After all the e-mails and enticements from classmates.com to see who has visited my profile over the years and sent me e-mails, I finally renewed my membership. And wow what a flash from the past!
My "secret" Junior High School crush was listed in my guestbook. Guess it wasn't so "secret" after all. I sat behind him in a class or 2 since in those days they used to sit us alphabetically by our last names and lucky me (or so I thought) the boy with the most perfectly feathered hair had a last name that started with "He". My Junior High yearbook is covered with "I love you Jeff" all over it, circling every photo he appears in, no matter how dorky. He ended up taking a blond girl with really big, poofy hair (aka damaged - probably from all that sun-in and crimping) and braces to the Junior High prom.
Now 23 years later - and here I see his photo in my guestbook and at first had no idea who this guy was. A guy with 4 kids - 2 kids in high school, and a set of elementary school aged twin boys. And then I see a photo of him dancing with his daughter and it was something about the smile that transported me back to my Junior High days when I hoped that he'd come to his senses and realize that I was a much better catch than the peroxide queen. No such luck. He barely said anything to me, as I wished upon a star and stared at the back of his head.
Come present day, he searched through our shared Junior High School (we went to different High Schools since I moved away after Junior High). He's still living in my childhood neighborhood and his kids are going to the same schools he went to. I can't even imagine. He looks happy though in the ton of photos of himself and his family that he posted. But I can still read between the lines with his career (he left his work e-mail address to contact him) and the choices he made in his life. Plus he still seems very full of himself so I can't feel too sorry for him.
Then there was another boy who I went on a group date to the movies with in High School, who left to get some popcorn during the movie's sex scene. His younger sister Summer was a contestant on The Apprentice.
And another girl who was a cute, petite blond with a hard edge. Turns out she joined the Air Force and now has a kid and lives in Oregon working at some plant doing quality control.
I'm still searching for Justin Velo, a Diamond Bar High School classmate, also a modern day beatnik who was unique, bizarre, interesting and kind. For my 17th birthday he drove me and a bunch of my girlfriends to a party at my friend's house in his baby blue VW van, and gave me Jim Morrison's biography. I had heard he moved to San Francisco and was working in a bookstore (which is easy to imagine), but no one's heard of him since.
And why is it I didn't know we had a guy name Frankenstein who graduated in my class? Seeing all the unrecognizable names makes me realize just how few people I really knew in High School.
I'm not one of those that ever looks back and claims, "Those were the best times of my life." That's a blessing! As my adult life now is so much better in every respect from my childhood. In some respects I remember Junior High better than any other period in my life since it was so traumatic. High School is a complete blur as I saw it just as a stepping stone to college. After college is when my real life started. As it should be. But it's still fascinating to see how we all ended up in adulthood.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Monday, November 03, 2008
Barack-o-tini
I was sipping on my Barack-o-tini as the election results were coming in. Ushering in a new era.Saturday, October 25, 2008
Nothing Compares 2 U - by The Coconutz
I caught this flick, "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" on a recent flight back from Europe. It's a cute movie with a good soundtrack. At the end of the movie there's this version of Sinead O'Connor's - "Nothing Compares to you," by The Coconutz. Check it out - a haunting rendition entirely in Hawaiian.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Always look on the bright side of life
When U. went to Germany in August, the Dollar to Euro conversion rate was ridiculously painful (for us 'Mericans'). But with Europe's economy having it's own financial crisis now, it makes our upcoming vacation to Europe a much sweeter deal - 30% cheaper and still going.
Friday, October 10, 2008
I'm voting for "that one"
Too much is probably being made of John McCain's snide remark as he referred to Barrack Obama as "that one" since I'm sure it wasn't meant as "that nigger standing over there." But that whole thing just felt weird, and it's fun to poke fun at McCain.
And of course my vote is going to "that one" for sure!
And I'm so glad that "that one" won't be in the white house for much longer.
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Where is a McCain bingo card when I need one?
I could have filled up an entire bingo card with "My Friends".
Friday, October 03, 2008
Palin Bingo
Last night U. presented me with 2 Palin bingo cards, and I couldn't help but laugh out loud. We were both looking forward to the debate between Biden and Palin, and the game made it much more bearable to hear Palin speak - and downright fun at times.The space in the middle with Palin's face is called "Air Space" which you automatically get to cross out.
"Maverick!" we both shouted the first of the 20 or so times she said that word - as we each marked an X on our cards.
"Come on...say 'gosh' and 'working mom'," I said.
"Say 'Russia' and 'Sexism'," U. said.
"Oh yeah, she just said 'hockey mom'." "Do you have 'Al Qaeda'?"
"Too bad we don't have 'Talibani' on our cards."
You can create your own cards at: www.palinbingo.com
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
What a glorious LA evening!
It's 10:30 at night and 82 degrees outside with a warm breeze. I sat out on my balcony tonight wearing a tank top and ate my dinner after a long day at the office. I love evenings like this.
I remember July nights that felt like this when I was a kid. Fourth of July I would take a sleeping bag and sleep outside under the stars in my backyard, long after all the fireworks ended, snuggling with my Boston Terrier.
Nights like these make me want to stay outside and enjoy the glorious warm weather for as long as possible. If only I still owned a sleeping bag...
I remember July nights that felt like this when I was a kid. Fourth of July I would take a sleeping bag and sleep outside under the stars in my backyard, long after all the fireworks ended, snuggling with my Boston Terrier.
Nights like these make me want to stay outside and enjoy the glorious warm weather for as long as possible. If only I still owned a sleeping bag...
Monday, September 29, 2008
Black Monday
So my husband e-mails me with "Bailout Package defeated. Dow down 700 points. Wow."The House on Monday defeated a $700 billion emergency rescue for the nation's financial system, ignoring urgent warnings from President Bush and congressional leaders of both parties that the economy could nosedive into recession without it.
Stocks plummeted on Wall Street even before the 228-205 vote to reject the bill was announced on the House floor.
The S&P 500 posted its biggest loss since 1987, and the Dow Jones industrials were down nearly 780 points in their largest one-day point drop ever.
The selling was so intense that just 162 stocks rose on the NYSE — and 3,073 dropped.
It takes an incredible amount of fear to set off such an intense reaction on Wall Street, and the worry now is that with the rescue plan's fate uncertain, no one knows how the financial sector hobbled by hundreds of billions of dollars in bad mortgage bets will recover.
While investors didn't believe that the plan was a panacea, and understood that it would take months for its effects to be felt, most market watchers believed it was a start toward setting the economy right after a credit crisis that began more than a year ago and that has spread overseas.
On the other hand we've seen how rushing without a well thought out plan, making decisions in haste under pressure and duress from the Bush Administration, and without weighing the consequences has worked out in the past:
1) The Patriot Act
2) Invading Iraq (weapons of mass destruction)
3) Funding the Iraq War (outside of the budget)
It's definitely an eerie feeling to be living in these times of history in the making. The only two things I can compare it to in my lifetime is the dot com boom and bust (although the Internet is still booming) and 9/11. We survived both. But each day with more banks closing and financial instability and gloom and doom, it's a very strange time period indeed. I'd love to be able to look into a crystal ball to see how all this will play out in the future. Time will tell.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Californication Season 2
Californication is back for Season 2! Showtime Series on Sundays at 10 PM ET/PT. The entire 1st season is also available through On Demand in case you missed it. Highly recommend it.It's shot in LA and is about a screenwriter Hank Moody, who moves to LA from NY after his novel gets picked up for a movie, and all the debauchery that takes place that ruins his relationship - while he's a very sweet, good guy underneath it all who is still in love with his ex girlfriend.
Hank Moody (played by David Duchovny)Famed novelist & NYC transplant Hank relocates to LA after his acclaimed book is optioned, but it later becomes a crappy romantic comedy, which sparks a horrible case of writer's block. He's struggling to get his career back on track with the help of his agent/best friend, raise his pre-teen daughter, all while pining for his ex-girlfriend. It may sound desperate, but he enjoys life and owns all his various vices — drink, drugs and women — with a refreshing sense of honesty and unapologetic candor. He's holding it together while falling apart, and he doesn't mind it one bit.
Karen (played by Natascha McElhone)Hank's long-time ex-girlfriend and the mother of his teenaged daughter. She was happy with struggling genius writer Hank when they lived in New York, but she can't begin to hide her disgust in L.A. Hank's inability to return to his promising craft and his immature, predictable behavior. Now that Hank is ghost writing the autobiography of a debaucherous famous record producer, how will she cope with Hank being surrounded on the daily by sex, drugs and rock & roll? Will her love/hate relationship with Hank jeopardize her sanity?
Mia (played by Madeline Zima)
This sexy siren upends Hank's life in a way he could never imagine. Their one-night stand after meeting at a bookstore sends Hank's life into a tailspin. How could he know the hot chick who liked his novel was the 16-year-old daughter of Karen's ex-boyfriend? While Hank tries to conceal their romp from Karen, Mia is off promoting the manuscript she stole from Hank and has passed off as her own. It's a huge hit and Mia is relishing in her new found, totally unearned fame. Will Karen discover their affair? Will the world discover the book was plagiarized? Will Mia stop Facebook-ing herself long enough to care?
Becca (played by Madeleine Martin)
Hank and Karen's thirteen-year-old daughter has seen it all — watching her parent's bad breakup and her father's once promising career take a hit has made her wise beyond her years. But, unlike her mother, Becca truly accepts her father for who he is. The women come and go, but Hank's heart truly belongs to his daughter. But Becca's heart is now facing a bit of competition — it's Dad versus her new boyfriend who, coincidentally, is the spitting image of a young Hank. Whether that will be a good or bad thing remains to be seen... 
Charlie (played by Evan Handler)
Hank's best friend and agent lived life on the straight and narrow path and spent his free time trying to get Hank to kick his various habits and settle down with a good woman. But it all blew up — cataclysmically — in his face when an affair with his receptionist (among other peccadilloes) was caught on tape, earning him a pink slip and an uncertain future. A chance encounter lands him a new job as an agent to a budding porn star and a new Charlie is born. But his new star client's needs are proving a distraction from trouble brewing in his own home.
Marcy (played by Pamela Adlon)
Marcy Runkle never minces words — she's a brash, hard core, unapologetic salon owner who loves her man above all. While Charlie plays it safe as a ten-percenter, Marcy is happy being way out in left field — they are the yin to each other's yang. But life stresses force old habits to re-emerge and Marcy hits a proverbial bump in the road. She trusts her husband unequivocally, but is too busy wrestling demons to notice how involved he has become with his hot new client.
The Amazing Race Season 13
The Amazing Race is one of my favorite shows on TV, and I'm looking forward to this new season #13. Show times on CBS Sundays 8:00pm ET/PT.The show travels around the world showing the beauty and uniqueness of foreign countries and cultures, it's got the game element, it has the big brother reality TV component (how well do the teams work together under pressure?), and then there's the once in a lifetime factor that you get to experience with this group of people. Most of the couples even when eliminated will tear up and be thankful for the experience. And of course us viewers can go along for the ride sitting on our couches (and hopefully get motivated to travel and experience those things first hand).
What's the show about?
Eleven teams will compete in THE AMAZING RACE 13, traveling over 30,000 miles, spanning five continents, in 23 days, all starting from the world famous Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, site of the 1932 and 1984 Olympics.
The 13th installment will feature a variety of firsts, including: Teams traveling to a real-life water world where its inhabitants live upon a floating city; first time visits for the Race to locations such as Cambodia and Kazakhstan. The cast features couples in various stages of their lives - married beekeepers who have been together for years, a married but separated couple who is looking to rebuild their marriage, a newly dating couple who is still getting to know each other and best friends who are comic book aficionados and describe the Race as "the ultimate game on the biggest game board you can imagine.."
Saturday, September 27, 2008
LA Library limits book loan time
I had meant to write about this in July when our neighborhood librarian notified me, but you may have already noticed that LA's public libraries are only allowing books to be checked out for 2 weeks at a time (vs. the 3 weeks that they gave in the past). The reason for the change being they felt it would free up more books to be available. (Plus all those late fees wracking up).With all our banking woes, the housing market, and the economy in general - it doesn't seem as significant does it? But it does mean that cut backs are showing up all over the place - even at the public library. And since my family's always checking out books from the public library, I just have to keep better tabs on returning all those books on time (or pony up the late fees).
Wine
"...in moderation is a vital element in the fellowship among human beings and a sense of enlivened connectedness."-noted on the wine description sheet at last night's wine tasting at Colorado Wine Company
Friday, September 26, 2008
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Ever have one of those days...
...when you're trying to wind down, but you take work home, and then you can't just go to bed, but it's already morning?
Random stuff I stumbled upon this morning:
I've got to get to sleep. Sheep...1, 2, 3...anvil.
Random stuff I stumbled upon this morning:
- A virtual tour of my ex-bf's house in Chicago - of which he put on video, narrated and posted to YouTube.
- An essay submitted by a friend of mine to the Paris essay contest.
I've got to get to sleep. Sheep...1, 2, 3...anvil.
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
For my grieving loved one
A hug sent to you via a melancholy Joni Mitchell song that makes my heart ache each time I hear it, and I can only imagine the sadness that you feel and all the memories of the past that you're dealing with.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pantsuits
Anyone else see Hillary Clinton's speech at the DNC 2008? I loved the reference to the "sisterhood of the traveling pantsuits" (a nod to all her female supporters in addition to poking fun at herself) almost as much as the "twin cities" comment. I've also heard from several men that they thought it was the best speech yet at this year's DNC.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Phenomenal Olympic Swimming Relay!
Garrett Weber-Gale, left, and Michael Phelps screamed for joy after their teammate Jason Lezak out-touched Alain Bernard of France in the 4x100 freestyle final, helping the U.S. win the gold. 
Michael Phelps swam the first leg of the relay, and was amazing as usual.
But by the 4th and final leg - Lezak (the anchor), right, hit the water a half-second after Bernard, (of the French team) the world-record holder in the 100 freestyle.
The French team was so far out ahead that even the announcer was counting out the Americans - saying that the French were going to win the Gold. But then Lezak swam his heart out and started catching up to Bernard in the final moments. It was a nail biting finish- I was glued to the TV hoping for a miracle. And then it happened - Lezak closed the gap and touched the wall just 8 tenths of a second faster than Bernard.
Lezak's time of 46.06 seconds, was the fastest 100 split ever, 0.73 faster than the previous mark. At age 32, Lezak is the oldest member of the team (and now he's a hero of course!).
From left, Lezak, Phelps, Weber-Gale and Cullen Jones.The U.S. time of 3:08.24 shattered the world record by nearly 4 seconds, beating France by just 0.08 of a second.
It's being hailed as "the best relay race of all time".
This is the stuff the Olympics are made of!
Beijing 2008 Olympic Medals
For this year's 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic games - the gold, silver and bronze medals incorporate a distinctive band of jade. The gold medal has the lighter finer jade, while the silver has the white-greenish jade, and the bronze has the darker green jade.It's the first time in Olympic history that medals are made of material besides metal. Unique and pretty spectacular!
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