7.5.10 - Missouri Summer 2009 Chronicles, Entry 2

And the lovely weekend continues.

Yesterday after writing my last note I met up with Jack for lunch (sushi) ((delicious)). I came home and started baking spinach sausage loaf for Mike's party. Given the time, the right music, and the nice weather, and baking is a lot of fun. I had extra bread dough so I also made cinnamon rolls for the first time, which were surprisingly easy, amazingly delicious, and made the kitchen smell wonderful. Somewhere in all of that Jack got back from work and I tried to get him to go take a nap, but he insisted on helping me clean up instead. Eventually we laid down to doze off to The 10th Kingdom but we didn't end up staying there long.

We brought the spinach sausage loaf to Mike's party where there was a plethora of other delicious food, including Tiffany's "Monkey Bread" (so named because you have to pick at it like a monkey to eat it). It was filled with chocolate. There was also fruit salad displayed in beautiful and suspiciously familiar watermelon bowls, and a taco salad with Italian dressing.

Mike's house has a huge backyard bordering a small lake, and thus is perfect for shooting off fireworks.

Everyone launching/watching others launch fireworks into the lake.

Nearly everyone there spent a long time firing off increasingly large numbers of bottle rockets at once, among other colorful and/or ridiculously loud fireworks. I just took pictures. Some of the boys, including Mike, Steve, and Jack, got especially into making bigger, more dangerous explosions. 

Launch!!

And thus singing his fingers, which he was quite proud of.

Don't stand too close.

Looking casual.

And of course there was some fire-breathing, which Jack took part of for the first time. Makes me nervous, but it is cool to watch.

Jack did it even with facial hair. Great.

It started to rain suddenly, and pretty hard. We hurried to cover Mike's stereos and other equipment with trash bags, and then we all went inside and played the ever-amusing Apples-to-Apples. I think my favorite was when I played the card "Emotional" and Julie put "Cold Pizza".

Mike also enjoys rubbing Julie's head.

The rain stopped long enough for Mike to set up his much bigger, brighter, display fireworks. It started sprinkling again, however, as he began his show. We ended up watching fireworks in the rain, something I've never done before. It was warm, summer rain though, and it made for more reflective fireworks. Overall I'd say it was awesome.

The pyrotechnic Prince

Steve's head exploding in blue sparks.

After that most of the party played beer pong on the deck, but Julie, Denny, Jack and I watched my first Pauly Shore movie, Encino Man. It was pretty amusing. Even though it wasn't that late at that point, Jack and I were tired enough to head home. He lazed on the couch watching An Extremely Goofy Movie, also with Pauly Shore, and I hung out with David and Everett watching them take my facebook quiz. Somewhere in all of that I finally passed out. A highly successful fourth, I believe.

7.4.09 - Missouri Summer 2009 Chronicles, Entry 1

I worked open to 10:30am on Thursday and then allowed myself the luxury of two very long naps throughout the day, because I knew I'd want to stay up as late as possible that night. That afternoon I spent a very long but often hilarious time in the jeep with Neil hauling all the way to Berkeley in traffic and then all the way back via completely wrong turns so he could apply for a job. The weather was beautiful and the conversation was excellent (obviously) and I'm glad I got to spend more one-on-one time with him since he couldn't come back to MO this summer. I'll see him in a few weeks, but still.

I stayed up very late cleaning the majority of the house, packing, and of course messing around on facebook. I started to make a playlist of hilarious cover songs including "Gin & Juice" by The Gourds and various Richard Cheese songs. I didn't go to sleep until roughly 2:30am.

I got up about 2 hours later to get ready to leave. Neil was kind enough to get up with me even though he didn't have work on Friday, and he drove me all the way back over to East Bay for my 6:45am flight out of Oakland. The trip was very smooth because, as planned, I slept pretty much the entire way. Fell asleep as we taxied out, and woke up without opening my eyes thinking "Have we really STILL not taken off? What is the hold up?" only to open my eyes facing out the window and see clouds everywhere. You know, I've flown literally 100's of times but I can still be stunned by some of the gorgeous views from the plane. I don't bother to try to take pictures of them; the camera never captures it. It was still nice.

So I fell asleep taxing out of Oakland and woke up landing in SLC. I also slept for about half the trip from SLC to StL but for my waking hours I worked on what is going to be an epic playlist for my upcoming road trip from StL back to San Francisco.

Jack picked me up from the airport. :)

We went back to Mom's house, hung out with everyone (including BALD JULIE), and bought ingredients for spinach sausage loaf, which I will make today. We showed Everett the literal version of Total Eclipse of the Heart (which everyone should see) and watched some Dan band videos, laughing pretty hard.

Then, in the evening, Jack and I drove down to the MO river waterfront for the fireworks show. It was supposed to rain so the place wasn't quite as slam-packed as it had been last year. Jack found a great parking spot and we walked to the center of the crowd and to the edge of the water, found an open spot to sit. The weather was great--overcast but not dark, breezy but not cold, and there was a band playing various bluesy-songs in the background. 

July 3, waiting by the MO river for the fireworks show.

We just sat next to the river talking and people-watching. I think if I ever have kids one of my favorite parts will be re-experiencing the holidays through them. Seeing other families setting up their blankets, wearing red white & blue, playing with glowsticks & eating funnel cakes--it all reminded me very much of 4th of July in Folsom when I was a kid. There were also little ones getting excited about throwing rocks (really clumps of hardened dirt) into the river. I was not as thrilled about this because each toss left a spray of dust in the air and all over my face, so I told them to go away. Otherwise they were cute.

Awhile after it had gotten dark Julie, Denny, Tiffany & Aaron showed up (that is, Denny and half of Hellion). It was good to see all of them; I hadn't seen Denny in months. We joked around until the fireworks 
display.

JULIE IS BALD. It's fun to rub her head.

The show was excellent. We were near enough that we felt the booming in our chests. We were near enough that the ashes fell all around us, and we had to look nearly directly up to watch some of the fireworks. Somewhere vaguely in the background there was patriotic music playing, but mostly you heard the fireworks and children screaming (delighted, cheering screaming, not terrorized screaming. I think.)

Overall it was a great night. Great to see Jack, great to see my family and other friends, great to visit the familiarity of the suburbs and experience actual weather. There are supposed to be thunderstorms today. Missouri thunderstorms. San Francisco never really has thunder storms. Should be spectacular.

And again and again...

Chuck Norris' first job was as a paperboy. There were no survivors.

There are two types of people in the world... people that suck, and Chuck Norris.

Chuck Norris always knows the EXACT location of Carmen San Diego.

Helen Keller's favorite color is Chuck Norris.

Chuck Norris was what Willis was talkin' about.

In a fight between Batman and Darth Vader, the winner would be Chuck Norris.

Not everyone that Chuck Norris is mad at gets killed. Some get away. They are called astronauts.

5.17.09 - OMG Harry Potter!!!

When I hear the Harry Potter Theme I think of Christmas. Also today I came across a poster for the 6th Harry Potter movie and got very, very excited. July 15th!

My tongue is burnt from a chai tea latte, but it was worth it.

I took a night class this semester. History of Immigration. Instead of a final exam we had a paper to write. She gave us over a month and a half to do the assignment. I threw it together in about 4 days, mostly the last 2. I got an A on the paper. This is not a reflection of my writing ability so much as the lameness of the class.

I'm starting to think about playlists for the road trip I intend to take this summer. What this really means is that I repeatedly listen to "Parachute" by Guster. The song reminds me of some vivid, good memories of L'abri, and makes me feel elated and nostalgic simultaneously. Thinking about L'abri extensively usually does that to me.

I've gotten an average of less than 5 hours of sleep every night for about a week now. The combination of working for Starbucks and dating a night owl will do that to you, I suppose.

I am very grateful to belong to the family I'm in. It is impossible for me to feel too terribly alienated, because I have four siblings that understand me pretty well. If I ever have kids I want to have a lot of them so they can experience that same camaraderie.

Guiltless Banana Split

One Skinny Cow Fudge Bar removed form its Popsicle stick

One banana

Sugar-free chocolate syrup

Sugar-free strawberry preserves (or fresh strawberries themselves)

Fat-free whipped cream

Voila! A banana split that is somewhere between 200-250 calories. I just enjoyed it thoroughly.

Oh yeah? Try these.

Try to guess the movie quotes without looking them up. If I tagged you I know for certain you've seen at least one, though probably more, of the movies in the list. Everett can't guess because he helped me make half of it.

1) Then what is it?
It's an evil fucking room. ~ 1408, Neil

2) Okay, lied about the "grande"... ~ What Women Want, Sarah W 

3) I mean, she's like your sister!
Thank you for adding new depth to my confusion. ~ Keeping The Faith, Cody

4) I'm talking about the gas chamber, and you haven't even asked me what this is about--You've got a big "Guilty" sign around your neck. ~ LA Confidential, Mom (Jan)

5) He doesn't have a passport.
For the last six months he's gone to Harvard and Berkeley. I'm betting he can get a passport. ~ Catch Me If You Can, Dave 

6) You, get up there and drive!
But I'm shot, Colonel!
Everybody's shot! We need the prisoners, let's go! ~ Black Hawk Down, Trevor

7) Yeah, Ma...I won't be home for supper. ~ The Departed, Neil 

8) You killed the only family I ever loved. Why?
Business. It's all it ever is, business. I was working for Fallon at the time. Your father was supposed to throw a fight. And your girl... was in the wrong family at the wrong time. ~ Daredevil, Cody

9) Joe, did you come all this way just to talk about the weather?
Hey, maybe I was in the neighborhood! Maybe I wanted some fresh air!
Joe, this is New Jersey.
Good point. ~ Cinderella Man, Neil 

10) Could you possibly try NOT to hit EVERY SINGLE ONE? ~ Galaxy Quest, Neil

11) You don't say much my friend, but when you do it's to the point, and I salute you for it.~ O Brother Where Art Thou, Neil

12) It's the American Dream in a goddamn gym bag!
You work for the American Dream. You don't steal it.
Then this is even better. ~ A Simple Plan, Sarah W

13) If it bleeds, we can kill it. ~ Predator, Trevor

14) A neck can only twist so far. Twist it just a hair more and the body says, "Hey, I'll take it from here because you obviously don't know what you're doing... Lie down now, rest, and we'll talk about this when you regain your senses."

15) Give us a drink. And give some to those Irish hoodlums down there.
There's only one Irishman in here.
On the house. Salut.
Top of the mornin'. ~ Goodfellas, Henry

If at first you don't succeed, you're not Chuck Norris.

--If a tree falls in the forest, does anybody hear? Yes. Chuck Norris hears it. Chuck Norris can hear everything. Chuck Norris can hear the shrieking terror in your soul.
--Chuck Norris can set ants on fire with a magnifying glass. At night.
--As President Roosevelt said: "We have nothing to fear but fear itself. And Chuck Norris."
--Chuck Norris got his drivers license at the age of 16. Seconds.
--In ancient China there is a legend that one day a child will be born from a dragon, grow to be a man, and vanquish evil from the land. That man is not Chuck Norris, because Chuck Norris killed that man.
--Most people know that Descarte said, "I think, therefore I am." What most people don't know is that that quote continues, "...afraid of Chuck Norris."
--For Chuck Norris, every street is "one way". HIS WAY.
--The best part of waking up, is not Folgers in your cup, but knowing that Chuck Norris didn't kill you in your sleep.
--Chuck Norris puts the laughter in manslaughter.
--When Chuck Norris sneeze, he don't say "Atchoo" he says "DIE EVERYONE!!!". That's what happens next.

Black tears.

Very Olympic.

We only gave her the shirt after all the events were over.

I found more:

--Chuck Norris is the only person on the planet that can kick you in the back of the face.
--Chuck Norris can strangle you with a cordless phone.
--Chuck Norris can play the violin with a piano.
--Chuck Norris once punched a man in the soul.
--Chuck Norris is 1/8th Cherokee. This has nothing to do with ancestry, the man ate a f***ing Jeep.
--Chuck Norris once bowled a 300. Without a ball. He wasn't even in a bowling alley.
--Chuck Norris can create a rock so heavy that even he can't lift it. And then he lifts it anyways, just to show you who the f*** Chuck Norris is.
--Chuck Norris doesn't use pickup lines, he simply says, "Now."
--Before Chuck Norris was born, the martial arts weapons with two pieces of wood connected by a chain were called NunBarrys. No one ever did find out what happened to Barry.

3.7.09 - Pumpkin Pie Pudding

Ingredients:
2 1½ oz. packages of sugar-free vanilla pudding
1 cup of Vanilla Soy Milk (or Fat Free milk)
1 can pumpkin mix
Pumpkin Pie Spice

Directions:
In a large bowl, pour both packages of pudding, milk, and 2 cups of pumpkin mix.
Stir to consistency.
Add Pumpkin Pie spice to taste.
Optional: add fat-free Reddi whip cream.

Tomato Basil Soup

4 cans of stewed tomatoes, drained

1 can tomato sauce

Bring to a boil in a large sauce pan, then let simmer for roughly 30 minutes. Blend in a blender or food processor until smooth.

1/2 cup basil leaves, chopped

1 cup fat-free milk

4 oz fat-free cream cheese, softened

Add tomato mix and above ingredients back to large sauce pan, cook on medium heat until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste (I added sort of a lot of pepper, nice and spicy).

Got about 18 calories/oz.

Lower Calorie Banana Bread

Note: Normally prepared banana bread is, apparently, roughly 90 calories/oz even without nuts.

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix:
4 bananas, mashed up
2/3 cup fat-free milk
2 teaspoons sugar-free vanilla syrup (note: 4 teaspoons of vanilla extract instead adds 1.3 calories/oz at the end)
2 tablespoons Smart Balance Buttery Spread, melted

Separately, mix:
2 2/3 cups wheat flour (white flour is same calories, just not as good for you, apparently)
1 cups Splenda
2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Mix two sets of ingredients together
Spray non-stick cooking spray on two ~5" x 9" baking pans
Split mix evenly into each
Bake ~ 50 mins or until center is set

Overall, slightly less than 50 calories/oz.

2.17.09 - Fish and chips and vinegar, vinegar, vinegar!

Tonight I gave in and had a Filet O Fish sandwich. It was glorious, but didn't last nearly long enough. Now I'm trying a caramel fiber bar thingy Jill bought, and it is actually quite tasty. Jill is very helpful. I feel like I think about food a heck of a lot.

*drools*

I very much like my job. Granted my feet get a little tired after some of the longer shifts, but if that's the biggest complaint about a job, it must be a good job! I like my coworkers, I like (most of) the customers, I like the duties. And I think I appreciate this job slightly more than previous jobs because I got it right after a month or so of no job and no school, which was entirely too much time on my hands and got very depressing. It's just better to have something to work at, and somewhere to go on a regular basis to get out of the freakin' house. Oh, also they pay me. So that's nice.

2.10.09 - I'm in love with a girl who's in love with the world, but I can't help but follow.

Amos Lee soothes my soul.

It's raining again. It's chilly out. But I'm in my very clean room (as of today) with an orange glow from my stoplight lamp. And I've got my fuzzy, warm pj pants and my fuzzy, warm black slippers. I am content.

Today was a good day. I filed my FAFSA, and (almost) finished my taxes. Voldemort cuddled in bed with me for part of it, very adorable. I refined my Eggplant "Parmesan" recipe and I almost have it where I want it. I worked out. Hard. And I did my History homework (which is just assigned reading) while working out. Very efficient.

My utterly useless history lecture didn't bother me because I just worked on the homework for next week the entire time. As long as I'm getting something done the class doesn't make me want to hyperventilate. Also, I enjoy riding there and back with Neil, because we always have good conversation both ways.

And I stayed within my calorie goal for the day. Successful self-discipline pleases me.

And Julie is coming tomorrow. :)

2.7.09 - Ain't nobody ever said "Hell, no! I don't like no parfait!"

So instead of continually eating the (free) Starbucks parfaits I have access to, I made bulk of my own parfait. Use:

Non-fat plain yogurt.
No-sugar-added sliced peaches.
No-sugar-added fruit cocktail.
Splenda.
Mix.

I don't add granola, but you could, or any other variation of the fruit, etc. The one I made was tasty and came out to roughly 13 calories/oz, which is awesome.

2.5.09 - Drip drip drop, little April Showers!

My bed is in the corner of my room. There are two windows in the wall to the left of it, and one window right over the head of it. My bedroom is on the fourth floor of the building I live in. When I first wake up, all I can see outside is sky. This morning I woke up (after sleeping as long as I liked because I don't have to work today!) and it was warm and cozy in my bed, and there was a soft rain pattering against all three windows outside on a very gray San Francisco morning. For whatever reason, weather like that sometimes reminds me of autumn in Folsom, and getting truly excited about things like Halloween and pumpkins. Needless to say I woke up in a very good mood.

Now I shall send a letter and go do homework.

First kiss

Making people laugh.

8.27.08 - First Day At Berkeley

So I've had several people ask me about my day and I figured a note would just be easier.

My day has been AWESOME.

I got here very early since my first class is at 8. It was Bio lecture, and there are 600 people in that class. I've never seen a classroom so large; it was auditorium style. The professors have to wear microphones and there's a huge projection screen above the chalkboards so the people in the back can see. There were 8 full-sized chalkboards as well, and a big Periodic Table with a spotlight on it.

Anyway, the professors seemed pretty friendly. I don't know if I'll even bother trying to get to know them just because of the sheer number of students. Probably teach myself most of the stuff, maybe find a study partner. I'm not worried about it yet.

After Bio I wondered through campus to get my student ID (which gets me free transportation around the city of Berkeley! Woot!) and I got to go through one of the main open plazas where there are all these booths for college groups set up. Alas, I did not see a booth for the College Republicans but I already joined them online anyway. Haha! Maybe I'll make some friends through that--at least, that's my hope. There were some psychotic religious you-are-all-going-to-hell screamer guys at one end, but everyone was just ignoring them, which is nice. The whole place was bustling, it's pretty exciting.

Then I had a Nuclear Chemistry class and that was much smaller, maybe 20-25 people. I started chatting with the girl waiting to go in next to me, and she just transferred here from a community college too. We exchanged emails in case one of us misses a class, so that was cool. That professor was also very friendly, although slightly monotonous. We already have homework. Ah well.

After that I walked over by the giant clock/bell tower to have lunch. There's a pretty garden surrounding the base of it with more trees and stone benches, and I ate lunch there. At noon the bells chimed but it wasn't just random noise; they were actual melodies, it was very pretty. A girl came up to me and said she recognized me from City, although I didn't know her. It was still nice.

This is where I had lunch:

I went to my chem lab but they aren't having it yet because we haven't had a lecture in that class. As I was walking out I ran into Andrew. :) We started talking a lot about the whole day, and as we were doing that, we ran into Zach. Haha. So we chatted about our summers and what-not, it was good to see them. Zach left and Andrew and I kept talking, and then we ran into Josh! The point is I was very pleasantly surprised to see how many of my City friends I'm already seeing here. So that put me in a great mood.

Andrew had a class, I went to the bookstore to pick up the rest of my stuff, and by now it's getting pretty warm. They were giving away free popsicles, which was perfect. While I was waiting in line to buy my books (which, btw, went very quickly 'cause they have an incredibly efficient system), I ran into a buddy of mine that transferred here a year before me: Nic! Turns out he's majoring in Chemical Biology as well. So we'll probably hang out.

I'm just very pleased with how this is already shaping up socially. Bwahaha.

Now I'm sitting in a library that looks more like an art museum and using the free wireless on my beloved laptop to kill time while I wait for Andrew to finish class. Then we'll probably hang and get sushi (*drools*) before I go back to the city. I definitely have to find an apartment out here. The commute sucks and besides, I want to get more absorbed in the atmosphere.

Anyway, I'm sure my enthusiasm will be a little curbed once the homework starts rolling in, but for now I am psyched. So glad I got in here! :D

"Ode to a Grecian God" by David

His Ducati can outgun Apollo and Zeus

He can rope in an ox with a lasso and noose

He sings as he captures more slaves for his ranks

He's defeated the best of investment—type banks

No man, woman, child, and/or animal smiles

When they see all his treasure and currency piles

He's a murdering pirate and ninja combined

With a Viking's brute strength and a lightning—fast mind

Just to make sure his fear and respect builds a wall

He wipes out whole species, endangered and all

And even the eagles must carry him food

Or he'll eat them alive just to lighten his mood

He hammers in nails using just his bare hands

He eats broken glass and then spits out white sands

He hates Izzy's restaurant and shunned Melonhead

Now just let him build up his new deck or you're DEAD!

He's eaten whole countries, devoured the moon

His heart pumps out iron, his yell a monsoon

He can drink gasoline without stopping to think

And wash it all down with a whole—ocean drink

There is no one alive who can challenge his claim

And the last man who tried lost his legs (now he's lame)

He's a one—man machine gun, a weapon of war

And he's beat every video game's highest score

His liberal city was quite unprepared

His conservative manliness left them all scared

So he chopped off the heads of the Persian elites

"No Whining!" he said as he barbecued meats

He stands on a fighter jet made out of guns

Guns guns guns guns guns guns guns guns guns guns

Guns are so awesome and he has fifty—two

One for each state plus one in each shoe

He stands on a pile of the skulls of his foes

In the light of the glory that, yes, always flows

From the radiant muscles and tenacious yell

As he cries, "Now in Sparta——Tomorrow in Hell!"