Sound of Music @ the Hollywood Bowl

I've wanted to hear the L.A. Philharmonic perform for a while now b/c I have deep appreciation for live music especially by symphonies. Tonight, I joined my bro and his friends at the Hollywood Bowl for the "Sound of Music" performance and it was fabulous! We met up earlier for a picnic on the Museum Terrace, but me being the slow-poke eater sans 2.5 molars + 4 wisdom teeth (but have 3 cavities) barely got anything down except for some pasta salad, a slice of cheese, an ice-cream sandwich (made by my bro!), and an empanada (made by wonderful neighbor Rose).

The performance was spectacular and very entertaining. It features several actors and actresses from TV shows such as the daughter from "Desperate Housewives" (*shrug*: I don't watch it) and one of the "Dukes of Hazzard" which I did watch growing up, but I didn't recognize the Duke.

This was also my first time at the Hollywood Bowl; a very great experience! Now, I can't wait to hear the LA Philharmonic perform at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Last summer, one of the summer associates I assisted brought me and my team to the Hall. The specificity and ingenuity of the architecture is breathtaking. I would love to listen to them just perform b/c even though tonight's performance was spectacular, I was more focused on the singing than the symphony music.

Do I sound like a total yuppie??

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Local news: There goes the neighborhood.

So, Home Depot Homie told us about the gang-related shooting from a few weeks ago around Venice and La Brea. Apparently, there's been lots of activity (related or not). This morning in Mar Vista there was a shooting (innocent people according to the local internet news) and a drive-by at a local HS 2 weeks ago. What gives man? The heat must be seriously bringing out the crazies. :(

I wonder where in Mar Vista b/c it happened at 11:30 A.M. I take walks around Mar Vista Hill in the mornings! I guess I'll be going to the gym more often vs. walking around the hood. I think MVH is safe, but MV is a little more sketchy. Then again, people in this neighborhood aren't very friendly. I always smile and say hello to passerbys but they either look at me or ignore me. Either way, I receive no response.

Do I look shady??

I never listen or watch the news b/c there's just too much sad stuff like this.

Animal Cops: Alta Loma

Today was a slightly adventurous day for me. BTW, it is probably 20 degrees cooler in Alta Loma. How "ominous"/wonderful. I went to get my snaggletooth fixed today by my Dentist Aunty's Colleague. I've never had anybody else work on my teeth except my Aunt so this was an interesting experience. It actually went quite well b/c Dentist Uncle immediately applied novacane and gave me another numbing shot. I haven't had topical anasthesia applied since I was 10 y/o, getting 5 pre-molars and molars pulled out for braces. The weirdest thing is that he was drilling away on my front tooth, but it felt like he was working on my canine. Plus, my nose felt like it was 5 times bigger b/c the stuff spread upwards. I didn't care b/c he fixed the gapping hole in my tooth! Yay!

Afterwards, I brought Gramma Pearl home to Alta Loma and we were in for a surprise. Since it's been "earthquake weather" and Gramma's been away, her lawn really got jacked up. I have never seen so many dry patches on her lawn and there were actually weeds, too! I feel so bad for Gramma b/c she loves her lawn as much as Hank Hill. In the midst of our weed-pulling, there was a dog trotting along the other side of the street.

I always naturally gravitate towards dogs, and this dog actually gravitated towards me. I thought I was on "Animal Cops"; this dog looked like he was in a pretty bad condition. First of all, he looked like he crawled out of a cobwebbed basement; doggy had a long thick string of cobwebs along his back and a little more on his snout. Secondly, his fur was discolored in certain spots like the abused/neglected doggies I've seen on "Animal Cops" (TV is such a great source of knowledge). So I was feeling bad for the dog and wanted to get him some water and possibly food, but I know Gramma would trip out -- not so much about rabies, but moreso that this dog was gonna keep coming back to her home, then!

Well, I think Gramma may have been right on this one. Our garage door was open AND the door in the garage to the laundry room/inside the house (we rarely leave that door open). The dog went into our garage and so I kept calling him to come back out. Nope, he went into the house! That's when I started panicking. I tried to grab him and I got a handful of loose fur and the cobwebs! Gross!! Luckily, he only went into my room and then I coaxed him out before Gramma knew...

(If anybody tells Gramma, I will have to send my peeps after you. Even if you are family.)

So, I was kinda excited, thinking that this might be my first time rescuing a stray pet, but Gramma wasn't having it so I led the dog down the street, all the while debating whether I should go back and grab my phone to call somebody to get the dog. I managed to give the dog some water and then a golf cart full of 3 young girls whizzed by so the dog happily chased after them.

And that was the end of my potential first episode of "Animal Cops: Alta Loma."

"Earthquake Weather"

I spent last night at Dad's where it was insanely hot, humid, and overcast (earlier). Dad said, yup, it's earthquake weather. Funny b/c just earlier in the day, I was discussing w/ BF how it's earthquake weather and why haven't I heard anybody else say it lately? Well, it was good to know that us 2 aren't the only paranoid ones.

Earthquake weather is so creepy. I commented to my friend from the opposite coast the other day that you never know when it's gonna rain. She thought I was nuts b/c it's summertime in LA! On TV, Hollywood is always perfectly sunny. :) (That's not to say that her impression of LA is based on TV. Hence, my side-story.)

Side-story: When I was in junior high, we had pen pals from Arkansas. One Arkansan wrote to one of my classmates, "I have never been to L.A. before. Is it true that it never rains like on TV?" Heehee. I remember us all LOL. Kinda mean, now that I think about it. Other pen pals wrote about how Chelsea Clinton was their (best) friend and how she's really nice and all. (This was the time when President Clinton first began serving.)

So, everytime I mention "earthquake weather," I think about my friend b/c even though she's learned quite a lot about LA within the past year, there's still so much to experience and know! Like how no matter how polite and courteous people can be, others will still be rude (to their friendly bus drivers. I always thanked mine even when I exited from the rear of the bus ;).

And like how we actually have "earthquake weather." BF and I describe earthquake weather as "funky weather." For instance, it downpoured in BFE when it was 100 degrees everywhere else. There's been 71% or more humidity on the Westside -- this is L.A., not Miami! It's been overcast, but Africa hot and Taiwan humid. It's just not the stereotypical summer weather. BTW, Taiwan had a 6.1 earthquake "last night" (as in PST).

Today, my BGF and I chatted for a little and talked about "earthquake weather." She described it as, "waking up in the early morning to walk Teddy, and everything is so still and quiet...it's just creepy." That's a new one.

So yeah, earthquake weather. I think I might blingo that to see what comes up.

Here's a good one (actually, I pounced on the first good one I read since I'm working off of weak, stolen wi-fi):

Folklore reserves the term "earthquake weather" for the sultry, ominously uneasy period said to precede large earthquakes. Scientists have generally belittled suggestions that weather could have anything to do with the ponderous forces unleashed during a quake. Despite such authoritative pronouncements, many Californians, who have ample experience with seismic events, insist that quakes and weather are somehow connected.

They may be right -- at least some of the time.

Tonight, Gramma also said, this is earthquake weather and that she didn't know where to hide if there was an earthquake. Poor Gramma! It's true! We've always been taught to hide under a table. The problem is, all of Gramma's table are made of glass. I told her to stand in the doorway between the family room and the hallway, but right against the wall is a ginormous mirror. :( Hm. Come to think of it, this house is not very earthquake-safe, especially for Gramma!

Hopefully, we won't experience any. Thank God I don't work in the U.S. Bank Tower any more (it's only the tallest building in Downtown L.A.)

Freak out

I spent a lot of time with my ESL client this week to make up for missed sessions. On Monday, to work on past tense, she told me that she watched Miss Universe on Sunday and how the ladies are beautiful, and that I should be a contestant for a pageant. I'm like, ha! Me? No, I don't think so but that is very kind of you to say that (as I freak out about my potential snaggletooth which will hopefully be fixed on Friday).

Today, we discussed how English is a difficult language to learn. A part of my explanation was that the written form can differ so much from conversation (which I guess happens with all languages). She lamented about how she learned a few slang phrases and idioms, but forgot them all so it can be a challenge keeping up with English conversations. No, no, wait, she remembers two:

"Freak out..."
"That sucks!"

Isn't that tight? Well, maybe you had to be there to get a kick out of hearing the sweetest 55+ y/o ESL lady say those two phrases emphatically. To be honest, I was a little nervous about which phrases she was gonna bust out. A grip of ghetto-slang or gangsta rap lyrics ran thru my head. At least she knows those two phrases since they're still pretty common. (Or am I the only one who still says those phrases?)

On another separate note -- or part II of Turtle Soup Saga -- I took Lil F out for a walk this AM. When I picked her up to put her back in her tank, she had a hair stuck to her leg. My hair. That tends to happen b/c I shed a lot. :( I started pulling the hair from her leg...when I realized it was coming from her butt!! OMG!!! I was completely freaking out. How and when did she eat a 3 inch hair? I'm gonna have to wear a hair net around my turtle!! :*( I almost didn't tell BF since he swears I try to kill the turtle that I love so much (especially after yesterday's incident).

No way!

Since it's been earthquake weather, I've been really nervous for my turtle. I asked BF last week that if any natural disaster happens (I make it sound like a typhoon or tornado will hit) and I'm not home, please remember to grab Lil F and my Hello Kitty.

He said he doesn't have enough hands. :(

Turtle Soup

BF often jokes about making our/my turtle into turtle soup or turtle burger and I always make a big deal about how mean he is. Today, I almost made turtle soup by accident!

BF left earlier than me (for once) to meet with a client this morning. In my haste to bum-rush to school, I turned the A/C off with a little too much force. Apparently, I had turned the A/C off...and turned the heater on! Crap! BF says her tank was so hot so he kept throwing ice cubes in to cool her off.

My poor little turtle!! Of course we don't know how hot her water really got b/c when her shipment came in yesterday, they didn't include the thermometer I ordered.

.·:*¨¨*:·. .·:*¨¨*:·..·:*¨¨*:·. .·:*¨¨*:·.

In other news today (since BF doesn't update his blog) -- BF met with his new client whom he was referred to by his rap-star cousin's associate. Bummer that my first time hearing rap-star cousin rap was for the up & coming shoe company (they just signed Snoop Dogg to rock 'em) on their funky website (that BF will soon revamp). Oh well. He definitely sounds awesome, though! Hopefully, I'll get to hear him perform live soon.

Anywho, so the company gave BF a pair of shoes from their new line; it's not even on the shelves yet! The only thing is that he really doesn't wanna "represent" w/ this pair of "luxury kicks." I won't put a picture of them up for fear that some cyber-stalker will put 2 & 2 together, and BF will lose his client b/c of me (which translates to the BF not being able to purchase ice-cream and other yummy things for me).

Still more news -- BF & I went to Home Depot over the weekend to pick up some blinds to go with our new drapes. He's in an interior decorating mood especially because more of his clients will be stopping by his office (a.k.a. our home). Dude, we met the funniest and "hardest-working hungover Mexican." He gave us the lowdown on how the peeps at the Marina del Rey Home Depot be haters. Plus, the same people have been jacking a buncha Hondas from the parking lot...and they also jacked the store manager's Denali. Not that the situation is funny but it was pretty hysterical when the homie was telling us. Anywho, so we got a good price for the blinds + comedy routine. We're quite happy with how xtn's office looks.

Every day that I'm driving back home from school, I tell myself that I'm going to clean my "office." It still hasn't happened yet...

2 Ns

BF & I just got back from visiting friends. We caught them during their last half hour at the hospital, before we all headed to their home. They just welcomed a newborn son into the family on Monday. Yay! Congrats to Mommy and Daddy of 2 Ns! (Both of their sons' names begin with "N.") We hung out with them a little bit at their home so I played with Big Brother N (2:6), who was absolutely adorable.

Point of digression: being in this field has really had an effect on me. It's already bad enough that I have a hard time enjoying my favorite singers when they are clearly abusing their voice. Now, I can't turn the SLP diagnosing off.

I had fun with BBN, who was all chats and giggles. I couldn't help but make observations: "Whoa! The kid's making 4-word utterances!" Other observations soon followed: follows simple commands, responds appropriately to most Wh-questions, consistently imitates, artic is WNL, etc. ;)

Anywho, I have to say it was a wonderful experience playing with BBN and meeting three day old Little Brother N. LBN is the youngest baby I have ever been around! Second would be classmate's 1-month old angel. (Both referenced to in this post.) The best was when Daddy of 2Ns showed a camera video footage of when LBN was just born -- but it was all paparazzi-style and even rated G! Apparently, you're not allowed to take pictures in the delivery room, so he held the camera in his palm but he totally censored it for the general audience. That is talent!

-:¦:- -:¦:- -:¦:- -:¦:-

On a completely separate note, I've decided that within the next 10 years, I am sOOoo swimming with sea turtles in Hawaii. BF thinks it's one of my "I'm going to (find and) ride a mustang" proclamations but no, this is like for reals ferrealz.

Red Bull gives you what?

I am, once again, a legendary student clinician! Not b/c I'm a G at this clinic business but b/c both of my clients didn't show up for clinic this week when I had a midterm. Again, it must've been b/c I went to church on Sunday. Ha!

Actually, I'm kinda bummed that this quarter is flying by b/c clinic has been the least stressful in comparison to the other quarters. I have to admit that I semi-prayed that my kiddo wouldn't come today since we had a midterm that I wasn't done cramming for.

I went to bro's office last night to fax a work document to him (he's in Kentucky) and to cram for CAPD. The lamest thing is that at 11:50 P.M., I finally began studying and cracked open a Red Bull, desperate to stay awake. At precisely 12:28 A.M., I called it quits and proceeded home. In my daze, I crossed the Centinela/Washington intersection and about 5 lights flashed. OH NO WAY! I'm getting another ticket?!?!?!?!?! I swear it was yellow thru the whole intersection!

The ironic thing is that I just e-mailed my awesome cherry-saving/Cherry-Saver classmate (who saved my cherries twice last night...re: TA and CAPD notes. Thx, K!) about my first and only car accident way back in the day. The irony is that when the thought of getting a ticket crossed my mind, I had a flashback of my accident when homeboy said only one thing to me: in America, we stop at yellow lights.

Well in L.A., we speed through them (and run reds).

Oh, but the point of this post was that Red Bull is such a waste of calories for me. (Thank goodness my bro had a sugar-free one.) You'd think that downing a can at midnight would at least keep me up for 2 hours, but heck, it didn't do anything for me. I was ready to fall asleep when I finished the can; hence, driving thru a yellow was like life in slow-motion (I coulda sworn the light turned red after I finished crossing, though! I guess I'll find out in a few weeks.).

I was trying to explain to my classmates on Monday my weirdness about Red Bull. For some reason, I feel guilty when I drink it. I think I look at it like it's a drug or something (although I am not a RB junkie. It does nothing for me. I'd maul a mofo for Starbucks, though). Or I associate it with the night-life. Yeah, give me a Red Bull vodka. Or it was the rage when RED was still at Hacienda.

I only gave the cocktail example, so my classmates looked at me like I was crazy, and one simply said, "it's just an energy drink."

I guess. But in my case, it's just a waste of calories.

BTW, I tried a tangerine frappuccino from Starbucks yesterday -- only b/c I had a coupon for a free sample, thx to my bro -- and it was pretty good. However, on any day of the week and twice on Mondays, I'd rather get an espresso drink.

Pederass

(Dude, "The Big Lebowski" totally rules!)

My little buddy didn't come yesterday (nor my older, very sweet client). When I spoke with Mom, she said that he was asking if he'd get to play "up/down" with me. Yay! The psycholinguistic approach just might be working! Not that saying up/down is more functional than saying, "I'm hungry," but it sure beats "Wheeee!" and "uh-oh!"

So, in EDSP yesterday, a bunch of us worked on our clinic stuff. I can't believe we made it through the whole class; half of our group ditched the 2nd half or was just MIA. My classmate snuck peeks at my Task Analysis, and we started cracking up. For one of my goals, I'm working on expanding his vocab so I thought that incorporating a children's song, such as "head and shoulders," would work great with teaching him body parts vs. sitting and drilling. The only problem is that under "Consequence," it reads really bad:

If correct: clinician nods and smiles while continuing the song and identifying corresponding body parts

(No problem at this point.)

If incorrect: clinician guides Andy’s hand to the appropriate body part as it is sung while touching her corresponding body part with her other hand.
(Pederass!)

I better stop blogging and get to re-wording the latter consequence to sound a lot more acceptable and professional. Hopefully, when I plot out "The Hokey Pokey" for goal #2 (following simple commands), it won't sound as scandalous.

I have no idea why I'm incoporating children's songs when I can't hold a note. Last quarter, clinic partner-in-crime and I put on a greeting song show for our kiddos and that was traumatizing enough on my part. The things we do to get kids to talk!

Back from the dead

Dude, I haven't been on AIM for forever, and today was like ketchup day w/ the homies!

First, one of my roomies from college, whom I hardly chat with, got at me. We had a really nice chat about the current haps and stuff. I told her that she better go on that blind date with the ER doctor in LA before the next time we chat. :D What a supportive friend I am. I'm glad she's doing well, in spite of her career crisis a while back. Seriously, not all lawyers are bad. ;) She's a real sweetheart.

Second, my former co-worker hit me up. Mind you, I'm really nervous about getting IMs from SNs I don't recognize, and her SN sounded like a diva-esque pRon star's name. I guess it was fitting with her faux princess/diva attitude. Haha! I love that girl. The last I heard was that she suddenly packed her stuff and left for the Mainland (that's Taiwan, for us/her; I'm American!). So that was awesome catching up with her. Dude, I cannot imagine suddenly moving to Taiwan. I watched an episode of "Pacific Rim" and the young travelers were in Taiwan. Just living vicariously thru the people was enough for me to know that I'm 100% American. Ok, 97.6%. (Chinese bakeries make the yummiest cakes.)

Third, my homie G from BFE hit me up. (Anywhere East of West Covina is considered BFE by my standards. Especially Rancho Cucamonga, where Gramma lives!). Sometimes I laugh (in a good way) that we've KIT all these years, especially b/c I am the worst at KIT (evidenced by case 1 re: college roomie, whom I lived two years with). He is seriously the only normal person I met from BFE while I was living in BFE. Last weekend, I was telling my bro about the many weirdos I met in BFE -- which he had no idea -- and I was just amazed again. I've encountered the biggest potheads and worst stalkers there. Potheads, I can deal with; at least I can run away from them and they won't catch me. Then again, I wouldn't run away from them b/c most of them were hysterical to be around (sadly, I was so naive that I didn't know that they were high EVERY time I was kickin' it with them until they later confessed).

Stalkers scare the bejeezus out of me.

P.S. Homie G from BFE was neither of the 2 "categories."

BLINGO Winner! Yeah!

Yeah! I finally won something on Blingo! (See huge sidebar BLINGO icon/link).

I'm trying to work on one of my ISRs and decided to search something (now I can't even remember what!), and I got a nice message saying I won! I won a movie ticket, but how nice that they gave me the option of collecting a $10 iTunes gift certificate. I opted for that since 1) we receive so many movie tixs as gifts, 2) we NEVER go to the theatre any more, 3) BF ends up giving them to his parents (like today).

I won I won I won! :D I can't help that I get so excited over winning any (free) contests. Up to date, Berkeley Cousin has won tons of cool prizes, including an iPod shuffle, Visa gift cards, and movie tickets. (She also gets another movie ticket since she referred me and I won a movie tix/GC).

I think I'll get a couple of Collective Soul songs since a stupid VW dealership person jacked my CD. Seriously, my taste in music is so old skool and eclectic so why in the world would someone jack a Collective Soul CD circa 1995 of all things? They must've really wanted it as much as I want it back!

Free Dessert!

(I think I start every post with "today," but in any case) Today was BF's day off so we've been chillaxing for most of the day, despite the insane amount of schoolwork I have. Call it denial or procrastination.

From Monday until last night, BF literally worked day and night to complete a kick-@$$ website for a client/homie's homie. I suppose his insomnia helped him pull his two all-nighters, just a teeny bit. Check the site out. OoOoOOo! She even mentioned BF's name! He's famous by association! (I keep telling him that, but he doesn't believe me.) The first time she came over to discuss the site, I thought she was really down to earth and modest, considering she was recently proclaimed as one of "LA's Top Female DJs," next to DJ Irene (BF's personal favorite). I finally got to hear her spin that night at Avalon, too.

For lunch, we went to Cheesecake Factory in Marina del Rey, and we had the most delightful dining experience (partly thanks to Mystery Guest). Our server was like the server from Heaven (later, we overhead him saying he's the District Trainer). He even gave us the choice between the two best seats in the restaurant -- both overlooked the beautiful marina on this lovely day. The best part was when I busted out a gift certificate for a free dessert (compliments of bro and MasterCard), he leaned in real close and said, "I'm not supposed to tell you this, but read the back of the card." Turns out we could get a free dessert with EVERY entree we ordered. Two free slices of gourmet cheesecakes? Heavenly! Funny b/c BF was initially mortified at the thought of me using a "coupon" at this restaurant. I said, "I don't care what you think; I'm getting my cheesecake and if you're that embarrassed, then I'll just have the cheesecake all by myself." What can I say, I have a major sweet-tooth. He seemed to let on a little excitement when we found out we could get 2. Ha!

We ended up ordering his favorite, Adam's Peanut Butter Fudge Cheesecake, and the new, "not even on the menu yet" cheesecake, Mixed Berry Custard Cheesecake. Now comes the embarrassing part. I gave him my MasterCard, but it got denied. Why? Not b/c of my unemployed, full-time student's bank account (who was denied financial aid the past 2 quarters and now the next entire academic year! What gives, man!), but b/c it expired in February! Stupid me had a flashback of how I continually threw around under my desk the new card with the authorization code sticker. Oh, so that's why they sent me a new card back in January. Thankfully, BF had a MasterCard. As I often joke, "having a BF is so useful." ;)

I just got my new card authorized so I'm good to go! When I told the CR lady my last name, she commented, "I like that." Such a random comment. I believe this is the second time a CR has said that to me. What's so lovely sounding about my last name?

Just like HS

Dude, I felt like I was in HS, today. In the EDSP class tonight, 3 cellphones and a voicemail ringer went off. But that wasn't what made me feel like I was in HS.

The COMD grads - including me - ditched the last half of our class - again. =P Boy, do we represent well!

I don't think I really ditched much in college. Nope, not even that terrible 8 A.M. stats class! HS, I had perfect attendance frosh year. Soph year came around and I ditched soOoOOOO much. What can I say? I always tagged along with my senior brother. If he didn't feel like going to school, then I wasn't going to school either. Awesome.

He was never much of a school person anyways. We took 2 classes together at Chaffey one summer, and he pulled a COMD/EDSP move -- he left during the breaks -- but would instruct me to stay and take notes (or I was too paranoid to leave). And like the great role model that he was, he'd cheat off of me during quizzes and exams.

Nowadays, I wouldn't dream of ditching a grad class. Thankfully, EDSP is an undergrad class...

I scream for ice-cream!

I was being a grouchy-ball for several reasons today, but bro bought me a (ginormous) ice-cream bar from Costco, smothered in chocolate and almonds. I felt sOOoOOoOOo much better after that! Ice-cream is the all-time panacea!

Until I got home and couldn't find the Sex & the City DVD boxset I sold on ebay and have to mail out tmrw. Apparently, BF accidentally threw it away. (How in the world to you throw away a NEW DVD boxset and not remember? Crazy!) Knowing that I've been a real grouchy-ball today, I did my best to maintain good behavior. Unfortunately, I ended up going downstairs and digging through the trash to fish it out. Thankfully, he had just taken the trash out a few hours ago so our bag was neatly plopped on top.

Do I dumpster-dive all the time? Not at all. The only other time I've ever been in a dumpster was in college. I accidentally threw down the trash chute one of my childhood keepsakes (a Hello Kitty handkerchief) and there was no chance in heck that I was going to not go after it. Needless to say, when two of my roomies got home and walked past me knee deep in trash, they couldn't stop laughing hysterically.

The things I do in my spare time. Gross. I guess I'm not as much of a germaphobe as I thought! =P Still, gross.

I could go for another ice-cream bar tomorrow...

LA vs. SF

No, this is not the typical trash talking re: The Bay People vs. SoCal Peeps. :) Although SoCal rules!

Today, Gramma, Dad, bro, & I went to the Dodgers v. Giants game. We had awesome seats, compliments of his homieG, Ms. Susie W. She even personally escorted us to the Club seats -- in the shade and with cushioned seats! I asked my bro what she does and he recalled, Community Affairs. What does that mean?

Welp, I don't know if this is representative, but during the 4th inning, she visited us and told my bro that she just finished hosting a meeting/luncheon with the Dodgers players' wives and (multiple) girlfriends and had to go back to "do art" with them. How crazy is that. Haha.

Gramma had a great time; she LOVES watching baseball. She is definitely a bigger Dodgers fan than me, but Lakers, I'd say there's hard competition. Dad watched, but I think he was more fascinated by the outrageous concession prices. Everytime somebody came back with another beer or nachos, he added it onto their "tab" and reported to me how much they've already spent. Of course he didn't believe my bro about a small beer being $8. He never believes my bro when it comes to dollars and cents. Poor bro and silly Dad. As for me, I had a great time at my 2nd Dodgers game. A huge part of it being our seats. :)

Thanks, Ms. Susie W, who is resigning from her position in 3 weeks to pursue a Masters in Urban Planning! Congratulations! (Not that she reads this blog :)

Daddy & Me Day

Today was a fun day “off.” I drove to Dentist Aunty’s house and then Dad picked me up. We went to the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens for a Daddy and me day. I planned this about a month and a half ago, during that weekend when Daddy came to West LA. Why so far in advance? Well, the first Thursday of every month is free admission, but I was taking finals last first Thursday of the month.

The last time I went was in 1997 with Mom. Mom and I took individual pictures in front of the Japanese bridge. Today, when I asked Dad to shoot a pix of me in front of the bridge (I really like the Japanese Garden), I thought about how I was standing almost at the same spot about 10 years ago. Deja vu...

We visited the desert, rose, and Japanese garden and then checked out two art galleries and the library. We visited Blue Boy and Pinkie, which brought back memories of Pastor Aunty’s Monterey house. Pastor Aunty had both of the paintings in the hallway where Dr. Cousin, Director bro, and I spent countless hours playing “Kamikaze” and “spaceship.” As a kid, those two paintings scared the bejeezus out of me. No clue why. Just something spooky about them…

See the Gutenberg Bible? This was our last stop. Dad was very excited to see this. :) See the descriptor card for the Gutenberg Bible? It’s so nicely shot b/c Dad accidentally shot with flash. :( The employee that I had approached moments before to ask if it was okay to shoot pixs without flash, yelled, “NO FLASH! NO FLASH!” The Red Hat Society lady standing between us shot my dad the dirtiest look and said, “That is certainly inexcusable!” and uttered something else out of disgust. I was mortified! Dad apologized to the two employees and explained the honest mistake (he switched the battery which automatically tripped the flash), and both of them said it was no big deal, they understood it wasn’t intentional, and “it happens.” Because the employees were so forgiving, I was really annoyed at how the Red Hat lady yelled at my dad like it was her business. That was the last stop of our two-hour adventure.

After lunch, I made the only cousin home swim with me. I haven’t swam for over 5 years! Cousin and I swam for about 40 minutes! I would have swum longer, but I wanted to beat traffic going to Dad’s. My plan backfired b/c by the time I was primped, Gramma was taking a cat-nap and I didn’t want to disturb her since she already gets little sleep as it is (I swear I get my poor sleeping patterns from Gramma...).

Well, we met Dad at the Beijing restaurant near his house. Gramma so rules! She lectured about how the wooden chopsticks have bleach or some chemicals that are bad for us. As she lectured, she busted out something that looked like a pencil bag. I thought, how cool is gramma if she busts out a pair of chopsticks! And of course she did! But they weren’t like any of the ones we normally use. This pair was fancy; the bottom-half is made of metal! Totally made me think of the Joy Luck Club dowry chopsticks. Gramma has the coolest stuff!

Pepsi and Tequila at Kern River

What an awesome day!

I think I ran on pure adrenaline the whole day because 2 hours of sleep could not have carried me thru 5+ hours of white water rafting! (+ 1 cup of coffee + 1 McD's sausage egg McMuffin)

I went to bed at 1:30 AM and woke at 3:30 to get to bro's by 4:15. We left around 4:30 and barely got to White Water Voyages at Kern River in time (8 AM). This was also Elsa's first road trip and she did us proud, taking those curves up the mountain just perfectly.

Our trip began with some safety tips by the comedian trip guide. FBIL/b-day boy chose our guide, a dude with "Santa Cruz" hugely tatted across his upper back. I thought it was lame (I'm a highly biased tattoo snob -- who thinks that getting a tattoo of my turtle is cool) but he turned out to be the best raft guide! They kept calling him Jenkins, which made me think of Sammy Jenkins from "Memento," but that was supposedly also his last name; first name made me think of (r) from Latham, but just pronounced in a different way. Our group of 14 got split up amongst the 5 rafts so bro, FBIL, and I sat with a BF/GF couple also from LA (they both go to CSULA also!). I felt soOOoOOoO bad for the GF b/c she didn't know how to swim and was absolutely terrified. Unfortunately, she sat with us/me, the girl who LOVES going to roller coaster drops with both hands up. My dad would be so mad at me if he knew all the crazy things we did during the trip!

So, I sat behind my bro on the left side and pretty much followed his strokes. Unfortunately, the sweet girl sat behind me and just couldn't get in sync with us the whole trip! Thank God we had to wear helmets b/c homegirl actually hit my helmet twice with her paddle. Hm...unless it was b/c she was mad at me for always egging the guide on to bring us thru the crazier "holes." :D So, we did two trips that worked it's way up to Class IV rapids before lunch! I even rode "the bull," which was basically sitting at the bow of the raft, hanging onto the perimeter line for dear life, riding through some rapids. It was awesome!

Oh, I also managed to get thrown out of the raft. Yeah! I couldn't stop laughing while I was in the water b/c weirdo me thought it was hilarious! What also ran through my mind was how my bro was probably terrified beyond relief (hey, my brother loves and cares for me to pieces). FBIL quickly scooted across the raft (he was seated next to me), and tried to rescue me the absolutely wrong way, as we were just schooled half an hour earlier; he grabbed my foot! Haha! Our guide, JJ, started tripping out and was like, "No! Grab the lapels!" as he lunged forward but totally ate it (I found out later). Thankfully, FBIL yanked me up from out of the waters as I continued to laugh hysterically like a madwoman. I thanked FBIL and then apologized to my bro for scaring the daylights out of him.

If you were going through those rapids pictured on the right, wouldn't you get thrown out? JK, those are Class V, which we were not trained to go through.

Secretly, I'm still laughing, thinking about that experience. I'm not surprised that I'm the only one that got thrown out of that raft through the whole trip. I like to think that I'll be the one that things do NOT happen to, but knowing me -- and as friends will attest -- things always happen to me. Kind of like how things always break around me. ;) I secretly prayed that homegirl wouldn't get thrown out b/c I can't imagine how terrifying any part of the trips must have been for her.

Lunch was a nice spread along a creek. All of the guides laid out deli meats, cheeses, veggies, and fruits in a beautifully appetizing way, and we made our own sandwiches. I love sandwiches and eating, but I hate those kinds of meal experiences b/c I know that I'll be one of the first to begin eating (I was actually the 3rd to make a sandwich out of 30 people) and be the last one to finish by a mile stretch. Heck, I didn't even finish my sandwich and I still finished eating about 10 minutes after the last person. To make it worst, I came to realize that I truly am a messy eater (good thing BF doesn't read this blog) and I make my meals look so unappetizing! Leave it to my bro to notice, but at least I admitted to him first before he teased me! So, we had those huge bread slices, the ones that are 1.5 size bigger than normal sandwich breads. Instead of eating my sandwich vertically, I attempt to eat my sandwich horizontally the whole time. So for the 45 minutes or so that I'm eating my sandwich, I held it with both hands the entire time. I only realized that when I looked at my bro's vertically eaten sandwich (my bro makes any food he eats, look soOOoOO appetizing like commercials).

After lunch, we did two more even crazier runs. The first was called "Pepsi" and our last run, the wildest, called Tequila. That was an appropriate name b/c I've always heard that Tequila brings out the worst in people or makes drunk people do the craziest things. Rafting through Tequila was insane, but soOOoO much fun! Through our 4 trips, JJ led us through the rapids as if we were freestylin on BMX bikes (yes, like the 80s). He had us doing 360s in the rapids!! He also had us do "flips" or what I like to think of as "wheelies." We all bum-rushed to the back of the raft, where he was, and then ride thru the rapids. B/c of the weight shift, our raft felt like we were gonna flip over! He also had us do the "circle of trust," where we all stood on the edge of the raft while holding hands, leaned backwards...and then he paddled us so we were again doing 360s.

Where the water was calm, I jumped out twice to go for a swim. The first time, I hung onto the perimeter line for dear life b/c I didn't want to suddenly get pushed out and have to have the whistle blown for me. The second time, I got a little crazier and managed to distance myself about 5 feet from the raft (wow). Of coure I couldn't get back in myself so JJ lifted my lapels until my feet were practically dangling in the air. Haha. I tried to lift my bro in, but he didn't want me trying; he probably thought that I'd head-dive into the water instead of pulling him into the raft.

Last but not least, of course I got sunburned!!! Actually, I didn't put anything on my blindingly pale legs so my legs are burned crisp (I was wearing pants earlier). I put sunscreen on too late so now I'm walking around home in my chonies, with Noxema and aloe vera caked onto my thighs. Pretty gross.

I'm soOooOOOOO glad my bro used his charming, not-shady-salesman techniques to persuade me to go on this once-in-a-lifetime experience. Although, I have a feeling that it'll be more than just once in this lifetime. :D

Update: P.S. I forgot to add that we saw a deer!!