I have 9 days to catch up.

Happy Birthday to my BFF.

Bay Area, July 2006, day 2: the morning after.

Oh to wake up feeling like you were in a train wreck. Because that patron shot really was a freakin' train. It's ok though, because when you live life four years behind, it's appropriate to be drunk and loud out with the girls. We are turning "21" this year. I heart my BFF's.

Photo log of yesterday:

Matt is a cyborg.

Vicky laughs a lot.

The ten-minute photo.

Insert photo here of "living life" (i.e. drinking at 3pm on a Friday afternoon)

Insert panicked clenching of water bottle when the plane couldn't land and had to pull back up away from the runway (flying up the coast at sunset is absolutely gorgeous, by the way).

Viva Italia! (eating downstairs and Jess has great boobs)

Bachelor party shot #1.

Bachelor party shot #2. (the hot best man/brother is mine)

Jess has some wasted girl on her shoulder.

Followed by the drag-ass-out-of-bed to shop at the Ferry Building. And tonight, the dinner. I'm excited!

I'm pretty impressed w/ the sound quality on my little camera.

This is Belle and Sebastian + LA Phil.

Big Blue Bus + being an LA Pedestrian.

Distance...

To my office: 2.9 mi
To Starbucks: 0.4 mi and 0.4 mi, equidistant
To the climbing gym: 1.2 mi
To Trader Joe's: 1.5 mi
To my weekday restaurants (Feast from the East, Country Market and Cafe, California Chicken Cafe): 0.7 mi
To Big Chill: 0.4 mi
To my blading spot on the beach: 4.1 mi

And it's just a quick couple of hours to some stellar climbing. I heart LA.

You captivate me, you nut.

My friend assures me, "It's all or nothing."
I am not worried I am not overly concerned
My friend implores me, "For one time only,
make an exception." I am not worried

Wrap her up in a package of lies
Send her off to a coconut island
I am not worried I am not overly concerned with the status of my emotions
"Oh," she says, "you're changing."
But we're always changing

It does not bother me to say this isn't love
Because if you don't want to talk about it then it isn't love
And I guess I'm going to have to live with that
But I'm sure there's something in a shade of grey,
Something in between,
And I can always change my name
If that's what you mean

My friend assures me, "It's all or nothing."
But I am not really worried I am not overly concerned
You try to tell yourself the things you try to tell yourself
To make yourself forget I am not worried
"If it's love," she said, "then we're going to have to think about the consequences."
She can't stop shaking I can't stop touching her and...

This time when kindness falls like rain
It washes her away and Anna begins to change her mind
"These seconds when I'm shaking leave me shuddering for days," she says
And I'm not ready for this sort of thing

But I'm not going to break and I'm not going to worry about it anymore
I'm not going to bend, and I'm not going to break and
I'm not going to worry about it anymore
It seems like I should say, "As long as this is love..."
But it's not all that easy so maybe I should

Snap her up in a butterfly net
Pin her down on a photograph album
I am not worried I've done this sort of thing before
But then I start to think about the consequences
Because I don't get no sleep in a quiet room and...

The time when kindness falls like rain
It washes me away and Anna begins to change my mind
And everytime she sneezes I believe it's love and
Oh lord, I'm not ready for this sort of thing

She's talking in her sleep
It's keeping me awake and Anna begins to toss and turn
And every word is nonsense but I understand and
Oh lord, I'm not ready for this sort of thing

Her kindness bangs a gong
It's moving me along and Anna begins to fade away
It's chasing me away She disappears and
Oh lord, I'm not ready for this sort of thing

And according to recent polls, air is good.

Seth MacFarlane is my new Ron Livingston.

I like a guy who uses words such as "erudite", and who can make me laugh. AND laughs at my jokes. Ok, so Seth MacFarlane has never laughed at my jokes, but he so would.

And his normal voice is sexy.

Ok, maybe not THAT worth it.

My poor old body apparently can't take whatever it is I'm doing to it. I had to give up a perfectly good day of climbing because something pissed off my system all night. I guess I have to remember I'm chasing after clingy 4-7 year olds (aka, manifestations of snot and germs) and my immune system isn't exactly stoked.

Words of wisdom: You can never be too OCD about washing your hands.

I'll have a smokin' fun evening, on the rox, with a twist of RTB.

Tonight was so much fun!!

So who performed again?

And I'm going to hurt in the morning and it's so worth it.

on tap.

the wake-up: extremely groggy, achy joints, tendons screaming "dammit, why did you have to try that red-orange problem so many freakin' times?"
the caffeine jolt: tall iced nonfat latte from Starbucks #1 (ran into Charlie there and forgot to ask about the baby!)
the menu: FH Special (that's Freakishly Healthy). Ingredients: ground turkey breast (99% fat free), organic chicken broth, and every vegetable in the fridge (today: zucchini, onions, red bell peppers, spinach). saute with some EVOO and crushed red pepper flakes.
the soundtrack to the cooking scene: Dispatch, but of course.
the mid-morning chat with mom: she gets the mom award for trying to understand me, then just staying out of it when she can't.
the mid-morning dilemma: to call, or not to call.
the dear god it's almost noon and I need to transcribe faster: see ya.

bff hour.

it's like, you want to be all annoyingly-glass-half-full.
it's profoundly a little bit sad.
but remember, we wouldn't have it any other way.

the fact of the matter is he HAS ruined you for life,
as horrible as it sounds and as much as you want to say, "no he hasn't..."
really, you're forever changed.

bastard. :)

Do you listen to yourself when you talk? I drift in and out.

So I didn't finish the red/orange tonight. Oh well.

The next month will be full of accomplishments: in the physical world, in the professional world, in the emotional world, in the relationship world.

I am inspired by those who step outside their comfort zone.

untitled.

to notice and be noticed.
to choose and be chosen.
to pursue and be pursued.
to think of and be thought of.
to read and be read.

to entertain and be entertained.
to smother and be smothered.
to rescue and be rescued.
to nurture and be nurtured.
to push and be pushed.

to miss and be missed.
to check up on and be checked up on.
to appreciate and be appreciated.
to work and be worked.
to try and be tried.

to get and be gotten.

Make it happen.

the extra parking spot next to the construction fence, soon to be two extra spots.
well-researched investment decisions.
the booth you were eyeing when you walked in, BEFORE the other group.
the movie title/Charles Dickens novel.
second base.
third base.

Let it go, let it go, let it go.

I think I'll go home and mull this over
Before I cram it down my throat
At long last it's crashed, this colossal mass
Has broken up into bits in my moat.

Lift the mattress off the floor
Walk the cramps off
Go meander in the cold
Hail to your dark skin
Hiding the fact you're dead again
Underneath the power lines seeking shade
Far above our heads are the icy heights that contain all reason

It's a luscious mix of words and tricks
That let us bet when you know we should fold
On rocks I dreamt of where we'd stepped
And all the whole mess of roads we're now on.

Hold your glass up, hold it in
Never betray the way you've always known it is.
One day I'll be wondering how
I got so old just wondering how
I never got cold wearing nothing in the snow.

This is way beyond my remote concern
Of being condescending

Oh these squawking birds won't quit.
Building nothing, laying bricks.

Hold your glass up, hold it in
Never betray the way you've always known it is.
One day I'll be wondering how
I got so old just wondering how
I never got cold wearing nothing in the snow.

This is way beyond my remote concern
Of being condescending

Oh these squawking birds won't quit.
Building nothing, laying bricks.

It's sad that lisp has an s and stutter has two t's.

So Henry is this kid in my class. When I describe him to friends, they immediately picture Jonathan Lipnicki in Jerry Maguire, and that's a pretty close approximation. The best part about Henry, besides the fact that he has no concept of personal space and is quite possibly the most publicly affectionate person ever (leave the kisses for home, buddy), is that he can't control the volume of his voice. So picture him, amongst the group of 4-7 year olds on the "pizza crust" of our rug, trying to be discreet about telling his friend something when he's supposed to be listening to the teacher. He leans in really close to his friend's ear, holds his hand up to shield the sound, and, at full-volume, practically yells (in a nasal voice) "DID YOU KNOW THAT I SAW FIREWORKS??"

I couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Lone guy with a guitar + full orchestra.

Hollywood Bowl trip #3. Yet another hot date. Man, I have good looking friends.

So the Hollywood Bowl is THE place to be if you're a couple in love, or if you're a couple just wanting to grope each other a little bit to the mellow sounds of a Scottish indie group led by a musician dressed in mime attire. And asking for mascara and an extra dress from the audience. Another gorgeous night in Southern California, another gorgeous Cabernet downed a bit too quickly.

So if we walked in during the Shins' 3rd to last song, does it count that I've seen them in concert?

I'll ask Mr. Hoeger's dad.

A couple of glasses of wine might make it go down a bit smoother.

I apologize for putting you through this, but it was just TOO HILARIOUS to leave out. This was the Sergio Mendes night. The video is more for your listening pleasure than for viewing purposes, but if you pay attention closely, you'll notice the light-show tumblers, the insane amounts of cellphone/PDA "lighters" swaying, and us swaying along as well. And me singing.

Hail to Big Bear.

Thanks to Jason for introducing us to the land where climbs only get better with time and don't take off four layers of fingertip skin in the process. And where the Italian food is so good that the oh-so-bad service doesn't keep you away. And where high clearance vehicles are a must, even if Vicky doesn't mind you bottoming out her lovely blue Infiniti. Twice.

So how was my 4th of July weekend? (photos by Jason)

low to mid 80's. slight drizzle, intermittent and sporadic. tank tops and capris. frozen Nalgenes. classic 5.7-->10a's and 5.9's. our fearless photographer anchored to the top.


slight drizzle-->heavy rain-->Is that HAIL??? I don't think I've ever seen hail before.


yeah, that's hail.


sweet jesus... don't f*ck with mother nature.


it's a good thing we had shelter planned from the get go. it's too bad we didn't plan the mud rivers.

Well, my first hail storm. Kind of crazy and wonderful at the same time.

Breaking the unintentional blogging sabbatical.

When you don't post every day, it so easily turns into one of those "here's what I've been up to" blurbs. It's a bit like catching up with an old friend over designer coffee/Philippes/you name it. So here's my catch up.

Hollywood Bowl. Went from "never been there" to "been there twice now".
Night One: Carlos Santana, Andre Watts, the way too far away Blue Man Group, the "meanest nun ever" who comforted me while pouring Diet Barq's on me, the leaping spiders that were so big, they had to have eaten all of the other ones, the funny but sad couple in front of us, the drunk girls next to the drunk girls (us), the hot guy w/ the overly-prissy girlfriend, the rehearsed line to make me sound so cool on the phone, and the priceless mother/son moment on the bus ride home.
Night Two: Sergio Mendes and a whole lot of one-song guests, the utterly hilarious ballad mid-show (when I figure out how to link to vidoe, I will), the 11.99 but utterly awesome red, and the seizure-inducing light show tumblers.

Palo Alto, California. Spent a nice couple of days up at the Sheraton for a meeting at the Carnegie Foundation. Gorgeous building... if educators can't be productive there, they can't be productive anywhere. Perhaps the "dish hike" could be some inspiration for others. I was, as usual, the youngest person there by a decade, and yes, it's still funny to be "carded" at the champagne reception by no less than the foundation president. Caught Mell for some quality bff time between work and a night that led to a morning IM (haha), and will have to use the lovely luggage tag for my next bay area trip. Did some Santana Row shopping with Wendy and Shirley after a light Italian lunch on a bright afternoon with a not-so-bright waiter.

Game night, Southern California. Sapporo cans! Tim and I make quite the Apples to Apples team. Even if others don't think bats are loud nor chickens spontaneous. And the girls ALWAYS win at Taboo. It's a well-documented gender difference, along with planning, eating, lying, and peeing while sitting. And 45 miles north, another game night was going on. This one not as fun with a Ryan-clone manning the game cards. Poor things.

So what the hell does "dressing on the side" mean to the rest of you?