One year in 40 seconds from Eirik Solheim on Vimeo.
Some fine piktures of my holigay in Corpitos Buey:
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| Last Import |
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Happy Almost New Year
1 Year in 40 seconds. This is how it's starting to feel in my life.
One year in 40 seconds from Eirik Solheim on Vimeo.
Some fine piktures of my holigay in Corpitos Buey:
One year in 40 seconds from Eirik Solheim on Vimeo.
Some fine piktures of my holigay in Corpitos Buey:
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Happy Christmas!
Bowie et Crosby:
Not much to say today...family, friends, food, spirits. Can't ask for much more. Got to meet my first "niece" Ellie today. My old friend Laura had a baby almost 5 months ago and we got to meet her for the first time today. She is precious, and it just kind of blows my mind that this person came out of this other person who I grew up with. She's my second close friend to have a baby and I hope to be a part of her life as much as I can. Kinda makes me sad that I'm so far away in California, but maybe I can be the fun California aunt. I'm okay with that.
I must go continue to bake. Happy Christmas little friends!
Not much to say today...family, friends, food, spirits. Can't ask for much more. Got to meet my first "niece" Ellie today. My old friend Laura had a baby almost 5 months ago and we got to meet her for the first time today. She is precious, and it just kind of blows my mind that this person came out of this other person who I grew up with. She's my second close friend to have a baby and I hope to be a part of her life as much as I can. Kinda makes me sad that I'm so far away in California, but maybe I can be the fun California aunt. I'm okay with that.
I must go continue to bake. Happy Christmas little friends!
Monday, December 22, 2008
Backin Olden Town
Well, I'm back in ye olde town of Corpus Christi, or as we like to say here, "Corpitos." I've been here since Friday and it feels really good. Very comfortable, like an old shoe, that's not too worm out but fits perfectly.
Got to see my brother's new house and it's pretty awesometown. So proud of him, he and my mother re-vamped the place and it's very comfortable and stylish, without losing masculinity or becoming to bachelor pad-like. No beer signs or Sports team posters. Big bro is growing up.
And so am I apparently. 28 feels...good. I'm living in California like I've always wanted to, I've got a great family, wonderful friends, and a kick ass dog named Paul Newman. Lots to be thankful for this holiday season. Sadly, I am a broke joker so Christmas coming from me this year is sparse. I feel really bad, but I'm also moved to let the ones who would normally be getting the gifts that I love them more than any gift could ever signify. I love buying things for people, especially things that I've searched for and I think that they really might like or enjoy. Not this year though. ;-) It's looking like a baked goods and burned cd's kind of year.
Here are some mug shot Santa's for you to enjoy. Promise will write more tomorrow, it's 4:30, and I should probably go to bed and attempt to get my "oh so screwed" sleep schedule back to somewhat normal.
Got to see my brother's new house and it's pretty awesometown. So proud of him, he and my mother re-vamped the place and it's very comfortable and stylish, without losing masculinity or becoming to bachelor pad-like. No beer signs or Sports team posters. Big bro is growing up.
And so am I apparently. 28 feels...good. I'm living in California like I've always wanted to, I've got a great family, wonderful friends, and a kick ass dog named Paul Newman. Lots to be thankful for this holiday season. Sadly, I am a broke joker so Christmas coming from me this year is sparse. I feel really bad, but I'm also moved to let the ones who would normally be getting the gifts that I love them more than any gift could ever signify. I love buying things for people, especially things that I've searched for and I think that they really might like or enjoy. Not this year though. ;-) It's looking like a baked goods and burned cd's kind of year.
Here are some mug shot Santa's for you to enjoy. Promise will write more tomorrow, it's 4:30, and I should probably go to bed and attempt to get my "oh so screwed" sleep schedule back to somewhat normal.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Instant Karma's Gonna Get You
So I've been sick (still) which doesn't excuse me from posting, but I fear my head has been so foggy an already silly bordering on boring blog might have been even more pointless if I would have. So, I went and got some meds today and am feeling better, in combo with the merlot, so I'm going to write today what I wanted to write yesterday.
So yesterday marked the 28th anniversary of John Lennon's death. John Lennon, former Beatle, musician, poet, social activist and hero of mine and many others. His untimely death occurred 9 days before I was born, as you probably know at the hands of Mark David Chapman, outside of the Dakota Building, his residence in New York at the time.
As long as I can remember I've had a fascination and reverence for Mr. Lennon, partly because I loved the Beatles music, his voice, and his seeming rebellion against the popularity of the Beatles and his public image. There is a large part of my personality that has a problem with authority has always identified with his rebellious sensibilities. If you read interviews and watch the Dick Cavitt shows that John and Yoko frequented, you can really see that sharp cutting wit and smart-ass side of him that really appeals to me for some reason. Bob Dylan had it too, clearly displayed in the Don't Look Back Days, however his sarcasm and wit had too much of a self-involved tone, whereas John's was sprinkled with Brit charm and just enough self-deprecation to make it easier to identify with.
I used to think when I was a little girl, that when he died there on December 8th, 1980, 9 days before I was born that a little bit of Mr. Lennon's soul was floating around in some sort of nether world and ended up re-incarnating into little Laura Yonker. Of course I don't think that now, but it always makes me giggle because I truly did believe that for a while. I guess maybe I watched too much MTV or listened ot too much Plastic Ono Band as a 9 year old, so in that context, it makes more sense.
When it concerns John's social activism, I think the man was a genius. Make peace an advertising campaign. Speak to the people the way that they're used to being spoken to. By billboard, commercial, campaign. He likened he and Yoko's strategy to that of a politician's. Sell peace as if it's in a race against war. What is the opposing product? Those who do not want peace, those who are working to promote war. It's simple, and it may be silly to some, but I think in that day in age, it was a very forward-thinking strategy. A worthy strategy. One of the points that John touched on in an interview that I think is so poignant, maybe even more so now is the fact that people separate government from themselves, giving it patriarchal and differential qualities. We depend on government (the all-knowing father) to fix things, and then when things go wrong, spend time wondering why it's failed us. When the whole time we need to realize that we ARE the government, that we cannot depend on the government when things are going right and then wonder why things went wrong. I think I'm getting off on a tangent here, but just another reason why I have a deep respect and admiration for a one mister J. Lennon.
Here is a nice piece from the Dick Cavitt show, the first appearance of many that followed by John and Yoko after the Beatles decided to separate.
And another thing! I think that Yoko really got a bad wrap. I think that Yoko was a fairly interesting avant-garde artist in her own right before becoming Mrs. John Lennon. I feel that people were fast to scapegoat her when it came to the Beatles demise. However it happened, I don't feel that it is right to blame her as the sole factor in that outcome. I always sort of had that hunch about Yoko, and had the opportunity to see an art exhibit of hers at the San Francisco Modern with my parents back in 2002, where much of her art was participatory and accessible to everyone. I don't know what the art community's opinion was on the exhibit but I found it highly enjoyable, accessible, and positive. I commend Yoko for her efforts and respect her as an artist.
As a silly side note, my friend Sophie and I (I miss you terribly Sophie, by the way) made t-shirts in homage to Mrs. Ono last year. They proudly read "I heart Yoko," and were a product of a conversation Sophie and had in regards to our mutual respect for the Yoko as an artist. Sophie and I could see why John was attracted to her.
Here is another fun little vid from Mrs. Ono:
Yoko Ono: Onochord from Yoko Ono on Vimeo.
So yesterday marked the 28th anniversary of John Lennon's death. John Lennon, former Beatle, musician, poet, social activist and hero of mine and many others. His untimely death occurred 9 days before I was born, as you probably know at the hands of Mark David Chapman, outside of the Dakota Building, his residence in New York at the time.
As long as I can remember I've had a fascination and reverence for Mr. Lennon, partly because I loved the Beatles music, his voice, and his seeming rebellion against the popularity of the Beatles and his public image. There is a large part of my personality that has a problem with authority has always identified with his rebellious sensibilities. If you read interviews and watch the Dick Cavitt shows that John and Yoko frequented, you can really see that sharp cutting wit and smart-ass side of him that really appeals to me for some reason. Bob Dylan had it too, clearly displayed in the Don't Look Back Days, however his sarcasm and wit had too much of a self-involved tone, whereas John's was sprinkled with Brit charm and just enough self-deprecation to make it easier to identify with.
I used to think when I was a little girl, that when he died there on December 8th, 1980, 9 days before I was born that a little bit of Mr. Lennon's soul was floating around in some sort of nether world and ended up re-incarnating into little Laura Yonker. Of course I don't think that now, but it always makes me giggle because I truly did believe that for a while. I guess maybe I watched too much MTV or listened ot too much Plastic Ono Band as a 9 year old, so in that context, it makes more sense.
When it concerns John's social activism, I think the man was a genius. Make peace an advertising campaign. Speak to the people the way that they're used to being spoken to. By billboard, commercial, campaign. He likened he and Yoko's strategy to that of a politician's. Sell peace as if it's in a race against war. What is the opposing product? Those who do not want peace, those who are working to promote war. It's simple, and it may be silly to some, but I think in that day in age, it was a very forward-thinking strategy. A worthy strategy. One of the points that John touched on in an interview that I think is so poignant, maybe even more so now is the fact that people separate government from themselves, giving it patriarchal and differential qualities. We depend on government (the all-knowing father) to fix things, and then when things go wrong, spend time wondering why it's failed us. When the whole time we need to realize that we ARE the government, that we cannot depend on the government when things are going right and then wonder why things went wrong. I think I'm getting off on a tangent here, but just another reason why I have a deep respect and admiration for a one mister J. Lennon.
Here is a nice piece from the Dick Cavitt show, the first appearance of many that followed by John and Yoko after the Beatles decided to separate.
And another thing! I think that Yoko really got a bad wrap. I think that Yoko was a fairly interesting avant-garde artist in her own right before becoming Mrs. John Lennon. I feel that people were fast to scapegoat her when it came to the Beatles demise. However it happened, I don't feel that it is right to blame her as the sole factor in that outcome. I always sort of had that hunch about Yoko, and had the opportunity to see an art exhibit of hers at the San Francisco Modern with my parents back in 2002, where much of her art was participatory and accessible to everyone. I don't know what the art community's opinion was on the exhibit but I found it highly enjoyable, accessible, and positive. I commend Yoko for her efforts and respect her as an artist.
As a silly side note, my friend Sophie and I (I miss you terribly Sophie, by the way) made t-shirts in homage to Mrs. Ono last year. They proudly read "I heart Yoko," and were a product of a conversation Sophie and had in regards to our mutual respect for the Yoko as an artist. Sophie and I could see why John was attracted to her.
Here is another fun little vid from Mrs. Ono:
Yoko Ono: Onochord from Yoko Ono on Vimeo.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Oh Shit I'm a Butter Head...
I give to you, the Indian Nipple Song. Thanks Clayton.
First, let me say that. And now, moving on. I start work tomorrow! Hooray. I was beginning to get pretty restless. Unemployment isn't all it's wrapped up to be if you spend all of your time looking for jobs. Perhaps if my time off work were fully funded I could have enjoyed it more, but whatever, I'm just grateful to have a job. I am again, a waitress. I thought maybe I would never do this again, but here I am, and it's OK. It's going to be a much different experience than my last one as a server in a restaurant. This is a bit more upscale, and I make 4 times the hourly rate than I ever did in Texas. The people seem nice there, and it will be fun to have to learn more about food and wine. Ain't nothin' wrong wit dat! I will meet people, and I'll still have the flexibility to go on interviews during the day, which is good.
You can check it out here:
http://www.hillstone.com/#/restaurants/gulfstream/
I thought it was a good sign that the name of the place is Gulfstream, which also happens to be the name of me da's company. It's nice name, and I hope it's a nice place that gives me nice money. Isn't that nice?
I've been sick the last few days so I haven't written much. I'm having a spurt right now but I fear that it is due to the daytime cold meds that I'm partaking in. Cold meds weeeeeeeeeeeeee.
Nasa's Photo of the day for yous:
My Prison Bitch Name is apparently: Butt Slammer.
First, let me say that. And now, moving on. I start work tomorrow! Hooray. I was beginning to get pretty restless. Unemployment isn't all it's wrapped up to be if you spend all of your time looking for jobs. Perhaps if my time off work were fully funded I could have enjoyed it more, but whatever, I'm just grateful to have a job. I am again, a waitress. I thought maybe I would never do this again, but here I am, and it's OK. It's going to be a much different experience than my last one as a server in a restaurant. This is a bit more upscale, and I make 4 times the hourly rate than I ever did in Texas. The people seem nice there, and it will be fun to have to learn more about food and wine. Ain't nothin' wrong wit dat! I will meet people, and I'll still have the flexibility to go on interviews during the day, which is good.
You can check it out here:
http://www.hillstone.com/#/restaurants/gulfstream/
I thought it was a good sign that the name of the place is Gulfstream, which also happens to be the name of me da's company. It's nice name, and I hope it's a nice place that gives me nice money. Isn't that nice?
I've been sick the last few days so I haven't written much. I'm having a spurt right now but I fear that it is due to the daytime cold meds that I'm partaking in. Cold meds weeeeeeeeeeeeee.
Nasa's Photo of the day for yous:
My Prison Bitch Name is apparently: Butt Slammer.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Cough Cough
I am sick. And lazy for to write lots of words today. And so I give you this. Now go eat your sausage. I'm going to take some Theraflu and I'm out.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Boom Goes the Endeavor!
So I went to lunch with a friend in Los Angeles yesterday and had quite the memorable omlet. My friend Ellie and I were sitting there enjoying some good conversation and breakfast when all of a sudden we heard the loudest BOOM! My hair blew a little bit back from a gust of air and the windows and the ground shook. Everyone at the little cafe http://www.kingsroadcafe.com/ just sat there in shock. No one said a word for about 10 seconds and the hair on the back of my neck stood up. My first assumption was that it was an earthquake. Never having been through one I have no idea what they feel and sound like. Everyone around us started commenting about the fact that it was NOT and earthquake but a sonic boom. What?!? A sonic boom? What the hell causes a sonic boom? I thought we were re-enacting a scene from Independence Day. My first thought when I saw it happen was, "Oh great, move to the big city and now L.A. gets bombed, great timing Laura."
Everyone around us quickly got on their phones to get to the bottom of what just happened. Slightly shaken, we continued our breakfast and slowly normalized after the big boom. Ellie and I said our goodbyes, and on the way home, I got a text from her that explained the situation. Apparently the space shuttle Endeavor had to make an emergency landing at the Edwards Air Force Base and the boom we heard and felt was the shuttle re-entering the atmosphere. Craziness. Apparently the weather in Florida at Cape Canaveral was stormy, so they decided to re-route the landing here.
Quite the rush of adrenaline for a Sunday afternoon.
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/launch/index.html
Everyone around us quickly got on their phones to get to the bottom of what just happened. Slightly shaken, we continued our breakfast and slowly normalized after the big boom. Ellie and I said our goodbyes, and on the way home, I got a text from her that explained the situation. Apparently the space shuttle Endeavor had to make an emergency landing at the Edwards Air Force Base and the boom we heard and felt was the shuttle re-entering the atmosphere. Craziness. Apparently the weather in Florida at Cape Canaveral was stormy, so they decided to re-route the landing here.
Quite the rush of adrenaline for a Sunday afternoon.
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/launch/index.html
Sunday, November 30, 2008
And Another Thing...
This makes me sick:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081129/ap_on_re_us/wal_mart_death
Dirty American Consumerism personified in a rabid bargain-hunting mob of shoppers. They even fought with the paramedics who were trying to help revive the man and save his life. Sick Sick Sick. Is this what we've come to?
Trampled to death for Black Friday savings.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081129/ap_on_re_us/wal_mart_death
Dirty American Consumerism personified in a rabid bargain-hunting mob of shoppers. They even fought with the paramedics who were trying to help revive the man and save his life. Sick Sick Sick. Is this what we've come to?
Trampled to death for Black Friday savings.
Schmanksgiving
I've not written for a few days, I guess because of the holidays, been busy, lagging energy due to L-Tryptophan. Thanksgiving was very lovely. This is the second year I've ever spent Thanksgiving with friends and I had a great time. It would have been nice to be at home with the family, but it was a great new group of friends to be with on the day of thanks.
Johnette and I started out the day at 6 AM (oy) and met her trainer on the beach for a special Thanksgiving session. We ran along the coastline in the early morning and boy am I glad I got my keester out of bed because it was well worth it. The waves were really clean and fairly large and saw a huge crowd of surfers at a spot called The Cliffs. We ran past the cliffs to the dog beach (dogs are only allowed on certain beaches here) and all the way to Bolsa Chica, which is almost in Seal Beach, North of Huntington. We also saw two pods of dolphins, swimming and playing amongst the surfers. Not a bad way to start Thanksgiving Day. All in all it was an 8 mile trek, but it went by really fast.
We then headed home, I cooked a giant broccoli rice casserole, and got ready to go over to our friend Shea's house. We watched the Cowboys wins, drank some really great wine that Johnette and Shea brought back from Napa, and feasted on some good eats. I went to bed with a full belly and a happy heart.
I am thankful for my wonderful family and am excited to get to see them at Christmas time.
I am thankful for my friends back in Texas, who are even more dear to me now that they're far away.
I am thankful for my friends here, who have made this transition so easy for me, and given me encouragement to make it work.
I am thankful for my little Newman, who has made my heart grow in ways that I didn't think possible.
Johnette and I started out the day at 6 AM (oy) and met her trainer on the beach for a special Thanksgiving session. We ran along the coastline in the early morning and boy am I glad I got my keester out of bed because it was well worth it. The waves were really clean and fairly large and saw a huge crowd of surfers at a spot called The Cliffs. We ran past the cliffs to the dog beach (dogs are only allowed on certain beaches here) and all the way to Bolsa Chica, which is almost in Seal Beach, North of Huntington. We also saw two pods of dolphins, swimming and playing amongst the surfers. Not a bad way to start Thanksgiving Day. All in all it was an 8 mile trek, but it went by really fast.
We then headed home, I cooked a giant broccoli rice casserole, and got ready to go over to our friend Shea's house. We watched the Cowboys wins, drank some really great wine that Johnette and Shea brought back from Napa, and feasted on some good eats. I went to bed with a full belly and a happy heart.
I am thankful for my wonderful family and am excited to get to see them at Christmas time.
I am thankful for my friends back in Texas, who are even more dear to me now that they're far away.
I am thankful for my friends here, who have made this transition so easy for me, and given me encouragement to make it work.
I am thankful for my little Newman, who has made my heart grow in ways that I didn't think possible.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Relax
I've been going to yoga for the past couple of days. I really like the classes here...so different than in Texas. Poses I've never tried before, a nice meditation and goal and focus of each practice, candles and teachers who really seem to understand how and what everything works. Made for a very nice, floaty relaxation after class. I'm going to try and stay with it at this studio because it seems like they've got it down!
It rained today in Southern California!!! It's still raining right now! It's so funny because everyone freaks out about the rain! I love it. The perfect end to a lovely, relaxed day. So now enjoy this video in the spirit of of calm and relaxation.
It rained today in Southern California!!! It's still raining right now! It's so funny because everyone freaks out about the rain! I love it. The perfect end to a lovely, relaxed day. So now enjoy this video in the spirit of of calm and relaxation.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Case o' the Mondays
You know, I made a concerted effort with myself to have a good Monday and you know what, I did! I said to myself, "Self, screw what everyone else says about Mondays, and make it good!" And I did. Chatted up some old friends online, went to a yoga class and cooked up a little din din for Johnette and I.
Tried a new recipe and it was part hit and part miss. It was healthy recipe and that doesn't always add up to the most tasty dinner. It was turkey meat loaf, with horseradish mash potatoes and sauteed spinach with roasted pine nuts. I messed up the mash potatoes by using skim instead of whole milk, and I mistakenly sprayed the pine nuts with olive oil to roast them, only you're not supposed to do that and I burned them...bummer dude. The meat loaf was good though. And the wine was tasty. Oh the wine!
We decided to mix it up and do white tonight. It's so nice though because good wine is rather cheap. What would cost me $20-25 in Texas I can get here from $7-13 bucks! It's quite lovely. Johnette just got back from Napa and is having some bottles shipped back and I'm excited to try those too! There's a nice chill in the air too, which always makes for good red wine weather.
Talked to a contact from Sony Pictures today who gave me some good insight as to places I could apply to and how to maybe get an in at a production company or a studio. Had a contact at the Director's guild through a professor at USC, but I called the guild and they said he didn't work there anymore. So, no dice on that one. Fingers crossed all of this legwork and contact-making I'm doing leads to something! I'm not giving up until it does! Until then it's waitress city. Which is different than Fist City, which is a great Loretta Lynn song.
I just love these lyrics. "You better move your feet, if you don't want to eat, a meal called fist city."
Is Fist City anywhere near awesometown? Anyone?
Tried a new recipe and it was part hit and part miss. It was healthy recipe and that doesn't always add up to the most tasty dinner. It was turkey meat loaf, with horseradish mash potatoes and sauteed spinach with roasted pine nuts. I messed up the mash potatoes by using skim instead of whole milk, and I mistakenly sprayed the pine nuts with olive oil to roast them, only you're not supposed to do that and I burned them...bummer dude. The meat loaf was good though. And the wine was tasty. Oh the wine!
We decided to mix it up and do white tonight. It's so nice though because good wine is rather cheap. What would cost me $20-25 in Texas I can get here from $7-13 bucks! It's quite lovely. Johnette just got back from Napa and is having some bottles shipped back and I'm excited to try those too! There's a nice chill in the air too, which always makes for good red wine weather.
Talked to a contact from Sony Pictures today who gave me some good insight as to places I could apply to and how to maybe get an in at a production company or a studio. Had a contact at the Director's guild through a professor at USC, but I called the guild and they said he didn't work there anymore. So, no dice on that one. Fingers crossed all of this legwork and contact-making I'm doing leads to something! I'm not giving up until it does! Until then it's waitress city. Which is different than Fist City, which is a great Loretta Lynn song.
I just love these lyrics. "You better move your feet, if you don't want to eat, a meal called fist city."
Is Fist City anywhere near awesometown? Anyone?
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Texafornian?
So I was recently given some advice from a former Texafornian to change my phone number to a local number, and make haste to get a Californian license, so that I would be taken more seriously by employers. Not to be confused as some just off the boat hack, not able to kick it in Cali for permanent. My insurance agent also warned that I could possibly get a ticket if I got pulled over and have not yet updated my identification.
After taking these changes into consideration I began to feel a little protective of my Texan differentiators. Silly as it may seem, I like my phone number, especially because it still ties me to home in some silly way. And my I.D., also, probably silly of me, but I get some sort of weird satisfaction handing it over to a door man, or sales clerk. I smile with pride as they inspect it, like, yeah, that's right, I ride my horse to school...well not really.
I will say though that I've become protective and proud of my Texan roots being here way out West. Even though people seem surprised when I tell them where I'm from, responding with "You're from Texas? But you don't have an accent." My stock reply is "I may not have an accent but I still say y'all." I then proceed to put my six shooter back in it's holster, tip my hat, and mount my horse and ride off into the sunset.
Maybe it was growing up in South Texas near the beach, or having educated well-rounded family members, but I feel that my experience growing up in Texas doesn't contain most of those tried and true stereotypes. Then again, there are definitely some things that happen in Texas that are pretty unique to the state. I decided to make a list and ponder how true and untrue these stereotypes might be.
Texan Stereotypes
1. Riding horses to school (everybody's old favorite)
2. We all wear wranglers, boots, and hats.
3. We all talk lyyyyyke hicks.
4. We're all overly-religious bible beaters.
5. We support George Bush based on the fact that he's considered a Texan.
6. We all drive big gas guzzling trucks.
7. We're all liquor drinking gun-totin' idiots.
8. Everything's bigger here?
What have I missed? Tried to get to 10, but it's late and I couldn't think of any more. Please see the below photo in support of stereotype #7. I took this a few months ago just outside of Schulenburg, TX...
After taking these changes into consideration I began to feel a little protective of my Texan differentiators. Silly as it may seem, I like my phone number, especially because it still ties me to home in some silly way. And my I.D., also, probably silly of me, but I get some sort of weird satisfaction handing it over to a door man, or sales clerk. I smile with pride as they inspect it, like, yeah, that's right, I ride my horse to school...well not really.
I will say though that I've become protective and proud of my Texan roots being here way out West. Even though people seem surprised when I tell them where I'm from, responding with "You're from Texas? But you don't have an accent." My stock reply is "I may not have an accent but I still say y'all." I then proceed to put my six shooter back in it's holster, tip my hat, and mount my horse and ride off into the sunset.
Maybe it was growing up in South Texas near the beach, or having educated well-rounded family members, but I feel that my experience growing up in Texas doesn't contain most of those tried and true stereotypes. Then again, there are definitely some things that happen in Texas that are pretty unique to the state. I decided to make a list and ponder how true and untrue these stereotypes might be.
Texan Stereotypes
1. Riding horses to school (everybody's old favorite)
2. We all wear wranglers, boots, and hats.
3. We all talk lyyyyyke hicks.
4. We're all overly-religious bible beaters.
5. We support George Bush based on the fact that he's considered a Texan.
6. We all drive big gas guzzling trucks.
7. We're all liquor drinking gun-totin' idiots.
8. Everything's bigger here?
What have I missed? Tried to get to 10, but it's late and I couldn't think of any more. Please see the below photo in support of stereotype #7. I took this a few months ago just outside of Schulenburg, TX...
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Hump Day Schump Day
Have yet to find a job. So I'm not too down yet, just thinking I'm going to have to get the inevitable "stuggling waitress trying to break in to the entertainment business" job. Oh well, I'm not worried about it though. Waiters and waitresses actually make a lot of scratch out here, so I wouldn't be starving by any means. However, I did get a call back from a reputable company today which is encouraging. I should be interviewing next week so keep your fingers crossed for me plee!
My days are starting to bleed together this week. My cash flow is slow and low so I'm laying that way for now. Sent out some more resumes, ran to the beach and then had some phone conversations with some connections I have for potential jobs.
As any friends who read this know, and some of you don't, Newman had a case of heartworms when I found him. The vet told me to go ahead and wait until we arrived in California to treat him however, because once he has the treatment he has to be kept calm for a month. So no leash walks for Newman. The husky in him isn't too happy with that. Not only has he developed a nasty case of separation anxiety, he's also chewed on stuff for the first time since I've had him. First it was my phone charger, then he literally busted through our screen door with his head, and today I came home and he had chewed the zipper off of his dog bed and had distributed all of the stuffing everywhere! Oy. He never acted this way when I walked him every day. I hope both of us can take 3 more weeks of this...He also cries and howls for a good 15 minutes when I leave and it breaks my heart. Anyone out there have any good tips for dog anxiety?
Not much else going on.
I bought you these for Christmas:
http://www.bonsaisandals.com/
Photos from Week two in Cali:
My days are starting to bleed together this week. My cash flow is slow and low so I'm laying that way for now. Sent out some more resumes, ran to the beach and then had some phone conversations with some connections I have for potential jobs.
As any friends who read this know, and some of you don't, Newman had a case of heartworms when I found him. The vet told me to go ahead and wait until we arrived in California to treat him however, because once he has the treatment he has to be kept calm for a month. So no leash walks for Newman. The husky in him isn't too happy with that. Not only has he developed a nasty case of separation anxiety, he's also chewed on stuff for the first time since I've had him. First it was my phone charger, then he literally busted through our screen door with his head, and today I came home and he had chewed the zipper off of his dog bed and had distributed all of the stuffing everywhere! Oy. He never acted this way when I walked him every day. I hope both of us can take 3 more weeks of this...He also cries and howls for a good 15 minutes when I leave and it breaks my heart. Anyone out there have any good tips for dog anxiety?
Not much else going on.
I bought you these for Christmas:
http://www.bonsaisandals.com/
Photos from Week two in Cali:
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| Week 2 |
Friday, November 14, 2008
Make Love Says the Megachurch Man!
He does what he can, that megachuch man
Doing all the things that keep them in the hand
When in doubt, do not think
Consult the megachurch man
For he is the one
Who has all of the plans
He'll keep you in line and tend to your demands
As long as you don't cross the megachurch man.
I love megachurches. I am also scared of them. They are there own little micrcosm of the church population. What do you think of this guy?
Doing all the things that keep them in the hand
When in doubt, do not think
Consult the megachurch man
For he is the one
Who has all of the plans
He'll keep you in line and tend to your demands
As long as you don't cross the megachurch man.
I love megachurches. I am also scared of them. They are there own little micrcosm of the church population. What do you think of this guy?
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Cross Canadian Amaza-Cryin' Crazy Country Cruisin'
Well, we made it! It took us Monday to Wednesday, lots of coffee, two ipods, an election, and a few scary truck stops but we made it. We started off the journey at 5 am Monday morning (early in a scary way for me) and hit the road. We decided to take the Northern route, which is the prettier one through Abequerque, then to Arizona, and stop when we felt we couldn't drive any further. You know how they say that getting out of Texas is the hard part? Well it is...the ubiquitous they were definitely right. It was pretty flat and boring getting out of Texas, but Johnette and I were excited for the trip and full of good conversation. We did get to stop at The Big Texan in Amarillo. However, neither of us tried the steak. Just wasn't in the mood to have the Great Outdoors moment. However, the place was like a Fun House full of game heads, wood paneling and floral wallpaper--pure greatness. There may have been an option to weigh myself for 25 cents in the bathroom, but I'm not certain...could have been another truck stop I'm getting confused with. I had the buffalo burger and the mashed potatoes and it didn't dissapoint. The manager had a cowboy hat and sly smile and asked us how our meal was about 3 times. When we left he tipped his hat to us and wished us well. What a way to leave Texas. We left smiling.
I wasn't until we were 150 miles outside of Albequerque that we decided that we would rather see Santa Fe. So upward ho we went, and made it to Sante Fe. I had never been to this quiet little artsy mountain town, and was curious if the reputation was true. Johnette had been before, and wanted to check out the Georgia O'Keefe Museum so we used the trusty navigator (which I highly recommend for road trips into the unkown) and headed towards downtown.
Now, I've never been a huge fan of Georgia O'Keefe's, I mean, her flowers are neat, but I've never really felt connected to her paintings. Seeing them in person changed my opinion. In real-life, the colors are so much more vibrant, the brush strokes are so effortless the way that they articulately bleed into each other. I had a much different experience standing in front of one of these colorful delights than when I've looked a print in a book or on the web. I tried to snap a photo, but I guess I misread the sign at the entrance of the gallery that said no photography. I swear it only said no food or drink...I thought it was strange that I didn't read a no photography warning but I got excited and started snapping photos. The security guard quickly appeared from around the corner, warning me of the no-photography policy, and made me delete the photos from my camera. Oops. I read the sign, but I read it the way I wanted to read it. Anyway, the security guard ended up being a very friendly and knowledgable chap even though I was a rules breaker, and ended up showing us little intricacies of some of her paintings, and giving us little bits of trivia about Ms. O'Keefe. He said more than once that standing around all day looking at her paintings had given him this insight and he had picked out all of the hidden innuendos and bits and pieces and shared it with museum patrons. The lucky ones I guess.
After the museum we grabbed a quick forgettable bite at a local tavern, took Newman for a little walk around the park and chatted with some other travelers and were on our way. I dug Santa Fe, and I really dug the GOK Museum...I wish we had time to spend the night there, but we wanted to make it to Arizona that night, so onward we went. Johnette had her trusty laptop and wireless card, so we found a few hotels online and decided we would try to make it to Flagstaff, if not Flagstaff, then Holbrook. And that was as far as we got on day one. 20 hours to Holbrook, AZ by way of Santa Fe, NM. Not too bad for a first day. If we had gone the Southern route we would have been home after 20 hours, but we weren't interested in the fast way.
We rested until 11 am, then got on the road again, this time, headed towards the Grand Canyon. A few hours later, we were on the road towards Flagstaff through the South rim of the Canyon. On the way there, we drove through a long stretch of painted desert. Purple, red, blue, orange, turquoise and everything in between. The visibility started to worsen, and as the driving became more difficult we realized, us Texas girls, that we were caught smack dab in the middle of a sandstorm. A first for the both of us, it was kind of scary, iin that you couldn't see more than 10 feet in front of you and your control of the car was limited. We had to stop for gas in the middle of the sandstorm, and as you may have guessed, it was slightly painful. And gritty. I never thought my car door could also act as a sail.
Anyway, after about 20 minutes of sandstorm, we realized that we had missed our turn for the Grand Canyon! We turned around and made it to the South rim (I learned that the North rim is closed during the winter) in about 10 minutes. It's very un-assuming that canyon. Kinda sneaks up on ya. It is beautiful though. Everything you think it will be--it is. There is no photo, no set of words that can describe the feeling you feel while looking at it. It feels like someone punched you in the gut and all you want to do is breathe but you can't. It was very cold and windy, and Johnette and I were inappropriately dressed so we spent as long as we could at each spot along the South rim drive. Newman was excited of course, I think more about the cold weather than the actual canyon. However he did sniff out some wild deer, and I wouldn't have otherwise seen a beautiful group of deer in the GC if I hadn't had Mr. Paul Newman with me. If I had let him off the leash we would have probably never seen him again. He seemed to love it. A group of Japanese tourists freaked out when they saw him and wanted both him and I to pose for a picture. I thought about saying no, but they were just so pushy and stereotypical I figured why not take part in a strange living stereotype. In hindsight I shouldn't have done it because I'll probably end up on some Japanese fetish website, but I was on a road trip dammit, it seemed like the right thing to do. By the way, everyone at the Canyon was foreign, seeing as it was election day and most Americans were either voting or poised by the nearest television.
After about 4 hours and a beautiful sunset at the Canyon we decided to head in to Flagstaff for some dinner and a place to stay. We had a really yumtastic dinner at a place called Pasto http://www.pastorestaurant.com/ where the entire waitstaff was delighting in the fact that Obama was ahead in the polls. We thought that being in Arizona on election day meant everyone would be sad that McCain lost. Quite the opposite friends. Flagstaff is quite the hippie town. I mean white kids with dreadlocks and you know how that smells. They were literally dancing in the streets in Flagstaff. After dinner we decided to stay at a little hotel in Flagstaff called Hotel Monte Vista. We started off in the Humphrey Bogart room, featured here: http://www.hotelmontevista.com/ however, we requested a different room on the other side of the hotel because the train went by every 30 minutes and it was LOUD. So we ended up in the Carol Lombard Room...which apparently is haunted by two dead hookers acording to the hotel's website. Glad I didn't read that before we stayed there. We got all settled in and were ready to get a drink and watch Obama's acceptance speech. We happened to be in luck because it was karaoke night at the Monte Vista bar and apparently was the most happenin' spot in town. We ordered a few beers and took a deep breath. Karaoke started and the place began to get really crowded, buzzing with the election results. It was neat to be in a place with such positive energy. It smelled bad, but whatever, it was a good night. Johnette and I got into a political conversation with a Navajo Indian man who worked at the University, which was quite intriguing. He said he grew up on the reservation located on the Four Corners area of Arizona, and he then quietly admitted that he wanted McCain to win the election. He said it quietly because everyone else was still talking about Obama. We quizzed him on his upbringing, his political beliefs, and experience on the reservation. It was quite a different perspective than I expected to hear. Then he started getting a little weird and talking about end times, so we decided to finish our drinks and call it an evening. What a day. Next stop, Sedona, then on to Huntington.
We woke up after a deep night's sleep, and were on the road by 9 am. On the way to Sedona we stopped at the Coconino National Forest http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/coconino/, which was a beautiful spot up in the chilly mountains on the way to the warm sunny desert of Sedona. After a few stops and photos the mountains began to become bare and turn red...and then we were in Sedona. What a beautiful, clean, friendly little town. Johnette was on the hunt for some finely crafted Navajo turquoise and I wanted to take Newman for a tour of the town so we did just that. We went our separate ways and Newman and I made friends with a cute little elderly British couple who insisted that Newman had a "biscuit." Or as we Americans call it, an Otis Spunkmeyer cookie. They said they missed their dog back at home across the pond and when I asked them what kind of dog it was, the lady sheepishly replied, "Oh it's a mongrol." Oh those Brits and their proper words for things like treat and mutt. Hehe.
After a nice sandwich lunch on a park bench in Sedona it was back in the car and on the road to my new home! We took a look at the map and decided to forgo the Navi and take the scenic, what we thought was shorter route. Well, it was definitely scenic! We ended up driving through the mountains and up through a quaint little town called Jerome, Az. http://www.azjerome.com/pages/jerome/shopping.htm If we had an extra day we would have stopped and stayed. It was the kind of town that probably has a million ghosts haunting it. Still neat to pass through though, would never have known of ole' Jerome if we hadn't taken the long way home. It was a curvy drive home through the mountains and Johnette had to drive because she's better at mountain driving than I am. I got queasy from all the switchback roads so I'm glad she was at the wheel.
So onward we went, through yet another set of mountains that will remain nameless because at that point we were tired and ready to get home. Another 5 hours or so through some desert and we made it! It was about 8 pm California time and we stopped to pick up food on the way home. My first meal as a Californian? El Pollo Loco. You're damn right it was. And it was good. I think I'm gonna like it here...
View pictures from our trip here:
I wasn't until we were 150 miles outside of Albequerque that we decided that we would rather see Santa Fe. So upward ho we went, and made it to Sante Fe. I had never been to this quiet little artsy mountain town, and was curious if the reputation was true. Johnette had been before, and wanted to check out the Georgia O'Keefe Museum so we used the trusty navigator (which I highly recommend for road trips into the unkown) and headed towards downtown.
Now, I've never been a huge fan of Georgia O'Keefe's, I mean, her flowers are neat, but I've never really felt connected to her paintings. Seeing them in person changed my opinion. In real-life, the colors are so much more vibrant, the brush strokes are so effortless the way that they articulately bleed into each other. I had a much different experience standing in front of one of these colorful delights than when I've looked a print in a book or on the web. I tried to snap a photo, but I guess I misread the sign at the entrance of the gallery that said no photography. I swear it only said no food or drink...I thought it was strange that I didn't read a no photography warning but I got excited and started snapping photos. The security guard quickly appeared from around the corner, warning me of the no-photography policy, and made me delete the photos from my camera. Oops. I read the sign, but I read it the way I wanted to read it. Anyway, the security guard ended up being a very friendly and knowledgable chap even though I was a rules breaker, and ended up showing us little intricacies of some of her paintings, and giving us little bits of trivia about Ms. O'Keefe. He said more than once that standing around all day looking at her paintings had given him this insight and he had picked out all of the hidden innuendos and bits and pieces and shared it with museum patrons. The lucky ones I guess.
After the museum we grabbed a quick forgettable bite at a local tavern, took Newman for a little walk around the park and chatted with some other travelers and were on our way. I dug Santa Fe, and I really dug the GOK Museum...I wish we had time to spend the night there, but we wanted to make it to Arizona that night, so onward we went. Johnette had her trusty laptop and wireless card, so we found a few hotels online and decided we would try to make it to Flagstaff, if not Flagstaff, then Holbrook. And that was as far as we got on day one. 20 hours to Holbrook, AZ by way of Santa Fe, NM. Not too bad for a first day. If we had gone the Southern route we would have been home after 20 hours, but we weren't interested in the fast way.
We rested until 11 am, then got on the road again, this time, headed towards the Grand Canyon. A few hours later, we were on the road towards Flagstaff through the South rim of the Canyon. On the way there, we drove through a long stretch of painted desert. Purple, red, blue, orange, turquoise and everything in between. The visibility started to worsen, and as the driving became more difficult we realized, us Texas girls, that we were caught smack dab in the middle of a sandstorm. A first for the both of us, it was kind of scary, iin that you couldn't see more than 10 feet in front of you and your control of the car was limited. We had to stop for gas in the middle of the sandstorm, and as you may have guessed, it was slightly painful. And gritty. I never thought my car door could also act as a sail.
Anyway, after about 20 minutes of sandstorm, we realized that we had missed our turn for the Grand Canyon! We turned around and made it to the South rim (I learned that the North rim is closed during the winter) in about 10 minutes. It's very un-assuming that canyon. Kinda sneaks up on ya. It is beautiful though. Everything you think it will be--it is. There is no photo, no set of words that can describe the feeling you feel while looking at it. It feels like someone punched you in the gut and all you want to do is breathe but you can't. It was very cold and windy, and Johnette and I were inappropriately dressed so we spent as long as we could at each spot along the South rim drive. Newman was excited of course, I think more about the cold weather than the actual canyon. However he did sniff out some wild deer, and I wouldn't have otherwise seen a beautiful group of deer in the GC if I hadn't had Mr. Paul Newman with me. If I had let him off the leash we would have probably never seen him again. He seemed to love it. A group of Japanese tourists freaked out when they saw him and wanted both him and I to pose for a picture. I thought about saying no, but they were just so pushy and stereotypical I figured why not take part in a strange living stereotype. In hindsight I shouldn't have done it because I'll probably end up on some Japanese fetish website, but I was on a road trip dammit, it seemed like the right thing to do. By the way, everyone at the Canyon was foreign, seeing as it was election day and most Americans were either voting or poised by the nearest television.
After about 4 hours and a beautiful sunset at the Canyon we decided to head in to Flagstaff for some dinner and a place to stay. We had a really yumtastic dinner at a place called Pasto http://www.pastorestaurant.com/ where the entire waitstaff was delighting in the fact that Obama was ahead in the polls. We thought that being in Arizona on election day meant everyone would be sad that McCain lost. Quite the opposite friends. Flagstaff is quite the hippie town. I mean white kids with dreadlocks and you know how that smells. They were literally dancing in the streets in Flagstaff. After dinner we decided to stay at a little hotel in Flagstaff called Hotel Monte Vista. We started off in the Humphrey Bogart room, featured here: http://www.hotelmontevista.com/ however, we requested a different room on the other side of the hotel because the train went by every 30 minutes and it was LOUD. So we ended up in the Carol Lombard Room...which apparently is haunted by two dead hookers acording to the hotel's website. Glad I didn't read that before we stayed there. We got all settled in and were ready to get a drink and watch Obama's acceptance speech. We happened to be in luck because it was karaoke night at the Monte Vista bar and apparently was the most happenin' spot in town. We ordered a few beers and took a deep breath. Karaoke started and the place began to get really crowded, buzzing with the election results. It was neat to be in a place with such positive energy. It smelled bad, but whatever, it was a good night. Johnette and I got into a political conversation with a Navajo Indian man who worked at the University, which was quite intriguing. He said he grew up on the reservation located on the Four Corners area of Arizona, and he then quietly admitted that he wanted McCain to win the election. He said it quietly because everyone else was still talking about Obama. We quizzed him on his upbringing, his political beliefs, and experience on the reservation. It was quite a different perspective than I expected to hear. Then he started getting a little weird and talking about end times, so we decided to finish our drinks and call it an evening. What a day. Next stop, Sedona, then on to Huntington.
We woke up after a deep night's sleep, and were on the road by 9 am. On the way to Sedona we stopped at the Coconino National Forest http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/coconino/, which was a beautiful spot up in the chilly mountains on the way to the warm sunny desert of Sedona. After a few stops and photos the mountains began to become bare and turn red...and then we were in Sedona. What a beautiful, clean, friendly little town. Johnette was on the hunt for some finely crafted Navajo turquoise and I wanted to take Newman for a tour of the town so we did just that. We went our separate ways and Newman and I made friends with a cute little elderly British couple who insisted that Newman had a "biscuit." Or as we Americans call it, an Otis Spunkmeyer cookie. They said they missed their dog back at home across the pond and when I asked them what kind of dog it was, the lady sheepishly replied, "Oh it's a mongrol." Oh those Brits and their proper words for things like treat and mutt. Hehe.
After a nice sandwich lunch on a park bench in Sedona it was back in the car and on the road to my new home! We took a look at the map and decided to forgo the Navi and take the scenic, what we thought was shorter route. Well, it was definitely scenic! We ended up driving through the mountains and up through a quaint little town called Jerome, Az. http://www.azjerome.com/pages/jerome/shopping.htm If we had an extra day we would have stopped and stayed. It was the kind of town that probably has a million ghosts haunting it. Still neat to pass through though, would never have known of ole' Jerome if we hadn't taken the long way home. It was a curvy drive home through the mountains and Johnette had to drive because she's better at mountain driving than I am. I got queasy from all the switchback roads so I'm glad she was at the wheel.
So onward we went, through yet another set of mountains that will remain nameless because at that point we were tired and ready to get home. Another 5 hours or so through some desert and we made it! It was about 8 pm California time and we stopped to pick up food on the way home. My first meal as a Californian? El Pollo Loco. You're damn right it was. And it was good. I think I'm gonna like it here...
View pictures from our trip here:
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