4.23.10 - Rivoli's anniversary dinner

--I found out I have much better odds than I thought of getting an A in P chem, which would be a miracle.

--I watched more videos of Rocket in all his unstoppable adorableness.

--I found out the research position I am starting this summer is (a) paid (b) above min wage and (c) the professor is certain I can work 40+ hours a week while (d) he doesn't care at all that I'll be in MO for 2 weeks in August.

--I then found out that during the school year I can count the research work towards my financial aid credit minimum.

--I went to Rivoli's for my anniversary dinner with Jack. We got there a little early for our reservation and our table wasn't ready, but we sat at a table by a window in the front and each had a glass of Rose wine and great talks. (EDIT: I forgot to add that while we were waiting we looked at a menu so we could order as soon as we were seated, and while we were looking at the menu Jack covered all of the prices so that I would pick what I really wanted without being able to factor in how much it cost. Frankly, I thought this was both brilliant and adorable.) We didn't even notice that our wait was longer than predicted until the host came and apologized and told us it was almost ready. When he did take us to our table, it was the only cushioned-seat corner table in the restaurant, allowing us to sit right next to each other. Additionally they had sprinkled some sparkles and miniature "Happy Anniversary" words on the table cloth. I didn't realize they knew we were there for our anniversary, because Jack had called ahead and told them.

We had great food, great wine, great talks, great dessert. My meal looked suspiciously like the meal Jules eats at the very beginning of My Best Friend's Wedding. I wrote it up as inventive and confident. Anyway, I was full and buzzed and exhausted and in a great mood by the end. Everyone was really friendly and multiple people wished us happy anniversary, which was cute.

--Then I came home and saw *another* new video of Rocket.

4.22.10 - Funny songs

Rock Sugar - Don't Stop the Sandman

Total Eclipse of the Heart, Literal version

Flight of the Conchords!

4.14.10 - I need no soft lights to enchant me, baby...

Jack and I started dating in Dec 08 but we weren't exclusive until last April. Yesterday was our one year anniversary. It got off to a decent start. I made him a very cool, elaborate scrapbook of our first year together, and I gave it to him first thing in the morning. He was pleased and surprised. The bummer is that with my school schedule and his work we won't be able to actually go out to celebrate until the 24th. Ah well.

Jack got off work and picked me up. We went back to his place. I worked out for an hour, which was exactly long enough for him to buy the groceries and make a delicious dinner for the two of us: tortellini, cheesy garlic bread, and of course, Lambrusco (our favorite). We enjoyed it together while watching The Family Man, a very cute movie. So overall it was a lovely night.

4.3.10 - How to Train Your Dragon

For date night this week, Jack and I were going to see "Liam Neeson And The Kraken" (some of you may know this by the less awesome name "Clash of the Titans.") While talking about it, we realized the last 2-3 movies we've gone to see in theater over the last several months have all pretty much sucked, and so we came up with the novel idea of checking the movie reviews before going to the theater. I'm glad we did, because Rotten Tomatoes gave "Liam" a sad 30%. In fact, Rotten Tomatoes gave most of the movies available at our favorite theater pretty low ratings. Alice In Wonderland hovered at a whopping 52%--not exactly compelling, for the prices they charge. Then we saw that "How To Train Your Dragon"--which I had never even heard of--got 98%. Jack kind of grumbled that it's a kids movie, until we realized the last movie we saw in theaters that we truly enjoyed was "Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs." That settled it.

So we went to see "How To Train Your Dragon" and it was great. Also, it was the first movie either Jack or I saw in 3D, which was great as well. Jack kept exclaiming and waving his hand in front of his face at all the 3D previews. Ha. By the way, all of the preview 3D movies also looked great. 

In other news, I got an A on one of my midterms (after the curve, but still).

2.18.10 - Spring and Julie's engagement

Tonight I was riding my bike home around dusk or a little after. There are a bunch of trees on one of the main streets of Berkeley that have little white blossoms. It was windy out, and the blossoms were flying all through the air; they looked like snow flurries, even though it's 55 degrees out or something. It was wonderful.

My sister is getting married this summer. My younger sister. Well, I only have younger sisters. I can't imagine myself ready to get married, but I can imagine her ready to get married, and I'm pretty happy for her. She wrote a great description of the proposal, which even I found moving. Here's an excerpt:

Feb 14, 2010 - Enter the Japanese Garden

-Denny inquires where my favorite spot in the Japanese Garden is; I tell him it's the little dock down by the water where we sat in the summer and talked about winning the lottery

-Buy fish food by the straight bridge and feed the geese and ducks who some how manage to survive the freezing water (???)

-Circle the Japanese Garden and arrive at stepping stones that descend to above mentioned dock.  Stepping stones are gated off.  Denny wishes to hop said gate, I refuse at it's bad manners.

-We decide to walk through the English Wood Garden to "our tree".

-We arrive at above mentioned tree.  Denny tells me to close my eyes.  He then continues to spin me around until I am somewhat dizzy.  He holds my hands to steady me.  I feel him let go of one of my hands and the other is leveraged downward ever so sightly.  He tells me to open my eyes.  He's holding out a beautiful silver ring.  He kneels in the snow and asks if I will marry him.

-I stutter slightly and say that I thought he had said not until later.  Then I come to my senses and tell him, hell yes I'll marry him!

-Ensue hugging, tears of joy, more hugging, many kisses.

When I told Jack that Julie was getting married, he responded "I don't want to marry you." That made me laugh. I like that he understands me.

1.27.10 - Amusing Convos, Take...Whatever

[20:57] Me: I don't know if I will make it through this semester without crying once every other week, at least
[20:57] Hugo: /slap
[20:57] Me: lol
[20:57] Me: good response! I'm impressed
[20:57] Hugo: get a hold of yourself woman
[20:57] Hugo: what are you, a democrat
[20:57] Me: FINE
[20:57] Me: I WILL GET ALL A'S

1.18.10 - It Made My Day!

I found these on a website called itamdemyday.com where people give uplifting stories about their days:

I work at a doctors office. I recently received a call from a woman’s cat who accidentally redialed our number. Every time I said hello, it meowed at me and IMMD

I came home from a long day at work and school to find my husband sitting on the couch with his replica MP40 air soft gun. He was pretending to shoot the villians on T.V. IMMD!

I work in an animal clinic, and a man brought in his pet python. It’s name? Lt. Dan. (Because "he ain’t got no legs") IMMD!

I was learning how to parallel park with my dad. Once I successfully pulled it off, my dad high-fived me, grinned and hummed the Final Fantasy victory fanfare. IMMD.

I just saw that in our filing cabinet, my husband has all federal correspondence labeled as "Dealings With The Man." IMMD.

After our new GPS told us 3 times to turn left ahead, my 6 year old replied from the backseat, "we’re gonna, lady in the box." IMMD!

1.7.10 - Random Thoughts

All of the leaves on the tree outside my balcony fell off while I was in MO. Hurry up, spring!

I ordered my books for this semester's classes yesterday. It was incredibly intimidating both financially and academically. On the other hand I am very proud of my work; I'm proud that it is difficult work and that I am doing it anyway.

I really missed Caramel Apple Pops while I was in MO, and I'm glad I have them again. :)

12.8.09 - Chilly

It was 35 out this morning. For CA that's pretty low. I put on gloves and biked to campus for some final review sessions. It's slightly uphill the whole way, and by the time I got there I was sweating. On days like today, that's actually pretty nice.

While in class I realized I'd left my lab at home, so instead of studying in the hour between class and lab, I biked home to get it. Not surprisingly, going home, the opposite direction, is downhill the whole way. I realized gloves aren't enough. I need some earmuffs.

After biking back to campus to drop off the last lab and gliding back home once more, I was very happy to trade my combat boots for slippers and turn the heater on. And now I'm very happy to be sitting alone in my fairly clean and fairly warm apartment to ... get back to studying. One more week until I'm free.

10.9.09 - Brief October-ish Update

Mmmmm.

The other day Jack and I went to a French Bistro for lunch. We accidentally ate a cow's thymus gland, and it was delicious. Texture like scallops.

Jack has started picking me up on his lunch breaks and taking me back to work with him. I walk to the nearby Starbucks and study until he gets off work. I get a lot more done because there's no internet available (I don't bring my laptop), plus it's just nice to study outside of the apartment for awhile.

After a noble effort I am not going to be either Alice or the Queen of Hearts for Halloween. Money and my body type joined forces against me. I found a very cute, very classic witch costume that I'm happy with. I mean, really, I haven't been a witch since I was about four. What should Jack be? What best goes with witches? He says Optimus Prime.

Jack's Birthday

Yesterday got off to a pretty mediocre start because I have a fairly persistent chest cold and I had classes and labs all morning until noon. After that, though, Jack picked me up and we went back to my place and relaxed having lunch and joking around and watching some West Wing. I already planned to not bother trying to do any homework on his birthday so it was very leisurely, which was enjoyable.

Eventually we headed back to SF, taking a small detour at a kid's playground and going for a walk first. 

10/2/09 We walked through a playground. Jack found a wall he thinks will be idyllic for Wall Ball, and, fittingly, it had this written on it.

We got back to the city and stopped by Safeway, picking up everything for Symphony brownies and Jack's favorite dinner, tortellini. It was a gorgeous day, btw.

Back at Dad's I made Symphony brownies while visiting with Neil, Ellen and Jack in the kitchen. These Symphony brownies are even richer than the normal ones, because in addition to the Symphony and brownie parts, we added globs of cookie dough. It was pretty ridiculous...ly awesome.

Symphony cookie-dough brownies.

Jack and I left for a walk down by the bay, through the park, to Ghirardelli Square. It was nearing sunset, which is gorgeous over the bay. We saw a lot of people out for walks and jogs and bike rides. 

We also saw the Rock Balancer--a man who, as his name suggests, balances rocks. He does this in seemingly impossible ways. We didn't see him at work; we saw him sitting next to his work reading. I'm pretty sure it was him because a) there were amazingly poised columns of rock all around him and b) the coke can sitting next to him was balanced precariously on the edge of the bench he was sitting on. Ha. Jack had never seen the Rock Balancer or his work before, and didn't really believe he just balanced those rocks. I don't know if he thought there was crazy glue involved or what. Pity we didn't get to see the man in action; I've seen him before and it's impressive to watch.

Anyway, we got in the seemingly long line for the trolleys but the wait was pleasant, with a wonderful view of the sunset and the bay. Everyone around us was cheerful and friendly. There was a street performer--a guitarist--playing while we waited. He played some Beatles songs and some blues and swing, Benny Goodman and such. He really added to the atmosphere, so we gave him a dollar. This 3-year-old girl tried to do the same, but her dollar blew away and she had to run after it. She didn't seem to mind. Jack and I did a little bit of mini swing dance. :)

Waiting in line for the trolley.

The line moved more quickly than I anticipated because those trolleys look smaller than they are--they fit quite a few people. We were the very first in line when the conductor said the trolley was full and we'd have to wait for another. We asked him if we could just stand on the outside and hold onto the bars (which is the spot we'd wanted to begin with--why wouldn't you?? Much better view than the crowded inside.) He let us. He was collecting everyone's tickets and I only had cash, and he didn't have change. He said he'd come back to us, but he never did. So the ride was free for both of us. Happy Birthday Jack! Haha.

We got to hang off the outside. According to Jack this is the only proper way to ride a trolley.

The ride went over some of the highest hills so the entire bay--Alcatraz, Angel Island, the Golden Gate--stretched out behind us, and the city stretched out before us. It was dusk (which was exactly what I was hoping for) and the various shops and cafe's we rode past were lighting up, people enjoying dinners in the windows. It was almost Thomas Kinkade, but in the city. Jack was amused by how the trolley stops in the center of an intersection for loading and unloading, so all traffic has to stop and wait for us. What a brat. He also liked hanging off the side to see down the steeper hills, and telling the conductor to floor it. Floor a trolley. Yeah. :-P

We did not ride until the end of the line. We jumped off at Union Square which, being a Friday night, was pretty packed. We followed the flow of the crowd into the Westin St. Francis, a high-end gorgeous hotel. I wouldn't tell Jack why we were going in. We walked to the back and waited a few minutes with quite a few people for the elevator. Happily several arrived at once so we were the first on ours, which Jack could immediately see was made of glass. We stood at the back facing the glass and the cement walls outside of it. I hit the highest floor we can go to. The elevator rose a few floors, stopped to let people out, and rose again. Suddenly the outside cement wall ended and we could see the streets on either side of the hotel, plus the other half of the hotel directly in front of us, rising up past our view. But as the elevator kept rising and rising (no matter how many times I take it, I still feel slightly dizzy) it passed the highest part of the hotel front and the view expanded dramatically to include all of Union Square, downtown, the Transamerica, Coit Tower, the Bay Bridge, and the bay itself, which was now moonlit. It's a completely stunning, and free, view. It was excellent.

We got off at the top floor, waited a minute or two, then rode back down, enjoying it again. We went back into Union Square to find an enormous marching band along with it's enormous crowd of fans conducting a pep ralley. The band was pretty good, the whole thing felt pretty festive. Then I felt a little strange, because I realized it was the USC Trojans getting themselves pumped to beat Berkeley in football this weekend. Ha.

Jack and I kept walking. We walked through some of the shops downtown, with their ridiculously expensive suits and hats and purses and shoes. We walked past some of the nicer restaurants. We made mental lists of the things we want to experience someday when we have real salaries. It was fun to talk about. I like goals. We walked into a small extension of Chinatown, filled with bright colorful lanterns and window displays. Jack found a store that sells the melon popsicles he now loves. 

A statue we found while walking through part of Chinatown.

Eventually we veered back into downtown and, after getting only very slightly lost, found the Mandarin Hotel. We walked through past a nice hotel lounge where people were enjoying pretty drinks and one man rolled sushi while another played piano in the background. We took the elevators to the top again. These elevators are normal, indoor elevators with no view, but the top floor has a glass-encased walkway with an amazing view. It's at least 12 floors higher than the view from the Westin St. Francis, and since it isn't a view from an elevator, we were able to stand up there as long as we liked and take it all in. It spanned away from us in both directions. It's only a few blocks from the Transamerica; we talked about how maybe the very topmost floor of the Transamerica is a broom closet, and how the view from there must be even better. Unfortunately it's been closed to the public since 9/11. I traced our frantically-run scavenger hunt path that we blazed during the 2009 SSRO. That run seems even more insane when you can see it in its entirety.

Finally we went back, walked to the base of the Transamerica just in time for Neil to pick us up.

We got home and Jack and I made tortellini and French bread while I had a glass of red wine and he had a glass of red wine plus a protein shake. Disgusting, I know. We listened to more Benny Goodman and he kept dancing around the kitchen.

Gross.

Neil and Ellen had dinner with us--great conversations. Of course we sang Jack "Happy Birthday" and he blew out the (all black) candles on his Symphony cookie-dough brownies which, btw, are ridiculously rich. I can only eat about half of before feeling it's way too much.

Jack and I decided to try to watch a movie. We made it about 4 and a half minutes into The Rocketeer--long enough to discover that John Locke is in the movie!!--and then we passed out entirely.

Mom's poem "Walkin'"

Mom wrote this poem a few years ago, and took a walk today which made her think of it again. 

Walkin’

January 2006

Walkin’ again.

Hey—it’s kinda windy…

HEY! Whoa! Steady now.

Aw—man! Gotta lean into it!

Really—leaning into it

Just to not fall back.

New shoes

::gasp!:: They breathe!

Woo-hoo!

Roundin’ the corner.

Agh—hair in the face

Stickin’ to my lips.

Whoa—burst of wind,

Tryin’ to keep my balance.

Look at all those leaves!

They are crazy!

Herds and groups and cliques

Dancin’, flockin’, followin’.

Circles, then this way, then that way.

Oh—ooh! I’m gonna run into’m!

Ah, that wasn’t so bad.

They don’t hit me in the head.

Uh-oh. A dog runnin’ loose.

Look out, doggie! Cars comin’!

Wait—look out, me!

Dog runnin’ loose!

Turn around.

Not as windy for a moment.

Ah, there it is.

Trees swayin’ stretchin’.

Ahhhh, feels good.

Me, too.

Leaves pounding the pavement.

Getting smaller and smaller as

The concrete rips’m up.

On top of the hill now—yikes!!

Wind pushin’ my right foot

Into my left with each step.

Careful now.

EWF in my ears.

“Serpentine Fire” best rhythm

For a fast walk pace.

Pocket of calm.

Skin tingles from suddenly

No wind.

Now wind again.

See my shadow.

Chief Wild Hair.

Nothin’ I can do about it.

Wind pushes me home.

Hands still tinglin’—even now.

“Jul, don’t go rollerbladin’

Today!”

Mmmm sushi

8.27.09 - Berkeley, Attempt 2

So far everything that was going wrong last year seems to be going right this time around.

--Last year I was charged out-of-state tuition and only withdrew in time to get 25% of my money back; this year I am an in-state student with enough financial aid to cover school and most of my living expenses.

--Last year I was still apartment hunting and then moving during the semester. This meant both a 3-hr-round-trip commute to classes each day until I found the apartment, and then finding time to pack and move during school. This had a negative effect on my studies to say the least. This year I was already completely moved in and set up before classes started.

--Last year I was in a long-distance pseudo-relationship with a man slightly lacking in communication; this year I am dating a very positive, energetic, attentive man who, amazingly enough, lives in the same state as me.

--Last year one of my professors had a very thick accent and jumped sporadically from subject-to-subject. Another elderly professor spoke in a tired, monotone voice. So far this semester, all of my professors are entirely coherent and awake. We'll see how this one develops.

--Last year I knew a handful of friends to hang out with, which was not bad, but this year I know more people, which is better.

Also, I have a bike. I mean, c'mon.

AND Jack and I learned how to make sushi last night, which was both fun and delicious. If anyone is interested, I largely used this website:

http://www.imakesushi.com/

Even things that would have been glitches are working in my favor. For example, one of my chemistry classes seems slightly disorganized largely because no one seems to have the book yet, even though we already have assigned reading. I, however, already have the book, because I had started to take this class last semester before I withdrew, and I kept the book in case it was the same one again this year. And it is. So I'm set. Woot.

My apartment is located downhill from campus, which means biking to campus is a bit of a workout and something I really need to get used to. However it also means that biking from campus, when I am already slightly elated at classes being over for the day, is basically a free-fall to my apartment. It's so much fun. I think the joy of doing that is directly contributing to my incredibly good moods by the time I get home. Hopefully that optimism will last throughout the semester, although I imagine it will make rainy days more gloomy than they normally would be, because I'll have to take buses.

:-)

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.