Small Potatoes

How many Licks does It take

2007-08-24T17:23:00.000-07:00

to get to the center of onesself.

In the 8-9 months since my last appearance, I've seen both sides of the moon, so to say. Blessing: my (maternal) grandparents made a very belated move up to my mother's house in Sacramento. Curse: my so very beloved grandfather passed away shortly after the turn of the New Year. And so on and so forth, in every arena imaginable. It seems, at this point, that the only constant I do well with is that nothing is certain.

What else? To commemorate a golden birthday, I had a trifecta of golden, fallling autumn leaves tattooed; flew out friends to visit SF, flew back to the midwest for the mother of all road trips for them, my grandfather's memorial and a long awaited wedding, and time to visit my roots, though my branches - and leaves, poetic and otherwise - still are stretched into the West. I learned just how much you can take the girl out of a place, etc - and fell in love with different notions of Home being where the Heart is all over again. Here's to what's next.

There She Goes

2006-12-01T21:45:00.000-08:00

First and foremost, let's attend to some business:
The beautiful birds tattoo'ed upon me in posts past, here for your perusal. 3 months later, they're still vibrant as before. Best $250 I've spent......ever.

And now for some light humor, the meaningful part of this post. Like my birds, I flew out of San Francisco and am now staying in Sacramento for a bit, to come down from the living situation / roommate / move from-hell that took place for the last week and change. Fingers crossed on a gem of a cosy 2bedroom in the Inner Richmond, some solace by way of a new face here in Lincoln, and I'm breathing a sigh of relief and de-stress for the first time, really, since I moved into that apt in January. I'm on leave with work, so my appearances here will be brief, but it's time to take care of my family and, most importantly, myself.

Writing is going strong - have been urged to submit to publishers, and in discussing this - this being writing about life, and life, period - with a friend, I remarked that "we all deserve to be able to look back on where we've been with a slight smile", and in the last month of the year, here's hoping we're all reflecting on things, but also looking forward with an even bigger grin. Much love.

_____ Deep

2006-09-12T22:40:00.000-07:00

All 5 of you will be happy to know that in the next couple of days, the aforementioned tattoos will be in all their live, technicolor glory here for your perusal. The birds have just a couple more days and they've been healing rather nicely.

What I wasn't expecting, though, in embarking on the ink was the inner dialogue they'd become a catalyst for. Getting them with the reasoning of "there's no better me than the one looking me in the mirror, why defer this any longer" is, well, awfully lofty - if I wasn't a poet before, god knows I've cemented that label now - but, it's so true in a bittersweet kind of way. I have no regrets about my decision. But these little birds now stand for all of me - and sometimes it's not always so pretty what I'm looking at.

You know what? Let me spare all of us this flowery blog-language. I am going to paint a picture of really intimate frustration with life. It is beating onesself over the head for being insecure and not knowing 100% how to keenly choose battles. It is is finding out just how much you and a friend have grown apart over the years by, ironically, coming together again. It is not knowing whether work or school or both are pulling your strings in the day-to-day, and which pulls should be responded to first. It is missing a place you were so happy - still are, for the most part - to leave. It is feeling a mental punch in the stomach for identifying more as a Californian than as a Michigander. It is knowing that funks are a part of life, trying to sally forth, and keep remembering that as thick as the fog rolls in some days, it has to retreat back to let the light through too.

Who knew? The going got rough just as I'm waiting for my skin to thicken. Lucky me, I have two new sets of wings to commemorate the occasion.

Inked

2006-09-06T09:58:00.000-07:00

First thoughts upon waking up this morning: Sweet Fancy Moses, I have a tattoo.

After 2.5 hours, $250 and several dirty jokes cracked yesterday afternoon among Andy Lowlife and his fellow tattoo-artist-compadrés at Idle Hand in Lower Haight, my backside is now adorned with two gorgeous old-fashioned swallows.

If it weren't for the tight and sore aformentioned backside, I'd be cartwheeling, they're so beautiful. Photographic evidence once they've healed.

oh, yeah, one more thing: Hi Mom! Hi Dad!

MRI Malaise

2006-08-24T22:46:00.000-07:00

You know the MRI I've been grumbling about for the past two months and change, right? The one that should have happened, say, two months and change ago? Right?

Right. It happened yesterday at CPMC in Laurel Village. I am not fond of hospitals to start with but thankful for their existence, and my orthopaedic specialist / possible -surgeon-to-be is nothing short of wonderful, witty, and gets right to the chase in treating my dislocated shoulder. However: When one goes in for a procedure - in this case, let's say an arthrogram MRI - and one is told by the doctor performing said procedure that things should be relatively painless - let's keep in mind that the key word is relatively.

Turns out I fucked up the shoulder but good. For an arthrogram, the joint and tissues to be scanned must be injected with a contrast fluid, done under fluoroscopy (x-ray). Now, I'd had a lovely, large shot of lidocaine to numb things, but when not one but two doctors (the second being called in as an extra measure, which upon hearing was happening, I was tremendously reassured of the painlessness being exacted on me) start digging around an already irritated joint, I and that 20-guage-needle became intimately aware of one another. Apparently, the needle was catching on either A) excess scar tissue, B) a bone deformation from the injury, or C) both A &B. Swell. Pun: intended. Shoulder: I'm back to the range of motion I had, say, two months and change ago. Surgery: entirely likely.

On a lighter note, I was able to relax to some lovely RadioAlice while in the claustrophobia-inducing confines of the MRI itself, so at least not all the hashmarks get tallied under negative. FM radio: .........still radio. Qué serà, Sarah.

T-Day

2006-08-14T22:26:00.000-07:00

Tiffany's, Tattoos, and Tennis. What else this girl can ask for, the hell if I know. The weekend was a blur as on Saturday, I drove over to Oakland airport to pickup one of my Best Girls, Lea, moving here from Michigan. LMF and I go way back - the high school and early college years - so it is really refreshing to have in my (now also hers) city somebody who knows me inside and out.

By watching her take a leap of faith in her move out here, I finally decided there was no time like the present to actually make good on my vow to be good to myself, and to commemorate my passing the one-year mark in such a significant place for me. If you know me, you know I've planned a tattoo for years - traditional oldfashioned swallows, as I've lived with birds as a kid, flew out here, so to speak; and really loved the juxtaposition of the ideas of "bluebirds of happiness" versus blue as the traditional color associated with sadness. After some homework on local shops / artists and meeting Andy Lowlife at Idle Hand in the Lower Haight, I put down a deposit on his work for me, to be embarked upon on September 5th. I feel really solid in the decision, and until I am inked for good, I will leave the brief on the tattoo-to-be, well, brief.

That same day, I had finally had enough of a bare neck, as I had broken a chain my grandmother had given me on my 23rd birthday. If you haven't heard already, my grandmother nearly died right around this birthday, and the hospitalization has left her a shade different from the woman so dear to my heart who I spent my childhood summers with and have kicked myself for not making a better effort to stay close with as an adult. It has been hard to reconcile that while I have gotten older, so has everybody else around me, and the break of the necklace she had given me was the last straw, a reminder to live my best for her while she can still see me do so. Back to the first line of this post, it was payday, I had coveted a piece of beautiful silver for a long time, so I went into Tiffany&Co on Union Square and tried on the small Elsa Peretti "s".The letter is abstract, and looks like a tear - perfect. I wore it out, and it's something I'll keep forever.

Lastly, an update on June's shoulder dislocation: I am still waiting on the goddamned MRI. Still in physical therapy, but Lowen (PT) has given me the nod on some light tennis, so I am off to City College on Thursday mornings this semester. Went into a sports shop, found an unbeliveable Wilson racquet for $100 off retail, and am energized to step up my game again. To my good friend Gnourt Nart: it is so on, baby. Tennis and otherwise, to the rest of you: Bring your best, hope the last stretch of summer is treating you as well as it has me, and it's only getting better. Much love.

So There We Were

2006-08-09T09:39:00.000-07:00

From Friday, 4 August at Cal Greek Theatre. A pretty damn close to perfect nightcap on the threshold of summer's last chapter.

52

2006-08-07T20:46:00.000-07:00

I would be so lucky to have many more dances. Happy Birthday, Dad.

It's a Family Affair

2006-08-06T23:13:00.000-07:00

Can you think of a better way to kick off August than by spending the first week of it with your exceptionally rad brother & sister-in-law, visiting from Madison? By showing off and romping around your fair city, seeing Bloc Party at Cal's Greek Theatre, soaking up the sun, and by being early-Christmas-presented with your Very First iPod (nano), now named Stevie (as in Wonder & Ray Vaughn)?
Me neither. Thanks so much for coming out and playing on the West Side.

In Review

2006-08-05T01:36:00.000-07:00

Answer: No more than this.

Today is my 365th day as a San Franciscan. That's 365 days of alternately, or, oddly enough sometimes simultaneously; cursing / relishing the fog and the muni, new, fast friendships and the startling quiet that can come with city life, the hustle of downtown, the comfort of shit-talking neighborhoods other than one's own, the calm of Ocean Beach and the rollicking nights out in one sparkler of a 7-by-7-mile chunk of land. Here's to Vol. 2.

Question: What were you hoping for?

What, cellphone

2006-08-03T23:49:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you've heard the rumors, little LG L1400i, that a slimmer and savvier razr was in the works to replace you. Hell, I'd be disgruntled too.

But: dying on me a payperiod away from purchasing said razr, also on the day that my rent check was cashed, is not the classy way to go out. This month also happens to include an overdue, semi-pricey haircut, accoutrements for the new iPod, textbooks for the fall semester, and possibly a new laptop as your mangey second cousin, the desktop computer, is threatening to make like you have.

It would have been nice to reconcile, to donate you to a cellphone recycling place, but, let's keep it real: I can't ever salvage friendships out of my exes. So onto another sort of recycling bin you'll go. You made your bed, etc.

Everything Inbetween

2006-07-31T19:18:00.000-07:00

Let's talk about integrity.

I have the learned, the hard way, what exactly it is to walk a lonely road of faith. But maybe I'm projecting here, or maybe I'm speaking from quiet experience, or maybe a little of both - "lonely" isn't quite the word for the path in question. Because in seeing it as it is, you come face to face with the whole point of the action - seeing things for what they are, no more no less, and savoring what they have to offer in the moment rather than let that opportunity, no matter its fit to your preconceived notions about your life, pass you by only leaving you with a false, bitter aftertaste.

Because the wrench in all of our plans is this: Life doesn't wait for you or for me. And from where I'm standing, most of us are too busy waiting on life to shake out the way we'd like it to rather than live it as it stands before us. Think about it: how many days, thoughts, feelings do we spend on the mere concept of bettering ourselves? Were we never good enough to start with? Ask that of the people, places, things that make up your life. It's not an easy question by any means. But in opening up those conversations, what started as a trying inner dialogue unfolds into the standards we uphold for ourselves on display in the actions and character of those people, places, things, and maybe it's not that the road is lonely, but we haven't been curious enough lately to peer out the window and see the wave of traffic. Take the wheel.

Attn Internal Clock:

2006-07-31T09:35:00.000-07:00

"One more minute", at the time alarm number 3 is sounding off, does not equal, say, 48 more minutes.

I know I'm great at that 3 minute sprint up 15th to Judah, but that's an achievement that only needs to be had, say, once. Capisce?

Yeah Yeah Yeah's

2006-07-30T22:20:00.000-07:00

Not the band. Sorry for you; happy for me- to defer the oncoming Monday Morning (up at sweet fancy moses fucking 4 am) Blues, a list of all the righteous parts of the past month:

commuter checks
non parental-child phone calls w/ Mom and Dad
scheduling a long overdue haircut
weekly poetry workshop in the haight
finding banana twins at the safeway
shaken iced (passion, natch) tea lemonade. teh yum.
deYoung, deYoung, I heart deYoung.
good reads: Daniel Alarçon ('War by Candlelight'), Garrison Keiller ('Lake Wobegon Summer 1956'), Yi-Yun Li ('A Thousand Years of Good Prayers')
passing on good reads (to others, fool)
inside Mr. T jokes
call-outs from old friends
late-nite showers
Pearl Jam, rock-show style, 2x.
new curtains.

Thanks, July.

The Wonder Years

2006-07-26T22:32:00.000-07:00

It has been, to say the least, a summer of many returns, happy and otherwise. In the past month since last we convened, I have left my job at and crawled out of Gap Inc, taken a new day job working again in a dot-com, and welcomed any challenges or new beginnings that might come my way. Summer breaks between semesters are traditionally slow in June and July comes full-on without warning, and this year has been no exception. Let's take the past week, for example: 4 days ago, I learned that my dear friend Lea, who I went to middle school, high school, and moved to my first year of college in Michigan with, is taking the same leap of faith I did 5 1/2 years ago, moving to my city of San Francisco in 2 weeks and change. 3 days ago, I dotted the i's and crossed the t's on my second-to-last semester of undergraduate work. 24 hours ago, I met the first person in these 5 1/2 years in California ever to recognize my under-the-radar hometown, much less visit the area. And last but certainly not least, my father in said hometown will be leaving for an extremely enviable trip to China tomorrow. Combine those elements and throw in A) my brother and sister-in-law will be dropping in on SF for a week on the 31st, and B) I'm in the middle of my most major collection of poetry, all working within a theme of reconciliation, and needless to say, punches were packed.

The story in my family that's always resonated with me is that my Dad initially went to college to become an engineer, and a semester shy of collecting that degree, decided he would be much better off by doing what he loved - teaching music - and went on for another couple of years with an entirely new slate to make that happen. Growing up with a teacher in the family, much less a teacher in the arts, always made me aware that the arts are considered an afterthought in this country. Coming out of high school, it dawned on me that what I was supposed to do both as a career and a contributor was follow in his footsteps, so to say, and many years later, I still feel that way. I was always the catalyst or leader in my circle of friends in the midwest - I was the first to leave for good and see what else was out there. And Dad's music career has afforded him some unbelievable opportunities to keep the sense of wanderlust he passed down to me alive and kicking, touring eastern europe, brazil, and now, china. In a couple of weeks, I get to pass that veritable branch to somebody who knows me inside and out - and we get to revisit the people we were years ago while taking a look at where we've been along the way, and what's along the road next. I couldn't be more curious, and July's not even over yet.

ALIVE!.......Sort of.

2006-06-20T22:51:00.000-07:00

Oh, let's not even go there. And by There, I mean No Posts Since November. I'm sure the five of you reading this won't come across this until August out of curiosity and / or boredom anyhow, so that's that.

However: I am nothing if not consistent in my material, and that said, I give you The Story of How the N-Judah Made Me Dislocate My Shoulder. Just start laughing now. Tuesday the 13th. 9 am. Heading downtown to work for the man. Walking up 15th, hear the train and realise I need to hustle or I'm going to be waiting another 20 minutes. Reach the corner to find the N pulling up, and decide the game plan is to dart across in front of the train and cut around to the side. Considering I've done this in the past - successfully - , off I sprinted.

Turns out my feet didn't get the memo about stepping up to the raised platform on which one gets the train. WHAM. My feet went out from under me, I recall flying just a bit across the tracks, and hit the platform. Harder than hard. In flight, I decided a great way to break the fall would be with with my left arm stretched across my torso. Upon hitting the pavement, I heard a very pissed off, very decisive Pop! of my left shoulder, a good few inches forward of the socket and leaving the whole damn arm immobile. Kindly enough, the train decided not to leave during the incident, as I had a shoe strewn across the tracks, and nobody was compelled to get off the train. I crawled sideways to pick up the shoe, hauled myself close enough to vertical by the railing on the platform with my good arm to hobble onto the train, and grimaced all the way downtown, into the office, and back to the good folks at the House That UCSF built. Many X-rays later, I was treated to a trio of ER doctors glancing back and forth between the shoulder and images, commentating with "hmmm"'s and "that's a funky one" and plenty of orthopaedic jargon in voices not unlike kermit the frog. In the meantime and for the next good long while, it is all about physical therapy, painkillers, MRI's, and the wait on the nod for surgery. Major Injury: Accomplished.

I'm impaired but back, folks. You can't ask for much more, but the summer's young and I'm hungry for some good inertnet banter.

Anecdotes from the Inner Sunset

2005-11-17T00:35:00.000-08:00

Internet, I must really love you.

Why?, you're asking? Because I am going to share with you the unbelievably embarrasing-yet-true! tale of How Sarah Ate it At the Muni Station. As most of you know, I work for the Union Square (flagship, natch) Gap, hereafter known as "The Flood". And while I am still looking to leave retail, it's still a paycheck and I love my coworkers to pieces. We know how to get down at the Gap, y'all. It being November means it's Holiday which means it's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year which means it is Retail Hell, and to psych all of us up to Sell Sell Sell those Holiday Gifts, The Flood rounds all 250+ of us up for the Holiday Kickoff Meeting. Instead of sitting on the sales floor, they decided to splurge this year and we broke it down at the Westin St. Francis's ballroom. Sweet, right? So most of us took the opportunity to style ourselves even hotter than usual (read: nicer than work attire), and I was no exception. Broke out my best jeans, heels, little red top and green blazer; pouty lips and the fabulous red hair was coiffed. All the way there on the muni train, through downtown to the westin, and through the meeting, I WORKED that ensemble. So after the meeting was out and I was heading home, I thought me and my hotness had the evening in the bag.

I was so fucking wrong. Just ask the stairs on the Outbound side of Powell Station. If you're reading this and have known me a couple of years or longer, you will recall with such gaiety one of multiple stories wherein I am renowned for over-confidence being countered with a sudden lack of balance and / or poise, ALWAYS while descending a staircase. If you haven't heard such a story, feel free to have a laugh on the house and seriously, call anybody I lived with in Stafford Living Center my first year at GVSU. Now here's the rub of last night: most who know me also know that I sell clothes, am a mini-fashionista, and can style with the best of them. Everything, 95% of the time, I'm wearing is put together for a reason. Last night, however, I hadn't had time to alter my jeans and loosely cuffed the hems. No biggie, right? In any other event, absolutely no big deal. But when said hems catch a 3" heel, it equals slippage, half a tumble until I had time to catch myself, and a seriously twisted/ hyperextended knee, banged up shin, hip, and shoulder. Add at least 60 people waiting for trains below me taking the whole scene in, and god knows how many people were behind me. Needless to say, the wait for the N-Line home was the longest 4 minutes of my life. This morning, the knee still hurts like hell and I'm sporting a lovely collection of purply-blue-black bruises. I can't wait for the green phase; maybe even photos for you curious types.

In the meantime.......Falling With Grace. I've got it down.

Desperation, Thy Name Is Ramen

2005-11-11T18:38:00.000-08:00

Yeah. I'm broke.

Cheers?

I don't bring You flowers anymore

2005-10-26T17:52:00.000-07:00

I know, internet. I know.

In rebuttal of my blogging absence, I offer you this: I went and traded up. Got some new cards to work with, so to say, and the metaphors end there, as the new life I've settled into here has revolved entirely around metaphors, and imagery, and blah blah blah industry/field-language-you-don't-want-or-need-to-understand, writing is where it's at these days for me. Moving here was a big deal, but after I came down from the ignorant bliss of squandering myself in my new place (read: 8x16' room, but a first place still, natch) and unpacking, the question was: OK, I've accomplished The Longstanding Dream. Now what the hell do I do with its current outcome? What's Next?

And the answer, starkly overwhelming but simple, is the constant: Keep On Keepin' On. Let the next dream chart itself out before I start running, leaping, and hoop-jumping towards it. Hell, what good is a major goal if you can't take a couple of years to enjoy it? Enjoy I shall, and it's back to the slate - more challenges with form and theme, and I'm working on a collection revolving around returning Home, growth, division and unity. The latest, a prose poem I've grown fond of for good reason:

Boundary Street

The shore kept marking time and my breath showed its face again greeting Lake Superior hush now this is what you're made of aurora and copper and snow glory to god churches at every turn along hecla and third only one lane one path the crunch of stale ice under my feet and that bastard the soak of freezing socks woolen and reinforced for winters like these where the wind never stung so sweet alleys open-ended and fences yet imagined

Uberlist Update

2005-10-12T23:53:00.000-07:00

= Finished
= InProgress / OnGoing
= Scratched / Postponed

Home / Hang Your Hat:

1. Dye / stencil / embroider / bead living room curtains
2. Buy red sheers for living room
3. Frame middle island print
4. Frame Matisse print
5. Wall bins for filing
6. Buy roman shade(s) for bedroom
7. Strawberry pots for patio
8. Windowsill potted herb garden
9. Paint / lacquer / hardware for dresser and nightstand
10. Room screen for telephone nook
11. Play around with floorplans and furniture layouts
12. Buy a new down comforter
13. Order futon /sofa for living room
14. Look into voice-over-broadband for house phone
15. Paint triptych-cum-headboard for bedroom
16. Find a pub table for kitchen

Body - Health / Vanity

17. New Rx for acid reflux
18. XXXX
19. Callanetics 2x / week
20. Swimming 2x / week
21. Get up-to-date on immunizations
22. Keep on growing out hair for Locks of Love
23. Find a chiropractor
24. Investigate insurance coverage on XXXX
25. Eye / dental checkups by Easter and Halloween
26. Weekly meal plans / grocery shopping
27. Meatless Mondays
28. Breakfast every day. No excuses.
29. Go to sleep clinic
30. Manicure / pedicure w/ Crista before The Move.
31. No full-sugar soda / pop consumed at work or home.
32. Maintain Teh Hot Hair
33. Tea 2x / week
34. Buy a sonicare
35. Get moles checked
36. Start running again
37. Yogurt every day

School / Work / Finances

38. File ASAP for FAFSA
39. Get a revised copy of credit report
40. Switch from XXXX credit union to XofX or XXXX
41. Cut XXXXdebt in half before The Trip
42. Inventory Have / HaveNot's for TheMove; tally costs.
43. Define / scrutinize the School Living Expenses Budget
44. Investigate transfer from RCC --> Dublin store
45. Explore avenues into corporate retail buying / merchflow planning
46. Switch wireless plans concurrent with The Move
47. New PC speakers
48. New wireless keyboard / mouse bundle for PC
49. New monitor for PC
50. Breaks & Struts Overhaul on the wheels
51. Make up mind re: marketing minor
52. Letter of recommendation: Profs Williams, Read
53. Enroll in CalTrans' FasTrak program
54. Indulge the inner suburbanite; buy a CostCo membership
55. Move back to Mid-shift at work
56. Drop XXXX calls from skillset
57. Explore job opportunities with local publishers
58. Take advantage of ESPP
59. Start far east trip planning
60. File taxes ASAP
61. XXXX
62. MM$: update regularly
63. Pay off 50% of car by '06
64. Allot more dough to savings

Friends & Family

65. Back to Boston before The Trip
66. Travel: Mexico: Playa del Carmen w/ L
67. Travel: Las Vegas w/ M
68. Travel: Greece w/ L
69. Xmas @ Dad's
70. Make V-clan get-togethers scrapbook for Gma
71. Track down Marsha
72. Get Mom --> SF more often
73. Get A, P, G, L --> SF
74. Going-away drinks with Berit, Elijah, Onisha et al
75. Belated drinks with Al & Christina
76. Have Mom teach sewing again
77. Red Stripes with Mal
78. Help Crista plan move --> Spokane
79. Catch up with the elusive JG

Whimsy:

80. Move abroad for a few months
81. Go parasailing
82. Ski @ Lake Tahoe
83. Take surfing lessons
84. Write more for yourself
85. Start correspondance with Kate (if back from sabbatical)
86. go ice skating this winter
87. catalog CHS / GVSU / SC memorabilia; scrapbook accordingly
88. More fabulous shoes, dahlink
89. Knit and send caps to local hospitals' neonatal wards
90. Re-up the irish dance pedagogy
91. Find the best balance between spirituality and religion for you
92. Know and celebrate your worth
93. Calling cards: design and / or order some
94. More daytrips to Napa
95. Play piano as much as possible
96. Start the monogram writing projects
97. Start the "any given line" writing projects
98. Get to Six Flags at least twice
99. Go to the beach more often
100. Send more care packages
101. Play tennis with Dad
102. Travel: see a couple of day's matches @ Wimbledon
103. Travel: West Coast --> Seattle, Vancouver, Victoria by train
104. Buy a spendy digital camera
105. Keep on working it.

Current Tally:

Finished: 52
InProgress / OnGoing: 21
Scrateched / Postponed: 3

"What's your Poison?" 101

2005-09-15T19:04:00.000-07:00

I am currently enrolled in Bartending School, and goddamn but I love it. It's 40 hours spent pouring "simulated alcohol" under the eye of the Ritz Carlton's former food and beverage director, Lee-who-will-spare-no-one Marie Palmieri. 1 weekend down, 2 to go and I am certified in mixology and the job-search can begin. Thus far we've covered liquor&mixers, rocks, martinis-a-gogo, and cocktails.

Along with How to Drink Like You Mean It.

Stories will be on their way soon.

All the better to See You with, My Dear

2005-08-12T21:16:00.000-07:00

Crossing off of the Uberlist:

"18. New Glasses. Hot Glasses."

I think these shall do. You like? I like.

Jingle Jangle

2005-07-28T19:28:00.000-07:00

Picked up the keys to the house a week ago, and Mad Packing has been increasing ever since. It's nice to see lots of little things planned for this place work together like I've wanted them to, and to tackle the challenges of Stay versus Go as far as my things are concerned. On the other hand, it's really exciting to be saying goodbye to Sacramento. Time to use the leappad for its intended purpose, yeah?

8! Days! Left! God, am I exhausted.

Ess Eff

2005-07-05T19:50:00.000-07:00

Driving down the 101
California here we come
Right back where we started from

This Independence Day has been significant for me, as I've spent the better part of the month previous - well, all of it, really - firming up plans to leave Casa del Parents in Sacramento for a new chapter of moving and shaking in San Francisco. The last week of June was spent in SF, hostelling it up at Fort Mason and exploring the northern half of town and downtown with my roommate, up from San Diego. We signed the lease on our shares of a flat in the fabulous Inner Sunset, and a month from today is my last day in Sacramento.

Really, to see something I've wanted to have happen for so long actually come to fruition - by my own hands - is pretty damn overwhelming and exhilarating. Even better, though, is the feeling that I was Leaving Home on the way out of SF, rather than Returning to it in Sacramento. In the end, the city chose me and I'm on my way, guys and dolls - after some blurry weeks of packing and moving, I'll see you on the true West Side.

Call-Out & Answers

2005-06-02T20:41:00.000-07:00

The queen of fearless blogging herself, Danielle, pegged me to start the next wave of a great, dig-deep -and-go-for-it writing meme. Her 5 questions, my answers:

1. You have the choice to live anywhere in the world - where will it be and why?

At present, San Francisco - The Dream's been going strong for 8 years, opportunity's been knocking for the past 4, and I've got my feet on the veritable threshold as opposed to just peering out the peephole, gazing longingly at what could be instead of what now should - and will - be. But while "life's a banquet and most poor bastards are starving to death", SF is just one plate of a whole smorgasboard of places I'd like to find my way into - Boston, Dublin/Glasgow/London, Hong Kong, Paris, coastal Portugal and/or Greece, Vancouver, Washington D.C., and lastly, most likely for the sake of settling, Madison (Wisc.) - you can take the girl out of the midwest, etc - and I'd like my kids, come what may, to be close to my family and closest friends, and soak up some of the values I left with, while getting the goods of the most liberal city in the region. Also, there isn't a single day that passes by that I don't miss Lake Superior - so much, in fact, I won't try to demean it with words.

2. What is the most ridiculous thing someone has ever said to you?

Working for a call center has lent some awfully...........trying, let's say, insight into the capacity for stupidity people have:

"Bill to D.L., but ship to Mint."
"Mint - a relative; friend? Will you need a gift receipt also?"
"Nah. Mint's my alter-ego."

3. What is the source of your strength and determination?

Hope - I always have to have something to look towards; to keep perspective on where I am in a given moment; to let me dream but keep my feet firmly planted in reality. Curiosity and competitiveness - I'm a truth-junkie and thrive on challenges to keep me strong. Most of all, a shrewd understanding of the fine line between self-respect and self-centeredness, and knowing when one's crossed that line.

4. Where do you see yourself in ten years?

Teaching creative writing at a college, or running a publishing house, or both. Maybe married and kids, if that's been allotted for me. The owner of a baby grand piano certainly wouldn't hurt. Happy, but still feeling as though I've only barely scratched the surface of what's in store for me.

5. The fashion-fu is strong in this one, yes. What do you think is one redeeming quality of the fashion industry?

For all its inherent criticism and scrutiny, fashion fosters individuality - whether you buy a staple or trend piece, there is something for everyone. That said, it allows the wearer(s) to redefine themselves by, frankly, a shell - and how they accordingly present themselves. Fashion isn't couture alone, it isn't ready-to-wear, it isn't bargains at Target or KMart or accompanying propaganda like Lucky Magazine - it's you, me, and the people behind the lines and on the frontlines.

......................

if you've seen D's blog, you know how it goes: first 5 to comment requesting the interview, I'll send the Q's, you post the A's. Let's keep this one going strong.

On Deck

2005-05-30T22:36:00.000-07:00

Currently currying my favour:

Sunset / Ingleside neighborhoods, SF CA
Biodiesel
Braces
Wedges
Marathon training
Vancouver, BC
Haiku
The Company Store

Needled

2005-05-27T21:44:00.000-07:00

For the first time in about 5 years, I donated blood yesterday. Up until now, it would've been a no-sweat experience. All throughout high school, I stuck to the "every 8 weeks" schedule as best I could and my veins got used to being constantly tapped.

Thing is, "every 8 weeks" is an entirely different kind of "constantly" from the every 8 hours of relentless sticking and prodding I got used to while in the hospital last spring. After even the first day of newbie phlebotomists, nurses trying to best my own knowledge of my body - my veins are awfully fickle, and going 4 rounds in every spot other than where I'd point to for an IV -, and the 6 am (yes, really) draws for more tests became trying. If you know me well already, it's no surprise that when it comes to the medical world, I have as much patience as a girl with a concave chest has breasts. So from the hospital stay on, even the very thought of needles freaked me right out, sometimes to the point of eyes glazed over in pre-tears.

3 weeks ago, an interoffice memo comes through the grapevine that BloodSource, the local blood bank conglomerate, would be on-site and employees were encouraged to give as the last blood drive at work was pretty dismal. So I signed up first, in the hopes that confronting my hate / fear of needles head-on would put an end to it. I silently freaked out all 3 weeks long, and vocally the entire week of the blood drive. WHAT WAS I THINKING? All that ran through my head was going into shock at the HS drive / "NO-for-the-last-time-bitch-not the left for IV's" / "nice bruise!"

Oh. God.

I rolled through the workday, and made sure to stay inside on all breaks despite the gorgeous low 90's weather so as not to see The BloodMobile. "The BloodMobile". Really. Where were my little cheap-ass mesh cots and cans of apple juice ripe with botulism? Come on, BloodSource. You can't fool me. Lay on the full-forearm bruising. When 3:45 came and I stepped inside, it was like being a roadie. The BloodMobile was a full-scale tour bus, lined on each side with pleather loungers that could be mechanically rolled down into a right-proper recline, the speakers were playing some motown, and the phlebotomists were grooving in the aisle as they motioned me into the chair.

Despite the air conditioning, I got real hot, real fast. I'd boasted to a friend earlier in the day that despite my normally pasty genes, I'd tanned a bit. All that tan? Faded right the hell away thanks to nerves. I laid down the law for which arm for what to Carrie, the phlebotomist who shushed me with a "honey, I NEVER MISS." I'd heard that routine before to the tune of multiple tries, so I wasn't entirely convinced. But there was no preface to set my pulse racing with her, just one small, swift jab and holy shit she was right. Talked some music with the guy next to me, and by the time we'd covered John Legend, Dave Matthews and Keane, I was done. Wrapped and sent off with some CrackerJack, I kept waiting for the jig to be up, to wake up and have arms full of bruises. But thanks to BloodSource, I'm not quite as jaded anymore.

Shots? The Hepatitis / Tetanus Booster / Meningitis I have in the next month? That's another story.

Now accepting applications for Sugar Daddies

2005-05-01T19:44:00.000-07:00

Oh, god, just be mine already, Ralph Lauren:

See the entire collection via polo.com. If, like me, your love of and fascination with High Fashion trumps other, shall we say "domesticonomical" sensibilities, then you Get It.

If, also like me, your wallet can't strike an accord with High Fashion, then get in line behind all the trust-fund-babies snapping up $3K+ ensembles of lithe sophistocation.

Gentlemen, start your engines. "Red-haired and pouty-lipped" can only get us so far - wouldn't you want to attempt improvement on that kind of base?

You've come a long way, Baby

2005-04-27T20:10:00.000-07:00

4 years ago today, I moved to California from Michigan. A dozen or so boxes, the world's largest duffel bag and two flights later, I knew things would be permanently changed when I rolled past a freeway sign pointing me towards L.A., if so I chose to go south.

Life's lessons and milestones always seem to be packaged in 4-year deals, and as such it's fitting that in a couple of months, it's out of Sacramento and on to the next set of challenges and triumphs in San Francisco. In the meantime, though, it's time for a little gratitude to the Capital City.

Thanks for knocking me on my ass, for opening my eyes and mind, and for making me relearn who I am along the way, down a very lonely road of faith.

It's Year Five, now. Let's Roll.

O Deceitful Innards

2005-04-18T00:12:00.000-07:00

Let me address this issue as tactfully as possible:

WTF?

I thought we had come to an agreement that, baby, teh sickness just wasn't working out for Us. I let you carry on for 2+ years before putting my foot down, I supplied you with the most blissful pharmaceuticals around, I even forked over an organ.

And yet here we are again with the multiple sleepless nights and the dear-god-knife-twisting-in-upper-abdomen-pain OHHHHHHHHHH %$(*#)%&*&)$#(!@#!*&^# THIS WAS NOT INCLUDED IN THE TREATY OF THE GREAT HOSPITAL STAY OF 2004.

Surely, this rife can't be over my cooking. Last I checked, there isn't another chef so pandering to your sensitivities as me. And believe me, if it comes to it again, I will toss another organ your way.

In the meantime, dear immune system and / or upper gastro-intestinal tract, let's be clear:

It's Not Me; It's You.

Love, Sarah

Little Lady

2005-04-13T22:21:00.000-07:00

Why aren't you watching Alias?

As a writer, I haven't seen such a mastery of storylines and subplots finessed so well, well, ever. J.J. Abrams has the midas touch. To say anything more would be giving away all of the hidden prizes displayed over the past 3 1/2 seasons.

Go. Watch. And then come back and sheepishly grin as I deliver your "I told you so" 's.

Notes from the Batting Cages

2005-02-28T10:13:00.000-08:00

I turned 23 this past friday, and as usual, was asked all day long "do you feel older?" That day, I really didn't. "Not until tomorrow", I'd always answer.

I wish I had known, then, what that remark would come to mean as the weekend progressed.

I've been a Californian for close to 4 years now, and for the past 3, have been in Sacramento primarily as a leappad to finishing my degree in San Francisco. And during the past two attempts to make that leap, life has benched me. So this year, I decided to throw another variable into the mix - live abroad. Being close to $1K committed to a itinerary that would send me to Ireland from April through July, back to Sacramento for a couple of weeks and then on to SF for school, I felt as if my swing had finally cleared the strike zone. That I finally knew where my abilities could take me.

But I don't think that I or anybody else can ever be prepared for a curveball like Saturday night's. Returning to the States and moving on to the Bay Area for school hinged on Financial Aid, both from the government and any private loans I could find on my own. I learned the hard way when the FinAid report came in that I was about $3000 short of my original estimate. In turn, going abroad would leave me with some marginally small savings, and would diminish my chances of being able to afford school in a remarkably expensive city. So after a couple of tear-filled-hours, the Plan was Postponed. My priorities spoke for themselves, loud and clear - I had originally come here to finish my degree, and I'm in the middle of my last at-bat for it, with the most solid shot I've ever had. You swing, and you miss. You swing again, you miss again. And even when a changeup comes your way, you keep on swinging. Because you learn what chances to take, and that if you keep on working at it, one of these days you're going to send that ball farther than you thought you could.

In those couple of hours, I had a lot of growing up to do. And that evening, "the day after", I felt older.

Oh Snap

2005-02-19T23:33:00.000-08:00

As I and many others are becoming more and more technologically adept / savvy / whatsayyou, it can be a study of sorts to watch others pick up on the latest tricks to putting our new phones / computers / cameras - or any combination therein - to work for us, and make us look like so smooth.

From One of Us to The Rest of Us: Um, Schyeah.

When I first forayed into the world of cellphones equipped with cameras, it was time to experiment. Forget a $300, 2.5 megapixel digital camera! I just scored. We were all snapping away, glorious self-glossies that - even better - could be textmessaged to each other. Just, you know, disregard the phone's stubborn refusal to please leave the frame in view.

These days, any shot of myself suitable for telecommunication has done away with such a silly notion as that above. Many many nights of insomnia lead to further experimentation with my phone / camera, and I've divised a way to glory in phone-photography that while I'm sure will secure my ridicule for the next day or two, will also garner a couple of silent "why didn't I put two and two together like she did?" 's. But that could also just be the lack of sleep and the ego talking.

Here's how it goes down. If we're not doing the eagle-eye-I-hope-this-is-positioned-right-above-my-face-from above shots, we're all in front of a mirror hoping the shutter catches us not double checking the phone's positioning, as I'm demonstrating here:

Yet our phones are built with the camera on one side of the panel and a -gasp - display showing the camera's view on the opposite side. The method is simple: turn the phone around and watch the display in the reflection in your mirrors, naturellement. Yes, in my half-awake-stupor I grabbed the second phone lying around my house to demonstrate, but you get the idea:

The result? In the upper right corner of your screen, the profile picture is a fiiiiine example.

Start laughing, kids, but my work here be done.

105 in 2005

2005-02-07T22:06:00.000-08:00

Late to the party, but here's this year's Uberlist:

= Finished
= InProgress / OnGoing
= Scratched / Postponed

Home / Hang Your Hat:

1. Dye / stencil / embroider / bead living room curtains
2. Buy red sheers for living room
3. Frame middle island print
4. Frame Matisse print
5. Wall bins for filing
6. Buy roman shade(s) for bedroom
7. Strawberry pots for patio
8. Windowsill potted herb garden
9. Paint / lacquer / hardware for dresser and nightstand
10. Room screen for telephone nook
11. Play around with floorplans and furniture layouts
12. Buy a new down comforter
13. Order futon /sofa for living room
14. Look into voice-over-broadband for house phone
15. Paint triptych-cum-headboard for bedroom
16. Find a pub table for kitchen

Body - Health / Vanity

17. New Rx for acid reflux
18. XXXX
19. Callanetics 2x / week
20. Swimming 2x / week
21. Get up-to-date on immunizations
22. Keep on growing out hair for Locks of Love
23. Find a chiropractor
24. Investigate insurance coverage on XXXX
25. Eye / dental checkups by Easter and Halloween
26. Weekly meal plans / grocery shopping
27. Meatless Mondays
28. Breakfast every day. No excuses.
29. Go to sleep clinic
30. Manicure / pedicure w/ Crista before The Move.
31. No full-sugar soda / pop consumed at work or home.
32. Maintain Teh Hot Hair
33. Tea 2x / week
34. Buy a sonicare
35. Get moles checked
36. Start running again
37. Yogurt every day

School / Work / Finances

38. File ASAP for FAFSA
39. Get a revised copy of credit report
40. Switch from XXXX credit union to XofX or XXXX
41. Cut XXXXdebt in half before The Trip
42. Inventory Have / HaveNot's for TheMove; tally costs.
43. Define / scrutinize the School Living Expenses Budget
44. Investigate transfer from RCC --> Dublin store
45. Explore avenues into corporate retail buying / merchflow planning
46. Switch wireless plans concurrent with The Move
47. New PC speakers
48. New wireless keyboard / mouse bundle for PC
49. New monitor for PC
50. Breaks & Struts Overhaul on the wheels
51. Make up mind re: marketing minor
52. Letter of recommendation: Profs Williams, Read
53. Enroll in CalTrans' FasTrak program
54. Indulge the inner suburbanite; buy a CostCo membership
55. Move back to Mid-shift at work
56. Drop XXXX calls from skillset
57. Explore job opportunities with local publishers
58. Take advantage of ESPP
59. Start far east trip planning
60. File taxes ASAP
61. XXXX
62. MM$: update regularly
63. Pay off 50% of car by '06
64. Allot more dough to savings

Friends & Family

65. Back to Boston before The Trip
66. Travel: Mexico: Playa del Carmen w/ L
67. Travel: Las Vegas w/ M
68. Travel: Greece w/ L
69. Xmas @ Dad's
70. Make V-clan get-togethers scrapbook for Gma
71. Track down Marsha
72. Get Mom --> SF more often
73. Get A, P, G, L --> SF
74. Going-away drinks with Berit, Elijah, Onisha et al
75. Belated drinks with Al & Christina
76. Have Mom teach sewing again
77. Red Stripes with Mal
78. Help Crista plan move --> Spokane
79. Catch up with the elusive JG

Whimsy:

80. Move abroad for a few months
81. Go parasailing
82. Ski @ Lake Tahoe
83. Take surfing lessons
84. Write more for yourself
85. Start correspondance with Kate (if back from sabbatical)
86. go ice skating this winter
87. catalog CHS / GVSU / SC memorabilia; scrapbook accordingly
88. More fabulous shoes, dahlink
89. Knit and send caps to local hospitals' neonatal wards
90. Re-up the irish dance pedagogy
91. Find the best balance between spirituality and religion for you
92. Know and celebrate your worth
93. Calling cards: design and / or order some
94. More daytrips to Napa
95. Play piano as much as possible
96. Start the monogram writing projects
97. Start the "any given line" writing projects
98. Get to Six Flags at least twice
99. Go to the beach more often
100. Send more care packages
101. Play tennis with Dad
102. Travel: see a couple of day's matches @ Wimbledon
103. Travel: West Coast --> Seattle, Vancouver, Victoria by train
104. Buy a spendy digital camera
105. Keep on working it.

First Tally:

Finished: 16
InProgress / OnGoing: 24
Scratched / Postponed: 0

Wanderlust in Wonderland

2005-01-24T22:42:00.000-08:00

Even in subliminally sunny California, the snowstorm that swept the eastern seaboard is all over the news. From west-coast-native friends marvelling at the banks in Boston as pictured on the front page of the Sacramento Bee to native Bostoners soaking in the magnitude of the storm's afterglow, I haven't heard such awe over Mother Nature's capabilities in a long, long time.

All I can do is sit back and try to experience the newfound awe vicariously through my friends -but with a wistful smile, because this sort of winter storm was commonplace for me, growing up as far north as civilization dared to reach in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

Just above the sign for US-41 is my hometown of (Calumet) Laurium, MI. As of ten days ago, 38" of snow were still on the ground and 115" had fallen since the first storm of the season. Expecting 300+ inches by the end of March is the norm. So to say a deep love of winter is in my blood is a huge understatement. For those of you currently digging out your daily lives back to normality: I feel you. But keep on taking a spare moment to take it all in.

My favorite memories of those winters back in the Midwest always included the hidden surprises for those who dared to make the best of it - the intricate handiwork of frost curling around my windowsill the next calm morning, seeing trees and bushes encapuslated in cristalline form, glistening in the sun; and the quiet of the storm passing on to the next town - if I was lucky, leaving a twilight into midnight trail of Aurorae Borealis like these:

It really, and truly does not get any better. I miss it with my whole heart and then some.

Again, to the East-Siders: For those of us who can't make it to this fabulous winter scene, keep on wandering. And wondering.

Last Call

2005-01-23T01:59:00.000-08:00

Over the past four and a half months, I've worked a long evening-through-late night shift, and as a consequence, became keenly accustomed to the dynamics of the night. The start of sleep worked its way further into the morning from midnight until four a.m., and I've relished the quiet of the nights.
This morning, I'll wave goodbye to my solace and nuances that are only illuminated by such well-steeped dark. Work is moving through "Change Of Season", and I'm beckoned to a mid-day lifestyle once again. But when I wasn't looking for them, my last lost keys to figuring myself out more came my way via the night. When I first groaned at a 4:30p-1:00a shift, I now find myself starting to miss it a little.

A change, it seems, did me well. We'll see how the days ahead fare.

Two Cents

2005-01-13T01:49:00.000-08:00

awwwww, that's what's happenin', baby.

In threes at three

2005-01-01T03:16:00.000-08:00

It's a New Year already, so that means it's time for some personal inventory and realignment / synergy between goals, priorities, and the Life Experience Wishlist. Tonight, though, I'll just jump on the bandwagon passed my way by the lovely Jenblossom.

THREE NAMES YOU GO BY:
1. Sarah
2. SV
3. Chica

THREE SCREEN NAMES YOU HAVE HAD:
1. chica_chailatta
2. jetsetta_sv
3. sarahveen

THREE THINGS YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:
1. my integrity
2. my drive
3. my curiosity / creativity

THREE THINGS YOU HATE ABOUT YOURSELF:
1. my hot-cold focus
2. my body's ability to internalize and buckle under stress
3. my blind temper

THREE THINGS YOU WISH YOU HAD RIGHT NOW:
1. Steinway baby grand piano (model S, used & refinished, natch)
2. new spring jacket and rain galoshes
3. new glasses

THREE PARTS OF YOUR HERITAGE:
1. Michigander
2. Small-town turned city girl
3. Schoolteacher's daughter

THREE THINGS THAT SCARE YOU:
1. betrayal
2. tragedy
3. entrapment

THREE OF YOUR EVERYDAY ESSENTIALS:
1. H20
2. Music
3. Dialog

THREE THINGS YOU ARE WEARING RIGHT NOW:
1. Long & Lean's (awwww jeah)
2. icy-mint-green angora sweater
3. glossy black leather boots

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE SONGS / ARTISTS AT PRESENT:
1. Jem
2. 'Alison' / Elvis Costello
3. 'The Blower's Daughter' / Damien Rice

THREE NEW THINGS YOU WANT TO TRY IN THE NEXT 12 MONTHS:
1. knitting
2. (re-up) irish step dancing
3. corporate retail buying / merchandise flow

THREE THINGS YOU NEED IN A RELATIONSHIP:
1. balance between support and independence
2. spontaneity
3. to be known well

TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE:
1. I am not fond of cranberries
2. my hair curls up when I sleep
3. I am a 'luxe agent'

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS ABOUT THE OPPOSITE SEX (or same) THAT APPEAL TO YOU:
1. eyes
2. shoulders-arms-hands
3. mouth

THREE THINGS YOU JUST CAN'T DO:
1. iron
2. cease incessant writing of notes-to-self
3. sit still when music with a groove is playing

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE HOBBIES:
1. travelling
2. reading
3. people watching and writing in the city

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO RIGHT NOW:
1. take a bath
2. purge the household of holiday leftover food
3. work on the first draft of a heart-heavy, longstanding poem

THREE CAREERS YOU'RE CONSIDERING:
1. lawyer
2. dancer
3. publisher

THREE PLACES YOU WANT TO GO ON VACATION:
1. Fiji
2. Greece
3. Nepal

THREE KIDS' NAMES:
1. Colin
2. Genevieve
3. Talia

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE:
1. live a memorable life
2. become better-than-well read / spoken
3. challenge myself and others

Silent Night

2004-12-25T00:49:00.000-08:00

All that's left to be done, this Christmas Eve, is fall asleep.

Growing up, I was notoriously the first awake each Christmas morning, much before the designated 8:30 wake-up-call to my parents. But this year, I'd like to be the last. To soak everything in for a spell, in bed, before I head downstairs.

As the last one up, looking at our haul of gifts and the tree they're set underneath, it's hit me: This is my last Christmas while living with my parents. The growing up that's occurred over the past few years has finally synergized and sunk in. While it's commonplace to let the button-pushing and frustrating aspects of the holiday season infiltrate someone's cheer first, it's bittersweet this time around to sit back and be the (grand-)daughter, sister, friend, _____, I've always been to my family -and vice versa - knowing that the New Year will bring a new lens to the way I look at Home.

With that said, it's one last panorama of the tree, decked out in mementos of my childhood. Ornaments made in Mrs. Stancher's 2nd grade class, ornaments bought to commemorate family jokes, ornaments made by family members and dear friends. That tree can only last so long, though, and it's time to switch off the lights. To sleep, and to see the other side of Christmas morning.

O Tannenbaum

2004-12-22T01:49:00.000-08:00

For me, the best things that come with Christmastime are the traditions. Right now, for instance, I'm involved in my most favourite of them all: wrapping presents. Over the past couple of weeks, there have been others - baking with my mother, lighting garland and draping it throughout the house for my parents to come home from vacation to, lettering and mailing cards to friends and family like most of you reading this who I can only wish I could be closer to espescially at this time of the year.

Highlights:

Carolling! - I grew up in a very musical household, so I love all the music, of note "O Holy Night", "What Child Is This?", "Here We Come A-Wassailing", and the "Peanuts" theme song, which, when within reach of a piano, I cannot be stopped from playing.
Cookies! - my grandmother's a HomeEc teacher, so I knew all the tricks to long-lasting goodies that only are made to be swiped off of kitchen counters once a year. This year's batches are of thumbprints, cherry stars, coconut fingers, white jumbles, mexican wedding cookies, and cream wafers.
Stockings! - probably the major highlight of Christmas morning for me - the most unexpected and secretive in my family, and I love picking out individual trinkets for each person's delight.

Merry Merry, All.

REJOICE!

2004-12-21T22:10:00.000-08:00

With The Last Final / History Paper Ever handed in on the 16th and solid marks coming back in all classes, my tour of academia at Sierra College has finally come to its last stop.

I feel as if there's been a red carpet rolled out in front of me, leading to the glorious creative sweat, tears, paper and ink waiting to be encountered at SFSU.

Success, even if fleeting, she be so sweet.

The Fourteen Days Of Finals

2004-12-14T01:55:00.000-08:00

As is the case for many other college students, the invite to "the most wonderful time of the year" is still in the post for me. From the 2nd of this month through to the 16th, I have been and will continue to be in The Great Academic Crunch of Finals. And not just exams - papers, presentations, previously-slacked-on assignments, the whole nine. "Busy is as busy does" is a vast understatement for me right now, so please pardon my spottiness in posting for the next few days yet, and laugh along at my escapades of the past week and change.

Saturday the 4th: after escaping the clutches of Spearman's Rank / Linear Regression / Chi-Square Goodness of Fit / etc etc math problems to be worked, I fit in some xmas shopping and worked a short shift. Made it to the theatre in time to see "Closer", which is so (from what I can imagine) painfully accurate but cristalline in its truthful take on modern relationships, I'd recommend seeing it to anybody within earshot. The writing is brilliant, and the supporting roles really shine - I can give a nod to all the buzz about Clive Owen and Natalie Portman over the leads.

Sunday the 5th through Thursday the 9th: all a blur. 4 consecutive all-nighters pulled prepping and polishing two term projects and presentations, papers, and coordinating 6 different peoples' work into two equally cohesive documents. Cumulatively, until Thursday night (wherein I crashed at 6:15 pm), I don't think I slept more than 7.5 hours. Tuesday = marketing presentation, Thursday = math paper due, math final, history final presentation and marketing miscellaneous paperwork due.

Friday the 10th: in to see the doctor as upon waking up after sunday night / monday morning's speed-nap, my back saw fit to take me down in swift fashion. Searing pain previously unknown, a persistent bastard throughout the week, and so far it looks like I've a pinched nerve or two. Swell.

Saturday the 11th: discovered that Sierra Roasting Co., my favourite local coffeehouse, makes the best damned eggnog latte I've ever had. Supped one while xmas tree shopping with my parents, a little more xmas shopping to whittle down my "yet to buy for" list, and worked the shift which wins the prize for highest volume of shoppers who are inherently bitchy and / or daft to a level of mute-button-usage so high we just won't go there.

Sunday the 12th: spent the afternoon researching and drafting cuts for my paper on FCC reform. Wheeeeee.

Monday the 13th: started xmas gift wrapping, researched some more, fought with my back still, worked and worked and worked and worked.

Today, Tuesday the 14th: off to the library to get some calm and studying accomplished, then my marketing final at 2:20. Xmas shop, trim the tree with my parents, and research / write some more for the Final History Paper. For now, however, the agenda is sleep, glorious sleep.

Memo

2004-12-12T23:10:00.000-08:00

Dear Coworkers:

I AM NOT YOUR MOTHER.

I understand that essentially - for most of us - 60% of the calls we take / our job duties is to be shat on by rude customers who couldn't shop online if it bit them in the ass. I also understand that our job is relatively menial, the shifts can drag on, and that we have a more than generous break and dress code policy.

However.

This does not mean that when I enter the break room to eat dinner, when preparing said dinner, I have to walk amongst a floor littered with plastic utensils / paper towelling / ETC that did not make it into the waste cans. This does not mean that the countertops should be the new residence for dried out teabags, splashes of soup that bubbled out of their containers, and torn-up styrofoam cups that you have drank out of. And for the love of all that is holy, this does not mean that when I walk into the bathroom, there are residual pantiliner wrappers on the floors, wadded up toilet paper clogging a stall, or a used tampon sitting on top of the disposal can inside the stall. Nor should the area around the sink / soap reserves be sopping wet and show evidence of stray hairs, nor should the mirror show evidence of somebody over-preening and popping their pimples.

I realise that this time of the year, there are 655 of us and counting in the building throughout the workday. And that 80% of us have some common courtesy. But for the other 20% of you:

CLEAN THE FUCK UP AFTER YOURSELF. If this does not happen, I will follow you to your desk and promptly fasten a diaper to the back of your chair.

The former is not a request; the latter is not humor.

Now We Are Twenty-Two

2004-12-02T18:54:00.000-08:00

On the left is one of the best people I know.

Seventeen years ago this past August, I met Gwen when my family moved to Michigan's Upper Peninsula; originally my mother's and what I would come to call my own hometown of Calumet. The memory I have of first encountering Gwen will always be one of my most vivid: taking in my new house and yard from the driveway of 204 Iroquois Street, I could feel a shift in the humid summer air as I turned around to see her behind me: blonde hair bleached pale, the deepest tan I'd ever seen, a lemon-yellow polo shirt and jean shorts, huge brown eyes and an even huger smile that to this day won't quit.

"Hi. I'm Gwen." "Hi. I'm Sarah." No other words were needed. The Best Friendship was that instantaneous.

We spent thirteen fly-by years of youth together, living next door to each other. From then until now, nobody was a stronger ally or more fierce challenger. Between talks of religion, travel, what we wanted out of life at the age of 8 to bike rides, backyard sleepovers, and the constant flow of gossip while catching each other up on our chores at home, there was never a subject too touchy to be broached. I don't know of a twosome of friends more miserable when fighting than us because frankly, stubborn as we both were, we hated to be separated by pride. I never cried harder than the night before I moved away to college, recounting memories and knowing that life would never continue as we knew it previously. Driving away and through the first month of dorm life, I had an unspoken pillar of strength knowing that whenever I called, Gwen would Be There.

She still is.

These days, 2383 miles stretch between us. Life has taken us along different paths, but we now have the clarity of experience to know that if we look in the right direction, the other is there wildly cheering us on or extending a hand as we need it. She calls me "sophisticated"; says that I "taught her to Dream Big". But there are more things she has given me than I can count, some that others can't and aren't meant to understand; some that are universally recognized without a verbal cue.

Gwen, my dear friend, my sister: you have shown me the virtues of humility, patience, and grace. You have taught me how to embrace a challenge, to honor the people tied closest to your heart, and when the going gets rough, to find solace in The Greater Picture of Life.

Welcome to twenty-two. I'm so glad to have you around.

Dig In

2004-11-29T13:58:00.000-08:00

Since my household's already gone through the thanksgiving leftovers twice and chucked any grisly remains (though the turkey, dressing scraps, veggies and remashed potatoes with garlic made a superb, savory shepherd's pie), it's time for me to get my cooking groove on. This time of year means the oven is in near-constant use, and I like to do big batches of stick-to-your-ribs food I can grab a bowl of to reheat throughout the end-of-semester crunch and correlating late night study sessions.
I'm a little biased, but after so many revisions, I think the homestyle Mac&Cheese that I made last night was just the ticket.

Sarah's Mac&Cheese:

10 oz. macaroni (I like small shells best)
1/4 c. butter
1/2 c. finely chopped onion
2 T. all-purpose flour
3 c. milk
dash ea. paprika, dry mustard, garlic salt, poultry seasoning
salt / pepper to your taste
1/4 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese
1/3 c. diced/cubed swiss cheese
21/2 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 c. diced / cubed american cheese

1. Cook macaroni to just short of al dente; drain and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. In large sauté pan, cook onion in butter until translucent. Stir in flour; add milk one cup at a time, stirring constantly. Mix in seasonings and simmer over medium flame about 3-4 min. Stir in cheeses, and cook over low flame until smooth and sauce has thickened.

3. Arrange macaroni in large casserole dish. Pour prepared sauce over macaroni, evenly covering. Bake (uncovered) at 350 degrees F for 35 min or until lightly browned on top and bubbling.

mmhmmm.

Sessions in The City

2004-11-26T21:27:00.000-08:00

Wow. Time really does fly when you're having a blast. A week's come and gone since I had time to sit down and post, much less post meaningfully (tonight, for example - hooray for a slow worknight and coming home after 4 hours instead of 8.5) - but the week was full of good times, good people, and some really solid writing material as a result.

Last weekend, my good friend Amanda and I headed off to San Francisco for some mind-freeing, so to say. A last ditch effort to leave the confines of academia, of micro-management at work, and just to tip our hats to ourselves. One last weekend to really live it up before the holiday hustle set in. Originally, the plan had been to leave Friday and make it a 3-day tour, but as we were feeling Teh Brokeness, sensibility kicked in and off we were on Saturday morning.

The drive along I-80 from Sacramento to SF is one of my favorites because at any given time of the year, it showcases every aspect of NorCal that, in essence, signs the John Hancock on its respective chunk of my heart. Leaving late turned out to be a blessing in disguise - Friday was cold, gray, gloomy and far too foggy and damp; Saturday was blissfully sunny, skies were spacious, the foothills gleamed a glorious shade of emerald, and just enough of a breeze hummed our way all late morning long.

To make the most out of a trip, on a whim, I took an exit a little deeper into the valley, and we sidetripped to Napa Valley. If I recall correctly, Amanda'd never been before, and while I'd only seen Napa just this past summer, it made for a stunning drive. Winding through the foothills and seeing the slopes gently manicured with vineyards, it was so apparent the mutual love the people and the land they inhabited shared for one another. A literal bounty, even if in late fall, as the hills showed curling patches of burnished gold. On the way back to the interstate via Sonoma, it was time for some joyous, raucous, can't-help-but-sing-along-music, windows and sunroof open; I nearly had to pull off to the side of the road as writing ideas came to mind.

Finally, the East Bay came into view, and once the salty air washed over me, I was nearly giddy. I've loved SF for longer than I can remember - loved its lore, its myth, as far back as my middle school years; when I finally visited for the first time in 2001, The City delivered on all my hopes, and my heart was left on its proverbial sleeve. Coming off the Bay Bridge and through the Yerba Buena Island Tunnel, we both couldn't help but clap our hands like satisfied toddlers, and for a few minutes, as the skyline stretched into site, all my stresses faded past the background, and I could feel my eyes widen with a curiosity and archived happiness similar to a child's. Yes, as my parents had chided earlier, I Was Broke. But for me, those 5 minutes paid off so many other debts that money had no claim to.

Once we'd made our way through the end of I-80, US-101, and I-280, the first order of business was to tour A throughout the SFSU campus. Walking the school grounds, which I and many friends have commented are like a city within The City, I couldn't help but remark at how much I was enjoying school, and furthering that sentiment, how much I was looking forward to the challenge, the stretching, the shaping that I've dipped my scholarly toes in with SF State's Creative Writing program. As we were already late to check-in at the hotel but in the Sunset District, it was off to Golden Gate Beach. Let me just say: clichés are as such for a reason, and I'd really forgotten how powerful the ocean can be for me, that beach in particular. We'd arrived during the most sun-drenched hour before sunset, frollicked in the tide, and mugged before my cellphone as passers-by commented on our girlish antics.

Barefoot, we finally drove throughout the Sunset, Panhandle, West Portal and Twin Peaks / Diamond Heights districts, treated to a most fabulous view of downtown's lights, and made it to our pad. One of the things I love most about SF is the contrast between its lush greenery and the sea of architecture mosaic-ing the hillsides, terraces of urbanness among pristine foliage - and looking as if it was meant to be that way all along.

After walking through the Mission and the edge of the Castro districts - a little girly-indulgent shopping, grab some vittles, and took in a rally marching up Market street - it was time to Go Out. Once we were looking sufficiently glam-rock, we MUNI'd it to downtown, strolled the streets, and hopped a streetcar to Fisherman's Wharf for a little bar-hopping. Caught a smokin' blues band's last set; hopped a bicycle-rickshaw to Ghiradelli Square, and proceeded to work it, while a couple of locals showed us how SF really gets down. Mentionworthy: the drink of choice at last call was an appletini, and our bartender served one more sublime than has yet to pass my lips.

From Us to You: We will most certainly be returning.

And that's all She Wrote.

Mental Smorgasbord

2004-11-19T22:12:00.000-08:00

A week's worth of On My Mind-worthy items, before I head to SF for a last pre-holiday-hoohah weekend of sanity:

parathyroid disease / surgery
project shoebox
IndTV
Suzuki GS500F
Banana Republic Luxe
Velveteen Mizrahi jacket
frame for aurorae print
mi familia wall
BigBrothers / BigSisters
pie recipe from Gwen
hope chest inventory
glasses
new reebok runners
fountain pens

Kelly Sue's Got My Back On This One

2004-11-15T10:37:00.000-08:00

coveting without shame:

.....what?

Thank You, Smahts

2004-11-11T16:45:00.000-08:00

You have completely redeemed yourself over the course of 5! hours!:

Aforementioned History Term Paper I: 98/100. "A remarkably great analysis of the issues and arguments. I look forward to reading your reviews in the New Yorker or some such..." were the opening remarks.

Aforementioned Marketing Exam III: 98/100. "Outstanding!" I honest-to-God thought I wouldn't score higher than 80 on that midterm.

In both classes, upon receiving the work back, I let out a "are you fucking kidding/joking?!" in complete, total, and utter shock and glee. While working on something, I'm harsher than necessary on myself, my best and worst critic; once the work shows its value, I am such a goddamned egomaniac it's unreal. Neighboring classmates, luckily, are getting used to it with a month and change left in my last semester at Sierra.

School & Grades, it's a funny thing. I just plan on staying a Student for as long as possible.

Fuck You, Smahts

2004-11-11T11:16:00.000-08:00

Way to show up for the Stats Exam which just finished kicking my ass. I owe ya.

Uber-Update

2004-11-10T13:37:00.000-08:00

I'd first heard of Uberlists from KellySue DeConnick, who, in turn, had heard of them from Nikol Lohr. The idea was to set aside a list of things that would otherwise get put off for far too long, things you'd wish you had done by a too-past-due poipnt in time, things that can brighten a day and things you just want to have accomplished. Each year, another to-do item gets tacked on to the challenge, so here's my 104 things to do in 2004, and a checkpoint tally:

= InProgress / OnGoing: 24
= Finished: 45
= Scratched / Postponed: 7

Home / Hang Your Hat:
1. Read up on renter's insurance.
2. Settle on roommate possibilities over Spring Break.
3. Conquer the Cabinet / Closet Clutter.
4. Dye / stencil / embroider / bead living room curtains.
5. Buy red sheers for living room.
6. Upholstery 101: headboard, oversize chair & ottoman.
7. Turn quilt from Nama into duvet cover.
8. Have artwork from Mom properly framed.
9. Bottom desk drawer = new filing cabinet.
10. Make / hang Past-Present-Future writing board.
11. Organize the shoe shelf.
12. New paint / lacquer, hardware on dresser and nightstand.
13. Plant, arrange, hang windowboxes.
14. Buy or make a shoji screen for the bedroom.
15. Housewarming Shindig.

Body - Health / Vanity
16. Investigate / try to solve the upper GI woes.
17. Choose: gym OR home for workouts.
18. See Dr. Norcott re: new glasses.
19. Dental checkup no later than Memorial Day.
20. Research acidophilus as daily supplement.
21. Look into / find a chiropractor to help with back issues.
22. Allergic to new bird? Have tests done.
23. Find out cause(s) of recurring bouts of insomnia.
24. Seek out Jeans Of Perfect Fit; buy 2 pair.
25. Callanetics 2x/week.
26. Swimming 2x/week.
27. Find a reasonably priced salon; update the 'do.
28. Concurrently, grow out hair and cut short / donate for Locks Of Love.
29. Get more bloodwork done for anemia.
30. Weekly meal plans; grocery shop accordingly.
31. Learn what fits fabulously. No exceptions.
32. Grin, bear it, use up the damn whitestrips.
33. Tan and freckled. Find a way.
34. Tea 2x/week.

School / Work / Finances
35. Register with Upromise.
36. More research on private student loans.
37. Taxes: file at least a month early.
38. Cut all ties to Bank of Evil by end of Spring Semester.
39. Comparison shop local credit unions.
40. Inventory have / havenot's for The Move; tally costs.
41. Take less bullshit at work from CMS.
42. Re-evaluate professional loyalty to XXXX.
43. Set $$ aside for a futurephone.
44. Finish off XXXXdebt before The Move.
45. Register with NWA WorldPerks.
46. Revamp the resumé.
47. Make room for the laptop you've been jonesing for in the Going To School / Going Broke Budget.
48. Cut montly subscriptions down to 3.
49. Re-investigate study abroad options.
50. Quicken: update every other night.
51. Find new wheels.
52. Install keyless entry on the car.
53. Make more daytrips --> SF to explore job opportunities.
54. Get into CalTrans' FasTrak program for tolls / fares on daytrips.
55. Startup Project S.
56. Startup website / tie-in to Project S.
57. Indulge the suburban-ness; buy a CostCo membership.
58. File paperwork for passport by the end of Spring Semester.
59. Start Nepal Trip Fund.

Family & Friends:
60. Finally meet Emily.
61. Spend an afternoon tooling around Madison with A.
62. Roadtrip with Lea.
63. Go sailing in Keweenaw bay with Dad.
64. Belated Girls' Night Out with Angie & Andréa.
65. Meet Marsha in LA.
66. More update emails to The Crew.
67. Have Mom teach sewing again; acquire inexpensive yet solid machine.
68. Breakfast Date with Gwen @ The Suomi.
69. ---> Six Flags with Crista at least 4x before The Move.
70. Take Mom out for lunch at least 1x monthly.
71. Get back to Michigan for the holidays.
72. Make the long overdue trip to Boston.
73. Go to DC for SPX this fall.

Whimsy:
74. Grandma V.'s bonket and cherry star recipes - bake batches.
75. Ski @ Lake Tahoe.
76. Catalog CHS & GVSU memorabilia; scrapbook accordingly.
77. Go ice skating this winter.
78. Solve more crossword puzzles.
79. Summer Surfing Classes.
80. Find some right-sized luggage.
81. Send old cellphone to wirelessfoundation.org
82. Track down and file lost recipes.
83. Send more care packages.
84. Re-start the piano pedagogy.
85. Swim in Lake Superior this summer.
86. Train trip up the coast - Seattle, or Vancouver.
87. See more movies by yourself.
88. Chi trip for 4th of July.
89. Sell clothes what are crowding the closet.
90. Visit Apple Hill in the fall.
91. State Fair a-gogo.
92. Buy a full-length apron.
93. Organize the latté mug collection.
94. Turn old 'zines into paper beads for L.
95. Head down to Old Sac' for the jazz jubilee.
96. Look into / order personal/business cards.
97. Sew and send caps to local hospitals' neonatal wards.
98. Buy license plate frames.
99. Mass. Go regularly.
100. Swing dancing @ Aces.
101. Go to Club Indigo with Jess while in Calumet.
102. Go parasailing.
103. See a Cirque du Soleil show.
104. Keep on working it.

Girl Got Curl

2004-11-09T21:10:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, no matter how you try to tell yourself otherwise, it's a good day. A good week. A good month. You profess to yourself that it must be too good to be true, and that it's bound to spill into the negative Any Minute Now.

But then, your reflection catches up with you, you see your trademark, and the smile you've felt comes through in every way.

That's right.

Who's your guest speaker, baby?

2004-11-04T02:05:00.000-08:00

Quickie-like update on the speaking to classes gigs:

The planned 20 mins per turned to 45, because FOLKS COULDN'T GET ENOUGH OF ME. I mean, the eff? I'm no pro? But the classes ate it up.

I was a bundle of nerves walking in, but once I'd gotten up there - after a very gracious and glowing intro from Prof. Williams - all said nerves faded away and I got my speech on. I'd forgotten how much I love being in leader-mode, and when I'm passionate about something I've worked so long on, how easily sharing it with others comes. Lots of Q&A, and when I met with my professor later on that day, I was so blown away to hear that "you'd gotten students in my class to pipe up who've never spoken or contributed to discussion before (and that's something for one of her classes - she's amazing at pulling comments out of even the most shy). I recall you mentioning aspiring to teach at the college level, and let me tell you - you're a natural for it."

Awesome to the nth degree. Yay, Hooray, Whoop-de-shit, and I am more sold than ever on my longstanding career choice.

Hand-to-mouth

2004-11-03T08:40:00.000-08:00

Last semester, as a term project for my Group Communication course, I'd layed down the framework for a startup, nonprofit business, "Helping Hands". HH was a volunteer network to help folks like myself, recovering from hospitalization and / or major surgery, with everyday tasks that discharge orders had prevented them from - laundry, yardwork, errand running, and so on and so forth. I'd even set it up to feed interested volunteers into an awesome new nursing program at Sutter Health, the medical system I'd been working with. Needless to say, the project exceeded my wildest dreams and expectations.

More surprising, though? My professor ran into me first day of the fall term, and asked me if I wouldn't mind speaking to her two group comm. classes this go-round, about the project, about group dynamics, and anything else I'd experienced in the class. Two 20-minutes presentations. Yikes.

I said yes. I'm on my way to the classes right now.

I think I'm going to throw up.

E-Day

2004-11-02T10:25:00.000-08:00

Got to the polls at 8:55a, on my way to campus. No waiting necessary, and was the 111th voter in the precinct.

And now the waiting and nail-biting begins. More later.

On Deck

2004-10-31T15:40:00.000-08:00

I've been craving pop lately, as far as music goes. But I also love to discover artists just as they're about to break through. The majority of these albums were found by clips shown in a trailer, a soundtrack, or any other sort of sellout to generate buzz. The ploys worked; I'd endorse all of these.

'finally woken' / jem - probably the best thing out there for my roadtrips to and from the bay area. fantastic voice, love the dj background, tracks '24', 'they' of note.

self-titled / franz ferdinand - hooked after I'd heard 'take me out', and I can definitely see the comparisons to Talking Heads and Interpol. Solid for getting your groove on to, with one's girls and appropriate spirits.

'she loves you' / twilight singers - it's all about greg dulli. no hype needed.

Fall In.

2004-10-30T23:37:00.000-07:00

We make the switch to daylight savings time tonight, which means an extra hour of writing time for me. In my thoughts of home and the midwest, I came across this piece, which remains in the number-1 position of anything I've ever written:

'yield'

Driving down US-41,
Lake Superior caught my gaze in the rearview,
and whispered a breathy goodbye
as my fingers loosened their grip and curl around the wheel,
the shore kept on marking time, tide reclaiming edgewater
brimming with memories, dissolving
into the twilight
waves folding under the whitecaps,
one milestone at a time

-hush-
here's to the endless winters, nights so cold death
was cheated, faces pinched rosy with adrenaline
-hush-
here's to the summers, humid with fearless spontaneity,
riding through the days on sideboards and dares
of pushing the town limits
-hush-
here's to all inbetween
the autumns of crimson and copper, cool air sparked
with an inexplicable electricity
the thaws of spring, sun dipping beyond the horizon,
daring us to follow
-hush-
here's to one last night on the rooftops under the aurorae,
fronts ushering in the undefineable, inevitable
season of change

goodbye
to the confines of curiosity
hello
to grading the curve of this road ahead,
to travelling by the light of experience and the glow of the dashboard,
awash in the reflection of freshwater and neon
guided by the soundtrack of 'Superior mixed
with revved accelerator,
spurring me on.

Like a rolling rock.

2004-10-28T23:10:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, there's nothing better than a cold beer, lukewarm pizza, and somebody who shares the same window on the world as you, no matter the backstory behind said perspective.

Thursday night = early weekend start. Midterms are thisclose to being finished, there's a new volume of poetry sitting on the passenger seat of my car waiting to be contemplated, and the Red Sox won the World Series in glorious fashion. I'm feeling fine, folks.

Feeling fucking fine.

Them Apples

2004-10-27T21:14:00.000-07:00

"Believe, believe, believe."

Oh, how we do.

Academic Overdrive

2004-10-27T15:27:00.000-07:00

Ah, midterms month. How do I loathe to love thee: let me count the ways, and grades.

Stats Exam I: A
Stats Exam II: A/B cusp
Marketing Exam I: 100/100
Marketing Exam II: 98/100
Marketing Presentation: 50/50
History Presentation: 48/50
History Term Paper I: grade TBD. 10 pages of research, critical thinking, argument analysis, and one tired Sarah to show for it.
Marketing Exam III: grade TBD on tuesday next. Given my track record for loving to piss off my "show me what you've got" professor with no score ever less than a 97 / 100 on any of the exams given / rocked in his other 3 courses, I've reason to be confident.

Do I work hard already? No doubt. Make me work harder, and I'm in my element.

Two For The Show

2004-10-27T02:04:00.000-07:00

Date with Mom tonight. Cue awws. We caught an advance screening of Ray, and OhMyWow. I walked in expecting it to be good, but not Great. For a solid 2 & 1/4 hours, I was either grinning with nostalgia, surprised by how easily a single note of a song ("Georgia On My Mind", natch) could send tears streaming, or sucking in my breath by the drama that unfolded in one person, but touched so many others around him. The writing wove so many backstories together so beautifully - I won't give any of them away here - and Jamie Foxx portrayed Ray in such a light that one forgot you were watching an actor. Clearly, any time spent with Charles before a much too early departure left a very distinct watermark on Foxx. But don't let my remarks alone send you to the theatre - go for the soundtrack. Go for "Georgia....", go for "What'd I Say", go for "Hit The Road Jack", go for every other song I'm not naming that can put the rest of your world in the number-2 slot for a few glorious minutes. And see things as Ray did.

2004-10-25T13:54:00.000-07:00

and the first blanket of winter.

Where the Heart Is

2004-10-25T13:28:00.000-07:00

This time of year always pulls at my heartstrings, and I'm always looking for a place to encapsulate a year's memories as mother nature slows things down. This time around, I can't help but think of Home, and nothing says it better than these:

Autumns of crimson and copper.......

One for The Ages

2004-10-23T15:01:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago, shortly after my 20th birthday, I found myself in full-on self-reflection mode. Two decades, I'd decided, was worth commemorating with a soundtrack, so I came up with The Book Of Sarah, a giant two-disc mix. One track for each year, selected based on lyrics, and what I'd chosen to remember from a certain age:

Part I

1982. 'made to last' / semisonic
1983. 'everyday' / dave matthews band
1984. 'photograph' / weezer
1985. 'lust for life' / iggy pop
1986. 'on my way' / rusted root
1987. 'new' / no doubt
1988. 'pinch me' / barenaked ladies
1989. 'virtual insanity' / jamiroquai
1990. 'staring at the sun' / U2
1991. 'the great beyond' / REM

Part II

1992. 'aurora' / foo fighters
1993. 'the middle' / jimmy eat world
1994. 'the difficult kind' / sheryl crow
1995. 'fast car' / tracy chapman
1996. 'trouble' / coldplay
1997. 'name' / goo goo dolls
1998. 'constant craving' / k.d. lang
1999. 'a thing going on' / j.j. cale
2000. 'drive' / incubus
2001. 'hunter' / dido
2002. 'the world I know' / collective soul

After I'd finished it, it became shelved with not much more than a couple of roadtrips' worth of plays on it. Time marched on, and I kept on keeping on. Now, a couple of years past, I stumbled across my once glorious mix while cleaning, and how interesting it was to dust it off, give it another spin, and see how I viewed myself those years ago. A lot's changed in two short years, and it's time for an edit, some tweaking, and some new tracks.

out of the dark

2004-10-21T23:36:00.000-07:00

and into the light, at long coming last.