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Thursday, May 24, 2007

Happiness Is A List

Can you feel it? You know.. that it's almost summer?! It's so close, isn't it? The sun is out, everyone is smiling, happiness is oozing.. like.. um.. stuff that might ooze - it's a good thing. That's what I'm saying. And I don't have anything in particular to be happy about.. but I'm happy. How great is that?! Happy for no reason. That doesn't suck. But since it's late and I've been up since 6am working today and really need sleep, I'll be listy about all my things happy..

Things I'm Happy About:

* Hi! Sun! And 75 today! Whoo hoo! Love it!

* Um.. can you say 3-day weekend?! God love the military for doing something right and giving us a frickin holiday.

* I gave myself a very good tarot reading last night. Not the reading I gave of course cuz I'm terribly awkward, checking my book and notes and whatnot - tho I'm very quick about it all.. just the cards that came up were particularly telling of good things to come and other nonsense that's past. I like that.. nonsense in the past because that's certainly where nonsense belongs, don't you think? And good in the future? Yeah.. pretty much.

* I'm going to be a member of Unicycle - a theatre collective started by my friends, Keith and Mary. Finally, I may actually start using that degree I spent 4.25 years achieving after all! Mom will be proud.

* I'm absolutely IN LOVE with this new Miguel Migs cd, Those Things. Nothing else says summer to me like music that makes you want to move. I listened to it all day at work today and practically danced all the way out the door and to the gym.. and even home while making dinner. The cat was perplexed. And he's going to be here July 20th (Miguel, not the cat. The cat is a she and always here.). Who's excited?! Ok.. duh. You don't have to answer that.

* My friend, Blake, came in second on American Idol - nothing to sneeze at and something to be proud of certainly. Second will absolutely not hurt his chances at becoming successful at all. That boy had a good portion of 74 MILLION votes! Holy crap! He'll be just fine. The world is going to eat him up.

* Speaking of eating, that's what Fatima and I did while we watched with much shock and much more awe that American Idol finale. Wow, that is a really important 4 minutes surrounded by a 116 pretty crappy other minutes. Good thing we had cake to eat. Really.. we did. I brought it from work. So what if it was for the monthly birthdays.. like 3 days ago. It still rocked. Ohmygod did it ever.

* I have a date tomorrow. I know.. stop it, you're shocked.. well.. it's a first date, and like many first dates, will probably end there - but maybe it won't. Don't know yet. Either way, afterwards, I'm meeting up w/ Kat to dish because first dates aren't allowed to take up an entire Friday night. Not yet anyway. Girl dates take priority.

* Summer means vacation is coming up, which is an ENTIRE WEEK in July that I'm spending on the Oregon Coast with my family like we did last year. Secluded beaches, starfish, fabulously gorgeous sunsets, the likes of which you never have enough time normally to appreciate, and simply relaxing and breathing in my family who I've grown closer to in recent years. I'm aching for it to be here already.. however.. before that is..

* The biggest, bestest, bad ass-est blogger visit yet.. especially since she's coming All The Way From GERMANY just to see us, thank you very much. Some of you might know her as Ammogirl, but since I went to high school with the tiny, little, talkative thing, I get to call her Treena.. or some form of that.. Treens, Treenster.. Tree.. hm.. odd.. Basically, whatever she'll tolerate because Ammogirl is just.. well.. strange outside of Blog Worldland. So when she gets here.. Kario, Pix and possibly others and I, will hit the town, annoy the fuck out of everyone younger than us, drink more than we're used to (well, not more than Treena - she does this thing where she IM's you after she's had a few.. Girl, you are funny!) while falling down a lot, reminisce about high school and laugh at how old we actually are now, which is still hard to believe considering some of us feel (and act) like we're kids. And it's the end of June people! How many more days is that, Treens? Like 42 or something? Hey.. that's close and I totally only guessed!

Alright. That's it for me. Go! Mingle! Find some cake!

Friday, May 18, 2007

Good Reminders

WARNING: What you are about to read is a true story. The names have not been changed to protect the innocent.. and the guilty already have aliases..

Tanya: You drive like how I feel.

Kristin: Yeah, I feel safe when I drive with Miss D.

These are actual Real Life quotes spoken just moments apart by people riding in MY CAR! While I was driving it! AND with NO provocation from me WHATSOEVER! Of course there was an immediate stopping of the car when I hit the brakes because I was dying of the laughter that quickly followed and trying to prevent my own death from the SHOCK and oh yes, the AWE of it all while wishing I had a tape recorder and other witnesses and things of that nature because none of my other friends would ever believe this ever in their Whole Lives!

And then Kristin happily repeated it again to Keith after we met up for late-night coffee on Tuesday, to which he said dryly:

Keith: Uh.. I feel stressed when I'm in the car with Miss D.

..which I expected because hi, I can.. uh.. scare people and I'm a rather.. assertive driver, which this city sorely needs more of, in my humble opinion. I mean, I just want to get where I'm going and everyone is in my way.. so when I drive with other people.. Keith, for example, I sometimes feel we're just never going to get there. Ever.

I don't know how it happened.. that I was born a speed racer. I just don't. It's a gift I suppose..

So the girls came into town and I haven't giggled like that in a long time. We ran around trying to find espresso in West Seattle after 9 pm. This proved to be a very trying task as this area of Seattle was explained to be 'sleepy' by the clerk at the local health food market whom we asked for suggestions. This was after trying on their array of fetching sun hats Kristin found by the entry and swore up and down she needed. And here we were, shocked.. me, especially, who had no idea, in the land of Starbucks no less, that there was ANY area in the entire Seattle metropolis that fit this obviously delusional man's description! And yet, there was not one single shot of espresso to be found! What madness!

As you can see, Kristin was not good at giving up and is slyly hiding the can of desperately needed caffeine-in-a-can because that's all we could find.. I ask you, what is the world coming to?!

The night ended with a round table of friends sharing stories over coffee we finally found in the hipper area of the not-so-sleepy Capital Hill. Keith and Paul had just finished an improv workshop, Paul was heading out to San Francisco the next day for work, and both of the girls, who were also headed south, were continuing on their road trip to meet up with some of our old friends and teachers and take in some theatre at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. None of this was especially significant, but I was just relishing the time with all of these people around me. Tho I didn't think of it then, it hit me a couple of days later that I've known Keith and Kristin both for about the same amount of time.. 17 years each.. almost as long as I've been alive, if you add them up. It was a quiet happiness I took in.. a good reminder of how much I love my friends, but even beyond that how every friend has the opportunity and capacity to become a long-term friend when their only purpose is to be in your company because they want to. And vice versa. It's pretty simple how just those two factors can bring people closer and then tie them together for years.

I dropped off everyone at Keith's home, after too much coffee and never enough Justin Timberlake and his Sexy Back, while still marveling at my Safety Skills. There were hugs and kisses goodbye for all and after I left and to the point I crawled into bed, we were still texting like excited school children.

What's not so surprising is I missed Kristin before she even left.. but what I figured out is that tho I'm madly in love with the friends that I've made here, I still crave the connections with the friends I made in college because we were all like-minded, but not so much that we were all the same. See.. I'm the hyper chihuahua in the group of my friends currently - at least most often - but in the theatre, um.. there were LOTS of chihuahuas. Ok.. dogs are probably a bad example here.. but you get what I'm saying. The things they talked about, what they were interested in - books, writing, theatre, poetry, arts, singing, directing, dancing, stupid musicals.. sure, my other friends could be and are interested in as well to a degree.. but theatre people are passionate about them.. in addition to already being extroverted, energetic, overly talkative and expressive to the point it could get annoying to.. well.. normal people.. So it was exciting to find others like me when I was just starting that direction, whom I had so much in common with and we strived together to learn and create and soak it all up like the eager sponges we were - before we learned to be jaded by rejections and before we lost some of our energy having to eventually earn a real living. Ok.. maybe that was just me.

Not surprisingly, Kristin is doing what we studied to do.. creating and teaching and learning and inspiring.. and hasn't lost one ounce of energy in the process. I have to admit I'm jealous of her ability and talent.. and her drive to get there because I certainly felt like I couldn't keep trying forever and eventually had to have some sort of back up plan, which is mediocre and stagnant at best these days. But I didn't want to wait on tables for the rest of my life and thought I'd better learn some other skills that could get me by and maybe came with benefits.. like insurance and sick days. Whoa.. what a crazy idea!

But I'm not resentful or bitter about my path or how I'm paving it. I've always been a late bloomer of sorts so finding the right career for me, not to mention the right guy, right location.. might take me some extra time. I'm ok with that even if some days I wonder if any of it will ever come together..

And when I need a good kick in the pants, I've got my friends to remind me that I'm growing and challenging myself and I'm good enough as I am. And I have a Kristin who'll come to visit once in a while, complete with enough giggles to tide me over until my next fix.

Friday, May 11, 2007

One Lulu Is Worth A Thousand Words

This is Lulu. She's my niece. Well.. basically. She's the daughter of one of my best friends, Fatima. That's beside the point tho because.. who cares, right? Just look at her, will you? The Cutest Thing Ever! And I should be seeing her tomorrow. If you think I'm happy about that, you are way understating it.

Alright Libby.. We're gonna break out of this joint and here's how we're gonna do it..

So I bet you're going to take a picture of me and I bet I'm going to be cute in it.. right? I'm right, aren't I?

If you had a mommy this pretty, you'd be mesmerized too.. ok? Geez..

Hey.. check this out.. the rabbit is on my head! It's like magic! Look at me! I'm so funny!

Look! I'm the Easter Bunny! Bok! Bok!

.. and then I will take over the WORLD! MWAHAHAHAHA..

Don't hold me back Auntie Ish! I'm GODZILLA! ROAR!

Then we just had a quiet moment of resting. Auntie Ish needed a short nap after saving the whole world from my Godzilla moment.. She did!

And then we just went right back to laughing cuz my Auntie Ish rocks like that. She's so funny!

Yes, I'm having a bath in the sink.. where Mommy washes the dishes too.. If you haven't noticed, I'm quite the dish as well, thank you very much!

Ok.. this isn't funny.. this is just where I'm very very cute.. maybe add one more 'very' to that..

Monday, May 07, 2007

Inspirations And Anniversaries

You guys!! I missed my blog-versary! How did that happen?! Two years ago I started this fancy overly-pink page and look! Y'all came and read what I had to say! Who knew?! But I will say thanks for the ego boost of coming by once in a while and for all the supportive comments and positive feedback when I need it. You guys are alright in my book even if only like three of you gave me ringtone ideas, but hey, I put you on the spot so I understand. The Pressure.

As far as the week in review, I'll start with Tex. The new boy who's also the old boy since we started and finished in such a short amount of time. The romantic outlook has improved, tho there isn't so much hope as there's just a person I'm getting to know and I'm ok with that. I don't really expect anyone to understand.

On Monday we met to close whatever we began a couple weeks prior and he explained what was going on so I understood better. It didn't make it suck any less, but the hugging it out part was lovely. Since then, we've been talking frequently for short amounts of time just to check in and the missing of the other, tho we try to downplay it, is still apparent. Seeing each other should be out of the question for a while, but we are trying it out anyway tonight and I'm just not going to over-think it. We enjoy each other's company and it is what it is.. for now.

The rest of the week was spent in slight pouty mode, including Monday night after talking with Tex when Boz responded to my last minute whiny request for cheering up and between pho, Heroes and just good friend vibes, Fun Times were had and thankfully, any pathetic wallowing was delayed for at least a couple of hours, which I really appreciated.

There was a walk around my pretty, little neighborhood of Queen Anne with Cindy on Tuesday, some pushing it at the gym and then dinner and wine and deep conversation about how short life really is at Abby's on Wednesday, and basically, trying to be ok with things and find the positive on which to focus. Friday was back to the gym and then Spin The Bottle, our Monthly Random Theatre Outing With Friends where strong drinks were downed, silly people doing sillier stuff were observed, and frites (hence needing the gym to cancel those out) were devoured promptly after the show. Some of the group left before the show was over and some after frites, but Boz, Paul, Kat and I remained and grabbed some champagne, which seemed fitting for the wee hours of the morning we stayed up to playing silly games with pigs for dice, learning how to moonwalk from Kat, and trying to remember old card tricks. You, too, can be complete dorks like us! Yes, really!

Now Saturday was very exciting because it was all about people and places and things like fancy art! Jason, my painter-artisty friend, and I met up for smashingly good biscuits and egg scrambles in south Seattle and talked about the fun we all had the night before, then Keith, who just returned from a three week trip in France for 150 hours of improv (!!), and I planned a Japanese feast with Abby and her boyfriend even tho Keith was a bit under the weather due to some snarky French fish who decided to lay him out with some last minute food poisoning. Snotty little poisson! But we had the best seat in the house for the restaurant's oh-so-active little aquarium filled with all kinds of crazy looking ocean oddities. Highly entertaining..

But the pièce de résistance was the grand re-opening of SAM, the Seattle Art Museum, open for 35 hours straight in which to celebrate with art, music and spectacle with pretty much the entire city of Seattle chattering and taking in their 80-million-dollar remodel. Did I mention it was free?!

You might think this funny.. um.. I've lived here for 11 years people and NEVER been to SAM. Nope. Not even for first Thursday art walks. Totally lame, I'll admit. So this remodel thing? Yeah.. uh.. I sort of didn't have any idea of what I'd missed before. Hence the lameness. BUT I'm betting you've never been to a museum after 10pm before, have you? Right.. well, now I can say I have.. tho they were trying to control the close to at-capacity crowds with time slot tickets so ours was for 10:40 and we eagerly stood in line for our entry.

Once in, we saw hanging Ford Tauruses with long wands of lights coming out of them, a huge Rorschach painting by Andy Warhol, a Shogun type warrier outfit made up entirely of gibberish dog tags, a giant mouse standing on the chest of a man in bed, my first Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollack paintings in person and many, many others that were interesting and quirky.. and honestly, some that I thought.. huh.. really? Cuz seriously, I could do that.. I mean.. no.. SERIOUSLY.. but ok.. whatevs. I'm sure you were brilliant in your time and oh.. a completely white canvas with only yellow and black trim was something genius, THEN, but um.. yeah, sorry.. I don't see the difference in a piece like that and oh.. painting your own bathroom. Call me dense.. I've been called worse.

Some of the group had to disperse for tiredy-ness and some for drama I don't care to discuss, but eventually, a few of us closed down the Alibi Room and then went back to the museum to finish out the 4th floor we'd missed and maybe get in a little booty shakin down on the main floor because let me tell you.. how often does one get the chance to get down in the museum? Uh.. never. That's how. There was good music, some crazy people doing even crazier dancing and everyone was having a glorious time. I needn't mention we stayed til 4am.. and even less so that it was STILL just about at capacity of people who were milling around and viewing the scenery or moving to the dj. It was really surprising the city rallied with so much enthusiasm, but maybe I just didn't know how fun this city can be sometimes after living here so long. My energy is renewed tho and I'm ready to find something new and inspiring like that again soon.

After much recovery on Sunday, all I could really manage was a movie w/ Scott. We saw Diggers, which didn't get the best review, but which I totally loved. About people and relationships and.. nothing really.. but it was funny and touching and just what I was in the mood for.

One particular character in the movie who was always short-tempered and angry reminded me a lot of my father, which was appropriate since today is his birthday. Next week will be seven years since his death. He would've been 61. Funny that also being my blog-versary, my second post ever was dedicated to him, the biggest man, literally and figuratively, in my life. So I bound us together in this way I didn't really think about, but created nonetheless. Not that I need the blog to remind me of him even if some years I don't think about the day he died or what year he should be turning if he were alive. I just know he's still a big presence in my life and there isn't one day that goes by where I don't think of him in some way.. wishing he was around to help me with taxes or available to offer advice on picking out a car. I miss Dad for those reasons. But I know he hasn't been angry in a very long time and that makes me happy.. and I hope I've turned out to be someone whom he can be proud of for many reasons, but also because I may finally be learning how to pick my battles better and what exactly is worth getting angry about. Life is so much more fulfilling when you're happy within it. I plan on doing so much more of that I think.

Happy birthday, Dad. And happy anniversary to me.