This just made my weekend

i've moved!

ive gone to wordpress! just need to iron out all the kinks, but im pleased so far (depending on how big your screen is, my formatting is either perfect or horrendous. arggh someone teach me css!)

http://rightmindleftcoast.wordpress.com

i love that surly lump!

Val just sent me this ecard:

ha! yeah, right.

my sister, on my 1 year review: your bonus or ours :)

states of emergency

whoa, and the fires are still raging.

according to the nytimes, in the past two weeks, there have been 40 lightning-sparked wildfires that have charred 49,000 acres (76+ square miles). this is crazy. yesterday, 1,450 fires were reported contained, but there were 320+ still raging. the sierra nevada foothills are burning, the central valley is a smoky mess, big sur is in danger... is this typical?

the mid-atlantic gets so humid this time of year, it's hard to imagine anything like this in dc or the tristate area. norcal is so dry though - it's actually one of the things i dont like about the state. sure, parts of it are gorgeous, and im a sucker for the drive down 92 into half moon bay and rte 1, but a lot of the bay is just a lot of brown (okay, amber on a good day). there's just so much brush, and with 2008 boasting the driest March and April in California on record (ever), it's incredibly concerning. just a few weeks ago, the governator declared an emergency draught, and there've been questions over whether or not we have adequate equipment and personnel to fight all the fires (scoops told me yesterday she's thinking of becoming a forest firefighter next summer, which sounds incredible. and incredibly necessary)...

so what can we do? im all for water conservation / energy conservation / recycling... but i fear it's all too little, too late. california is burning while the midwest is flooded. the mississippi was at 29 ft, spilling over into Iowa, Missouri and Illinois (am i forgetting anyone). global warming, anyone? god, i hope g bushie saw wall-e.

compare and contrast.

*****

here's an interesting tidbit brittany just sent me: http://www.sacbee.com/378/story/1066675.html

maybe things arent so bad after all?

have i really not posted this yet??

for some reason i thought id posted this on at least one of the blogs! or maybe i just sent it to everyone i knew. oh well.

my latest obsession (besides the bachelorette and her beautiful boys):



how ridiculous is that dance? i love the part around the 1:25 mark, it's just brilliant. granted, the dance is a little... primal... but something about it just works. and damn, do chelsie and mark sell the thing. if this were america's best dance crew, little mama'd be yelling they "stabbed the chicken in the heart!!" (translation: they killed it!!)

oh, and there's actually an 8 min clip of the entire segment. completely worth checking out for getting to see chelsie totally tomboy it up. yum.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_d8nWIqxo0U

i think because im currently incapable of doing anything other than hobbling, i have an [even] bigger affinity for dance shows than usual.

here's the empeethree: leona lewis - bleeding love

oh, and cause it's wednesday, here's a cover, too: mystery jets - bleeding love (leona lewis cover)

my dad, in a nutshell.

today, on gchat:

me: hi daddy
Joseph: hi alex
me: i just asked the guy who works at the salad place out and it was so awkward
Joseph: why did you do that?
me: why not? he's cute
Joseph: but isn't he the wrong gender?
(some pause)
me: cute is not a gender
(more pause)
Joseph: be careful who you go out with.

i love my father.

Half priced wine night and ABC magic

Deanna chooses JESSE!!

millions of girls (like me) rejoice! the poor guy was so nervous meeting her family, but it was pretty clear that she really liked him (and was visibly upset when her father and sister werent jumping on the jesse train). jason clicked with the relatives, but i think the whole pre-made family thing was a little much. more than that, though, she never smiled at him the way she did at jesse.

is it ridiculous of me to hope these two last?

ps. last night rocked. julia bell, sabrina (new penn friend via alice) and i went to solstice, on california and divisadero, and we pigged out on delicious raspberry (i still cant believe there's a p in that word!) mojitos, edamame, yummy sliders and carnitas tacos! oh, and a bottle of Sauvignon Republic Cellars' 2006 Sauvignon Blanc. half price wine night will be the death of me.

the plan was to bring the bottle home, but we managed to finish it off in no time... headed back to sabrina's (they walked, i stumbled) where christina (awesome googler) met us. three glasses of red wine and a choc chip muffin later, deanna chose jesse, i was elated, we were all pretty buzzed, and julia had to drive herself home once christina dropped us off at my place (thanks, both of you).

ooh and i finally got to see julia's apt (super cute, just like her roommate!...i think. my vision was slightly impaired) and then went home to pick up my rent check and then drop it off in soma. after circling howard and 9th five times, i finally found the office and dropped off the check. then went back home, where i then proceeded to drunk dial the east coast (sorry!) and pass out at like 12 30. im not surprised i overslept this morning.

the verdict: raspberry mojitos are delicious, but five glasses of wine afterwards are probably unnecessary. oh, and girls' nights rock.

the final countdown!

the bachelorette finale is tonight!!

also, i cant believe i didnt realize one of my fave songs of late is actually a boss cover.

florence and the machines - im going down
some have likened florence welch to kate nash, but i beg to differ. i like nash, but there's something welch that just makes her infectious.

jesse vs jason?

somehow between moving to california and trying to carve out some quality downtime, i caught an episode of the bachelorette. and i liked it. a lot.

here's why:

deanna - she knows what it's like to be rejected, and the girl is incredibly down to earth, funny, and gorgeous. sure, she's only 26 and has it in her mind that she must get married asap, but at least she knows what she wants and has the guns to stick to it. id call her witty, but there were some bloopers after monday's tell all that would downplay that compliment, so let's just say she's goofy - totally that hot girl next door who is nothing but honest about what she wants, but knows how to have a good time. i also think it's a testament to her seriousness about things that she's kept jesse around so long. she's said repeatedly that he isnt the type of guy she usually goes for, but she's realized that that doesnt matter. he keeps making her happy, and ive got to say, it makes for great television.

jesse - pro snowboarder; goofy and spontaneous; first her friend, then more; totally down to earth; pretty adorable (though not as obviously gorgeous as some of the other dudes, he exudes confidence); he didnt kiss her early on like the rest of the guys - he took his time and made sure they both felt the same way; he also knows their lives are very different - on their exotic date, he made sure to bring up his long term plans, and talk about how deanna would fit into his life. he's obviously grown up a lot over the course of the show, and his feelings seem truly genuine. im crossing my fingers for him.

Jason - nice guy; infectious smile; responsible dad... i totally didnt expect him to make it this far. he's really sweet, but i just wasnt sure the connection was there with deanna. apparently i was wrong. like jeremy, he's pretty perfect on paper. deanna would definitely have stability and trust, but she'd also be thrown into the position of stepmother. she wants to be a young mom, but does she want to walk into that role right now?

it's funny, deanna has made some really interesting (but probably very smart) choices this season. she had major heat with graham, but knew if he couldnt open up, it wasnt going to work the way she wanted it to. then, jeremy was probably the perfect man, but she made a really respectable decision when she told him that she couldnt confuse the bond they had for losing a parent / parents with love. it was surprising to see her act with such maturity and clarity of mind - the woman knows what she wants, and while she loves romance and all, she's smart enough to know what works and what doesnt.

that being said, that quality could work for and against both remaining suiters. deanna obviously worries about jesse's job and how she'd fit into his life. she wants someone serious, and he didnt initially give her that impression. however, i think he did a great job of showing her how grown up he is - as he told her, he's no longer 15, he's 26, and he wants to settle down. he even told her that once everything was over, she'd better be ready to get married, because that's what he wanted. he seems like a great guy, and im rooting for him. just a little nervous about the finale, though - it seems like the visit with her big fat greek family is more than a little awkwaaaard....

jason has a good shot, too. he's a ton of fun, and she really seems to get along well with him. to be honest, though, she seems more into jesse. she and jason had a good time on their date, but the vibe seemed to be much less serious. i think going into the finale, deanna needs to decide a few things: is she ready to be a stepmother and is jesse mature enough to be in a relationship like what she wants? and which is going to be the dealbreaker?

oooh i cant wait for monday!

p.s. i friended deanna pappas on facebook and told her she rocked.
friend status: still pending.
my status: creep.

filling in the blanks...

ooh one more!

port o brien remind me of mgmt and tilly and all those bands that just make me happy with their raucous stomping and singalongs.

port o brien i woke up today

sunset rubdown on repeat

spencer krug and his boys in sunset rubdown are just incredible. through all the cacauphony, they just have this way of producing something utterly beautiful and intelligent and fulfilling.

from their debut, shut up i am dreaming, us ones in between

their newest album, random spirit lover is just as complex and soothing. more mp3s to come, thanks to mediafire.com (screw you, fileden!)

because i cant find the cord to connect my digital camera to my computer, this'll do for now.

the grates.

not quite as immediately catchy as say, mates of state or tilly and the wall (both with new albums! team wooo!), but wait till the chorus. it's insane.

the final countdown....

surgery in 6 hours!!!

twinkies and bananas...

shelley su, wix, courtney and i have created the internet's newest masterpiece: chopstickmafia.wordpress.com

it'll blow your mind, i swear (and gosh, itd be nice to have more ppl comment than just the four of us!)

...............................................................................

Santa Cruz last weekend for CalStates. you know youre not in the east coast ultimate scene anymore when the teams in semis are Fury, Riot and the team's representing Great Britain and Canada at world's in August. Finals were Fury v Canada; good game but those canucks didnt stand a chance. gorgeous weather though, the discovery of the BEST falafel this side of the schukyll, and a bit of a sunburn (i may or may not look like a lobster now). Had such a blast with SlackJaw - so much talent on the team, it's fantastic to watch. the girls are so great, too. not being able to play is always a bummer, but i still love being on the sidelines for the team.

hmm more later.

i know it's wrong, but i cant help myself

i am not a reader of celebrity gossip sites. nonetheless, every once in a while, i do google "lindsay lohan samantha ronson" just to see what turns up. a girl can dream, right?

all i know is: the paparazzi are incredible. it's hard to believe people like that actually exist. all that gossip and craziness aside, though, itd be nice if the two were more than just friends.

priceless.

cwang discovers the joys of jenny lewis and colin meloy.

5:37 PM
Courtney:
i feel like that time i realized i liked girls
i like indie music
it's kind of life changing

bay to breakers, baby

drunk before 9 am. ridiculous.

how genius is this:















living on hayes has it's advantages. more to come later.

hello, ultimate celebrity!

conversation from last night:

girl we just met: i went to carlton
judy: oh, did you know anyone who played ultimate?
girl (way too casually): oh, i knew miranda roth
me: whoa, you just said that way too casually!
judy: who?
me: jimmy! tell judy who miranda roth is!
jimmy: miranda roth??? oh!!! she's from sex and the city, right??

shelley su, which is most like you?

compare and contrast:

stuff asian people like

stuff white people like

...after a quick cursory glance at the first site, i may in fact be as white as i think i am. and far less asian than all my friends are convinced i am. ha!

i wonder if dim sum is on either list...

odds n ends

music: sam sparro's black and gold / estelle's american boy / the 1900's georgia / the rosebuds' shake our tree, erzi arvizu's windows of dreams (fileden has apparently suspended my account, but no worries: muxtape to the rescue!): thewingsarewide.muxtape.com



the weekend: apparently one does not need an acl to wakeboard! spent saturday on the boat with juder and the roommates; had a blast. cruising down the delta drinking miller lights and working on my tan - i really cant complain. havent wakeboarded since that one time when i worked at camp at the american club (stars and stripes, baby!) and we took the five year olds out. i remember it being impossible to get up, but this time, i stood up immediately, and was able to ride for a while. had such a blast, and really want to go again before surgery. oh man, such a workout, though. i think i pulled my forearm muscles. been reading up on wakeboarding conditioning, and apparently it's an incredible workout. just started doing some more core stuff at the gym. if i cant run, i can at least focus on my core / building arm and leg strength.



paper: recently finished pride and prejudice for the first time. i dont know why, but every time ive tried to read it in the past, ive been bored senseless. maybe now that i've enjoyed the adaptations and can better understand the story, i was able to really appreciate it. in other news, theyre remaking brideshead revisited. it's one of tommy's favorites, and he gave it to me for graduation. we tried watching the bbc miniseries, but it was a little slow. the new version stars matthew goode (LOVE him: imagine me & you!, match point), but it seems to be playing up the relationship b/w ryder (our protagonist) and julia (his best friend's sister) way too much. whatever happened to the ridiculously homoerotic relationship b/w him and sebastian? should be interesting nonetheless.

other: judy found a place - scott and page!! and the delicious sandwich place is perfectly located right between us. ahh a sandwich syzygy!
my car - has arrived! to be picked up sat!
the frida exhibit is coming to the sf moma! i misssed it when it was back in philly, so glad it migrated westward. hope the same happens with bodyworks, which was showing in md when i left.

hmm that's all for now.

santogold!!

her debut drops on downtown records the 29th!

and it's currently available via mtvU. i admit the comparison to MIA is relatively accurate, but i personally think she's better. maya's first album was great, but I couldnt get into kala. santogold rocks, though. check her out live on youtube. "shove it" is almost perfect.

santogold- Les Artistes [XXXchange Remix]

i rarely buy cds these days, but i think i might just preorder this one.

im not a doctor, but...

so i got a copy of my MRI last night, and tried to self diagnose. my verdict: no acl. then, today, i got a call from the wonderful Dr Allen at the UCSF med center. turns out i read my MRI correctly: no ACL to speak of. everything else - PCL, meniscus, etc - looks great, thank god.

but not gonna lie, im a little proud of myself and my detective work...

an mri of a nomal knee:

my knee:

Yup, nothing connecting those two bonesies.

A Symmetry of Sorts (just my luck)

number 2.
well, this is slightly unfortunate.

No MRI yet but Dr. Allen (recommended by a Fury with two bionic knees) is pretty confident my ACL in my left (ie, the knee formerly known as "the good one") is completely non-existent. i asked for surgery tomorrow, but apparently that's pushing it. swelling has gone down a lot, though. i can even do squats, and i have almost full range of motion. i might not even need pre-op PT .... most likely scheduling surgery for the week of May 5.

ACL's and women: how crazy is it that, phsyiologically, women are so much more at risk for knee injury? you never hear about guys tearing their ACL's while cutting or landing - it's usually due to a tackle or direct hit. not gonna lie, im a little jealous right now.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9800EFDC1E3EF935A35755C0A9629C8B63

http://www.orthopodsurgeon.com/aclinwomen.html

ouch, my knee.

i was so excited for the next few weeks: fury tryouts this past weekend, then the triple hit next week with zeitgeist and slackjaw on sat and mayhem on sunday...

fury is sort of a shot in the dark, but it was really nice to be invited. practicing with them yesterday was great. i played okay, got tired way too fast though and started making some mistakes. i realized just how incredibly out of shape i am. by our second drill, i was dying. and trying to be an active cutter in the scrimmage was slightly painful. learned a ton, though. their coach matty is the perfect complement to their team. sort of soft-spoken and kind, and a really good teacher. the girls are great. there were about ten furies, and then ten of us tryouts. saw lots of familiar faces with the tryouts (decided i love playing with hammer and lyrica [ex-godiva, great handler]) and some new ones. tons of talent. did a lot of d stuff, which was great. worked on forcing your runner into certain lanes, and really positioning yourself smartly. realized i severely need to work on my break throws, but maybe this is the season for it, seeing as about three fourths of the way through practice, we were running a d drill, and i was on o with nancy sun (ex-brute handler, just moved out here) guarding me. i cut hard in, then out, then went to turn and cut hard in, and when i planted my left foot, i heard a massive popping and it felt like i had pulled something out of its socket. i didnt scream (for once) or even fall, just sort of stopped and tried to keep going but couldnt support myself. spent the last half hour of practice icing, cheering, and trying to remain optimistic.

things werent much better this morning. hurt a lot when i woke up, big time swollen, and pain trying to bend it. went to tryouts again and just watched. threw a little in the beginning and tried to move a little, but had absolutely no stability, only lots of pain and buckling. fantastic.

ended up telling fury that if my knee isnt serious, id consider being a practice player. honestly, even if i were healthy, im not sure id be good even for even that (or whether id really want to if i were able to make other teams and actually play tournaments with them). but it'd be insane to even practice with them. i love the intensity with which they play, and i think id just learn a ton...

that's the thing that's so frustrating about being hurt right now. honestly, if i cant play frisbee this season, it's going to make settling into sf a lot harder. more that that, though, ive yet to play a real club season. two years ago with bnogo i tore my acl in my right knee. then last year, loose cannon didnt practice. so in some ways, i havent really improved since junior year. id really like to just play a freaking club season and work on my game. there's so much i want to focus on - my defense, my cuts, and god, my fakes and break marks...

but whatever happens, ill deal with it.
i mean, hard cut. field sport. woman. loud pop. instability and inability to turn or support my weight in any direction but forward... textbook acl, huh?

im just hoping i can get a doctor's appt for this week...

family reunion!!!

fools west followed by fools fest.

last weekend was in santa cruz for fools west.
gorgeous fields overlooking the city and Monterey Bay...

Drove out with some awesome slackjaw girls, and split time with them and some zeitgeist kids. had some great games with both - the teams were so different but so much fun. slackjaw was mostly kids my age - recent grads from berkeley, stanford and davis - and the team was pretty big. bomb squad was with melanie and hammer and some zg / fury / godiva girls, and i had such a good time playing with them. both teams mostly rolled the competition, but the hardest game of the day came with slackjaw against downtown brown - a whole team of asians(!!!) and a whole lotta squirrelliness. talk about pain.
got a call the movers would be coming sunday and had to leave sat afternoon and go back to sf, so i missed the rest of the tourney. despite losing by a large margin to dtb on saturday, slackjaw came back against them on sunday and won the tourney! just wish id been there to help out!

sunday was insane with the movers (i'll save that for a whole different post.) but the week flew by and before i knew it, i was banking in van pelt on a thursday afternoon (see previous post). friday - sun morning i was in fredericksburg for fools with the surrogate fam.

some highlights:

seeing everyone i love one last time!
playing with dk again
my favorite asian showing up saturday morning, wasted and ready to kick some ass!
rachel shah
my sister actually showing up. and actually playing (sort of!)
me forgetting to explain the rules to her
going (mostly) undefeated
mae aptly renaming our team "alex united" (how vain is it that i kind of liked it?)
attempting to convince everyone i love to move to the west coast (you're next!)
flip cup!
dance parties with awkward lesbian acquaintences
surprise propositions
rachel shah in hooker heels from target looking gorgeous
clayton telling rachel shah in hooker heels from target that she looked gorgeous
drunk kim krietner
playing a few points with billy!
amanda davis amanda davis amanda davis
a gazillion loose cannonites on one field!
recruiting women to play loose cannon despite not being on the team at all anymore
playing with swat (instead of against them)
lectures from marie (who really does know me better than anyone)
drunk venutians
convincing drunk venutians that women's is soooo much better than coed
sleeping in with the bean
the bean

a fitting tune:

all my friends

and another that just makes me smile. i cant get this song out of my head!
in the night

throwback, baby

sitting in the big chairs at van pelt right now, doing work and watching the kiddies on locust walk. crazy, right?

not much has changed: went to metropolitan for breakfast with jude (nothing new there: crappy service, high prices, but addictive nonetheless. even the granola is the same - im still not that fond of the blueberry addition, but whatever). both jazzy and rachel came by vp earlier and it was great. lots of laughs and giggles. im seeing half familiar faces and slipping into college anonymity. the tabard girls are still outside, though they seem to have relocated on college green. im getting my hair cut at saturn club in an hour, and dreaming of magic carpet for lunch. funny how nice and comfortable it is to slip into familiarity. the only thing really different right now is, im doing actual work and not just stealing people's music, and i live all the way across the country.

old people are mean

this morning an old man yelled at me in public.

i had to wait for three buses this morning, because they were all so packed. finally, i get on and there's a seat close to the driver. i had a big duffel bc im leaving from the office for the airport tonight, and i sat down so i didnt end up blocking the pathway with my giant bag. well, it's hillary's birthday (hello, new reader!) so we were chatting (quietly) during most of the ride. when i got on the bus, it wasnt too packed, but by the time we made it to the financial district, it was pretty busy. once or twice, i thought about standing to let someone else sit, but no one old really came on, and it was pretty much impossible to move with my duffel by my feet.

so anyway, i get off the phone, and by this time the bus has started to clear up a bit. there was a man standing near me, with a backback and some photo equipment, and he was prob in his early 40's. across from me was an elderly black gentleman and surrounding us on the seats were girls who were all about my age. all of a sudden, this old guy is like, "cant you read?!?" and proceeds to yell at me and say that i should have gotten up for the guy with the backpack, and i was rude and doing something illegal. i was like, excuse me, but i always get up for people, and i would have this morning, but it was really packed and i had a big bag. he was a real asshole and basically yelled back, telling me i was lying and just doing what i wanted. it was ridiculous. he basically singled me out among a group of young people to yell at me for something i wasnt really guilty of.

on the upside, everyone else thought he was a cranky old ass. the man with the cameras was like, im sorry, i didnt even know i was a senior! dont even worry about it.... and then this girl i always see got off and said the same thing. i mean, the dude was like 40 and the bus was packed when he got on - he was young, and there was no real way to move and he was pretty surprised when this old guy yelled at me. i was really annoyed but decided it was better to be very nice than snooty. when i got off the bus, the old man was like, have a nice day, and i made sure to say it back very sweetly. asshole.

one of the girls i ride with a lot says this sort of thing happens all the time. god, i love when old people lecture you in public places.

this is the second time it's happened in the recent past, too! i feel like im a really considerate person, and it's sort of disheartening when ppl are unnecessarily mean to you.

i was at o'hare in mid march, on my way out here, and a similar incident occured in the women's restroom. i was waiting for a stall, and one opened, and when i went in, my first thought was, ew, what's with all this paper? that girl who just walked out didnt flush. i didnt call her out on it though (yeah, it's uncool, but im not going to make a big stink), and just flushed it myself. but the toilet was crappy (the pun!), and the seat cover wouldnt flush all the way, so i realized it wasnt actually her fault. i proceed to go pee, flush, and have the same thing happen to me - the seat cover didnt go down. there wasnt much i could do, and i didnt want to clog the darn thing, so i just opened the stall and walked out.

this older black woman was at the front of the line, and started to walk in after me, when i hear "aw now come on!! young lady, you're disgusting, cant you flush?"

the bathroom was pretty full, and everyone heard, so i was really embarrased. i walked back, and was like, ma'am, i did flush! the toilet isnt working well and doesnt flush any more that that! i walked back into the stall, hit the lever, and reiterated that that was as far as it would go. she realized her mistakem and only then did she apologize - and was actually nice about it. still, i was super embarassed - i couldnt believe she'd actually called me out on that.

seriously, all you cranky old people out there who get off on yelling at minors: not everyone a third your age is a hooligan. some of us are nice people who do their best to be considerate of others, including strangers. age is no excuse for being mean.

sir (dame?) mix-a-lot

bay area women's mixer last sat. or two saturdays ago, i guess.

50+ women on the stanford fields where i threw with tommy this summer
four teams: fury, zeitgeist, slackjaw and mayhem
tons of talent
killer weather
im apparently allergic to the grass in the far left corner of the field (i was lil miss sneezy for a while. real hot when youre trying to prove yourself but youre all drippy and stuffed up)
four 20 min drills, each run by a team, then two hours of pickup
so very out of shape
really need to buy a new knee brace (rsd, why couldnt you find me my lost one?? oh the abyss that is sarasota!)
got to play a little with melanie (woohoo! she's looking really good, too. she seems nervous about zG's whole team - tryout deal, but i really dont think she needs to worry.)
met some really cool girls, including my cousin yael's best friend from law school (who captained fury last year. yeah, seriously)
really really excited to be playing ultimate here.
and absolutely terrified at how this whole thing works here.

four teams. four tryout schedules. who knows how many spots there are, and a gazillion girls going out for them. it's intense / i need to get back in shape and start throwing. a lot. im excited, though, the women seem really friendly, and i think no matter where i end up, im going to have fun and learn a lot... we'll see what happens. missing the tryout tourney (DUI april 5thish) could hurt a lot. i guess it's nice to not have to panic about running between teams, but still, it hurts that they arent seeing me play. i think if i were here, id prob try to play mostly with zG and fury, and then a little with slackjaw. though i just met the girl running mayhem and she's awesome. ive heard so many good things about the mayhem leadership, it makes me wonder. it might be really nice to be part of something new, too... oh! and the other mayhem captain is an old isis player. ive heard lots of good things about her, too, but somehow we've never crossed paths...)

ive rambled for far too long.

a quick observation, though: it's incredible how diff the east and west coast are in terms of top / second teir teams. i feel like the difference between the best teams on the east coast (take backhoe for example. okay, maybe im thinking more of the mid atlantic here) and the not-so-good (you know, the ones that tell you no, you cant tryout and there's no more room for practice players, and then get bumped out the first two games of regionals while you proceed to go to nationals with the team that stomps them regularly...) is pretty huge, while out here, yeah, fury is incredible. but then, zG is a semis team, coming off just a year of existence. how sick is that? and then slackjaw, the third team, is full of a bunch of recent graduates who are really laid back and fun. they didnt make nationals, but theyre not so shabby either. played with them this past saturday at fool's west in santa cruz, and though we lost to them on the first day, they went on to beat downtown brown for the win on sunday. granted it was a fun tourney, but dtb = a gazillion squirrelly asians including some ridiculous fury / zG / safari players. and then, mayhem. being formed by an ex-fury player and a girl who took her coed team to win nationals their first year in existence.

i guess wherever i end up, ill be pretty happy. it's hard to handle the tryout process with finesse, esp bc i want to meet as many ppl as possible being new, but in the end, i just want to play ultimate competitively, and it like out here, there's a whole lotta that.

done and done.

last night was my first night in my new apartment!

apparently some of the new death cab has dropped.
for those interested: i will possess your heart

the final countdown

the movers come friday. my room is a mess. ive barely taken down all my posters; my clothes are all over the place; my belongings are in complete disarray.

i probably need to do something about that.

last weekend was a little insane. lots happened - none of it work related, for once - but still, it just made me think:

-james mcavoy is so englishly handsome
-some credit card companies are better than others - let's just say capitalone does not outsource to anywhere in the continental united states
-be careful driving in the rain. it only takes an inch and a half to hydroplane (a rhyme!)
-always wear your seatbelt (it still shocks me that some people dont)
-family, even if you havent seen them in a while, is still family. make an effort.
-sometimes people arent always what you think they are - i wish we'd spent more time with our cousins growing up. i think theyre probably far less jappy than i thought they were
-packing is hard
-not packing is easy

i need to stop procrastinating.

does anyone else think it's weird that when youre driving in a funeral party, youre supposed to just run all the red lights? how ironic is that?

tunes for you (all three of my devoted readers. mom, you out there?):
beat radio - elegy

oh, and major props to the standard tap for finding my wallet and keeping it intact!

moment on the lips, lifetime on the hips

dad met jude! and the world didnt implode!

ron, my dad, judy and i hung out a few weeks ago after i got back from sf. it was great - we did what the Chan's always do: talk about food, make fun of each other for being fat, be obnoxious, eat aforementioned food, and go to target.

luckily after months of spending time with me, jude was prepared to handle the ridiculousness / superficiality / all-around wackiness that can be my sister and i.

made a great little family dinner - italian sausage and grilled peppers and onions on warmed italian rolls and yummy salad with fresh avocados and a homemade rasberry / blackberry pie!
absolutely delicious. and reminded me of xmas/new years in pennington/yardley with our good family friends (and that one time where their daughter was eating leftover sausage by just wrapping it in a napkin and going at it popsicle-style).

finished off the night watching step up, which my father pretended not to like, but definitely joined us on the couch for, and then proceeded to ask, "is this that movie where.... ?" and gave us the entire plotline of save the last dance. seriously, he loves this stuff.

ooh also we tried this random place in hampden, rocket to venus. strange menu, but delicious balsamic-marinated brussel sprouts! followed that up with some cake love. the cake part of their cupcakes is always mediocre, but man that frosting! oh the buttercream! i highly recommend their pumpkin cake, too. moist moist moist!

soundtrack: battles - atlas

if this makes me white, im pretty sure shelley is, too

this is hilarious, and ridiculously accurate:

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/full-list-of-stuff-white-people-like/

im a proud fan of arrested development, indie music and breakfast places!
although i dont think ive ever had yellow fever.

anything else missing from this list?

according to katie motyka, only dumb ass white kids wear shorts in the winter.

who is your daddy and what does he do?

it's been crazy busy the past week, but last night around 1, JB, eddie, clint, ryan and i got a little antsy. after rocking out to 80's and 90's hits all night, we decided to mess with the early birds a bit. called ben at 1, and used a schwarzenneger voice program we found on ebaums world to mess with him. "im arnold schwarzenneger; who are you?" hilarious. "stop whining!" and when he hung up on us for the 2nd time, we left a nice voicemail "you son of a bitch!"

our theme song: Rick Astley - Never gonna give you up

feeling antsy!

it's going to be a very very busy next few days.

bouncing at my desk to cannonball jane's Take it to Fantastic (the Ad Rock Remix).

wednesdays rock!

such a good morning!

Jukebox the Ghost -Hold It In

dont even try to tell me this song doesnt make you smile.

song of the day

bats for lashes' cover of springsteen's "Im On Fire"

applies to a different context, perhaps, but im going stircrazy at my desk right now. courtney just picked up jude at the truck stop for me (thankyouthankyouthankyou) and im waiting on the west coast now.... need. to. escape.

the golden gate and oscar night!

ohmygod! Freeheld won an oscar! this is huge.
http://www.freeheld.com/

i forgot how much i love the academy awards. cant wait to peruse the red carpet pics later. still have yet to see no country for old men - and it looks so freaking good! im glad javier bardem won. and it's awesome that marion cotillard won for la vie en rose.

more later.

now is later - waiting for feedback from san fran.

did i mention jimmy and i ran like 6 miles on sunday?
we're both incredibly out of shape (we both seem to weigh more than we ever have before. ever) and were thus dreading exercise, but somehow, when we hit the pavement at the marina, it just worked. took it nice and easy along the beach, then muscled it up the stairs. jimmy pulled ahead when we hit the bridge, but we both made it to the first [tier?] of the golden gate. walked back about half a mile, and then i dont know, we just started running again. booked it pretty fast on the way back, and it felt amazing. im definitely still feeling it in my right glute, though. =)

follwed the run up with a delicious dinner cooked by jimmy and then michael clayton on demand. good movie. i liked that there wasnt actually any real violence. well, unless you count the car being blown up or tom wilkinson getting murdered. interesting to see tilda swanton in the role that won her an oscar that night. lots of restraint, really impressive job, but i can see why she was so surprised to have won. the movie was clooney's, and if anyone else stood out, id have gone with wilkinson.

indie kids do dance

i think im going to love this city.

sitting at a coffee shop in the mission across from delores park with melanie and dan and listening to gillian welch below the buzz of the conversations around us. the place is packed and it smells like french toast, and i cant wait to go across the street and try the infamous ice cream at Bi-rite. already im looking forward to trying their salted caramel.

last night jimmy and i partied soma style with a bunch of googlers. had such a blast. his friend lives in soma, and aside from feeling like we might stumble upon a body stashed down an alley somewhere, it was pretty cool. killer loft with industrial flooring and lots of steel. im definitely a fan of the look (odd, because it is sort of cold - the kind of place that cries for a vintage worn brown leather couch or something ), and i like the idea of lofts. i think spending most of my adult life in apartments has made me appreciate them, but there's something about the idea of a flat with stairs that i just love. i semi remember our place in hong kong back in kindergarten had stairs in it. i like the safety and views and ease of apartments, but i also like how different floors separate common / living spaces.

anyway lots of google kids there, some familiar faces and some not. seems like i keep running into penn kids, though. funny. and met a kid who lived in kenya and then jakarta for a little while. i sort of like all these odd connections.

went to the dna lounge for this crazy good party - bootie or something. sick mash ups and a britney / kelly danceoff in drag at midnight. danced danced danced all night long, and random kids we knew kept arriving. definitely a different scene than id have expected most googlers to like. it was great. lots of crazy ppl wearing random ass goth stuff and weird shit, i blended nicely in my giant furry hooded vest. some awesome mash ups that im going to have to find a way to steal and post up here. for now, check out bootieusa.com. the amy winehouse mashes are pretty sick.

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just realized i never posted this.
for the record, the salted caramel rocked.

rainy day in the bay area

ick. it's very very wet here. and not in a good way.

highlights of the day, however:

1. writing lists like the omf. theyre just so efficient!

2. ordering a stationary bike up to my room and watching she's the man while working out in the tiny space that is corporate housing (if you thought my room smelled funny before, i just made it so much worse. also, amanda bynes rocks. so so much. i really need to stop watching that movie. and why does no one ever mistake her for a butchie?!? there's this whole subtext in that movie that someone needs to explore.)

3. meeting heide, jude's friend from vassar. she's doing americore in san diego, and is here visiting one of her (seven!!) siblings. anyway judy e-troduced us, and we got together this morning to check out the free jam and tapenades at pier 1, drink tea in a faux tea house, talk food stamps (there are debit-like cards - very discreet!) and agree on how all around spectacular a certain former vassarite is.

4. navigating the bus system to make my way to jimmy's. there was a chinese new years parade today, and maybe that's why the zhong ren were out in full force. seriously, ive never been on a bus with that many cantonese speakers in my life (except when i lived in china, i guess...). it was like getting on a bus in west philly. except, you know... oh! but man, these hills! it's terrifying! im going to get killer ripped from gripping the straps while i try to maintain my balance all the way to jimmy's

5. making chinese food with jimmy. havent made ma pou dou fu (spicy tofu / pork) in years. it's so easy. but i may have gone overboard with the red bean chili paste. jimmy and i are going to be sweating garlic and ginger hardcore tonight. we'll pretend it's in honor of chinese new years. the recipe, if youre interested:

approx 1 ib of ground pork (feel free to use turkey. or skip it alltogether. but pork works best)
garlic (however much youre comfortable wiht. in my case, less is more)
ginger (lots!)
two things of extra firm tofu (delicious!)
a jar of spicy red bean chili paste (i think that's what it's called)

mince the garlic, ginger, throw it in a wok and brown the pork in there. add half the jar of chili sauce (we added the whole jar. that may have been a mistake) and then the tofu (dice it first!). mix it all up, let is cook for a while until the tofu's soft, and then let it sit for however long you want. eat it over rice! (of if you fear carbohydrates, salad)

6. jimmy singing in the shower. wait, that's not exactly a highlight. but we have been having fun trying to learn hey there delilah on the guitar. (okay, so it's more him learning and me singing along off-key, but still. i taught him the first few chords of blister in the sun. thanks, 7th grade guitar lessons!)

7. that's all i have for now. ooh! but last night rocked. chris, who i havent seen in like 7 years (except for that time in baltimore like a month ago), met jimmy and i at this super cool bar and had a blast. there were a gazillion boston googlers, and chris and i felt slightly out of place, so my solution: tell everyone we were from google kansas city. it was hilarious. we just told ppl we were a small but growing office and that "bandwidth is cheap out there!" okay so it was kind of an asshole move to lie to all these kids jimmy sort of knows, but it was still pretty amusing. the music was pretty good, too - we danced our pants off big time. forgot how fast jimmy can move. great to see chris, though.

oh! jimmy's out of the shower. go time!

i think im going to enjoy this

i found this entirely too entertaining. thanks, bill.

first quiet friday in forever

i have a blog!