Entities Hate Cyclists/Me

Some supernatural force, some ungodly being... like a god of some sort -- wait. whatever... some sort of Entity did not want me to go biking today.

A string of unfortunate events:

1.) Justin's lost waterbottle: thought to be in my car, which is at the bottom of the hill. Thus, rode down to bottom (at the top of the hill, I shifted weird and the chain came off. Got it back on while riding, but an ominous sign of things to come). Then, started off the true ride by climbing back up the hill nearly resulting in cardioexplodia of myself.

2.) Thirsty after that stupid hill. Well, we WERE at a red light, so I thought I'd just unclip one pedal, balance myself, and get my bottle. Popped the bottle open in mouth... oh -- that whole "balance" thing -- disappeared. Fell. GREEN LIGHT! AHHH!!

3.) Flat tire. Thank God (wait, I'm supposed to be bitter towards all supernatural forces here)... thank goodness that Justin was there with the patch kit. It probably would be useful to get one of those for myself.

4.) Car door. Man, I hate it when people open those things in front of me while I ride at 20 mph.

5) How do you get to the Marina? Oh wait, I don't really know. Let's just ride around randomly until I find it.

6.) At the Marina: Hmm... I'll just sit here and rest for a bit. Mmm... delicious water... FINISH IT. Yes yes, delicious. Good thing I finished it so that now I can go up to the drinking fountain there and fill it up again. Oh. The fountain isn't working. *sigh*

7.) Did I mention that a guy in an arm-crank bike passed me? AN ARM-CRANK BIKE. Look, ok it wasn't really like he truly passed me. In fact, it was I who passed him, but I ended up stopping at a red light.. and then he pulled ahead of me as it turned green... and well, I didn't really FEEL like passing him -- but I COULD HAVE... OK?!

8.) I shouldn't have eaten almost all of the dried fruit. I'm a horrible horrible person.

The Corrections

ok, so I've been a little unfair, but really, it's all in good fun.

i think Justin is a little mad at me for portraying him as i have been. not the part about being the person that I adore to death, but rather the whole messy thing -- even though it was probably only two bolg entries. oh well. i suppose it's time to make amends.

i WOULD take a picture of my OWN bed right now, because there's a lot of shit on it -- but my camera is out of commission as of 45 minutes ago. Lens Error. What does that MEAN?! It's so VAGUE. Is it mechanical? Is it a problem with the camera itself? Or perhaps it is the large volume of sand that I have managed to allow into the lens region? I suppose we'll never know.

Anyways, i don't want Justin's mom to think that I'm maligning her beautiful son. He seemed a little concerned about that.

Truth be told, I love living with him; it's been so much fun. He makes really good french toast and can cut things well. And he loves raisins. And he liked my painting that i madeeeeeeee -- or WHOA! what happened to the "e"??? that was NOT intentional. Jesus. Wow. Anyways, he either liked it or did a really good job pretending to... hmm... he WAS in theatre.....

Either way, I'll take it.

I Have A Dream

I hurt a bit today.

So yesterday I went to go hang out with some friends after they had finished work. Played some cards. You know, nothing special. :-) We stayed up all night though. I hadn't done that -- staying up all night hanging out, NOT homework -- in a very very long time. I almost didn't let it happen for me...

I started a painting last night, which felt really good. I haven't sat down, well I wasn't sitting actually, to do a complete project rather than something really quickly in an hour or so. I haven't even finished it yet. I'll admit it, I was too angry. I find that I work best with negative enrgy driving me, but I'll be getting into some detailed stuff next, and I needed to feel as calm as possible. I know my hands would have been shaky. Since I couldn't paint, and had nothing else to do (be it 2am and not tired) I decided I should go, howeve only after much deliberation in my mind. I think it's interesting that my anger lets me do things -- that sometimes I need it to allow me to do things differently, with different energy. I hadn't felt that way in a while.

It's really hot in our apartment, because wind has ceased to exist in all of Southern California. I just woke up now. Mostly because of a dream, but also because it's freaking hot. Well, that's what I get for waking up at 1:45pm.

I dreamt that I was hanging out with friends last night, staying up the whole night. Kind of a replay of last night, only outside. Then this monster came. It was obviously a costume, and we were playing scared for the fun of it. It didn't actually hurt anyone, though I tripped and it came after me. It was a Blue-Skeleton costume. Man, it wasbiiiig.

And then I dreamed that Alyssa fell off of the balcony. She was ok though. But that part just kept replaying and replaying. Whenever something like that happens ina dream, it reoccurs, but differently each time until it works out ok. Well, she shouldn't have been sitting on the damn edge.

I also recieved a bunch of phone calls in the night. I remember checking my watch in the dream and it was 5am. I kept thinking it was going to be my mom, all worried where I was, but instead it just kept being these people that I don't care about at all in real life.

The dream ended with us deciding that we should go out somewhere and do something. I'm in the apartment grabbing my things when the doorbell rings. It's Justin and he's all wet from swimming in a pool. There a bunch of people outside, a little behind him, who are all laughing. I slammed the door and went back to my room. I remember feeling really abd that I had done that. Anyways, ]I went back to my room, and Justin came in, a little angry at me obviosuly. And I continue getting ready. But all of the sudden, I can't decide what to wear. Nothing I put on feels comfortable in how it looks or wears. Everything is either too big or too small. I kept trying things on forever. Time and time again I would take off and put on clothes, all while everyone was waiting for me. And I just kept doing it, constantly apologising. In the end I found what I wanted to wear. Haha, I remember it exactly. It was my grey skirt, my grey tank top, and this really nice yellow shirt that had such nice embroidary on it. That yellow shirt doesn't exist in reality though. I put it on, and go to the bathroom mirror, and was shocked to realize that the yellow shirt I had put on isn't actually on me anymore. It's this black button up shirt that I have (with annoying buttons) and the only button that is buttoned it the one at the very top. I was upset but let it go.

And then I woke up.

Can't Find It

A quotation about love.
It came to me once by chance in a book.
And it all made sense.
I've looked for it.
I've given up for now.

An Inconvenient Truth

I feel rather uninteresting today. I hope it's not simply an inconvenient truth.

There are a LOT of fat people that work downtown. I noticed it especially on the bus to Union Station this afternoon. Man, some people were really really fat. Not that I have anything against them.... besides the fact that they take up 100% of their own seat and 30% of my own.

I'm going to paint something this evening. Or work on my secret project. oooo -- wouldn't YOU like to know? Maybe both.

Either way, it's a little lonesome this evening. I wish I had a beach to sit on.

I know this sounds lame, but I really want to go see a movie. But by MYSELF? That's no fun. Actually, it still would be, I would just feel a little odd admiting it.

Knees in Pain Signal the Rains

oh, hello there. long time no see, eh? well, i must say that it is purely my own fault. i've been terribly busy these last few days and yesterday has been my first day sine last friday that i've been able to sit at a computer for prolonged periods of time. But still, that's no real excuse because i had all of yesterday, didn't i? I'll admit it -- i'm lazy. I have a bunch of wonderful photos, and I'm really just too lazy to upload them.

Justin and I went to Comic-con on friday, and did a bunch of things in san diego... including going to mexico.... which isn't really something that we could do IN san diego because that would be impossible... but really -- the important thing is that we did them without Jay and made him incredibly jealous and hateful so the mission was accomplished. haha. :-) I heart you jay, i really do --except for everything about you.

we did a lot besides comic-con. beach. racetrack (sadly every horse justin bet on came in last... haha.... thank god we didn't bet that much).... we went to la jolla and looked at the waves (i have really nice pics). I got stung by SOMETHING in the waters of Torrey Pines... THAT was fun. I think it was a sting ray, but i suppose it could be a lot of things. It was the most ainful thing i have ever experienced in my life. honestly. and that's saying a lot. I've been hit. i've had teeth knocked out, I've been hit in the face with balls (soccer, basketball... really, this is quite pathetic... i'm sad to admit this)... what else have i done? I'm sure a lot. I've fallen from high places. exciting. anyways. it hurt like bitch.

i finally finsihed "Rain of Gold" this evening while down at Starbuck's. Excellent. read it. unless you hate mexicans, because it's all about mexicans. but we all know mexicans are freaking awesome. it really makes you hate gringos and cops though.

when i was walking back from Starbucks, I walked past this group of slutty-dressed girl. they were drunk. I heard them say "penis" (or variations on the theme) at least 10 times in the 30 seconds i could hear them. I"m not sure why some girls do that. I'm so happy i don't do that. or do I? um, I'm pretty sure i don't do that.

i feel like I"m an old man, but my knees hurt, and I'm fully convinced that it means it's going to rain. let's see how it works out. i must say it would be nice. plus it would make me feel like i have a lame superpower -- but a superpower none-the-less.

I Swear that I Have It this Time

You know, I think I'm really beginning to figure things out. And I know that I constantly say that, so it may seem like it's not true -- but doesn't it make it more valid? I try knew things so that I know what I like and what I dislike... and I'm liking things now. Life means taking a lot of risks and making many sacrifices; unfortunately, we cannot have everything, and we cannot be everyone. We are tied being only ourselves. And really, I find that to be a blessing. Knowing I cannot be anyone else, I feel like I've become more focused on discovered and appreciating who I have been, who I am, and who I dream of becoming. It's been a good feeling overall, although it has brought its share of frustrations.

I know what I care about. I can never have any regrets, because everything up to this point has led me here. I'm fascinated with the fact that a string of seemingly random occurences plants us where we are. You can never say "if" because there are an infinte number of them. It is interesting to think about it though.

There's this saying I came across: "If my aunt had balls, she'd be my uncle." I liked it.

I've always felt behind my friends in terms of grasping any sense of what I wanted to do or be. I didn't know who I was, so how could I ever even think about such things. Being at UCLA however has given me so much. Hard times, good times -- I couldn't imagine not experiencing all of it.

I love what I'm doing.
I'm doing what I love.

I'm finding my place, and am discovering that it is defined only in myself.

The Model Boyfriend

Although there is cheese on the counter, his beard trimmings in the sink, and the sock that has been on the bathroom floor since I think last Thursday now.... I adore him.

I'd say he's just slightly more messy that I am, which makes me:
1.) The better person.

That's it.

But I mean, come on, how can you not adore such a cute guy?







It's sad: it's 8:24 pm, and I haven't had a chance to see Justin yet; I came back from work a little too late, so I guess he had already left for Frank 1. I'll call an escort to somewhere sometime tonight. ... The commute home seemed longer than usual today... quite possibly because it WAS longer. I don't know. Maybe not. Now that i think of it -- not really. It just seemed much slower. There were also a lot of French (or French-Canadian) 9th graders on the bus home today. Wow. I couldn't even see out the windows there were that many people on the bus. Yesterday I was 1 of 4 people on that bus. It doesn't make any sense.

Justin and I are going


damnit. It really freaks me out when my door opens due to the wind because I didn't close it properly. Nearly had a heart-attack damnit.

Anyways... as I was saying, we're going to SD tomorrow... which I'm sure will be so much fun. We'll definitely be meeting Jordan and Bobby to go to the beach, then maybe hit up La Jolla and PB. Then some COMIC-CON on Friday! And then... come back Saturday because Justin has work. Which I will admit, kind of blows, simply because the only day my dad is going to be SD for a while happens to be this Saturday.... it would have been nice to get to see him.

Check this: my dad is on this crazy trip to Poland/Prague right now (since my brother is in Europe for 3 months travelling, and my dad had a free ticket). My dad had to be back in SD this weekend, but he couldn't get a flight out of Poland, so he has to leave from Prague.. which is in itself annoying. This is his flight back:

Prague --> Zurich --> Munich --> NY LaGuardia --> NY JFK --> Minnesota --> SD

And then he's in SD for Saturday.

And then he leaves for Seoul, South Korea on Sunday morning.

My dad is a machine. It would actually explain a lot, so it wouldn't suprise me all that much to find out it was true.

14 Years of Education

So as you know, I am working at City Hall now. Because one of my duties at the EAD is to write and publish their monthly newsletter, I was asked to compose a sample article concerning mosquito abatement during a portion of my interview; they simply wanted to see if I could write, and if I showed any signs of remote intelligence -- which apparently is quite difficult to come by now-a-days if you read on. The prompt was to write an article for the general public concerning the purpose of abating mosquitos as well as techniques. Pretty straight forward. Anyways, so I wrote something up and thought it was pretty good. I guess it was, because they called my less than 2 hours later to offer me the job.... it made me feel good.

Anyways, so today I was working on the computer I had typed up the article on when I came across some files on the desktop. I opened them up and saw that they were the responses of other candidates: one from this year, and one from last. I emailed them to myself.

I warn you: what you are about to witness may terrify you... but mostly it will just make you laugh... and be very very happy that you received a good education, and that you learned how to write, and that you even know what mosquitoes ARE. And keep in mind... these are COLLEGE STUDENTS.

The following are those very attempts to write. I didn't change anything. I didn't write them. Hell, I'm not THAT funny.

Indulge: (Oh, I left the names off of course.... I wouldn't want them stumbling upon this after googling their own name, and than have to cry over how stupid they are)

------------
Mosquito abatement is currently an important issue for the residents of Los Angeles. This article provides information on the risks involved with mosquito bites and ways of avoiding that.

Summer season brings in lots of bounties, but also a few problems. Pests, parasites, insects and the resulting diseases are a few of those problems. Mosquito bites can cause Malaria and West Nile diseases. These diseases can be fatal in some cases.

In order to avoid these problems, the City of Los Angeles is conducting a mosquito abatement program. The program involves spraying pesticides on stagnant water ponds and at-risk locations like wild bushes, etc. Those efforts are aimed at checking the spread of mosquito related diseases, but those are not enough. There is always an element of chance that some of the mosquitoes might survive. It is therefore important that residents of Los Angeles should be informed of the ways to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes.

You, as a resident of Los Angeles can protect yourself from mosquitoes by taking care of the following:

• Mosquitoes generally breed in dark, moist places. Please make sure that your back and front yards are clean and clear of garbage, rotten furniture, food items, standing water, or any other object, which might provide good breeding ground for mosquitoes

• Always use a mosquito repellant when camping outside or staying outside, especially at night

• Spray pesticides on any dark, moist, open places in your residence

• Please report any stagnant pond, or dark, moist, dirty locations in your neighborhood to the Environmental Affairs Division of City of Los Angeles at 1-800-439-4666, for spray of pesticides and prevention of mosquito development

• If you see a mosquito somewhere, please also report the location immediately to the phone number mentioned above

• Ask your doctor if you can take Quinine as prevention against Malaria

• Use a mosquito net to sleep in, especially if sleeping outside

• If you or anybody else you know is bitten by a mosquito, please see a doctor immediately

The City of Los Angeles is trying its best to prevent the spread of mosquitoes. By taking these measures, you’ll protect yourself and help the City in its campaign. Working together, we will be able to have a safe, happy and enjoyable summer.

-------------

Mosquitoes can carry diseases. Mosquitoes can transfer the diseases they carry to the lay Los Angeles resident with one bite. Therefore, policy makers in the Los Angeles metropolitan area must debate mosquito abatement. If a mosquito from an area, such as Africa, or the jungles of the Amazon, areas where biomedical research and prevalence of diseases have not been fully explored, carries a disease and that disease is eventually transferred between mosquitoes and individuals around the globe, the results can be catastrophic. Life necessities, such as water, may be affected in the long run. Viruses, such as West Nile and Ebola, and diseases that travel through the water that mosquitoes inhabit and/or drink will only result in adverse affects for Los Angeles residents. A worse case scenario resulting from a mosquito bite may result in a disease that is carried through the water.

Mosquito bites result in a loss of blood. Though this loss of blood is minimal, if mosquitoes swarm a Los Angeles resident the loss blood can become dangerous. Frequent “attacks” by mosquitoes can be detrimental to one’s health. In rare cases, mosquito swarms can be deadly if not treated with anti-biotics and the like.

In order to reduce the risk of being bitten, Los Angeles residents may choose from a variety of options. One, during the hot summer, if a humid day is on the horizon, residents should be aware of any doors or vents, and the like, that are open at any point during the day. An open door or vent will give the mosquito the option of coming into a domicile in order to swarm an unsuspecting Los Angeles resident. Another option revolves around the use of bug spray. While policy makers ponder the issue of mosquito abatement, Los Angeles residents should begin using bug spray as if it is body wash or sunscreen. Residents ought to become accustomed to using bug spray, especially during hot and humid California days when the amount of mosquitoes will be higher than usual.

The dangers mosquitoes pose are underestimated. In the short term, Los Angeles residents are not as threatened as those living within Washington, New York, Philadelphia or Miami. Sunny Los Angeles is not affected by the high percentages of humidity that characterize the above metropolitan areas during the summer and occasionally during the spring and fall.
-------------



What a wonderful conclusion. It really tied everything together quite well.
Oh, we calculated that it would take approx. 80,000 mosquito bites to drain a person's blood from their body.

Jay's Sandy Vagina

I had my first day of work at City Hall today. Pretty exciting. Oh, man... it really is exciting to be there. It's such a nice building. To bad the commute sucks as much as "Lost" does. It took me 1 hour 15 min to get there and then 2 hours to get back. That's a bit disgusting... especially the way back, mostly because this annoying guy wouldn't leave me alone for the second half of the trip. I'm going up the escalator of Wilshire/Vermont station to transfer to Wilshire/Western train when this guy in front of me turns around and starts complimenting me. I don't mind it all that much, it happens once in a while, and I did look nice for my first day... but seriously, he wouldn't leave me alone. He asked me where I was going, I said W/W, and he said oh! me too! we should chit-chat on the way there. *sigh* He wasn't creepy -- just incredibly annoying. And I would like to point out I don't tell people like that any truth about myself. So a train comes (the one headed in the opposite direction however) but I get on, andyou know what? That sob follows me! GAH! Anyways, I shook him off of me when I got on my bus. I didn't really talk to him. Jesus though.... THIS is exactly why I don't travel at night, especially alone. Weirdos. Go realize that I don't want to talk to you.

Anyways, I came back finally. I just stopped at Whole Foods for a second to get some sandwhich meat and blueberries. Then I came back and Justin and I made dinner... and then he made me ice cream. Yum.

A bunch of us went to the beach on Saturday. It was nice. However the sand was SO HOT. OW. And of course, Justin doesn't have sandals, so he had to go barefoot. There he is stranded in the sand as Jay and I went comfortably ahead:



And the super awesome indestructible water-proof sandcastle:










I really think that last one is a good picture of the tunnel.
Haha. So many vagina jokes were made. It was ridiculous.

I Don't Want To Grow Up, Unless My Parents Pay For It

I had to go to santa monica today to buy a few new things for when I begin work on monday. I hate driving. I hate shopping in LA. Together, they create the most exhausting experience of a lifetime. And then afterwards, I went out to dinner with Gao. I'm so tired. I'm never going to drive again.

Except for when I go down to San Diego on Thursday for Comic-Con. Yes: I know I am a nerd. I can't wait to meet Captain Adama! Wow. I swear that I do have a life beyond Battlestar Galactica.

So this is the view from our balcony. It's was really nice a few nights ago when I took these. It's been getting cloudy though.





It's really nice on clear days because you can see the ocean... ever so slightly -- but it's there! It's sad to think that this may be the closest thing to an ocean view that I ever get.

I can't believe I'm starting work tomorrow. Ugh. I already don't want to do it. Haha. It's really only because of the commute. I have to walk to the bus station (15min) then take the bus to the trainstation (20 min) and then train to downtown (20 min) and then walk from union station to city hall (10 min). That's what? 1 hour 5 min. Well, it really wouldn't be much better than if I drove... I would never find parking downtown and parking would even up costing me a ton of money, for a spot 5 blocks away. I'd rather just listen to my iPod or read a book on the train. i have to be there at 10 am tomorrow... so I guess I'll leave here at 8:45 am... which means get up at 7:45 am... and Ihave to do laundry and make myself a lunch tonight! Ahh! I hate doing grown-up things! I want my mommy... she would make me a nice lunch and do my laundry for me.... :-(

I caved in and asked my parents for some money today. This first month of living here has set me up a little tight financially for this next month, since I hadn't worked for half of the month... and you know, getting all those basic things for the apartment and my life. Although, I will admit that I have been going out to eat way too often for my budget. Just this last week though! It just seems like all of my friends whom I haven't seen for a while want to meet up with me for food. Gah. Starting today, I'm not going out to eat for a week. Once a week seems ok, and just to spend less than $10 isn't so bad. Making my rent this hard is month.. haha.. a little bit of a mental syntax error there. Maybe I can get my parents to help me out with rent once I start summer school in August. I won't be able to work as much, so it would be nice.

Justin went mountainbiking today, so I suppose I should go and entertain myself with doing my laundry before he gets back. Plus, I'm so tired. I just want to get it over with.

New Things & The Return Of The Black Smudge

I've decided that since I have a camera, I should very well begin documenting my life more -- which also includes posting pictures/movies, whatever is good and funny within my life.

Also, at the bottom of the page, I added a counter. Justin told me I should do it, so I dipped my feet ever so slightly into the world of html editing -- which in this case meant copy-paste the tag into my template. That's pretty much the equivalent of having one of my molecules fall off and touch the ocean of html wonderfulness.

But yeah, photos. Aren't they just great? I really need to start taking more of my own, because although I steal many off of facebook, the resolution goes down..... and tha sucks when I want to get them developed.

My camera has been kind of broken; there's this horrible black smudge that keeps coming up in all of my photos. I've cleaned the lens... I think it's some sort of imaging problem. It went away for a little whiles, but then it returned in full force, having shifted itseld more towards the center. It's made avoiding the problem a little more difficult because before when it was off to the left, I could structure my pictures in such a way that I could just place a tree there, making the horrible smudginess less noticable. It's much more difficult with it in the center, because I have very few friends with black smudges for faces.



I like that picture because it looks like Jay and Justin are holding hands. It was taken in Zuma... which we agree is better than El Porto, because the sand is so frakin hot there. And the waves are bigger at Zuma. Although, I must give points to El Porto for not having water hovering at 40ºF.

I'll post more pictures later of our beach trip yesterday. We built an indestructible sand castle. Well, indestructible until the water came and destroyed it. It was beautiful.

Shoot Me In The Eye

Justin and I went to see "Superman Returns." It was pretty entertaining.

Best scene ever:



We couldn't stop laughing in the theatre.

Laundering Money

Today has already begun to be an odd day. Well, more like excellent... kind of. I'm not really sure how to describe it.

I woke up today around 9:10 am to the sound of the street cleaning truck outside my apartment. I had parked my car right across the street, and hadn't really taken notice as to what day the street cleaning took place for that part of the street. I looked outside and saw that the street cleaning truck had just gone around my car... being one of the few cars left on the street. I freaked out for a second, but saw that there wasn't a ticket on the windshield. I thought... well, if they didn't give me a ticket by now, I'm sure I'll be fine (I'm not allowed to park there from 8am - 11am on Fridays). But then again, there's still a whole two hours for them to come by. Damn it.

So I get dressed, go outside, and move my car a few blocks away.

I walked back up Glenrock a fw minutes later, and there I see him: the parking enforcement guy -- dishing out his $44 or so tickets.

Thank God I moved my car. I would have been so angry with myself.


Usually, I would have gone back to sleep after moving my car (I've had to wake up at 8am to do it before), but I was too awake at that point, and didn't want to risk waking up later and losing a good part of my day. Especially since I'm going out with Chris to lunch today.

So I decided to do my laundry.

I gathered all my clothes together, grab my detergent and my keys, and head down to the garage level to the laundry room. I stepped inside, put my things on the table, turned on the lights, and looked at the machine -- only to realize that I didn't have any money. I hadn't even thought about it. I'm not used to gathering quarters as though they were as valuable as gold. And since I knew I didn't have enough quarters back in my room, I just gathered up all my things and came back up. It was kind of sad. I really really needed to do laundry. *sigh*

I can't wait for lunch. We're going for breakfast. At lunchtime. Haha. I love it.

Stranger In The Mirror

Something has changed about me since I came back to LA.

I've just done the traditional "dress up in your new interview clothes the day before the interview" thing. I have everything I need: the striped shirt, the skirt, the shoes, some nice earrings...

I looked in the mirror,

and for the first time in a while, I've honestly thought I was beautiful.

I guess what my dad has been telling me all these years was true.

I am beautiful.

It's odd. I look so grown-up. I'm not sure I can get used to this.

I think I've changed because I've become happy in a way that I've never been before.

I'm in love, and it shows.

Thank You Sweden

It is incredibly sad how I can no longer write about anything that does not include the following:

1.) Cycling
2.) Work (which is more cycling)
3.) Powerbars
4.) Battlestar (mostly cylons)

*sigh*

Actually. This is turning into the best summer ever. Non-stop entertainment.

Justin needed sandals because his mysteriously disappeared at Jay's place, so we (meaning Justin) decided to go to Target in Culver City. We looked on Google maps and got a general idea of where it was and went off on our way. See, neither of us have printers, so we rely purely on memory. Bad idea. Ok, well, we found it eventually. We actually didn't bike all that far out of the way. Anyways, it was about a 12 mile ride there I'd say. We get there -- no sandals. We needed a hex key set -- not there either.

After 24 miles of riding to Target, this is what we came back with:

1.) A towel
2.) A gluestick
3.) 2-lbs of Swedish Fish

And then I had 4 hours of wonderful work right afterwards. Actually, a lot of things happened, but no real work happened, so it was overall a successful day. Tom and I had a good time riding around and eating Korean BBQ. Who doesn't love Korean BBQ? Seriously.

While I was at work Justin made another type of powerbar. Oh man. Those one are good. We made this extensive excel spreadsheet to determine how much money we spent per bar made. $0.54. Not too shabby. I guess we are saving money. They're freakin' awesome though; we're thinking about selling them at the CSO office.

We have a plan.

We also hate excel, because it's graphs are stupid. This is one that Justin made:



Yes. Instead of listing each ingredient seperately, it lists them all as one colour.... and as the title.

Excellent. And what's up with the background defaulting to grey. Seriously... white. Come on Microsoft. Get it together.

First Time Ever

Justin was right.


The powerbars were a good idea.
They were delicious.

Cakey, but delicious. We'll see if we can find a more granola-ey type recipe.



Yum.

POW-AH! Unlimited POW-AH!

I had to go buy "interview" clothes today. *ugh* I hate wearing that stuff. It's so hard to feel attractive in that type of clothing. Hooray for looking Mormon! It was so hard to look at all of the cute clothing in the store and have to say to myself, "NO! LOOK AWAY!" I'll buy nice things for myself once I start getting a decent paycheck in. Government jobs pay well, what can I say? I did however allow myself some hair clips. Oh, how I love hair clips... and oh, how I constantly lose them.

So after cooking for the last week, and eating lovely meals tonight we shall eat mac 'n cheese. And no, not brand name. Generic was 10¢ less, thus they were the ones purchased. Haha. I haven't had mac n' cheese in a long long time. Oh, and spinach. We have spinach... mmmm delicious iron.

I'm so tired. I just came pack from buying a ridiulous amount of dried fruit and sadly... dried milk. NO! I AM NOT POOOORRR!!! *sob* IT'S FOR THE POWERBARS!!! I'M NOT LIVING IN THE CO-OP!! We have three recipes that look good and we're making half of all three. So many ingredients. I'm not sure if I have the energy to do it... I need an powerbar... but I need to make them before I can have them! oh the horrible horrible irony....

It's ridiculous how healthy you try to be when you're athletic. So much that I do now is determined by how it will affect my performance on the road. I haven't really had to deny myself anything yet... mostly because I eat pretty healthy anyways. Except for Nutella. We had a crêpe party! Ok, it wasn't really that much of a party, but it was delicious never-the-less... Delicious delicious Nutella.... mmm...

I just remember when Jay came over a few days ago to watch Battlestar and he sat down on the couch-thing and I said, "would you like a spoonful of Nutella?" and he replied, "Oh my God, you are my favourite person ever." SEE?! Nutella makes people like me! It overcomes the powers of any social ackwardness! Amazing!

Battlestar is actually really good. I'm suprised. It took my a third attempt to watch it without falling asleep. Well, if Justin didn't make me start watching a 3-hour first episode full of plot-setting-upage at midnight, it wouldn't have seemed like I was bored out of my mind.

Cylons scare me.

Good Lookin' Is-a Cookin'

Oh man. I am so good -- you don't even know.

I think one of the things I enjoy most about having a "place" is grocery shopping/cooking. My parents have asked me how I feel about those things as though they were burdens, but to tell you the truth, I love both of them a lot. FINALLY I can buy things that I want to buy, and man... I am so much healthier than when I lived in the dorms. Food is the one thing that I have no qualms about spending money on. Let me tell you... I am willing to spend a ridiculous amount of money on good cheese. That is my only true weakness.

I made dinner this evening. Well, like every evening. I actually MADE something though that involved actual cooking. It was fun. Completely original. Well, I'm sure that it's been done, but I didn't use a recipe. I made shrimp on spinach/cilantro pasta, in a sun-dried tomato/basil light cream sauce. It was awesome. We finished all of it.

It's been kind of an adventure seeing how much two people eat. Even just what I eat myself. I'm not sure how much to buy at the store, but I'm getting the hang of it.

I can see why so many people love cooking. It's so excellent because you really can't mess up.... a lot.... most of the time. That's if you're not doing anythign horribly complicated of course, which I don't plan on doing because our kitchen has so little space It's hard enought to make panini.

I went to Zuma Beach with Jay, Alyssa, and Justin today. SO much fun... although I couldn't go in the water, because of course I had to wearing this swimsuit, which although extremely cute, can barely stay over my breasts while I'm doing nothing. Therefore, there was no way in hell I was going to go into those huge waves. Especially with Jay in the same waters. :-) I need to get a suit that I can move around in, rather than just look pretty.

My back got a little burned, but I think it'll be ok by tomorrow. It's not all that bad.

Ok, I'm all carbed up, so i'm going to go for a bike ride and then chill a bit with Adarsh. Sweetness.

Haha *sigh* I'm Pathetic...

As much as had told myself that I wasn't going to feel left out.... I just did.

I really shouldn't get like this.

*sigh* oh well.

my head hurts. I'm going to lay down for awhiles. I lose all energy whenever I get like this.

smiles, Susanne. It's all about the smiles.

I Hate Powerbars

i'm not referring to the disgusting energy bar... although i'm sure by my sentance that you can guess my feelings about them. eww. gross. no, i am referring to the electronic powerbar that allows you to maximize the amount of things you can plug into a wall... yes. i hate them. mostly because i had written a few paragraphs worth of insightful material and bam... my foot presses the switch. it was actually the second time that i had done it while on the computer in the last 15 minutes. damn it.

anyways. i was just saying that everyone went on a mountain biking trip today to the santa monica mountains, which are just a anbout 10 minutes away from ucla. i didn't go obviously -- i don't have a mountain bike. i did however, go up for a ride towards malibu and then santa monica which was nice. i almost died only about 3 times, which isn't so bad. i was in the bike lane heading up towards malibu on the pacific coast highways, and there's a bike lane only about half of the time. every time a car would pass me i would jsut say outloud 'please don't kill me please don't kill me' over and over again. well, it worked i supposed. i guess i can get a little freaked out.

When i started my ride today i ran into all of my friends off on their mountain biking adventure. they're great. i like it that i'm at the point in my life where i don't feel obligated to do everything with everyone all of the time. i can do thing sfor myself finally without feeling guilty. last year, i felt that i couldn't branch out from what i knew. i was so tied down. haha... that's probably why i didn't make any lasting friends last year. this year though -- man, everything is great. i finally feel like i'm working towards what's right for myself, rather than what other people want from me. i have great friends. finally. i'm so happy.

i applied for a job at the environmental affairs department of la county. my interview is this coming week, so hopefully it's turn out well. i think it would be an awesome experience.

and oh -- speaking of powerbars, justin has decided that we shall make our own. i'm sure it's going turn out great.

dont' you wish there was a way to effectively display sarcasm through text?

It's Too Late For An Attack: He Got Up

Today is going to be my first day working for my professor. i'm really excited but über nervous. i really just want to do a good job, and i've never done any of the lab stuff i'm going to be doing. She's going to be teaching me what to do, but i do have a history of stupidity. hopefully it won't show. anyways, i know how to get free coffee from the machine in front of her building that she frequents, so I suppose that i can always use that to score some points.

The fireworks last night were amazing. it was so nice to watch them by the fire at the marina. Some of them were so low that you could see the sparks of the fireworks rain into the water. it was nice.

i definitely feel a lot stronger. biking last night was much easier. i'm glad i did that run two days ago by myself; I built up more stamina that way. oof. i think i bike about 90 miles these last few days. i'm taking a break today from hard-core biking. i'm going to bike to the lab though.

K. I have to start my day. which pretty much means jumping on justin while he's waking up.

Drunk Girl, Will You Please Place Your Face In My Fist? Thanks.

Today was a fun day. So hot though.

justin and i drove to Rosemead (which is just east of alhambra, if that means anything to you) to go get some bike accessories that he found on craig's list. i really don't know how justin is so good at using it affectively. i can never find what i need, and when i think that i do, it usually leads to me waiting by my email desperately awaiting a reply from the seller... which never arrives.

and i also really don't know why the street that i live on is the loudest street in Westwood. Ok, we get it now Drunk Girl -- you can stop screaming. yes, yes... we know that you are drunk. Ok. yes.... please put your shirt back on. No, i will not have sex with you Drunk Girl.

Last night i awoke to voices of token drunk girls at about 330 am. *sigh* seriously. shouldn't you be passed out somewhere on the street, or some guy's livingroom/bedroom/kitchen/bathroom floor right now?

I also went on a bike ride to venice beach today... by MYSELF. Oh yeah. AND.... i didn't fall even ONCE. yup. i'd say that's a step in the right direction. tomorrow, justin and i are biking to the marina to watch the fireworks. I think they have a bonfire there too.... I remember justin saying something about fire. Although, that's not really uncommon.


*yawn* i'm pretty tired. think i'm going to go brush my teeth.


oh: laura, i totally wanted to call you, but low-and-behold, all this bike-purchasing business in the first few days back in SD prevented my from having contact with anyone. then i found that you were back in berkley. boooo..... I love you. if you find yourself back in SD or LA let me know. i'd love to see my favourite new engineer. cute.

Fall-Out

So today was first real day that justin and i have been living with each other. (the shift key on his keyboard works *eh* so i'm not going to try that hard to use it). It's been nice, what can i say. we both ended up getting to westwood around the same time yesterday. I went upstairs to the apartment before justin arrived to begin moving a couple of the boxes in my car and to get the keys to the place. I just remember coming down leaving the apartment towards my car outside and seeing justin walking up the hill 20 feet aways from me. wow. that was a nice feeling. I hadn't gotten that one for a whiles. Man, he's cute. yup. Wow. I like him.

it was so funny because the evening before i had dreamt of the moment wehen i would see him again and in the dream it was so ridiculously dramatic... and embarrassingly musical. it also included a dip. A dip of myself.

We moved all of my stuff from the car and then went to jay's to go load up my car with justin's stuff (which we loaded through a window in jay's apartment) haha. it just looked like we were stealing a bunch of stuff. Pretty much immediately after bring everything up to the place we went to malibu with jay, his sister and one of his frat brothers. nice people. i'm realy glad i likved through the experience of jay's driving. jesus christ. wow.

Haha. there are all these tunnels on the road to malibu, so of course we made wishes while going through them. There are these two tunnels that occur right after eachother and jay says, "your wish only counts if you make it through both,' so all of us hold our breaths really tight. We make it through the first tunnel... then some road... then we start the second tunnel.... and then half way through the second tunnel jay slows the car to like 5 mph, and just c r a w l s along since no other cars are behind us. I managed to squeeze out 'you are such a bastard' while holding my breath, but we eventually all pulled through. i wished he would die. But then he wished that i wouldn't wish that he would die.... or something like that... so it was a fruitless effort.

At the beach we critiqued a plane sky-writer. good times,

ahh but yes... today justin and i went bike riding through santa monica, venice, and to the marina. really nice. shit i was exhausted on the way back. i felt bad because i'm not as good as he is, and was holding him back a few times, but what the hell, he's been doing it forever, and i'm new to the sport... i just need to work extra hard to be as good as possible. It was so fun though, wow. only a few falls. haha. i'm not used to clipless pedals. it's so easy to just ... fall.

haha. one fall was funny, though i was really embarrassed.

my chain came off so i was trying to re-align it. i had unclipped myself but justin said, 'no no, clip in... just ride slowly and get it caught again.' So i get back in my pedals and start riding really slowly... but i wasn't watching where i was going... so i just ran in to back of a parked car really really slowly, but of course, being clipped in i just fell right over on my side. There was a guys who was playing basketball right next to us and he wouldn't stop staring at us as i tried to get up. i apologized if it was his car (i didn't dent or scratch it) but he didn't really confirm whether or not it was his car. he just kept looking at me sufffferrrr..... yeah, so i was a little embarrassed over that. Put a few scratches in my bike, but oh well... it had to happen eventually. no big deal.

i went real-person grocerie shopping today.

I forgot to by flour for making crêpes tomorrow morning.

i hate everything.

that's a lie. life couldn't be any better.