Brother, brother, there's too many of you cryin'...

It has been such an intense day. I can't believe the murderous rampage which happened at Virginia Tech today - it saddens my heart. How in the world does this happen? Hmm.
------
I can't focus on anything else serious tonight. So here's another meme. It's all I can handle.
From Jennifer:
For this one you set your iTunes playlist on random and whatever songs come up answer the questions--no cheating, no skipping. I have a lot of music (35.5 GB) so we'll see what comes up.

1. Will I get far in life?
"Fly Like an Eagle" by Steve Miller Band--I guess so, then!

2. How do my friends see me?
"Que Manera de Querete" by Gilberto Santa Rosa --- I think this means they love me..hahah

3. When will I get married?
"Trip Through Your Wires" by U2--well, I AM a clutz. Maybe we'll literally crash into each other...?

4. What's my theme song? (should be #3, I'm just saying...)
"El Ultimo Beso" by Marc Anthony. Great.

5. What is the story of my life?
"Bandolera" by Johnny Ray (translation: bandit. HAHAH!)

6. What am I like in bed?
"La Numero Cien" by - and I am not making this up - Klimax.

7. How can I get ahead in life?
"Savor" by Santana

8. What is my best feature?
"Cua cua" by Tito Puente. I *DO* cluck like a chicken very well.

9. How is today going to be?
"Wild Mountain Honey" by Steve Miller Band.

10. What is in store for this weekend?
"Un Real de Hielo" by Orquesta Aragon ... something involving ice?

11. What is my life like at the moment?
"Paloma" by Carbon Leaf

12. What song describes my secrets?
"Una Aventura" by Grupo Niche

13. What is my current lover like?
"Day Tripper" by the Beatles. that's funnnnny.

14. What song will they play at my funeral?
"Kikuchiyo To Mohshimasu" by Pink Martini. ahahahahhahaha.

15. How does the world see me?
"Swing Valse" by Baguette Quintette

16. Will I have a happy life?
"Cerca de Ti" by Chispa & los Complices

17. What do my friends really think of me?
"Soul Sacrifice" by Santana

18. Do people secretly lust after me?
"Let's Take a Ride" by Justin Timberlake, featuring Pharrell Williams. They lust after my car, I think.

19. Will I accomplish my goals in life?
"Mi Soncito" by Celia Cruz - perhaps...i think this means "my little son (type of song)....

20. Will I find true love?
"Sonata in C Minor, No. 8, Op. 13: Pathetique III" by Beethoven.

21. How do I treat others?
"Lo Que Paso Entre Tu y Yo...Paso" by Luis Enrique (=That which happens between us, happens...)

Meme from Blackbird

In the kitchen with...MezzoSF

Variety is the spice of life.
In my cupboard, I have this many spices: too many, for sure
Rack or no rack? a couple of small racks on two shelves
Alphabetize? They used to be at one point, yes.
Which spice do you use most often? Peppercorns (multicolored, and ground)
Which recipe? Hmmm. Well, the LAST recipe I used was for pesto

It's like the pot calling the kettle black.
Coffee or tea? Both.
Do you make coffee at home? Occasionally...but Sibling tells me my coffee making has declined (I make it too strong for him).
If you make tea, loose or in bags? I have a ton of loose leaf and some Traditional Medicinals tea bags. Sibling likes Stash...I'm not a big fan.
How many kinds of tea do you have? A bunch. At least 10.

If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.
I use my stovetop: Yes....
I use my oven: not that often

Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?
Soy or cow? unsweetened soy
Skim or whole? Sibling drinks skim milk
How many gallons a week? Nowhere near a full gallon/week

Three items in my freezer (right now):

1. Frozen peas (for icepack usage)
2. Ice cream
3. Lean Cuisine


Three things in my fridge (right now):

1. Feta cheese
2. Cilantro
3. Artichokes


Item I am most chagrined about: Mystery tuppaware container - not mine...

Item I bet no one else has: the world's biggest bag of spinach. Seriously, it's huge.

Libiamo...!

I LOVE this commercial. It took me a couple times to realize that indeed, the song is Libiamo from La Traviata.

For some reason, I can't get youtube to let me post the actual thing here, so you'll just have to watch it here and laugh. It's sooo wacky!

No Relation

Friday night, one of my friends from college came through SF on a tour of the West Coast. And, even better, our other friend, L who now lives in Sacramento, drove out for the show. L and I were reminiscing, remember funny stories fromSMU and our time in France together (we were
all three there at the same time)...and realized that we have all known each other for 10 years. CRAZY.

Anyways, David Karsten Daniels (no relation) is a brilliant songwriter and musician. On the notes to his new Album, Sharp Teeth, he's credited with the following: vocals,acoustic and electric guitar, bass, piano, organ, drums, tambourine, glockenspiel and cello. And it's true - I've heard him play all of those (just not
at once)!Hahahah.

The gig was at the Hemlock Tavern on the seedy end of Polk street. If you've never been there, Irecommend going sometime. It is the exact opposite of any bar you'll find in the Marina, and is filled with nerdy, alt-emo-loving, tragically hip folks listening music, drinking beer, and
comparing eyeliner. But I mean that in a good way - it was a friendly crowd.

After David's set and when he and the band finished tearing down equipment (he is on tour with three supporting musicians), we walked up Polk in search of food, counting the number of hookers we saw in our 4 block trip back and forth, and laughing a lot.

It was a great night.

because 'I' said so

So, here's a fun new survey from Math Jedi. Basically, he gave me a letter, and I have to list my 10 favorite songs beginning with that letter. My letter is "I". (If you'd like a letter, just leave me a comment, and I'll send one your way!)

Here they are, in random order (well, except for the first one, it really is my favorite song ever):

1. "In Your Eyes" by Peter Gabriel. I fell in love with this song as a Freshman in high school - there was a travelling a cappella band from some East coast college who performed this for us during choir class one day. I was hoooooked. Shortly thereafter, I finally rented "Say Anything"...and heck, John Cusack? In the rain? Holding a boombox blasting this song? Yes, yes and yes, please!

2. "I Will Survive" as covered by Cake. I LOVE this song - it's so funky, and singer John McCrae speaks/sings his way through it with so much attitude. I swear this song got me through my sophomore year in college. I listened to it constantly.

3. "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" by U2. Brilliant song by my favorite band ever. No other explanation needed.

4. "I've Got You Under My Skin" sung by Frank Sinatra. I love to sing this song!

5. "I Walk the Line" by Johnny Cash. ooooh the Man In Black. Because you're mine...I walk the line! I love me some Johnny Cash, and I would LOVE somebody to tell me that someday.

6. "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" by Marvin Gaye. This song reminds me of family. Well, and the California Raisins. Anyways, my cousin, my brother and I dreamed up an entire lip-sync and dance to this song to perform for our grandmother this one time. I will never forget that!

7. "I Could Have Danced All Night" from My Fair Lady. Another song I enjoy singing and being silly with at any given moment, if there is a piano and people who love musical theater anywhere near me.

8. "In a Little While" by U2. What can I say? I love this band! This is a very chill song...sweet and romantic.

9. "I Need Thee Every Hour" traditional hymn. Just a reminder that, indeed, I need Thee every hour of every day...can't do a darn thing by myself. And when I do, I tend to walk into poles and the like.

10. "In The Mood" by Glen Miller. Big band rocks my world. Again, this reminds me of a few things: dancing around to my grandmother's big band record collection; swing dancing; playing jazz trombone. I have enjoyed swing and big band for a long time, and probably will continue to love it indefinitely!

thinking

I have tried writing a couple times about the various and sundry things going on in my heart and spirit. And, well . . . to no success. Oh well, that's okay. Not bad things, mind you, but just still some nebulous things floating around in the ether. God is good, though, and for that I am grateful!

Grace

There is just no accounting for how on earth I have made it thus far in my adult life, other than the fact that God has a sense of humor, and likes to humble me...?!

Let me tell you a story . . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Driving down O'Farrell, not much traffic, window rolled down, Ozomatli blasting from the speakers, our Heroine finds a metered parking space! This is a Big Deal, as it is after 6pm on a Friday night, which all adds up to free parking. She effortlessly backs into the spot - on the left, no less - in one smooth arc. She leaves the car running so she can finish listening to track 9 as she reapplies her lipstick, tosses her hair, and thinks to herself - "damn, self, but ain't you havin' a goooood hair day.
She climbs out of her car, only momentarily getting the door stuck on the sidewalk - oops - in front of Naan 'n Curry, where three young, handsome gentlemen happen to be dining outside in the cool, Spring night. She throws her cd's in the trunk, locks her car and just as she gets ready to make her way the last couple blocks to her destination, she turns to double check that indeed, her meter does not need to be fed. Satisfied with the meter's hours, she steps away and just as she turns . . . TWACK!!! She walks SMACK into a metal pole - which she swears just came out of nowhere - making contact with the left side of her face. It was a 'no parking 2-6am sign, tilted towards her, instead of being perpendicular to the sidewalk. Right in front of the aforementioned table of men, enjoying their Indian food, she can't help herself - "S*&T!" she turns to them, ripping off her chic aviators, "Am I bleeding or anything??!" The men shake their heads solemnly, looks of disbelief slowing being replaced by the guilty looks of schoolboys trying to repress a laugh during church. "This is SO embarassing," she continues, "but, as long as I'm not bleeding, I guess I'll be okay."
She catches the eye of a Nick Lachey lookalike on the other side of the restaurant's window - he and his date are laughing their asses off. She waves at him, acknowledging the humor of the whole situation - but stops herself just short of taking a bow. "Well - you guys have a GREAT night," she says, turning on her heel (clad in very cute, high-heeled, gold wedge sandals), and heads off, again, towards her destination. She stops in at a corner market, quickly locating a bottle of advil and the coldest Diet Coke she can find in the back of the cold drink case. She pays, hastily rips into the ibuprophen, all the while using the soda as a make-shift ice pack. She leans against a parking meter, Coke against her cheek and eye, and watches the people walk by her. Thankfully, at that moment, the Critical Mass bikers start zooming by by the 100s, and she - as well as the other onlookers - have something else to distract them for a while. She can't help but smile to herself, even giggle a little bit, as one of her father's favorite sayings pops into her head. "Well, Grace, what've you done THIS time?" Grace, indeed . . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So, now I sit, ice pack to head, thinking that come tomorrow, I'll probably have a black eye. I only wish I had some sort of COOL reason for having one. However, after retelling my story to Sibling, (who started crying with laughter), I guess I don't need to come up with a better story; this one is funny enough.

Bottoms up

Color-coded vodka:
Polish (left) and Russian (right). Personally, I enjoyed my shot (and a half?) of Polish vodka. Yum. But I had to drive, so that was plenty for me.

what a whirlwind of two weeks

It's been a crazy two weeks - full of rehearsals culminating in 4 performances, the last of which (and the best) was this Sunday afternoon.

Followed by a crazy-ass cast party. Fun - and vodka - was had by all.

I'll try and get some pictures up.

das vdanya...

Week

This is a crazy week - it's tech week for Onegin, which means I drive to Fairfield and back every night after work (1 - 1.5 hours a leg). BUT, I have a fun carpool which helps. I'm just really tired.
I took a nap over lunch today. My boss is out of town, so I just spread out on her floor and crashed for 30 minutes. Strange, but somewhat restful.

I got to work this morning and realized I had forgotten to brush my teeth. It's just stuff like that happening...I know I'm really tired. Thankfully, one of my coworkers had some toothpaste, and I had an extra toothbrush in my drawer. Whew!

Anyways...I'm sure more and more funny things will happen as the week continues. Stay tuned for the overheard: backstage entries. I've some pretty good ones this round...

Faraway, So Close!

I spent the evening doing laundry. Not the most exciting Friday Night, but I've an insane 10 days coming up, and the laundry could wait no more.

Whilst laundering, I watched one of the better movies I've seen in a long time.

Based on the recommendation of a friend, I rented Wings of Desire and its sequel, Faraway, So Close!, by German director Wim Wenders. They tell the stories of angels walking amongst us everyday, and how two of them wish - and choose - to become human. (The American adaptation from a few years back, City of Angels, is but a pale reflection of the original films).

I watched Wings of Desire last week, and was blown away by its elegance, style and poignancy. Set in postwar Berlin in the autumn, half the film is black and white (the way the angels see the world) and the rest in color (how humans see the world). Berlin in and of itself becomes a character in its own right - a tragic, beautiful, and scarred character. I loved the film. Bruno Ganz (the main angel) has an amazing face capable of portraying the deepest emotion with just his eyes.

This evening, I decided to pop in Faraway, So Close. I think I enjoyed it even more than its predecessor. Again, set in Berlin - but this time just after the fall of the Wall. And, the film is not just strictly in German. It adds Italian, English, French and even Russian to the mix. This second film delves more deeply into the blindness and emptiness of humanity apropos the viewpoint and lack of understanding of heir angelic counterparts. There is also what I took to be a quasi-demonic character named Emit Flesti (read backward Time Itself), played brilliantly by Willem Defoe. And the importance - or lack thereof? - of time and how it's measured is one of the main themes of the film. The story starts off with a quote from the book of Matthew, which set the tone for the evening:

The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will by full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! Matthew 6:22-23

Followed by:

We (the angels) are not the message. We are the messengers and the message is love".

Thoughtful, provocative, bittersweet - and beautiful.

Spoctopus

Team Spoctopus coming in Third Place AND winning Best Small Team. Rock and Roll!!

Here is our glorious victory photo. Hopefully to be repeated this week!?

Google me this . . .

I can't figure out for the life of me why my new website does not pop up as a result when I do a search under my name.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm . . .

Stolen from AZ - hours of fun!!

Are you freaking kidding me?

. . . how the heck am I supposed to get any work done today, when I just found out that a friend of mine from high school is on American Idol...???!?!??! He's in the top 24!

Click here for his audition and acceptance to Hollywood.

Crap. I'm going to have to start watching American Idol on a regular basis. Or, at least start taping it . . .

that's amore

So I went to the grocery store directly after work today to do some shopping, and ran into a VERY busy place, indeed.

It was almost as busy as it is right before the Superbowl! Only, instead of guys walking out with cases of beer and chips, they were crouched over the card displays, roses and chocolates clutched in their arms; bottles of wine thrown in a basket with lobster and spices; balloons and teddy bears held unassumingly waiting in line.

I feel sorry for the poor guys that get off of work late - by the time they get to the store, there will be nothing left!

The whole sight made me chuckle :)

ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

So, I joined a great new small group through my church two weeks ago . . . and I loved it. Come to find out tonight that the leaders, K&C, are actually going to be moving, and no longer involved as of about April 1.
They are taking a year to travel (C has just retired) and figure out their next steps in life. I am super excited for them, albeit selfishly bummed, because I *reallly* was looking forward to getting to know them better.

oh well.

I hope the group keeps going, and I look forward to staying with it...

3-2-1 chilllll

I've been trying to "chill out" this year. Whatever that entails - I
guess, just making some time for myself and not running around like a
mad woman (or, at least after I run around like a mad woman, make sure
I have some chill time). It's hard to say NO...there are too many
things I want to do!

Anyways, I went to salsa class tonight for
the first time in about 3 or 4 months. It was *so* good to see Jaime!
He really is a dear!

I've been listening to a lot of Cesaria Evora lately. She has an amazing voice...kind of the aural equivalent of a molten, bittersweet, dark chocolate souffle . . . she sings traditional Fado (very chill) songs, as well as choro and samba. Anyways, I've just been digging her music over the last week. I might do a French-Portuguese language trade off with a couple people who want to learn French (and want to teach me Portuguese). I'm playing around with the idea. I would LOVE to learn some Portuguese, it's just a matter of scheduling at this point.

peace to the out...I'll leave you with some lyrics....

Beijo Roubado
(Words: Adelino Moreira
Interpreted by Cesaria Evora)

Dizem que beijo roubado
Embora seja de amor

É crime na terra,
No céu é pecado
Faz o homem
Criminoso e pecador

Para mim está tudo errado,
Beijo roubado tem mais calor

Quantos beijos
Eu ganhei do meu amor
Eu não contei,
nem ele contou

Mas nem um beijo foi mais beijo
Que o primeiro beijo
Que eu fingi negar
E ele roubou

(Lyrics gratefully found on this site)

Fergalicious . . .

If I hear Fergie singing anymore about her london bridge or any other geographic/historical landmark, I just might lose control ('just lose control'). I've had "bring sexy back" stuck in my head all day - pretty much in anticipation of going out the hip hop club I just got back from. And, I was not disappointed - mr. tiberlake did, indeed, bring sexy back, mulitiple times, throughout the course of the evening.

so, I went to this place called Suite one8one in pretty much in the tenderloin. I had reconnected with an old friend (V), and he invited me to come to one of his coworker's birthday parties there.

It's funny, because neither V nor I usually frequent these types of places. In fact, standing in line, we were both lamenting the fact that we *could* have been at the Tito Nieve, Grupo Niche, Monchy & Alexandra concert down at the Bill Graham Civic. At 33, and myself and the ripe old age of 27, V and I were definitely older than the many 21, 22 year olds living it up. We were pretty much cracking up a good chunk of the time we were there (note: his coworker was turning 23!).

I had managed to sign up for the guestlist online ahead of time (score!) so I didn't have a cover (read: cheap date!)-which was $20! yikes. Inside was a pretty cool decor which was tres ghetto fabulous. The dance floor was packed (we got a solid chuck of dance time in) but there were additional back rooms (still LOUD) with banks of couches. Sitting on the couches made for the best viewings of the "kids". I must admit though, that some of the music was realllly good. Old school hip hop and rock mashed up. Fun stuff. Or maybe I'm just old school...?

I was amused a lot of the time, but saddened by how many folks I saw literally falling down drunk. Even before midnight! It was crazy! I managed one (1!) beer and some water. Had I fallen, it would have been of my own clutzy accord. Thankfully, I did not. hahaha.

All in all...I'm glad I went! I mean, there is NO WAY I would have gone other than to meet V there. Not my (or his) scene. But it was nice to reconnect, dance a little, cut loose and just have some fun. Added bonus: I shall probably sleep very well tonight.

yay.

Maybe next time I can hit up the salsa concert...

here's your sign

Sleep is a good thing. It's easy to notice when you've not gotten enough. I am feeling the effects to today of a lack of sleep. Here are a couple of my bloopers from today:

-I left the fax machine unplugged from yesterday (long story), thus making my boss crazy trying to send a fax to three different numbers;

-I replyed to the wrong coworker in an email . . . which could have been very bad, but thankfully I had restricted my comments to "HAHAH I forgot about the end…with colin powell and oj…etc…", thus prompting the aforementioned boss to ask me, "I didn't get the joke, what's so funny?"

The problem is, I cannot go to sleep. Last night was the worst this week. I tried to go to bed early (meaning 11pm), and I had gone to the gym, taken a bath with relaxing bath salts AND had my lavendar tea. As soon as I lay down, I started feeling all panicky again. ARGH.

The good news is, the shrink says I am okay...really, he's like "I don't need to see you again, unless things get to the point where you are incapacitated".

I'm starting to wonder. I *do* have some Ativan I can - and I guess, should - take when I get another attack. I have just been hesitant to do so.