you can still be thankful in december...

I had planned on barging back into the blogging world for a Thanksgiving extravaganza. Then I got sicky...but I am still bringing it back. So, all the things I'm most thankful for in this glorious life (one week later):

grace. my iPhone. friends. laughter. taco bell. being employed. tomas de la cruz, my trusty jeep. good quality engrossing fiction. prayer. answers to prayer. unexpected answers to prayer. baseball. being alive to witness and experience the Giants as world series champs. DVR. spectre. the soreness after a good hike. living in california. family. friends that are family. enjoying the use of all 5 senses. the comforting sights and sounds from a VCR. sunsets. crossing things off my Super Random Life Goal List. the subtle brillance of Brendan Fraser. cooking with friends. live music. the Sigh No More album by mumford. cross-country road trips. laughing to the point where your face hurts. sleep. christmas joy. my rainbow flip-flops. HIMYM. not having all the answers. my babyniece. new experiences. things that don't change. star wars. facebook (for making far away friends and family stay connected). mountains. the ocean. ice cream. not being lactose intolerant.

I'm certain there is more but that'll do for now. Thanks, it's a good thing!

"it's the end of your job as you know it..."

I find it appropriate to adapt a REM song for my blog post title. I discovered an all-90s radio station in Sacramento and it's the greatest most random station ever. Goes from Dave Matthews Band to Mariah Carey to Beastie Boys to N*Sync to Dr. Dre to Amy Grant.

Seriously fantastic. Brings about much joy and car dancing every time I get to listen.

http://www.90sbuzz.com/

My Americorps job is over tomorrow.

Hard to believe it's been a year...and yet what a year it has been.

Struggles, growth, challenges, pride, joy, learning, smells, transition, experience, to say the least.

It's not something I'd recommend to everyone, and it's not something I would do again, but I think it was something that I needed to do. Apparently the ol' G-O-D knows what he's doing. At the moment, he's keeping the next step in my journey a secret (which is always frustrating) but I'm actually finding a bit of a peace in the unknown.

Last night was Wednesday night...one of my favorite nights of the week (and without too many shows to watch....though I am now hopelessly hooked on Psych Ü). And my post-college bible study started back up. Always full of lots of laughter, good discussion, and potluck. We talked about Ecclesiastes. Honestly, I had never thought about it as a depressing book in the bible. It's always been one of my favorites. What does that say about me? I don't know, I just like being reminded that there is a season for everything. There's gonna be good and there's gonna be crappy. I find a comfort in knowing that I'm not alone and it's not gonna last forever. It all really is a "chase after the wind."

(though, the stupid Rebecca St. James song has been stuck in my head since talking about it.)

And now it's in yours.

Apparently, Rebecca St. James still makes music. Good to know. I used to do her 40 days with God bible study.

Somehow, it's nearly the end of August. Luckily, it hasn't been too insanely hot this summer. But that has also helped it not feel like summer. It just sped on by. Kids are back in school. I've got my yearly desire to buy school supplies. The Giants are in the playoff hunt. And there's still a month before shows start again. I have a feeling there will once again be too many hours of television that I want to watch and not enough hours in my day. Maybe I need different priorities....nah....I just need all the good shows to not be on Thursday!

One hour and one day left on the job!

Let's do this.

"al azar" (that's spanish!)

sitting at work...thinking "al azar" thoughts

• went to 2 gigantes games last weekend. came back with a new sweatshirt, a new BEAT LA tshirt (which has instantly become my favorite shirt EVER), free rally scarf and Willie Mays bobbleheads, fun memories and a 4-0 record on the season for games that I attend.
• looked through pictures on my facebook and started to mourn my long hair.
• read online that McDonalds used to put sugar on their fries to help kids crave them. I see this having the potential to be accurate. They do something to make you crave them.
• I've been getting 7 hours sleep a night and yet I continually wake up desiring more sleep. Could this be my childhood and college years catching up with me?
• I recently passed the 20 months left of my 20s mark. yup, that's less than 2 years. what a strange thought. an even stranger thought? how much can happen in that short amount of time.
• fresh strawberries are a good start, but I'm beyond ready for some peaches, plums, apricots, and pluots picked from the tree.
• I want to do a Star Wars marathon.
• It's the final week of the TV season. I find myself not caring as much and yet caring way more than ever....if that makes any sense. Suffice to say, LOST shall be consuming my entire weekend.
• It hasn't really sunk in that I get to hang out with my dearest friends from college memorial day weekend for a mini-reunion. Shall be good fun.
• On the other hand, my 10 year high school reunion is in July and I couldn't really care less about going.
• I've actually kept up fairly well with my 2010 year long commitments {read the bible in the year with my bible study group and take a picture a day for project 365 with a group of college friends} Only missed one day in project 365 and I'm only a week behind in the bible reading.
• went to my childhood church a couple of weeks ago. saddened and led to multiple cusswords. sigh.
• purchased 2 VHS copies of Billy Blanks Tae Bo but have yet to actually be productive with them. soon. real soon.
• speaking of VHS, I had to go to wal-mart to find some (5 pack for $8!) so that I can be my historically minded pop culture junkie self this weekend. I shall be adding the LOST finale shows to my VHS finale collection which includes: Full House, Home Improvement, Boy Meets World, Dawson's Creek, Friends, etc. Someday I'll get one of those fancy VHS to DVD converter thingies and transfer. But as much as I love my TV on DVD collection, there's just something special about watching the VHS....especially seeing the commercials that were on :)
• I moved in over a month ago and have yet to put away my laundry....that's not good...huh?
• Wes Anderson was created to make stop-motion animation films. Tis his purpose in this world. If you haven't already watched The Fantastic Mr. Fox, what the cuss are you waiting for?!
• I want to go to the beach, I want to go hike around the mountains, I want a tan. It would be ideal to combine all these wants.
• As a huge fan of Gladiator and of Robin Hood, I was most excited to see the Ridley Scott directed Robin Hood. Let me tell you, I've never been more disappointed watching a movie. Horrible and not Robin Hood. It's basically an origin story. No shenanigans and hardly any archery! Terrible. Only highlight? Kevin Durand (Keamy from LOST) as Little John.
• I want to actually become bilingual in Spanish. I should be more proactive in achieving that Super Random Life Goal.
• 45 minutes and 2 days left in my work week. 102 days left in my Americorps VISTA commitment. Not that I'm counting or anything...

hibernation over....

I spent the better part of my afternoon completely bored and going through friends' blogs when I happened upon my own and saw just how long it had been since I shared some "word vomit" with y'all. Now it's not that I forgot all about my blog, had too much time on my hands, was bored to a whole new level, or filled with so many wondrous and random things that I just couldn't convince myself to narrow it down on a proper topic. No, no, no. It was all of those things combined. Which is quite a unique talent, if I do say so myself.

I've been serving as an Americorps VISTA for 8 months now with less than 4 months to go until I once again get to address the age-old dilemma "what do i want to do with my life?" One of these days that question will have a definitive answer, right? Any thoughts or ideas? Kindergarten teacher is NOT an acceptable answer (no offense kindergarten teachers).

I'm finally down to the last half hour of work for the day. It feels as though it should be AT LEAST Wednesday, but alas, tis only Tuesday. The redeeming part about that? LOST and glee tonight! yip-yip-yippee!

It's not much, but I'll try to put my boredom to good use in remembering how to channel my writing skillz. Namaste.

and p.s. Happy Star Wars Day! May the 4th be with you :)

The Things We See and Hear...

Things I witnessed on my Lunch Hour:

• woman driving a minvan while dressed as a cow and talking on her cellphone
• the song Thriller on 3 different radio stations
• 4 guys playing hacky sack in front of a tattoo shop
• woman wearing a shower cap and rain boots...NOT dressed up for Halloween
• a customer service lady wearing a green t-shirt and with a green soul patch. really not sure what she was supposed to be...

Thriller will absolutely be stuck in my all day now. It's definitely kickin' right now. And I posed this question to my friend earlier who said she loved Halloween music. What songs are there besides Monster Mash and Thriller?

What Netflix Thinks About Me

Ever wonder what your Netflix choices say about you? I got a taste of that today. I was a bit caught off guard when I actually looked at the categories Netflix decided I would be most interested in:

• suspenseful independent comedies
• goofy Action & Adventure
• imaginative Sci-Fi & Fantasy
• visually striking Dark movies (and yes, the Dark was capitalized. what does that mean?)
• Emotional 20th Century Period Pieces

I am a weird weird person...at least according to my movie tastes...just proves I'm eclectic...and a former Film Major.

But honestly, I don't know about you, but I tend to netflix the things that either no one else will see with me in the theater, or that I don't want to spend money on seeing in the theater, or old movies that I never saw in my childhood or haven't seen FOR-EV-ER. So, apparently that leads me to liking these types of netflix choices.

Oh well, I suppose it could be much weirder, right?

It's Back!!

I watched a leaf fall from a tree yesterday.

I walked out of my door this morning and was smacked in the face by the gloriousness of Fall. And I couldn't be happier.

No more baking while driving in my un-airconditioned Jeep.

Jeans, scarves, and sweaters get to start sneaking their way back into my wardrobe.

Giants baseball is winding down for the season (that I'm not happy about, but that's another time).

Soon I'll get to snuggle up in a blanket (though not a Snuggie. Saw it at Costco and determined that I'd never purchase one. But if someone bought one for me for Christmas, I'd probably use it)

I can use my heater.

My beverage of choice will be Apple Cider (until I can find the tasty wonder that is Wasil)

All I can say is...It's About Time.

Welcome Back Fall. I embrace you wholeheartedly!

A Return to Normalcy

I don't know what it is...16 years of school schedules...rotation of the earth...baseball winding down...but whatever it is, September seems to be when life goes back to normal. Don't get me wrong, summer is fantastic. Even when you are employed, there is just something different about summer life. But, maybe I'm more a creature of routine than I thought I was.

I'm pumped this week. This week, normal life returns with it's ordinary wonderfulness.

Last night, my bible study group started back up. It truly is a community, which is as rare as the Loch Ness Monster (or Ryan Garko) these days. But it does exist. And it's fabulous. We meet. We eat. (which will be potluck-style this year! Absolutely I am bringing Jell-O next week) We read. We discuss. We pray. It is simple and it is good.
And after bible study, I go play volleyball for 3+ hours. We've been up and down in our numbers but after about 7 years we've still got a good group. It's certainly changed through the years. Lots of people coming and going, one marriage, and its been equal parts trash-talking and endless support. A rarity to say the least. But it's a group that I love. We are a family as well. Basically, normalcy is exhaustion and soreness on Thursday morning. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

And this week, television begins it's fall return. Tonight: Bones (!), Fringe (which found itself the last half of the season and ended with a barrage of twists, turns, and jaw-dropping awesomeness. You should be watching. That's all I am saying), The Office (hooray!), and I already watched Community's first episode that is airing tonight. And it's entertaining. But the joys and tragedies of DVR and Thursday nights. Once Grey's returns next week (and based on my reaction every time I've seen the promo for the season premiere, I'll be an emotional wreck) the great debate on what to watch live/DVR and what gets to be watched online. I think NBC comedies are going to get the online treatment. Thanks to whoever's internet I'm borrowing in my apartment complex!

Life is back to normal. And I'm a big fan of that. Ü

Things I Miss...

• Back-to-School shopping. I love school supplies.
• Spectre.
• Extra Money.
• Traveling.
• Going shooting. Both shotgun and bow & arrow.
• Card catalogs.
• Writing in cursive.
• NYC.
• Having a Fridge with Built-in Ice Maker
• Telephones with cords
• Life before the internet
• Having phone numbers memorized
• Getting fancied up
• Brown Duckie
• Eating Meals with 50+ minor league ballplayers
• The Beach
• Newport Beach Public Library
• Running Around Lake Hollingsworth
• Tailgating at Candlestick
• Life before Twitter existed
• The Bethel Bazaar
• Rock-n-Bowling
• John Cheng Cookies & Chicken Bar Thursday
• Red Steer
• Riding in the bed of a truck
• Skiing
• Gas costing less than $1.00

ponderings and emotions

• this giants/dodgers rivalry is back full force and I love that! and thankful we didn't get swept.
• I've recently discovered Bejeweled Blitz on the facebook. I'm beyond addicted. But yesterday as I was playing, I had to wonder if my addiction was simply because I'm so awesome at the game (which I am) or because the voice telling you "Go" and other stuff is eerily similar to the "Finish Him" voice on Mortal Kombat II. That was a great game. Many hours of my youth was spent on my Sega Genesis playing that before my mom took it away because it was "too violent" I'm still bitter about that. That bitterness rivals only my bitterness of giving away my original Nintendo and my bitterness of not getting to watch Casper in 8th grade because there were ghosts involved.
• I'm ready for the new job. though it really has been a bit nice to not do much. but it shall be nice to have a purpose...not A Purpose-Driven Life, but just living with purpose. Yeah, there's a big difference.
• ready for some new TV shows to start up. I'm going through some withdrawals.
• I've said it before, I'll say it again: I HATE THE DODGERS, but I love Vin Scully.
• went to Target the other day and saw that all the seasons of Alias were only $12.99 a piece. That was disheartening when I thought about the fact that you could get all the seasons for how much I paid for one and a half. The curse of tv on dvd addiction.
• I'm excited for fall to get here. When I was in Monterey a couple weeks ago, there was fog, I wore jeans and a sweatshirt, I ate soup, it was glorious. I'm over the upper 90s. Bring on the fall!

I opened the box.

my current addiction:

I've had it on my phone since the App became available but at work this week (when I couldn't handle hearing that damn Taylor Swift Love Story song one more time) I busted out the desktop version. And I'm hooked! The creating of stations is addicting. What artist will Pandora think sounds like this artist? It's like the yahoo radio I used so much in college that I literally ran out of hours per month that the free radio allowed. But this is better. Individual stations! And then I discovered the Quickmix option! I now understand why it's called Pandora. Once you open it...

p.s. apparently you can have friends on it too. anyone got pandora and want to be friends?

Thunder!

I went for a walk with a coworker on the nature trail at work today. On it, we passed under a big thundercloud just as it made a HUGE thunderclap. And I got all giddy. Then, it started raining a bit. And my giddiness continued. No lightning this time. But....the thunder and lightning season is here! Wahoo!
p.s. Don't be confused, I was actually extremely disappointed to live in Florida for 9 months and not get to experience an actual hurricane. I'm weird like that.

random ramblings and observations

• I am a deranged individual at times, I know this. I can't help laughing and rewatching when someone gets hit by a vehicle on TV or in a movie. And then last week, it almost happened in real life. I was driving home from work and this old man was jaywalking across the road and he didn't see me coming. Luckily, I saw him and slowed to a stop. As I stopped, he finally noticed me and started old man running to get past me - and into the next lane of traffic with another oncoming car. Luckily, the oncoming car was able to stop in time but literally I was seconds away from seeing an old man get hit by a car. And that's when it hit me that it is actually a great fear of mine to see it happen in real life. Maybe that's why I like watching it so much, in hopes I'll never have to witness the real thing. But I really can watch Brad Pitt get hit in Meet Joe Black over and over and over again.
• It is Halloween on Friday. I don't really care about Halloween. What I do care about is the fact that it means that November is this week which means we're really really close to 2009. And that scares me a bit.
• What also scares me a bit is something my friend Jo and I realized yesterday. Next Presidential election, I'll be 30. That scares the crap out of me (along with who knows what is going to happen between then and now)
• I've been over the election for a good long time now. And I haven't begun to peruse the handbook yet. All I know is this: NO on 2. and I'm thinking that the whole high speed railway plan doesn't sound that thought out or absolutely necessary.
• My friend recently posted this on her blog:

5. I've never seen any of the Back to the Future movies, Harry Potter movies, Lord of the Rings movies, Narnia movies, Star Trek movies (or shows), Indiana Jones movies, Matrix movies, Jurassic Park movies or Pirates of the Caribbean movies, nor do I have any inclining of a bit of desire to see them. My friend J might disassociate herself from me for that, but it is true.

I am the friend J that might disassociate and I'm here to say I shall not. I myself have never seen the Harry Potter films (or read the books), I could care less about the Pirates movies, have only seen the Star Trek movie with humpback whales in it (though am actually really excited about the new one. Call it the J.J. factor), hadn't seen the Indy movies until high school, read the Narnia books until right before the first movie came out, never read the Lord of the Rings books (but did find myself a willing participant in the awesomeness that was Trilogy Tuesday), and I only own the Matrix on VHS. But the one that hurts is Back to the Future. That's my true all time favorite/comfort trilogy. I love me some Star Wars...but sometimes you just need a little McFly (p.s. we're almost 6 years away from 2015...where's my hover board?!)

• I'm ashamed of myself as a baseball fan. It completely slipped my mind that the game was on last night. Granted, it was called on account of rain but still. I should have been watching.
• I watched an all day West Wing marathon yesterday. How I miss that show...it was season 3, a real good one. And it got me thinking about a post I did on xanga many moons ago about movie presidents. I still think Bill Pullman in ID4 is the coolest, with a Russian ass-kicking Harrison Ford in a close second, and Kevin Kline in Dave a ultra close third. But TV wise, it's tough to chose between President Bartlett and President Palmer. I still am campaigning for Tom Hanks to play a movie President. Someday my dream will come true.

Popped Culture: Music Edition

• Beyonce apparently learned nothing from the great Garth Brooks. Have you heard she's launching an "alternative personality" named Sasha Fierce. She's the personality that comes to life when Beyonce performs. Riiiiiiight. I'm sure she's no Chris Gains but I am sure this is just ridiculous. And I don't actually care much about Beyonce. Although her new song "If I were a Boy" has grown on me (though again, if she were a boy? Is Beyonce (Mrs. Jay - Z) really that unhappy as herself?)
• Oh JT. Are you for real? Have you heard he's retiring SexyBack? The song is a groovy good time that again grew on me. The title is a catchphrase that is kinda still relevant. I mean we all know what you're talking about when you say you're bringing sexy back (it's already been broughten. Oh what! sorry, that was lame) I actually wonder though, what does it mean to retire a song? I mean, I know that the song has surely made enough money to retire to Florida and live a happy life but is that what it does? What if it decides retirement is boring? Will it come back and REALLY bring SexyBack?
• I could care less about the new Guns and Roses album. But what is awesome is the fact that Dr Pepper offered free DP to EVERYONE in the band got its act together and actually finished the album this year. They actually did. Whether the DP challenge is what made it happen or not, still brilliant on the DP. Now, I get a free Dr Pepper. yum.

sigh

I just looked at the calendar and noticed the date: October 8. And do you know what thought crossed my mind?

"Hey, it's Matt Damon's birthday!"

And then I remembered what a loser I am...or more appropriately...what a loser I was in my late teens to have memorized such a thing. But lord knows I still love this guy.

Oh the blessings of the celebrity crush.

Happy Birthday Matt Damon

only in the valley

Heard today on my way to work. Note: Heard on multiple radio stations' traffic report.

"motorcycle vs. farm tractor collision"

in case you were wondering, there were injuries. only in the valley

old skool skillz

I was going through my storage unit and came across a box full of good ol VHS tapes. Among the treasures were a tape full of Series Finales (Full House, Boy Meets World, Dawson's Creek, etc)...episodes of Friends...Mel Gibson's 20/20 interview before Passion of the Christ...the Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn that we went to the taping for where Dave Grohl ran through the audience and touched my hand and you can hear me, Becca Wemple, and Ryan McCray yelling "We love you Dave" and we discovered you could hear us on the version that made its way to Napster (like I said, old skool)...and others.

The gold amongst the treasures? Videos I had edited in college. One, was for Small Group Leadership in which I got Murr-Dogg to do a Pert Plus commercial. I'm still a legend for pulling that one off. The second, my awesome 3 minute video on procrastination set to dc Talk's "time is ticking away" Word. I rewatched. I smiled. If I knew how to put the VHS to this site, I would. But I was only TV Film for 2 years...probably better I made the Comm Studies switch...especially as evidenced by my skillz of editing.

random rambles from the weekend

• PTL-it is fall officially! I love me some autumn time. I used my heater in my car for the first time on Saturday night (my A/C doesn't work but my heater is a stallion!)


• Speaking of my car...Tomas de la Cruz just passed into the 200,000 mile club. Appropriately, it was on a trip to visit a dear friend from the VUSC whom got to participate in the picture taking cermony in Fres-hole.

• Speaking of a dear friend from the VUSC, I got to hang out with Bri this weekend! It wasn't for a huge amount of time, but it was worth the drive for sure :)


• Speaking of a dear friend from the VUSC, I ended up driving up to Sacramento and seeing Gmar & Jamal on the same day I left Oakhurst. We went and saw The Dark Knight on the IMAX and it was absolutely AMAZING!!!! Third time seeing the movie, first IMAX. Seriously, if you can, you should. You really do feel like you are on top of the buildlings with Batman.


• Speaking of Batman (and its utter awesomeness), I figured something out while watching it this time. Remember the Snickers commercial from back in the day...the one where the guy says "I am Batman!" I used to quote it on end...hadn't really put together that it was actually from the comic and thus real. Though I suppose it's also along the "I am Spartacus" line...


• Speaking of "I am Spartacus", the film That Thing You Do! is one of those I could watch over and over.


• Speaking of That Thing You Do! , good to see Tom Hanks last night at the Emmys, bad hair/glasses and all. I still adamantly believe that he should be our next President in a film.


• Speaking of the Emmys, I really enjoyed them this year...besides the painfully real awkwardness of the opening bit. Add that with Oprah and I thought it equal a terrible evening, but it redeemed itself for the most part. If anything, the combination of two paper company regional managers redeemed the whole thing. I literally laughed til I cried with Ricky Gervais and Steve Carrell (who never said a single word and never broke face. Dear Lord, that's talent!)


• Speaking of Steve Carrell, The Office is BACK! along with HIMYM, Heroes, and a little show I like to call Greys. It's a full week, but this whole DVR thing is rockin'