Macgyver

Shopping List:

Two nails
One spool fish line
One sheet of sand paper
One box of 100 sandwich bags
One #2 Exacto knife
2 lbs bananas
8 light switch plates

for a good poo

Every tried Amaranth?

No, it's not some fancy European drink - you're thinking of something else.

Amaranth is some kind of healthy grain with a whole heck of a lot of fiber and the uncanny ability to move through you in about the amount of time it takes to finish a bowl of Amaranth cereal.

No joke.

Moon Gifts

I just love giving myself Moon gifts.

This morning I slept in till 7am. That probably doesn't seem like sleeping in, but I assure you it is. Going to bed at 10pm, I wake naturally around 5am (especially when the upstairs neighbor gets phone calls at this hour, calls for a cab and starts banging his drawers and doors all over the place as he rushes around).

After DB left for work (he loves his new jobby job!), I looked at one of the paintings I've been working on and headed to the beach for inspiration.

I just love climbing down the sandy-dirt path at the end of our street! There are big rocks below that help keep the water from eroding the shore, and as I was walking north, I noticed a beautiful rock sculpture had been built atop one of the boulders. I stopped to admire the gift that someone left. Clearly a magical place, I decided this sculpture was an intricate doorway and home for the faeries. (Click to read more about this experience.)

After a relaxing and inspiring morning at the cliffs, I came home for a long luxurious shower. I just bought all kinds of great stuff Saturday and decided it was the perfect day for a special home-spa. So, I scrubbed and exfoliated and took my sweet time in the shower. Afterwards I lotioned up with my new special lotion and sat around for a bit feeling fantastic.

What a wonderful morning of gifts!

Next gift - a peanutbutter and jelly sandwich.

Ships are coming in

A local shop here in OB has agreed to carry my light switch plates! YAY me! She'd also like me to make some things for the holiday season.

Another local store has expressed interest in my ceramics. I need to bring them samples so they can get a better idea of if they'd fit with their store. I think they will :)

Plus, there is an adult ed ceramic studio in San Diego that is free for grown-ups to use... Since I'm 30 years old now, I've designated myself an official grown-up. YAY!

I've also started a new series of paintings which I think you'll enjoy.
I'll post photos as soon as I get a digital camera ;)

And I'm meeting with someone next week about facilitating self-discovery workshops!

Life is good.

PS. I just ate some ice cream.

yahtzee addicts

One of the first purchases Daniel and I made was a set of 5 die which came with 2 decks of horribly manufactured cards.

After several dozen or so games of Bilge, we got bored and decided to figure out how to play Yahtzee.

We found a decent set of rules and strategies and I promptly set out to make a scorecard using Excel.

After a few hundred games over the course of a week we started to get bored. How could we spice it up a bit... then it occurred to us - what about Triple Yahtzee???

Click to view a scorecard from a recent game.

Click to download your own auto-calculating Yahtzee scorecard complete with three single game sheets, three Triple Yahtzee sheet, and cell comments.

disconnect

disconnect, n

a lack of connection

woke up a good 30 minutes early today, around 6am. it's kind of nice to wake early and just lay there thinking and relaxing before starting your day.

anyway, i showered, dressed, ate and gathered up my things. and as i was heading out the door at 7:21am (a whole 2 minutes early) i realized i didn't have my keys. i had to have my keys to get into the apartment b/c today is db's first day at work and he'll be home half an hour or more after me.

i rushed around frantically seeking those keys... for about ten seconds too long.

db tossed me his keys and said he'd try to find mine. i literally ran out the door, headed for the bus stop.

half way there, i wave and yell "nooooooo!" as i see the bus zip right by my stop. it didn't bother stopping at my stop b/c no one was there waiting - especially not me.

up ahead i can see folks are waiting at the next stop, so i keep running. i run a block and a half at full speed in my easySpirit shoes, grey slacks and black ann taylor sweater knowing i can catch that damn bus.

see, i have to catch this bus b/c the next one doesn't leave for more than half an hour. it connects with the other bus i need which gets me to my temp job exactly 10 minutes before i have to be there, at work.

a block away from the bus, still time to catch it, it dawns on me...
i don't have my bus pass. i didn't even pack my wallet.

i stop running. absolutely furious with myself i turn and begin the two block walk home.

at home, i enlist db in the key and now wallet search. has it all been stolen? why wasn't it with my other things? db finds my wallet in yesterday's shorts. i still can't find my damn keys.

finally i find them hiding under a sheet of paper against the wall. tricky little buggers, i almost never found them. and it's time to start my 4 mile walk to work. ive got an hour to get there.

now, on this walk i have to pass my bus stop. so, as im passing i look back, hopefully. it's a minor miracle. a bus pulls around the corner. it's not my bus, but it's a bus and it can get me to the Trolly at Old Town which can get me downtown. i hop on and start calculating.

if i can get on a Trolly right away and if the Trolly leaves by 8am, i should be able to make it to Little Italy by the time my connecting bus would be picking me up downtown on 3rd. i might have just enough time to catch it at 1st - and i definitely can catch it if it's running late (which it never does).

the bus connects perfectly with the Trolly which leaves exactly at 8am. i get off the Trolly at the Little Italy stop and start walking toward 1st. i had forgotten that it's several blocks to 1st... so i walk faster.

two blocks from 1st i see my bus drive through the intersection. i glance at the time - 8:11am. it's exactly on time.

damn! okay, okay. they go by about every 15mins... there might be another. i just need to get to the stop, check the schedule and figure it out from there.

the time table at the bus stop is ridiculous. my bus comes every few minutes, but this is the last stop for half of them and only some of them will keep going to where i need to go. the schedule gives the impression that most skip this stop altogether. where on earth do they pick people up if they skip this stop?

i decide to "play it safe" and walk to my usual connection location - about 8 or 9 blocks in the opposite direction that i am trying to go. i pass a few stops, no bus, i keep walking. i see my bus turn the corner and come toward me... im directly between two stops, 2 blocks in either direction - i can't make it. *!%#@.

i keep walking. i should still make it to my usual connection location by the time the 8:31am arrives. meanwhile, i call my temp agency to let them know that due to complete incompetence and insanity im running a bit behind.

i arrive at my regular connection spot at 8:29am, and i wait as i sweat profusely from all the running about. time ticks on... and on... and on... dear god, please tell me the bus was not early and i missed it.

8:38am rolls around, as does the bus. thank you thank you thank you.

best and worst #3

the best thing about going to the beach every day is playing the water and jumping through waves - both of which are excellent exercise.

the worst thing about going to the beach is how your lips start to feel like you've eaten a few too many handfulls of sunflower seeds.

friday finds

so, friday finds aren't usually my thing, but while temping, i have a bit of extra freetime on my hands and tend to run into the strangest things. so, here is what will hopefully be my only friday finds ever.

Build your own house for under $5000, using "cob" (not the thing in the center of your corn). Cob building is the latest in organic house building. These are pretty cool houses, too. Don't forget to click on the photo section.

Scrabbleshots: photos of scrabble boards, post-game - i have to get in on this.

i hate msn.com, but thats where the browser opens up to. chocolate virgin mary?

Did you know that Google has a built in calculator? You can just enter an equation or question into the Google bar (such as 5*3+1, or "How many ounces in a pint?") and get an answer. How cool is that?

How powerful are your intentions? Click here to manifest.

And have you seen this new blog? It belongs to Mahmood Ahmadinejad, president of Iran. Apparently, he just started it last Friday and lovingly refers to America as "Great Satan USA"... heehee. Don't forget to click the American Flag if you don't know Arabic, French or Farsi.

another brush with fame

I'm on bus 923 (Ocean Beach to Airport to Harbor to Downtown) and as we approach the harbor I see tons of reporters and cameras perched along a fence inside of which there are a dozen peace officers with their cars. All eyes are on the water, so I look leftward and see half a dozen police boats lined up in the harbor, with strobing blue and red lights.

What the hell is going on? Must be something.

Deciding today is the day I take a new route to make a shorter commute, I get off at the next stop. Above there are helicopters over the harbor. Up ahead there is a stream of peace officers on motorcycles lining the street. I push my cross walk button and another stream of motorcycled officers come up to the crosswalk, waving me through before driving through the red light themselves.

Something's definitely going on.

I arrive at my temp job, get set up for the morning and promptly check the San Diego Union Tribune to see if there is any information. The only thing I see is something about an indictment of a drug cartel leader caught off the Baja peninsula. But it doesn't say anything about today or the San Diego harbor.

An hour later I check the Union Tribune again:

Coast Guard delivers Arellano Felix to San Diego

UNION-TRIBUNE BREAKING NEWS TEAM

8:19 a.m. August 17, 2006

SAN DIEGO - Drug cartel leader Javier Arellano Felix arrived Thursday morning in San Diego to face drug conspiracy charges a day after his arrest off the Baja California coast was announced.

Arellano was brought into San Diego Bay aboard a U.S. Coast Guard cutter just after 8 a.m. and taken to the Coast Guard base on Harbor Drive near the Lindbergh Field escorted by federal authorities. They were then to take him downtown San Diego's federal courthouse to begin his legal proceedings.

* * *

Lunch time:
I head over to Balboa Park to take in some nature on my lunch break. I find movie-star trailers everywhere, including food trucks and staff.

What's going on here?

I pay little attention and enjoy a phone call with DB. Then I notice a flashy dressed woman on the lawn talking with some young folks, (crew members?). She wears a bright shirt and jeans, face in full make-up and blonde hair in big curlers.

Is that Morgan Fairchild?

I continue my conversation and walk around the park. As I return to the area again, the woman is nearer the sidewalk I'm walking along. I hear her voice.

My God! It IS Morgan Fairchild!

After lunch I return to search the web. What is being filmed in San Diego right now and is Morgan Fairchild in it? IMDB.com and the San Diego Film Commission turn up little helpful info. Maybe some day, I will know.

great day for treats

chinese food for lunch today.
though chinese lunch may not usually make it into an entry, it turns out i havent had chinese food in 3 or 4 months.

perhaps you're thinking "so what! i havent had chinese food in years."
well, yay for you. we're not talking about you, we're talking about me. and i happen to love chinese food with a passion surpassed only by my passion for DimSum (also chinese).

lifetime observations:
east coast chinese food tends to be far more authentic than west coast chinese food (unless im mistaking regional differences for lack of authenticity). this makes it slightly less amazing to be on the west coast after having dined on east coast fare for so long.

being from the west coast, however, nostalgia blooms when i sit down in a dark little place to find a chinese horoscope placemat to remind me that the rat and monkey are my best chances at love. a little smile crawls across my lips as i remember many childhood discussions of compatibility and traits. i feel a bit more confident remembering im a dragon.

although im on the west coast now, the lack of chinese food in the last few months allows me to wallow in gratitude for the yummies i eat.

the hot and sour soup - phenomenal. the white rice matched my expectations. the menu was full of white-people favorites like sweet and sour chicken, orange chicken, lemon chicken, etc. yummy, but not nearly as amazing as the fare back home (boston).

i miss chinese broccoli, peapod stems, and stir-fried chinese watercress. i miss the deep fried bean curd squares with shrimp on top. i miss my favorite waiter, Philip, from Grand Chau Chow in Boston. and i terribly miss tofu qua (pronounced something like "dofu hua").

today's fortune: "Do not make financial decisions on frantic Fridays."
i think i like east coast fortunes better, too.

btw: db is a rat.

Email Conversation #1

Blast me. I made a pbj sandwich and promptly left it on the counter. Would you be so kind as to eat it for me?
Love,
Amy

I will eat it up nicely. Make sure you turn this into a positive event and get something yummy... maybe the universe wants you to treat yourself? yes.
Love,
Daniel

You are very right. I shall have a special treaty lunch in honor of the Universe.
Love,
Amy

best and worst #8

the best thing about going to the beach every day is it's free and it's fun!

the worst thing about going to the beach every day is how much you spend on sunscreen.

Most important question of all time

Where did the word cartoon come from?

Baffled when I woke up this morning, I thought an answer might be found by breaking it down into car and toon. But this gives absolutely no clue. I know what a car is, and it's not related to "cartoons". But toon has no meaning or value in our language pre-cartoon.

The next logical step... Wikipedia.

Cartoon is derived from the Italian, "cartone" which means "big paper" and is used for making large scale drawings as a study for a painting or tapestry... and probably even sculptures.

Huh. Makes sense.

Pelikenesis

1. pe-li-ki-ne-sis
2. pell-ih-kin-ee-sis

noun

the mental ability to move Pelicans without the use of physical force.

best and worst #5

the best thing about going to the beach every day is pretending to be a superhero and flying over the waves.

the worst thing about going to the beach every day is losing your nose ring in the pacific ocean - especially when you left your spare on the east coast.

best and worst #12

the best thing about going to the beach every day is getting a fantastic tan.

the worst thing about going to the beach every day is how much seaweed and sand you tend to bring home.

pretty pink bike

walking past a surf shop, there are half a dozen matching rental bikes on the sidewalk, red and pink.

db squeals: "Oooooh, I want the pink one!"

two steps later he asks - perhaps slightly embarrassed, "Did I just say that out loud?"