One more conversation...

My friend died today. Not really worth going into the detail of how or why. She's just gone and it's sad. She was brillant. Funny. Down right goofy. So young. And now she's gone. We hadn't spoken in months over some mishappenings and well, now it's easy to say I fucked up. She was in trouble, that was apparent. And the trouble caught up with her in a bad way. One more conversation. One more attempt to talk her into getting some help. But I wouldn't do it because I was being stubborn. I know, I know, she's the only one who could have helped herself but that doesn't bring her back now does it? Here's to Shortcake. Rest in peace.

A wealth of choices

After the State of the Union address last week, Monkeybush is showing his lack of understanding as to what is going on around the world and what is directly in front of him. Perhaps that is what the case has been all along but it was ultra apparent in his speech last week, at least in my opinion. This whole business about stay the course, let freedom ring, and that this is for the liberation of the people is a bunch of hooey. And what really drove this point home to me was watching a documentary over the weekend called "Sir No Sir!" about the GI protest to the Vietnam war and what it finally took to get the government to listen. There were movements which were outward protests from the servicemen which of course never got any air play by the media or in any realm where they could be heard. What it took was mutiny on the battle fields where the soldiers turned on their commanding officers because they didn't want to be sent out into the slaughter. And with good reason. No one should have ever been placed in that position. Ever. Furthermore, those who did protest in uniform or otherwise spent serious jail time for speaking out for what they thought to be true. I was shocked. But then again, why should I be so much? The media and the government pair up to tell us what they want us to hear and it's really nothing new. And in this day and age of information overload, I figure we are hearing even less about the war in Iraq due to the fact that so much can be silenced due to technology. Coupled with the fact that the general public is very disconnected from the war--a total sense of not caring or importance or that the protests will be left for someone else to worry about. I fear we are headed down the same path today. Bushy MckBushBush wants to send in 20,000 more troops for a "surge". A surge to kill innocent victims and soldiers. He is whining like a three year old saying "I want it! I want it!" but he really isn't convinced that this will work. You can tell in his delivery. He is so far down the attack path that he can't possibly see anything else. Congress now has the control of the purse strings. They have the control to cut this war off at the pass and dump no further money into it. Now the democrats have to get some balls and make it happen. Life is all about difficult discussions from time to time. It's time to have this one! If they don't take a stand, they might as well forget about winning back the Whitehouse in 2008. So get on it elected officials in Washington. Take this war back, bring the troops home and cut off Monkeybush's thrifty spending habits. It's that easy!

Popular, Dim Sum, and a Run

Our local video store does not carry the series "Popular". But Misty does! She allowed us to snag the full set and let's just say, Miss B and I are addicted already! We are two episodes in already wondering what is going to happy to Mary Cherry now that she is pissing Nicole off left and right, will Carmen be added onto the cheerleading squad now everyone hates Brooke?, is the jock a homo since he is in the school play and all and can't see to perform in the sheets?...and so many more questions I have! I remember seeing an episode or two when it was on TV but didn't get hooked. It's like Freaks and Geeks but taking place in the '90's. Love it! Can't wait to figure out when we can watch more. Probably not until the weekend as keeping so busy during the week with the workout schedule, TV just doesn't happen on a school night. But for Popular, we may make the exception. Oh, and I L-O-V-E Sam's best friend...can't think of his name....he's just cute and totally the boy in high school I would have been in love with but never dated. Shocking isn't it?

We devoured everything possible at Dim Sum yesterday. Miss B and I both put our vegetarian pants aside and jumped right in. Let's just say I am paying for it in several ways, probably including my karma. But it was SOOOOOOOOOO good. My new favorite thing is the custard thingy. And of course the sesame balls. Who doesn't like sesame balls? If you don't, yer crazy! It was really fun and will have to wait a while to go again. Dim Sum fun!

Prior to the fest of Dim Sum with Misty, Kate, Heather, and Jill, we went for a run at the Presideo. We took our usual route but of course with Heather along we ran faster and took one minute off of our usual time. We are going to do the Chinese New Year 10K so we will need to be able to run 6 point something miles by the end of February. No problem. We ususally do 5 on Sundays so now it's a matter of improving our time, not if we can do the distance. Although I an certain there will be some hills involved. Our route around home does too so it should be fine. All in all, a great Sunday!

We also have a stray kitty whom our landlord found. It was laying in the middle of the street and appears to be hurt. He fed it a bunch and it hung out on our front poarch all day Saturday and Sunday in the sun. He goes somewhere at night and then returns for food. So skinny! Poor guy. We shall see how it goes. The next thing would be to find a home for him. There is no way he can be with other cats. Would be entirely too challenging for him. Yes, we are the crazy cat ladies but I do believe we can blame David for this one!

Happiness is...

Being done with all 5 reviews for work! I meant to do these before I left on Christmas vacation. RIGHT! But they are all completed. The next thing to do is deliver them and well, I'm not so excited about that part. One of the jelly doughnut supervisors will not be happy with the results but hey, that's my job right? People have said I am way too tough on them in the past. I always tell them they should meet my dad. Now that is tough. At least I never yell at them until they pee in their pants or chase after them with a milk machine strap. There could be some legal ramifications I suppose if that happened...er something.

Last night Miss B and I met up with Hot Toddie to go see our friend Lara's band Dirty Martini. The last time we went to their show was in Eugene Oregon at the Wine Fair a couple of years ago. The band had just gotten a new drummer and they were still pretty fresh. They have tightened it up so much! A real band I tell you. Walked in the place feeling exhausted from the week and had so much energy after the show, because they rocked it! A new bass play has been found also and he is all about the stand up. He was fantastic! All of them, great musicians and vocalists. We purchased their new album called Tea and Revenge. Listened to it on the way to yoga and really like it. Oh, forgot to mention, the extra bonus of the evening...we went to La Corneta and who was ordering dinner? HEATHER! We got to share dinner and thoughts with her. How random? Very! A good night out but I should have stopped at two beers. The third one from the Latin American Club made me feel groddie this morning. We did lots of twists in yoga however to detoxify so am feeling much better now.

Plans for the evening...nothing! We are going to take a bath and watch a movie. LOVE IT! I realize it's old and domesticated but you know what...I don't care! It's what I need and what makes me feel best. So why not be lazy, hunker down, and be unsocial. Here I go!

Wedding Plans and Bowling

We found a caterer. We got the downlow on what we can do at Inn at the Willows for our ceremony. It's all coming together, slowly but surely! I can't believe it. Oh, and by the way, Miss B and I got our official domestic partner documents in the mail. As of 01/05/07, we are on record as being "together". It even has a big ribbion seal thing on it. I was talking with my friend Peggy and she didn't know if there are things like that on marriage licenses. So once again, the gays out-do the straights with the details, eh? :) It's very exciting.

After all the wedding plans we went bowling in Marin with Kate, her family, and the crew. Eventually ended up at the Bitter End where this picture was taken. It makes me laugh really hard!

38 Candles

Well now isn't that just the most fun apron you have ever seen? Thank you Bear D for the lovely gift. It's fantastic and I cannot wait to bust it out for Fresh Jesus this spring. Also, thank you so much to everyone else for coming over on Saturday for the wine and cheese party to celebrate. Miss B went all out with the organizing having planned out all the wine and cheese pairings. We also got some sausage and other things for the carnivores which worked out well. It truly was one of the most eventful birthdays spent and good times for everyone. I made one poor decision at the end of the evening after everyone had left with the exception of Hot Toddie and well, let's just say mixing lots of wine with a bong is a very very very bad idea. Miss B had never seen the results of that before and she knows now that it just isn't pretty. I hadn't mixed in years. And I won't again. It hurt all day Sunday and into Monday which was also combined with the flu. It's official, I now know so much more than I did when I was 37. Or something. We also went to the world's most bumpy movie called "Children of Men" on Sunday and sat up close. I seriously thought I was going to hurl on several occasions. Not good. The movie was ok. But wouldn't recommend it. If I didn't have my eyes closed through 25% of it, perhaps it would be a different analysis. Thanks again to all for the great birthday!

Things we did on vacation

Here is a short list of activities Miss B and I did while on the Big Island of Hawaii. It seems like it was so long ago and being back at work is perhaps the last place I would care to be at this moment. The alarm went off at 5:30AM and let's just say I was less than happy to hear that. So sleepy! I am used to crashing until at least 9 or 10am every morning. Although when we were camping we did get up with the sun as many hours on a thermarest and the ground meant it was time to shake out the bones and get on with the day. We camped the first 7 nights and then stayed at Kalani, a retreat center on the south eastern area of the island. We had a GREAT time and can't wait to go back. We had always discussed living there eventually and after this trip, we could do it in 2 or 3 month doses but full time, not so much. So here is the list of activities in Hawaii:
--Camping at Spencer Beach with hot showers
--Taking an early morning run to a heiau and back to the beach
--Snorkeling at White Sands beach
--Hiking along the northwestern portion of the island along the rocky beach to find the best isolated area for snorkeling!
--Hiking in the Kohala Forest Reserve post earthquake damage. We weren't supposed to go but did anyway following the locals ahead of us. Amazing views and foliage everywhere! We didn't find a hatch but did find an amazing natural irrigation system. Who knew.
--Taking a tour of the Kona Brewery with lots of samples afterwards!
--Driving from the Kona Coast to Punaluu beach. A beautiful day for driving, singing along with the radio, and chatting with Miss B. Stopped at lots of roadside stands for random things and just to check out the little towns. So fun!
--Went snorkeling at The Place of Refuge which was by far the clearest water with beautiful coral and amazing sea life. Fantastic!
--Fed the cats at the Punaluu camp ground. Had names for all 6 of them before we left.
--Sitting in our lawn chairs watching the sunset with beers every night while listening to the surf and waves with excellent conversation!
--Did a 7 mile hike at Volcanoes National Park to see the lava drop into the ocean and make the biggest steam plume ever! We did this mid-day so man was it hot!
--Drove around Volcanoes National Park to view all the craters and former volcanoes with some activity. The last time we were there it was raining so we got a good view of everything missed previously.
--Drank beer every night under the stars in our reclining lawn chairs.
--Became professionals at setting up the tent and working the two burner system for cooking. Became very creative cooks also.
--Swam with green sea turtles. Watched these same turtles go out for their early morning swim on the black sands beach.
--Ate yummy malasadas and sweet bread.
--Eventually got to take a shower at Kalani. Hot water never felt so good!
--Went snorkeling in the tide pools of Puna.
--Ate really good food.
--Went to the "Estatic Dance" at Kalani. Basically Miss B found her people and it was great dance music with a bunch of hippies and the girl who plays Max on the L-word. It was so much fun! We danced like mad!
--Did yoga on the lava rocks.
--Read an entire book (600 pages +!) about Janis Joplin.
--Too many other things to mention. Will upload pictures soon.

We did get to hang out in San Francisco too once we returned. Here is the list of events during that time which was great! We did NO work and really relaxed in this great city.
--Had lunch with Vanessa and Mike visiting from Singapore. So good to see them as it had been two years. Just like we had seen them yesterday. Love those friends!
--Cleaned the house from top to bottom. One of those hard core cleanings that really gets the place clean. So fresh and so clean, clean!
--Watched the movie "HAIR". I had never seen it before. What a trip.
--Watched "The Devil Wears Prada". Ok, not as good as I had heard.
--Spent NYE with A and the Investigator dancing our booties into the ground at a warehouse dance party. Very fun. Got our groove on and rang in the new year with style!
--Did lots of yoga and running.

As you can see, we had a wonderful time with eachother hanging out. I miss Miss B today terribly and can't wait to get home to see her again. Ah vacation. All I ever wanted. Vacation how did you get away? With that, it's time to write some reviews. Ugh. Happy New Year to everyone and I will complie the New Year's eve post soon. Happy 2007!