Eating and drinking strange chemical things

Over the last few days my diet has take a south turn to what many people would be ashmamed about. I find it slightly amusing.

Last night I drank 32 ounces of Diet Peach Tea Snapple and ate Frosted Mini Wheats from an oversized economy cereal bag. Tonight, I guzzled something called "Vault Zero". It functions to deliver a high dose of caffeine to my system. Caffeine is needed: I've slept about 4 hours in the last two days. I had a meeting to go over edits with my Master's project client today at 3:30 pm and I literally fell asleep at my chair while he was babbling something to me about "demand-driven workforce strategies." I could actually feel my eyes closing and my balance shifting, but I could not resist the pull to rest.

I also bought a chocolate bar from downstairs. Vault Zero and Hershey's! I also have an old fashioned box of Cracker Jacks with me. I am very healthy.

I am listening to Destroyer. I need their albums.

Late night sloat-tunes

It is 3:46 a.m. and this music is my only companion here at Wurster Hall tonight. It's kind of...hmmmm....very cool.

Anything upbeat sounding is cool at this point.

My PR is less than 24 hours to its happy little grave!

I just drank 32 oz of diet Snapple....and other tales from Wurster Hall

We're officially in high gear, ladies and gentlemen.

I am VERY behind in a lot of work. Projects that should be nearing 70% completion are at a dismal 15-20%. However, my master's project is in a better state. It's at about 93%. In fact, even if I don't squeeze out those last 7 percents, it will (must) get turned in this Friday. For I shall host a party for all my classmates to mark the date we have all (mostly) finished this major stepping stone. It shall be grand. Right now, I am taking a mental inventory of leftovers we STILL have from our last party in December...which was a ton of fun, I might add, but left us with a whole lot of remnant Yellowtail!

Tomorrow I shall also get my haircut.

Multi-tasking and procrastinating. These two activities shall generally characterize the pace of my life for the next several weeks. There will be little sleep, much snack food, overload of caffeine, and social life repression.

Kid fun in Sherwood, Oregon

This is the city of mud I played in a lot as a kid.

What I will be doing M-F next Fall

My new status as a graduate student of landscape architecture will prove to be challenging when I begin the three year master track program next fall. Here is what I am slated to do:

M-W 9am-1pm LA 101 Fundamentals of Landscape Design Studio (yes, that is 4 hours of class twice a week)

M-W 6:30-9:30pm LA 134A Drawing Workshop (yes, that is another 3 hours of class on the same day as the 4 hour studio!)

T-Th 11-12:30pm LA 111 Plants in Design (we must learn about the leafy greens)

T-Th 12:30-2pm LA 170 History and Literature of Landscape Architecture

On top of this I was considering applying for a GSI position in City Planning which would be M-W 2-3pm and Friday 9-10am and 2-3pm. Four hours of teaching and sitting in an Intro to City Planning class in exchange for my fees (about $3700 a term). Is it worth it? It remains to be determined...I am really strapped for money, though.

This is why I am so busy I have no time to go out, exercise, wash my clothes, or go on dates, do any yard work, or keep in touch with family. This is why life as a graduate student generally is equal parts joy and indescribable pain.

They know more from the television box

I was back in Portland this weekend for a bridal shower. After the shower festivities were completed, I headed to my brother's house where there was a birthday party for my little nephew, Everett. Everett is six. This I didn't know for sure before I looked at the cake and read the "Happy 6th Birthday, Everett" message. Don't think I am a bad aunt, because I am not. It is just hard to keep track of how old they are because they are much larger than normal children. Everett could be a seven or eight year old. His brother Alex is only 14 and he is about 6'2. The daughter Emily is actually of normal child size, I think, at 9 years old.

Over dinner, which consisted of BBQ hamburgers and chicken, I sat around the table with my mother, stepfather, brother, and two of my uncles on my dad's side. I was tired so I wasn't in the mood to lead the table talk, so I just decided to observe my family unit to see where they'd go conversationally.

The talk turned toward television, of which I have absolutely no clue about. I am familiar with the names of some of today's popular shows, and perhaps even about their concepts, but I have not watched a television show regularly since late '04. I have no idea who is on television nowadays and I have an shadier idea of what networks feature what programs.

People were going around the table admitting their television weakness. My brother sheepishly admitted to loving American Idol and that he feels it is ok since he is also a musician. This set the table off. Apparently, everyone there is a big fan of American Idol. All these people are 55+ excluding my brother, who is 37.

Soon a debate began to form, my mother citing an objection to one contestant she considered to be a rapper, although I am sure his identity is actually more nuanced than she afforded him. My stepfather then chimed in making a comment about one fo the female contestants and provided some illustrative aspects about her visual appearance over the last several weeks. He apparently approves of her physically but feels her range is limited. My brother then began to advocate on behalf of someone named Katharine McPhee. The name caught my ear because I am a fan of the writer John McPhee, but I soon surmised they are probably unrelated.

All this is kind of boring but here I am writing about it. The question remains: Do I have an objection about my mother, uncles, stepdad and brother being dedicated fans of AI? Should I have suggested they tune into something like Frontline instead? Don't my parents realize that this show is unlikely to turn out anyone who will really CHANGE or have an IMPACT on music today? After all, all of these contestants are vying to become a mainstream musical breakthrough. The last I looked, Kelly Clarkson was playing at some place in Reno and then a couple back to backs in Fresno. It might be me, but I don't consider these places where many musical breakthroughs happen at all, if ever.

It's a *Full House* of *Growing Pains*

I was listening to the radio or surfing the internet the other day and something prompted me to find out what Kirk Cameron is up to lately. I knew he'd become a Jesus freak over the past five or so years, but suddenly I wanted to know MORE. With the grand Oracle, otherwise known as the Internet, I am able to quench my thirst for knowledge with a few clacks of the keyboard:

"Kirk Camereon" "evangelical"

There were my search terms.

This is what I found: Please enter via The Way of the Master

I'd recommend following the "I am a Christian" prompts, even if you aren't one. I mean, unles God is really watching, then you can lie here. It would be cool if the web site actually had the ability to detect liars or imposters, and you'd be sent directly to virtual hell.

Then my curiousity shifted to another member of the Cameron household: Candance Cameron, otherwise known as D.J. Tanner from ABC's Full House. It appears as though Candace is doing her own Internet-based work for the man (men?) upstairs. However, I am suspicious because the site also functions as her marketing platform for her tawdry acting career. I give it to Candace, though, she looks pretty good and very fit!

Next on my list of "where are they now" was another Full House alum, Jodie Sweetin, also known as the precocious Stephanie Tanner. (Anyone recall the phrase, "Oh, that is so RUDE!"???) It appears as though Jodie was once on the road to uprightness, marrying a police officer at age 20 (don't you love it?). However, her path took a dark turn and she became addicted to meth. It looks like Jodie is pulling through though. I actually HIGHLY recommend the little video link from her appearance on Good Morning America. I was really surprised at how adult, with-it, and well-spoken Stephanie Tanner is. She is rather adorable, too.

See? Meth addicts can amount to something in America...they just need a second chance.

I didn't bother looking up what happened to Uncle Joey or Uncle _____ (I forget his name).

Bob Sagat, who played the all-knowing Danny Tanner, is pretty effin' cool! That guy is twisted if you've ever seen him do stand-up comedy. And it looks like he is also attracting a church of his very own, though I am not surprised.

Shows I must sacrifice...for the Thais

Due to travel abroad, I must be absent at these, but highly recommend the following:

May 25: Beck, The Fillmore, SF
June 7: Josh Ritter, Great American Music Hall, SF
June 12,13: The Walkmen, Great American
Music Hall, SF
June 12,13: The Mountain Goats, Bottom of the Hill, SF

Makeup shows I JUST might be able to catch:

June 19: The Walkmen, La Zona Rosa, AUSTIN, TEXAS (requires flight but it's in the planning stage already!!! Watch out Hamilton Leithauser... here we come!!)
June 21-24: Built to Spill, Slim's, SF
June 25: Neko Case, Bimbos, SF

Thursday's revelations

Two things I learned today:

1. One should avoid riding the bus across town from Berkeley to Oakland during mid afternoon if at all possible, esp. if you are in a hurry. During these precise hours, between 1pm and 3:30pm, a masssive influx of the maimed, aged, blind, smelly, mobility challenged, nursing mothers with enormous strollers, people in wheelchairs, and generally testy people flock to our cities' buses in a free for all.

Don't think I am picking on the marginalized. I'm not. I've been a bus rider all my damn life, in some pretty tough places at that. I know what kinds of messed up stuff happens on the bus. I simply hypothesize that during said peak hours, there are more marginalized on the bus then at any other time.

The resulting delays are beyond simple tally counts. The accompanying smell is even more discouraging.

I board at 2:14 pm.

At 2:18 pm the bus stops to pick up a man with a walker at 51st and Broadway in Oakland. The hydraulic lift lowered and delivered him to the main cabin of the bus (taking at least 2 minutes, but who's counting). A woman sitting there with her enormous stroller and baby unit also happened to be in this main cabin area. As soon as he was free from the lift, the man in the walker immediately began to scold her for taking up seating designated for people such as himself (see above, or old, testy, mobility challenged, etc.). The mother fooolishly decided to ignore him. With the speed of a threatened sloth, he rolled up to her and begins to push the stroller to the side with his walker's wheel set, nudging it between two seats. Then all hell broke loose - with the old man ranting something about seniors' rights.

At this point, everyone on the bus is wondering if the mother is going to bust grandpa on his ass. Luckilly, fate intervened. Bus pulls over, driver enters cabin, rightfully annoyed, and proceeds to forcefully direct the old timer into an empty seat (which was right in front of him, of course.) Old timer murmurs something about "no respect for seniors", etc. We shake our heads.

2. The second thing I learned today is that I am engaging in activities of late I always said I would not do. For example, instead of correctly dicing up and skinning an avocado, I am beginning to just cut it in half and eat it out of the shell (salted) with a spoon (that sounds gross...). It must be out of laziness. The other things I am doing are ignoring my bills until two days before they are due, turning in late rough drafts, and letting other people pick up my slack in studio.

All these things make me feel like altogether a bad person, but I like to think of it as a temporary digression.

3. Lastly, I am not managing my money very well.

Try as I might...

In my continual endeavor to attempt to eat as healthy as possible given the less than ideal lifestyle that I currently lead as a grad student-workslave-bureaucrat/designer in training, I have gotten on the fiber kick. I have no less that three varieties of 100% Fiber cereal in my house. See below:



Here you can see Kellog's All Bran (best when on top of something with substance, like yogurt), Fiber One (the champ of all fiber varieties, and approved by the American Diabetes Association!), and a fiber knock off from TJ's. Missing is the Bran Buds, a new variety by the makers of All Bran. That is delicious.

You will also see below these cereal boxes a Cadbury Fruit & Nut chocolate bar. It is my roommate's, actually. I just broke off a small piece from it (after finishing my cereal, of course!). You see, despite the fact that I am in virtual fiber abundance, that does not immediately translate to always eating healthy. Some days I pair my fiber intake with chocolate, other days wine, and even other days, a cookie.

Toilet turf

This posting could be classified as a rant, so beware.

I spend a great deal of my time on the 4th floor working at my studio desk space in Wurster Hall. It's a nice set up. This studio space has desks for 15 of my classmates and on the other side of the room is a smaller area where the MUD (Master of Urban Design) students work. There are about 6 of those people. Approximately 10 faculty members have offices on this floor. There are another 15 PhD students that also have offices here.

We all share a single bathroom that is located in the hallway. It is a single unit, i.e. no mens and women's room.

That's one toilet for up to 30-45 people, depending on who shows up for the day.

Well, over the last 3 months or so, there have been many instances when I am working here late at night and so are one or two other people in the MUD unit. I've noticed a strange pattern when one of these people uses the bathroom. I go in there 30 min later and the place is a mess. Not just a soppy mess, but a hairy mess as well. And from the looks of the evidence left on the toilet, I have my suspect narrowed down to a specific individual. I don't mean to get all CSI on you all, but it's rather obvious. Even for a city planner in training such as myself.

What irks me and astounds me is that there is absolutely NO way this marking of the toilet can be done without at least some effort. Because every time this individual uses the bathroom, there is evidence left behind. EVERY DAMN TIME. It is quite strange. What would lead someone to take up such a abberant hobby? The guy seems perfectly normal, but all he does in the bathroom is sick and rather twisted.

For heaven's sake, it warranted a long blog entry. It REALLY is THAT BAD.

I wonder if anyone else in the class has come across his hairy offerings? I'd ask my classmates, but just the idea of bringing up such a topic makes me shudder.

Pithy apples - yech

Pithy apples have got to be the worst. Especially the ones where there appears to be no outward evidence of defect from the outside of the apple. You take a big ol' bite into it and BLECH.

Today's culprit was a 3.5" Braeburn I purchased at a coffee cart. Should have known better...

Gut busting and procrastinating to the deep end

Returned from dinner to open my computer and find myself completely unmotivated. Started dinking around on the web, obsessively relogging into a site that is apparently down tonight. Annoying. Now I am intent on getting logged in, so I am distracted. And for what? Nothing except to know how many schmucks have viewed my profile today.

I have a 40 page rough draft I received comments on from the organization I intern for. I have no motivation to go through them and accept changes. What a drag. I am worried that the further I get into correcting the comments, the more and more problems there will be with the paper in their eyes. I am worried about finding notes like the following:

"This needs to be revised. Completely."
"Where is the data to support this point?"
"Please call Susie asap to discuss this section"
"Yes, we will need to discuss the relevancy of this point"

The prospect of coming across a statement such as this makes me really unmotivated to keep on with the edits. But I have to, because it is due to my advisors on Friday, COB.

On the sunnier side of the mountain, today I received more assurances that I will be going to Thailand this summer again. I can't say I am looking forward to preparing for the trip. Getting ready for it last year was absolute hell. I hadn't slept for 48 hours, it was 2:15 am, and I still hadn't packed for the month long journey overseas..and I had to leave the house for the airport at 9:30am. I have a feeling this series of events will be recreated come late May.

Just when you thought you could throw out the Zithromax

About a year ago I got a prescription for Zithromax as a precaution when I took a month long trip to Thailand last summer. Pfizer makes this antibiotic. Basically, it's a last resort if you happen to get some kind of bacterial (diahrrea) infection in the developing world. You don't want to take it unless you're going to die. That's what the pharmacist told me, anyway. It may be that using it is thought to lessen your resistance later on. I never used the prescription and it's been sitting in my cupboard for about 9 months.

A friend of mine left for Thailand a few days ago. Out of the goodness of my heart, I willed away my pills to him. Basically, I figured they'd go to waste if he didn't take them.

So today I hear some exciting news. The gist of it is that I shouldn't have thrown out the pills. I may be going back to Thailand this summer! The details have yet to be worked out and I will give a fuller report next week. Until then, I am really hoping Dan doesn't manage to get a bad case of the runs and use up my Zithromax. I may need it, afterall.

We come to brawl and drink light beer...

Ever heard of Fight Night?

Someone I just met is going and there is a possibility I could get in on the action.

I know Oakland is kind of rough, but this whole event looks like the responsibility of a group that usually flies under my radar, namely Oakland's white, disenfranchised blue-collared contingent. Sure, there are some colored faces visible in the crowd, but it's eerie resemblance to WWF makes me think this event is the official territory of the don't-fuck-with-me white homey crowd.

The event takes place in West Oakland, in some warehouse. God knows, you may not come back alive.