Yesterday I called my mom in tears because McCain had picked a woman running mate and it is all over my friends! She assured me that it was nothing to worry about: Sarah Palin has less than no experience and will be the proverbial nail in the coffin for McCain. We hope. It's Obama's campaign to lose. Today I called Nevada residents to tell them to vote for Obama. Just for one hour, but it was more than nothing.
If things don't go the way I want them to in November (on my birthday eve! And I want a happy birthday...)...I won't come back. I won't come home from France. I'll live abroad and essentially expatriate myself!
Less than a month. Just over 2 weeks left at the silver shop job, about 2.5 weeks left in California, and I guess just a *scoche* more than that in the country. The South of France, here I come! I'm going to get as much volunteering for the Obama campaign in as I can before then! And then hope and pray.
I saw Ever After just now. That will be my life in France, hell yeah! Beautiful scenery, beautiful men, what more could I ask for?
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Monday, August 11, 2008
Bob Costas: sexist!
Shocking, right? This evening, the first opportunity I've gotten to seriously watch the olympics (goddamnit! I've been too busy living a fabulous life, going out in San Francisco, etc.), Bob Costas literally and seriously offended me when he referred to the 4x100 meter relay in swimming as...the 4x100 meter relay. What's wrong with that? You (and my 14-year-old cousin Reid) might ask. Hey Bob, don't you mean the MEN'S 4x100 meter relay, as opposed to, oh, I don't know, the WOMEN'S 4x100 meter relay?!?!? Effectively, by referring to it as THE event, he implied (or did he infer?) that the other one was the OTHER one. Thanks. Because men are the center of the universe and women fill peripheral not-as-important supporting roles. I'm disappointed.
I have so much to do before I leave for France. Which is a good thing. Otherwise I would spend my time until then being morose about the fact that I'm not there yet. Work. It. Out.
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Tuesdays with Madeleine
Heckled by the French
Today I drove up beautiful highway 1 to San Francisco, where I had a quite fabulous day with my little cousin Madeleine. First we waited around in the French consulate for a couple hours where I got my (free!) visa for France, but only after getting heckled by a French woman. Apparently the last time I went to France I stayed 2 months longer than I was supposed to, and SHOULD have applied for residency, but didn't...hence I had been illegal! I better not be pulling that shit again. ...She said to me dryly. As she handed my passport over. We've all got to get our jollies somehow, I guess.
An Object Lesson: Wine Glass Half-Full, or Half-Empty?
Then Madeleine and I bumbled our way through the city to Fisherman's Wharf, where we had a delectable lunch on the 3rd floor of some building, where we paid twice as much for the same food that was being served down on the street. BUT, we had a view of the Golden Gate bridge, and a tablecloth! When my glass of house Pinot Noir came, Madeleine was shocked that it was half empty. Upon which I had to explain that the way Aunt Robin and I do things at the house (i.e. fill wine glasses to the brim) is not exactly "the norm" or "proper etiquette" everywhere. Later, Aunt Robin pointed out that the a full wine glass is A. perfectly normal for home-drinking and B. completely depends on which restaurant you go to (Upper Crust, the local pizza joint, fills the glass)! Touche, Aunt Robin, touche.
The End is the Beginning
After buying a loaf of sourdough bread in the shape of a turtle, Madeleine and I headed to the next item on our list: shopping! Of course this meant that we set out in the general direction of Union Square, which consisted of me navigating up and down ridiculous hills, Madeleine attempting to read the map, and one near-death experience (only one?!? I'd say we did pretty damn good). In our frazzled search for parking, we ended up parking a block and a half away from Union Square in...the very same parking structure we had parked in this morning, directly across from the French consulate. Wow. All in all, we spent $28 on parking today. Whatevs, I got a free visa, and 3 Mormons going to France had to pay $465 for theirs all told, so HA!
God-damned Christians!
A very frazzled and upset me headed to Union Square, hoping to find H&M and DSW (shoes!). Instead, I heard some live music. 'Oh that's nice!' I thought. But no, some youth group from Southern California on their mission trip performing some High School Musical-esque song-and-dance numbers talking about how great Jesus is. I'm sure the only people who were enjoying it were already Christians, hence already saved, and I'm also betting they were shopping and ignoring homeless people just like me when they weren't deluding themselves into thinking that their little performances were doing God's will. Some people build houses on their missions, some people sing and dance. Work it out. They didn't make my day better, so HA!
Thanks, Cheesecake Factory Lady!
Macy's was overpriced, and the kindly concierge of the Cheesecake Factory pointed us in the direction we needed to go. On the way, I found a FABULOUS jewelry store, 10 times more fabulous, in fact, than the silver store where I'm currently employed (and, consequently, 10 times more expensive). There's this one necklace I may decide is necessary for my life to go on...we'll see... H&M was everything I remember it to be (I bought a maroon vest and a black jacket, woot!) and DSW was a pretty great shoe store (Madeleine bought some sweet little Rocketdogs). Then we fueled up at Starbucks and hit the road, which consisted of a couple rainbows and a rad sunset. So all in all, a win-win-win-win-win kind of day.
Today I drove up beautiful highway 1 to San Francisco, where I had a quite fabulous day with my little cousin Madeleine. First we waited around in the French consulate for a couple hours where I got my (free!) visa for France, but only after getting heckled by a French woman. Apparently the last time I went to France I stayed 2 months longer than I was supposed to, and SHOULD have applied for residency, but didn't...hence I had been illegal! I better not be pulling that shit again. ...She said to me dryly. As she handed my passport over. We've all got to get our jollies somehow, I guess.
An Object Lesson: Wine Glass Half-Full, or Half-Empty?
Then Madeleine and I bumbled our way through the city to Fisherman's Wharf, where we had a delectable lunch on the 3rd floor of some building, where we paid twice as much for the same food that was being served down on the street. BUT, we had a view of the Golden Gate bridge, and a tablecloth! When my glass of house Pinot Noir came, Madeleine was shocked that it was half empty. Upon which I had to explain that the way Aunt Robin and I do things at the house (i.e. fill wine glasses to the brim) is not exactly "the norm" or "proper etiquette" everywhere. Later, Aunt Robin pointed out that the a full wine glass is A. perfectly normal for home-drinking and B. completely depends on which restaurant you go to (Upper Crust, the local pizza joint, fills the glass)! Touche, Aunt Robin, touche.
The End is the Beginning
After buying a loaf of sourdough bread in the shape of a turtle, Madeleine and I headed to the next item on our list: shopping! Of course this meant that we set out in the general direction of Union Square, which consisted of me navigating up and down ridiculous hills, Madeleine attempting to read the map, and one near-death experience (only one?!? I'd say we did pretty damn good). In our frazzled search for parking, we ended up parking a block and a half away from Union Square in...the very same parking structure we had parked in this morning, directly across from the French consulate. Wow. All in all, we spent $28 on parking today. Whatevs, I got a free visa, and 3 Mormons going to France had to pay $465 for theirs all told, so HA!
God-damned Christians!
A very frazzled and upset me headed to Union Square, hoping to find H&M and DSW (shoes!). Instead, I heard some live music. 'Oh that's nice!' I thought. But no, some youth group from Southern California on their mission trip performing some High School Musical-esque song-and-dance numbers talking about how great Jesus is. I'm sure the only people who were enjoying it were already Christians, hence already saved, and I'm also betting they were shopping and ignoring homeless people just like me when they weren't deluding themselves into thinking that their little performances were doing God's will. Some people build houses on their missions, some people sing and dance. Work it out. They didn't make my day better, so HA!
Thanks, Cheesecake Factory Lady!
Macy's was overpriced, and the kindly concierge of the Cheesecake Factory pointed us in the direction we needed to go. On the way, I found a FABULOUS jewelry store, 10 times more fabulous, in fact, than the silver store where I'm currently employed (and, consequently, 10 times more expensive). There's this one necklace I may decide is necessary for my life to go on...we'll see... H&M was everything I remember it to be (I bought a maroon vest and a black jacket, woot!) and DSW was a pretty great shoe store (Madeleine bought some sweet little Rocketdogs). Then we fueled up at Starbucks and hit the road, which consisted of a couple rainbows and a rad sunset. So all in all, a win-win-win-win-win kind of day.
Sunday, August 03, 2008
Triathlon & Steve, my life as of August
O.M.G. I am officially a "triathlete" as today, I completed my first-ever triathlon, something I've been dreaming about for years. It was awesome, chafing and slight sunburn and wanting to die and all! The Sandman Triathlon in Aptos, CA included a .5 mile ocean swim, a 15 mile "moderate" bike ride, and a 4.2 mile run on the beach, a.k.a. sand, a.k.a. hard. I'm more exhausted than maybe I've ever been, but it is good, so good. I finished in about 2 hours and 14 minutes, which is faster than what I was expected (though admittedly, I didn't know what to expect). I was pretty slow, but not the slowest. (I kicked the swim, though: 22 minutes)! I felt like I belonged. And I want to do more! Then we saw dolphins...how cool is that? I'm super proud right now, if you couldn't tell!
A balanced life is a happy life. A balanced life includes work and play, exercise and reading of books, wine (and margaritas!) and good food. At the beach. Surrounded by good friends and family. What more can we ask for?
A good day (last week) in the life of me: went to work (blah), Steve picked me up (my new friend who will be teaching 15 miles away from me in France, what what!), and then we went to El Palomar, downtown Santa Cruz, and promptly downed 2 pitchers of margaritas before catching the matinee showing of Mamma Mia! (accompanied by a gaggle of middle-aged moms), complete with a $5 medium coke which we drank down a bit and then filled with rum I had in my purse (we're such badasses)! We gorged ourselves on snacks from the Jelly Belly store (also snuck-in contraband) while singing our hearts out to ABBA, then went out to coffee afterwards (after discovering that American Apparel is not limited to freaky ads on facebook, but also has actual store locations, buying a cute pair of sunglasses at some other store, and having Steve talk me out of buying a necklace I didn't need), while making all sorts of evil plans about what and who we're going to do while in France together. Then we came home and had delicious crockpot food prepared by my aunt and continued drinking (wine) as we played the piano and sang together.
A perfect day, no?
A balanced life is a happy life. A balanced life includes work and play, exercise and reading of books, wine (and margaritas!) and good food. At the beach. Surrounded by good friends and family. What more can we ask for?
A good day (last week) in the life of me: went to work (blah), Steve picked me up (my new friend who will be teaching 15 miles away from me in France, what what!), and then we went to El Palomar, downtown Santa Cruz, and promptly downed 2 pitchers of margaritas before catching the matinee showing of Mamma Mia! (accompanied by a gaggle of middle-aged moms), complete with a $5 medium coke which we drank down a bit and then filled with rum I had in my purse (we're such badasses)! We gorged ourselves on snacks from the Jelly Belly store (also snuck-in contraband) while singing our hearts out to ABBA, then went out to coffee afterwards (after discovering that American Apparel is not limited to freaky ads on facebook, but also has actual store locations, buying a cute pair of sunglasses at some other store, and having Steve talk me out of buying a necklace I didn't need), while making all sorts of evil plans about what and who we're going to do while in France together. Then we came home and had delicious crockpot food prepared by my aunt and continued drinking (wine) as we played the piano and sang together.
A perfect day, no?
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