My parents and I went up to Petaluma (or, it might be in Novato?) to the Rouge et Noir Cheese Factory. It's something we always do on father's day. Of course we missed my sister and brother in law (esp. because Richard is usually our d.d. hahaha). Afterward we drove through Marin and did some shopping, mostly at BevMo. And no, I'm not kidding. I like this picture of me and my dad because I kinda look like him in it, even though obviously I look more like my mom than anything else. We have the same nose and I think we kinda have the same smile in this one.

I have mostly cleaned the guest bedroom all out. I just have to clean off the desk and finish washing the bed linens. I decided it's about time I move the second litterbox out of the guest bedroom and so I found a nice place for it in the hallway. I originally had it in there because it was the room I was confingTimmay to when I first got him. But, he's no longer confined to a room and I just started to think, "fuck, I wouldn't put a litterbox in my bedroom, so why would I put that in a guest bedroom?" Anyway, long overdue, but it's not in there anymore. I cleaned off the table and chairs and moved them onto the porch/sun room thing yesterday. The table and bbq in the backyard is now set up for actual use! I guess I've been doing some nesting this weekend. I still have more things to do, but I've made some serious headway and I'm glad about that.

I'm going to Puerto Vallarta 3 weeks from tomorrow. I just ordered a retro style bathing suit. Now I just need big glasses and red lipstick.

They made me a giant penis cake for my birthday. It was a lot of fun. I'm glad I took today as a vacation/recovery day.

Well, I drank quite a bit last night and haven't been feeling that great today. I will probably stay in tonight since I have day drinking plans tomorrow. Also, I took Monday off so I will have a recovery day.

I got my haircut this afternoon. When I went in, my stylist told me my hair looked great and he didn't think I needed a cut, which is shocking since my last cut was like in February. I showed him the picture of what I wanted and he said he would cut the bangs but keep the length. But once he started cutting, he decided he did like the picture I had brought in and decided to cut it short again. I like it.

( obligatory before and after shots )

All day, I've been buying jewelry on eBay. I love it. You can just find so many different things and for cheap. I am buying tons of necklaces and some earrings, pretty much all infused glass. It's like getting a pretty pipe, except these will stay pretty! La la la, new jewelry.

And I got my insurance premiums refund check. Nice! Speaking of checks, my other grandmother sent me a card in the mail and she writes, "Don't celebrate too much! I'm jealous, when I was your age, I had 4 kids already."

thefridayfive

1. What do you feel is the most important quality in a close friend?
Honesty. I can’t deal with liars; I’d rather deal with truthful assholes.
2. What is the one quality in a stranger you'd just met that would make you want to get to know them better?
A hot ass, that they are buying me a drink, or that they are well traveled
3. What do you think is the most important quality in a good leader?
Being able to admit you’ve made mistakes and then move on from them.
4. What is the one thing that makes a child likable to you?
I like how kids can be brutally honest. I am also jealous of their energy levels.
5. What do you think is the one thing that makes a good parent (other than loving their children)?
To a certain degree, letting go and letting them make their own mistakes.

When I was 15 years old, my dad gave me a jade heart necklace for Christmas. At the time, having grown up in a Chinese neighborhood, I had identity issues and wished I was Chinese. My desire for a piece of jade, in addition to the fact that my mother had one, stemmed from schoolmates telling me I wasn’t really Chinese unless I had a jade. Not that I had any real money of my own, but the tradition is that it has to be a gift and then it brings you good luck. Until a few months ago, I had only taken that necklace off a hand full of times total (specifically, I remember being afraid I’d lose it parasailing and for my sister’s wedding because the bridesmaids had matching jewelry we were supposed to wear). I didn’t like taking it off; I felt like if wearing it meant good luck, then not wearing it meant bad luck. I slept in it and showered in it. It's been to every country I've been to. I had to replace the chain a few times actually because some of them broke. A few months ago, Timmay bit through one of the chains while I was sleeping and so I replaced it with another chain I had lying around because someone I knew had given me a necklace as a gift, for some reason not knowing I would never wear any other necklace. I wouldn’t even consider wearing another necklace; I have boxes of unwanted necklaces around my house. Timmay broke the second chain in the same way and I had no more gold chains to spare. My neck felt too naked without a necklace so the last few months I’ve been wearing a pretty necklace that Rory gave me. It’s an African River Onyx and the stone is attached to the chain. Otherwise I’d probably have put the jade on that chain. I haven’t felt particularly unlucky without my jade. Actually, in a way, I’ve felt very liberated. I know this is going to sound pretty dramatic, but I have finally made a decision that I can become the type of person who has different jewelry and changes it, rather than someone who only wears the one signature piece that they love. It’s silly, really, how I make hard and fast rules and then play by them, but that is how I tend to work. So, I’m now considering it open season for necklaces. I have so much lost time to make up now. I guess this goes beyond necklaces; I don’t know why I am sometimes so opposed to change. It’s something I do not like about myself because it reminds me of things that frustrate me in other people. Anyway, today I bought a necklace that's made out of fused glass. I’ve been wanting a necklace like this for a while, but it always seemed like a frivolous way to spend my money. Since my birthday is a in a few days and my grandma sent me some money, I figured I’d buy myself something nice. Well, actually it was only $20 but I’m gonna use the bday money to pay for a haircut as well. I’m sure in some ways this is total nonsense, but I thought it was amusing: the man who sold me the necklace (the glass artist) actually picked it out for me. I was looking at different ones and he suggested that I check this one out. It’s not something I would have ever picked out on my own, but I decided to try it on anyway. He said he knew it was going to work with my complexion, but he didn’t know it was going to be that perfect. It surprised me too how much more brilliantly it looked on my person than it did lying flat on the booth he sets up at Justin Herman Plaza. He said he has a theory that he makes jewelry for specific people, not knowing them, and somehow they sense it and come buy that piece of jewelry. He had envisioned someone with my coloring buying this piece of glass. He thanked me for picking up what he said was made for me. While I suppose this silly story speaks only to his sales techniques and my gullibility, it makes me smile. None of this really has to do with necklaces anyway.

ETA:

I've been a vegetarian for over a decade now (since 1998) and I gotta say the one thing I miss is a good Philly Cheesesteak. I've had some imitations and I've also just had other grilled sandwiches and nothing is quite the same. This looks better than it tastes, but is a solid first attempt considering I used processed "meat" and made it in a toaster oven here at work.

Also, I had a really bizarre dream involving Philly cheesesteaks last night, featuring the line, "if ya don't like it with the whiz, I'll fucking kill you right now." The person who died was Liam, which si really bizzare because I haven't seen or talked to him in a while and we're not that close. And for some reason this dream took place on the UCSC campus because I was going to grad school for astronomy (LOL) and my dorm room was inside a windmill.

Totally not doing much work this afternoon. At least I am amused.

Nasty, I just found a dead mouse body and its entrails (about a foot away) on my front stairs. Ugh, gotta stop kissing that kitty.

It's a lazy day around here. I made a list of all the cleaning I have to do and I just don't feel like doing any of it.

Do you remember a couple of years ago there was a ridiculous cosmetic ad that showed some model applying lipstick generously and then biting an apple to prove that this lip color really doesn't come off? I bought that lipstick and they were right. However, the product works a little too well. Last night, I applied lipstick around 7p.m. before I left my house to grab dinner with Justin & Julien. I ate, drank, smoked, sweat my ass off, slept, and have since taken a shower and the whole nine yards and the lipstick has still not come off.

It used to be my favorite show, but now I am so fucking annoyed by Family Guy I can't stand to watch it. I've seen the old ones a million times. The new ones don't seem to have any new jokes. That is all.

thefridayfive
Stranded!
It's the "stranded on a desert island" question! You can only take one thing from each category. What is it and why are you taking it?

1. A food that can be planted and regrown.
Potatoes.

2. A person you haven't seen in a long time.
I’ll go with my friend Alistair in London.

3. A book you (were) read as a child.
Alice in Wonderland or maybe the C.S. Lewis books

4. A celebrity.
My default celebrity answer is always going to be LL Cool J.

5. The entire episode run of a television show (it's a very nice desert island).
Lost. Shit, we’re on an island, why not?

I feel good today. Yay for Friday! I have come up with a solution for my car. It isn’t the most adult solution, but it is a quick fix. I had my car towed to my parents driveway and borrowed their truck. They are on vacation for another 2-3 weeks and thus not using their car or driveway. This buys me a little more time and also means my parents can help front me the money if it turns out to be a reasonable amount that I'd be able to pay them back. I am also now thinking it may be the alternator, although that’s annoying because I replaced the alternator 3 years ago. But if so, it was only like $300 to replace the alternator last time and I have that. It’s funny, I used to drive that truck; it was “my car” my senior year of college after the Corolla was totaled. When I was driving it yesterday, I half expected The Strokes cd to be playing because back in 2004, that was the only cd I kept in my truck and I played it on repeat for basically a year. Even though I should be saving money for car repairs, I keep looking up all inclusive resorts in Mexico.

SERIOUS WTF? I'm at my computer playing Lexulous and Bandit is on top of the desk (i.e. about 3 feet above me) and he fucking falls and claws me on the way down. How many head injuries can one person sustain? It's not that bad, but it looks awful and it stings a little.

My head still hurts so I'm taking it easy tonight. I put a cold compress on the back where the bump is and watched some stuff on my DVR. My mom bought me a pair of slippers and dropped them at my house while I was at work, along with a few other things. She spoils me rotten.

Last night I decided enough was enough and when I couldn't sleep because the cats were fighting/wrestling, I locked them both out of my bedroom instead of separating them from each other. Today was the first day I left them together without confining Timmay to one room and it seems to have worked out. Currently, they are sleeping in separate rooms.

Now, back to the Cold Case Files.

I’m one of those people that cannot stand to be barefoot. When I get out of bed, I usually step directly into my slippers. I had to throw my slippers away recently because they got funky (when I was taking out the trash, the bag broke and I ended up stepping in fucking cat shit) and so I have been wearing flip flops around the house instead. Last night before bed, I went outside to call Bandit back in and I slipped banana peel style on my front stairs. I hit my head and my lower back on the stairs; luckily the top four or five stairs are wooden ones and not the cement ones. But oh my God did it hurt. I kept waking up every hour last night because I was afraid that I was going to have brain damage or a brain aneurysm and die. It still hurts. I need to get new slippers, now. Flip flops + wet ground = disaster.

Despite the cute picture I posted a few weeks ago, things are forever touch-and-go with the cats. I still haven’t left them together unsupervised for more than 3 hours. Timmay is still confined to his room during the day while I’m at work. It used to be his room and the bathroom, but I am no longer letting either cat in the bathroom because one of them peed on my bath mat and I don’t know for sure which one did it. I have left them together unsupervised for 2-3 hours, but I haven’t yet left them together for the 10 hour span in which I am at work [and commuting]. I want them to be able to make it through the night first before I leave them alone together all day. I try every night, but I always have to put Timmay back in his room because he keeps attacking Bandit who fancies himself to be the security guard of my bed. Last night we were all able to sleep on the same bed for about 2 hours before I woke up to them fighting. Timmay is playing and Bandit is not amused. I know Bandit could very easily injure the kitten and he hasn’t done so, so soon I may just have to stop worrying and let them duke it out while I’m at work. I suppose the realistic worst case scenario is that some of my stuff is going to get peed on. But you see, I really would like to avoid that.

For the first time, I decided to just let them both have free range of the house unsupervised while I went downstairs to Heidi's and played Rockband. After a while, I came back upstairs and this is how I found them. Best.vday.gift.ever.

Booboo just came home with blood on his fur! He also seemed kinda dirty which is odd becaus ehe had only been outside 2 hours so. He let me clean the blood off of him, but there didn't appear to be a wound aside from the fact that he lost a nail. I guess that doesn't necessarily mean he got int a fight; he could have also broken his nail off and then gotten blood on himself while trying to clean it off. I wanted to lock him inside, but he ran out the first chance he could. Eep!