goddesscafe

Friday, January 04, 2002 :::

193.
number of minutes alura and i just spent on the phone. that's over three hours. damn! (and we had to force ourselves to hang up, and only when we realized the conversation had come completely full circle.)
good night! *lis

::: posted by elissarita at 10:19 PM

I would happily give Boot a ride to NYC. We ought to have some room somewhere in the moving van. :) So keep you ears to the ground for Design jobs in the city (and cheap digs with good access to transit) - the sooner we move, the sooner Boot can visit. :P

As far as marriage. I'm dissapointed that only throught the institution of marriage does the United States recognize the worth of a commited life partner (ie. through tax, bail, loan, and general legal/monitary incentive). That being the case, however, I have nothing against marriage in general (though I do feel many people marry for the wrong reasons - ie. religious, children, social pressure, insecurity, etc).

Dana and I are currently contemplating taking the engagement leap ourselves. There are some steps to be taken - ie. I need to purchase a ring and propose, etc. But it is not unthinkable that one of the goals I didn't include below covers this.

No children, probably not ever (as we both realize that we are too selfish to raise a child properly - and it would be unfair to burden the world with our parental mistakes - our cat Beowulf Bouvier is sufficient to our needs).

kevin - ha! patrick (my 16 year old bro who was soooo honored to jam with colonel knowledge this summer) will be delighted. he's in a new band now and they're trying to record their first MP3, but their song is nine minutes long (!) so it's taking them a while :)

::: posted by elissarita at 2:23 PM

btw, *lis*, tell patrick that i've been listening to a bunch of jimmy eat world and promise ring recently. i know, i know, both bands are... emo. but i have an inner-tormented-angsty teenager inside me just like everyone else (oh, wait, that doesn't sound quite right).

::: posted by kevin seal at 2:14 PM

alura - re what you wrote to boot/alex about posting: i know you meant to say "his rosy view of that cute curly girl", instead of "rosy view of the institution". (unless i've become an institution. ok, now i'm being silly.) anyway, glad i could clarify your blog ;)

so i left out my big resolution (only because of my own insecurity about actually being able to do it. and the fact that i bought into the angel-craze, which i'm slightly embarrassed about. ok, i'll explain.) i *want* to trust in marriage and all, and as a precursor to that, i decided that this year was going to be about trusting relationships, my own and others. i entered the first monogamous relationship i've been in since college. (that was huge.) then i found this angel-woman (let's call her a goddess instead) thingy in a store that said "trust" and felt compelled to buy it for myself as a reminder. i also wrote on the wall above my bed, "trust in relationships. they can work." makes you wanna puke, eh? but i'm trying!

boot/alex has helped some with the trust-in-relationships thing, especially when in about a minute, he doubled the amount of happily married couples i knew to a total of four. (couples who'd been together more than a few years.)

and kevin, i'd want holly stocking as a mom too! (she'd be so flattered by our blogs; we should send her a link.) i snuck into her magazine writing class as a non-journalism student (which prompted the j-school advisor to tell me i'd never step foot in the building again - what a kook.) holly knew i loved chocolate, and on my 21st birthday senior year she spent an entire class reading aloud from the choco-chapter of "A Natural History of the Senses" and then gave out Godiva truffles to the whole class. she fucking rocks. undoubtedly the nicest professor i've ever had.

rogue designer guy, you sound as if in a committed relationship (and one that will make you my neighbor!) what's your take on the marriage bit? and PS, when you move to NY, can you give alex/boot a ride here? thanks *lis

::: posted by elissarita at 1:37 PM

My resolution = 300dpi

Goals -
1.Get in better shape
2. Pay down debt ( Includes resolving computer lease, credit cards, and emotional debt too)
3. To not be as quick to judge and draw conclusions.
4. Paint more
5. Photograph more
6. Love more
7. Find decent job in NYC (decent defined as enough to support Dana and myself when she starts up in school out there - hopefully soon, while still affording me the luxuries of creativity and satisfaction.)
8. Volunteer
9. Do more pro-bono, or at least socially conscious design work. I wanna make the world better, not just better looking damnit!

I think that about covers it. I have one or two others, but I cannot post them anywhere, for risk of spoiling their effect.

Feel free to chime in and tell me if there is anything I clearly left out.
Slainte.

::: posted by Rogue Designer at 11:52 AM

mention of holly (i want holly to be my mom) made me think of my most favored prof at berkeley, peter schrag. i was happy to see him linked from bushwatch, which alura linked to the other day. maybe peter and holly can hook up and be my new godparents. if you're interested in education policy and california politics, definitely read schrag's paradise lost: california's experience, america's future. scary and sad, but completely enlightening.

(his class was the inspiration for the lyrics to "sex is boring anyway," fwiw; he got me all enraged at the "voter-driven," heavily sponsored propositions from the late-70s onward, which all seemed to originate in orange county.)

::: posted by kevin seal at 11:49 AM

I will have posted by this evening. Happy New Year!

::: posted by the boot at 11:39 AM

OK, I bet THAT'S the post that will finally get the boot to blog, considering his pro-marriage stance and general rosy view of the institution. ;) I did read the other day, however, that the average age for marriage in the U.S. is around 25 for women, and slightly older for men, which surprised me, seeing as the only married friends of mine are Joel&Erica, and they're several years older. (to their credit, she's been talking a lot lately about how difficult marriage is, and how she hates the societal expectation that everything is supposed to be perfect)

Our most favored prof Holly had some setup with her husband so that they were only married for 5 yrs at a time, at which point they'd have to either renew, or let it lapse. (I think after 20 yrs they decided to make it permanent) I definitely think marriage licenses should require renewal. I can't decide whether marriage as a whole is lame, or just how we think of it. Can our generation change it into something positive? Maybe it's all semantics. Like, I love reading about artists/authors/musicians who are described as having had "lifelong affairs" with each other. Maybe they never got married, but they grooved on each other for decades, perhaps worked on things together, and were presumably committed to the larger idea of them as a unit.

p.s. if only you coulda screwed up the reprints somehow...inserted spelling errors? put subliminal porn into the photos?

p.p.s. media whores: the writer who wouldn't give up her notes on a crime, imprisoned for it longer than anyone else before her (Ashcroft personally had a hand in it, if I'm not mistaken), was finally freed today, although it may be only temporary. Note obligatory comment about her appearance. Sheez.

::: posted by alura allumeuse at 11:18 AM

alura - (on your kissing/midwest sentiment) for real girl, for real...

on enron - i recently did reprints for them, the corporate whore i am. and an online article which i now can't find on their site anywhere. ick.

tad/zarbet - i miss you too!! i miss sunday morning (afternoon) hawaiian brunches with you and alura. and i need to know- what was the name of the kid you saw in the sunset (on the 71 line)? i used to run a geek camp at USF and probably know him!

everyone again - found out last night and today that two good friends just got engaged. WHAT'S HAPPENING TO MY SINGLE CLUB??!! one friend is brooke, who alura (and kevin and others maybe?) know. i could always count on her to have crazy ridiculous saucy stories that rivaled mine, and we had the best time sharing them and now she's ENGAGED with rings and all...ack! it's scarier than enron. the other friend is megan - eric march's sister.
and then another good friend is getting married a week from this sunday. i have to plan a bachelorette party for friday. eek. this all makes me feel VERY weirdly uncomfortable. is it because everyone is getting older, or just going crazy? someone please explain. i want to be happy for everyone and their rings and fiancees and all, but part of me wants to run up on the alter and grab them and say DO YOU KNOW WHAT THE HELL YOU'RE DOING??? cynical, i know.

your energy news for the day: a long list of Bush's appointees who owned Enron stock. Could the whole situation (the Bush gov't monstrosity...Ashcroft, hiding records, appointing oil people everywhere, etc), avec absolute media compliance, be any more obscene? Anyway, there was a good metafilter post that included links about Bush naming a Unocal guy as U.S. representative to Afghanistan, a Unocal guy currently being the interim Afghan prez, and Unocal's general filthy hands. Gag me. I'm getting back into a state where I'm reading too much, and feeling pissed off and helpless.

hmm, answering Laura-bee's plea for more blog material, I just got off the 71 (Haight-Noriega) from, yep, Noriega! I had never taken this bus out there. It ends up smack between the N Judah and the L Taraval, at the beach.

This evening's adventure was prompted by a for-sale ad on Craig's list; before I knew it, I was committing to some kid on a cell phone that I'd go out to 46th avenue on the bus and most possibly buy some computer parts. It was surreal and hilarious: this was a 17 or so yr old fellow living with his family among piles of computer parts in their living room. Various family members wandered in to watch an IMMENSE TeeVee while this kid sifted through obsolete video cards for me. I shared Linux installation tips while he showed me how he had disassembled a $2500 DVD video recorder so that he could hook the internal assemblies up to his computer and record DVDs (the expensive way!).

Spoke very little English, but much fun to chat with. I put my shoes back on and went out into the fog to zip home. That was zarbet's evening - guess I'll make a bloody mary and plug in that video card ($15!).

kisses -> elissa! Miss you, sweet thing.

::: posted by Zarbet Rabbit at 12:10 AM

Thursday, January 03, 2002 :::

"Pele's statistics are staggering. During his career he scored 1,280 goals in 1,360 games, second only to another Brazilian, Arthur Friedenreich, who recorded 1,329 goals. He scored an average of a goal in every international game he played--the equivalent of a baseball player's hitting a home run in every World Series game over 15 years." World Cup 2002 Korea-Japan. Yum

::: posted by Kurt Kistler at 9:27 PM

I fully support more kissing! It's good for your health, and even prevents tooth decay! And yet you and I are on opposite coasts, and the objects of our lips' desire are in the midwest! This is a difficult resolution, indeed.

::: posted by alura allumeuse at 9:04 PM

since laura's sad that we're not posting enough, i'm going to post, but beware, i got some nasty combo of PMS/bad mood/insane family/stupid work day syndrome going on so i can't write pink and sugary today.

i really like that laura and kevin shared little objective/resolution lists on the blog.
last year my resolution was to not be pissy when people were late to stuff. the exception was movies. i HAVE TO see the previews. and i don't mean walking in DURING the previews, i wanna see ALL of the previews. and stay for ALL of the credits. i wanna know who the best-girl-poly-graphics-boy-grip-edit-stuntgrrrl-understudy was and everything and everywhere about the movie, even if it sucks. i actually wish they'd show the credits in slo-mo.
i did ok on that resolution. (my first ever, i think.)

this year is simple: more kisses, fewer pills/doctors.
well, ok, every year one should resolve to share more kisses (it's always what one should wish for when blowing out birthday candles too), and i did pretty well this year on that one thanks to this very blog ;) but the fewer pill/MD thing means i can stop living where i don't want to be living, with people i love but don't ever want to live with again, stop doing the corporate crap work i'm doing, etc. (it might even mean more kisses. all that pill-swallowing occupies one's mouth for way too long.)

love to you all (and best of luck on your own resolutions/plans/kisses) * lis (^_^)

::: posted by elissarita at 6:07 PM

Mumble mumble... job... mumble... apologies...busy...

Just for kicks (beware it takes over your monitor, but it's got some funny stuff in there). Liquid Generation!

::: posted by Rogue Designer at 4:08 PM

I always hate the year-end glut of "best of" lists in the media. But here's a looong look at the 10 Worst Corporations of 2001. (I got an abbreviated version via e-mail...I'm printing this one out and reading it on the bus) And keep your eye on the Corporate Whore-in-Chief.

For some mindless Flash fun, try Behind The Music That Sucks. (was trying to think up a silly link...Kevin introduced me to this site ages ago, and I was reminded of it again when they showed the Eminem episode at Spike & Mike..."It's not about the hand jobs, the blow jobs, the rim jobs, the knob jobs...it's all about little Hailie.")

OK, is ANYONE out there? Hel-LO?!? I just scanned this page and only see postings from me and Kevin. (who is currently out being a VIRUS and making this blog appear on BlogRadio and, consequently, blogdex. Criminey, what is he getting me into?) Are he and I just talking to ourselves in this asylum, or are you all still hung over from the holidays, or what?

::: posted by alura allumeuse at 12:43 PM

Wednesday, January 02, 2002 :::

There is a horrible stench pervading the Bay Area right now. Personally, I'm convinced that some right-wing militia guys have stink-bombed us. But seriously, it smells like...I dunno, rotten broccoli or something, all the way from the SF waterfront to the Oakland Hills. Local news websites are silent on the matter. Dammit, I demand some quality investigative reporting!

I'm going to go whip up a chicken teriyaki crepe and try to heal my wounded nostrils. (reminds me of a conversation I had yesterday with Zarbet. He gleefully exclaims "I got some Harry Potter monster glue for Christmas! It says 'freshly picked troll boogers.'" "Oh, did you get that from Naemi?" (his girlfriend's 8-yo daughter) *long pause, then startled laughter* "No, I got it from my MOM.")

::: posted by alura allumeuse at 6:30 PM

the pancake bunny owner explains himself.

new year's eve chicago-style was fun. a long-ass drive -- six hours there, four hours back -- but fun. kurt, alex, dave, justin, carrie and tom, felix, josh parks, chris-and-mia-from-oklahoma, and the marta-esque ben were all there. as were spencer as his cronies, many of which i'd been waiting for years to meet: philthee, karen, and the guy behind the best album of 2000, brook long. also met indie-rock celebrity matt marque, who had called in earlier asking for directions:

matt marque: hi, this is matt marque. how do i get to yr place?
justin: hi, matt-mark (sic). i'm jean-luc. eric-john and steven-tom are coming with you, right?

i don't make resolutions either, but my plan for 2002.
1) sell the business
2) sell the house, get my ma into an apartment that she likes
3) get the griddle and col k albums reviewed (and try for distribution)
4) finish the horn sextet album
5) start exercising regularly

::: posted by kevin seal at 12:26 PM

Still raining here, but it's a different kind, it feels more spring-like to me than the past couple months. I know it's only January, but it's nice to imagine you're smelling spring and growth and all that. Puts a positive spin on a whole new year, eh? Speaking of which, I never make New Year's resolutions, but I've got a 6-month plan for my life right now which may suit that.
1) Pay off credit card by April, start working on school loans
2) Take Flash and Fireworks classes at SFSU. Get work to pay for latter.
3) Get that freaking GRE teaching job. Take practice tests in next couple weeks. (positive consequences of this: more money as well as teaching experience, should I ever want to leave the country and try to teach English overseas, or whatever. Also will likely produce higher GRE scores, should I decide I want to take the test and go to grad school)
4) Figure out how the hell I can get on a career path doing research/multimedia stuff, and if that requires moving or more school. This one may take longer.
5) Keep working out 5 days a week, bellydancing at least once a week (currently listening to a mix I made yesterday for my teacher, plenty of chilled-out asian underground stuff, similar to what we listen to in class...I'm quite impressed with myself) ;) maintaining health and weight in general. Start seeing acupuncturist (insurance now covers it!), possibly nutritionist. Consider taking trapeze class.

After 6 months, I want to know where I'm headed in the next year, what and where and who it involves. Also want an exotic trip with Mr. Seal somewhere in there. :p Maybe I'm being impatient, but I want to feel like I'm at least headed in a positive direction, as opposed to treading water, as I am now. Anyway, there's my plan, so that you all can kick my ass and make sure I'm on it. Anyone else have one?

Monday, December 31, 2001 :::

I am SO HAPPY to be back in California, you have no idea. Last week was inexplicably upsetting and stressful for me (And COLD! DAMN COLD!), despite the great times I had seeing friends and family. And I did a lot of thinking about what kind of career path I want to be on, and where it would require moving or going to school, and how soon. But this morning I was ecstatic to be shooting across the Bay Bridge (apparently I'm the only person in the Bay Area who has to be at work today), listening to Karsh Kale remixes in the early morning light, window halfway down, smelling rainy spring air. (yeah, I know, I despise the chilly raininess here...but for today it's OK) And then seeing the out-of-place palm trees all along the Embarcadero, and then the Golden Gate Bridge when I pulled into Ft.Mason...aaahhhh.

A funny aside...when Mr. Seal and I were half-watching Conan O'Brien the other night, one joke struck me as hilarious...he said Fox News had had to apologize for a mistake earlier in the week...apprently they'd reported that Geraldo was actually a journalist.

::: posted by alura allumeuse at 8:37 AM

so kurt and i went to the historic southgate house last night to see the excellent, excellent chalk and... the hair police from louisville. the hair police's entire 15-minute set consisted of: 1) a labcoated performer walking around on tables and chairs in the parlour, inserting batteries into odd little casio devices, and 2) the skinny, bad-haired drummer putting his floor tom atop his head and shoulders (covering his head, of course), and stumbling around the audience shouting, "BEAT ME!"

got to meet kurt's friend sherri, and sherri's friend kumasi, a professor of musicology/philosophy/cultural studies at the cincinnati art academy. sherri, imho, looks a lot like kim deal of the pixies and the breeders.

when colonel knowledge played the southgate house this past june, we played in the ballroom (capacity: 400). on the same night, the much more famous tara jane o'neil played in the parlour (capacity: 80). why this happened, i'll never know.

btw: famous musicians from ohio. what, no DEVO?!? no ed fROMOHIO of Firehose?!? hell, he put his buckeye status in his NAME, for chrissakes. and no marilyn manson (akron by way of florida).

::: posted by kevin seal at 8:13 AM

Sunday, December 30, 2001 :::

vanilla sky was... okay. i usually love mindfuck movies (jacob's ladder, brazil, fight club, etc.), but cameron crowe was too tidy, too didactic, and too conformist. i'd wager that the original, spanish-language version captured the magic-realist tone much more convincingly.

one great line, though, said by the always-excellent jason lee: "you're rich, and women love you. i'm from ohio, and i'm drunk."

::: posted by kevin seal at 3:24 PM