mission peak x2

on new year's eve last year, someone (i can't remember who) decided it was would be a great idea to climb mission peak in the middle of the day. i'd never climbed mission peak so i had no idea what i was in for. and boy, was i out of shape. it was me, my sis, our friends from zurich, and our friend's 10 y/o niece. hey, if she was up for it, why wasn't i? if you've never been up there, know that it is very difficult. it is basically all up hill with very few non-climbing breaks in between. it actually says that it's challenging at the front gate. and if you go too late and return after the sun sets, apparently you'll come down to the police waiting to cite you. it's quite dangerous to be up there in the dark.

we lucked out and it was slightly over casted so the sun wasn't burning down on us. unlucky for us, it was quite windy. it was actually almost the perfect weather for that hike. it took a while but we made it up there. it was so windy that i lost my fitbit getting to the top. on the way down, we were almost swept away by a small twister. and i'd never been so close to cows before on that hike. luckily, i asked fitbit to replace my tracker and they did! i received it in time for my hot chocolate race.

the second time i went up mission peak was the day before our friend, thao, was going to back to zurich. nearly a month later. my sister didn't get back to us so this time, it was me, thao, and her sis. and we decided to go when it opened at 6:30a. believe it or not, it was packed on this sunday morning. everyone and their mothers were there, really. on the way to the top, the sun started to rise. it was a beautiful sight. the image of the clouds are 3 different photos that google photos stitched together automatically. on the way down, the sun was beating down behind us. and there were crowds of people wishing they were heading back down like us. with the exception of the crowds, we had a great hike.

congrats to brad & marie!

*** back-dating again! ***

yesterday, joe and i drove up to san rafael to see our old college friend, brad, marry his sweetheart marie. brad met marie in san francisco which she was here attending a program. i think that's how the story goes. when marie finished, she moved back to paris so brad followed her there. and after being together for 10 years, they came back here to get hitched. it was such a lovely and elegant summer wedding. the wedding took place at the falkirk cultural center in san rafael. it was so nice to see brad again. he looked the same!

i am planning to go to paris next summer for my 40th birthday so i asked brad if i could look him up when i am there. he said sure and hopefully i make it!

the speeches were all so tender and moving. there was a friend of theirs that translated all the speeches in french, and she did a wonderful job as it made me tear up the same (if not more) than the speeches made in english. it turns out that brad's mother is british and came here to marry his father, who is american. so when he decided to move to paris for love, they were all for it.

next stop: victoria, canada

caroline and i left for canada very early the next day. the night before, i stayed up late catching up with fred, her husband. he and i have very similar taste in music so we had a lot to talk about. our ferry was leaving seattle at 730a but we had to get there by 6a. on the ferry, there were four older women sitting next to us in a section of six seats. they told us they were childhood friends from missouri and in their retirement days, they take an annual trip with just the ladies. they asked if we were still in college! they were super nice.

the woman sitting directly next to me kept staring at caroline as she read her us weekly magazine. caroline looks up at her and smiles. she tells caroline, you know everything in that magazine is untrue, right? we agreed that it was trashy. then she continues to say, i know, my son is an actor. caroline proceeds to ask, is your son famous? the woman looks to her friends and they all give each other knowing looks. caroline then asks, can you please tell us who your son is? she answers, my son has six children with angelina jolie. her friend sitting next to caroline says, i changed his diapers. omg! it turns out that i am sitting next to brad pitt's mother!!

after we arrived, we checked into hotel oswego just down the street from the ferry terminal. it was very conveniently located. plus, we were able to check in early.

we were then off to make the most of our overnight stay and see as much as we could before our afternoon tea reservations at the empress hotel. we shopped, bought candy and fashion jewelry from a street vendor. we also came upon a street fair of chalk artists. finally, we arrived at the empress hotel for afternoon tea. our spread was lovely. it was a good thing that caroline thought ahead and made us reservations!

clockwise: they start you off with fresh strawberries and cream when you are seated. the top tier included french macaroons dipped in chocolate imported from paris, pink princess cake among other delightful desserts. the middle tier had scones with jam and butter. the bottom tier was the first one we worked on with a variety of five different tea sandwiches. the very best was the egg salad on croissant sandwich (the second to the last on the right in the image). mmm goodness.

for dinner, we intended to go to the brasserie l'ecole but got there 10 minutes after they opened and no tables were available for another two hours. we were too hungry to wait and looked for another place. the one thing i really wanted to try was poutine, which is a canadian specialty. i had poutine in a san francisco restaurant but it is nowhere near what it was supposed to be. we ended up at the local kitchen off of wharf street. they had poutine and there wasn't much of a wait. in the top right image, it's a close up of the poutine which is french fries smothered in cheese curds, bacon and gravy. it is extremely rich. that is why i ordered a salad for dinner but the poutine was too much. i barely touched my salad.

i was hoping to catch the ghost tour they offered after dinner but i didn't think i could walk for another 90 minutes, despite my comfortable shoes. on the way back to our hotel, the house of parliament is lit up. it was a beautiful end to a full day.

on the ferry ride back to seattle, guess who tapped me on the shoulder? that's right, mrs. pitt. turns out, she and her girlfriends sat right behind us so we hung out with them for the 2-hour ride sharing what we did in victoria and seattle. fun fun fun.

seattle in september

i have this friend, caroline and i know her from my san diego days after i graduated and worked at the scripps institution of oceanography. she was hired as my student assistant. i left my job and san diego some months after she started. after i left, we'd become friends.

in 2002, she was abroad studying in london and i'd gone there to visit her. and in 2006, after a breakup, i took a trip to chicago and saw here during my stay there. eventually, she'd gotten married and had a little boy. she introduced me to my good friend funie. in 2008, her twin sister grace, moved to the bay area so i'd gotten to know her as well. five years ago, caroline and her husband moved to seattle for his job at microsoft. on a recent visit to san francisco, she mentioned that they wanted to move down to the bay area. since i'd never been to seattle, i had to visit her... soon.

i booked a flight a month later scheduled to leave on the 14th. the only non-stop flight was one leaving at 6am. so i arrived there very early. it was so early that pike's place wasn't as packed as sardines, or as it usually is on a friday morning. caroline was very pleased about that.

we hit her favorite french bakery first to get some coffee and french macaroons. she showed me the original starbucks just a couple of stores away and we went across the street to pike's place. i went a little crazy at chukar cherries and watched fish being sold at the market. it was quite entertaining and impressive when they threw fish at each other. i kept my distance when we saw the walls of spit, i mean gum. that was truly disgusting.

we did a little shopping downtown and went to the space needle for our lunch which caroline made reservations to ahead of time. we started our lunch with wild salmon fritters. it was amazing. she recommended that i get something from the sea since that's what seattle is known for. so, i ordered the wild king salmon sandwich and fries with my bloody mary. mmm delicious. after lunch, we took the tram back downtown for more shopping. then we headed back before traffic was terrible. one thing i forgot to mention which you might notice is that the weather was fantastic! i was very lucky that my first trip to seattle was not a rainy one. i finally met her son, victor who recently turned 3. he is adorable!

labor day weekend in reno

finally, my high school friend with whom i have known since 1990 (and was a bride's maid in her wedding), invited me to her house in reno for the long weekend. originally, it was planned for the end of july which fell around the time of her husband's birthday. i can't remember when they moved to reno but it has been a while since they became nevada residents.

at my recent 20-year high school reunion, i sat with justine and dave and spent most of the time catching up with dave. i mentioned to him that i was interested in coming and visiting them one of these days at their reno house. since they worked and lived in the bay area during the work week and went home to reno every so often, i invited myself to hitch a ride with them. that was in june. despite burning man this year, we left on friday night and arrived before midnight. the way home was a different story. we had burning man spottings all weekend. you could tell because these cars were covered in a layer of desert dirt and most carried furry bicycles.

their house is huge and beautiful. there are two guest bedrooms, one man cave plus one and a half bathrooms on the first floor. on the second floor is their office and master bedroom. inside the master bedroom is a walk-in closet to die for, that was literally overflowing. it was ridiculous.
on my first day there, we dropped off justine's mom at the peppermill and headed over to virginia city. i am told that this is one of the oldest western cities in the country. though it is extremely touristy, people still work and live there. it really takes you back to the west. apparently, mark twain was born there. we also took the old school train (pictured) to where i was able to take a picture of view. also pictured is the old washoe club which is supposed to be haunted. and always fascinating to me though we did not make it inside.
we had dinner at the lodge near their house which is the only restaurant close to them. even though we were planning to go to the rib cook-off the next day, i had myself a kobe burger. the rib cook-off was in sparks, nv (right). apparently, justine and dave go every year. we looked for the longest lines as we hoped that was a sure sign that it was good. i had ribs and a guinness. i meant to take a picture of it but started eating it right away. that night, we had porterhouse steaks by chef dave for dinner. their neighbors ed and christy joined us. more mmm meat goodness.
on the way back (as well as on the way there though we took a different route home), we drove through the altamont pass and wind turbine farm. for some reason, these windmills and turbines give me such peace. i took a bunch of these from the car.

congrats, kim & kess!

this past weekend, we ventured through the heat to attend the wedding of our long-time friend, kim. i have known him since he and my sister were in middle school. he used to come over and study with her. he and i were also roommates with my sister when we were at college in san diego.

kim is one of the most romantic guys i know so i was super excited to hear that he was serious with his girlfriend, kess. i met her a couple of times at nordies so i knew she had good taste, especially with dating kim and all. the wedding took place at the ranch golf club, which is very close to lisa's house. the golf club is on top of a hill and has a beautiful view. the only downfall was the heat. the ceremony took place outside in the burning sun. luckily, it was a short ceremony and we only baked for about 30 minutes or so.
the reception was lovely. we took advantage of the open bar and the food was delicious. i caught up with old friends and met a couple of new ones. one of the bride's maids sang a 45-minute set with her band. she only sang covers but i was still impressed with her. i thought it was very special.

at the end of the night, we all hit the dance floor to kelly clarkson's breakaway requested by willis. we danced away the night and were the last ones to leave. the happy couple left for a european honeymoon the next morning. mazal tov!!

europe - last stop: zürich

st gallen was my first time in switzerland. despite the conversion to the euros, lisa and i still had to convert our money in each country. the swiss use swiss francs because they are special. on friday evening, we made our way to zürich. lisa's good friend from high school (thao) married a swiss guy (martin) and has lived in zürich for about 6 years.

switzerland is a marvelous place. the trains are always on time. everything seems so clean and well maintained. when we traveled from milan to st gallen, the italian train broke down so we had to switch trains and ended up arrived 10 mins late. we had a 3-minute connection that we missed so it took us another hour before we were able to meet up with brianna in st gallen. oh well. at least we made it, right? back to zürich... it was great, martin met us at the train station right as we arrived. he also helped us get our bus tickets and guided us back to their place. thao came home shortly after we were able to settle in for a bit.
we spent the weekend chez thao & martin. i personally had a fabulous time getting to know the couple and look forward to seeing them again either by returning for another visit or hanging out when they are in the states. on saturday, we explored zürich (out and about for gifts). unfortunately, it rained most of the day. the sun decided to show itself on sunday. thao & martin took us to the swiss alps in lucerne. it was a truly wondrous experience. You can find some photos here. we hung out in old town lucerne afterwards. it's interesting how nothing is open on sunday. so we couldn't do much. luckily, the businesses at the train station were open (packed actually) and we were able to pick up food there. lisa and i flew out the next morning back to london for half a day, equipped with enough swiss chocolate to last a year, or so.

after which, we spent a few hours at harrod's and shopping. funny how after shopping in zürich, london seemed cheap. and the next day, it took us over 20 hours to get home between layovers and delays.

europe - stop #3: st gallen

on st. patrick's day, we left venice and took the train with a stop in milano to st gallen. we were there to visit brianna and steve. it was really wonderful that brianna was there, otherwise, i would have never made it to st gallen. *thanks brianna!!*
we were only there for half a day but it was a full day's worth of st gallen. brianna and steve took us to their favorite st gallen eatery: restaurant marktplatz, which is conveniently located up the street from where they live. once our cute swiss waiter found out we were americans, his english came out. even though steve was trying to use his german, the swiss guy insisted on speaking to us in english. i had a big plate of crinkly fries and schnitzel which i nearly finished but couldn't, to my dismay.

the next day, we went to the abbey. the interior of the abbey (as seen in the top right of the collage) is beautifully ornate. the abbey dates back to the carolingian era (8th century). we also visited the library, according to wikipedia, is one of the richest medieval libraries in the world. there is an amazingly detailed ginormous astronomical globe that is an exact copy of the original globe, currently presiding at the swiss national museum. apparently, the original was stolen from st gallen by zurich troops during the battle of villmergen. while they returned some of the stolen goods to st gallen, they didn't return the globe. in 2000, st gallen prepared to reclaim the globe. as a resolve to keep out of the courts, zurich was ordered to make an exact copy of the globe to present to st gallen. honestly, i think the copy is much nicer (compared with pictures of the original). the colors and images are so much sharper, vibrant and defined. unfortunately, you are not allowed to take pictures.

brianna also took us to café pelikan. brianna and steve were on a quest for the best cappuccino. the cappuccinos at café pelikan, won unanimously. i don't know if i could consider myself a capp connoisseur, but i do enjoy a good capp every now and then or everyday. and not only was the cappuccino quite delightful but the ambiance was uber adorable. both lisa and i agreed. later, we tried to do some shopping but it was slightly disappointing. the style and prices were completely disproportionate. anything i liked, even slightly, was $$$$. :(

holiday festivities

on saturday, i left the house at 4p to go to stephen & rowen's annual christmas party. but first, i picked up funie who graciously came as my date. we got there a little early just before 6p. i wanted to come early as parking in the castro area is limited and a bit frustrating. we found parking easily. i also wanted to take pictures of the tree before the crowd came. the tree is amazing. i'm told there are over 600 glass ornaments (click on the image to see a close up). stephen is a collector of santas so if you can imagine, his place is covered in santas. every corner, nook and cranny. it's a santa wonderland. the food is also delicious. i hadn't eaten since breakfast so come 6p, i was quite famished. so i ate and looked at santas, ate and looked at more santas. it was a fantastic party. we left after nearly 2 hours.
despite all the food and being a bit full, funie and i decided to go to our usual italian restaurant in north beach, è tutto qua. i get my flirtation fix fulfilled there. all the italian boys are cute and fun. plus, we were celebrating my belated birthday and funie wanted them to sing happy birthday to me. their spaghetti neri is especially yummy that i actually finished it. funie and i ate most of the panna cotta too, which is so so scrumptious. after about 3 hours, we finally asked for our bill. the boys were disappointed that we were leaving so soon.

after dropping funie off, i got home at 1a. i was out for nearly 9 hours! it was like a work day, if i worked the swing shift or something. and on sunday, i didn't leave the house... at all.

vinci park

earlier this summer, my friend jolene was in town from alabama where she is an assistant professor. i met her last year when she was still a student. all summer, we talked about going to happy hour at xanh restaurant in mt. view. she would tell me how her boyfriend, han, was always going there. but he would never take her because he told her they didn't serve any vegetarian items there (she's a vegetarian).

well, jolene and i finally made a date to go. and while we were catching up and enjoying the various types of vegetarian food we ordered, she was texting her boyfriend about it. he was going to come and pick her up as she was staying with him during the summer. when he showed up, she introduced us. as he offered his hand to me, he says, we've met before... i know you. he didn't look familiar to me, at all. and when he knew what my last name was, i got a little scared. i told him i was really sorry but i didn't remember him. i asked him where/when we knew each other. was it high school? he said, no, before that. we know each other from vinci.

i went to 4 different elementary schools (meadow homes, burnett, northwood and vinci) and i was at vinci park elementary from part of the 4th grade through the end of 5th grade. so i asked han, was it in mr. snydal's class? was it 4th or 5th? he didn't remember. he only remembered that it was a combo class (which meant it was 5th grade) and that he hung out with two kids in that class. one was me and the other kid was a boy named brian. han moved to cupertino after vinci so we went to different schools after that.

i knew i had that class picture so i told jolene that i would go home and find the picture, scan it, and send it to her. upon returning home, i directly went to my room in search for that class picture. after 15 minutes of looking, i found it! there is only one asian boy in the class and i remember him. coincidentally, i remember his name was han. i also recognized the brian kid as well.
after showing the picture to several colleagues and friends, it turns out that i have not changed at all. well, maybe the hair is different. what do you think? can you find me?

u aint 2 old

venue: the joint, hollywood
artist: man vs teeth
who: the guys
when: 19 september 2010 (sunday)

this is my favorite song from these guys. and best of all, it was dedicated to yours truly. they totally rock. ♥ ♥ ♥

man vs. teeth

location: san jose
artist: man vs. teeth
who: me, aka the band's assistant
when: 27 february 2010 (saturday)

last weekend, my very good friend joe was up for a gig. one that he would be playing. joe is the lead singer of man vs. teeth which is a great combination of electronic and dance with a touch of indie. joe's vocals have an amazing range from delicate highs to strong, bold lows. and what's inbetween could be anything from rock & roll to simply beautiful. reminds me a bit of alexis taylor from hot chip.

as most of my friends know, i love dancing. and if you give them a listen, you to will want to break out in a dance. if you see the video (to come... that i shot), you can see that i almost forget i'm filming as i had the urge to dance (when it gets a little shaky).

catch them on myspace and be a fan on facebook. you must check out their song, u aint 2 old. it's my favorite!

rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ hear them, dance to them, love them.

delayed update

here is the long awaited photobooth picture. despite the large numbers counting down, in case it's not clear, i wasn't pay attention. but it was fun fun fun!!

congrats, serena & tom!!

i have known serena since ucsd (in 1998). she is one of my many good friends i know from alpha phi omega (aphio). through aphio, she was also one of about 10 house/apartmentmates during my years in san diego. and though i lived with her for a mere quarter (taking over anne's room), she is really the only former roommate i am still in contact with. but not only that, i consider her a truly great friend. despite the fact that we don't talk for weeks or months at a time, we still find the time to catch up every so often. i actually met tom back in 2003 when i went to boston to visit serena. they were friends at the time but he always seemed pretty nice.

this is me with my lovely sister at joe & carl's house before being dropped off at the hotel to catch the party bus.on the left: me & lisa just getting on the party bus.
on the right: the party bus, broken down in the middle of the street after smoke came out of the back.
this picture was taken from my seat at the reception. it was a fantastic view of the stage and the very cool jazz band that played all night long. it was exciting to be placed at such a fantastic table with nice people and not be all the way in the back somewhere random. thanks serena (& tom)!
to the left: after the unveiling of the, wait for it... candy bar!!
to the right: the aftermath... a couple of sad empty jars.
finally, right before lisa and i took our leave, this is me with the beautiful couple. the food was a chinese banquet and trust me, i've had my fill of this cuisine. but i've never really had chinese banquet food served to me. and the food here was delicious. not to forget, the very cute older chinese lady serving us was genuinely sweet and so efficient.

we had a wonderful time. unfortunately, i wasn't feeling well and didn't get to bust a move on the dance floor. but coming soon... our silly photo booth picture.

birthday drinks & cupcakes @ xanh

two saturdays ago/the day before my birthday, i had a very last minute birthday celebration. i figured, i'd squeeze in some drinks with some friends & family after my sister cooked me a very yummy dinner. having it at xanh is always convenient as the only thing i had to take care of were cupcakes. i made strawberry and coconut cupcakes while my sister made my birthday dinner. i meant to take a picture of the cupcakes. the above collage include the few pics i got with my camera before the batteries died due to overwhelming flash use (and forgetting to recharge the batteries). there were boys thrown into the mix of ladies later. all in all, it was a very good birthday.

palo alto, emeryville, sonoma & sf all in one day...

on august 1st, i took the day off to spend with my good friend from college, mien. she now lives in chicago and was out in sacramento taking the california bar. i went to chicago back in april of 2006 to visit her. oh, the adventures we had together.

i started off the day driving to palo alto to pick up mien's friend justin. then we headed off to emeryville to pick up mien at the amtrak train station coming from sacramento. sonoma was our next stop. it was an hour from emeryville minus any traffic. we had brunch and then were on our way. justin fell asleep in the back while mien and i caught up in front. traffic was pretty bad. our first stop was the ledson castle/winery (see picture). this castle stands out from the sonoma highway. before i knew that was the place, i thought, wow, let's go there!

mien & i did some wine tasting while justin (he doesn't drink) shopped around for some food. we made ourself a picnic out in the back. it was gorgeous out there. really spacious and so calming under these great trees. i'd only had 3 hours of sleep and it was the perfect setting after such a long drive. we took our time eating bread with cheese, fig jam and some parmesan dip. we had time for one more winery. so we headed over to the gundlach-bundschu winery about 20 minutes away. it was a long drive for a very short visit. we got there around 4p and they closed at 4:30p so we skipped the wine tasting and enjoyed a view overlooking vineyards as far as i can see and a dried up lake. it was a nice break but too hot to be relaxing.

next stop was san francisco during prime commute time. we went through sonoma, napa, vallejo and fairfield. it was supposed to be an hour but traffic was stop and go. we went around berkeley to oakland and finally to san francisco. it was the longest day ever and i couldn't wait to get to the hotel to nap. mien slept in the back on the way from sonoma. justin fell asleep in the front. but as tired as i was by the time we got to the room, i just couldn't fall asleep. especially with two people trying to sneak around me and eat snacks. they tried staying out in the hallway and eat but other hotel guests kept walking out and looking at them strangely.

it was an hour before we had to go for dinner. and after a nice hot shower, i was refreshed and renewed. for the night anyway. after dinner, i crashed like i hadn't slept in days. wait, i really hadn't slept in days. good times, good times.

thoughts & dreams

as i hype myself up for my upcoming trip to chicago, there have been random thoughts going on in my head. as a result, have been producing some bizarro dreams.

a couple of weeks ago, i was contacted by an old friend i met through my ex from san diego. at first, it was a little strange since i didn't really like any of his female friends. but i found a kindred spirit in her. when she called for him, i found myself chatting it up with her more and more. this was nearly 10 years ago. when he and i broke up in 2001, her friendship meant a great deal to me. it was as if we'd been friends all along sans him.

she moved to chicago for medical school after 2001. chicago is an endearing city to me because i almost made it my home in 1999. my ex got into northwestern for medical school and although he never asked me to move for him, he made inferences to it. for instance, he said med students who have significant others with them do better in medical school. so i started to look for jobs in the area. we made a trip there to find housing. and ended up signing a lease with a deposit made on a quaint 2-bedroom little house by the school. but when it came closer to our move date, he got into the med school at ucsd, which was where we were. he asked me, where do you want to go? since i had a job in san diego and had a place, i told him i wanted to stay. and after his first year at ucsd, he blamed me for having such a difficult time there. i blame him for being such a stupid ass.

anyway, i moved back to the bay area in early 2001. and our friend ended up in chicago after all these years. i lost touch with her when i was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2003. i lost touch with a lot of people. recently, she instant messaged me out of the blue. it was perfect timing as i am planning a trip to chicago. sunday night, we found time to catch up over the phone. it was really nice hearing her voice again. she told me that she had contact with my ex about 6 months ago. that he was doing a fellowship at the children's hospital there. and they met up for coffee. weird that he ended up there after all these years. it turns out that he has not changed, at all. but this wasn't news to me.

lately though, i've had these disturbing dreams of getting back together with him. this has happened twice now within this past week. and i don't know why. well, it's from recently being contacted and told that about him being in chicago. really strange as i have nothing but repulsed feelings towards him. second thought, it might be interesting to run into him after all this time.

collecting & selecting

last night, betty and i saw the ladies from the ashby house. i haven't seen them since 2006. it was july for jonna's birthday as it was again last night. that's when i first heard the term, collect & select. the theory behind this phrase is that you get all the guys you are crushing on and/or the ones chasing you in one room. the best scenario is to get them all at an event where you are the honored guest, such as a birthday event. and at the end of the night, you select. brilliant, if you ask me.

jonna was celebrating her birthday at bar kitty's in emeryville. at first glance, i couldn't imagine meeting any cute boys at this place. it just wasn't the type of place i'd go to. but i wasn't there for me, i was there for lovely jonna. as well as heather, melissa and charles (who incidentally also knows my scar buddy). lucky for us, jonna greeted us outside in the line we'd been waiting in for 20 or so minutes and got us in soon after. the bar was surprising. there's an outdoor patio that takes you inside where there's a bar and a itty dance floor that was really packed. our friend heather towers above most people so it was easy to find the rest of the crowd.

we were served one very good and generously-made irish car bomb (as long as we didn't throw up, i guess people can't hold their liquor) and a tom collins. the car bomb took me two breaths to drink instead of one and it hit the spot. it made me feel all fuzzy inside and ready to hit the dance floor. i saw this cute boy there but he was with some chick and was too young. after working up a sweat for a bit, we retreated back to the bar.

collection
while we were catching up, the same cute young boy came up to me while totally checking betty out. as if i didn't notice. he introduced himself (boy #1) to me and waited to cut in on betty. when he leaned in, i told him that she's engaged and not interested. then boy #1 tells me that he's hitting on me and brings me outside where his friends were sitting. he introduces me to boy #2 and boy #3. i asked boy #1 how old he was but refused to tell me. i asked boy #2 how old he was, 33. boy #3 wouldn't tell me either. boy #2 was really cute and harmless-looking so i sat myself next to him. he told me i looked 22. major brownie points. even if he was lying a little bit. when he told me his age, he added '1974' so i asked him when he turned 34. december. which meant i was older than him. fortunately, boy #1 got the hint and left. boy #3, was coming on to me really strong. told me that both he and boy #2 were interested in me. all the while, i was trying to talk to boy #2. asked him if he was single and told him he was really pretty. boy #3 joked that was because boy #2 was gay. and invited me to his birthday party next weekend. boy #3 even offered to pick me up from san jose to take me to his party. even attempted to entice me with my new pretty gay friend, boy #2 being there. finally, betty and heather came over to save me. the bar was closing so we had to leave. but before that, i decided i wanted to say goodbye to boy #2.

selection
i spotted him and came up behind him. he told me it was really nice to meet me and asked if i was coming to boy #3's birthday party. i told him i was actually more interested in him than his friend. so i had to decline. he said he could tell. i guess i was more obvious than i thought. but apparently not obvious enough to give his friend the hint. boy #2 asked me for my number which is a little fucked up because i told boy #3 that i didn't give out my number. but couldn't help it and gave it to him anyway...

july 4th adventures

popscene re-established 2008

last thursday, i went to popscene with betty. we haven't gone dancing there in sooo long. there have been a lot of changes since the renovations took place back in april (?). it wasn't just a face lift. it was also a lift of two of our very favorite popscene people. we assumed the two left popscene. however, it was the opposite. it also turns out that popscene is now new home to douchebags as well as emo kids. an unlikely combination but as it is, they both suck, in every way possible. i'm afraid that my popscene era is coming to an end. it's no longer as fun. there's no more eye candy and hardly any room to dance. big bummer. i suppose it's time to put my dancing shoes away. i'm getting too old for this anyway.

at least jason is still there. we also heard that josh now works at the beauty bar in the mission. apparently, he still does sound checks for bands at popscene. we decided to call it a night and head out to the beauty bar to see if josh was there. it was 1am when we left and there was still a line outside of popscene. this never happened before.

a funny thing happened as we drove into the mission. we were stopped at a stoplight when i noticed this guy in the car next to us just staring at me. i don't know why, but this always makes me laugh. and as a result, the guy thinks i'm smiling (really big) at him. luckily, he went straight and we turned left. after we parked, we found ourselves surrounded by 3 french men. or so they said. at least that's what i thought. one of them was telling me that they were from france and asked us where we were headed. i told him the beauty bar and i asked him where he was from. he said dijon. like the mustard. my response? shut the fuck up!! dijon my ass. i referred them to betty as she lived in france for a year or so. when she heard they were from dijon, she said, oh? i lived in marseille. oops. oh well, i wasn't interested anyway. they got the hint when we saw josh and completely ignored them. later, josh asked us if we came with those guys. hahah.

4th of july

i spent the 4th recuperating and hanging out with my niece and nephew. we watched fireworks that night from the new house. they were small and aside from the two large trees blocking our view, but we could almost see all that was going on from the front steps. next year, we are hoping to watch the fireworks on the rooftop. that should overlook those trees.

saturday adventures

on saturday, i went to the deanza flea market with my sis for fresh kettle corn. i heart kettle corn. especially when it's nice and warm. i can't really eat kettle corn otherwise. spoiled, i guess. we had pizza for lunch afterwards.

i had planned to go to the fillmore jazz festival with louis & rich (& pati!) but was invited to a housewarming at my friend thao's place in south san francisco. it started at noon but i didn't get there until after 4p. which was ok because the party goes until 9p. i thought i'd be able to head over to the festival to meet my friends but it was getting too late. i'd decided not to until i spoke to rich and he said they were waiting for me. so i headed over and met up with them for an hour or so. i'd never gone and they said it was better last year. there's really something about being able to drink in public. we ended up at the boom boom room for a while. that was fun. i spent most of the time chatting it up with pati. afterwards, we went back to thao's for some munchies. both louis and rich had previously met thao, ages ago at popscene. despite being such a full day, i'm glad i made it to all my events!

last week: 3 consecutive days in the city

on wednesday, i drove up to san francisco after work to attend a special screening of the latest documentary by a former student of mine. despite the traffic (an hour and a half from palo alto), it was worth it to see her and her film. sharmeen obaid-shinoy was a student in the program i worked for back in 2002. this was my favorite cohort i worked with. it was the first year of students i worked with from application to graduation. start to finish. sharmeen went on to complete a master's in communication. which was nice because she was around for an extra year. i haven't seen her since 2004. it was really lovely to see her.

her latest film, iraq: the lost generation, is amazing and i admit, a bit difficult to watch. it's raw and touching. what documentaries are made of, i suppose. in a matter of a few months, she visits iraqi refugees in syria and jordan. the tribulations as a result of war is beyond devastating. it's hard to imagine it, right? the violence, crime, and poverty as result of wartime on the lives of women, children and families is utterly horrendous. and to think this was just a glimpse of what's happened. if you get the opportunity to watch this film (or any of her documentaries), you'll know what i'm talking about.

sharmeen was scheduled to go to the airport after the screening so i was able to catch her for a quick hug and chat. she's coming back in the fall so hopefully, we'll get to plan something and spend more time together.

on thursday, my good friend joe was up visiting from LA. so we planned to go to popscene to see maps & atlases and foals. the last time i was at popscene, was early may when the mary onettes played there. the last time i was there or any club with joe was nearly a year ago and more. as we are waiting to get in, jorge says to me, your bf is here, (points to joe) i'm telling.... at the exact moment, who else walks out but chris, my popscene bf. i never expect to see him there. i kinda always hope to see him but am mostly disappointed. i'd given up on him a while ago.

seeing him is just what lisa says it's like when guys see a beautiful girl. dazed and confused, kinda. just looking at him puts me under this spell. he's got this great smile. and his eyes are nice and big. and beautiful. and i'm like putty in his arms. he gives the best hugs on top of the irresistible smile. even joe said he had pretty eyes. haha. we hung out for a little bit. he left early so i walked him out and waited with him for his ride. it got cold so he put his jacket on me. when his ride came, he kissed me sweetly on my neck and said he'd call me. it's always nice seeing him...

foal was fowl, so joe and i left for some munchies. we went to sparky's in castro. i think i got to bed by 3 am. fun fun fun.

i'd taken friday off to hang out with joe. we planned to have lunch at xanh. i'd never had lunch there before. they have this great lunch special for $15. you get soup, an appetizer and an entree. it was sooo filling! mmmm...

luckily, we were heading up to the city to walk around (to walk off our lunch!) and shop. joe and i took bart to the sf shopping center from millbrae. it took longer than i thought it would despite being so close to sf. we were there for 3 or so hours and surprisingly, i came away with nothing. joe got sunglasses. that was it. it was the start of the memorial weekend sales and nadda. i'm still in disbelief that i didn't get anything...