Girl's Best Bling

I rarely watch the idiot box in the morning. I find the newsy shows to be loud and overwhelming. But today I decided to turn it on while I ate my cereal. It was the Today show, and Charla Krupp was displaying trendy expensive jewelry next to successful knock-offs. It was amazing. She placed the replicas next to the originals, and revealed the price of both items. One of the vendors she mentioned was Emitations. I am familiar with them, because they contacted me when I worked in the Art Dept.. at UCSD. They are based in San Diego, and wanted to know if I could recommend one of my students to do web design for them. She explained that women are buying jewelry for themselves these days. "Self-purchased rings shot up in sales 21 percent in the first quarter of 2004 compared to the same period last year." The piece that I found most impressive was the Swarovski Crystal Rhodium and Crystal Pave Oval pendant with cord. Only $65, and it was very glamorous but simple.



For any ladies out there looking to purchase some flashy jewels, be sure to check out these websites. If anyone wants to shower me in cubic zirconia bling, I will not stop you.

Emitations
Pelinni
Etoile
Horse shoe

Inspired Silver
Jessica Simpson Inspired C'mon people! It's Jessica.
Lightning Bolt
JLo (I actually do like this one)
Charlize

The Story of Our Lives

I left the house last night to meet Max at the airport. We planned to have dinner together at his favorite Thai restaurant. He had a 10am meeting this morning, so we were going to keep it to an early night. Yeah right!

6.20pm Left House to pick Max up from the airport.

6.30pm While standing in traffic a woman yells to me that I have a flat tire coming on the right rear wheel

6.35pm Pull over and look at the pancake-ish tire.

6.37pm Start running back towards the closest Subway stop downtown

6.50pm Catch the SFO airport train, estimating that if it takes a half hour to get there, I will just make it for his 7.38pm landing

7.05pm Max calls my cell to say his flight is cancelled and he has no idea when he will be coming in

7.30pm I arrive at the airport

7.35pm Max calls to say he is on a flight that should leave at about 7.50pm

7.45pm I buy two magazines and some Toblerone and wait....

8.40pm Max sends me a text message on the cell, saying they should be taking off soon

9.15pm I call my friend Ben in NYC. He is mentioned in the current issue of ArtForum, on page 88 under the naked lady.

9.45pm Max lands

9.50pm Max and Lori reunite

10.00pm The luggage starts pouring out the carousel at baggage claim

10.10pm The luggage carousel stops, with very few people having retrieved their bags

10.25pm We walk over to the American Airlines baggage office, at the same time a representative with a walkie talkie is coming out

10.26pm An older man yells at the representative, "What the hell is going on here?! Let's get a MOVE ON! Come on!"

10.27pm The representative turns around and responds, "I'm not your slave. I'm not your slave and you will not talk to me like that. If you have a problem go see the manager. I am trying to help you."

10.28pm The carousel begins moving again, and we grab Max's bags.

10.35pm We jump on the Subway train just in time to make it

11.10pm We exit the subway and hop in a cab to our car with a flat

11.20pm Max changes the tire

11.45pm We head home, and find a parking spot in our neighborhood. Miracles do happen!

11.55pm We heat some soup, and sit in the kitchen together.

Throughout this experience we kept eachother laughing, and just made the most of it. And this is why I love our relationship.

Oodles of Noodles

Right before Max left for Greece, he bought a pasta machine. It is definitely his new favorite toy, and I am benefit the most out of this! He has made linguini and spaghetti, as well as ravioli with his new square and round presses. Here is documentation of the first meal made with the Imperia.

Ingredients



From flattened pasta to beautiful noodles



The finished masterpiece

A lot of laughs.

I saw Dodgeball with my brother last night. The first portion of the film was pretty dry, and I started to think "Oh boy... here goes another one." But it did pick up, and the last half was hilarious. As always, Ben Stiller provided huge laughs. He truly morphed himself into a character I hadn't seen before from him, and this was a big surprise. The first gem in the film was a cameo by David Hasselhof, demeaning the German team that lost. The second was a small role played by Jason Bateman. This guy is such an underrated actor! He is hilarious and gorgeous to boot. I truly believe his best performance was in The Sweetest Thing, but there is also the current TV show Arrested Development that enables to us to witness the wonder that is Jason Bateman. (I wish I had watched that show from the first episode)

And so, let us give props to this man, and the film Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. If you need a stupid laugh, this is the place to go.

Final Countdown.

Tonight is my final German 1A class, and tomorrow the ceramics class I have been TA'ing for ends. I am looking forward to getting back into the studio this weekend. I will be taking lots of pictures tomorrow of the student's work. They have made some incredible things, and I have grown very fond of them, and I will really miss some of them. I made a small clay penguin, as part of collaborative project with some of the students, but it exploded in the kiln. I dont think I kneaded the clay well enough, and some air bubbles expanded under the heat of the kiln. Thankfully it didn't destroy any of their work as it burst into a million tiny pieces. All we found was a webbed foot. No dental records would have survived the explosion. Hopefully these endings will also mean more work on the website, and more regular posts to the blog.

Goodnight sweet prince.

This poet and peacemaker will be missed.

Facing the Future

Every journey begins
With but a small step.
And every day is a chance
For a new, small step
In the right direction.
Just follow your Heartsong.

-Mattie Stepanek

Mattie Stepanek, Best-Selling Poet Dies at Age 13, AP Reports
Mattie Stepanek, the best-selling poet and advocate for victims of muscular dystrophy, died of the disease on Tuesday at age 13, the Associated Press reported.

Stepanek's book of poems titled ``Heartsongs'' was published in 2001 and reached the top of The New York Times best-seller list within weeks, the report said. His other books include ``Journey Through Heartsongs,'' ``Hope Through Heartsongs,'' and ``Celebrate Through Heartsongs,'' the AP said.

The time I hit Beck's tour bus.

While watching the idiot box, I was reminded of the day I hit Beck's tour bus. I was driving a golf cart across the UCSD campus. Beck was playing that night at the school, and when I turned the corner to park the cart, his tour bus was blocking the path. I rationalized that the cart was small, and narrow enough to get through. It was one of those moments I knew would be bad before it even started. I drove around the bus, and almost made it, until the very end when I nicked the bumper with the corner of my cart. The driver came running out and started yelling. He pointed out a bump with a different colored paint to the carts. That wasn't my bump. I owned up to bumping him, but was sure that grey paint didn't match my white golf cart. He explained it would be a $1200 repair, and sent me upstairs to tell my boss. The boss who hated me. The boss who hated everyone.

In didn't end up telling her. Instead, I went back down, and sweet talked my way out of it. I played dumb and totally broke. The troglodyte caved in, and we parted ways exchanging a quick, "See you at the show."

Yeah... I'm charming like that.

Turn that shit down!

Granted I am sick. And granted I am grumpy. But I HAD to send a quick post about what just happened. Anyone who reads this blog knows how I feel about the neighbors upstairs. Loud, bad taste in music, quick sex.I was somewhat disoriented when the doorbell rang at 8pm. I forgot we even have one, as most people have to call up to our place to get into the building. When I asked who it was, I heard a voice outside claiming neighbor upstairs. (what?!?!?)

When I opened the door, I recognized the woman I had once whined to about turning down the bass. She came to ask how the music has been lately. "Has it been quieter?" I had finally called the landlord a month and a half ago to complain, and he explained he also heard it and told them to keep it down at all times.

She explained that they are both DJ's and have to listen to music before they go out. I answered that I assumed they were, because of the hours they keep. She looked confused. I told her, "I can hear where you are at all times. The floors are wooden. I know when you are in any given room. I hear you when you wake up, and when you go to bed." What I didn't say was, that I hear them when they fight and when they fuck. Neither of which is very pleasing to the ear.

She explained she wanted to give me her phone number, so that when it's too loud, I can simply call them up and tell them so. I withheld my gasp. This is actually a neighborly act. It's considerate. Or at least I think so. It could also be a way from deterring me from calling the landlord again.

Either way -- I have the lucky number, and I WILL USE IT!

Flu poo.

Teaching full time.
Taking German at night.
Max away in Greece.
Have the flu.
No bloggies for a while...
Stay tuned.

Babies, babies, everywhere...

Here is the latest pics of the twins.



And then there is Jeffrey. Even though I haven't seen him since the end of last year, I can tell exactly what type of vibe he radiates. Calm, sweet, gentle. Just like his mama.

Kids Against Bush

This is Samuel's new website. He is less than 10 years old, and did this all on his own. Apparently he researches thoroughly, and likes to bring all the facts to the table. I love it!

Go here.

Top Ten For Men

Riding on the subway every day, I see numerous badly dressed men, and experience some blunderous manners. I will see something that turns me off, and think, 'Thank god Max doesn't do that'. What follows is a list of some of my personal peeves, and of course a list of items that I find appealing.

What should never happen:
1. Open sandals, disguised as "Woven leather comfort slide"
2. Loafers without socks
3. Loafers
4. Unbuttoned shirts, with major chest hair exposure
5. Wedding rings with diamonds
6. Scratching your nuts in public, or while you're talking to me
7. Taking your wedding band off and playing with it
8. A sweater over your shoulders, with folded arms
9. Belching and smiling afterwards. (Saying excuse me afterwards doesn't make it better.
10. Wifebeaters. EVER!
Bonus: Watches with plastic straps



What should always happen:
1. Dark blue jeans
2. Buzz cuts, that include the back of the neck
3. Sunglasses with black or brown tinting only
4. Baseball hats without a hole in the back
5. Watches with big faces
6. Making eye contact when you say hello and shake hands
7. Filling the glass when the wine gets low
8. T-shirts without brand names on them
9. Backpacks over briefcase
10. White T-shirts under clothing, not on the outside
Bonus: Well manicured hands. No biting.

Broken

I think Blogger is broken. All side bar info is double, and May did not archive. Apologies to the avid readers. I hope it will be rectified soon.

Sweet Melissa.

My dear friend Melissa has been in Madison Wisconsin since the middle of last week. Her mom suddenly took ill, and she bought the first flight she could get her hands on. I have been thinking about her and her mother constantly. She sent the following email this weekend:

hi everyone,

i am writing to let you know about my mom and to please think positive healing thoughts for her...

some of you may have heard already that my mom has had a ruptured aneurysm and is in the intensive care unit in madison wisconsin. and i just wanted to give everyone a brief update from what i know, what i've seen and what i understand.

this all happened on wednesday morning may 26. med flight transferred her to UW hospital in madison that afternoon and she was in surgery for 9 hours. i left from san francisco wed. night and got to the hospital thursday around 10am.

since thursday she has been stable but critical because the type of rupture was violent. and today she had to have an angiogram to help control the vasospasms that are occurring, which means the vessels are spasing and it puts her at a higher risk for stroke. she is in a coma and having little response.

i will be honest, the road to recovery is long... she is critical, but stable. there are so many details i can't even get into right now but i wanted to at least let everyone know what is going on.

this is the single most hardest experience i've had in my life. if you've met my mom you'll know she is the most thoughtful, kind, giving and loving person you could know... she is truly magical.

i'm here in madison with my aunt mardy, my sister sara, my cousins brittany and linsey and my aunt vicki. we are spending every day in the ICU. all our family and friends are so supportive beyond belief... we are blessed and grateful for all the prayers and help we are receiving.

i'm calling erik everyday to let him know what is happening. please call him if you need to get in touch with me. and please keep sending prayers to my mom.

much love to everyone.

Since then, Melissa has created an on-line journal to update everyone on her mom's
progress. The URL is below. It is also a place to donate money to help pay for the hospital bills.

http://www.caringbridge.org/wi/55happy