The beginning of the end?

The other day, it hit me. The career path I've chosen isn't exactly on the cutting edge of fashion. Most likely, I will be stuck in scrubs and running shoes or some sort of tennis shoe on a daily basis. Worst case scenario depending on where I chose to work, it'll be some sort of plastic shoe that can easily be hosed off or disinfected (read: anything but Crocs. I refuse to submit. REFUSE, I say!). No more 4" heels of fabulousity during work hours. Soon, my fragile ankles and arches will no longer be able to tolerate a night of dancing in anything but my suede Pumas. This whole thing is really bumming me out!

The other day, I sat with my collection of beautiful shoes and gave them a good dusting. Yes, that's right...they sit, unused, day after day, collecting *dust*. It pained me so. Online, I recently came across a pair of Circa Joan & David t-strap gold and brown peep toe heels that were selling for the bargain price of $27.99, shipping included. They usually retail for $140. I couldn't resist. Here they are:


Oh, I love them. And then I thought, where am I going to wear these? Jeff would say, "Hello!? Grocery shopping!", and as hot as that sounds, I have about as much use for these shoes as I do for the trusty Trainer's Angel. At dinner the other night, a friend asked if my Uggs (yes, I wore them to dinner) were actually slippers. I've never been so embarrassed of my footwear choice! The Counselor, too, called me out on my Ugg-wearing at jury duty, although in my defense, the point is to look as disheveled and irresponsible as possible, thereby convincing the lawyers not to select me for their jury. See how that works? ;)

Because I don't really have a reason to dress up these days and with my future career in nursing, I have to ask, is it possible that I'm losing my sense of style? I *am* currently wearing sweatpants, for crying out loud. Don't believe me? Think I'm bluffing? Peep this, bitches:


Yeah, that's right. Keepin' it classy. Yes, these are the very same sweats that I wore during my bathtub caulking extravaganza and the remnants of my epic fail can still be seen there on the left leg. Is it all over for me? The way I figure, as long as I FULLY renoucnce the evil Crocs, there's still hope for me. But, bloody hell, I'm in some serious fashion dire straits.

In an attempt to avoid completely taking up residence in Frumpville, I did wear a dress and the above shoes to meet DJC for lunch on Friday. He looked surprised, but complimented my appearance and made me blush a little. It felt nice to hear that I can still pull it off when I want to. The problem is that I just don't really want to anymore. Weird.

Dear Jeremy Roenick,

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways:

1. Your ridiculous sense of humor. On and off of the ice, you crack me the hell up. Exhibit A, from a pre-season exhibition game before you became a Shark:

Yeah, that's right. Work it, funky little white boy! LOL!

Exhibit B, from last night's Sharks' victory over Colorado, where Alexei Semenov (really?!) was named the First Star of the game and was giving and interview:

So unexpected! In all my years of rooting for the Sharks and watching post-game interviews, I've never seen anything like this. Frikkin' BRILLIANT! I rewound the DVR like four times to watch the hilarity again and again. Props to Semenov for taking it all in stride.

2. And daaaaaaaaamn baby, you looks good in a shirt and tie (Honorable mention for Ryane Clowe also all dressed up and looking dee-lish).

JR, I think I can speak for all Sharks fans out there when I say that I'm so glad you're a member of Team Teal. From your on-ice heroics to your off-ice antics, you keep us interested, cheering and wanting more. Keep the good stuff comin'!

Costco: Oh, how I hate you

DJC and I don't usually shop at Costco for many reasons, but mainly because we just don't know what we'd do with eight pounds of peanuts or three flats of bananas before more than three quarters of them spoil. But toilet paper, trash bags, paper towels, dental floss, deodorant, granola bars, dish washing liquid and a number of other things with an obscenely long shelf life, yeah, we definitely pick up those things bulk. The first two items mentioned above were the reason for our visit. I'm writing about this so that you, dear reader, do not make the same mistake that DJC and I made today.

First things first, do not go to Costco on a Sunday afternoon. For any reason. EVAR. Even if you find yourself poisoned and the ONLY place you can pick up the life saving antidote is within Costco's walls, you should really ask yourself, "Can I live until tomorrow? Because fighting the crowds is just not worth it." I haven't seen this many people wandering aimlessly around since the opening of Ikea in Emeryville, with the only difference being that Ikea doesn't have enormous carts that can be used as a blocking and/or ramming mechanism. Some people had overfilled their carts such that they became very difficult to manuever, leaving very little room for those of us who were cartless to pass by. Children ran amuck and parents made futile efforts to corral their spazzy offspring. It was close to being more than I could handle. Several times, I felt my sanity slipping away...

Secondly, if you are foolish enough to decide to brave ALL OF HUMANITY and go, don't do it hungry. This will only compound your frustrations and you will end up snapping at random people and children as well as the person you came with. Fortunately, if you do find yourself in this predicament you have two solutions:
Option 1. Almost every aisle has some sort of food sample being offered. This can range anywhere from awesome (BBQ ribs) to WTF? (Frozen wild Alaskan salmon being prepared in a toaster oven). These stands can be true life savers...if you can get to where the food is. Most of the time, you will find a LINE of people (and their carts) waiting to graze. I watched one lady move from stand to stand, feeding the three open beaks in her cart. Note: sample food does not qualify as a meal and should not be used in place of one. kthnx.
Option 2. The glorious Costco food court. Yes, I realize that the samples are free and the hot dogs and pizza will set you back a whole $2 to $3, but for sheer volume alone, this is a better choice. A medium soda will cost you all of $.55 with free refills. Can't beat that shit. But as wonderful as the food court is, it is not without its problems. Usually, people pick up food after finishing their shopping and checking out. Because these folks are too lazy to take their eight pounds of peanuts to the car before getting food, they leave all those massively overfilled carts parked right near the seating area. It then becomes a game of shuffle-the-cart to allow people who have finished their food to get out. Getting more than one or two bites in without having to get up and move was a rarity.

DJC and I fought our way through all this and more today...all for 36 rolls of toilet paper. Bloody hell. Never again. For the rest of my time on this planet, I will ONLY go during the weekdays.

My day at jury duty

Every year, I receive the dreaded form in the mail stating that I've been chosen for jury duty. Year after year, I call the night before and hear the heavenly message that I will not have to report. Year after year...except for 2009. My luck had run out. I had to report.

I drove to the county courthouse and stood outside with a large cross section of the county's finest. No less than 10 people around me were chain smoking. People talked about passing piss tests and their baby daddies. Two men near me were talking about the abysmal state of the economy. To really emphasize his point, one man pulled out his pocket bible and read the other man a verse. They both nodded knowingly. I failed to see how the verse related to the conversation at all. Several women hollered obscenities into their cell phones. It's safe to say that I stuck out like a sore thumb.

Finally, we all went in and passed through the metal detectors on our way up to the third floor. Near the elevators, I saw an old college friend who happens to be a District Attorney nowadays. Because he hadn't seen me, I debated whether or not I should say hello because I was dressed like a major frump (Really, who dresses up for jury duty!? I had Uggs on. 'Nuff said.), and he was in a sharp navy suit and tie. But thankfully, I sucked up my insecurities and stopped him in the lobby. My time at the courthouse was made infinitely more tolerable because I didn't just let him walk by (thanks Counselor!).

In the crowded juror room, I managed to find a seat, pulled out my pharmacology book and began studying. Why is it that people always want to talk in situations like this? Clearly, I had my nose buried in a book and wasn't interested in talking, and yet people interrupted me over and over, asking all kinds of questions. Personal questions. The hours dragged on and on. My name was called at around 10am. At 10:45, we were told to take a "break" and come back at 1:45pm.

Thankfully, the Counselor took me out for an enjoyable lunch and a long overdue catch-up sesh. I returned at 1:45 and resumed studying, this time undisturbed. At around 2:45pm, everyone was dismissed because the case had settled. As happy as I was to be leaving the confines of the stuffy juror room, I couldn't help but wonder why they couldn't have settled at, say, 11am?! Damn. At least I had plenty of studying to help pass the time.

In another year, I'm sure I'll be called again. But hopefully, I won't have to report again for a looooong time...

Testing...Testing...

No, I'm not ignoring you....I promise. I have two midterms this week and I'm a little behind in the studying department. I'm trying to play catch up

The pharmacology exam will go well. It always does because I'm actually interested in the material. Communications, on the other hand, is a joke. Here's how a typical class goes:

Each class ends with the "professor" assigning the weekly reading, which is generally the next chapter in the lamest textbook on Earth. The following week, we come in and immediately have the most micro-managed quiz I've ever experienced on the previous week's reading. Then, we spend the next THREE HOURS discussing exactly what we read and were just quizzed on. The "professor" has overheads (!!!) and all of her examples of the concepts come straight from the textbook. Zero imagination. And to top it all off, it's a communications class where we're supposed to learn the samurai ways of the competent communicator...and yet, more than half the people in the class can't speak passable English. It's a tough 3 hours, let me tell you.

I expect the midterm to be nothing more than textbook and vocab regurgitation into a blue book. Word vomit earns you points. Hope the "professor" can read my handwriting....

I'll be back after Thursday. Wish me luck!! =)

Jack Black: Funny guy

Generally, I'm not a huge fan of slapstick actors and their respective schticks. I think they just look like they're trying too hard to be funny. For me, as a lover of laughter, there is nothing more annoying. Jim Carrey falls into this category, and to a certain extent, so does Ben Stiller (although I love Zoolander) and Robin Williams (I know I will probably get crucified for that last one...but I do like some of his movies. Some of them. Really, I do.)

Following this line of thought, I should totally hate Jack Black. He is so over the top and at times downright obnoxious, but for whatever reason, I find him irresistibly hilarious. TBS has been running a few of his movies this weekend, and I can't help but tune in and totally crack up. I love him as the well-intentioned stoner in Orange County, and as the misguided substitute teacher in School of Rock and especially as a friar/wannabe luchador in Nacho Libre.

What?! You've never seen Nacho Libre?! Say it isn't so!! It's about as campy as a film can be a la Zoolander, and it always makes me totally happy. It's scenes like this one (at the end of the vid) that make me cheer for the DVR and the rewind button:

How he pulls off this scene without totally busting up with laughter is beyond me. I wonder how many takes it took to get it just right, because I can't even make it through the "no no no no no way Jose" part without losing it. And then when the "Encarnacion...doodoo leedoo doodle lee" part comes along, I'm in hysterics. DJC and I probably watched this scene about 15 times in a row. During the day, we'd look at each other and randomly bust out with "Encarnacionnnnnnn" and crack each other up. The song, in all its hilarity, was stuck in both of our heads all day.

I honestly have no idea why I love a total goofball like Jack Black and not someone like Jim Carrey. Sometimes, there is no rational explanation to what makes me laugh...

(Awesome note: Firefox gave me a red, underlined spelling error for the word "stoner" but didn't for "luchador". Suggestions for "stoner" include "toner", "sooner" and "stonier". LOL!)

Baby steps...

Tonight's attempt at spinning was the best to date. It finally clicked that in order to really crank up the RPMs, I needed to add a little more tension. I felt strong, powerful and not bouncy in the saddle. I looked down to see that I was finally up in the 140 range. And I could maintain it for longer than a few seconds! I felt like I had just pedaled up to the top of Mt. Everest. I was drenched in sweat and a little queasier than I would have liked, but I felt like I had really accomplished something. I was happy.

Then I looked over at the tiny woman next to me for validation. She wasn't sweating nearly as much. She did not look the slightest bit queasy. Her RPMs were up in the high 140s. Consistently. But no matter. I soldiered on and kept kickin' ass through the rest of the class. I wasn't worried about comparing myself to the little spinning machine next to me...

...until that little spinning machine climbed off her bike and I saw that she was about 7 months pregnant. Damn.

Hear that? That's the sound of my ego totally deflating...

My day at the Soulceity show

I'm a TV dance show fan. I'm currently loving America's Best Dance Crew on MTV. The show is in it's third season and there's some seriously amazing talent competing for this year's title. Periodically, crews from past seasons perform at various shows all around the country. I recently had the wonderful opportunity to attend such a performance.

Soulciety, a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering and educating overseas youth, hosted a benefit yesterday in Alameda, CA, which happens to be where I live. In speaking with NancyT at Blogging America's Best Dance Crew and Ron Carino at Soulciety, I agreed to cover the event for the blog. Through her, I was able to get in early (during a run through of the show) to go backstage and interview two ABDC alumni crews, Supreme Soul from San Francisco and ASIID from Detroit. I will post a link to the article when it goes up. Thanks Nancy and Ron!

When I say that I was able to get in early, what that meant was that I was asked to show up at the same time as all the high school kids who were volunteering. The kids ranged from age 14 to 18 and WOW, was I out of place...it was pretty obvious that I was the old odd man out. 4" heels at an urban hip-hop event? Yeah, not so much. Mental note: if ever attending an event of this type again, the black suede Pumas would have been much more appropriate. Pumas, skinny jeans (which was the only part of the dress code that I managed to get right) and some sort of black oversized top that has been modified with scissors. Total apparel FAIL. Clearly, my time on the hard streets of the Blackhawk Country Club did not serve me well here.

Anyways, most of my day involved a lot of waiting. I assumed that the director of the event would introduce me to the groups so that I could interview them, but he had his hands FULL with the last minute event planning details and left me to sit in the auditorium. Totally understandable. I watched most of the show run-through and was really impressed with most of the acts even though they were just doing a dry run of their performances. After taking matters into my own hands and getting my interviews with the dance crews, I was satisfied and went home. When I left, I didn't really intend to go back for the actual show. I figured I had seen most of the performances and that was good enough.

But I did go back. And I'm SO glad I did. The run through was nothing. Put people in the seats and the performers come to life. Half of the people that performed didn't warm up their acts in the run through. I would have missed them had I not gone back. I sat there for the entire two hour show with a huge smile on my face. The audience's energy was positive and exhuberant. We were treated to two unreal beat boxers, DJs, DJs with a solo violinist, spoken word poets with cello and stand up bass accompaniment and some of the most unique dance companies I've ever seen. I was truly entertained. I'm SO happy that I went back. It was an incredible night for a great cause and I am happy to report about it now.

I'll keep you all posted on when the article and interviews go up on Nancy's site. For now, I'm off to get some work done. Peace. =)