"I am so calm I could host an NPR show."

-Up All Night episode 2

unsung skills

I was inspired by this Hello Giggles post and felt compelled to list some of the unsung skills i've discovered about myself so far.

-the ability to text and drive at 70 mph...okay i guess that's more of a safety hazard/life threat than a skill..

-eating all the leftovers i bring home

-parallel parking. well almost. LA has taught me well.


skills i wish i had:

-shaving my legs without missing a spot

currently channeling...

grandma at the farmer's market

Sadly, I believe those Barbie pink patent flats will not be lasting me much longer due to its tattered, worn out heels. Time to go a hunting for a new pair!

detox

should i start the gm diet?
i really need to cleanse my system of all the nasty, greasy gunk i've been consuming within this past month..

dtla riot, er artwalk

yesterday joan and i ventured to the downtown la artwalk, it being her first time and my third. i ended up with a brown bag of three hardcover books due to the opening of some bookstore in one of the art galleries and a massive one dollar book sale. needless to say, i am very excited to start reading again. something about hard cover books makes me want to read. i want to say its a combination of rarely having gotten to buy pricier hard cover books over soft cover chapter books as a child and that crisp crackle when you open the book and every time you turn a page.
we finally leave the gas chamber of sweat and humidity and make it back out on the streets of downtown, swiveling our eyes and heads left and right to decide which galleries to check out next. we spot a whole barricade of police officers and just watch the whole intersection get blocked off..

Day 1

on the first day of summer, today, the family and i ventured to muir woods in marin county. i was never a nature/animal/anything outdoors lover but it must be a sign that i'm growing old. my newfound appreciation for green scenery was in full force today as i clicked away at the sight of cedar trees that pierced the sky and breathed in the fresh, misty air.

Day -2 and -1

i have been feasting like none other. i must be home that's for sure.
olive garden yesterday and outback steakhouse for dinner today.
we didn't get to go to sf today but instead we spent the day at the laundromat, helping mimi do her two months' worth of laundry. i knocked out on one of the dirty couches, probably with my mouth open, but i didn't care. it was hot and i was tired.
i really don't know what to do with my hair. it's at this short, awkward, almost to my shoulder length and i look like a page boy with it down and a nun with it up. sigh.

Day -3

yesterday, i set off on a solo road trip to davis to see the family. the 30+ podcasts on my ipod were all that kept me sane and i had several bouts of almost wetting my pants due to my lack of timing on when to take bathroom breaks but trusty ol' Luke (my car) and i made it to d-town safe and sound.

the first day

picture of outfit of first day of internship

artsy thursday

pictures of dtla artwalk

small realizations

today i was driving to starbucks. same route, same stoplights. i'm really trying to refrain from using text vernacular but it was "nbd." you get the point. as i waited at the light, i just happened to stop right in front of a homeless person holding up a cardboard sign. i don't even remember what it said and frankly i don't even remember what he looked like. oh actually yes i do because i creepily looked at my side mirror when he walked past me, down the line of cars. the first thing i did when i spotted the homeless guy in front of me was turn down my music. why? because i didn't want to be that completely oblivious and unsympathetic person who blasts dubstep in her car while a person without a roof over his head stands three feet away from her. but what did that matter? i didn't offer or give him anything. i looked around my car wishing i had a care package to give him or even some spare change but all that met my eyes were strands of hair and the numerous bits of lint on my passenger seat and floor. in place of not having anything salvageable to give this man, i almost took out my phone, the perfect social barrier. but then i realized something. why do i have to feel guilty that i'm just sitting in my car ignoring the homeless guy? why do i feel the need to look busy and seem preoccupied when i've done nothing wrong? it's not my fault that he's homeless. i am under no obligation to care about this man just because i have more than him. right?
i was reminded of the book, animal farm, and the whole communistic ideal of equality versus the democratic value of individualism. or robin hood stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. do the more materialistically advantaged have a responsibility to care for the disadvantaged? why did i, as a rightful citizen of this overtly individualistic, independence emphasizing society, care?
because even though humans are intrinsically immoral and evil and inclined to do bad, we all have this thing called compassion. because we are compassionate we feel a twinge of sadness when we see starving african faces. or a mother crying at the funeral of her child. or even that stranger with ripped jeans and disheveled hair on the sidewalk.