Dogs and Were-Rabbits

I love dogs. But yesterday as I was walking home from my local polling place, a small black and white dog jumped out at me from a corner, teeth bared. I tried to extend my hand to let him know that I was friendly but he continued to bark and growl at me. I called him a mean little dog.

(I know it isn't my best insult but given the circumstances there really was no other way to put it).

This mean little dog barked and growled and walked in the grass alongside me to make sure I got away from his territory. This dog didn't have a collar and it came from near a large garage so I'm not sure it was his property he was protecting.

My faith in dogs was uplifted today but a viewing of Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. I know it won an Oscar for best animated film. But I never sat and saw it all the way through until tonight. I laughed outloud at much of the movie. Especially at Gromit because he is CLEARLY the brains of the whole operation.

My favorite scene was when Gromit was sitting in the car waiting for Were-Rabbit to transform. Without looking away from the creature, he reached over with a single finger and pushed the lock on the car door down. When another dog on the outside of the car was begging for him to let him in, Gromit just looked at him and shook his head as if to say, "Hell no". Hilarious!

I miss having a dog/puppy around. I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving when I can play an endless game of fetch with my friend's dog Lucy, the indomitable Jack Russell Terrier of Southern California. Woof!

Hmmm.....

Alas, Halloween has come and gone. My costume is in the bottom of my closet already. I'm wondering how much more candy I can eat before I literally explode! But let the holiday season continue because now I am closer to eating a wonderful home cooked meal and buying presents for my dear loved ones.

This week has flown by much faster than I had expected. I spent my last week working at this wonderful company. I was running around and had so much to do before 5. I kinda feel like if I can get through Thursday evening, I will be ok!

I have a powerpoint presentation that I need to work on. But nothing is getting done until I am more awake and I eat something. Hunger does not a happy person make me. (Grammatically incorrect but the sentiment is right).

Celebrating the Holidays (Halloween Costumes Everyone!!! - 11 days and counting!)

I was raised a JW (hint: the people who knock on your door at 8am on a Saturday, attempting to bring the occupier the 'word of God'). So all pagan holidays were off-limits. No christmas, no halloween, and especially NO birthdays!I understand exactly why my parents' religion looked down upon these holidays, but for a young girl growing up in a state that is beautiful during the Autumn season, not dressing up as Rainbow Brite sucked royally!

(I don't think my parents realized that after the age of 10, me and my siblings would sneak out and go trick-or-treating for at least an hour every Halloween).

Fast-forward to my college days and I was finally free to practice and believe whatever the hell I wanted (owing to the fact that I lived on the other side of the country, the west coast).

And how did I celebrate my liberation? By planning my Halloween costume six months in advance!!!!

When fall rolls around every year, I get giddy. I start singing Christmas songs and questioning my friends about their choice for Halloween costumes and candy and festive lights and streamers....... ok, calm down, honey. No wonder my friends all start lamenting, "Oh God, now Justina can sing all the Christmas Carols she wants!"

Its just that I'm so happy to be a pagan like everyone else in America right now! (Well, for one day out the year!)

So, I finally figured out what my costume is going to be. The great thing is that I had it in my closet for the last three years!

Ready????

I'm going to be the Karate Kid

Ok, strike that. The Taekwondo Kid because that is what my uniform is for. I just need a rising sun bandanna like Daniel-san (Ha ha, Mr. Miyagi!) and I hope I can get a different colored belt (red, maybe, so I look more professional).

I was originally out looking for a witch's hat, when it dawned upon me that, shit, I was a witch for like three years in a row. Enough. Time to cut the cord. I thought about being Athena until I realized that there was a good chance of someone showing up at the party wearing the same costume.

I think I'm just happy that I'll be wearing pants (even though they are white) and be barefoot all night and I didn't have to slut it up like more girls my age!

So, the big question becomes, WHAT ARE YOU WEARING FOR HALLOWEEN????

No pressure, you have 11 days and counting.....

A Day (ok, two weeks) of Rest

I've been off from work for two weeks. I spent the first week stressing out because I felt guilty for not working. My brain is wired to be always on the go, so not going to work was physically and emotionally painful. To top it off, I was studying for a couple of midterms and deriding myself for not being adept at drawing graphs. I my stomach churned all week. I was making myself sick for no good reason.

But now, as I sit in bed reading, at the end of what seems like to me a very short two weeks.

Now, I feel extremely grateful that I took this time to deal with the emotions that left me anxiety-ridden and in pools of tears. I needed to release what was engorged in my lungs for so long.

These two weeks also made me realize that I really need to change jobs/careers. This is why I'm so focused on taking night classes and applying graduate school. I want to work so that I can open doors for myself. If I stay with the career path that I am in now, I'm for certain going nowhere fast. Plus, I don't want to be bitter about living in San Francisco anymore. Been there, exhausted that.

The rain that has patched our foggy skies has been a unexpected comfort. Maybe I am like Shirley Manson in that I'm only happy when it rains. But the trickles of precipitation clean the sidewalk surface and give me a reason to smile at my own reflection in passing puddles.


I will return to work on Monday well rested and excited that i will have a break from work midweek. I'm taking Wednesday off so that I can attend a graduate school fair at a local university.

I will greatly miss not waking up until 10 a.m. and having every excuse in the world to sleep more or go to check out Halloween costumes.

Life, at this particular moment, is comforting. Thanks to the rain.

Baking can lead to new discoveries!

Did you know that when you combine two eggs, 1 cup of water and 1/2 cup of canola oil and then whisk them together, the mixture gets frothy and looks like whipped cream on top of a hot chocolate?

No, I haven't been smoking dope! Just baking pumpkin muffins from a box (courtesy of my friendly neighborhood Trader Joe's).

Strange directions, though, when I add the pumpkin mix to the froth. The instructions said I needed a rubber spatula to FOLD the ingredients together. Fold? Like dough? I was this close to throwing out the spatula and just folding it with my hands. Luckily my senses returned and I followed the directions.

I'll let you know how the muffins turn out.

My own personal mastercard moment

1 pint of milk & two peaches: $3.65

A paperback copy of Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Love and Pray: $12.55

Realizing you paid $40,000 for a baccalaureate degree, then examining your recent paystub and discovering that you only made $15,000 this year: PRICELESS

For everything else, there's a a pint of Ben & Jerry's and many hours on a therapist's couch.

Must publish more...funny stuff!

Oh no! Life has become my ultimate excuse. I made a promise to myself in August that I would write in my blog every other day... clearly that August promise was my belated new year's eve resolution...clearly broken but not without hope of being fixed!

So, here are some funny/cute things that I've seen this week (or week past):

1. Passed by the Burberry store on the way to meet a friend for lunch. Looked in and saw a toddler crawling all over the couch in this very expensive store. Made me laugh at the trivialness (is this even a word?) of expensive things.

2. Saw my local health food grocer/owner ordered his dog (or maybe someone else's dog) out of the store, the second it got beyond the kettle corn display. The dog proceeded to go bug the people crossing the street around the corner of the store.

3. Watched a hilarious episode of Real Time with Bill Maher. The guest for the night were Cornell West and Mos Def ( I'm paraphrasing a bit here: Mos Def on Osama Bin Laden, "If someone wants to fuck you up, they're gonna do it! They will be doing it to you! Ain't nobody gonna send you a tape talking about "I'm a fuck you up when I see you")

(Mos Def on media paranoia: I don't believe in labels used to scare people: black vs. white, jewish vs. muslim, autobot vs. decepticon, I DON'T BELIEVE IT!!! : ) .

That entire episode was some funny shit!

Watch it on Youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJRetQUTEWA (Hint: start at 7:25 minutes)

4. Me and my friend Ray Ray comparing our ability to 'suck in our chubs' while wearing high waisted pants. Even after the girdle was added! Sexy!

5. How many Halloween packages of Swedish Fish and Sour Patch Kids I can eat in a half hour period... gross!


Ok, that is my post for now. I'll get back to you when I've had some sleep!