier. It was a ton of fun in there. Dancing, people, drinks ,80s music (which you know I am sucker for). By the end of the night everything was a blur. I was wearing my new 4 inch heeled boots, and they were really starting to hurt my feet. That coupled with the drinking, was making me really wobbly. At the end of the night, I ended up taking them off and talking around the rainy SF streets barefoot. Ouch. Also at the end of the night, I realized that I had lost my jacket! It was only a couple months old and really really cute. It was one of those black jackets that is just perfect for going out. At least for me it was. But it was gone. The second black jacket sweater thing I have lost in the last 6 months. Damn it! Turns out Jenny lost hers there too. I guess there are two other girls out there happy about their finds. Oh and we never made it to Stud, we were having too much fun.

The rest of the weekend I was pretty useless. I hung out with friends at home and didn’t really go or do anything spectacular. I went up on Sunday to SF to hang out with Michael. In fact this whole week I haven’t really done much. Of course I have been working and what not, but not making myself very productive. Work has picked up, so it has been busier. And my senior is back, so I am no longer filling in for him. That should take a bit of stress off of me.

I finished watching Sex and the City. I am embarrassed to say that it brought me to watery eyes (not quite tears) in that last episode. Now I guess my new show to watch on DVD is going to be The Sopranos.

Jingle Bells

2004-12-29T19:40:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve rolled around on time, just like last year. :) After I stayed at work on Friday until about 2 I headed over to Michael’s apartment.

Michael and I hung out the rest of the afternoon and evening. Watched some TV, chatted, I took a nap, and we watched a Chris Rock HBO special. It was really relaxing and fun.

On Christmas I went over to my parent’s house early to open presents before the extended family arrived. I got a gift certificate to Westfield and a copy of “The Karen Carpenter Story” on DVD (a childhood favorite). Unfortunately my sister bought the DVD on eBay and still has not arrived yet, almost a week after Christmas. But I am excited for it when it comes. After we opened gifts, the rest of the family started to trickle in. We had a nice dinner. Instead of the “traditional” feast we had a mexican theme. Rice, beans, chile rellenos, tamales, chips, and salsa. Yum. It was nice for it to be a change of pace from the standard stuff. After dinner we visited for awhile and then we headed home.

Ami called me up and invited me to drink at her house with a few people. So since I can’t turn down an offer like that I made my way over to Ami’s. A few drinks later we were playing Celebrities in true Tucker fashion. Actually we played Tucker’s against non-Tuckers and us non-Tuckers won!!

On Sunday Kristina and I tried to use up our gift certificates at Oakridge. I really wanted to find a pair of boots or high heels, but had no luck. The rest of the day we lounged around and made ourselves useless.

Monday I woke up feeling ill and called in sick to work. I felt bad about it like always. But this week at work has been really slow, so they didn’t miss me and my client’s weren’t ignored. That night Sarah came over and we exchanged gifts as well as stories. It’s nice having her down here more often. We get to hang out a lot more.

After work on Tuesday, I went out to dinner at P.F. Chang’s. I have had never been there before. I highly recommend it. They have a vegetarian section of the menu!! Everything we ordered was really good. After dinner we took a little walk around downtown San Jose for a little.

Today was my day off, so I decided to try and make use of my gift certificate at Valley Fair today. I found a pair of boots at Macy’s that I liked, so I bought them. Mission Accomplished. Unlike the Bush Administration when I say that the mission has been accomplished it really has. I now own my first pair of boots in like 15 years. They are black, square toed, about half calf high, and about 4 inches high. I know you can barely contain your excitement.

This Friday is New Year’s Eve. We still don’t know what we are going to do. But fortunately none of us really care that much. We just want to go out and have a good time, maybe cause a few disturbances. Heh. I’ll let you know what we do.

Sugar Plum Fairy

2004-12-23T08:41:00.000-08:00

So I haven't written in a while because it has been so busy at work. Last week was my first week back in the office, so it was crazy playing catch up. On top of that, there was just a ton of normal work. It was one of the most stressful weeks at my job. It has died down quite a bit now, because of people taking time off for the holidays.

After I got back from Uganda I had a few days to basically do nothing and recover. Once the week started I was super busy. I was hanging out with someone different every day after work. It feels good to be social, but I was kind of wanting some alone time when Friday rolled around. But Dan had invited me to dinner with everyone on Friday, and I couldn't pass that up.

So after work on Friday, I went over to JMD's. Hung out there until it was time to go to dinner. Nathan, Jenny, Marc, Dan, Jackie, Noah, Russ, Evan, and I went to Andalu for dinner. It was so good. I love the polenta fries and white wine sangria. After dinner we happily made our way out to the Castro. I finally made my Lime debut. Took long enough. That was fun, it felt like I was in a wintry wondery igloo. Then we went to The Pendulum, and Badlands. It was one of those nights, that I said I wasn't going to be taking any shots. Well by the time we were halfway through The Pendulum, I was buying a round. Made the usual drunk dials. I stayed at JMD's house that night.

The next morning Russ, Jenny, Dan, Marc, and myself dragged ourselves out to The Cheesecake Factory for lunch. It was good as always, but maybe not worth the 1.5 hour wait. But the company was as fabulous as ever. After lunch I headed back to the south bay. I got home around 4.

I didn't really want to go out and do anything crazy, so I went over to Kristina's that night. I couldn't sleep and was wide awake and so was Tim. So I invited him over. He ended up staying until about 7AM!!! So of course by they time I woke up on Sunday my day was shot. My sleep patterns have gotten so weird. For example: Last night I went to bed at around 1AM and woke up for work at the usual 5AM. And I feel fine. Maybe a little tired but nothing crazy. The night before I got about 5 hours of sleep. When I was living in San Francisco I used to get like 8 hours of sleep a night, and I thought I needed that much. Apparently not. Of course as I am writing this I am thinking to myself how nice a nap would be.

It was back to work on Monday, so that was no fun. But after work I hung out with Drew. Hadn't seen that guy in almost 2 years. But it was like no time had passed. We were out at dinner and we were people watching. Trying to figure out what each person did for a living. It was hilarious. Tuesday I went over to Ami and Graham's after work. I hadn't seen them since my trip. We chatted about Uganda, culture, travel, life…it was nice. And they loved their Christmas gifts.

Oh and yesterday I got my merit and pay raise information for 2005. I was ranked a 1, which means I was the number 1 performer from my group this year. So I got a raise, but not as large as I had hoped or wanted. It's not money is really important to me, I just want to be paid what I am worth. I guess I should take into consideration the bonuses we get. If I add those in my salary definitely makes a jump.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and of course I have to work. I volunteered to be the person on our team to stay late. But late on Christmas Eve is only to 3. And Chauna said if it was dead I could leave early, just to use good judgment. And because I am staying late, I get 4 hours off on New Year's Eve. Good deal, don't you think?

I know I have talked about this many times before, but I really want to get serious about grad school and buying a condo. Life will pass by, it might as well pass along with me earning my Master's.

U Gotta love Uganda

2004-12-10T16:55:00.000-08:00

Well my trip to Uganda was fantastic. I don’t want to bore everyone with all the details, but I am afraid that if I don’t write it down I will forget everything. So some of this will probably not be of interest to you, but it is for my record. Bear with me.

I left on November 27 from San Francisco International airport. It was about a 9.5 hour flight to London Heathrow. I was impressed by how the British Airways staff was totally on top of my pre-ordered vegetarian meal.

Once in London I was bored. I had a 6 hour layover and nothing to do. After getting a snack and couple beers, I decided to sit at a bar and have another drink. I ended up talking to the bartenders the whole time. One of them, Manuel, gave me his number and wanted me to call him on my way back to hang out (I knew I wasn’t going to call him, but played along to be nice). When it was getting close to my flight to Uganda time, Manuel was like “hey I have a break soon I will take it with you.” I thought he was going to sit down and have a drink with me. Well no we went for a walk around terminal 4. It was really funny to me. It was like a little airport date. Then we sit down in gate 4 and he starts holding my hand. I do not hold it back. Then he says “I really want to kiss you right now.” I hold back from laughing and say, “Right here in gate 4?” At this point he gets the picture that I was not into it and says, “Well would you prefer gate 3?” Gotta hand it to the guy it was a great comeback. After that we walks me to my flight and I am on my way to Entebbe. And another 9 hour flights. Grrr.

Teresa and a couple of Peace Corps people met me at the Entebbe airport and we all drove to Kampala together. I could initially tell that there were no driving rules. The air smelled of fire. Teresa said it was the smell of burning trash. The houses along the road to Kampala were a little nicer than most of the country, as this road was traveled by all of the rich and important visitors. Once in Kampala we made a stop at the Garden City mall, for money and water, then we headed over to the taxi park. Basically this is a big parking lot with hundreds of short/mini buses and coasters. It is absolute chaos. I don’t know how you find out which bus to get on unless you do this every day. We make our way to a coaster (it sits about 30 people). Once it fills up we are off to Teresa’s village. It is crowded and hot and driving super fast. We get off at the Equator. There we eat lunch at the Equation Café and see a demonstration of whirlpools north, south, and on the equator. We wait around and finally catch another taxi (a taxi is a public bus type vehicle that carries about 15 people) to Teresa’s village.

In Bukulula we meet Teresa’s friend Esther that runs a beauty shop. We hang out there for a while then walk to Teresa’s house. On her doorstep are handpicked flowers that the kids in the village left as a welcome for me. So nice! We relax and hang out at her house for a while, and start to make a dinner of rice, beans, and salsa. We take a walk around her village and school, and then come back for dinner and bathing. There is no running water so I have to take a bucket bath. It actually felt really good since I hadn’t bathed since California. This is where I noticed my first injury of the trip. On my upper right leg I found a bruise the color and size of an eggplant. Not sure where I got it.

The next day we head go visit one of her friends, Mama Betty. The women there often go by "Mama" and then their first child's name. So her oldest is Betty, hence Mamma Betty. She serves us sodas, popcorn, and cookies. The people in Teresa's village were so beautiful and caring. It was touching. We talk to her for a while and then head off to Masaka. This is the nearest town to Teresa. We enjoy a traditional Ugandan lunch. Matooke (mashed bananas), rice, g-nut sauce (peanut sauce), potatoes, greens, and pineapple. The only thing missing is chipati. A friend tortilla type thing, and so good. After spending a short amount of time in town we grab a taxi to Kampala. Here we check into the Red Chilli hostel and meet Rhianonn, a Peace Corps friend. We have dinner with her at a Lebanese restaurant and have a beer at the Red Chilli. And then head to bed.

Kampala being the national capital is a huge busy city. There are no stop signs or streetlights. Pretty much a free for all on the road. And the coasters and taxis go so fast, I often was scared we would crash. Even though most of the roads are paved here there is a layer or dirt on top of them. In fact there is a layer of dirt on everything, including your body. There are tons of shacks like houses and little shops. Lots of places to buy cell phone minutes and cokes. Lots of boda bodas, which are motorcycle transportation, and very dangerous.

The next day we pick up Rhianonn’s dad, Lou, from the airport and head off to Murchison falls, where we will be spending the next few days. After a long drive, luckily we rented the van so it is just Rhianonn, Lou, Teresa, myself, our driver, and a Red Chilli employee; we make a stop at Murchison Falls. It is gushing tons of water and is so misty that I have to take off my glasses to see. Needless to say we were drenched. Seeing Murchison was really amazing for me. I couldn’t help but be in total awe over the Nile. This was the source of water and trade for the early Egyptians. It was a time of baby Moses and Cleopatra. It was hard to wonder if this river was the source and root of our civilization. Amazing!

After Murchison we went to the Red Chilli in Paraa. We were taken to our Banda, a traditional hut with a thatched roof. As the guy showed us to our Banda he said, “watch out for the warthogs.” I laughed thinking, “wow I have never heard that statement before.” After eating dinner and relaxing, we retired to our Banda for the night. It came equipped with two beds and mosquito nets, good thing.

The next morning what do you know, there are warthogs all over the camp. The guy was right “watch out for the warthogs” as they will cruise into your Banda if you leave it open. I instantly fell in love with the warthogs. They are so ugly they are cute. And they kneel down to eat. So cute. After getting ready we start on our early morning game drive. We take a ferry across the Nile and begin. We see lots of birds, giraffes, antelope, baboons, and water buffalo. I even spot a baby leopard and her mom. It was amazing to see these animals in the wild. After the game drive we go on a boat launch on the Nile. Think the jungle cruise at Disneyland. We see at least 200 hippos, 3 elephants, lots of crocs, and warthogs.

After the boat launch we return to the Red Chilli at Paraa and rest for the night. At night time wild hippos come up to the camp and walk around. It was unreal. Wild hippos walking around our campsite.

The next morning we leave the Red Chilli early to go on a chimpanzee walk. It was hard to see the chimps, so it was a good thing we had a guide. But just hearing them all around was amazing. It sounded like one of those rainforest/jungle recordings you play to fall asleep. After the chimp walk we headed back to Kampala. Lou takes the four of out to dinner that night. We ate at Italia, a nice Italian restaurant in Kampala. It has become clear that the only people that can afford to eat out are the Mzungu’s. Mzungu literally means foreigner, but has come to mean white people. However, many of the Ugandan’s don’t really know what white means. In fact Teresa often gets called Chinese. We were even asked if we were Cuban at one point.

The next day is shopping day. Teresa and I meet up with another Peace Corps person, Paul. The three of us go to Oweeno. This is flea market type place. It is packed, busy and full of life. Luckily I didn’t have my purse of I am sure it would have gotten stolen. This market is where a lot of people buy their clothes. They are almost all-2nd hand from Europe or America. I can't put into words how crazy this market was. So cramped, loud, and busy. In the food section of the market I saw two two-week-old kittens. I wasn’t going to touch any of the street animals in Uganda because of the diseases, but these guys were too cute. I was petting them for a few minutes. When I was done, Teresa was like everyone was looking at you because no one touches cats here. In fact the only people that have pets are Mzungu. After Oweeno we went by the US Embassy in Kampala. It is probably the newest and nicest looking building in Kampala and guarded by Marines. Later we went to a craft market on the other side of Kampala. I did most of my shopping here. It was really nice and relaxing. However I hate bargaining. Got lots of good stuff. That night we met up with Paul and Meera for dinner and then a night out. We started at the Kampala casino. I played a few slots and got bored, but quickly joined Teresa at the roulette table, to “let it ride.” We didn’t win anything but came out even. At the table we nick named two of the players. One was Orange (due to the color chips he had). He was funny because he just bet on anything. He won something every time, but considering he was betting on everything he wasn’t doing so well. The next guy we named Grey (guess where we got that name) he was taking moves from Orange. Betting on almost everything, no strategy. After the casino we went to Bubbles. It is an Irish pub that a lot of Mzungus hang out at. It was fun and the drinking was getting underway. I drunk dialed Mike. Funny thing is it was like 1PM his time. At Bubble’s we ran into some of the Marines stationed in Uganda. There are actually only 10 and they all guard the Embassy. One of them found a pipe clear apparatus in the tree and was wearing as a hat. We were laughing. The funny thing is, these Marines are in the top 10% of their group. Pipe Cleaner head is in the top 10%??? The US may need to rethink the recruiting. After hanging out at Bubbles, the Marines asked us if we wanted to go to Rouge with them. They have sober escorts and get in free. So we went with them. Rouge is more like a club, with dancing and hookers. It was tons of fun. The Marines also got us free drinks here. Good deal. Teresa had told me that homosexuality is illegal in Uganda. You can get something like 15 years in jail for it. That night we saw two Indian men freaking each other. One of the Marines was like "that is so wrong." So obviously I got pissed. I was getting ready to bitch him out, but Teresa stopped me. Teresa and I finished off the night eating potato chips back in our “room” at the Red Chilli.

On Sunday Teresa and I made our way to the Hairy Lemon (a small island on the Nile). It was about a 2 hour taxi ride to the town where the Hairy Lemon is near. We get off the taxi and realize it is still 8km and we had not arranged a special hire car to take us. We don’t want to take bodas so I suggest we walk. We start doing the math. How many miles is 8K? How fast can we walk a mile? As we walk a truck drives up and we flag it down to hitch a ride. Turns out this truck is a special hire the boda boda drivers got for us. He drove us to the little dock where the Hairy Lemon canoe picks you up. Good thing we didn’t walk, because it ended up being really remote and not marked. At the little dock there are no signs, you just have to figure out what to do. We banged on a hubcap with a stick. The people on the island heard us and sent a canoe to pick us up. We set up our tent and basically relaxed the rest of the day. On Monday we relaxed and tried to stay cool. It is hotter and more humid on the Nile. But the weather still wasn't as crazy as I thought it was going to be. That afternoon we left to go to Jinja.

Jinja was about 2 hours away. It is a calm quiet town with SIDEWALKS! It was really nice to walk around without fearing for you life. We hung out in Jinja for a little, then headed to Eden Rock. Eden Rock is the campsite near Bugagoli falls. Bugagoli is on the Nile and a popular place for rafting. In fact while we were there I learned that Prince William had visited there and even camped at Eden Rock as well. Even the prince likes to rough it. Bugagoli was gorgeous. And the Nile was fast and fierce here. It made me question where the water really was coming from. Someone had told me it was from a spring, another person said it was from Lake Victoria. There was so much water I almost couldn’t believe either answer. After hanging out here we went to dinner at a Chinese restaurant named Ling Ling. Towards the end of the meal the waitress asked us for our phone number so we could “keep in touch.” We hadn’t even talked to her. Teresa says this is common. A lot of people (especially women) want to be your friend only because you are a Mzungu. We told her that we didn’t live in the area and it would be too hard to be friends. After dinner we went to the Jinja Nile Resort. The first year Peace Corps Volunteers were staying here for training. We drank a bunch and I got to put faces to some of the names Teresa had been talking about. Again we finished up the night eating potato chips in our Banda.

The next day we traveled back to Kampala. Checked into the Red Chilli again. We ran errands and did some more shopping. By this time I was exhausted and catching a cold. So I didn’t have much motivation to do anything. I also was starting to get sad about leaving. I was having such a great time and seeing such amazing things. I was feeling happy and stress free. The day went by fast. That evening we went to Brandon’s apartment. He is a Peace Corps volunteer that is stationed in Kampala. His place was much more city like than where Teresa lives. After hanging out with Brandon, Meera, Teresa and I went to Thai food. Yum. I was so pleased with the amount of vegetarian options in Uganda. There is a lot Indians in Uganda so vegetarian Indian food id wide spread. And often meat is expensive, so my diet was not ruined. After dinner we went to the Red Chilli, totally tired.

The next morning Teresa and I took a special hire to the Entebbe airport. As I waited for my plane, I realized how much I needed this vacation. I hadn’t taken a vacation in a long time, and the stress had built up. I was feeling tired but re-energized. I was feeling happy and good about myself. I was glad I go to see another culture and part of the world. It’s amazing how it is thousands of miles away but it reminded me of Mexico so much. I got on the plane and made it to London in one piece. I had an over night in a Sheraton in London. What a contrast to what I had been dealing with for the last two weeks. There was power and running water and no mosquitoes. I forgot to mention that in Uganda if you have power you probably don’t get it every day. Most places get it every other night, to allow everyone to get at least some power. Most businesses use generators.

The next day I flew back to San Francisco. I was glad to be home, but already missed my vacation and could feel the stress building up again. I am going to try to keep it at bay. It really hasn’t been helping me. All the roughing it, made me remember how much I like camping. I am hoping to get to do it more back here. Maybe I can talk my friends into going with me.

All in all this trip was amazing and hope I don’t forget it. Or at least like Teresa said, not lose the magic of it.

Out until 12-9

2004-11-25T20:07:00.000-08:00

Although the workload has dropped quite a bit recently, I have been super busy at work. I have had a big training to give and had to prepare for my trip. So when the weekend rolled around, I was totally ready for some R&R.

Friday after work I was planning to go out to Blinkie’s with Ami and the gang. But I wanted to get my run in first. So I rushed home from work. Went for my run, took a quick shower, got ready and jetted over to Ami’s house. We get the bar, and I am not drinking much because I don’t want to black out or anything. So everyone gets their second and third drink and I am still on my first. Proud of me? Well it didn’t last long. Next thing I know I am wasted and puking. I guess the whole not eating anything for the last 12 hours can really fuck you up.

On Saturday I helped my parent’s with their computer and then went to Ami’s to hang out. It was so much fun. They were going out that night, but I didn’t want to. So I just hung out with them until they had to leave. But it was so much fun. We couldn’t stop laughing. Everything was frickin’ hilarious. I felt like I was drunk or something. So as they were leaving I cruised home for an early night, instead I ended up getting a bunch of phone calls and staying on the phone all night.

Sunday I cleaned and prepared for the trip some more. I know I know, you would think I would be done preparing by this time...but no.

Tuesday was a big day for me. One of my client bases was getting 12 Blackberries for their users and wanted me to deploy and train them all at the same time, in one session. I had created a PowerPoint presentation and set up a conference room for it (complete with hubs, LAN cable, laptops, and projector). Well it ended up not going as planned. The network team had forgotten to create most of the Blackberry accounts so the users were getting tons of error messages. I tried to help everyone the best I could and still go through the training, but most people couldn’t follow along because their devices were not working properly. It was totally stressful and I was completely wound up after. But I learned a lot, and if I get to do this again I will be much more prepared. I talked to my boss about it, and she was still really pleased with me. She even had me share the PowerPoints with our team. Good points with the boss! Tuesday night I met Ryan in Santana Row. He brought his dog, Dakota my new best friend. We had a great time! We went to Straits for a drink. Unfortunately he had to pick up a friend from the airport so we couldn’t hang out longer. :( However I think we will be hanging out again.

Today was/is Thanksgiving. I had the family over this year. Only 5 of us, nothing crazy, and Kristina took care of the turkey. I wasn’t big on the cooking meat idea. Everything went well. Lots of food. Everyone got a lot of stuff to take home. We did it early this year so that Kristina and Anom could go to Anom’s family’s house for dinner. So everyone left my house fairly early and now I am bored. All my friends are out with their families. But once they are done I am sure we will meet up.

So this is where I leave you for the next few weeks. I am heading to Uganda in two days and won’t be back until the 9th of December. Wish me luck, and an enlightening and educational trip. You’ll hear about it when I get back!

Circle of Life

2004-11-17T18:07:00.000-08:00

Hello world! Welcome to Wednesday. Heh, sounds like first computer program you write in every intro to programming class.

Thursday was a day off. It was lovely. Kristina and I hung out most of the day. Shopping, lunch, drinks, talking. It’s nice having her close.

It was weird on Friday. Going back into work for only one day. It was pretty slow, but I had a bunch of stuff to take care of. After work on Friday, I went to Ami’s house. She wanted to go out, but Heather and I didn’t. We ended up staying at her house all night. We had so much fun. It was Ami, Heather, Scott, Graham, Dave, and myself. We drank and bunch of wine and laughed a lot. At one point Ami wanted to get some snacks. So Dave and her went to the store. When they came back we were like “what did you get? Listen to what they got. The list just keeps going and going. Spinach dip, French bread, mozzarella sticks, jalapeno poppers, two pizzas, biscuits, and cinnamon rolls. This is for 6 people can you believe it. So anyways, I passed out on Ami’s couch and woke up at like 3AM and drove home.

Saturday night a bunch of us were going out for Graham’s birthday. So I spent most to the day waffling around. I took back some stuff I had purchased and bought some new clothes. I think I have a clothing problem recently. I love buying it. Need to stop. Should be saving my money for more important things, like alcohol and hookers. Kidding. Ami and Graham picked me up at about 6 on Saturday night. We drove over to the Elephant Bar to meet everyone else for dinner. By the time we had enough people in our party to put our name in the wait was 1 hour and 40 minutes. I was expecting like an hour. So we were shocked. Ami called over to BJ’s. There was no wait. So we finished our drinks and moved the gang over there. Ate dinner at BJ’s. I had the veggie burger. Not very exciting I know. After dinner we all went to downtown Los Gatos. Some other people joined our group while we were at the Black Watch. It was fun. We drank there then went over to Carrie Nation’s. I saw some people that went to my high school. That was fun/weird. I guess it is to be expected now that I am living back in the South Bay. Then we went over to Mountain Charley’s. We danced and drank some more. My original group left to go home pretty early. But I stayed out with the new group. It was loads of fun. It’s nice to go out to new places. I have done the karaoke bar and SF thing so much lately.

On Sunday I started my day with some bad news. My grandma was in the hospital and dying. She has been doing really poorly for quite some time now. She hasn’t spoken in over a year and is nearly deaf and blind. My mom, sister and myself went to see her. It was kind of like a “see her one last time thing.” It was really hard to see her and be at the hospital. At one point I basically had to go to the bathroom, since I was feeling so sick. I wanted to puke and pass out. It was not a great way to round out the weekend. On Tuesday I found out that she was released from the hospital. So that means she is doing a little bit better. She has really been holding onto life for a long time.

On Monday after work Sarah came over to hang out. So much fun. We laughed and exchanged stories. Gotta love her. We are going to try and get together more regularly now. She stays in Saratoga a couple nights a week now for her job, so it will be easier.

It’s really died down at work this week. Too bad, I like it when it is busy.

Thistle Do

2004-11-08T17:07:00.000-08:00

The last few days I haven’t been feeling so well. Since I wasn’t feeling well I didn’t really do much. On Friday I went over to Ami’s to hang out. I got really drunk and needed to go home early. Luckily Scott drove me home.

On Saturday I had all sorts of plans. I was going to bring Nathan, Meital, and Mike to Alison’s housewarming party. Then to Home for dinner. Then to Macho. Apparently the best kept secret in the city. But Saturday afternoon I started to feel really sick. It came in waves so I thought I would be fine after awhile. We made it to the party. It was weird. There were tons of WOW people there that I hadn’t seen since Cal Poly. I got to hear what everyone was up to. Full time jobs, wives, etc. It felt kind of like a high school reunion. Cause even the people that weren’t there I heard about. Hearing about where they live now, who they are married to, etc. I feel like I am behind. While talking to Gordy and his new wife, I felt the urge to tell them that I had been in a long-term relationship that recently ended. I felt like that would prove that I wasn’t the same person, he had known 4 years ago. I had go through changes, stuff had happened to me. But I didn’t say anything that would have been weird. And in actuality since I am not in a relationship, I am sorta in the same place I was before. One thing that happened was so small but really bothered me. As we were leaving the party Mike sorta stumbled backward onto me. I laughed it was funny, because he didn’t see a step. Well a second later I did the exact same thing. So I was totally laughing that I just did the exact same thing that he did. But the rest of the party was laughing too. I don’t mind that they were laughing because it was funny. But then Keith said, “After 4 years Laura is still the same, nothing has changed.” Basically hinting that I was still a drunk. It’s true I still do drink a lot, but it just bothered me a little. I don’t want to be a different person; I liked who I was at Poly. But it just made me feel like all I was in Poly and now was a drunk. I know Keith didn’t even mean it that way. But in my psychotic mind that’s what I thought. I think and worry too much. So we left the party after not too long, because it was weird for Meital and Mike to. When we go to Home I sat down waiting for our table. I could barely move, so I apologized and left to go home. I hadn’t felt that sick in so long. I could barely make it to my car on the train, without passing out and puking. I finally made it home and started to feel better at about 10:30. But I was bummed that I missed an evening out.

I was feeling much better on Sunday. So I was able to get some errands and house stuff done. Unfortunately I woke up on Monday morning sick again. And had to call in sick. I hate calling in sick, but I was in no shape to go to the office.

One cool thing that has been happening over the last few days, Jason and I have been getting closer. I consider him one of my best friends. I really appreciate his friendship and I think he feels the same way. I tell him almost everything. I am already really open, but even more so with him. I look forward each day to talking to him.

Meow

2004-11-03T13:23:00.000-08:00

So the past few days have been an up and down.

On Friday I was exhausted from one of the more stressful weeks at work. After work I was tired and didn’t even have the energy to round the troops and see what was happening. I was thinking I would just go to bed early and prepare for the long weekend ahead. But then Tim asked me to go to Rooster T. Feather’s. I had never been and decided what the hell. I had a great time. The comics were hilarious. I totally want to go again, except I am worried I will get made fun of. This isn't just like my friends making fun of me, this is the professionals making fun of you. After the show, Tim and I talked and hung out on my porch. He is a comic and you could tell. I was laughing the entire time. FUN! Of course my jokes were totally stupid compared to his.

Saturday we got an early start, 3PM. Ami, Graham, and I headed to Boulder Creek for Chris and Jami’s Halloween party. Other than the car ride up there (got really car sick), it was a lot of fun. They have a cute little two bedroom house in mountains. Lots of trees and a creek. The party was fun. Not too many people, not too few. It was just a good group. I dressed up as a cat. Meow! At one point I was pretending to dig around in Jami's planter box. It was hilarious. Actually "hysterical" I think was the term used. But Chris had the best costume…he was a ballerina. The next morning we all woke up and walked to a little restaurant in downtown Boulder Creek for breakfast. And then headed home.

On Sunday, Kristina and I went and saw our parents for a short while. I couldn’t spend too long cause I was going up to the city for the Halloween bash. Marc, Nathan, Meital, Jenny, Dan, Greg and I all met at Mike’s for a little pre party and BBQ then we headed to the Castro. The Muni ride was crazy. It was half the party there. It was packed with people screaming, drinking, and falling. It was so much fun. Once we arrived at the Castro the chaos really began. We walked around and went to Badlands. I hadn't been there in a long time. I pulled a Laura and took a huge fall, totally hurting my tailbone. We stayed out really late, and by the end of the night I was so ready to go home. My feet were hurting and I was tired.

I took Monday off of work to recuperate, for obvious reasons.

Fast forward to Tuesday/Wednesday. Although I was fairly certain what the outcome of this election would be, it doesn’t make it any easier. I don’t understand how so many people can vote for a man and party that reject civil rights, research, peace, and the American people. We the people need a voice and the Republicans are not the party to give us that voice. The country and the world are in a fragile place right now, and I am certain that this administration brought us to this place, and cannot take us out. It makes me feel hurt, disappointed, angry, and just plain tired to think about what is happening to our country.

Belated

2004-10-29T18:41:00.000-07:00

Sorry this entry is delayed. I say that as if someone actually reads this.

Last Friday after work, I met up with Chris, Graham, Ami, and Jami at their friend Joe’s house. There were a bunch of people there hanging out and playing games. Some of the people were doing nitrous. I haven’t done that since high school, and I have no intention of starting to again. We stayed for a little while, and then Ami, Jami, and I realized we would have much more fun hanging out with each other at Ami’s. So we ditched the guys can went to Ami’s apartment. We hung out and played video games. I feel asleep on Ami’s couch for a while, and then finally went home.

I can’t even remember what I did on Saturday. But on Saturday night I went to Mike’s for a party. First the A list had dinner. We were going to BBQ, but it was raining and cold, so instead we did the grill pan. Another great thing about Mike is always thinks of the vegetarians. He had the George Foreman grill labeled “Veggie Only”, so that we wouldn’t have to cook our stuff with the meat. Thoughtful. So the party was totally fun. I took a nap during the peak of the party for like an hour. It was cool cause when I woke up I was ready to keep partying. And it helped me from getting too drunk and making a really big fool of myself. Our friend Matt brought one of the hottest guys I have seen in a long time. It was funny to see all of us drool over him. Oh did I mention he was straight. Finally Jenny and I get a break. And we did. Thanks Jenny.

The next morning we all brunched at Mike’s house. Yum. I came home in the late afternoon, ready to do some stuff around the house. But Ami called to see if I wanted to see a movie. So we went to dinner and a movie. Now let me ask you this…when you think of a Greek salad, what do you think goes in it? I am thinking greens, tomatoes, olives, and feta, not shrimp. Well my salad came with shrimp. Ummm...gross. After dinner we saw “The Grudge.” I like scary movies, so I thought this one was pretty good.

On Tuesday after work, I went to hang out with Michael. I only stayed for about 2 hours and then left to come home. It was cool. We actually talked about some of the dates we had been on. No one freaked out. However we only talked about the bad dates.

I had Wednesday off, and had to go to Kaiser to get my travel shots. I got five of them. And they really hurt. The shots not so much, but the after math. It is 3 days later and I still don’t have full mobility in my right arm. I also got Malaria pills. I don’t start taking them for another couple weeks, but they sound really intense. Like the side effects are strong and common. Scary. And the yellow fever shot, is a live shot, so now I am worried I will get yellow fever. I am being paranoid.

This upcoming weekend is Halloween. It should be a great time. I just hope I meet up with the gang on Sunday.

Heifer is the new Tranny

2004-10-20T15:12:00.000-07:00

Since I didn’t drink last weekend I decided to this weekend. Heh.

On Friday I cruised with Ami and Graham to Blinkie’s. It’s a total dive bar in Santa Clara that has Karaoke on Friday nights. As per usual Ami and Graham did a few numbers, while I watched and got drunk. My mind was wandering and I was being paranoid about my life, so Ami made it a point to get me loaded. The highlight of the night was when I was sitting at the bar enjoying my Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. I looked down and behind the bar and just in case I wasn’t sure if I was in a dive bar or not, I saw it. There was dog just cruising a behind the bar and walking around this fine establishment. No one was alarmed or asking where the dog came from. Business as usual. When was the last time you saw a dog at the Bubble Lounge, or Catch. And with that I made my first round of drunk calls/text messages for the night. As I proceeded to get drunker and drunk, my memory got fuzzier and fuzzier. The next morning I woke up and did what any good drunk would do. I checked my call logs to see who I called and when. And that brings me to my second round of drunk calls.

On Saturday I hung out with Ami again and picked up my car at her house. Later that evening I left for the city. Mike was having an A list party/BBQ at his house. It was fun. A good group of us. Not too many people and not too few. I hadn’t seen Jenny or Evan in awhile so it was good to see them. It was at this event that I realized how far removed from the salon/fashion/rich lifestyle I am. I already knew it, but it was made clear again that night. This one girl whom I don’t know well, but I really like was talking about going to a salon. She said like it was nothing that she had gotten a pedicure, manicure, waxing, color, and cut. It’s funny cause those things are not important to me at all. I could see getting them done every so often, but regularly. That just seems silly for me. Not silly for her, just to me. A few were talking about shopping at places like Miss Sixty and Energy. I cannot fathom spending that much on clothes. These are places that I am not even familiar with, let alone consider shopping there. I don’t know just an observation.

On Sunday I began my quest for capri pants for my trip. Apparently no one sells them this late in the year. I should have gotten my act together over the summer and bought them. I can’t wear shorts or anything above the knee in Uganda, so capris are the way to go. Oh and I am not willing to spend much on them, because I am not sure if I will wear them when I get back. After a few days of shopping and asking around, I found my capri headquarters. Amazon.com! Genius. The trip is right around the corner. Teresa has already made us an itinerary. I am so excited about it. Not scared or nervous at all! Well maybe a little for the shots I have to get next week.

You would be proud

2004-10-14T15:23:00.000-07:00

Someone recently told me that every entry in this journal is about drinking. Well to that I say "You would be proud of me, this weekend I did not get drunk." And that also means that this entry will be boring. No drunken stories about puking, or strippers, or saying something stupid. Wait no, I say stupid stuff without alcohol. That point is proven almost every day.

After work on Friday, I went to Mike's to watch the debate with a small group of people. Greg, Noah, Shannon, and Renato joined us. Thank god for Tivo, because they kept on talking over it, and I was getting frustrated. Come on people this is important stuff. After watching the debate, we hung out a for awhile, some of the group was going out. I decided to go home, since it was already close to mid-night.

On Saturday morning I spent the day buying replacement towels, bedding, and other assorted home furnishings. The old stuff I had purchased when I moved to Alameda. I had just started working and couldn't really afford to buy anything of too high quality. So it was definitely in need of replacement. Hot pink seems to be the new color I am drawn to. My bedroom and bathroom are predominately pink now. But not gross out bubble gum or old lady pink. Later on Saturday I went to Ami's house to kill some time. We just kind of hung out and decided to go to Karaoke again that night. Her friend Ryan wanted to hear her sing too. I was the designated driver (aren't you proud), so I was planning on leaving early. But I ended up staying until the bitter end since I was having so much fun. Ryan was fun to talk to, and he said I had a really sharp wit! I like it. At the end of the night guess where we went…Carrow's. Really starting to see a pattern here.

Sunday was more of the same weekend stuff, except we took my dad out for dinner for his birthday. We went to Benihana's. I hadn't been there in like 10 years. It was really good. Thankfully the one vegetarian item on the menu, I liked. It was kind of expensive for dinner, but considering what you got it was totally reasonable.

On Tuesday I was supposed to go out with Stephen, however those plans fell threw. Stephen seems cool, so I guess I am going to give him another chance. I wasn't mad about it, just confused. It seemed like he was so interested that he would have wanted to hang out as soon as possible. I don't get straight men. There needs to be a website, where you enter in things a guy says and does, click submit and you get a page that tells you what it means. That way you know what you are getting yourself into. For example: If the website comes back saying "He just wants sex." This could have turned into a problem, but now that you know, it could just turn into a lot of fun. Now you can make an informed decision. Do you drop him? Or do you have a friends with benefits?

My last college recruiting event of the season was yesterday. It was San Jose State's Business Career Fair. This was a total disappointment and waste of time. Since we are a corporate sponsor they put us in our of room adjacent to the normal fair room. It was supposed to give us more space and allow us to be in the cool air conditioning. However people didn't even know we were there, so we didn't get much foot traffic at all. A lot of the time was spent talking to the other PGE recruiters, because there just wasn't enough students. We requested not to be put in that room again.

Here is a side thought. I think there should be a rule about cooking/heating up fish in the workplace. I have had enough of the gross smell of fish wafting into my cubicle and ruining my air supply. The Bush Administration is already taking care of that I don't need my co-workers to help out too.

Let it Flow

2004-10-04T17:46:00.000-07:00

How can I describe this weekend? Hmmm...how about “intoxicating”.

Friday after work I went to Ami and Graham’s apartment. They had two friends from Scotland visiting and wanted to show them a goodtime. So Jami, Ami, Graham, Scott, Chris, and I took the girls out. It was nice to have them there because the last few times we have been out it has been couples and then me. We went to downtown Sunnyvale. It was fun, I haven’t been there since before Ami was married. I had a few drinks and danced to a few songs, but by the end of the night I was done. This is what happens when you wake up all week at 5AM. One of the Scottish girls was sick, so at last call Scott, and I took her back home in a cab. We had to pull the cab over a few times for her to get out, if you know what I mean.

Saturday I woke up and got ready to go to the Love Parade in San Francisco. I had been looking forward to it for awhile. Donald Glaude and DJ Dan were going to be there!! So I met Marc and Shannon at Marc’s place. From there we went to the apartment where Shannon was staying to drop off his car. This apartment was amazing. It was nicely decorated and had an awesome layout. This was like my dream apartment. So we had a few drinks there and then left to make our way to the parade. We stopped at Palomino for a drink and a shot. Well you know how that works. It never is just one drink. We ended up spending at least $200 there. We were wasted; I don’t really remember leaving Palomino. However apparently I fell down in front of the restaurant and I have the scrapes on my forehead to prove it. Real classy I tell you, real classy. And apparently I got some guy’s phone number at the bar. I didn’t even know I got the phone number until Sunday morning when I went to get my wallet out and the bar napkin with the phone number fell out. Um…yeah I don’t think I will be calling him. We make our way down Embarcadero. However I am so drunk that I don’t even make it to the Love Parade.  Shannon and I go back to the apartment. He takes a nap and I pass out. This is about 6 PM, mind you. Marc said it best: I am going home earlier and earlier each weekend. Last weekend it was 10PM, then Saturday it was 6PM, next weekend I am just going to walk outside, be drunk, turn around to go back home.

I wake up at 1AM and no one is home yet. Finally Marc and Shannon get home at about 4 with these 2 people they found along the way. Just another night in the Castro. I stay up with them chatting until about 5:30AM. We try to go back to sleep, but I am tossing and turning. When Marc wakes up we make our way to his house, for clean clothes and showers. Then from there to Mike’s for brunch. Yummy! By this time I am exhausted, because I have been up since about 1AM. So unfortunately I don’t make it to the Castro Street Fair. I come home, watch some movies and eat with Kristina. Unable to keep my eyes open any longer I am in bed by about 8:45. I told you I am getting old.

It was a tiring drunken weekend, but I loved it.

Take 505 to 5

2004-09-28T22:03:00.000-07:00

So I have had a busy few days.

Wednesday was my regular day off so I spent the morning lounging around and getting ready for my “business trip.” I left in the early afternoon and drove up to Chico. I hit a bunch of traffic, but it still went by pretty fast. When I got there I checked into my hotel. It is the nicest hotel in Chico. But Chico is little so it is all relative. But my room had two TVs, and I don’t even have one at home. And it is was a suite so I had a living area and free Internet access. After having a couple drinks at the complimentary happy hour at the hotel, I went and spent a little while with Lynda. I was tired and went back to the hotel and made use of that free Internet. FUN!

On Thursday I got to sleep in a bit because the career fair started later than expected. The fair was fun. I saw a lot of people who I knew. I was surprised cause I thought everyone was gone. I don’t know if we got a lot of great candidates, but there were definitely some that I pushed to apply. On Thursday night I stayed at Patrick and Lynda’s. We were going to go out drinking, but after dinner and a couple drinks I passed out on their couch and was in bed by 10. I am getting old.

Friday started out dope. We just had a relaxing day. We went shopping. I bought a skirt and a shirt. The shirt is totally cool, but I have no idea where I am going to wear this. It is really revealing for me. I guess I will have to wear it to a bar or something. After shopping we went to dinner and started drinking. I was wasted. And I will leave it at that.

Saturday I came home. That night Michael and I went to see Mitch Hedberg in SF. We didn’t know the second headliner, but he was awesome too. His name is Stephen Lynch and he is a comedian too. His main routine is to sing funny songs. It may sound lame, but between the two of them I was laughing so hard. Michael had a good time too. It was totally worth it. Now I want to see more comedy shows.

On Sunday I went with Sarah and her mom to see Rent. I had heard it was great, and you know what it really was. It was different than any other musical than I have seen before. I recommend it. It is especially good for the generation Xer types.

And well Monday was back to the old grind at work. I had my quarterly review with my boss though and it went really well. She didn’t have anything negative to say, and said she was confident about me taking over as senior again. So that is really cool that I have her trust and confidence. And she gave me some good advice for my development. Made me not want to quit my job. But give me some time who knows. I seem to go back and forth on this one.

Blowfish Blow Off?

2004-09-21T22:10:00.000-07:00

So how did I last leave you….hmmm not sure.

Well let’s see I will take you through the weekend. After work on Friday Mike, Oscar, Kristina, and I went to the Tonga Room for happy hour. It looked like a place out of Disneyland or Las Vegas. It had a Polynesian theme complete with water and boat in the middle. And every half hour or so it rained. Weird. I was so tired that I could only have one drink and needed to go home. Not drunk go home, but tired go home. So I went home and I was in bed by like 10PM. Very boring for a Friday I know.

On Saturday Michael came over and hung out. He helped me with my computers and spent some time with Persephone. It was nice to see him cause I really feel like we can be friends. That night I went with Ami, Graham, Chris, and Jami to Karaoke. I didn’t sing, but I got to see Ami and Graham sing. They are both really good. Not just good cause it is Karaoke, but actually good singers. After that we went to late night Carrow’s, I told you it is so South Bay.

Sunday I didn’t do much. Kristina and I went shopping. I bought a black sweater to attempt to replace the one I lost at the fashion show about a month ago. On Sunday night I met Skyler for drinks at Blowfish. I guess it was a date, but who knows. It was fun. A little awkward at times, but not a bad awkward. Those of you that know me, know that I can be a little scattered, aloof, and random. Sunday was no different and I am thinking Skyler thought I was crazy. But he was fun to talk to and he is a computer guy so if nothing else you know what that does for me. One thing that I thought was interesting, I did not catch him looking at my chest once during the whole night. Either he didn’t notice, I didn’t notice, or he is just a gentleman. Tough call. Who knows what will happen next?

I had to go to work these past two days, but I don’t have to go back to the office for the next five days. RDO, Chico Career Fair, Chico, Saturday, Sunday. I have a feeling my next entry may be a good one. Can’t wait.

Down in Front

2004-09-17T10:44:00.000-07:00

Most of this past weekend was nothing to write home about. I hung out with Ami and my San Jose friends most of the time. Nothing too exciting just visiting and catching up. They had just came back from Cancun so they had some good stories. On Saturday night Anom, Kristina, and I went to Blowfish for a drink and then to Consuelo’s for dinner. Blowfish is a bar/sushi place. It has a really cool feel and plays anime on tons of different screens. Consuelo’s is a tapas place in Santana Row, and so good. My favorite thing there is now the stuffed Portobello mushrooms. Yum.

On Sunday I went up to the city for Opera in the Park. Mike, Marc, Dan, and I had a fabulous time. We drank wine, ate hummus, and enjoyed the sunshine in Golden Gate Park. The weather was wonderful and the company to die for. The highlight was when we got told to keep it down like 3 times. We were being fairly courteous, but the Opera nuts were not so tolerant of our laughing and talking. We ate dinner at Hahn’s Hibachi in the Sunset after and then came home. It was a nice way to round out the weekend.

The highlight of my week so far was on Wednesday I went to UC Berkeley to recruit college students for my company. It was a lot of fun. I met some really fantastic candidates and was able to network a little bit with the other recruiters. I get to recruit at Chico State next week, so I am totally looking forward to that. There is something alluring about going back to my alma mater and talking to soon to be alums. I am kind of jealous of the people that get to recruit full time…it seems like such a fun job. By the end of the day however, I was totally exhausted.

Long Strange Trip

2004-09-09T17:13:00.000-07:00

In a word this weekend was needed.

Friday after work I went over to Mike’s for dinner. I knew I wasn’t going to go out because I just had too much to do and wanted to spend some time at home. So after dinner I came home and did stuff around the house and went to bed early. I had been tired from the week before. I had been staying up late and getting up early. It was a welcome change to go to bed at a reasonable hour sober.

On Saturday I woke up and did some errands and stuff around the house preparing for some people to come over that night. Jenny, Marc, Mike, Michael P., and Nathan all came over for dinner and drinks. From my house we proceeded to go to TD’s. The best part is the cab that drove us. It was the executive cab with luxurious seats, DVD player, TV, and yes a red carpet. We watched jery Springer on the way to the bar. Awesome! Ralph, Greg, and Renato met up with us at TDs. To sum it up we got drunk, Greg almost got kicked out, Marc jumped in a random convertible, Jenny broke her purse, and I lied down on the sidewalk. Once we were done there we drunkenly went to Carrow’s. That’s so south bay.

The next morning my friends left and I cleaned and got ready to head up to Mike’s for a Labor Day BBQ. It was fun we talked and hung out. And let's be honest we drank too. Some people were going to a Tranny show after the BBQ and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go or not. I knew that if I went I would want to be drunk and I was not. And if I got drunk then I would be in until Monday morning. I decided to go home. It worked out because turns out the line for the show was so long they didn’t get in. And I got home in time to meet up with a friend online.

On Monday Kristina, Anom and I went to Tapestry and Talent in downtown San Jose. After a few hours in the sun and a few beers down we found ourselves acting a tad belligerent. I made a few drunks calls (think Mike), always a blast. We had another drink and dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory then headed home. Apparently I can drink Anom under the table cause he was out the second we got home. Kristina and I just hung out for the rest of the night.

I woke up on Tuesday and was like “I can’t believe I still have two days.” Basically I did errands and relaxed for the rest of my vacation. It’s amazing what you can get done when everyone else is at work and not around to distract you.

One thing I did during my time off was think about grad school some more. I want to go, that is a given. But when, where, how? Should I quit my job and go, should I stay in state or go somewhere different? Who knows, maybe Tony Robbins and I can work on this one.

But it is back to the old grind on Thursday…which I realize may not actually be Thursday by the time I post this.

Gotta start somewhere

2004-09-03T15:42:00.000-07:00

So since this my first entry I feel like I should talk about myself or do a sort of lead in, but that is boring. I am going to start this as if I having doing it for years.

Last weekend was exhausting. Marc was having his birthday dinner at 8:30 on Friday in the Mission. Of course I was going, but wasn’t sure what to do for 3 and a half hours after work, so I joined Mike and Nathan for the Details fashion show at Macy’s. With a $20 donation you get to drink all you want and get to stare at the hot models. So of course we had to maximize our time and money. Although Mike and Nathan insist I was hitting on the models, I say I was not. Talking is not hitting. Although let’s be honest they were hot. We leave the fashion show and to say we were buzzed would be an understatement. Apparently we BARTed over to the restaurant for the dinner. Things are very fuzzy at this point. I barely remember being at the restaurant but I hear that I was the highlight of the night. When we get there I guess I am saying hi to everyone, but Jenny is no where to be found. Finally she comes out of the bathroom and I spot her. And with volume and gumption I yell “JENNY!”. Dan says it was one of those moments that you would see on a reality show. Everyone in the restaurant gets silent and turns to look at me. But you know what I don’t care. And well I don’t remember anything else from the night, except the fact that I made it home.

Saturday was one of those loungy days. I went shopping and bought a bunch of stuff on sale and the Gap. Did some errands, cleaned up a little, helped my mom with her computers, and played around on the internet. Nothing exciting. The exciting part was coming…Marc was having a birthday party that night. And 9 of us had gone in together and gotten Marc a male stripper. Of course it was a surprise. I get to the party and decide not to drink for awhile. Since I was spearheading the stripper I didn’t want to be too drunk by the time he got there. I wanted to coherently give him the money and show him where to change. He showed up and it was hilarious. Marc had no idea. The stripper was fun, but honestly it got boring towards the end. The night ended with the usual drunken stories and passing out. I woke up and some point in the wee hours of the morning and drove home.

Sunday I was hoping to get my computer back from Michael. So when he woke up and said the computer would be ready soon, I darted up to SF again. I get to Michael’s and my computer is not ready and pretty much all of my data is gone. That’s right all my old school work, resume, pictures gone. Needless to say I was sad. Michael and I started talking about getting a new computer for me. And since my PC was of no value anymore this seemed like the right time. After much discussion and comparison we ended up at the Apple store putting in an order for a 12 inch PowerBook. Fancy.

So ever since Sunday I have been playing around with my PowerBook. Honestly I have not even taken my PC out of the trunk of my car. I think I will tonight. I still want to keep and use it.

Next stop...my five day weekend. Can't wait!