Living Seoul

It’s happening quickly now. Content-wise, I expect a major change to my blog in the next month or so. Until then things may be a little sparse.

Life’s taken a busier turn lately. Totally welcome by me. Meeting new people, seeing new places, re-discovering places I already know. There’s a sense of amusement with life that was previously absent.

Ha! Maybe it’s the weather…sunnier skies ahead. Looking forward to playing in the water and laying around in the sunshine. Eating tons of sno-cones and wearing the same cutoffs all weekend.

There have been some recent jokes that resulted in deeper conversations centering around my general lack of belief…in anything (or so I thought). For example, I don’t believe in astrology, palm reading, numerology, energies, etc. I think hand sanitizer is a racket. I’m skeptical of “green” products. More seriously, I haven’t believed in any sort of higher power since I was in early high school.

I’m a critical person. The rest of my family is pretty critical. Many of my friends are critical. I studied journalism, which probably added to my skeptical view of the world and other people. Looking at the more positive side I’m very curious. I like to research, observe and think about everything I come across in life.

So the big question that resulted from all the talk and jokes is:

What do I believe in?

What does it mean to believe? What can you believe in–ideas, objects, people?

Mostly, I believe in ideas–philosophies regarding the way a person conducts their life and relationships. Off the top of my head I’d say I believe in living simply. Not owning too much stuff, managing relationships with other people respectably and fairly, taking time to enjoy meals and travel, maintaining general health. Everything in moderation, right?

I’d say I believe in creative expression–art, music, film, crafts, cooking, writing, design, fashion. It seems like a healthy outlet for a person’s mind and can be enjoyed by other people.

I believe in news. To me, it’s important to know and attempt to understand what’s happening in the world.

Tacked onto that, I believe in VOTING : ) Vote in elections or don’t complain.

This is kinda picky: I believe in looking your best. Not to argue that appearance is everything because there’s no hiding an ugly personality, but I think people should take pride in how they present themselves to the rest of the world. I don’t necessarily mean people need to appear polished perfect, because that’s boring. Maybe it’s just about confidence and carrying yourself respectably.

Above all else, I believe in respecting other peoples’ beliefs.

What do you believe in?

Last week I ordered some Egon Schiele prints on Amazon. I’ve been telling myself not to invest too much time or money in apartment decorations since I’m moving out in July. But one last blank wall in my apartment became too bland.

I first knew of Egon Schiele when I lived in Barcelona. I went to an exhibition at Fundació Joan Miró, a museum of Miró’s work. Besides his own stuff there was a traveling exhibition called “Un cos sense limits” (A body without limits). I’d always appreciated nude artwork, but this one made me want to start a collection. There were paintings by Matisse, Picasso, Miró, Magritte, Basquiat and, of course, Schiele. His painting was used on the front of the brochure for the exhibit. I looked at more of his work online once I was back at home and found his gaunt, watery and kinda craggly characters appealing. He was a protégé of Klimt, another artist I generally prefer.

So these are the prints I have hanging in my living room now. My friend and I had a hell of a time trying to hang them evenly. For each hole with a nail in it there are at least two others where we made a mistake. And I hope the realtors are happy to find a vagina on the wall when they show my apartment night and day.

:)

It’s Selena Day in Texas! She would have turned 39 today if she were still alive. ¡Viva Selena!

Her best song…

Como La Flor

Yo sé que tienes un nuevo amor
Sin embargo te deseo lo mejor
Si en mí no encontraste felicidad
Tal vez alguien más te la dará

Como la flor
Con tanto amor
Me diste tú
Se marchitó
Me marcho hoy
Yo sé perder
Pero ay…
Cómo me duele
Ay…
Cómo me duele

Si vieras como duele perder tu amor
Con tu adiós te llevas mi corazón
No sé si peuda volver a amar
Porque te di todo el amor que pude dar

Legendary performance in February 1995 at Houston Astrodome. Broke attendance records. She was killed just a month later. RIP

Every time I try to lie, sneak around or do anything I’m not supposed to be doing I get caught. I can’t get away with anything. It’s an unfortunate fact of my life, but I like to think it makes me a better person…a more upstanding citizen maybe. Today I got a ticket for my inspection sticker! I knew it was going to happen. I’ve been worrying about it for a couple months but kept telling myself the chances of getting caught were so slim. But I knew all along, for me, the chances were high. And I’d just called my mom yesterday to tell her I’m coming home AGAIN this weekend to get it taken care of. Then the next day I get a ticket. If getting a ticket didn’t suck enough, my BOSS was in the car with me. It was actually okay because she made me feel better about it. It was comforting to have someone else there. And the cop was actually super nice about it. He didn’t try to give me a ticket for any other violations. Oh well. Stanks, but could be worse. Hopefully I can get out of it.

***

The other badness that’s been on my mind is the case about a little boy who went missing and was found dead in a neighborhood a couple miles from his apartment a few hours later. This forum covers most of the nuts and bolts of the incident. It includes stories and follow-ups from most of the major news outlets in Austin.

I keep checking the news to see if they’ve released any new information. It upsets me badly, probably because it’s an innocent kid. More than anything I want to know WHY. He was left with his dad’s girlfriend and hadn’t seen his dad in a week. Hadn’t seen his mom who was separated from his dad for a month. I want remain open-minded, but it seems like the kid had rotten parents. If you live in the same city as your child why do you go a whole month without seeing them? I don’t have any idea what it’s like to be a parent or even have parental type feelings…but I know most parents are CRAZY about their kids.

And he disappeared in the middle of the night. The girlfriend noticed him missing at 5:30AM and the door was unlocked. How would he just get out and walk a mile away? And then get killed. His autopsy said he had internal injuries but I think one of the parents said his body was “all bruised up.” I get a really bad feeling about it. Makes me angry. How could anyone kill a child? How, how, how?

I started putting together theories in my mind based on info I read and other people’s comments. It’s unlikely, but he could have somehow left the apartment on his own and gotten hit by a car. The girlfriend could have shaken him to death (or beat him if the bruises were true) and then dumped his body. Maybe she was taking anger out on the kid if the dad hadn’t been there in a week…? There could have been an intruder who entered, snatched him, killed him and left him. Though the intruder would have had to know family or the girlfriend somehow. I have the strongest feeling that the girlfriend is either to blame or knows the person to blame. She his been absent from the situation since it happened. Reports are saying she’s cooperating with police. But she didn’t call anyone about the missing child till 90 minutes after she noticed he was gone. She said she was looking for him on her own…but there were two other children at the house…who was caring for them at that time? It’s weird and bothers me.

There been at least five homicides in Austin since the beginning of this month. : (

***

And now for more dreams…

I was invited to the home of a cryptic character in my real life. However, I was invited at night and had to let myself in. The person I sought was in a private office with frosted glass windows in the back of the house. I tried to get a glimpse of the mysterious person through the cracks separating the window panels. I could see a man with short brown hair, almost shaved, with a very slight receding hair line. He was thin, dressed in business clothes and paced around his office on a cell phone. I sat down to work on business in the living room but it was awkward, dark and I didn’t want to turn on the lights. The man comes out and sits down to eat at table behind me. He doesn’t turn on any lights and doesn’t say anything. I am trying not to look but I am plagued by curiosity. Finally we end up discussing business and the mystery man reveals that he is a cop. I am shocked because I spent so much speculating about his possible professions and had never considered this. I woke up from the dream very suddenly and startled. It was 1:30AM and I fell back asleep quickly.

Later in early morning I dreamt I was at a morphing house. It started out as the house of the grandmother of someone I used to be very close with in my real life. I was house-sitting while she was away on a vacation. Before she left she’d shown me through the house and was upset because parts of it were run down or falling apart. She told me she was too elderly to fix the problems herself and did her best. Other parts of the house were immaculate. The house itself was maze-like and hard to maneuver though. There was a pet that I was responsible for…a dog. I was there one afternoon and someone knocked on the door. My paranoid dream-self freaked out. I convinced myself I was hearing things but went to the front door anyway to check. I peered through the blinds and saw a man’s torso. He was tall, wearing a salmon colored shirt. I didn’t even look at his face and BOLTED toward the back of the house. It was difficult because of the maziness of the home. I ended up outside in an old garage or shack type building. I could see into the kitchen from where I stood. The man had entered. It was someone I work with who inexplicably creeps me in my real life. I wasn’t pleased to see him in the house, but knew he wouldn’t kill me so I went inside and talked to him. He had permission to be there and I hadn’t been told. He was bent over feeding the dog. I wanted to GTFO.

Then the house morphs from the grandmotherly house into a house filled with people. My dad’s wife is having her huge Filipino family stay while her and my dad are renewing their vows or having some kind of belated wedding party. Everyone is friendly, busy and milling around. I don’t really know anyone and am trying to stay out of the way. It was exactly like the tone of the house in “Home Alone” right before they leave for France. Dad can’t find Lovenieh (his wife) anywhere. I notice her on a couch crying in another room and tell my dad. She comes out of the room in fancy clothes wiping her eyes. I go to a bathroom upstairs to apply lipstick for the event. As I’m carefully applying the salmon colored lipstick (not normal for me) my dad walks in. He starts talking to me like we’re best friends. Then I drop my lipstick and have to crawl around behind the toilet to get it. Then it’s time to leave and I wake up.

Hedgie with bagpipes riding a rooster!!!

I took a few fashion magazines from Mom’s house back to Austin with me the other weekend. I finally flipped through them this past week and I have a strong feeling that tribal prints are going to go wild this summer. I foresee a trend…if it’s not a hardcore trend already. I haven’t been clothes shopping in a while.

It makes me think of 2007 when M.I.A. was all the rage. Paper planes, bright album cover and crazy outfits.

It’s a perfectly acceptable trend, I just hope it doesn’t go the way of the gladiator sandals and maxi dresses. Overdone blahhhh. The trend’s probably already come and gone with people in the fashion industry…but this summer it’s for commoners.

***

Tonight I cooked dinner. I’m proud of the tastiness. Salmon helps me to believe I can cook. Besides the baked salmon I sauteed broccoli with olive oil, garlic and crushed red pepper. And sourdough bread goes surprisingly well with salmon, too. Satisfaction and full stomach.

The strange dreams continue but I’m just remembering bits and pieces. A few nights ago I dreamt I was shooting a drug into my veins and I lived at my office building. An overweight co-worker got in trouble for wearing gigantic platform shoes made from steel. There was a crazy teen in the parking lot driving recklessly. When we stopped to find out what the heck he was doing we noticed young children in the backseat. Then we yelled at him. The next night I can only remember part of my dream where I was in my car with someone else…kind of like a mixture of a few different people I’ve dated. We were trying to get to an island not far from the coast. The car was driving on thin patches of sand/dirt barely above the water. My car is low to the ground and we didn’t make it to the island because the water got too high and my car was in danger of flooding.

***

This past week I became inspired by paint chip art. I decided I was going to try myself this weekend. Of course it didn’t turn out right because I’m no artist…I’m more of a crafter. I hung it on the wall despite my frustration. I might add to it or just learn to accept the big bright mess. Formerly my bedroom was completely white and I’ve been meaning to add color. I would have just painted the walls but I rent. Too much pain and suffering. Anyway…see below. (Sadly it looks better in the picture, hahahaha.)

***

I get a lot of bruises on my legs. Mom is always first to comment about how awful they look. Though I think the reaction is kind of funny and sometimes I provoke it. : ) Most people ask, “What did you dooooooo?” [to get that ugly bruise?] I wish there were great stories behind any of them. There never is. I’m always running into stuff. Mostly cabinets and the edge of my bed. I forget stuff is in the way. I have a low sense of body awareness. Which would also explain why I’m a pathetic dancer. I currently have a couple bruises on my left upper thigh. I think the faded one is an airplane travel bruise and the other is from the bed edge.

I was scoping them out in the shower yesterday thinking how funny they looked. In the midst of that I fell over into the soap holder thingy, hahahahaha. What a mess. I have a new bruise and a half from it.

Geez. I need to take it easy.

Last night I dreamt my sister and I survived a tornado. Dreaming about tornadoes can’t be good according to the dream dictionary. At least we knew it was coming and had time to prepare. We were in a hallway with a many other people in a public building close to my apartment in Austin.

***

I had a semi-stressful weekend in Houston trying to deal with gross adult problems like my car and taxes.

My car needs a new catalytic converter to pass inspection. It’s already overdue. A new catalytic converter from Honda is going to cost me $1200 for parts/labor/inspection. Can’t seem to use an aftermarket catalytic converter on my car and get it to work right. Has to do with the specific type of car I drive. So right now I’ve devised an alternate plan. This car…it’s like an adorable child that’s usually well-behaved. Then occasionally it acts up and makes a big scene but you can’t stay mad because you love it too much.

I did my taxes after Easter church services on Sunday. I cried (only for about 30 seconds) because I realized I owed more than $1000. Stupid exemptions ruined me! My dad helped me lower it slightly because I opened an IRA. Learning about $$$ but it comes at a costtttttt.

My mood improved because we ate lasagne for Easter dinner. Then my sister, dad and I all laid on the couch and fell asleep listening to Italian music. Mom gave me some Easter candy and promised to help me with my car situation. My family is what saves me, love them!

Glad to return to Austin–welcomed by 100% marvelous balcony weather. Every day I’ve been arriving home from work and sitting outside. A time to leave the doors and windows wide open. I have to enjoy this while it lasts. Then it’s time for pools, rivers and bathing suits.

The strange dreams continued over the weekend.

Friday night I dreamt that my sister and I were exploring in East Austin. We came upon a man sitting outside run down concrete coffee shop reading a newspaper. He looked like a mix of Terry Richardson (creepy hipster photographer) and one of my sister’s ex-boyfriends. My sister talked to him and somehow after that we had multiple guns. I’m not sure he gave them to us. I had a long rifle/shotgun type weapon and my sister had at least two pistols. ***In reality my sister and I don’t know anything about guns and we’re not violent people.*** We started shooting. My sister wanted to shoot at people. I told her to at least try to shoot them in the arm or leg and not the face or chest. I told her we shouldn’t try to kill anyone. She didn’t seem to hear or care. Then we were standing in front of a large brick residential building, recently built. My sister insisted on running upstairs to the roof so she could shoot people like a sniper. I refused to go with her. Within minutes I saw her on the roof aiming her gun at me. I started screaming, “It’s Melinda! Don’t shoot me!”  She came back down and I gave her my guns because I didn’t want to be involved anymore.

The next night I dreamt that I went to Asia to teach English. It was supposedly South Korea, but it didn’t look anything like the pictures. It was poor, tropical and had terrible infrastructure. I was given my housing assignment and forced to live underwater without an oxygen tank. We had to hold our breath. There was an area above water, but it was more like a public park where other people came to hang out. I tried telling my superiors that I needed a different apartment because I don’t have a very good lung capacity. No one cared. I had a male roommate who knew what a coocoolooloo was. (The hair that sprouts from a little bow on top of prissy dog’s head.) I told him he was perfect.

Today Nickie told me about the new America the Beautiful Quarters that are coming out this year. I thought we were ending with the state quarters. There are going to be 56 quarters coming out through 2021. They commemorate national parks and other national sites in the states and U.S territories. I thought Texas’ coin would surely be Big Bend…we only have a couple of national parks: Big Bend and Guadalupe Mountains. Instead they chose the San Antonio Missions “Historical Park”…I guess they’ll use a picture of the Alamo or something. I vote for Big Bend with a picture of a gigantic cactus, but it’s too late. Timothy Geithner got to pick the sites.

From US Mint: “The five quarters to be released in 2010 will honor Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas, Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, Yosemite National Park in California, Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona and Mount Hood National Forest in Oregon.”

Yosemite Coin, 2010

I started looking at the list of National Parks.  There are 58. I’ve only been to four: Arches, Canyonlands, Great Smokey Mountains and Joshua Tree. I **WANT** to visit Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton and Redwood.

Visiting Arches National Park in 2007

Train

Last week Nickie (friend/co-worker/partner-in-crime) and I took a ride on the newly opened MetroRail here in Austin. It was free during the first week of service so we drove to the station closest to our office to see what the buzz was all about. It was our plan to go downtown for 50 minutes, have a drink and catch the last train back up north. As soon as we left work it started raining. We arrived at the station expecting to find a large parking lot, like a Park & Ride. All we found was a small rail station situation between a couple of ugly warehouse/office buildings. Absolutely no parking. Street parking was not possible either because the station is located off a busy road. We parked in the warehouse/office parking lot (more like a strip of parking spaces) and wandered into one of the offices. It belonged to one of Nickie’s contacts at work, a general contractor. The man was NOT happy to see us and told us we’d be towed if we stayed where we were. Blahhh. We moved our cars to the even creepier back parking lot.

We walked onto the platform with other riders eager for the train. A MetroRail employee reassured us that our cars would probably be fine where they were. He was going to keep an eye on them for us. We asked him why no parking lot existed. He didn’t know. More people walked up including a woman who works for the City of Austin planning department. She had some answers. She told us there are not plans to develop parking at the Kramer station. They consider it one of the “urban” stations (though it’s still really on the cusp) so it’s meant for people walking/biking/busing to the station. She said the businesses in the area would probably start a private parking lot once they figure out there’s money to be made.

I feel like the city’s overall plan depends a lot upon the success of the Domain and future urban developments in the area, which I don’t know of any. And I don’t know that the Domain will be residentially successful any time in the near future. Even so, the Domain is for wealthier people. Those units can’t be cheap. It seems to me like an improved public transit system should aim more to help people that rely upon public transit. Not to say that just because you live in a wealthy apartment community means you don’t use public transit. Maybe the city should focus on putting more affordable housing near the rail station in the future.

The ride itself was okay. It was very crowded, but that was expected. I don’t think there’s enough room for people with bikes. On the way back we encountered two families with young children. The daughter of one family was crying about being on the train AND it was her fourth birthday. The other family sang “Happy Birthday” to her on the train. So cute! We also talked with a guy on the way back who told us about a new bar opening up close to our office. Useful. Sometimes it’s beneficial to meet people via public transit.

Plane

A couple days later I left for California to visit a friend and see a concert. I specifically packed my suitcase so that I wouldn’t have to check it. I even left my 3.4 oz bottle of Chance by Chanel in my friend’s car so that they couldn’t possibly take it because of the 3 oz liquid rule. I get through security without a problem. I flew Southwest and was one of the last people to board. As soon as I stepped on the plane one of the flight attendants said, “We’re gonna have to take that,” and reached for my bag. I thought, “Okay, whatever.” It looked like a full flight. I don’t like to cause a scene. She asked me my final destination, “San Jose,” I told her. I saw her scribble the word “SAN” on a piece of folded scrap paper along with a bunch of other illegible destinations. I proceeded to find my seat knowing deep in my heart that I was doomed. All I had was my purse and two copies of the New Yorker. As I flipped through the pages of my magazines during the flight I looked at this flight attendant. Her yucky grayish-purple lip liner was distracting, as were her obvious bleached blonde highlights and her gaudy jangling charm bracelet. She was fake nice to me when she asked what I wanted to drink, of course.

I had a brief layover in San Diego. Flying into the airport through downtown at night was marvelous. Beautiful view! The airport itself was another story. I got off the plane into a massive crowd of restless people. I retreated to the bathroom to collect myself, then ventured back out and made a few phone calls. (Including my mom. I told her I thought they were going to lose my luggage.) My flight was delayed. What a surprise! I talked to a woman for a while; we were trying to figure out why there were so many people flying that night. Her and her husband had been at a fiber optics convention. Probably not the whole answer.

We boarded the plane more than an hour after we were supposed to leave…due to ice on the wings (wonderful) and new flight attendants arriving from some other place. The girls I sat with on the plane said that it was Spring Break in Cali which explained the massive amount of travelers.

Finally, at about 12AM I arrive in San Jose. This is 2AM Texas time and I’d only slept 3-4 hours the night before. Does not make for a pleasant mood. Vanessa meets me and we wait for my bag. Nothing. I take my left over luggage ticket stub from the plane in Austin to the luggage people in San Jose. They tell me it should be on the carousel. Um, no. The tell us there aren’t any more bags coming. So, it happened: LOST. I had to fill out paperwork and go through a bunch of rigmarole with the San Jose luggage people. I was being pretty rotten and not quite acting polite. She informed me my bag was probably stuck in San Diego and they would get it on the first flight to San Jose in the morning. I should have it delivered between 9AM and 1PM on Friday. I should get a call by 8AM when they located the bag. Okay. She gave me a toiletries kit to calm me down, hahaha.

The next morning we wake up at 9AM. I had no missed calls. By 9:45AM I’m on the phone with the Southwest luggage services people. Basically, the woman says the notes in my file had not been updated, meaning they didn’t know where my bag went. She started going over the procedure to make a claim, like, for money to replace all my stuff that was lost. BAHHHH! My best make up (expensive investment) and favorite clothes were in that bag. Plus, a new camera. Three pairs of shoes (two of them new). My favorite tights that I got in Spain and have never been able to find another pair. My favorite cutoffs (also irreplaceable). I was upset. Anyone that knows me understands that I am picky about my belongings. This is partially the reason that I live alone. I’m not a crazy materialist, but my favorite possessions are my favorite for a good reason! If my laptop had been in there I would have had a seizure. I digress.

Vanessa, who can be very aggressive and intimidating, wanted to call for her chance at the fun. She called a couple of airports and the luggage services people and let loose. Whoa, if I’d been on the phone with her I would have hung up. “These are some pretty basic questions,” she said in her most belittling voice. I was giggling in the background despite my extreme frustration. Hey, it’s comical in retrospect! After almost an hour on the phone between the two of us, many angry tweets and an email to customer service we had to give up and move on with our day. I wore Vanessa’s clothes and went out in powder, mascara and bold lipstick A look I actually prefer sometimes. : ) We were having an awesome day even though in the back of my mind I was worried about my bag.

We ended up at a Mediterranean restaurant in Berkeley, California. I went to the bathroom--when I returned I heard Vanessa on the phone saying “turquoise make up bag.” I screamed “YES!” They had found my bag in Sacramento! Success! They would fly it to San Jose and deliver it on Saturday morning. I was so content. The rest of that day was a hazy wandering of Berkeley and later Oakland, which seemed kinda rough in my mind at the time. We saw AIR at the Fox Theater that night. (Reason for my trip.) 100% fabulous!

This one is a video of my FAVORITE song, La Femme D’argent, the quality isn’t superb but the visuals from about 6:30-8:00 are a blast!

The next morning my luggage was delivered. I sat on the floor and buried my face in my favorite gray hoodie.

Reunited and it feels so good! (And I look like a mess.)

The rest of the trip was the most relaxing adventure. I imagine it to the tune of La Femme D’argent! We ate amazing (and healthy) food--sandwiches, Japanese ramen, baklava. Wandered around the city. Sat around in parks. Visited the bridge. Smoked some delicious strawberry hookah at the end of the night and watched SELENA. The next day we cooked french toast and played frisbee on the Stanford campus. The weather was delightful each day. It was exactly what a vacation should be. I’d been to San Fran once before in November 2009, but this trip, though much shorter, was much better. Even taking into consideration the lost luggage. I love San Francisco! It may even rival the infatuation I have with NYC.

On the way home the lady at the door to the plane tried to tell me my luggage was too large to bring on the plane. Funny, I’ve traveled with it countless times and it’s NEVER been a problem. She forced me to fit it in the sizer. It wasn’t fitting. She said it needed to “slide it in without forcing.” I was about to slide my fist right into her face. I rearranged my stuff and it was fine. She apologized, I gave her my sassiest look and boarded the plane. No one is going to take my luggage away ever again.

I had another weird dream during a nap I took yesterday. As a narrative it doesn’t quite make sense, but the elements of the dream are interesting. I’m looking at a dream dictionary.

Crossing over a huge canyon on a rope.
-To see a canyon in your dream represents your unconscious mind and hidden feelings. It may point to emotions and relationships that you did not recognize.
-To see a rope in your dream represents your connection and attachment to others. It is also an indication of what is holding your relationship together.

Make it to the other side, realize I’m at some sort of amusement park.
-To see or be in an amusement park in your dream indicates that you need to set some time for leisure and more enjoyment in your life. Consider how everything in the park is an expression of some aspect of yourself. Alternatively, you may be too easily distracted lately.

Children are bungee jumping off a cliff. Some are just jumping. I am supposed to do the same. Terrified. Notice that they’re only jumping a few feet to the ground. The distance to the ground below must me morphing.
-To dream that you are bungee jumping represents your ability to bounce back from adversities and setbacks in your life. The important thing is you took the initial risk.
-To dream that you are standing at the edge of a cliff, indicates that you have reached an increased level of understanding, new awareness, and a fresh point of view. You have reached a critical point in your life and are afraid of losing control. Alternatively, it suggests that you are pondering a life-altering decision
-To dream that you or someone falls off a cliff, suggests that you are going through some difficult times and are afraid of what is ahead for you. You fear that you may not be up for the challenge or that you cannot meet the expectations of others.

Two very small children (two-year-olds?) are walking around alone. Their supervisor/parent/whoever assures me that they’re fine. I’m not a fan of children, but this strikes me as wrong and horribly irresponsible. I start to watch after the babies.
-If you dream that a baby is neglected, then it suggests that you are not paying enough attention to yourself. You are not utilizing your full potential.
-To dream that you are babysitting, suggests that you need to care for the child within yourself.

The children start to wander inside a haunted house area of the park and try to coax me in. I don’t like this idea.
-To dream of a haunted house signifies unfinished emotional business, related to your childhood family, dead relatives, or repressed memories and feelings.

Suddenly I’m on the streets of San Francisco, but instead of storefronts and cafes Nickie and I are walking along a huge outdoor make up aisle, like Ulta.
-To dream that you are applying make up suggests that you are trying to cover up or conceal an aspect of yourself. Alternatively, it indicates that you are putting on your best face forward. You are trying to enhance your self-image and increase your sense of self-confidence.

Then we get to a large intersection with lots of traffic. We see a billboard for some kind of kooky chicken restaurant and Nickie starts telling me all about it and how we need to go eat chicken immediately.
-To dream that you are at an intersection represents a decision or choice that you need to make in order to progress forward.
-To dream that you are in traffic signifies frustrations in life and that things are not going as smoothly as you would like it to. You feel stuck at where you are in life.
-To see a billboard in your dream is a sign or message that you need to take note of in your path toward your goals. Consider what advice the billboard is trying to convey to you.
-To see chickens in your dream, symbolize cowardliness and a lack of willpower. The dream may be a pun on being a chicken or chickening out of some situation. Chickens also represent excessive chatter and gossip. Listen closely to what people may be saying about you or what you are saying about others.

Then I woke up.

So what does it seem to mean? I have anxiety over some impending major decisions in life and that I have unresolved emotions. Sure, why not?

I worked on a story that was published on the Houston real estate blog Swamplot this morning. The news was all over Twitter shortly after appearing on the site. I lost count of the blog post comments…at least 50. And the Houston Chronicle wrote up a story sourcing Swamplot. A million thanks to Gus, Swamplot’s founder, for being helpful, supportive, patient and awesome.

I am pleased.

STORY: Weingarten Plans an Alabama Theater Demolition. Is Staples Moving In?

Yes:

Mad Libs while waiting in line for tickets to see Broken Social Scene. “Pay a visit to your favorite stripe store and buy some striped new things that will cause men to stripe in the street.”

They sold 50 tickets to Broken Social Scene for people without wristbands or badges. Me, my sister and her friend were numbers 50, 51 & 52 in line. All three of us got in. We were the LAST ones!

Liking of The Besnard Lakes. Marvelous!

Seeing Emily Haines sing “Anthems for a Seventeen Year Old Girl” with Broken Social Scene at Stubbs. Being in the third row.

Listening to a band play an impromptu show in the middle of the street from a parking garage above.

Finding an awesome “Reeperbahn” sign on the road and awkwardly taking it home in my purse.

Seeing my fab co-worker perform with his band “Son de Rey”.

Meeting a random guy from 101X who climbed into my friend’s apt on Red River though the street level balcony. He drank with us and then confessed that he had no idea where he was, who we were or what he was doing.

Eating a Buffalo Burger at Casino el Camino. Delicious!

Seeing Kristin Stewart, Richard Linklater and the guy from Sum 41 at the Driskill all within an hour.

Successful flask action.

Not driving.

Spending time with some of my favorite people from out of town.

Seeing Austin try to be a “big city”…cute.

No:

Drive By Truckers. Ugh, DNW.

Hostile concert people in the crowd at Broken Social Scene.

Walking from Stubbs to 18th & Lavaca before we could get a cab. AHHHH!

Too cold on Saturday. Then stood in line for over an hour as someone’s +1 at Perez Hilton party. That had to end. kthxbye! hahaha

Overall traffic, lines and exclusivity. But that’s SXSW and the city that logistically fails to accommodate. Oh well.

I got to give credit to my fellow blogger and co-worker Jessica Camarillo on this one. I had no idea LA Gang Tours existed till I saw her post.

The Basics

Who: LA Gang Tours and people who want to pay $65 to participate

What: An “unforgettable historical experience” in gang infested neighborhoods and law enforcement buildings in Los Angeles from the comfort of a tour bus.

Where: Los Angeles
Stops include:

1. The Los Angeles County Jail
2. The Los Angeles River Bed
3. The Metropolitan Detention Center
4. The Symbionese Liberation Army Shoot Out
5. Florencia 13
6. Birthplace of Black Panther Party
7. Florence District
8. Florence Avenue
9. Firestone Sheriff Station
10. Hall of Justice Jail
11. Pico Union Graff Lab (Graffiti Lab)
12. Birthplace to Crips Gang
13. Watts Arts Gallery

When: Public tours started in January 2010, now they’re offered every Saturday at 10AM, they last for 2 hours

Why: Disagreement on this one…the tour company says it’s to, “…create jobs for the residents of South Central, Los Angeles; to give profits from the tours back to these areas for economic growth and development, provide job/entrepreneur training, micro-financing opportunities and to specialize in educating people from around the world about the Los Angeles inner city lifestyle, gang involvement and solutions.”

Obviously this creates a lot of controversy. Many media outlets have already picked up on it. I thought Scott Gold at the LA Times wrote a particularly excellent article about it that really explores the specific hoots, hollers and criticisms surrounding the tour. The tour could be considered exploitative and voyeuristic especially when the organizer wants to “stage dance-offs between locals.” Sounds more like a human zoo.

Jessica questions the idea, “Other than being a continuation of the stereotyped gang lives actors portray in Hollywood, I also am not sure where the revenue is really going. If it goes back into the community and a large percentage of that community is made up of gang members wouldn’t the money end up in the hands of gang members anyway?”

A few weeks ago I got my ears pierced for the fifth time. It was kind of on a whim, but it’s always been a strange goal of mine to fill my lobes with as many piercings as I could. I thought there was possibly room for one more. I refuse to blatantly pierce the cartilage because I don’t like how it looks. I also refuse tattoos. Lobe piercing is the only bodily mutilation I prefer.

Anyway, I was in Houston with my sister and her friend. She recommended a place where she’d gotten her nose pierced. Initially I got some sass from my piercer. He thought I was too uncertain about getting a piercing and thought I needed to do more research. Funny, I already had four holes in each ear. I know how it works. My problem was that I didn’t like the jewelry they had to put in. It all looked really industrial and hardcore piercing parlor…but I suppose that’s where I was. After I decided to go ahead with the large gnarly ring the piercer became friendlier. He ended up being a cool guy; I trusted him. It was the first time I’d gotten my ears pierced with a needle instead of a gun. I’d never had any problems with the gun (my other four holes had been done that way), but I wanted to be especially careful with this piercing because it was bordering the cartilage. The piercing itself didn’t hurt too bad. I definitely got an adrenaline rush.

The aftermath has been much worse. It’s been three weeks since I did it and my ears are still sore. One is healed pretty well but still randomly bleeds. (This morning I woke up with a blood crust. Lovely, I know.) The left ear gives me trouble. I think it’s been infected almost the whole time since I got it pierced. I’ve been taking care of the area–cleaning it with soap, saline solution, not putting my grubby fingers near it. It doesn’t seem to help too much. I read a bunch of internet horror stories of people who had to remove the ring, got keloids or weird messed up bumps and scar tissue. Or ear amputation. OMG. I don’t think mine will be that bad, but I’ve talked to people who said their ear never really healed. It’s just curious to me because I got all the other holes done with the UNSAFE GUN (heaven forbid) but I had absolutely no problems with the other piercings.

This is what it looked like about a week and a half ago. Also a close up…

Also, this is my sister eating part of a cheese log and crackers at an art studio at UH before we went to go pierce my ears. : )

Okay, finally, I’ve been cross stitching for about four years. Maybe more. I don’t even know how stitches many I’ve made. I gave almost all of them away as gifts. I want to start taking pictures of the ones I make because I wish I had some kind of gallery. So this is my first contribution. I made it for my friend…kind of an inside joke we had from high school. I love the violin!

My fascination with Lady Gaga and Christina Hendricks is coming to an end.

Today I watched Lady Gaga’s new music video “Telephone” featuring Beyonce. Do not want. It just wasn’t impressive. It was almost too Lady Gaga. She was blatantly naked dancing around in the video. I didn’t like the costumes enough. I watched an interview she did about a week ago with Jonathan Ross. Fake. She says she gets annoyed when people claim she’s being a character, but during the interview I could see her true character coming out a few times. She has too many talking points. It’s like there’s an agenda when she does interviews. I still like what she represents, her costumes, her sassiness…but she’ll quickly lose touch if she hasn’t completely already.

Christina Hendricks is fabulous, but it seems like America is obsessed with her because she’s voluptuous. I don’t necessarily care about her ridiculous curves or huge boobs. I think she’s a pretty lady. I love her character on Mad Men. Those are the main reasons for me. I read an article about her a long time ago and it said she’s been dying her hair red for years. It’s not truly red. I was disappointed.

I may be bordering on a touchy subject. Under the cut.

Continue reading »

Yes

Sandra Bullock in Marchesa

I don’t normally like her movies or her style, but she looked beautiful! Everything was so polished. Her earrings were simple. I loved that she didn’t overaccessorize. The gown is sleek. Her makeup is classic. Hair is so SHINY! Mad she won the Oscar, but it’s good she showed up looking like she knew she would win.

Cameron Diaz in Oscar de la Renta

I just like the dress. It’s pretty. Not trying to take over the world. Don’t really care for Cameron…I guess her hair looks nice. I thought her earrings looked like plugs from afar. Overall, great job!

No

Mariah Carey in Valentino

I know it’s not cheap because it’s haute couture, but it still looks cheap-ish to me. I’ve never liked dresses with big garish jeweled pieces on them. Plus she had on so much jewelry on top of that…big earrings, bracelets, rings. It’s too much. The color looks like it should be on an old woman. The cut, especially at the bottom, bothers me. Cute shoes though.

Carey Mulligan in Prada

It’s not that I abhor her gown. I actually do not. And great shoes. I give Carey the “no” mostly because I think she has so much potential to be fabulous. I don’t like that she’s ripping off Mia Farrow’s hair cut. I think she looked better in “An Education” with longer, dark hair. The beading and cut of the dress, plus the bold hair just makes it too much. Cant’ get behind the overall look.

Too bad

Jennifer Lopez and Amanda Seyfried in Armani

Their dresses are both okay. Very much similar. JLo seems to have chosen a fussier version of Amanda’s dress. They both look like they’re made from those expandable garbage bags.

“Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.” Ernest Hemingway

“I don’t think happiness is an area that anyone really lives. I think we all kind of touch on it once or twice a year for, like, a moment that’s fleeting.” Vincent Kartheiser (Pete from Mad Men)

“Happiness is a very strange thing.” Jihae Min, my friend

“And all I wanted was to be a happy man” Lyrics from Chaos of the Galaxy/Happy Man by Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse

I’m done adding massive amounts of animal pictures for awhile. In the future they will trickle in instead of taking over my whole blog. If you want to read my older posts without gagging on all the animal pics look at the “Uncategorized” category.