Go.

School Started

2009-09-01T02:05:00.000-07:00

Bleh... Yeah grad school!!... but this has been such a crazy bad luck week that I am very worn out. So warn out I don't want to even write about it. At least I'm in love and it's my boy's birthday and we are going to go to Oregano's tomorrow!!

(Oh and I have a beautiful messy view at my desk in Studio!)

So many little things

2009-08-11T19:10:00.000-07:00

That make this adventure just perfect.

I love the distance Phoenix is from California that we are getting plenty of visitors.

I love palm trees now! Our little house has palm trees, I have always said that I hated palm trees and specifically told the realtor we wanted a house with trees but not with palm trees. Well we ended up with a house with palm trees in the front, back and on the side. And the three neighbors backing up to our house have palm trees towering out of there yards to. They always pissed me off because they are non-native to North America, and they don't provide the most amazing of shade. But you know what? They remind me of home, they remind of the eras of California and they represent warmth, relaxation and happy times. I love the way they make their own unique sound when the wind blows through them. And the other night I just realized that the palm trees that we have (that are really wide and nice) are perfect for non-shedding trees for the happy pool owner.

I love the fact that our backyard has no telephone poles. We're really lucky. It's such a little thing but it's nice, we have a beautiful sky to look up to.

I love the distance we are from the train just far enough away that when it bellows it makes you smile.

I love the distance we are from the jets taking off and landing. It's the perfect distance that only sometimes you can hear them faintly. It reminds of jets cruising overhead far away at my grandparents cabin.

I love the distance we are from a health food store, 24-hour Walgreens, 24-hour grocery store, Target, and the rest of Tempe.

I love the size of our house, just the right size, sometimes we could use something bigger, but most of the time it feels perfect.

I love the funky style of our house, at first I was embarrassed to have a flat roof mock south western, but now I'm so proud of embracing what my house, let's hear it 1968!

I LOVE our floor plan.

I LOVE our low windows.

I LOVE our pool, it's at an odd angle and it's not standard for a little tract home (no kidney bean here!) but it's big and nice and fits into our backyard perfectly.

I love our pool slide, new tricks are discovered everytime we show it to someone new.

I love our funky quarter basketball court. Sure it takes up the rest of our yard, but it's great for parties, and I have the fantasy of one day using it for the foundation of a pool cabana.

I love the used patio furniture we found on craigslist for 130 bucks. (even though I need to fix the cushions and the legs)

I love the distance we are from school. Just the right amount to be a perfect little bike ride, a quick car ride, but far enough away to be able to feel like I'm truly away from school.

I love our little adventure.

Watching Helvetica

2009-08-09T12:10:00.000-07:00

Helvetica the documentary.

So nice to slip back into design and pay attention to every single detail around you until you are blue in the face.

The thoughts that have entered my mind so far. They talk about how all companies in the sixties transitioned to Helvetica from a huge mish mash of other things, and things just became simple, but dictorial? And erasure of all past mass confusion of beauty of all people of life and their ideas, to a white washed thing? There are positives and negatives. On the one hand the world has become to complex and complicated and you need simplification to continue to function. It's time for us to chose the best option from all the options and drop the rest and move forward. On the other hand variety is one of the keys to life. Eating the right things, the best things from all cultures is important to your diet. But variety in your diet is also so important. I think you get my drift.

And the other comment that they made that everything that comes after is secondary. That is possible, you can't get much simpler than the most simple, so the only place you can go from there is more complex, and of course only for the better because the most simple has already been created which you can always fall back. I like where where we are right now as humanity which sometimes so and sometime not is: cautiously growing complex.

The window is open and it is nice

2009-08-03T01:02:00.000-07:00

I was going to say something about Goleta and I can't remember what it was. I don't know whether it was how beautiful outside it is right now, how badly I want to move back, or how I can get many of my friends that live elsewhere to relocate back here.

One thing I can say though is that we are locked in some bad habits, well good or bad depending on how you look at them. The desire to catch up with everyone we've been missing, and the desire so strong that we break the bank in the process. I mean that's fine, in some ways, but in other ways not. I think there is definitely a large number of dreams and realities at this point that are not on the same page.

I always wish I had talked about my day. Here it goes: simpler day, cajun with clare, getting ready to leave, and then doing a sister tour and seeing Christina at Mesa Cafe and seeing Stephanie at Chuck's. This was probably the last time we will see Stephanie working at Chuck's and that is sad. As if I didn't have enough dreams in my head, I hope that someday I can be well enough off to be a regular at Chucks.

Yesterday Dutch Gardens for the first time. Another first on a visit to the beautiful south coast. I can't remember the beer we had, but it was really good and made by monks.

The day before, Edomasa & Harry's for Dessert. During the day a nice chill session at the beach and then a mini-rafting adventure.

The day before, a beautiful bike ride in Goleta, Ming (with three Mai Tais, of which I was the only girl to complete) and Breaktime. Oh and beautiful walking home through the Goleta air.

The day before dinner with fam at Hollister Brewing Company and later in the evening Mercury Lounge. And also work in the morning with Donna because...

The day before I drove to LA with to go work with Donna and see houses that I had helped draw. It was really cool seeing all these houses that I had stared at in 2D for so long come to life, and one of them was fully completed and in use with a family living happily away. Very cool. Also I saw something that I had suggested come to life, a window between two interior spaces placed in a specific place in a hosue. It's technically my first design contribution and design contribution come to life (besides this other thing that I don't know how much actually came to be) but anyways it was very very cool. I believed they were calling in the beer window? or the more beer window? Or the beer and popcorn window? Anyways, rad.

Day before took care of some business, went to Goleta Beach and then went to Paul & Deanna's.

Day before successful rafting!!!! And going away party for Dan. And I think I've caught up to my last journal post.

Oh did I mention that once again when we return home tomorrow we are going to have non-stop visitors again?

Beautiful Beautiful Weekend

2009-07-27T12:51:00.000-07:00

This was an incredibly beautiful weekend, that actually started well before the weekend, and was just so beautiful that it includes some work in there as well!

First after spending another entertaining night at my aunt & uncle's I went to the house my boss is house sitting in the Hollywood hills to work with her in person, the house was so cozy and rather large at the same time. It had separate offices and gym on the side overlooking the pool, and one of those offices I spent the afternoon and into the evening working as the beautiful southern california air drifted in (and yes even LA air is beautiful when you're a little worn out from a 115). Then at around midnight, I went down to meet my friend to spend the night with her before she got married.

The next morning all the preparation for the wedding went smoothly and I was done with photos and everything by two and went back and worked well into the evening. Then the drive up to the goodland, and further preparation for the Scavenger Hunt coming up. All in a good days work!

Next day, more rush on work, the game, and preparation for my friend's reception. The reception was beautiful it, it was on the lawn of her church, it was so nice that if she had to rent it, it would have been a lot of money. The reception was so her complete with a ton of smashing pumpkins. Afterwards - Los Arroyos, more working on the game, Breaktime, IN-n-OUT.

Next morning, up at the crack of dawn (8 am of course) more work on the game, straight up last minute crunch, just like school. But I finished in style and was the first person at La Patera.

Ok must go enjoy more now, post later.

Oh look, I am going to finish my post and it is later, and you bet I enjoyed Goleta!

People started to roll in, and became exciting, so many people, by the time we were ready to play there were over 30, how exciting is that! Passed out the rules and they were off!

Ben and I went to our first somewhat secret location of Blenders and enjoyed them greatly along with visitations from groups. It was discovered that Phil was using a fish eye throughout the entire game (so brave) and the pictures were turning out awesome.

When the games concluded the first, second and third were so close! First came in at 201, second at 193, and third at 191. How's that for a well put together game! And the first place team only lost by one photo, that the other team completely discovered by accident. John & Becky brought their projector and we were able to have an instant slide show at Rusty's pizza!

Then we had a Frankenstein of an evening seeing once again as many people as possible.

Sunday = First successful float day, even besides the elements!!
One of the rafts popped
I got stung by a bee
We were stranded on the beach for awhile

But oaring, floating, being tied together, drinking, and chilling were carried out with success.

And of course Dan's going away party and the bestowal of the original piece of Dan's velvet painting collection was presented to us for safekeeping until a later date in time.

Now that's a weekend.

Oh what a Beautiful Night

2009-07-15T21:34:00.000-07:00

I was on my way home from Aprils and my first time making Gazpacho. After getting off the phone song number 9 came on. Our song. And there was lightening in the sky and the wind was blowing and I realized life is great, the imperfections of life are what makes it so great, and I am so happy.

Friends!

2009-06-25T00:43:00.000-07:00

We are lucky to know so many people. Sometimes I feel like we know too many people, just in the sense that there are not enough hours, dollars, or calories to keep up with spending time with everyone we know.

Even here in Phoenix, between family, friends, classmates who have now become friends, and visiting friends we never have a dull moment. When we do it's infrequent enough we would like to think of it for what it really is, which is a break.

Anyways, how did this happen? I don't know but I am very thankful.

Going to a baseball game tomorrow, half the fun is the mischief we have planned around it.

Insomnia. But mild.

2009-06-17T04:44:00.000-07:00

At my cousins. Well actually my aunt & uncle's but they went to sleep five hours ago and I'm sitting in my cousin(s) room sooooo. where am I really?

One of them is playing call of duty and it's so (sorry!) but I see foundations and not foundations (in the nerdy sense) and architecture in general, but it's just a game. But the question is, do these foundations and different architectural styles affect them in different ways while playing the game? Bullet penetration? Can I even begin to compose this question without seeming like a total nerd.

I have reaily long nails right now.

But the statement of the night. And the next undefined period is: Lock it up. Lock it up.

Oh look an entry

2009-06-08T17:11:00.001-07:00

Being a purist makes you irrelevant, but everyone wants to be a purist, so I guess that makes you cool. And I guess cool people are definitely irrelevant to reality.

I had something gab on here the other day, and sure enough, tadah! Out of sight out of mind.

This whole thought that apparently every time we remember something we rewrite whether we like it or not making it almost impossible to have perfect accuracy of memories. It really makes you kind of creeped out, which leads you to the next question, if were designed to slightly alter our memories over time were they ever intended to be preserved as we do now?

For the sake of joy I'll recap this last weekend.
Friday - First time playing Mad Gab at the Stuart house. Not too bad of a game, probably one of the few games out there that you actually improve at as your intoxication level rises.

Saturday BroBQalicious. It really was nice. I was able to just put on the sunscreen appreciate the CL for what it is and love the sand. Not paranoid at all, just enjoying all things. Of course extended into the night because Chunk turned 21 and we met his sister and his Mom at the Palms at Midnight.
That's it. the last of my friends are now 21. There is no one else that is holding us back, it's crazy.
And of course yesterday we celebrated downtown and I went to Wahoo's fish tacos for the first time. Which apparently is a chain and was actually pretty decent and a good deal. Making me hungry.
Good thing we are going to Pepe's! (Another first, crazy I know)
in the words of Ben, "This is the worst thing to ever happen"

Why is your window open?

2009-05-23T11:44:00.000-07:00

Why is your window open? Why is the weather incredibly perfect outside? Why was it cool when I went out to the car last night to get something? Why is this state so amazing? I mean I've been keeping my pride strong all this time, but I forgot how amazing it is. Or maybe I have new eyes and see an even MORE BEAUTIFUL PLACE, than I ever have before.

Review is done yeah...

2009-04-28T13:59:00.000-07:00

And yet I don't feel satisfied why is that? Well I know it is partially because my presentation wasn't as strong as I wanted it to be. I mean I presented my core argument in the storyboard order I had imagined it. But it was really choked I thought in my opinion like a robot doing translation on the fly, I used the word "we" which is technically correct since my professor did assist me with the project, but I didn't want to, I was aware during the presentation that I didn't want to and it still popped out again minutes later. And last but definitely not least, I missed the majority of the finer details of my building. Why did all this happen?

I've been pondering, and first I've realized that this is great, school is where you are suppose to mess up in the first place and then you can learn and try again, it's not like the world where I missed out on some cool opportunity. Other conclusions: Who said presenting while in Zombie status is easy? (Though I have prided myself on it in the past) Who says presenting when you've barely swam through the impossible barage is easy? (Though I'm also proud of what I have pulled off in the past on the fly) But it's like a game of poker sometime staying in for the river works and sometimes it doesn't. Maybe.

But I did have an important realization just a little bit ago. The SPACE of my presentation was awkward. I mean sure there were the nice boards and the big model and the little model, and my roof exhibition of trusses and my bricks. But I did not fit into the context very well. This stems from the other important realization that even though everything I'm physically presenting presents the whole story, it is still being shoved in your face all at once (like architecture unfortunately must a lot of time) but anyways, unlike a slideshow which is progressive, I'm stuck there ON THE FLY figuring out what I should be pointing at when, stealing precious seconds of seamless transition. Which brings me back to the other point. When you have to turn your backside to the audience so you don't knock your model off the pedestal you really are destroying your moment. Maybe my idea of arch presentation is to contrived, but until I am fully in my element as an architect, rehearsal is necessary.

Oh my hometown

2009-02-10T00:01:00.000-08:00

The more people I find on facebook the higher the confirmed percentage of people I find who no longer live in my hometown. It's so sad. How many people would live there if they could with a reasonable income? I don't consider myself to count because I'm in grad school right now. The goal is to eventually get back there and have our kids consider it their hometown as well. We got some time.

Today. I should talk about my day. Went to school, didn't get as much sleep as I would have liked last night, (these two things are par for the course). Came out of my classroom to fifteen fire trucks, apparently there had been an explosion. Sweet! Lots of rain. Also very nice. Went to the gym finally. Ryan's gone (other Ryan) no more excuses to not go to the gym. Besides we have goals and deadlines.

Tomorrow getting myself in over my head by committing to lighting calculations with Adam. Exciting actually. Good thing the deadline is infinite, by typical deadline standards that is.

Another beautiful day and peaceful evening

2009-01-23T21:58:00.000-08:00

I actually didn't start out my day that peaceful, but that's my fault because I was too busy having a good time last night at Outback Steakhouse and watching Forgetting Sarah Marshall again and of course drinking red wine.

But the night is beautiful the crickets are outside making noise at the most perfect level and it is slowly sprinkling and stopping, then sprinkling and stopping some more. Sometimes you can't even tell it's raining, sometimes the only way you can tell is when it hits our old school metal awning in the back. The temperature is just right so that you can have the windows open to listen to all the sounds and just the slightest coolness comes drifting in. A very beautiful way to enjoy the desert. And of course to top it all off there is music drifting out of a bedroom down the hall. And right now it's just right and matches the mood of this beautiful evening.

I had a very long skype video conference call with Jesse. It was rad. Thank God for the Internet. We caught up on all kinds of stuff and walked around our houses and showed them to each other! I mean how cool is that? How crazy is it that Jesse's been in Japan for so long? I miss him but I'm so stoked he's living the dream. And let me tell you, it makes visiting Japan just that much more enjoyable.

Today

2009-01-20T22:30:00.000-08:00

Today has been the greatest day ever. I'm sitting in the bedroom across from my bedroom listening to the sound of crickets... but not live. :)

What else has happened... my first day of school (I missed one class!)

I rode the new Phoenix light rail for the first time. (home from school!)

Peeps showed up to make beautiful music

Hockey game

Obamanation!

I suppose I should be more poetic, but hey it's been a happy day.

Christmas Phoenix Style

2008-12-28T15:28:00.000-08:00

ooooo! Looks like you can upload more than one at once, you just have to select them all at once. Anyways, look at our warm and cozy house, and my artsy tree. You know you want to party.

Trying out this whole picasa direct to blogger thing.

2008-12-28T15:21:00.000-08:00

seems to be working pretty well. Here is Ryan and I at the very close wings/coyotes game.

it appears posting more than one pic does not work so well, you have to cut and then go back and edit the posts. Interesting. This is just how many wings fans there are in Arizona.

Home?

2008-11-17T21:23:00.000-08:00

How can a building/place begin to feel like home, but be 500 hundred miles away from what I qualify as home?

I'm really missing California right now. All of it. Even the gross parts of LA. But what I think I'm really missing is just guilt free spare time.

I've been 28 for a month

2008-10-28T00:48:00.000-07:00

It doesn't feel like it. It feels like I turned 28 about three days ago. I can't believe how busy I am. But the tides are turning, the obstacles are falling into place. And if anyone wants an exciting sneak peak of the work in progress at our home... (one of the 15 things I'm juggling right now)

The Desert is Psycho

2008-09-01T23:59:00.000-07:00

I was going to state this the other day, when we had those crazy storms you perhaps heard about on the news. I wasn't where the excessive wind was but the lightening was just crazy, so frequent you could go running down the street and not trip over anything, if you were stupid enough to go outside. I have crappy videos and should look into posing them.

Today was Ryan's birthday, we went to Cracker Jax, a miniature golf/game place, cheesecake factory, birthday cake (in addition to cheesecake) and swimming. A quite fulfilling day, being a holiday it really helped.

School again....help!... I mean yeah!!!

2008-08-25T01:20:00.000-07:00

School starts again tomorrow. I'm so excited, and I'm even excited to be overwhelmed. I love architecture more than over. School is so crazy, you have to be madly in love with architecture to make it through architecture school.

Life is crazy and a mess, but I'm thankful, life is good.

(I'll let you know if I still feel this way when I'm in the middle of school again ;)

I've decided the world is small

2008-08-22T01:17:00.000-07:00

And getting smaller all the time, so for me to blab my mouth on the tubes, who knows who this might entertain? In addition I need somehting to keep me awake at the wee hours, so I am going to start posting more frequently.

Smaller town vs. Bigger town

2007-09-25T15:01:00.000-07:00

I just had an epiphany about smaller towns, bigger towns, and friends. In a smaller towns there is less, and true this can be looked at as a disadvantage but because there is less you devote your time more to everything that is. I now have a theory that people in smaller towns form stronger bonds with other people than people who live in larger towns. And even though you may have best friends wherever you live it's just the set up that guarantees so.

First and of course obviously being further apart geographically means that it is less convenient to see each other, and therefore you will see each other less. Than due to the larger geography, there is a higher probability that you will be involved in something between them and you. More stores means lower chance that you will just randomly bump into them in the community. More acquittance's means higher probability that you will find your time being spent with someone else. More restaurants means you frequent the same ones less. More activities to participate in means that there is less relying on each other, and each other's imagination for entertainment.

Being in a small town forces you to reach new levels of understanding of every piece or your surroundings (Like playing disc golf in the Costco parking lot). And this is the key, the natural evolution of the higher level friendship. The inside joke, which leads to the deepest laugh. The subtle barely noticeable levels of communication, feelings instantly communicated with a single twitch. The distinct organization of events, guaranteeing a good time. And people crave this. People crave this deep down. We love deep bonds. Marriage is a super deep bond.

It is exact opposite of meeting someone new, the handshake, the first words, the first awkward interaction, so surface level, so formal, so necessary because you don't know each other and therefore have no connection at all. Meeting someone new can of course be fun, fun to enter a new world quickly, don't think I'm bashing on it, I'm also craving new. It's just always nice to have your carefully precisely organized laboratory to digest it in.

Which basically leads me to conclude that for every advantage there is an equal an opposite disadvantage, going both ways. And I can truly state this in today's world because we have the Internet, so back water just really doesn't apply the way it use to.

What started this all is there is a friend that came to our town for college, we became friends and now she is back out of our lives living in another place. But during that short time we managed to establish enough of a bond that I will have no trouble interacting with her in the future indefinitely. A small town is like a family, guaranteeing a bond.

And this is why at my bosses party I went to I thought it was good of her to bring strangers from all walks of life, but they didn't seem to have that same emph of energy, how could they? After the party they will once again be scattered to the wind perhaps to never encounter again. Don't tell me that humans like that. And we do bring it to the large city in some ways though, the smaller college, the neighborhood. Yes there is great value in bringing closeness to the larger city, because we weren't designed to live in such a high population, only moder technology has created it and allowed it.

And now I understand that this urge I have to run to Goleta and stick my head in it is legit. I'm getting something I'm not getting here, and that cannot truly be replicated.

The Progress of Things

2007-06-23T02:08:00.000-07:00

Things are going well. I've been procrastinating a little bit harder than I would like but I'm getting everything done that needs to including going to the gym and exercising, faithfully every day that I need to.

My class is awesome. Things are awesome. yeah the only thing I need to do is tune up the discipline so that I work first and then play instead of the ever classic play and then work.

Now for your enjoyment, some pictures of Goleta:

Speaking of Goleta I will soon be hosting another Goleta Game for those that would like to know about it, it's basically the best scavenger hunt ever. Stay tuned.

I'm here, and I've been progressing even though I haven't been posting

2007-06-10T21:56:00.001-07:00

woo. no posting for quite a while. There has been just so much going on. There also have been quite a few phases I've gone through since the last time I posted on here. Some were bad, but now I'm in a good one and it is likely to continue.

Things are good and exciting. Ryan's record is about to be released, July 17! And I am coming around more and more to hone in on what I really love to do and gather it all together in big basket of truly exciting stuff. If you love enjoying life come knock at my door and I'll throw some exciting ideas your way.

In other new I'm taking a class at Pasadena Art Center (at night) and it is really amazing. I cannot recommend a better way to spend money on school. If you want any sort of design education, they are the place to go.

Ryan and I are still steadily progressing and getting in better shape. Counting calories (and making sure they are healthy calories) is truly an undeniable aspect of anyone that is trying to get a handle on their health and body.

And guess who is not working right now and writing in their online journal instead?
You guessed it.

Shows, beginning of a good weekend, etc.

2007-03-31T12:34:00.000-07:00

So many random and exciting thoughts but first I'll start with a really random one. You know in California we don't get the seasons and that's good and all, but I was just reading this article about the cherry blossoms that are going to start blooming in D.C. And I realized it's almost like you pay the hard price of winter for the beauty of spring. And we just go the easy street, no guts no glory.

But I digress.

The two shows the guys put on were totally awesome. First night electric. Second night acoustic. The crowd was awesome. They played two new songs each night. Saw lots of peeps, here's a few:

It was also extremely nice that these shows were down the street, the closest we've ever been living to a venue hosting YC. On Thursday I had to go to the West LA city planning department. And on the way back my route went right by the venue where they were sound checking...too bad all venues aren't a hop away from where I'm working. But speaking of getting out and around now the guys are doing Arizona today, and Florida on Sunday. Coast to coast in one weekend!

Electric night at the Troubadour.

Another Saturday, yep that's right, in Goleta

2007-03-26T13:04:00.000-07:00

So this Saturday was a good one too. First we played disc golf. First time since way back in the day, since before we were even married! Then we went to DP and ran, and we had lovely friends running with us as well. I would highly recommend group exercise. You get all the stimulating conversation of hanging out, but also the benefit of getting something done off your productive list. A mix came back, always fun to listen too, hehe! And then we had a so long bbq for our friends who are moving to Hawaii. Really, these Saturdays can't be beat.

Disc Golf. This is the scenic part where you rescue your discs from the depth of the swamp. But rest assured this is the least enjoyable part of the game.

Upper left: A disc golf basket. Lower left: Me.

All nighter

2007-03-22T04:11:00.000-07:00

That's what they're doing, and I'm keeping them company. I don't have too much to say Ryan (Key) sums it up nicely on their myspace blog.

But I will say it's kind of like pulling an all nighter writing a paper. Only unlike silent words on a computer screen, it's beautiful music. And instead of sitting alone in the dark you're in a room of nine people who are getting exponentially more delirious and therefore even as the eye-lids grow heavy the laughter increases, and so the energy keeps going. Yeah too bad all papers aren't written like this.

Disclaimer* unlike that paper you put off they haven't been putting anything off, they've been working very hard since the beginning they just have a lot on their plate and this is the end.

Oooh, and a cool thing about living in LA is that if you want to eat at four in the morning, you aren't limited to Denny's. Yes the twenty-four hour thing is the leading perk of living in a large city.

Sitting in the Studio

2007-03-20T23:35:00.000-07:00

Yep that's about it.

It goes on and on, adding piece by piece. But then when you step back and hit play it's truly amazing. I haven't really kept much of a log of being at the studio, but there's not much in terms of specific events. It's just watching layer by layer grow as the record progresses, like watching anything grow into fruition.

But yes today is a late nighter being the day before the last. Ryan keeps apologizing that I'm "stuck" here with him, but I keep saying no, because he's doing something important and I certainly don't mind being here at all.

Living in the LA area

2007-03-17T15:38:00.000-07:00

Can you tell by the title that I'm acknowledging the different areas of LA? There is a common overriding theme (smog, etc.) through all of LA. But I am definitely recognizing that areas within LA contrast by far. I don't really feel I am justified diving into these differences because I have barely begun to uncover it myself, after all I haven't even been here six months, and we haven't spent all of that six months here. But I will leave you with this:

Reccomendation #1: Never live in the area between the 405,10,101 and the mountains (the majority of this area is known as the westside). That is unless you like traveling an average of ten miles an hour or less to get to any point within this defined area.

Originally I thought that LA was just bad traffic, but there is a night and day difference between traffic and westside traffic.

If you want positive stuff skip to here.

Today I went to the Burbank farmer's market (at the tail end) and I bought fresh hummus and pita bread. Pretty unique thing to find at a farmers market, I can't say with certanity that you won't find something like this at a farmers market in Santa Barbara, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Last night we went to a Bar called the Foxfire Room. (googles says in Valley Village) Anyhow it was awesome. It was busy, but not hollywood busy, and good socializing was had. But just to let all people know who are counting their calories, the average mixed drink is 300 calories. If you are counting your calories, don't forget to count it in your alcohol. I learned this after we visited the bar. :)

More Goleta Saturday Awesomeness

2007-03-12T14:50:00.000-07:00

If anyone has been bummed that my last few posts have been only about Goleta then maybe you shouldn't be reading my Journal.

So this last Saturday was awesome. Ryan and I had plans to go running at DP. And then our friends called us informing us that we should go to DP and launch rockets. So lucky us, due to our small town atmosphere we got two for the price of one. We ran laps while our friends launched rockets, it was spectacular and distracting. To wind it up I finished just in time to launch the last rocket:

Of course our Saturday didn't stop there, we then saw 300, celebrated at the brewhouse Tim's 21st, and then hung out at his girlfriends pad and ate Ben & Jerry's. To quote greatness, "The days are just packed."

With today's warm weather it reminds me that Summer is around the corner, and what a good summer it's looking to be.

Goleta

2007-03-05T22:05:00.000-08:00

Goleta is amazing, I had hundreds of things to say about it over this past week. But I will leave it with this thought. As we sit here on the edge of our chair waiting to see how far the real estate market will dip, I began to wonder how much of a price correction is really going to occur. I mean Goleta is beautiful, and now I believe a tract home really is worth a million dollars.

A Good Saturday

2007-02-25T10:47:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a good day, it was a very well rounded Saturday. We went running at DP and it went really easy and I totally smashed any previous record I had of running. I ran four miles non-stop. It was a little slow at times but that doesn't matter. Also I felt so great I could have kept going, at least cardiovascular-wise but my body was beginning to get a bit sore from the running. And after it was all said and done I felt so amazing, very huge exercise high.

Then we went for a walk with Dan and Chris at the beach. The beach at the end of Patterson that I believe is now for sale. It was beautiful and rewarding, it was a shame I forgot my camera, but the reality is, it's just like any beautiful walk you take in Goleta, I've just not been spoiled by it as much and so now my appreciation is even higher. The bluffs were green, the ocean was blue, you could make out features on the channel islands, the sun shone brilliantly across the water. All of the dirt and sand were a perfect moisture content, not to muddy but not dusty either perfect for walking on. Beautiful beautiful, beautiful.

But I think what I became enchanted with in the end, is being in nature and the changes, all of them are so larger than life. When you're inside or especially in LA (it's all inside down there) The coming of night is a formality, you turn on a light and if you are one concerned with fashion, determine if you're attire is acceptable for evening wear. In nature it's so much more significant than, even the different levels of sunset. We were enjoying the sunset but as soon as dusk hit we knew we'd better hit the road or we'd get eaten alive by mosquitoes. Of course the whole reason we lingered in the end is because we were watching the crows (thousands of them) fly to the west and Chris informed us that all of them fly every night to an area at the airport or in willow springs swamp where they spend the night in a big circle. He then informed us that in the end there is one crow that will fly back, calling for all the stragglers who will rise out of the ground and go join the rest of them and that this happens every night. Nature. What a concept.

To finish off this good Saturday because night isn't the end of the day for us we had a nice evening with friends complete with homemade dinner, spoons, and taiko drums.

I'll take advantage of your bad diet.

2007-02-09T12:45:00.000-08:00

You know it's crazy how many people have bad diets and unhealthy lifestyles which leads to them needing medical attention whether minor or major. And what an empire or medical world is. It's so nuts because there are a lot of things people do to their body that they have complete control over. (and yes I know there are also lots of things you don't have control over.)

But then I realized this is a benefit for people who eat healthy, by eating crap you help create the huge overstock of human guinea pigs for the medical world to progress. And when people who eat and try to be as healthy as possible have something go wrong, well you've already foraged that path for us, making the outlook good.

So to all you people who do unhealthy things, thanks for being my guinea pig.

Sorry, this is not a valid Gmail login.

2007-02-06T16:04:00.000-08:00

Sorry, this is not a valid Gmail login.

You cannot log into Gmail using your Google Account username and password.

Gmail is in a limited test period and is only available to a small number of people who are helping test and improve the service before it is made more widely available.

If you have been asked to test Gmail and have not yet created a Gmail account, please click on the link in your invitation email.

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Things that make you hmmm...
I'm so curious why google does their mail this way. Not jealous because I do have a gmail account, just curious.

Green going mainstream

2007-02-02T12:02:00.000-08:00

It's really crazy to see how far green is going these days, it's becoming natural second nature. It's cool. I'm glad things are coming around.

Check out this article: Wal-Mart is going Green:

Wal-Mart boss says he will press suppliers in race to go green

Of course they are just touching on the well known fact that you can make a profit from your company going greener, but hey I just want this planet to last longer, so it works for me. But I have to admit, I still am going to hold off on supporting them until I see a little bit more effort in their exploiting small town issues...

Inefficiency leads to interesting situations.

2007-02-02T01:05:00.000-08:00

Inefficiency leads to interesting situations.

For example a car chase. A car has so much power and energy for the everyday mundane tasks it has too. It has the capacity to do much more, such as a car chase. Hence car chases commence. On the other hand, a bike is maximum efficiency, the most energy efficient method of transportation known to the world. And the motor that powers it has a more limited range that it's everyday tasks fit into quite nicely. A bike chase would not be nearly as entertaining, if even possible.

Same thing with the suburbia of LA. Though I don't know how to even divulge into the interesting side effects of sprawl.

Random coincidence of many

2007-01-16T18:46:00.000-08:00

Sooo when we found a loveseat that we loved on craigslist and went down to Hermosa beach to buy it, it turned out that I knew the guy that owned it from back when I was around 14.
And now there's another random thing. When walking to the house late at night we walked by this one house that I commented on and said was sweet and I pointed out to Ryan and he agreed. And right now I'm watching "What's with that house?" on HGTV and that house that I pointed out to Ryan a month ago is on. I mean it's not that amazing, but it's just ironic. And even though they are saying what's with that house? in reality it does blend into a beach community rather well.

My favorite part

2007-01-12T18:31:00.000-08:00

Ok, you all want to see and hear my favorite part of the new album? Conveniently enough they made it the teaser of this weeks webisode so now you can all hear it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sc2tQ1oZ8Ug

or embedded:

A little bit late...

2007-01-10T18:27:00.000-08:00

Is this post, I'll try to be a little more frequent.

Sitting in the Studio with Ryan and everyone else while they record. It's sweet. I'd like to spend all day here and just listen if I could. Everyday there is more pieces and this record they are creating is that much closer to completion. I'm very excited and can't wait until I can zoom down the road with it or tear it up at the gym. Not to mention all the shows where these songs will get played.

And yes "wall of guitars" is correct terminology.

2007

2007-01-02T19:28:00.000-08:00

tadah here I am, got to say something. Saw the studio where Ryan and the rest will be recording today. It's sweet it an old converted warehouse and the walls are brick (retrofitted for earthquakes I hope) and the ceiling is an arc with lots of wood. Studios always have wood. I was talking about with Ryan today and I asked him if it's more then just aesthetics and he said wood does have a does affect sound in a room in a good way.

Anyways, I'll try to post here more. But I think what I'm going to post here is going to be different. A little bit more of what's going on in my life and a little less on my thoughts...

Lack of Quaintness and Truck

2006-12-12T01:15:00.000-08:00

Over all I'm really enjoying living here, interesting things to look at and ponder. Since I'm driving down roads for the fiftieth time in my life instead of five thousandth time I'm seeing new small details all the time (in the architecture and urban-scape of course), and I eat it up. There are tons of restaurants walking distance from where we live that we still have not been too. There are so many things I want to do that I'm not even close to doing, like going to the getty, and this architecture museum something. And even though our apartment is so peaceful I love how close we are to the grocery store and target, really can't be beaten.

But the lack of quaintness came apparent to me in a new way. I was searching out the perfect loveseat on craigslist and I when I saw a potential sofa, I couldn't just drop on by to take a look, there's no dropping by in la. It's either an event or it's not happening. This is partially the size of the city, and of course that lovely traffic. Which is actually the only thing I really have a problem with. But I'm already beginning to adjust. When google says fifteen, I automatically think forty, and so when it takes that long, it only feels natural. ha. As I was saying earlier, glad our necessities are close. I only hope that when Ryan goes into the studio and has to commute a bit further it won't become a nightmare (We still only have one car). We shall see.

But on another note as many friends as we do have down here, we did hit a snag the other day, none of them had a truck. Which actually makes me smile, to think that all of my friends have appropriate city-sized cars. And of course there are people back home with trucks, plenty of them, including my Brother and Ryan's Dad! But none the less we didn't have one here. So to cut to it, we ended up renting one for seventy bucks. But not to bad for being our first dilemma from being in a "new" city.

Group

2006-11-16T00:38:00.000-08:00

One time we were all traveling and I made the remark that our group was so unique and funny. Dan responded with the reply that all groups were the same.

Well I begged to differ then, the thought has occupied my mind, and I still do beg to differ. No other group matches ours in our through enjoyment of life bemusement, moderate activity participation, and adventurous outlook for entertainment once pushed out the door.

The fact that it's all gone leaves me feeling quite so incomplete.

Halloween Costume

2006-11-01T14:16:00.000-08:00

I'm sure you guys are more interested in this picture than the excessive typing below.

The evolution of friendship (this applies globally)

2006-11-01T13:53:00.000-08:00

The evolution of friendship has taken a very awesome turn. Our technology has allowed us to establish friends, retain friends, and nurture friendships further than ever before.

Aim, Myspace, internet, cell phones, and other technology truly allows me to carry on relationships with my friends in Goleta as if I were still right there. The little shout out through the day makes one feel like they are in another part of the same building not a 100 miles away. Or better yet what about my friends that live in other parts of the world??? Nope haven't lost contact with them either. In fact it's ODD when I go more then two weeks and haven't heard from them.

Quality commentary prevails as well. If People have a single line they wish to utter, they do not have to call their friend have an introduction, proceed into depth and then tell them what they are want to get around too, end the conversation and hang up. No, we get to go straight to the punchline now friends and send the truly world changing TEXT MESSAGE. I know many people who have a larger text message package then minute plan on their phone. Text messages are amazing. They allow for people to stay connected all day long when they are in completely opposite situations. Let me tell you, Brazil feels down the street when you can tell your husband, btw, "I'm eating lunch." It's like I passed him on way to lunch and gave him a holler.

It also leads to connections that just never would have happened. "Missed it by that much." Will continue to become a rarer and rarer thing in the future. I reconnected recently (yes via myspace) with a friend from high school that I haven't seen in seven years. We now have hung out twice, and found out that coincidently we are going to Vegas the exact same weekend. And yes, we're going to tear it up together. I mean if it weren't for technology we would have crossed paths and never known.

I guess some of this comes at a cold price. We don't know our neighbors anymore. We don't. I don't even know what the people that share common walls with me even look like! Is this good or bad? It's hard to say. But in some ways I would argue good, we're in such a temporary world, there's a high chance Ryan and I won't even live here longer than a year, should we really make the effort to establish relationships? But I do believe that when the day finally comes and we become proud owners of a house (in Goleta) I will want to get to know my neighbors. We will definitely be putting in some roots. And let me tell you, what's wrong with both? The next door neighbor friends and the friends who we have through technology? Nothing. Who says the world can't be a better overall then it was yesterday? (Of course that would be a whole new discussion)

full circle

2006-10-29T11:06:00.000-08:00

To finish that post off that I said earlier. Yes this new era thing, but I hope that it can come back to Goleta, that's my goal, or our goal as I was saying, I kind of see it if we work hard enough it can come back full circle to what it was, but a new improved version.

Oh and my sister posted her quote:

Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions, they become habits. Watch your habits, they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.
-Frank Outlaw

A new era

2006-10-26T11:44:00.000-07:00

It really is, don't try to deny it. Nah, I'll keep it up as long as I can. But who am I to be bummed? I accomplished a lot and enjoyed much in this last era and I am very satifisfied.

What is this era? Well a long term friend of Ryan's and fan of Staring Back just recently e-mailed him and besides everything else he commented on about happening this year, he commented on how he was getting married along with everyone else he knows, it seems to be thing, everyone's "settling down." I turn around and look at us and it's the exact same thing, in the past year I've been to five weddings, the last one I went to before all this was 2001. So it's like whoa us too. BUT don't get to caught up on that settling down thing. I mean come on, since when does monogamy mean your settling. I think it's better, personally, and by no means settling, I mean the way I see it, it's just a new step and ramping up for more. It's like your combining powers and BAP! Look what we can do! Which I find to be quite the case, everything that Ryan and I have done together I am very proud of. Our lives as a whole are the way they are because we've worked really hard at it together.

Anyways back to this era thing, it's more then just the marital status changing, it's people moving either across the Pacific, or to counties south of Santa Barbara, and people starting new jobs, and all that stuff.

But one of the most important things to summaraize it all is we are in this new era where you are becoming your thoughts, I'm going to have to get the quote from my sister....I think this is it?

"Thoughts lead on to purposes; purposes go forth in action; actions form habits; habits decide character; and character fixes our destiny." -Tyron Edwards

and that's why this new era as sad as it is, brings such enthusiasm to me. Becuase we're one step deeper into this path.

A little bit of catch up

2006-10-23T23:05:00.000-07:00

Of course when a little bit of catch up comes to late, there's not much catch up at all.

So. Moving somewhere else. Different, very different. I thought in someways I would be prepared because I have been away from home for long periods of time. But it's really weird to feel at home, get in the car, drive down the street and be in the middle of Hollywood. I feel like I went through a teleport or something. It's like wait, is this the same Hollywood? Did it get closer to home? Why is it right here? Why are all these things that have only been a recreational journey now at my finger tips? Of course the cool thing about that perspective is that it feels like just that. For me, our place has been so awesome, my job has been so awesome and things have been so surreal that it feels like I'm on a really long weekend trip to LA. Which is cool, I'm down to live my life in this mode, that is looking forward to it ninety-eight percent of the time mode...

Of course a lot of this I have to contribute to my job, and I think it's my final curve around the bend of coming home to architecture. See I've gone back and forth on architecture for years, dreaming about it, staring at it, thinking about it, and then I'll go try it in the real world and time and time again get discouraged and pushed away. But the thing is, I can never stop thinking about buildings and spaces, I'm obsessed with them. It makes me giddy. Looking at buildings is like more fun than eating chocolate. So I always come right back around. And this time it's different. This time I've learned enough that my dreams have gone in different new avenues, and reality has finally climbed high enough that I am beginning to actually equate reality with my dreams. And it's so awesome. I love it. I love architecture, and I'm so glad that after twenty-six years I'm ready for it more than ever.

Back to Hollywood. I have to admit though that now that it's been about 23 days I do know that I want to eventually go back to Goleta, I mean that was our plan. Well it still is our plan, it never stopped, I just have been given a little more affirmation. I definitely want to live in LA now and enjoy what it has to offer, and probably live somewhere else along the way, but always end up back in Goleta. One of our biggest goals in life is to buy a sweet cozy home in Goleta, and no matter what happens with the real estate market, I'm never giving up.

Yeah Music!

2006-10-18T23:55:00.000-07:00

(listening to Saosin "Voices" and working from home at 11:50PM at night!!)

I do not want to go to your "Special Event"

2006-10-17T20:28:00.000-07:00

I don't mean to start this blog, that covers the breadth of Ryan coming home, us moving down here and all these crazy happening with a slightly negative title. But definitely the most prominent thing that occupies my mind that I was not anticipating is the traffic. And not your regular really bad LA traffic. We're talking red carpet special event really really really bad traffic. Where if you don't do something illegeal, you might as well turn off your car, because you're not going anywhere. But actually right now, I'm off to go do more battling. And even though I'm not a good driver, I'm definitely going to master the Art of driving in this madhouse.

Birthday, Yes!

2006-09-28T23:54:00.000-07:00

Wow, my birthday has seriously ruled. I thought it was going to be hard to have a good one because my husband comes home the next day, but it has been great!

Yesterday I came down to LA to work with my new job and then I spent the night at my boss's house, and woke up today to a beautiful LA sunrise (picture to come soon) She cooked breakfast, we did some work in the office, then we had a fun day going to job sites, one of which was a project under construction and we had to precariously walk around on ceiling joists and roof rafters. I can 't remember the last time I had to put on sunscreen for a job! This job is so exciting because she works on a small scale, and she is able to involve me in the whole process, I'm not a small cog in the big machine, but someone who gets to be involved in the whole spectrum of what design and building is all about. She also has some really neat projects lined up, so I get to be involved wholisticly on really awesome stuff. I was then treated by her at Clementine's (Clare's old job) for lunch, and it was amazingly delicious.

This evening I raced to Dan & Nui's house at rush hour across LA, and then we all went racing to some chocolate tasting in Hollywood, to which every loc I know from Goleta (that now lives in LA) came to! Afterwards we went to St. Nicks where I was again treated to drinks and a really really good tuna fish sandwich.

And it's not even done! I'm spending the night at Dan and Nui's, I pick up Ryan tomorrow from LAX at 10 am, we get to measure our new apartment to figure out what furniture is going to fit. Then him and Janice have thrown together a dinner party for me on Saturday with over a whopping 16 people from Goleta attending.

On top of all this and most importantly making my birthday really awesome, I was blown away by how many people called me, texted me, and of course myspaced me a happy birthday.

Like seriously, I'm blown away by the level of new adventure and love I've felt from everyone I know, which I think are the two best things to experience on birthdays, thank you everyone! :)

Not Multi-Tasking

2006-09-25T10:53:00.000-07:00

These last few days I've been a disorganized mess. I look at all things I have to do and I think, great! and that's about it. So I made a goal to do one particular thing before meeting up with Lura at 1:30. Which means I should be getting my butt off the computer right now. Crap! Ryan literally just came on the moment I finsished typing this. hahaha, we'll see what happens!

LA

2006-09-25T02:28:00.000-07:00

here we come! (no I can't believe we're moving to LA)

But anyways, that's right, totally prepared! Sweet apartment, extremely sweet jobs, (yes the sweetness of my job rivals his, for the field that I'm in, and the level that I'm at)

The view from my job is only the beginning of the awesomeness:

so generous

2006-09-15T16:36:00.000-07:00

"For each of the first 50,000 MySpace users that add Ashton’s profile as a friend, he will donate $1 to Habitat For Humanity® International. Check out his profile and learn more about the charity and his new film The Guardian."

can you believe this?

six billion people in the world, and if they all had a myspace profile, which they don't, and if they all became friends with ashton, he'd donate a whopping 120,000 dollars to this charity. Direct advertising to the entire world for $120,000. What a deal.

whoa, good one!

2006-08-24T10:22:00.000-07:00

"Do as your heroes or do not proclaim them as such. Don't resign yourself to vicarious living. -Tim Spencer"

So I'm still going

2006-08-22T01:48:00.000-07:00

But I have been a little turned off by this online journal posting. And actually lately I've been doing it the old fashioned way...gasp!

I'm doing well changing into the more disciplined-organized person that I want to become, and not losing my total chaotic me along the way. Don't ask how that happens. I guess it's because I put on the heels and get all dolled up, or I go out and I run four miles, but when it's all said and done, I still trip over the pavement and go flying Charlene style. Sweet. I'm down with that. I'm not out to change myself entirely I'm just out to master all those things I always dream about doing.

Alright I get it

2006-07-31T22:56:00.000-07:00

I mean I get it I really do, and I have to admit I have a hard time following through with what I'm trying to achieve but do you really have to taunt me with comments posted by spam?

And I'm actually doing really well, so screw you.

Live

2006-07-18T23:47:00.000-07:00

Someone just pulled up on my street blasting, "Life is highway, and if you're going my way, I want to ride it, all night long." and it pulled up to this one house that fittingly I think was in it's hay day social structure at that time period (please ask me for further clarification if that doesn't make sense)

Anyways I always want my sphere of social structure to be happening. I never want to have to be to nostaligic of a past time. Yeah, in fact now that I think about it, that's a big priority.

You bet I didn't give up!

2006-07-14T16:03:00.000-07:00

So in case any of you didn't know I'm taking an online photoshop class this summer and since it's only the summer it's extremely condensed. Anyways I procrastinated a tiny bit too much and I had way to much to do yesterday that was due today. Well I stayed up all night (with a little bit of goofing off) and finished everything that was due today. And then to top it off at six in the morning, when I was done I went and ran two miles. Now staying up all night to finish deadlines, that's not too impressive (especially when you can sleep in the next day) but finishing it off with a run? Now that's next level.

Now, if I go to the gym today and do a gnarly work out, I rule.

Here's some of my work from class, not that exciting, but due to the fact that there are friend in the pics, it makes them somewhat interesting:

(this second one is already two weeks old, and yes I see ways it can be improved but the photoshop file is on ryan's laptop)

It's about never giving up, every single day.

2006-07-13T15:26:00.000-07:00

P.S. Listen to music, it helps.

Today I was productive

2006-07-11T01:33:00.000-07:00

You can tell who's married and who's not by who comes online at night after everyone has hung out.

Sat. & Sun.

2006-07-09T17:34:00.000-07:00

Went to the hot springs last night, played soccer with 23 people today, worked out at the gym two hours yesterday and I am now sore.

Back

2006-07-07T22:33:00.000-07:00

In the saddle.

Had an awesome time spent with Ryan. Now back home, and back home to a whole new me. Literally my procrastinating but finally followed through with a lot of the name change stuff before I went and I came back to a whole new wallet of a different name. I think I really picked up the pace getting my name changed because it's such a representation of who I am and who I'm trying to become, and I get a fresh name to go along with this effort. Pretty neat.

The pics below are taken with my new phone, that hooks up to the computer with a USB cable. Way easy and pretty nice quality pics. Yeah!

Here is a cool library building for your viewing pleasure, this picture unforunately does not capture all that is rad about it:

And Ryan taking a picture of the crowd in Providence:

At least it's not a representation this time.

2006-07-03T08:37:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in over a week but at least it's not directly related to my exercising and being productive. It's the exact opposite. In fact arguably I've been so productive that I haven't had time to post.

So right now I'm with Ryan were chillin' in Minneapolis. He had a few days off and while most people flew home we decided that I would come out and see him. So we'd save money on airfare and total days off would be more(because the flying part doesn't feel like a day off and if I'm already here when his days off start, well there you go).

But getting here was exciting...My flight out of SB was way late, so I missed my connection in Vegas, and a lot of ridiculous stuff happened but to make a story short they ended putting me up in Vegas for the night (at the world's largest Super 8), and I got delayed seeing my honey by twelve hours. But you know, I can't complain, when the airlines get delayed it's because the weather isn't good or there is a malfunction with the plane. yaddah yaddah yaddah but if that's why we aren't going anywhere...GOOD. I'm here now right? That's what counts. And on the bonus side My flight from Vegas to Boston got upgraded to FIRST CLASS. I've never ever flown first class or business before, so for me it was a real treat.

And for humor sake look at this, they even have first class trail mix. I mean come on...but it was really good. Hah.

Boston:
What do you do if you can't get in to the game? Watch it on satellite right next to the stadium in your bus. (Nah, doesn't really work like that, the show was right there, but the red sox game was being watched on the bus)

Next stop Providence!!! Rule #346 If you park next to grass, you must throw the ball around.

phantom

2006-06-22T11:41:00.000-07:00

you know I live in the twilight zone, but I just realized that maybe that's because I must vanquish certain things in the twilight zone before I truly escape.

In other news my foot is retarded and hurts, it's like thanks body, wasn't trying to get in shape or anything...

Inspiration

2006-06-19T15:50:00.000-07:00

So Chris and I have been talking about inspiring and motivational things, always a piece of cake to find on the internet if you look. But anyways I'll try to post some links maybe even daily, maybe you'll get inspired, let me know.

Yesterday's:

Sand/Rake Diptych

these are awesome, go to his flickr account and look at his boats too.

Today's:

Zen and the Art of Classified Advertising

neat to think about.

GO MUSE!!! I LOVE YOU

2006-06-18T23:03:00.000-07:00

Right back atcha, and I'm here and I exercised today baby! And let's be honest my thighs are chapped from running, pathetic, but to be fixed!!!!!!! And let's not even talk about how much I got done today besides exercising.

I'm thinking about going graveyard schedule I've been toying with that idea for a long time, and I think I'm going to do it. How else am I going to get exercise twice a day with this hot weather.

Shake it like a Polaroid picture

2006-06-14T20:44:00.000-07:00

Oh man, parts of me have just been voom.

And here I am starting all over again (in some ways) just like I have over and over since January. But to sum it up it really hasn't been in vain, I'm still physically better off than when I started in January. I've gotten a whole heck of a lot of traveling done. And I've been doing a lot of assessing and growing which has led to a paradigm shift which really prepares me to go further than I've gone before. And lastly I'm stalked up on down time to make it a really long time with out going out there. (Get it?) Which convenient leads me up to my recluse state.

I'm locking myself in my room for self betterment, and not coming out unless someone calls me and insists. Actually you won't have to insist that hard. Feel free to tune in though for updates on my life.

update

2006-05-23T03:18:00.000-07:00

for current life updates go here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26777451@N00/sets/72057594142974386/

my own pics with captions, I demand you all post comments!!

and yes I'm still currently in Hawaii.

illi-noise

2006-05-03T23:00:00.000-07:00

how come my journal posting directly correlates to my gym going, even when I'm not posting about going to the gym. But that's not the case right now.

I'm going to look into getting an internship in urban planning. And hopefully being an internship I can have flexibility.

good posting. i rule.

I'm being so good!

2006-04-24T22:14:00.000-07:00

I went to the gym last night at two in the morning and ran/walked 3.5 miles while watching world's most extreme houses.

Then today I went hiking.

And then I made healthy food.

And I finally took the cameras from the tables at our wedding to be developed.

P.S.
John and Becky's wedding was very well done.
here's some pics:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26777451@N00/sets/72057594115916696/

I'm here!

2006-04-22T01:41:00.000-07:00

I know my last two weeks of journaling have consisted not the air of optimism I normally have. yeah yeah, parts of me are just worn out.

And parts of me are bummed about our circle of friends growing up. I think that plays into it more than I realize. You know it's not so much growing up, but moving away. Which directly correlates to growing up because only an irresponsible youth would stay here and throw their money away on rent. ha. stupid town.

Here's a little sticker shock. One bedroom condo's start at $400,000 where I live, start. And most track homes are over a million dollars. Even doctors can't afford to live here. See why people are dropping like flies?

Look at me! I'm digressing into something negative again!

Hah!!

Here is happy stuff:
My sister is coming home from Berkeley because she is sick of starving to death in the bay area. And she has a double major in Nutritional Science and Modern Dance and is finishing up her schooling to become a Pilates Instructor. Talk about a dream personal trainer, she's a complete package in one. She's going to make serious bank once she gets rolling. But in the mean time I get to hang with her cool personality, expertise, and have a hiking buddy. This is very very very rad.

The wedding will be a blast tomorrow. And luckily I have friends that I can steal to dance with all night long.

Yellowcard played an insane show tonight to over 8000 in SLC and as Ryan described it in a text message "Dude we just MURDERED eight thousand people" (as in destroyed, as in they were blown away... :) )

Yep there, happy stuff.

Living the Dream

2006-04-21T14:32:00.000-07:00

So our friends are getting married tomorrow. Close friend's, real close. The groom asked Ryan to be in the wedding. Guess who's not going to be at the wedding tomorrow. Ryan has been good friend's with John for over ten years. And on one of the biggest day's of John's life, Ryan is not there. No bachelor party, showers, dress rehearsal, wedding, reception, nothing.

You know all of this has been totally insane. But there are downsides that I never would have thought of. You’re living the dream, but right along side of the non-existent work week is the non-existent weekend. You’re locked into this alternate reality. Living the dream means just that, you don't get to wake up, even when you want too.

Edit: Just a note, life is great and things are good, but this is a bummer, and since this is my journal I'm writing it down.

ode to my cell phone

2006-04-07T14:40:00.000-07:00

So I lost my cell phone, it's flying somewhere around Europe. And I don't care about all the numbers I lost, I don't care about the fact that it was the best cell phone ever because it had a built in flashlight, I don't care that I have to get a new one, I don't care that people can't get a hold of me.

What I do care about is that on my cell phone I had archived text messages from Ryan over the past two years. The kind of text messages that I was planning to save in one format or another for the rest of my life. Some of our best and worst moments have transpired over them, and the best ones I was saving for later.

If anyone sees my cell phone, I'll give you a nice reward. It's a nokia 3200 (that's one of the clear plastic ones with a removable design underneath, the design was blue) and on the back there were photo booth stickers of Sean M., Todd, and Chris N. The provider was Cingular but it says AT&T on the outside. I left it on Ryanair I think the plane's license is (FR9272 or FRG272). It's on the right side sandwiched between the window and seat in row 24 (or there abouts) or somewhere in Stansted or Eindhoven airports. The flight was on March 24 at 6:45 am from London to Amsterdam.

There. what's the point of this, well it's made me feel better.

coming through

2006-04-06T10:41:00.000-07:00

ok ok I'm here, I promise. And yes I know I returned on the 31st so I should have already been posting for days right? yeah...

well that trip was a serious zap, and so was this weekend, I mean both totally amazing but I'm still recovering. Just physically and mentally exhausting. In fact I was super blah, like really super blah, and I didn't understand why everything else felt so blah, but now that I'm coming back to life again (hahaha, but in a different way) I understand that I had been pushed to my limits.

Let's dive right in since the last time I seriously posted, and not in order. :)

Porto, Portugal
Porto is located on the coast of Portugal near the top.
We arrived there by train from Lisbon.

artsy picture forshadowing the rain and wind to also be coming the following day.

this is codfish, Portuguese women compare with each other how many different ways they know how to prepare codfish, and the combinations keep going and going. (I know this may not look that appetizing but I had to divulge this tidbit of information)

this is how windy and rainy it was, I bought that umbrella about forty-five minutes before this picture was taken.

Kelly and Chris also enjoying the weather.

Final goal: a glass of port wine.

2006-03-19T04:16:00.000-08:00

Mojacar, Spain

the alhambra

tada!!
and kelly updated her photo journal more effectively feel free to look at a lot of stuff there.

Out.

2006-03-10T07:44:00.000-08:00

I'm lazy so feel free to check this out if you want any sort of hint of where I am.

http://community.webshots.com/user/vegemitekidineurope3

Actually I'm keeping a hand written journal, holy crap what in the world is that??

February Outings

2006-02-26T00:17:00.000-08:00

Ok catch up's on the last travelings... that I said I would post.

Trip #3
The last thing I did was go up to meet my sister to see her perform in "Dessert First" it was awesome. It was this whole modern dance about food, and before they started they served dessert, and during intermission they served some of the tastiest stuff! Brought to you by the "the Ghetto Gourmet" not to be confused with Berkeley's Gourmet Ghetto. Anyways the combination of dance, food and music and the quality and method of presentation made it the best night I have ever experienced of Art.
I then took the train home the next day which was six hours delayed!! Wow. But I took advantage of it hoped the Bart and went shopping in the city.(This was Feb. 19 & 20)

This picture does not do the food justice.

This picture does not do the dancing justice, nor is it a good representation of the overall show, but it's funny... (I didn't get any better pics :( )

Trip #2
Then the trip before that started with the YC show in Avalon, which was awesome and with Over it, they gave a shout out to Ryan and congratulated him on his new path of his music career. Then the YC show was cancelled in San Fran (causing me to miss my ride up there because Over-it was my ride) so I caught the bus-train up there 11 hours from LA to SF. I don't want to ever hear Ryan complaining about flying! (his flight up there took an hour) Then I spent the next few days with my sister, Seeing Punchline, The Vagina Monologues, and the best part of all, Kayaking in the bay and then really good Mexican at this restaurant on the bay as well.

Then caught back up with Ryan in LA for the video shoot. This video is the coolest ever, the way it is shot, and what's going on, it makes me think of green and gray, and gritty old school kind of like fight club or great expectations. This makes no sense but I really don't want to go off about the video before people see it, they need to just watch it and enjoy it, and it has something for everyone so I don't know why anybody wouldn't!

This is the only non-descript pic you get of the video.

This is a picture of Marc Webb falling for my husband. Nobody can resist him!

Then they did Jimmy Kimmel, this was the coolest night show by far. Between all the dressing rooms they have this swanky lounge with TV's, Pool, open bar, and tasty appetizers. And all your friends on the guest list totally get to come in and chill. And then the actual performance of Jimmy Kimmel is outside, and not only does the audience from inside the studio get to come out and watch, but anyone on the street can come and watch for free! And the band plays five songs, so it's like a mini concert (even though only two of them air) so they are totally making sure the people in the audience are having a great time. It's great because fans came off the street and they were all singing along. And the best part about Jimmy Kimmel was before it all started we were talking about who was on and someone said that Harold Perrsdfjsldfjlsjdf was on, and Ryan was like "Harold Perrineau Jr.? Dude that 's Michael from LOST!" so we all flipped out and were so stoked, and then at Jimmy Kimmel all the other guests of the show sit on the side of the stage on a couch and watch the show so Harold was right there! And right before they played Ryan went up to him and told him how we are all so obsessed and how the guys with their tour manager plan tour around LOST on Weds. as best they can on the road, and Harold was like thanks, and I'm looking forward to watching you guys. Yep very cool, apparently people from LOST come on Jimmy Kimmel all the time. I'm not surprised, most chill night show ever. (This was Feb. 7-15)

Jimmy Kimmel (look to left and see Michael/Harold standing up at couch)

Trip #1
Now back further, when I met Ryan up at Casino Morongo for the Yellowcard Superbowl Party. They had a few days off so we stayed for three nights. The first night we saw Metal Skool at the Casino, if you haven't seen them, they are awesome, and the guitarist rips. Next night we came back up to LA for the Coldplay concert!!!!! So excited!!! I didn't even know it was going to happen. Ryan K. hooked up tickets at the last minute!!! So stoked!!! Coldplay is one of my favorites!!! The concert was so awesome, they were like dancing around (while singing), and laying on the ground (while singing) and there were these Yellow Balloons, full of yellow confetti during Yellow. And it turns out that Napoleon Dynamite (sorry I don't know his real name) was sitting right behind us!!! How cool is that? Then the Super Bowl Party, it was awesome because the Key Club at the Morongo was three stories high, and in the top floor there were all these private rooms with balconies, and we had a really big one and partied during the game, and we discovered this beautiful tasty drink called a "Key Lime Martini" sssooooo goood. (This was Feb 9-12)

Metal Skool, highly recommended.

Yellow

Key Lime Pie Martini's in hand.

Super Bowl Show

So that sums up all the outings for me of February. All in beau-ti-ful California! And just a note, there will be more pics added to this blog entry at a later date, it's just that some of them are on Ryan's computer.

Now, for randoms:

artsy minature golf pic

We forgot how Really Really Ridiculously Good-Looking we are.

unrequited love

2006-02-24T03:45:00.000-08:00

You know it's not for everyone, but having the person you're in love with gone and with you, and then gone and with you again...It really leaves you with the anticipation of of what's to come, just like when you first were getting together. And when you finally do, it's the same euphoric high all over again. (and you bet it get's addicting)

Watched the movie Chinatown tonight. Go watch it. Do it. And Jack is hot! And everything they say about LA is true! That's right, LA is just a big scandal, how fitting.

2006-02-23T03:12:00.000-08:00

q30[49t;o43)(*(&(&*%$%#$$#^^%)*(pisdgsk;ljeg'aeoutitu430w95t8pw349u5sdeipltjsledkgdljfsldfjsldkjfls;dkjfl;djrf
it's not all fun and games.

apparently Billie Joe has missed all of his kids births.

I hope someday it doesn't come to that, I will seriously be throwing my placenta at people.

the air at twilight

2006-02-22T20:20:00.000-08:00

I am coming back to life. My dreams are stretching out like branches of a tree reaching out to the ends of the universe. It's amazing, I feel like I did in high school. Everything is beautiful. Everything is perfect, just the way it is. I don't know the path that life will take, but it is good.
I don't know when this started to arise back in me, but I sensed it overwhelmingly when I went for a hike today at the end of the day and soon we found ourselves traveling back in dusk and then darkness. It reminded me of camping. It's been a long time since I've been in the wilderness after dark. It shoots life into you, the sounds, the stars, the air always changing. You feel a live and aware. Safe in our modern day wilderness but your instincts hover on everything that they sense, leaving you with nothing to do except bask in the glow of life around you.

5 AM

2006-02-22T04:59:00.000-08:00

Don't ask why I'm not tired. I actually have an idea, it's because I haven't talked with Ryan in two days. Sure we've been back and forth on IM, but I think my subconscious is like, where is he? where's his voice? Being around Ryan makes me relax like there's no tomorrow. Being on the phone with him when he's far away has the same effect. No matter what time of the day it is I just want to curl up and go to sleep. I guess this makes him the equivalent of melatonin, and since I'm low, I'm not tired at all. This is slightly frustrating because I'm a little sick. But since there is nothing I have to get up for tomorrow I'm not to perturbed. As long as I'm being productive now! which I am, hence the reading of the IRS website.

So in case anyone didn't know he/they are in Paris right now. And Ryan informed me that he can see the Eiffel tower from the hotel gym. Did you know that Parisians originally considered the Eiffel tower an eye sore and it was never intended to be a permanent fixture of the city? (this fact brought to you by my nineteenth century parisian architecture course)

I'm good, in case anybody needed to know. Call me and come say hi before I leave (27th) for a month.

any eco-nerds out there like me?

2006-02-22T04:50:00.000-08:00

Land. You can never depreciate the cost of land because land does not wear out, become obsolete, or get used up. The costs of clearing, grading, planting, and landscaping are usually all part of the cost of land and cannot be depreciated.

Hahahahahha, this is on the irs website on property depreciation. Does anyone else see the irony in this?

Really America. Really?

Back in la

2006-02-12T15:34:00.000-08:00

Yeah.

Went to a whole foods market here, wasn't nearly as impressed as I was with the one in New York, the salad bar was smaller, and so far from what I've eaten, not nearly as fresh. Just for the record, I've always wanted to travel and travel and travel but now I realize how nice it is to come home to a kitchen at night, so much more control over your diet and eating healthy, none of this trying to stuff a salad in the mini-bar between the beer and the liquor...

Finished Sugar Blues (William Dufty) today, I cannot stress how much people should read this. He talks about how sugar effects you from mosiquito bites to pms, who knew! And since I've been eating in a more natural way it's definitely helping with getting into shape. Now that I'm done with the book Ryan is going to read it next, it's been the plan all along, I just got to go first.

That was longer then it should have taken to read that book, but it's not the only one I'm in the middle of. But, I definitely want to be going at a faster reading rate than this.

Yes they are shooting the video right now in LA and that's why we are here. Well maybe the other Ryan right this second, mine is currently asleep. :)

Nobody tell him I put this on the Internet, he barely looks at this, he might never know...

Tip of the day: If you can fly into Burbank instead of LAX, do it. It's more lo-key.

123Gym! AAAAARRRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrr!

The beautiful-delightful Bay Area

2006-02-10T11:05:00.000-08:00

Yep that's where I am. It's nice, I'm having down time up here. My sister lives up here in Berkeley and I'm chilling with her for the next few days. Going to do the coolest thing. Her work is having their christmas party today and it consists of kayaking in the bay at night and going to dinner. KAYAKING IN THE BAY, how cool is that? I'm really excited. Which brings me back around to this being my a place of logging my exercise... On tuesday the day of the LA show there was no time. wed. I spent all day traveling...(haha not going to talk about it :) and yesterday I was actually going to hit up the gym here but we walked probably a total of three miles and I was so pooped at the end of the day I felt I didn't have too. Are these ridiculous excuses??? yes or no? Today I'm reluctant to go to the gym because of the kayaking tonight I'm afraid of it being totally exhauting and a challenge to keep up with everyone else so I want to save my energy. And I'm serious, the last thing I need to do is start tonight with a worn out body! kay feel free to input on my perspective here.

Went to punchline show at Slim's last night, very awesome, their new stuff is fun. I also really enjoy how much harmonzing and back up singing there is of greg's it's neat to have that much second vocals, harmonies all over the place.

Yesterday was Ryan and my three year dating anniversary and five month being married anniversary. Sweet.

Blurit

2006-02-07T00:30:00.000-08:00

So been good with the gym and exercising. we went all four days in Palm Springs, starring out the window at everyone else lounging around the pool (yes the gym at morongo is strategically located like that) Going to post about my trip later and not now because a new one starts tomorrow. Because of mass trips I haven't been up to too much else but Ryan commented on how much better the room looks multiple times so I guess the work I have been putting into it is progressing a lot more than I thought.

Ryan also can't apparently deal with a roommate on the computer while in bed...so I have to go

hi

2006-01-28T19:16:00.000-08:00

what do I post in my lack of reality world. from one cave to another, I like to stay inside...I was going to come on and post today that I failed to go to the gym my entire trip except for one day. But I did eat healthy on all days except one. I exercised the crap out of myself yesterday. I'm almost done with Sugar Blues, I've been working on my room today.........which is so hard, such my weakness. I dropped Italian, because I realized that even if I get to go (that's a long story) we're only going to be there for one day, so for now, screw it, I'll do lonely planet speak.

I started this journal to keep myself in check and then also got ambitious and started posting other things that were going on in my life because people kept asking, what are you doing? where are you? and I thought it would be an easy filler-inner comeplete with pics, until the next time I see whoever it is that's asking these questions. Those were the goals of this journal, but then I was talking to my sister and I began to wonder if it's not good for other people to read this. Well if it isn't I'm sorry, that wasn't my plan. And if anyone's reading this with animosity, stop, that's not what this is for. My intentions here are good, and stated above. Disclaimer done.

So

2006-01-27T12:59:00.000-08:00

So I didn't post for a few days, excuse me I was living life. I actually wrote in my real journal, and that's stuff the rest of the world isn't welcome to see. What did I/we do?

We picked Ryan up on Saturday morning, and it had snowed the night before (this time just for him) and we spent the day doing productive things like building a snow man. Ryan had never done this before, so this was an important moment.

We then went to the show and tore it up with ryan's family.

Then Cleveland, another awesome show, right be the river.

New York.
So first day was fuse.

Second day Sean and I ditched Ryan and went around the city.

AND I DISCOVERED THAT YOU CAN'T GO TO THE TOP OF THE CHRSYLER BUILDING. FREAKING FREAK.
THAT IS SO LAME. I MEAN 1930 MAN COME ON, MODERN GARGOYLES. Anyways, extreme bummer.

We also walked up to Central Park. And I came to the conclusion, no offense, but the park is just like a caged animal. And even though it is known to give the city the refuge the people need, I was wholey unsatisfied with the amount of natural life it offered.

Then we went to the MET. That was sweet. Quentin took us there and got us in for free.

I saw 22 Oboes.
If you look closely you can see the Monster Oboe at the top.

Then Quentin showed us this awesome whole foods market. But not only was it a market of awesome whole foods, there was this entire area (multiple units like the one in the pic below) of fresh salads, rices, vegetables, and tons of other whole foods that you just serve yourself and pay by the pound. You could literally live very healthy without a kitchen and tons of variety.

I had no self control when it came to deciding, so I went for a variety.

Then the show, it was an awesome show and an awesome night.

Winnie the Pooh crowd surfing. RAD.

Then the after party. It was awesome and made me realize that I have an entire new group of friends. I was able to freely wander around the room having a blast, like I do at home, and party party party. And of course congrats to the release, I heard it did 25,000 the first day. Nice.

Then the next day was Conan!! He's my DREAM man, and now that I've seen him in person, he is even more so.
No I didn't get any pictures of the hottie.

That sum's it up. Funny thing is, I didn't get this cold weather I've been anticipating. The weather I did experience in Detroit and New York, was nothing colder than I've been in before. It was like 50's or whatever. Guess that time when I get my first California reality check is just yet to come.

Detriot

2006-01-19T22:08:00.000-08:00

I am in Detriot, with Ryan's family. It's really nice, they are awesome hosts and it was sunny and warm today, which apparently is not normal at all for Detriot in January...hehe...guess I brought the Golden State with me. But yesterday I guess it snowed two inches, just for me, as one of the cousins stated. So there's a nice smattering of white all over, adding the perfect winter feel.

So I'm just going to be chilling, probably watching myself some TV, since Cable TV is a rare treat. And yep, that's right, Ryan isn't here, he'll be here Saturday, I'm part of the family now, I don't need him around to feel welcome! ;)

Snow

2006-01-19T09:02:00.000-08:00

there's snow outside, and I'm in a large city, not a tiny mountain town. A full city with snow, all these cities have snow. It's snowing but on the cement there's nothing I was wondering if they did it. They just said something about the plane getting de-iced with glycogen?

Dove vai?

2006-01-18T00:47:00.000-08:00

ryan's gone... shucks, actually I'm not even phased because I get to see him on Saturday in Detroit and four days is NOTHING.

What else is happening...Reading another good book (not sugar blues)... won't say what it is though because it's contributing to creation of one of my future Goleta Games. Just you all wait, the new ones will be even more awesome.

In the drastractible side I'm working on picking up a litte Italian. But hey, why not, I'll argue it's a productive art that is stretching my brain. And I am not going to let a language barrier stop me again from drooling over architecture.

Oh and cooking the other night was awesome, we made Tom ka Gai (but with tofu) My FAVORITE Thai thing to eat, along with the many other delicious foods we feasted upon.

Saturday

2006-01-14T18:03:00.000-08:00

well exercising is still good. taking care of everything else not so good, but improving.

I've been reading Sugar Blues, it's awesome. It makes me realize that corporate brainwash existed long before the industrial revolution.

On the homefront we're just about to cook up some awesome goodess massive friend style, I'm stoked.

And I got with it and added some pics from our last outing, scroll down to the appropriate blogs to see them.

failed.

2006-01-13T17:14:00.000-08:00

attempt two.

other goals

2006-01-12T12:04:00.000-08:00

ok, gym and diet are beginning to form well, I don't even feel a need to post that I'm doing them on here.

Other parts need work though! I can't sit here and tell you the everyday tasks I need to get done. But I'll set the goal of taking care of five of them and then tomorrow I'll log on and tell you how I did. And I must admit that pieces of my life are messy enough and really do need to get straightened before I plunge completely into my ever upward spiral. That's why no inward thought is sitting on here yet.

What's going on in the enlightening side? No refined sugar!! Read "Sugar Blues" by William Duffy. You really don't have a fighting chance at health if you don't cut that stuff out.

Oh and just for the record we read it's good to go fourteen days without alcohol and caffeine after the holidays. I already don't drink caffiene but the alcohol is also not going to be happening.

Anyone else keep a journal of pushing goals?

invigorating

2006-01-10T12:48:00.000-08:00

"potential is the best kind of beauty, everything else has been played."

neat. stolen from here:

http://www.citynoise.org/article/1947/in/portland@or

Right on your heels

2006-01-10T01:24:00.000-08:00

look at this:

http://www.citynoise.org/article/2588

I one who loves cities and thinks they should be viable thing sit here at a lost. It's true any city that goes through a serious change seems to end up a corporate strip with no character and a hollow frame. Wherever there is juice/life they are hot on the tail. No matter what the artists find, the local community forages, if it's a gem there the corporation is hovering ready to snatch it up and make a profit. The homogony we fight against but at the same time seem to go tail spinning towards. The internet I think is one of the few places that manages combat it, by allowing people to connect easily, cheaply, and faster than the corporations can keep up.

But back to the city. What is a real city scape and what is poised? And maybe that's the new challenge, now that cities are revitalizing, keeping the revitalization real and local, backed and made by the people, not the far off giants motivated by profit.

How does Santa Barbara do it? That's a good question. How many chain restaurants can you think of downtown? Not many at all.

home for a little bit

2006-01-09T12:36:00.000-08:00

So the title of my last post was fufilled even more last night unintentionally. I'm definitely going to continue to get friendlier and friendlier at YC shows because I am seriously meeting some rad people and having some interesting conversations.

Which helps to fulfill the depth I want to this all-over-the-place-really-fast traveling. See I love to cram my head full of informaiton and knowledge, I'm addiced to it. I am addicted to school too, I can't believe that I'm not enrolled right now. And I love traveling, part of that love is seeing things and doing things I've never seen and done before, even if it's just driving down a street I've never been to before and looking at the buildings and people. But this new touring is so fast, so hectic, so all over the place you just want to go into your designated room whatever it may be and take a breather. And all the people that come at you want the same thing, it's really funny to watch the guys get asked the exact same questions over and over again. Like you can come on two days of touring and know what the rest of it is going to be like, even though it will be all over the country. A homogeney all over the country. Just like mass production. Except their humans, so they are just working on the assembly line of speech. Point is, it doesn't feed my hungry knowledge need. The antidote I've come across so far is to strike up an awesome conversation with whoever walks through that dressing room door, it's been great. And don't worry I'm not just using people for their knowledge I love making new friends, and really did happen upon this insight accidently.

you have to understand how awesome this is, the MTV crew was watching football in the back, and as you can see the second couch is on a riser. Nice.

We all like to sing.....Sweet. Sounds sweet too.

The only picture of me from the whole trip, and yes it's a self-portrait, I only took one, and I like it.

Be friendly, it's worth it.

2006-01-07T20:57:00.000-08:00

I worked out today twice, nothing crazy, but I did it.

Oh yeah, and right now we're in San Diego. $2 bill concert tomorrow.

I like San Diego a lot, so does Ryan. It's like a bigger version of Santa Barbara, I don't know what went wrong with LA. Maybe it's because it started as the valley of the smokes and never had a chance in the first place.

genius

2006-01-06T17:19:00.000-08:00

here I am sitting here, this is where I'm suppose to go to the gym right? and I found one 1.3 miles from where I am. But genius me left all my clothes at the hotel. Well, I'm working on it. I'll get better. A semi-valid getting into the groove excuse...

vegas.

2006-01-05T12:14:00.000-08:00

So journaling consists of logging where we physically are. Took care of that with the title. They are playing for CES, sweet too bad we don't have time to go look around at CES.

I was going to go to my local 24 hour gym, but I didn't. I've decided seeing friends I haven't seen in a month is more important. I can go to the 24 gym in la this weekend and somewhat justify not doing it right now... (I need some encouragement right here for being weak...) I didn't go to the gym on tuesday either! But I did go on Wednsday. I'd tell you more but vegas is vegas.

Wait, we went to old town last night they have a promanade with a huge light show above. That was something new and cool.

see the classic cowboy on the left? the woman is hidden on the right.

more classic vegas

tripping

really tripping

straight into the beginning

2006-01-02T23:57:00.001-08:00

I am so excited! Today I joined the 24 hour gym, talk about stepping out on a limb and pushing myself. The gym is downtown, a ten mile drive, I filled up my tank right before and right after driving both ways, it cost two dollars. Ack. But I decided I still want to do it. Twenty-Four hours means no excuses. Joining a gym means no excuses. And the drive, even though it makes me an enviro-hypocrit, well it's something I'm forcing myself to accept, I look at is a temporary sacrifice for my goals (they are suppose to open another 24 gym in Goleta in about a year). So what is my goal? I want to look like Kate from Lost. At first it was just a dream and an ideal, but then I saw an old picture of myself and I realized my body type is close enough, maybe I won't look exactly like her, but when I'm done, you'll get the idea. So for further motivation and ouchness, that up there is a reminder.