Monthly Archives: February 2012

goodness, life, nerd

Burfdaaaah!

the syrup was warm

Yesterday was my birthday, and it was fantastic.  It really started Saturday, when I woke up and made cinnamon rolls for the apartment.  Friends came over to eat dinner at Asaya, then hung around to play HeroQuest (I’m the DM!  So fun!).  Afterward, I opened presents!  Diminutive Roommate got me edible things (four packages of various flavors of ramen, some strawberry flavored Japanese chocolates, and mango and green tea flavored mochi), and Teacher Roommate gave me a card worth a custom-designed teapot!  So cool!  I can’t wait to figure out what I want.

Yesterday, I woke up and had the intense desire to watch Pride & Prejudice (with Judy Dench).  Is that what happens to females when we hit 28?  Sudden inexplicable cravings for Jane Austen?

Boyfriend took me to get blueberry ricotta pancakes at BLD for breakfast!  We had to wait about a half-hour for our table, so we took a walk.  Some people were moving out of their house near where we parked, so I poked through the boxes next to the trash cans on the sidewalk, and found some Goosebumps books!  I burned through dozens of these around age ten.  It felt like my brain literally gained sustenance from reading them.  We also found, amid the neglected R. L. Stine and old trophies, a choose-your-own-adventure book (ninja theme!), which I read to Boyfriend.  One of the characters was really chatty and annoying, so we decided that we should turn evil and kill her the first chance we got.  And we did.  The End.

classic

We headed over to Treehouse Friend’s place to play Quarriors, a simple but fun dice-building game that we haven’t played in a really long time.  He and his girlfriend, Ballerina Friend, were going out on a double-date with some other friends after that, so we had to jet.  Dinner was at Tagine with my folks and Sister and Boyfriend, which is where we go every year for my birthday because it’s delicious, and too expensive to do more than once per year.

Once home, it was time to depart for ice skating!  We went to the Culver Ice Rink on Sawtelle, where I held Boyfriend’s hand and went backwards a bunch while Boyfriend showed enormous improvement.  Then we went home and hung out with friends, and I had a margarita.  Overall, an excellent birthday weekend.

that shoe looks familiar...

Standard
goodness, life

It’s happening

cat = me. villain = also me.

I just asked for the letters of recommendation I need to apply to graduate school.  They said yes, and the rest of my application is done.  It’s happening.  I’m applying to grad school.  Why didn’t I do this years ago?  I really am my own worst enemy.  I’m kinda just sitting at my desk, crying quietly, now.  I’m so happy I’m finally moving toward a goal that I’ve been avoiding for at least three years.  This is what I want: a sense of progress, to study what fascinates me, to do what I love.

I’ve been a little ashamed of myself every day since I realized I should have applied to grad school long ago.  Every time I sat down and thought, “Things are pretty great right now,” there was that little voice in the back of my head that added, “…but if only I were in grad school.”  Like a mist that has hidden the vivid colors my day-to-day life from view, my happiness has been overshadowed by a sense of shame; I knew I was holding myself back.  There was no outside force.  Sure, I didn’t have anyone I could ask for a letter of recommendation at the time, but I could have re-forged bonds with professors in the time it has taken me to get my shit together and apply.

And now it’s happening, and I am proud.

Standard
goodness, life

Then I peed myself

the classic

Sister and I had a book of scary stories growing up, and I’m starting to wonder why we were allowed to read them/look at the illustrations.  Even now, the drawings are… just horrifying.  How was this for children?!  It was so thoroughly creepy that I got the feeling that it was maybe too scary even for some adults, which made me feel brave.

It was Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz, illustrated by Stephen Gammell, and it fucked me up in the head as a kid.  It took guts to open this book.  I found it on sale at a Barnes & Noble a couple years ago, and bought a copy for myself, and one for Sister.  Classic!

omfg RUN

OMG WTF they changed the art in the 30th anniversary edition!  NOT COOL.  The art is what I remember most!  It was so thoroughly tweaked.  SHAME.

Standard
goodness

Why yes, my shoes are kinda ridiculous. Why do you ask?

I have a favorite pair of shoes right now that get some attention when I wear them out, because if a sherpa and a clown had a baby, these are what that baby would wear on its huge feet.

The wide toe is essential, and super comfy; I wear these all the time when I’m not at Office Job.  They’re made by Big Buddha, who apparently make shoes specifically for people who refuse to wear uncomfortable shoes.  Win!

Standard
goodness, life

Overturned

Proposition 8 was overturned this morning.  Next hurdle: U. S. Supreme Court.

Standard
goodness, life

Burfdaaaah!!

if only valentine's day took place some other month...

It’s mah burfdah month!  February is the best (after October for obvious reasons).

Plans for this month:
Go to cardio every Tuesday– It’s time to get fucking toned.  I was feeling pretty great when I did cardio on a regular basis about a year ago.  It’s time to get super sexy again.
Get blueberry pancakes– BLD has the best blueberry pancakes!  If I can get the day off from Karate Job (they owe me!), it’s gonna happen.
Go ice skating!– I love ice skating, and I don’t have any friends who share this passion (Los Angeles doesn’t get much snow).  Still, I’ll go alone if I have to!
Nap– I have trouble napping, but for one reason or another, I haven’t been able to sleep in for over a month.  Yesterday, Boyfriend’s phone went off, and I was cranky all morning.
Read– I haven’t had much time to read on my Kindle (walks to and from work and the car don’t really count).  Lovecraft awaits!
Take a shot of Patron– I don’t drink much at all, but am a fan of tequila.  The Patron on the counter is calling to me.  Limes, watch out; I’m coming for you.
Watch Call of Cthulhu– It’s a classic!  I can’t believe I haven’t seen it.  And now that I have the story, I’ll have to read it first!

Standard
goodness

Like ‘Planet of the Apes,’ but cuter

BWAHAHAHA

Gorillas kinda scare me.  And fascinate me.  I kinda want to be one.  They’re crazy-strong and they have really neat faces that mostly resemble grumpy old people.  What’s not to like?

Plus, they smile!  Which indicates that humans aren’t the only animals who do that as a pure reaction to something making them happy (as opposed to a facial cue to send a message to the animals around them).  How cool is that?  Happy gorillas.  Not just content because they just had a good mango, but honestly delighted to the point of not being able to control their facial expressions.  Which is fantastic.

Standard
goodness, nerd

Rapidly falling in Lovecraft

creepy genius

I bought the entire collection of H. P. Lovecraft’s stories (for a dollar!) on my Kindle Touch, and… I’m in love.  This man’s writing style is everything I crave when I pick up a book: damned souls pulled in by seductive haunts and eerie landscapes, written in the turn-of-the-century style that takes its time to set the mood and make me feel actual fear for the main characters.  What was frightening in 1900 is frightening now.  No hyper-clever plot twist needed, just a draining sense of safety.  Like a shadow creeping with unnatural quickness, like the slow approach of distant drums, a cloak is cast over my shoulders as I read, bringing a chill draft and a musty scent of old lunacy.

I just can’t seem to get enough of it.  His writing is more than descriptive, it’s airtight.  I hope others in my generation will allow their curiosity to take hold, and take the time to read his stories (instead of just alluding to them endlessly).

Standard