it's my favorite
as i have mentioned before (and before that), i really do love thanksgiving. and i hope you have a very happy one... even if you're a punk who stays home, holed up in his condo, and refuses the invitation to join the family and get his butt kicked in boggle. i'm just saying, it's a good time.
current mood: marshmallow salad, here i come!

workin' for the weekend. and next week, too.
battled a weather-related head cold all week to power through work-stuff. i'm taking the whole of next week off; i figured since i had to take monday off, and i get thursday and friday off, might as well throw those other 2 days in there too. time to celebrate in the themes of love and family!
current mood: here comes the bride(smaid)

merrily merrily merrily merrily
i'm definitely one of those life-documenting types, always with my camera (though not nearly as creative or dedicated as my talented cousin), and lately i've been finding myself with lots of picture-taking situations. come peruse at my last couple of weeks, and maybe it will feel like you're running about my crazy life right alongside me.


current mood: life is but a dream

on my way to being ocd
i'm a couple of weeks into the new gig, and there are some definite, palpable changes from any other office i've worked in. first of all, it's so quiet, and that, to me, is distracting. it makes it that much easier to zone out, staring at the ocean and watching the paragliders, when no one is trying to get my attention or breaking up the landscape. i'm also acutely aware of my attire on a day-to-day basis. less on a dress-for-the-job-you-want sense, though that has become more of a concept in my wardrobe than ever before. more on a everyone-around-you-is-wearing-closed-toed-shoes-and-safety-goggles sort of way, which makes me wonder if one of these days i'm going to lose a toe or an eyeball. i'm scared to touch doorhandles or shake people's hands (especially after today's talks on the work being done on poverty-influencing parasites that like to eat intestines... fascinating and yet another step on my path to becoming one of those crazy antibacterial gel touting fools). there's even a microwave in the kitchen area for the floor that is adorned with a sign saying "This microwave is only to be used for food FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION." the fact that they needed to clarify that so forcefully may influence me back in to a more raw diet.
it's funny, my mother said to me yesterday "i always knew you'd end up with a science-y guy." of course, depending on previous employment choices i've made, she's said things like "i always knew you'd end up with a rich guy." or "i always knew you'd end up with an athlete (and take care of me in my old age)". and although i did get the opportunity to step in to an elevator with 3 men, each carrying some part of the happy hour that happens on fridays on the deck (there was the bread man, the cheese man, and the beer man), i have to remind her that not only do i not go in to the labs to troll for my future Mr., but i'm terrified of doing so for fear of what sort of cooties comes with that deal.
current mood: eww, cooties

proud to be american, horrified to be californian
it's a rare moment where i am speechless. so instead, i will loan this space to another, more verbose than i at the moment, even though he is 100% more effected than i am about the outcome of proposition 8:

Yes We Can - But We Did Not

"According to the state of California, I am less important than a farm animal. I write this at half past midnight on November 5th, 2008 and so far 63% of the population of California has voted that chickens should have the right to extend their wings and cows should be able to turn around... but only 48% believe that I deserve equality under the law. It might still turn around. But it shouldn't have ever been this close.

I wanted to celebrate tonight. When Obama was declared the President-Elect I could not enjoy the experience. He spoke so eloquently of an American Dream that I have no access to. In the history of American society minorities have slowly gained rights as we march towards the freedom that our forefathers envisioned. We have moved beyond the times when interracial marriages were illegal, when women could not vote, and when the color of your skin made you available for purchase... much like the cows that were liberated this evening.

Not to say I didn't support California Proposition 2 which called for more humane treatment of livestock in the state of California. I voted in favor of the measure and stand behind that decision. But tonight, 25% of the population voted to protect the cows and not me.

How am I supposed to go on? Tomorrow I have to walk into my office where statistically more than half the people I interact with think I am less of an American. They think I'm less of a Californian. They think I am less.

I am not less.

I deserve more.

I deserve more than having to fight for the same freedoms as all other citizens of this state and this country.

I deserve more than asking millions of strangers for permission to marry someone I love.

I deserve more than the bigotry and discrimination that has been spewed at me.

I deserve more than the cows do.

I deserve equality.

I do not have it."

jeffrey is a dear friend of mine, and one of the many in my life who were told overnight that california has jetted itself back to 1950, where apparently "separate but equal" settled in, and that they were not allowed to marry. i have attended the weddings of couples who are now be told their Love is wrong in the eyes of the government. i have watched in disbelief as respected friends of mine cast their vote to discriminate against their own friends and family, completely putting aside the tenet of separation of church and state. i would appreciate someone helping me to understand why people hate Love.
current mood: i feel sick.

of angels, devils & little red riding hoods
with the hoopla of halloween, it was actually nice to take the entire day yesterday to just stay home and CLEAN. the place looked like a junkyard, with all my little projects, mostly involving sewing, strewn about the rooms. once i finished my halloween costume (at midnight the day before halloween, i might add), i was able to close up shop and clean up all the little scraps and threads... until, that is, inspiration struck again last night, and i felt compelled to drag out the machine and accoutrements once again. perhaps that little machine should go back to its owner, or i will be forced to live my life amidst fabric scraps.
as for the costume, i got great mileage out of it on both friday and saturday nights. i didn't wear it to work for the fact that a) the skirt turned out WAY shorter than i had intended (but long enough not to be in the total ho category), and b) not too many people had dressed up on campus last year due to the fires, so when i went all-out on a rockin' 80s outfit, i stood out in not the best way. i ended up grabbing a co-worker, also decked out, and taking her with me where ever i went on campus so people would understand we were dressed up, and i wasn't just stuck two decades back. we were so good/bad that our boss wouldn't even sit with us. so this year, i decided to play it safe(r). turns out, quite a few people took the initiative to get dressed up, so that made me quite happy. thumbs up to the creative side of the brain!

current mood: work clothes are so boring!