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Knocking On Wood Does Nothing
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
“Don’t get sick next week,” says my manager. “Don’t worry, I won’t,” said I.
I was obviously wrong, because Monday morning, I woke up with a throat so swollen that I couldn’t swallow. This hit me totally out of the blue. The weekend went fine. I was a bit busy, but that’s about it. This week at work is pretty crazy, too. People are sick, mothers have passed away, and many co-workers and suddenly not available. And now i’ve become one of the count. I feel quite irresponsible promising my manager that I wouldn’t get sick when really, there’s nothing I could do one way or the other.
My manager kindly told me to not come in today. So i’ve had the day to rest. Unfortunately, it’s not getting better. Grrrrrr…
So here i am, at home, drinking as much hot water, hot tea + lemon + honey as my bladder can handle, eating chicken soup, and generally resting up. I’ve got tylenol cold and airborne, and all those things that should make me better...but I’m just as sick as I was before. I’m one day away from flying out to New York on a red-eye flight, and it still hasn’t run its course yet.
Well, pray for me, because i’m heading to New York anyway! And I’m still teaching class tomorrow!
“O Lord, bless this thy medicated cold pill of doom, that with it thou mayst smite thy viral enemies that hath entered my body and wrought havoc upon my immune system, in thy mercy. And upon its smiting, the people will rejoice and feast upon the lambs and sloths, and carp and anchovies, and orangutans and breakfast cereals, and fruit-bats and large chu...”
Slim has left the building
Friday, September 29, 2006
Bye bye!
Slim is moving up to the Bay Area today.
“There is no emoticon for what I am feeling.” ~Comic Book Guy [The Simpsons]
Congratulations Jannine & Nathan!
Monday, September 18, 2006
My friends just got engaged!
So it’s my job to spread the good news. They are so cute! And i’m so HAPPY for them!
And Nathan did a stellar job at keeping it a surprise. Sneaky bugger!
So this is my shout out to my homies in NYC! Congrats!
Super Kid
Friday, August 18, 2006
So i’m a little behind, but i finally went to go see Superman in the theaters (before it left for good)!
Daryl, Yuko, Kimi and Jay came out to join us in Hollywood to catch the movie at the Grauman’s Chinese Theater, one of the few places still showing this 7-week old movie. (Is it just me or are theater runs getting shorter and shorter? I mean, i meant to go see the terrible dance movie, “Take the Lead,” but i waited two weeks and it was out of theater! Now i have to wait for another month before i can get it on DVD! haha just kidding, but not really.)
I digress. In any case, we just made it to the movie in time, except that there were barricades and red carpets and people lining up. What was this?!?
As it turns out, it was the premiere of the movie, “Snakes On a Plane"--an appropriately named film that excels at expectation management. You know exactly what you’re going to get. In any case, people were lined up outside, waiting for a chance to see Samuel L. Jackson, star and bad-@$$ extraordinaire.
And all i could think of was, “Man, does that mean they’re not showing Superman anymore?”
Lucky for us, they have more than one theater. It was a tiny theater, but that’s ok considering that there were all of ten or so viewers (including our group of 7). It was a fun movie! I liked it. I find that liking a movie comes entirely from expecting nothing of it so that anything will surpass expectation. That’s the key to enjoying what you watch. I do have to say, though, that it’s hard enough taking a man in tights seriously, but it’s even harder to take a PRETTY guy in tights seriously. Superman was so iconically good looking that he didn’t seem hardy enough for the role. It worked out alright in the film, but still, there were several scenes where i found myself saying, “He is far too much a ‘model/actor’ to be doing this movie.” ...Or maybe i just miss Christopher Reeves. (sniff!)
Too beautiful to be a superhero. I don’t believe he can fight.
At the end of the movie, we all filtered out slowly. We were the last ones out, but we were surprised to find a couple with a sleeping kid draped across the father’s shoulder, waiting for us.
“This was the kid in the movie,” the father said proudly, pointing at his sleeping son, the kid’s long locks of hair obscurring his face. “HE had to see it one last time. It’s the last night in the theater, so we HAD to come!” I actually didn’t hear this part first hand. I was at the back wondering, “Why are we talking to these random people?” And even then, our group didn’t take him very seriously. “Oh yeah, that’s nice...” and such were our comments, and we walked away.
About 30 feet away, we stopped. “Wait, did he say that was the kid in the movie?” AH! He DID say that! Our brush with a (very small/young/not-famous) celebrity! How random was THAT? It was a nice way to end the movie. Our tickets should have said, “1 admittance for movie + random super kid sighting.” That would have at least warned me not to say snarky things about the kid while the parents were in earshot. I came so close.
Afterwards we headed to The Stinking Rose, a restaurant known for it’s intense interest in garlic. Translation: everything (even dessert) has garlic in it. About 4 pieces of bread and maybe a head of garlic later, i realized that the next day I had to teach a 1-on-1 class AND support another class in the morning. I was going to reek of garlic! ACK! And it was going to go far beyond breath, my friend. Talk about leaking it from your pores! EEEEWW!
So all today i was paranoid about stinking. I kept trying to keep my distance, but I had to get up close and personal, and there was no escaping it. My cow-orker even said, “I can totally tell you had garlic last night. You have an AURA of garlic about you.” Sad.
Anyway, that was my night. And a good one at that! Topped off with a little bit of playing “Animal Crossing” with Daryl and Yuko on our Nintendo DSes. Good clean fun! Just like mom used to make! So that’s all folks, and i’m going to bed.
Good night and good luck.
Reunion Weekend
Monday, August 07, 2006
Last weekend (i mean last LAST weekend of course) was a one reunion after another.
It began with Mr. Binkley’s retirement. Mr. Bink is one of the people who had major influence over my life from the age of 11 to my college years. He was my band director of a group that toured Australia and all over Europe. I remember wanting to be in Symphonic Band so badly because i knew i would be able to go to all kinds of cool places with all of my friends. I got to go on two international tours: one to Scandinavia and another to Holland, Germany, Austria and Hungary. They were great experiences, but the day-to-day of being in rehearsal with everyone was what really made a great experience.
And if nothing else, this set me up for a lifetime of people saying to me, upon finding out that I was in band, “...this one time at band camp...” Can’t say i haven’t heard *that* one before.
Anyway, I just thought I’d post some pictures. Daryl mentioned in his post about the reunion that he needed to get pics from me. Well, here are the two that I got! Like he said, it was our unofficial class of ‘96 reunion. It was good to see everyone!
Sabrina, Yuko (Daryl’s wife), Daryl, Shan, Leila (Lilli’s daughter), Lilli, me
Jay, Shan, me, Bink, Sabrina, Lilli, Leila, Robyn (Lilli’s sister)
The day after, I got to meet up with Merv and Ashley, who had just gotten done with their bar exams. The last time I saw Ashley was last year during St. Patrick’s Day weekend. Merv i saw last weekend. Oh well, i suppose i missed him too. 
Merv, Ash, and me
Merv in post-bar state. (I’m sure he’s going to kill me when he sees this)
It was great seeing all of you guys again! Glad we got a chance because i don’t think we’re getting a 10-year reunion. Oh well, we’d probably just be going to see who got fat, pregnant or bald and gossip about who married whom. hahaaha So far, though, we seem to be doing pretty good! Keep up the good work class ‘o 96!
Into the Wilderness
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Well, Palmdale isn’t exactly wilderness, but it sure is out in the middle of nowhere!
This is going to be a short post, as I am scurrying around trying to pack and at the same time take care of an assortment of miscellaneous tasks that have crowded out the packing at hand. The good part is that I’ve now taken care of my monthly loans payment, paid all the bills, cooked a copious amount of food to keep ahead of spoiling vegetation in my fridge and even (sort of) packed!
I’m heading out to Palmdale for work. I’ll actually get to stay over in a hotel on the company’s tab. Weird. I think the last time i went anywhere with a company, i almost had to split a room with my boss and Leslie. While that’s all fine and good for friend vacations to pile into one room, it’s quite another thing for a company to *not* foot the bill when you’re their for its financial gain. In the end, the hotel also thought it was inappropriate and provided a room for me, free of charge. Yay!
So I go. I stay. I burn up in the desert heat. Then leave.
This is the exciting time ahead of me. Oh, and lots of driving. Pray for me that I stay alive on the journey there and back!