music

don't be afraid to bask in my unparalelled coolness, but i'm seriously considering learning how to play the.....accordion.

that's right folks, you heard correctly, the accordion. i am newly enamored with irish folk music and would love to learn an instrument that i could play such folk music on. i just can't decide between the ubiquitous keyboard-style or the traditional two-row diatonic B/C scale button-style accordion. many factors must be considered, not the least of which is cost. i think the cheapest button-style i've found so far is $500.

i think my mother will have a heart attack when i tell her, because when she was a child she was forced to learn the accordion and hated every minute of it. maybe she could give me some pointers.

and if i get any snide 'polka' comments, i will throw said accordion at you.

seasons

i can't decide which season is most becoming of my hometown.
when asked, i generally say that my favorite month is november, because fall is such a wonderful time of year. plants start getting ready for the impending cold, sometimes in spectacular fashion. the sun moves to a different position in the sky, casting a different light and making everything look a little mysterious. even the air takes on a delightfully different smell. the oppressive heat of summer gives way to a briskness in the air. i'm getting all nostalgic.
well, that's what fall is SUPPOSED to be like, but it never really delivers here in riverside.
but then there is spring. grass gets greener. daffodils and tulips give an early shot of color to the landscape. wildflowers make everything look more cheerful. plants and trees of all kinds come out of winter dormancy and put on the new year's clothes. but hands down, the best part of spring in riverside is when the orange groves are in bloom. there are still enough orange trees around here to make the wait for spring worthwhile. all the citrus trees are blanketed in little white flowers that give off the most delightful scent that hangs in the air and becomes thick by dusk. it compels me drive around with my windows rolled all the way down and makes me wish i had a porch swing so i could linger outside on warm evenings.
i think spring would win out over fall if it weren't for my allergies.
stupid hayfever.

drought

i have just been relieved of a 24 hour media-technology drought.
the fine folks at charter communication, who provide us with cable and high-speed internet, apparently had some kind of malfunction and we were without both services since some time yesterday morning. i have never before realized exactly how much i have come to depend on the fact that cable and internet are always there at my whim.
i already know that i would have no problem living without either of those luxuries, but it would have been a lot easier to deal with if i had known it was coming. at least i've gotten a lot of reading done.
so i can now resume watching the various television shows and surfing the various internet sights which seem to suck my time into some undisclosed vortex.
should i be happy about this?

irish fair

today micah and i went to the los angeles irish fair and music festival.
it was good times.

irish food, irish music, irish dancing, irish people...

they even went so far as to dye the water in the fountains green.

there were some awesome bands who were obviously proud of being irish...and even made some good music.

good times, good times.
i'm definitely going again next year.

exercise

yesterday i was out jogging through my neighborhood (that's right folks, i said i was jogging. i solved my shin splint problem and decided to start it up again. i walk more than i jog, but a person's gotta start somewhere.) so like i was saying...i was jogging through my neighborhood and saw a lady pull partway up the driveway of the house which was unfortunate enough to host the neighborhood mailbox in their front yard. she got out and fetched her mail and got back into her car and backed out. my first reaction to seeing this was 'wow, that's kinda rude'. but then i kept watching and saw her proceed to pull her car into the garage of the house NEXT DOOR to the house with the mailboxes.
wow
and people wonder why they have weight and health problems.
i'm still a bit speechless.

festival

micah just brought to my attention that there is an irish festival going on this weekend at the la fairgrounds. the first thing that comes to mind is 'why haven't i heard of this before?' the next thing that comes to mind is 'why have i never heard of this before?' i mean, really. i'm not being a very good irish person. so i guess i'm going to go get my irish on this weekend. awesome.

peer pressure

by popular demand (maybe 2 people), i've decided to bring the old blogger account out of retirement. i will now be dual-posting my thoughts and ramblings both here and on myspace so as not to leave anyone out.
enjoy.

weird weather

today on my drive home from work i saw horizontal lightning and two rainbows. one of them ended somewhere around march air reserve base. so that's where they get all their money....

what we have here is a failure to communicate

i watched cool hand luke for the first time a couple days ago. and i have to say, i really don't know what the big deal is. i can understand why it was a big deal when it was made, but i really don't know why people still make a big deal out of it. granted, paul newman is pretty dreamy. but still.....i'm glad i saw it and now i understand that whole thing about 'nobody can eat fifty eggs'. ewwww.

oxford

i've been home for almost two weeks now, but my two weeks in oxford will stay with me for a very long time. i was blessed to be able to stay at one of the colleges at oxford university and call that beautiful city my home for a brief time. i've been to england several times before, but this was a truly unique experience. now i'm wondering if i would be able to manage a graduate degree from oxford. maybe a degree in soviet history.....oh, i know why not.....stupid money.

strangers

i just finished my first art sale to a stranger. i've sold plenty of my creations, but always to friends and family. i frequently go to familiar houses and see my work, but have never had to deal with it going to a house where i will most likely never see it again. i know my prints will be loved and appreciated, but this is a new and extremely foreign feeling of separation. i'm going to have to get used to it.

farewell to a faithful friend

i have bid adieu to a steadfast and faithful friend. after a series of bizarre health problems, i came to the difficult conclusion that i needed to cut caffiene out of my diet. so two weeks ago i went cold turkey. now i have my cup of tea in the morning (i know, there's still caffiene, but not as much) and that's it. tea is actually turning out to be a much more interesting friend than coffee ever was.

cacti

i admit that i am a bit addicted to collecting cacti and succulents. today was the annual spring plant sale at the huntington library, and it is oh-so-easy to get carried away and spend a ridiculous amount of money on plants. but this year i was good. i only bought seven plants. the grand total of the collection is now 89 different cacti and succulents. when does it stop being a hobby and start being just plain scary?

Moby!

i just got back from the moby show. wow. he has so much energy, and his knowledge of music and creative abilities are incredibly humbling. he's just so cool. i want to give him a big hug and take him home and drink tea and play scrabble with him.

tatoooooo

i went to sid's in santa ana last night and got my third tattoo. it's always such a fight of conflicting emotions. i've been wanting this for two years, and i know i want it, but still the weight of the fact that it is now covering half my back FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE can be a bit frightening. i'll just be glad when its done healing and it doesn't hurt to lean back against things anymore.

portland

i am once again being seduced by the siren-song of the pacific northwest. i didn't get into graduate school and my parents are moving, and i haven't been as content in myself since i lived in portland. i don't know if i can make it work, especially since i'm working on getting rid of credit card debt and it is so hard to make much money up there. i'm extremely tempted, though.

mother's day

the holiday celebrating mothers is coming up, and i'm trying to find the perfect gift that says, 'i love you mom, but it won't keep me from going to san diego to see moby instead of spending the day with you.' maybe tulips....

acceptance

after my recent flurry of rejection, it was nice to get an acceptance letter today. it was only an entry for the juried show at the national orange show in san bernardino, but its still acceptance. who knows, i could possibly even win 400 bucks.

dinner

i went out with the girls tonight and we had a progressive fast-food dinner. drinks at del taco, appetizers at pick up stix, main course at jack in the box, and dessert at cold stone. the best of all worlds. way too many calories, but all kinds of fun.

spring cleaning

my parents and i have spent the last few weekends doing some major spring cleaning. i wish i could say that this is a regular thing and we are just doing what we always do, but the only reason we've gotten serious about it is that they want to put the house on the market. there are things we've been meaning to do for YEARS, but have only gotten around to now because we have to. and people wonder why i'm the world's biggest procrastinator....

GMP

all of yesterday and half of today at work i sat in a training room and learned about things like microbial contamination, consent decrees and FDA regulations, among other things. it was interesting in a 'huh, i wonder if i will ever need this information for any reason other than this job' kind of way. (GMP is FDA jargon - Good Manufacturing Practice)

high five!

high five, everyone! i got my last grad school rejection over the weekend! that makes 4 for 4. my friends are all pretty weirded out that i'm high five-ing them over universal rejection, but if i don't stay upbeat about it, i'm just gonna get all overly depressed and maudlin about it. its not the end of the world, just an elongation of my 5 year plan.

riversiiiiide

this place sucks my will to live. i'm now a temp doing data entry and making copies all day and i feel like i've joined the ranks of lifeless zombies living from paycheck to paycheck. i could never do this for any extended period of time. i just don't feel like doing anything between the times i'm at work under those florescent lights, sitting beside the woman who laughs like a chipmunk.

ick

i have discovered that it is extremely easy to get used to not having to pay sales tax, and yet extremely difficult to get used to having to pay it again. weird.

adieu

today was my last day in portland. *sigh* my summer hiatus has been all too short. i had a great time at my jobs and hanging out with great people. there are so many things i will miss about this town. awesome public transportation. a coffee place on every block. finding cheap and free stuff everywhere. people who take time for other people. i could go on for awhile, but i won't. i'm so glad i took the chance and moved here, and i will miss portland dearly.

O' Canada

This is my first time visiting our great neighbors to the north. It is surreal, to say the least. I feel like I'm in this weird twilight zone hybrid of the States and England. Its not really anything like what I expected. But then again, I didn't really expect much. What, did I think they would all look like hockey players and wear weird hats and say 'eh' all the time? Lets just say I'm enjoying my time so far with the Canadians.

shows

i generally don't like going to shows anymore - too many people. but tonight was definitely worth fighting the throngs of drunk people. pedro the lion and death cab for cutie for five bucks. and i couldn't even complain about the sound sucking. it was awesome.

good times

alissa and i just got home from matt's birthday party. its so much fun to hang out with cool people. good food, good beer, good conversation, and bottle rockets. it was a good day.

hipster

i just got a haircut from a friend, and now i look super-cute. i couldn't go back to riverside with the same haircut i had when i left, now could i? so now i look like i've been a portland hipster for the summer. or have i?

refreshing

i'm sitting in my living room and its about 95 degrees in here. i felt like having a beer, so i'm sipping on my suds and thinking - whoever said that a cold beer is refreshing must have been a raging alcoholic. if anything, i feel more hot and parched than when i started. i'm tired.