Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Things feel a little better now, but this past week, not so much. For the love of Pete, this economy sucks. I got the news that I would not be getting the job I was half doing and applied for a few weeks ago. It's kinda complicated, as most things are in a bureaucratic setting, so I won't go into the whole scenario. Wouldn't put it past them to hire external over internal, although I don't know details yet. Such a wicked place. Very new experience for me, as where I used to work, I was promoted a bunch and felt rather valued. I've also never been so comfortable and uncomfortable in an interview. The comfortable part was just that I felt reasonably confident, but the uncomfy part -- can you please take the stick attached to the vacuum (with a new soul-suck setting) out of your ass and talk to me like someone you've met before? Could you ask questions directed at me, the human-like creature you work with? Stifling. I've always felt that way about UCLA Extension, but it was even more apparent in the interview process...especially in my corner, where the higher-ups send formal business emails about birthdays. Please do me a favor and un-clench. Please.

The day they broke up with me, I also got stuck in president traffic. Obama was in the busiest area of LA and they closed Wilshire Blvd. I was tooling around Westwood on a bus for 45 minutes, doing a couple y-turns, more than a little disconcerting on a bus in the middle of a neighborhood, before we got on the highway and went somewhere far from where I live. It only took me almost two hours to get home, shoulda taken 40 minutes. Was hungry and more than a little cranky. Then, the next morning, having no real honest desire to go to work, I hopped my bike, because there was a meeting I felt obligated to participate in (for the job I won't be doing anymore, uh-huh). Then, Wilshire was again closed for Obama for some undetermined amount of time. No detour specified, wait down the block until we say. Really? Sign from the verse not to go in that day, so I went along with it. Stayed home and freaked out.

So, other than having my salary cut in half (what's half of not much?), I'm happy not to have to go to the soul-sucking place as much. Where shall I go? What shall I do? I kinda like the adventure of it. Feeling a little bi-polar these days.

You know all those fun like, teenage emotions, like, you think you left behind you? I love it when they pop up again and you have to shove them back because you know better now. When someone breaks up with you, no matter in what context, the same things come up:

1) I hope the person they hire ends up being terrible/difficult and they regret not hiring me. or, I hope the next woman ends up being psycho and puts him through hell.

2) In a very short time, I'd like to get back to them with my mounds of money and fame and tell them I'm so glad they passed me over and they can stick their soul-suck vacuum somewhere else. or, I hope my hot new boyfriend is busy worshipping the ground I walk on when I run into the guy that broke up with me.

3) You can't believe they beat you to the break-up. The rejection is terrible even though you never liked them much and didn't see it going anywhere. YOU'RE breaking up with ME?????

Poppies

I visted the California Poppie Reserve last weekend, quite a spectacle. For a few weeks each springtime, you see things like this:

Cheese

Although definitely not the type of festival I'm used to in Milwaukee, it was amusing to attend "The Grilled Cheese Festival" in downtown LA this weekend. We ate cheese and various other stuff grilled on various breads, all good. The entertainment included a cheese calling contest, which of course I was fascinated by, never having heard of such a thing in my native land. The nature of the contest varied from lame to surprising. Some people just called cheese like they'd call their dog, "Here gouda gouda gouda, c'mon gouda", the winner dedicated it to her boyfriend Jack and just yelled Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack as long as her breath lasted, along with a few gyrations, and then said at the end "I love you, baby". Good laugh. The slogan for the event was "Bread-Butter-Cheese-Victory!" Great on a t-shirt.

Miss you mom and dad! Was nice to have them close for a couple months out here. Was driving one day after they left thinking "I'll stop over to see them!", and the thought made me happy, but alas, it would have been a long drive......

Ovulation

In backward chronological order:

Earthquake. No, earthshift. No, earthnausea. I just felt my third earthquake....totally weird, really slow, amost circular, felt dizzy the whole time. It lasted probably just under a minute? Did anyone see 2012? You should see what they did to Santa Monica in that movie. Yikes. From what I can tell in my brief online search, perhaps we felt the effects of a 6.9 in Baja CA? Dunno. Seems there are a few going on down that way according to the USGS.
Favorite almost quote from a cheesy movie of the day: "I told you honey, we should move back to Wisconsin!" (said by a Manhattan Beach woman to her husband after feeling an earthquake in 2012) I can't help but watch a cheesy disaster movie if it has John Cusack to boot.

Moving. Love that my friends Beth and CC found a lovely apartment in which to live. It was fun to have a moving day! They moved from teeny to something with space, which is always nice. Also had my first Shave Ice with them and other friends. Yes, that's the name of a restaurant/food. Well, that's the name of the RV turned restaurant and I wouldn't call it food. When it was first suggested, I thought they were saying Che Veiss, thinking a French restaurant specializing in German beer. In reality, it is a snow cone extraordinaire. The smallest possible shave on ice you can get without it being water. Smooth. Pretty impressive. Good for an after-treat on an active hot day.

Filming. They were shooting an episode of Entourage across the street the other day (the old Grammy building). I call Entourage penis programming, so haven't watched it. I thought I might see something, but all I saw were big trucks, security, and people driving in and out. I spotted someone that looked like Andy Garcia, but seems unlikely. Would have liked to see Jeremy Piven. Well, really would have liked him to throw a dry, sarcastic remark my way, but that seems like a lot to ask.

Whataday. Last week, I overslept by two hours. That's right. Woke up at 9 a.m. on a work day (usually get in around 8). My alarm was set. No am/pm issues. Just slept on through. Was up late for class the night before, but managed to get in to work previous weeks with no drama. Hm! Did I mention I had a performance appraisal scheduled for 10? Thought I would at least make that appointment with no problem since it takes me about 30 min. to get in by bike. Hop my bike, get about 1/3 there, and I hear something like pssssssssssssssss. Bike tire flat, ran over a furniture nail or something. I say aloud, "are you kidding me?" Assess the situation. Can I lock up my bike and catch a bus? Nope, no money (unless you count the six or seven pennies I had), and don't know the bus routes where I am anyhow. So, called in to work and told them what happened, and walked home. There happens to be a bike shop close to where I live, so I stopped in to drop off my bike. They said they could change it in a couple minutes, so I waited and off I went again! (biking and driving take about the same time, by the way, which is why I didn't hop in my car). So, no serious instances on my second attempt, and I even made it through the light at Veteran and Wilshire! This happens about 5% of the time, so I thought things were looking up. Then I got to work and found out the burrito I ordered for breakfast ended up being incorrect (celebrating someone's birthday with breakfast - missed that, too), so I just sat down and stared into space. You never quite recover after a start to the day like that. I felt bizzaro all day. My performance appraisal with the nicest evil boss ever went reasonably well, by the way. I told her I hoped she found it cute that I would pick that day to have a really bad morning, she seemed understanding.

Ovulation. Sometimes women do that. Thought it would be weird as a title.

Employment. Will I have a job in three weeks? I don't know. Please pray, meditate, vibe, refer, impart wisdom, throw ideas, or whatever it is you feel comfy with. Thanks!

How do you find yourself? How are you?

Make it happen.

Evil Drives a BMW

Celebrity Sighting: Cuba Gooding Jr, Mexican restaurant getting take-out. Cool hat.

Just checked out Point Dume in Malibu with my friend Scott today. Nice spot. Also good for photo opps such as the gem to the left. Some version of a Heat-miser comment will probably occur to you, but I'm not sure it should be shared....or maybe it should. Oh, how I enjoy pictures that are not standard. Thanks, Scott!

I know you're all really holding your breath about UCLA tuition....UCLA is hiking fees (not tuition....read on) 33% next year, after raising it something like 45% over the last two years. This is in reaction to budget cuts at the state level. Let's cut your budget by a few hundred million dollars and, ah, well, you'll figure it out. Seems sound. I'm actually not fundamentally against cutting some of the dollars going to UC, there's quite a bit of inefficiency that could use cleaning up. However, a bureaucracy doesn't try to make things more efficient, nor would it even know how to approach such a concept. It's a little tough that the cuts come in such a large chunk, though.
Anyhow, there were pretty major protests on campus the other day outside the Board of Regents meeting. Sirens going all day (which is normal since we're near the hospital, but seemed like more), helicopters, etc. People have made their feelings known. I lit myself on fire.

Things don't feel like they're being managed very well in this very large state.

It's weird, when you look at the UC education costs, it lists University fees for CA residents at around $8500, and tuition at zero. Is that like a handling fee or something? What the heck? Free shipping, but we'll charge you $8,500 in handling fees. By the way, non-resident tuition is $22,000, in addition to the "fees". http://www.registrar.ucla.edu/fees/gradfee.htm
I guess it's nice they break it down so I can see where my fees go. There's even a seismic fee, which as you can guess I find reassuring. By the way, I think UC costs about as much as UWisconsin, now. Education is highly subsidized in CA. Or at least, it was....

By the way of the way, where I work, we get no state funding, and we're not needing to raise class costs. However, we have the privelege of taking paycuts....taking it for the team....good times.

On a lighter note....my friends Karen and John visited a couple of weeks ago. Great times, there. I took a couple of days off work and we went to several touristy locations including the likes of Griffith Observatory, Rodeo Drive, and the Pacific Coast Highway. They wanted to go to Whiskey-a-go-go on Tuesday eve, but alas, it was closed. We were then beckoned into the Cat Club next door, where we were told there would be music. We walked in, it was quiet, and everyone was looking at us, including the female singer and male guitar player. I kept saying, "What the heck is going on, here?" until finally someone told me they were shooting a movie. The someone was a director. OHHHHHHHHHHH, I get it. So, these are extras, and we're about to be extras! All the other extras were about 20, so I suspect we'll end up on the cutting room floor, but still! Did I mention it was a Disney movie? I guess it's called, "Feel", athough I've seen nothing on it. If you google disney and feel, you get all manner of stuff, the ickiest of which is "radio disney - feel my body." That's wrong on so many nice, neat, prissy levels. If the economy doesn't improve, disney porn is next. Fall of civilization, here we come!

Anyway, I digress, digest, delude, and diverge.

So! It was very nice and a little surreal to have Karen and John here. It was like two realities converging. We had lots of fun and they got to be in the warm. There was something Karen was insisting I blog about, maybe it was the movie, but I'm not sure now.....talk about a true Hollywood experience, though. By the way, for my protest, I went on down to Hwood to get some protective gels and clothing. No worries. That's why I moved here. Access to protective fire gels and clothing for my protest activities, to have a Louis Vuitton bag with a small dog in it, and to get something injected or enlarged.

What else?

Anything else?

I got nothing. Except, evil does indeed drive a BMW. I understand there's something about the way it's engineered, but somehow they always seem to be speeding and weaving. There is quite a bit of evil in LA....sometimes even in a minivan. Oh! Now my sister has a minivan! Laurie!!!!

Happy Day of Football and Triptophan. :)

Baby News....

I'm a tante (aunt in German) again! Jameson Ronald Phan was born Oct. 18 about 8 a.m. 6 lbs, 13 oz. James is my Grandpa's name, Ronald my Dad's. I got lots of holding time yesterday, lots of good faces and general spasms. I also got to spend nearly two whole days with Maddie while sis and bro-in-law were in the hospital, which was very cool. Sis is doing pretty great. :)

To give you a sense of life in California. Somewhere in the recording I think it should say something like "holy sh**************t!, but that might be too realistic.

Life-list Stuff!

I’m still reeling from the events of the past couple of weeks. Shortly after seeing the Dalai Lama, I saw Mr. I’ll Be Back, Mr. It’s Not a Tumor, Mr. Hasta La Vista Baby, da Governor. I was at the AltCar Show in Santa Monica talking up the sustainability certificate program at UCLA, and who should I see walk by, but Arnold. He looked about as I would have expected him to. I gazed on his Calleadershipness for approximately 1.2 seconds. That was plenty. I also saw the only woman from Baywatch without large breasts, who made a movie called “Who Killed the Electric Car?”. Maybe there’s some additional commentary to be added there, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. I was talking to her trying to place her in that way you do when you think you met them before but then realize they were on TV (you get that a lot around here). I really wanted to ask her, “Did you ever make out with David Hasselhoff?” as a way of confirming her identity, but just couldn’t bring myself. I mean, I would think she’s heard it all before, and I wasn’t sure that was unique enough to actually say out loud. However, I made myself laugh.

Last week I had the privilege of seeing Dr. Jane Goodall as well. She is such a neatoniftycool kind of person. She really did have a calm, strong presence and spoke very well about issues facing people & animals around the world. I almost cried a few times. She also did some chimp-language. I wasn’t expecting that, and thought it was spectacular. She was also very humble, the kind of person who realizes that she worked hard for what she wanted, but also had a bit of luck and circumstance in her corner, so doesn‘t pound on her chest to show how great she is. She said, “why me?” a couple of times. Now, THAT’s a true celebrity in my opinion!

Wait, I didn’t say anything about the Dalai Lama! Also a true celebrity in my estimation. What a cute guy. I know, it’s weird to say about a holy man, but it’s just too true. I went with Sue and Jonathan, superb companions for the day. He spoke in decent English about the four noble truths, about how there’s room for all religions if people are nice (my way of summarizing), and then had a translator do the rest. Highlights include him putting on a maroon-colored visor to block out some of the spotlight lighting (perfectly matched his robes), and freely and casually teaching, including terrific harrumphs and throat-clearing, and laughing from the heart (you could just tell). It was really interesting to watch the crowd as well….all manner of dress, all manner of observation. Some were hands in pray-position touching various significant spots from head to gut and then kneeling and putting their foreheads to the floor, and some were wishing for HH (his holiness) to come over and do some super-healing on kneecaps. Or is that only televangelists? And was that only me?

Another way exciting thing is it’s close to delivery day for seester, who’s having a boy anytime now. I’m on call for Maddiesitting. Maddie will be big sister, now. I’ll have a talk with her about appropriate older sister behavior and shenanigans. I promise I won’t tell her about a certain haircutting incident.

To summarize, what a crazy life I lead. It’s not really crazy, but it feels crazy from how I ever imagined it when I was younger. I mean, if I’m not married with offspring pursuing some career goals, what am I supposed to be doing? I guess this is it! Spending a lot of time wondering what’s next, and wishing to go all over the world, doing whatever I can to bring people together. Wait. Did I type that out loud? Ah, I’m so inspired when I think of the true celebrities of the world I just got to witness (add my sis to that list).

Ciao, babies!

Day of Peace

Long time.

So, I'm frazzled. More on that later.

Here are a couple pictures from the Day of Peace I just volunteered for through the Jane Goodall Institute. I directed volunteers a little and helped answer questions. I got to fly the lead dove in the Peace Dove Parade behind a marching band. I was jiving. Love those drums! The dove was signed by Jane Goodall. Next to me gently shielded by my expert wing flying was Marilu Henner, our celebrity host for the day. There were also bands there, most of whom seemed to be offspring of celebrities like Jane Seymour and Ricki Lake. One kid, spawned from a Commodore, about 12 yrs old, rocked it up....sounded about 40 and played guitar amazingly well. 007 once-removed was standing within ass-pinching distance of me at one point. Can you spot him in the photo? I also saw Cary Elwes, of Princess Bride fame. He was rather hip looking. But it wasn't about the celebritites, it was about the kids. It gave me great hope that so many kids are into teaching others the value of our earth and doing positive things. They said the most difficult thing for them is trying to get adults to change their habits. Interesting. Anyhow, good times on the Santa Monica Pier. Sun, music, and happy dappiness.

http://internationaldayofpeace.org/news_and_updates/

Wouldn't it be fun to have the resources to run around volunteering for everything or doing cool events?

Frazzled: UCLA is cutting our already meager pay. I still do enjoy the programs I work on, but the energy is slowly getting sucked from me by the bureaucracy and a new boss who is a micromanager control freak type who runs around sighing all day saying how much she has to do and treats me like I'm 20 instead of someone with 20 years experience. It's great. I'm also tired of eating road and breathing exhaust. Now I know where the word "exhausted" comes from (insert drum sound indicating joke). I really enjoy riding my bike to work, but am sick of getting particles in my eyes and the stank of it. When I got home yesterday, I had to re-wash the dishes and wipe the black layer of crap off the kitchen counter. What the hell is that? Perhaps it's someone using the darn leaf-blower to "clean" dirt from the driveway, or perhaps it's from the fire.

Thank big fat goodness that I have great people in my life both here and back in the good 'ole Midwest. Amazing people. You know who you are. Also, I totally get to see the Dalai Lama this weekend, which is on my "life-list". In October I'll get to see Jane Goodall, also a hero-type for me as you know. I guess it's also good that we get two weeks off work for the holidays (although this is mostly furlough time). Won't break my heart to be able to be away for a while. Where should I go?

I got to be back in Wisconsin not long ago! It was so ridiculously great to see friends and family I haven't seen in a year. Got to see mom and dad's new condo, which is gorgeous. Got to drive around without hitting a stoplight on every corner.........ahhhhhhhhhhhhh. My friends Beth and CC got married and celebrated their first anniversary (it's complicated). Great event! She was beautiful and he handsome and I got to witness and be part of a Midwestern slash Filipino wedding. Interesting Filipino traditions during the ceremony that I even got to take part in rather spontaneously, and some family traditions including tequila and fake mustaches. Huh, you ask? No can splainy. Fun as heck, though.

I'm 40. How did that happen?

Not that I have a problem with it. I'm not a number. Oddly enough, I somehow feel no different than a few weeks ago. My birthday, which spanned about 3 weeks, was fantastic. It started with a day at Disneyland with my friend Scott and his friend Steve. Steve works there so we got the full hook-up, including a five-star dinner. It was a cheesy good day, overcast, more crowded than I would have liked, but that just added to the fun in a way. I experienced rides I might not have had there been short lines at "Pirates..." or "Space Mountain." If you know me well, you know how I like to avoid crowds and lines. Later in the week, work folks threw me a breakfast and my boss pal took me to lunch. On the actual day, had din at seester's and Maddie sang me a ridiculously cute happy birthday song. Nice gifts from sees and from Beth and Rebecca. B&R got me a super-cool meaningful gift, which brought a tear to my eye. Get out there and dance, Ganesha....dance I said! Um, that's a song, sort of. Hindu deity. You'll have to ask me.


On the weekend, we went to the beach all day, and I got my wish of watching men play volleyball. I even played myself, and didn't suck as much as I thought. In the eve we went to Tavern on Main in El Segundo, where an Irish band was playing. I had a jiggy great time and loved my people. I'm lucky to have outstanding people around me. I even got a new friend, Little Wooden Boy. Now, for those of you who don't know The Tick, that could sound strange, but trust me, it's funny as hell. Overall, though, the fleshy people were the ones I appreciated hanging with that evening.

All the while I was getting excellent cards in the mail, and even got taken to a movie last week in the name of birthday. Love to milk it, right?

At the movie on Hollywood Blvd, a whole"cultural experience" in and of itself, I got to experience the MJ factor. Hearing the music everywhere. People walking around in memorium t-shirts merely a couple of hours after his death. I was apalled. Speaking of....

At UCLA Extension where I work, classes were cancelled one Thursday eve. I was home checking my email when I read the news that classes were off, and it wasn't mentioned in the message why other than traffic congestion, which I thought was due to the Film Festival going on. I didn't put it together until later, but the reason was MJ. Only in LA could a celebrity death prevent education. He was so important to us, we can't bear the thought of living our normal lives. Oh...........Michael! Why!??? Why???!!
So, administration decided that since traffic/media/freaky mourners blocked up the area, let's try to spare people the hassle of coming in for class. Reasonable decision based on unreasonable circumstance. UCLA's hospital is right down the street from us. The students in my program all pretty much made it, though, and had class anyway. Good hardy folk (plus, they don't check their email every hour like young folks do). I was glad because I thought I was going to get a good lashing from our students due to the last-minute cancellation.

My brief commentary on how people are reacting to the death of Michael Jackson, including the media: Get a Life. He's not the President or the Dalai Lama. He was just a screwed up cat who probably screwed up other people. He grabbed his crotch a lot. I felt sorry for him and think he's better off. He brought me brief moments of joy while dancing to his songs. I didn't know him personally. When Mother Theresa passed, hardly anything. Guy with sinking face who can dance and sing, world freak-out.

Can you tell celebrity worship isn't my thing? And now they're having a memorial at the Staples Center in downtown LA, where they have Lakers games. For cri-i sakes. Tax money being used for this, probably.

Gear shift. English is fun overseas, but I was reminded of the fluidity of the language at Target in my own backyard the other day. Several employees were stocking, and a supervisor-type person comes by and says, "don't conjugate - no more than two employees per aisle." Cute. While one could argue it works, I think he meant "congregate". English really is a hard language! I have more and more appreciation for that since being overseas. Eh, who am I to say, sometimes my grammar and style ain't so great.


How was summerfest? How's it generally?