almost halfway done (ish)

Tomorrow I will be halfway through with the second-to-last week of the second quarter of my prelicensure year of nursing school! Which means there are only two more quarters! And then a big, stressful test and then two years of advance practice training after that and then I'll be done with school, I promise!

I've just got to make it through a final, two term papers, and four more clinical days and then we get a big long break for December which makes me so happy I would do a little dance if the invisible evil gnomes attacking my neck/shoulder/back area would give it a rest with the jabbing and rock-pelting for a moment.

America the Beautiful

About a year ago I signed up to become a "monthly supporter" for Greenpeace which means that they take money out of my account every month. Sometimes I'll forget and not budget for it and get confused about how much money I have. And then I'll go online to look at my account and remember. If I'm really broke, I'll feel slightly irritated. But never irritated enough to un-sign up, mainly because it would feel a little like tossing a lit match onto a giant redwood.

I recently drove from SF to Santa Cruz on possibly the nicest day of the year-- sunny with a light, cool breeze. And I took these pictures.

I lived in the concrete jungle of LA for 8 years and now I've moved into another city. Sometimes I forget how beautiful the earth is and how lucky I am to live where I do. But when I stood on the cliff looking out at the endless stretch of ocean (and praying for an earthquake not to come and tumble me down to certain and very painful death), it took my breath away in that wonderfully cliche way it does in young adult literature.

I'm feeling rather optimistic after the election since we will now have a president who doesn't believe that global warming is just God's way of huggin' us closer. Something must be done. Click here to support Greenpeace.

Julia's Delicious Hot Cocoa

The weather has turned a bit chilly so I've been craving winter treats. Here is the recipe for my lovely, rather decadent, chocolatey cocoa.

Buy the cheapest mix you can find. Scoop 2 to 6 teaspoonfulls of mix into a mug.

Add water until full. Place mug in microwave and hit "easy minute." Watch cup spin slowly around on plate in microwave. Turn away for two seconds to put the mix away and turn back to find that cup has boiled over.

Mop up chocolatey water from plate and wipe away chocolate globules from outside of cup. Stir vigorously. Enjoy!

Feeling better.

So I went to the doctor who had me move my head and shoulders while I shrieked "ouch!" at various points. Then he wrote me a prescription and told me to go home and lay down. And now, thanks to a lovely combination of acetaminophen, hydrocodone, and a sandwich, I'm still in pain but I sure don't care!

I speak in code to confuse my content crawler.

I was doing some online perusing and I noticed on Miss Grace's blog that she has an es-yay on numero ocho advertisement. I was mildly horrified but I thought maybe her content crawler had gotten befuddled since she did write a post about how she feels about that particular proposition.

But then I clicked over to my own blog and there it was!! An ad urging the inhabitants of this fair state to say yay to establishment and keep wedlock betwixt one human with a wang and one human with a vajayjay.

Horror of horrors!

It's okay with me when ads crop up on my page that don't really encompass my beliefs-- such as the depression ones that appeared when I wrote about my quarterlife crisis and the "find tattoed singles" ads that came about after I posted about my tats. But this is something that clearly has nothing at all to do with anything I have written recently, if at all. My recent posts have all been about Halloween, being crazy, cooking-ish, and how much my life exhausts me. NOWHERE did I speak out about my aditional-tray eleifs-bay regarding the of legal union of two homo sapiens of different genital organs.

I don't feel personally wronged when two persons of the same reproductive makeup come together, profess their love for one another, share a household and a life, and have some rights and privledges that go along with it.

I feel wronged by hypocracy, judgementalness, and the wasting of millions of dollars to fight something that does not cause harm. Shame on you, google and blogspot for allowing those ads to be placed on pages, regardless of the content of the blog.

Get the eff out there and ote-vay!

Halloweenage (part 2)

Well my one of my very favorite nights has come and gone once again. Halloween was fun, although I probably enjoyed last weekend's shenanigans even more. Friday night, I got home from the hospital, decompressed for a few hours, and started getting ready. Dan was throwing one of his Lodge parties which promised food, drinks, and interesting architecture. Since I like to wear as many costumes as possible as a general rule, I decided to go as a vampire. It is a repeat from last year, but I have the fancy hair streaks and I had bought some extra accessories. And my vampire costume involves considerably more comfortable shoes than my mad scientist costume did. Anyhow. I found my fangs in my jewelry box, put them in my mouth to see how they looked and they essentially shattered. Apparently the tooth mold isn't built to last. So I spent probably 45 minutes painstakingly re-melting the plastic, fitting it to the fang pieces and sticking them in my mouth. After a number of failed attempts in which the plastic gummed up on a spoon, a mug, my fingers, and my dress, I succeeded.

Kelly texted. They were calling a taxi. Awesome.

Thirty minutes later, I texted. Were they on their way? No. Still waiting.

At 11, Kelly called to say she was sorry but the people she was with didn't want to wait any longer so they were walking to a bar. Could I get a cab and come meet them?

At this point I was already exhausted from my long day at the hospital and I partly wanted to just heat up some cocoa and snuggle in bed watching Will & Grace. But I was already wearing a fucking Halloween costume and it would break my heart a little to take it off and let one of my very favorite holidays pass without giving it the respect it deserves. So I gathered my bearings and left the house, deciding that if I could get a cab I would go meet Kelly and if not I would make an appearance at Dan's.

There were no cabs so I took the train over to Dan's and hung out with some of my classmates. Twenty minutes after I stepped through the door my left fang shattered once again. I decided that, instead of half-snarling my way throug the party, I should remove the right one and spend the evening explaining that I was more of a "gnawing vampire." I failed at picture taking that night. But I pretty much looked like a vampire with no fangs.
Dammit.

I really shouldn't be irritated that my costume didn't work out the way I had planned because on the scale of things it's really not a big deal. But Halloween costumes are one of the things I'm usually really good at. In the past two years alone, I had some pretty awesome costumes.

I think I may have mentioned my Little Miss Sunshine costume from last year and how fantastic it was.

And then there was the mermaid, complete with dinglehopper.

And the zebra.


And this year is the first since Halloween 05 that I didn't reprise the Peacock.


I didn't wear it this year partly because Elena borrowed my feathers and hasn't returned them (well, I moved 300 miles away which made that decidedly more difficult for her).

And I have to throw this last photo in because I came across it while going through my old photobucket account and it's just amazing. Even though it showcases Miss Grace's jackass of an ex boyfriend I think it's fantastic. Plus, it's technically Gabey's first Halloween since he's curled up in her belly at 6 months gestation.


HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Yam Fries

The recipe for my latest attempt at domesticity:

Go to store and stare aimlessly around produce section. Come home with, among other things, several carrots and a yam. Ponder what might have possessed you to buy a yam since the amount of yams you have consumed in your entire life could fit inside a medium sized purse. Leave yam and carrots in fridge for approximately 1 week.

Remove from fridge, wash, and dry. Admire these items for a moment and congratulate yourself on the interesting healthy food choices you are making.

Cut the yam and carrots into smallish pieces. Put them on a baking sheet and sort of shuffle them around in some olive oil. Add a few shakes of salt and pepper.

Bake on 400 for, oh, around 15 minutes.

Enjoy.

Pairs well with green bean orzo pasta soup, leftover breadsticks, and San Francisco tap water.

Halloweenage! (part 1)

Last night I went to Diana's for the annual crazy Halloween bash thrown by her roommate, Rico, and whoever he happens to be living with when the end of October rolls around. I was very excited to go to the party, partly because my first impression of Rico involved him explaining that he wasn't sure what he was going to be but that he has a whole bunch of different costumes. "But I'm not gay," he added as an afterthought. Here they are at the party:

And here is my costume:

It was pretty interesting taking the train over to their house wearing that. What am I, you ask? I'm a MAD SCIENTIST. Not "some kind of nurse" which was what several people thought. I had actually considered making a name tag to go with the costume, which might have helped. Something like "Lune McCrazypants, Scientific Researcher." But I ran out of time after dyeing my hair. And I also sort of thought my accoutrements would clarify my theme:

In case you can't read that, it says BRAIN SLURRY: White Male, age 43. Capture: standard procedure, near Chinatown. Comments: "Please don't hurt me!" It definitely looked eerie when I drank my vodka cran out of that jar. Those metal tools are my research/torture instruments. I bought the big weird fork thing and the tongs at Thrift Town a few weeks ago. I found them in Kitchenware(?), probably because they didn't know where else to put them. But I thought they looked creepy and kind of rusted and used.

This is me with my classmates, the Morton Salt girl (Evie) and Medusa (Diana):

And after a few drinkies we started trading props:

Evie wanted to see how my Brain Removal Device worked and I thought I felt a sprinkle.

Very nearly everybody was dressed up, which was awesome. There were some good costumes that I failed to capture on camera-- the loofah girl, the guy dressed as Frida Kahlo, the girl with cars all over her jacket who was a traffic jam.

It was a good time. Now I just need a plan for next weekend. And a different outfit, because I don't wear the my costumes twice in the same year. That's just my rule.

OR you?

Today I am in the OR. It should be very interesting... They will give me special blue scrubs and I am supposed to stand behind the sterile field and watch the surgeries and not touch anything. Hopefully I will not vomit!

dorkus maximus

A conversation:

Me: It's been a really intense experience... I feel like maybe I should write about it.

Jenny: Yeah writing about stuff can be really cathartic. And I like the format of blogspot.

Me: I like it too-- that's one of the reasons I switched over from Myspace. But I don't know; I think I might have to do it in a non-online format.

Jenny: Well sometimes I'll write in my blog but then don't publish it, just save it as a draft.

Me: Hm. That's a good idea. I do like blogspot's format.

Jenny: Yeah, who knew it would make such a difference?

Me: Yeah, really. Oh my god. We are gigantic nerds.

Jenny: Uh, yeah. I already knew that.

Me: Wow. We are talking about the level of pleasingness of blog formats.

Jenny: At least we're not talking about, like, going to Renaissance Faires or something.

Me: Actually! I saw a billboard for one when I was driving the other day and I dunno, I thought it looked like a lot of fun....

Jenny: No.

Me: But-

Jenny: No.

football, 40s, fools, and fish heads

I kind of hate to admit this but I had almost semi-forgotten exactly how much I LOVE going to USC football games. Weird. I took a quick jaunt down to LA this past weekend to go to the game and see a few of my peeps. As a season ticket holder, I could have gone to the 2 previous home games but I've been too caught up with school and not wanting to drive down there and blah blah blah to be able to. So this was my first game of the season. AND I WAS VERY EXCITED!!! Everybody thought I was crazy 5 years ago when I bought my season tickets. "You're crazy," they said. And they were probably right. Instead of buying the student pass (since I was a grad student) or buying scalped tickets for the games I wanted to go to, I was spending, well, a lot more. But I'm very glad I made that decision. Good for you, Julia of the past. Now here's some other advice-- don't cut your hair off. You will regret it.

Michelle and I decided it would be a good idea to buy 40s and walk around campus before the game. Here we are in front of Tommy Trojan, AKA inspiration for tattoo #1.

Normally I am categorically against wearing a scarf and a tank top-- it's too "combination of the seasons" like wearing ski pants and flip flops or a mini skirt and ugg boots. Although, come to think of it there have been many occasions when I wear my fauxfurry boots and a skirt when I'm going out on the town so I guess I don't really have any room to be up on my high horse. But if I saw someone wearing a tank top and a scarf, I might judge them. So I don't blame anybody who saw me on Saturday and perhaps judged me. But- the weather was nice and I wanted to show off my ink and I still had to wear something cardinal and gold. Plus I was drinking a 40 and all of my ideas seemed like good ones at the time.

Including the idea to 'take a bunch of photos at the game!' Since I have been going to the games for 8 years now, it is likely that I already have several versions of the following photos. But here they are again....

I took this flower picture as we were walking to the game. Michelle thought it looked hopeful.

After the Trojan victory, we were walking to the bookstore and out of the corner of my eye I saw this woman who had been walking next to us trip, stumble, and fall on her face. She had a little boy with her who said "help. help." in that faint, terrified way that a traumatized kid might. So Michelle and I hurried over to the woman whose nose was bleeding profusely. Michelle gave her some tissues and I jumped into Student Nurse mode and instructed her to pinch the bridge of her nose and apply pressure with the tissue. And then I found out how frustrating it is when someone doesn't listen to you. She kept just sniffing and swiping at her nose with the tissues and then putting them down. She wouldn't hold the tissue to her nose so she got blood all over her hands, face, and the grass around her. Great. So Michelle went to look for the public safety people and called them while I stayed with the woman and tried to help her with the tissues. She seemed really out of it and the little boy looked terrified.

I asked the woman her name. She wouldn't tell me.

I asked if she had been drinking. She stared at me.

I asked if she was planning to drive somewhere. She said "Certainly not."

I told her it looked like she was swaying a little while she was sitting. She said, "You are."

She definitely wanted to be left alone. Every few minutes she would say something like "Okay. Thank you." which clearly meant "LEAVE ME ALONE NOW." But if there's one thing I'm good at it's sticking around whether I'm wanted or not and was also concerned about the little boy so I stayed with them until the public safety guys showed up. Then we told them what had happened, I alcohol swabbed the hell out of my hands, and Michelle and I took off for the bookstore where I rewarded myself with a new sweatshirt.

I got to spend some time with C which was really nice, and then on Sunday afternoon I drove back up to SF. I arrived at my apartment where Kelly was Bowiesitting for me. She opened the door and said "Hey! Welcome home! How was LA? Oh, just to warn you there's a big bag of fish heads in the bathroom."

There are NO CUTE GUYS in Santa Cruz

Jenny and I have long been of the understanding that there are NO CUTE GUYS in Santa Cruz. If you think there are, you haven't been outside the county and you are wrong. There are no cute guys in Santa Cruz. There are beautiful girls. Plenty of them. And there are okay looking guys. And there are cuteish guys. And there are guys who surf. And since there are plenty of beautiful girls and a staggering lack of cute guys, these okay guys and cuteish guys and guys who surf have a disproportionate number of beauties vying for their attention. If there is a cute guy, you can guarantee he is either at the center of a circle of girls or being shielded from them by his girlfriend. And maybe it's a relative thing, too, because there are lots of different kinds of cute-- nerdy cute, funky cute, interesting cute, wonderful personality cute.... I think maybe one of the reasons I stand by the assessment that there are NO CUTE GUYS in Santa Cruz is that so many of them are such jerks. Since they are constantly getting hit on by pretty ladies, they seem to develop these "hotter than thou" personalities. Which is really obnoxious because, well, they're not.

I was at a party a few years ago and I tapped a boy on the shoulder because he was wearing a tee shirt that had the name of a beer from Fiji. I had been to Fiji a few months before and I was curious to know if he had been there too. He answered my questions in a polite, yet over-the-top uninterested way. His mouth was saying "I was there on a surf trip" but his eyes were saying I'm soooo not stoked about you, regular-looking girl. I'm out of your league! I'm gonna get me some pussy tonight from one of these gorgeous girls! They will hit on me! Because I surf!!

Hey, asshole, I'm not interested in you either. I was really just trying to be polite and not spend the party glaring around the room and thinking this town really has no cute guys. Yes. That includes you. That is the only reason girls hit on you-- you are mediocre looking and you surf and you are surrounded by other mediocre guys and gorgeous, gorgeous girls. Regular girls like me don't stand a chance. The odds are devastatingly in your favor, you tool.

Anyhow, I just wanted to make sure that we are clear on the fact that there are no cute guys in Santa Cruz before I tell this story. I'm not sure if I can do it justice. You have to imagine that Miss Grace is high on cold medicine and is basically telling the following story as if it were one long, continuous sentence:

"So I was at work a couple weeks ago and I was sitting on the bench outside eating lunch and we saw this guy ride by on his bike and I turned to my coworker and I was like "that was kind of a fuckable guy wasn't he?" And then I riding the bus to work a few days later and this guy got on the bus and I don't really remember what the other guy looked like but I think it's pretty statistically unlikely that there's more than one cute guy in town so I think it might have been the same guy but I hit him in the face with my purse. And he had a bike with him. And THEN a couple days ago this guy came into work who I think might have been the same guy that I hit in the face with my purse and he had his pant leg rolled up like he had been riding on a bike so I think it's the same guy but I'm not sure but he's really cute and I think he might be. A cute guy in Santa Cruz! I don't know what to do!"

A cute guy in Santa Cruz! Or, possibly, three! Someone out there is doing their part to positively influence the demographics. Want to do yours? Here's what you do: Step 1. Leave the county. Step 2. Find a nice, handsome man and bring him back to Santa Cruz. Step 3. Have his nice, handsome, boy babies. Make Santa Cruz better for future generations of regular girls. Trust me, they deserve it.

Not exactly the 50 yard line

When I moved into my apartment I was considering getting one of those cable/internet packages, but then I realized that the wireless internet is mostly strong enough to work in my apartment provided I don't mind the occasional laptop-in-hand march around the living room looking for a signal. So I use my TV for watching movies and as something for my couch to point towards. And this was fine, until Saturday, when my team had a game. I called Kelly to see if she wanted to grab dinner and watch it at a bar. She was busy. And suddenly I was out of Trojan friends, which was something I hadn't really anticipated. And anyone else who I could have potentially talked into watching the game with me because they like me was already busy. I thought about meeting up with the USC alumni group at a bar they apparently go to in the city on game day, but it was kind of far away and I wasn't really in the mood to put on my being nice to strangers hat.  So I went downstairs to the clubhouse room where there is a nice big TV and settled down to watch the game there. But then around halftime some people who had reserved the room came in and started setting up for a party. I stayed until the air was thick with tension and they were all shooting me why the hell doesn't she leave already? glares.

And that's how I came to be watching the remainder of the game in the workout room, perched on the seat of an exercise bike.

slam dunk

You know how sometimes you momentarily forget what you are doing and go to put, say, the cereal in the fridge and the milk in the cupboard? Well I just threw my underwear in the garbage. Excellent.

Ways to avoid studying; all of which I did yesterday

- go running
- take a shower
- scoop litter box
- load dishwasher and wash pots
- wipe off counter
- go grocery shopping
- do laundry
- meticulously fold laundry
- meticulously clean out dryer lint catcher
- go to Thrift Town
- go to dollar store
- order compression stockings online
- put important dates into callendar
- put not so important dates into callendar
- straighten hair
- watch Sex & the City
- clip fingernails and toenails
- lay out clothes for the next two days
- organize study materials without actually looking at them

I have a test today. EEEEK!!!!