iPhone4 vs HTC Evo

I know this is two months old and therefore there is a good chance you have already seen this but I only saw it last Friday (courtesy of the Bacons) and thought it was hilaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarious!!! Made me giggle out loud. The monotonous voices in the video are a big part of the humor, of course, but the dialogue is classic, too. (There are many choice moments but I very much like @2:28).

I think there are now lots of people walking around the globe chanting "I DON'T CARE." I know I am.

Mark Your Calendars - TAR 17 is Almost Here!

Whooooooooooo, this will just MAKE Robert's day! Maybe even his week! The man has been driving me fruit loops bonkers asking about when the new season of The Amazing Race begins. Well, now not only do I know the date (September 26th) but I can lead you to the page introducing this season's contestants. You're welcome! Will this buy me a free night of dishwashing?

UPDATE: EW.com has a slideshow of all the contestants with veeeeery bare bones info about each pair (if you don't feel like going through all the schmaltzy "What do you hope to achieve by running the Race?" crapadoo. I didn't.)

Bacon and Eggs

When I was younger, I had a frenemy named Emi. (I'm sure some of you will remember her. Especially if you went with us to the fair and had to wait around while we found her a corn dog. But I digress.) One thing that always frosted my cookies about Emi was that good opportunities always seemed to just plop themselves in her lap on more than one occasion. Her dad owned his own business so she always had a nice, cushy summer job waiting for her. And her family friends owned a flower shop so she had a pretty good job set-up during the school year, too. Now, I'm not saying I was chomping at the bit to work a whole bunch in high school... if I was, I could have, of course, gone out and gotten a job on my own. I wasn't envious of the work so much as the fact that she got the jobs without trying. I would have loved the chance to work for people I already knew without having to go through the rigors of applying and interviewing! (Plus, she took her driving test on an über-busy Saturday and her instructor didn't make her do anything - not even a 3-point turn! Man, that chapped my ass at the time. Suckballs!) Cue the violins here, people - clearly, my life has been nothing but a struggle, right? I know.

Anyhoo, what's the point of this sad and bitter recollecting, you ask? Well, it's merely to set the stage for the announcement that now I, too, have had something fortuitous fall into my lap! Remember our videographer friend Quentin? Well, turns out he needs some part-time help with a few administrative things and since he knew I was currently out of work, he offered me the gig. It's part-time, it's flexible, it's for someone I know and like AND it's doing something I will actually find interesting (blogging)! Sweet!!! I think it will be the perfect thing for me while I'm going to school... and I wasn't even looking for it. I am a lucky duck these days [knocks wood].

To cap off this good news, I present a little video I made over the weekend. Robert and I met up with Quentin and Leah on Friday to grab some dinner and go over some of the job details. As we were in the midst of sharing stories at the end of the evening, a fantastic story about a recent incident at one of Quentin's video shoots came up. It seemed like the perfect subject for the Stick Figure Treatment. Once I got started, though, I could tell this would be no ordinary stick figure entry, oh no. It needed a little something extra. A little pizazz, if you will. So, without further ado, I present:

The Story of How a Bacon Got His Eggs Scrambled

All of the events portrayed in the video actually occurred; I just hammed it up a little for humor's sake.

Is This What YOU Guys Saw?!

I received something in the mail a while back, something I didn't really care about in the first place but the fact that it arrived when I was hoping for/expecting something else didn't help the matter. So this something has sat ignored on my desk for the past few weeks. But now that I am in a happier place and my no school/no work/happy fun time is slowly starting to reach its expiration date, I thought I'd go ahead and punish everyone by posting it. What is this mystery piece of crap, you ask? My recital videos. [Waits for applause to subside...] Yay.

I know that I say the same things every year: that my recitals are terrible, the people in my class are terrible, the music and/or choreography is terrible but this year something else is terrible, too. Me. Now, I'm not trying to make it sound like I think I'm usually Gene Kelly and Ann Miller's love child of dance or anything like that - far from it! It's just that I at least know the steps and have the sense of rhythm and good memory to perform adequately. But this year... Woof. I don't know. It's like the dancing dead. I look dreadful! Awful. I'm sloppy. I look bored. Or sleepy. Or, at the very least, uninterested. It's terrible!!! I never enjoy watching myself on film but I can honestly say that this year's recital is the worst I've seen myself in a while. I am disappointed. And I am sorry that so many of you - especially you new people who hadn't ever seen me dance before! - saw this in person. Once I start working again, I'll give you all a dollar* for your trouble. For those of you that haven't seen it yet but are willing to watch right now, I apologize in advance. (But no money for you. Sorry. You were warned.)

This is 'Beat It.' We are warring gangs, see? We're pink and blue. Scary! I am a blue gangsta; you can find me in the 2nd blue row, the third in line. Once we get out to center stage, I'm pretty much right smack in the middle. You can't really miss me. Unfortunately.

Beat It

And this is 'Takin' Care of Business.' I am the first one out in the front row on the right-hand side. And I stay in the front row for the entire dance. The one nice thing I can say for myself, though, is that I am right on it at the end, when we're "workin' over time." I point to my watch right when I'm supposed to. Yeah!

Takin' Care of Business

* Or maybe discounted veterinary services in 3-5 years.

The Story of the Hangnail That Saved Me

Well, at least I assume it was a hangnail, since that what I was wishing for.

It all started on Tuesday afternoon. Around 3:45 or so the phone rang. I did not recognize the number so I didn't bother answering. (Hey, I barely answer the phone for people I do know. I know you're not surprised.)

As I listened to the caller leave her message, I felt my stomach lurch at the name Kathy DePaolo. That's the name of the woman I'd been in contact with regarding my Foothill application. And her message said she was "trying [me] at home, too." Which meant she probably called my cell. I checked it. She had. And she left me her personal cell as the callback number. This said to me that she really wanted to get in contact with me. That could only mean good news, right? I mean, only a truly cruel person would stalk you to tell you something soul-crushing, right? Still, past experience caused me to pause and try not to get too far ahead of myself. I also didn't want to seem uncoolly eager, so I waited about 6 minutes before calling her back.

I was very nervous when I finally made the call.

Why is the phone in the picture red when in the first picture it's grey? Because I had to call back on my cell, which is red (long distance, you know). I'm all about accuracy, people.

The first thing Ms. DePaolo said was "I hope I'm calling with good news for you." At that point, I think my brain boiled over. Luckily, I was still able to follow the conversation which went a little something like this: Ms. DePaolo said that a slot had opened up in the program and she hoped I hadn't already made alternate plans and would be able to start in the fall. I said something like "I guess. You know. Whatevs." She went on to say again how sorry she was to have to turn me away originally and that they were definitely not ever using the lottery system ever again. She continued to go over all the boring (to you) logistical stuff and that she'd drop my acceptance packet in the mail the next morning. I told her I was thrilled to have the opportunity and we said our goodbyes. I was kind of in shock.




But then it sank it a little and I got excited. Very, very excited.

I called Robert immediately, of course, but he was busy working and so I had to leave a message. He didn't call me back for an hour. Some of my excitedness had fizzled out a little by then. (I didn't want to call anyone else before I told him so I had a lot of pent-up enthusiasm that had nowhere to go. So it sort of died a little bit. Thanks, Robert. You worker you. Bleh.) But when he finally did call me back he was, of course, very excited for me. I was then free to tell my folks and they were super excited, too. Everything is starting to fall into place!!! I can't believe it. :o) But I didn't want to post anything until I had the physical letter in my hand.

Today being Friday, I assumed the packet had to be here. I approached my old enemy The Mailbox with a new found confidence.


And was subsequently rewarded.



WEEHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My plans are back on track, people. I am so HAPPY! :o) I'm so happy that the prospect of having to work with goats, sheep, horses, dogs, cats, rabbits, mice and rats actually sounds like fun to me. I KNOW! This is the right path for me, I just know it. I was never this excited about stinky ol' library books.

Random Puppy Pics

Time for some major cuteness! I snapped a couple of photos of Quigley hanging out in his favorite spot at my parents' house - atop the AC vent - and he doesn't have the crazy demonic green eyes so I thought I'd share.


Of course, once he figured out I was looking at him, he immediately rolled over for a tummy rub. He's getting to be as much of a TR whore as Funk!



A few days later Quigley came to hang out at the condo while my parents were out and about. I made the mistake of getting off the couch to get a glass of water and when I returned, this is what I found:

What cracks me up is that they both use the pillows as if they were people and not dogs! It's hysterical. The dogs were in no hurry to make room for me upon my return, either. I had to be pretty aggressive and even at that they sort of just skooched down. I got a half-cushion. I am so whipped. It's sad.


(This photo was taken several days after the photos above but I love how Quigley is sleeping on Garfunkel's head. I had to include it! I hadda!)

A Night Out with the Stovalls

Our friend John received his PhD in Economics this past May and he and his family are now in Coventry, England where, starting this month, John will begin his career as an Economics professor at the University of Warwick. (Was that a wicked run-on sentence? Sorry.) Before heading off across the pond, the Stovalls took a 2-month long road trip from Massachusetts to California to check in with all their friends and family. Here's a graphic of their travels, courtesy of John:

The Bay Area was their last stop before flying out July 19th so on the 14th they swung by Fremont so we could say goodbye. We hung out with their 3 kids at Kristi Yamaguchi Always Dream Foundation Play Park for a bit and then, after dropping off the kiddies, dined at Strizzi's. Dakin and John then stopped by the condo for a minute to meet Funk, but he was a less than gracious host (as usual) so he pooped on the party around 11 or so.

The Stovalls will most likely stay in England for 5 years or so, but they assured us they'd be back to CA every couple years or so. I would definitely have a hard time leaving my extended family for so long but I think the chance to live abroad for a bit would be pretty cool. And now we'll actually know someone who can show us around a bit if we ever make it to England!

Chicago Visitors

My nieces have been in the Bay Area this summer visiting their dad and, each week, they head over to my parents' house for a few hours. It's been a special treat getting to see them so often, since Robert and I haven't made it out to Chicago in quite some time. The girls are 7 and 10 so we've been having lots of fun Wii'ing, swimming, painting nails, shopping...


This is one of Claudia's books, Lauren the Puppy Fairy. I thought it rather fitting. :o)


Michelle and Dave made it out to my parents' for a couple of weekends, too, in and around a road trip they took with the girls to Seattle. On their 2nd weekend in Fremont, they treated us to a Giants-Mets game. It was actually my first time in the bleachers at AT&T. It was SO windy and SO cold it's also the first game that Robert has conceded and let us all leave early. I think the fact that the kids only had little fleece jackets and the Giants were up by, like, 5 runs or something in the 8th had something to do with it but still. Baby steps, people.



The girls were really very interested in the game... though not necessarily the one on the field. I found myself wishing I'd brought my DS, too.

It was so nice to see everyone! It had been almost a year since I'd seen Michelle or the girls so it was fun just hanging out, enjoying the game and chatting. Relaxed, unstructured visits are always the best. :o)

First Anniversary Dinner

Since our anniversary fell on a Monday (and the start of a pretty crummy work week for Robert) we decided to take it easy and just have a nice dinner out. So, we headed out to one of our favorite but not often visited restaurants, Taiwan in Willow Glen, and enjoyed our meal at a teeny tiny table with a gigantenormous vase. It was delicious.

Afterward, we headed to WestGate Mall to snag a chocolate malt at Johnny Rocket's (one of my favorites and not available in Fremont). But on the way there we passed by a Foster's Freeze, which is definitely a favorite from way back when my family used to live in San Jose, so we decided to stop there, instead. Fantastic!!! Oh, Foster's Freeze is so good... and also not available in stinky ol' Fremont! Booooo.

A somewhat subdued evening but a happy way to celebrate our anniversary nonetheless.







(Here is an alternative picture of us on the same day. It's not super cute so I didn't make it quite so big...!)

Official Wedding Video

I'm sure most of you remember our friends Leah and Quentin schlepping tons of equipment around during the wedding? Well, Quentin is a professional videographer and while he no longer does wedding videos, he and Leah took photos and video of the the rehearsal dinner and wedding as a gift to me and Robert. And, just in time for our anniversary, here is the finished video! Poor Quentin just filmed tons and tons of footage to make this 5 minute highlight reel but I think it turned out just wonderfully. (I LOVE time-lapse segments! So it's right up my alley.) What an awesome thing to have to look back on for years to come. We're lucky to have such creative and generous friends!

If you'd like to see the video post on Quentin's blog, you can check it out here.